Ingram Road Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management, by:
  • strengthening the school’s self-evaluation, including in early years, so that it is more accurate
  • ensuring that leaders and governors robustly check the quality of teaching, learning and assessment across the school and the impact that this is having on the progress and outcomes for different groups of pupils
  • developing a systematic approach to the teaching of spelling, grammar, punctuation and handwriting across the school to enable pupils to reach higher standards in writing
  • strengthening the work of the governing body to ensure that governors hold leaders to account more fully.
• Improve the quality of teaching and learning so that outcomes improve for pupils by ensuring that:
  • teachers have consistently high expectations of pupils’ learning and achievement to enable them to reach the standards they are capable of
  • staff provide helpful resources to enable pupils to rapidly improve their confidence and progress in writing
  • pupils have sufficient opportunities to deepen their understanding in mathematics and to solve more-challenging problems
  • teachers quickly identify the gaps in the learning of pupils with low starting points, particularly those who are disadvantaged and pupils in lower key stage 2, to enable them to catch up quickly in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Provide more opportunities for children in the Nursery and Reception classes to more rapidly improve their skills in reading, writing and the development of number. An external review of the pupil premium should be undertaken to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Leadership requires improvement because there is still more to do to ensure that teaching improves further and leads to good outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics. Gaps in pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding remain, especially for older pupils. The recent turbulence in staffing has had a detrimental impact on the quality of education provided and this has slowed the school’s rate of improvement.
• The school draws on a range of support with varying success. This includes monitoring visits from the local authority adviser, moderation of early years assessments, support for the early years and literacy strategies and training in mathematics. Although reports by the local authority and the school on its performance identify clear and accurate priorities for improvement, the overall evaluation of the school is overgenerous. Improvements have not yet had a significant impact on pupils’ outcomes in some year groups and subjects.
• The school’s new system for tracking pupils’ progress is enabling teachers to make better use of their assessments. As yet, the information has not been evaluated robustly to give a clear enough indication of the progress of all groups of pupils. As a result, the school is not effective in evaluating the impact of its use of the pupil premium funding on the progress of eligible pupils. These disadvantaged pupils are not achieving as well as they should in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The professional development programme is having a positive impact on the work of teachers and the new learning alliance partnership is adding to this well. That said, inconsistencies in the quality of teaching remain and leaders, including governors, have not sustained improvement in the outcomes for pupils. The priorities for improvement have not yet successfully ensured that pupils achieve well enough from their starting points by the end of key stage 2, particularly in writing.
• The headteacher and her deputy are passionate and tenacious as they aspire to improve the work of the school. The headteacher models kindness, respect and compassion to others and ensures that pupils and staff feel valued. She ensures that staff are given opportunities to grow professionally and to take on, where appropriate, leadership responsibilities. This has contributed effectively to the development of subject leaders in the school.
• The English and mathematics leaders are beginning to play an increasing role in leading these subjects. They use progress information effectively to determine how well individual pupils are progressing in reading, writing and mathematics, and to identify any dips in progress. They have established that some pupils have sizeable gaps in their learning and need to practise their reading, spelling, grammar and mathematical skills more regularly.
• The broad and interesting curriculum is enhanced by a wide range of visits, visitors and trips to extend pupils’ experiences. Staff work together to create a curriculum plan that ensures that pupils in mixed-aged classes do not repeat work. Pupils have many opportunities to express themselves through dance and music. Diversity is regularly celebrated across the school. Currently, however, the curriculum for writing is not sufficiently focused on rapidly developing pupils’ spelling and handwriting skills. There are inconsistencies in the teaching of grammar and punctuation, particularly in key stage 1. Consequently, standards in writing are too low across the school.
• Effective use is made of the physical education and sport premium to provide training for staff and additional activities for pupils, including the opportunity for more year groups to participate in sporting tournaments.
• Provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities has been strengthened and additional funding is used well to enable this group of pupils to make similar progress to other pupils. Teaching assistants are astutely deployed and receive regular, high-quality training so that they can meet the needs of targeted pupils. This is particularly the case for those who provide specialist support to pupils who speak little or no English when they join the school.
• Leaders and staff lead by example to create a culture of respect and tolerance. The British values of democracy, the rule of law and respect for others are promoted well. Pupils are successfully prepared for life in modern Britain through activities such as learning about other faiths and cultures, discussing how to treat others, engaging in social activities and school visits. Participating in cultural activities, including singing dancing and playing a range of instruments, makes a valuable contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
• Staff at all levels are clear about how they are held to account. This is because systems to check and reward staff performance are well understood and implemented fairly. The school is a safe and welcoming place for pupils and staff to work and learn in because leaders commit to equalities practices which protect pupils and staff from any form of discrimination.

Governance of the school

• Since the previous inspection most governors are new, including the chair of the governing body. Governors are highly committed to the school. They visit the school often to check that pupils are safe and well-looked-after.
• Governors discuss school achievement information regularly but they do not always challenge leaders rigorously enough about the information they are given. Governors do not challenge the effect of the school’s use of the pupil premium on the progress of disadvantaged pupils robustly.
• Until recently, governors have not had a wholly accurate view of how well the school is meeting pupils’ needs because only pupils’ outcomes at the end of Year 6 were considered. This has now been rectified so that achievement in all year groups, including the early years, is monitored more closely.
• Effective support and training from the local authority is ensuring that governors have the required skills to carry out their clearly defined roles and responsibilities.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders have established a strong safeguarding culture and take great care to ensure that every pupil at Ingram Road Primary School is kept safe. Leaders make sure that the school’s physical environment is safe, with all adults entering through a secure entrance. Adults’ identity is checked at reception as they enter the school and the site is secure.
• Leaders make sure that checks on staff are carried out and recorded carefully. The named governor for safeguarding regularly double-checks these records. Leaders make sure that staff receive up-to-date training in all aspects of safeguarding. Consequently, they are knowledgeable about the signs to look for that may indicate that a child is at risk of harm.
• Staff spoken to during the inspection also showed a good understanding of what to look for that may raise concerns. Pupils’ records show that leaders are rigorous in following up any issues with external agencies where necessary. The family outreach worker and welfare officer are helping parents to improve their children’s attendance, with good results.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• There has been too much variability in the quality of teaching over time. Consequently, too few pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, have made the progress necessary to bring their standards of learning up to national expectations.
• Although there are now improvements to the quality of teaching, leaders acknowledge that the progress of some pupils, particularly in key stage 2, has been held back by historic weak teaching.
• Teachers are sensitive to the needs of pupils who join the school at different times. Those who are new to English receive a high standard of support from highly skilled teaching assistants, particularly in the language room. These pupils make rapid progress in developing their language skills.
• The teaching of phonics is well organised to take into account pupils’ starting points, which are often very low. Although pupils do progress their skills orally during lively and purposeful lessons, they lack the confidence necessary to apply their learning to their reading and writing activities. The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check remains consistently below the national average.
• Teachers do not systematically teach the skills of grammar, punctuation or handwriting across both key stages 1 and 2. They give pupils helpful guidance on how to include language to make their writing more interesting but there are too few resources to assist or prompt pupils to extend their vocabulary and improve their spelling further. Samples of writing showed that pupils, particularly those who are not yet working at the expected standard for their age, have significant gaps in the basic use of punctuation and the standard of handwriting is not yet high enough. Not all teachers have high enough expectations of pupils’ presentation in their writing books and staff do not always check pupils’ writing carefully using the school’s ‘non-negotiables’ strategy.
• Equally, those pupils who are most able are not taught the grammar necessary to show that they are writing at greater depth. Many pupils have weak spelling skills. Teachers have tried to address this by more regularly providing pupils with new words to learn to spell, and through spelling tests. However, this is not having enough effect on improving pupils’ skills. This has a negative impact on pupils’ confidence and the quality of their written work.
• In lower key stage 2, there is evidence of inconsistency in the quality of pupils’ work across the curriculum because a series of different teachers have failed to pick up basic errors, for example not ensuring that pupils accurately use full stops and capital letters as a matter of course. As a result, some pupils fall into poor habits which reduce the quality of their written work. The progress pupils make in Years 3 and 4 is too slow and this remains the case this year, particularly for boys in writing.
• Training and support in mathematics are improving teaching and learning in this subject throughout the school. Pupils in all classes are now given more opportunities to complete tasks which challenge them and extend their problem-solving skills. However, the expectations of staff are not consistently high. In some lessons, teachers set tasks at different levels for pupils to choose from. While this gives pupils a level of choice, some pupils select levels that are well within their capabilities. This prevents them from learning how to reason and apply their mathematical knowledge to a range of situations. Although improving, the rate of progress is slow, particularly for the most able pupils.
• Teaching is very effective in Years 5 and 6. Teachers use their strong subject knowledge to plan interesting lessons which successfully motivate pupils to learn well. Teachers ask pupils challenging questions to identify and target the significant gaps in pupils’ learning. Additional support and well-designed homework tasks are enabling more pupils to make the rapid progress needed for them to reach the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Teachers and pupils enjoy positive relationships. Pupils respond very well to teachers’ high expectations of their behaviour and the positive climate for learning enables them to settle well to learning. Teachers set interesting homework tasks which pupils enjoy and good use is made of the homework club which provides a calm, purposeful space for pupils to work in.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Adults in the school care about each individual pupil. The school faces significant challenge as leaders strive to ensure that any pupil who wishes to join the school can do so at any time and that no child is left behind.
• The school’s nurturing ethos provides pupils with a calm atmosphere for learning which pupils describe as a happy, friendly place to be. Pupils enjoy celebrating their successes and are excited to receive their rewards from staff which are proudly displayed on the green noticeboard in the hall.
• Support for pupils who are disadvantaged and/or vulnerable and those for whom English is an additional language is highly effective. Counselling is provided for pupils who need help with managing their feelings and those who have limited social experiences are supported in taking part in clubs and visits. Families appreciate the opportunity to spend a day together during the annual trip to Whitby.
• Pupils are confident that staff take good care of them, listen carefully to their concerns and respond positively to any queries or worries they may have. Pupils know how to keep safe and they are also aware of how to keep safe online.
• In lessons, pupils are respectful and thoughtful when giving peer support. They are encouraged to listen respectfully to others and consider the views and feelings of other people before making comments about each other’s work.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Leaders are determined to ensure that pupils from a wide range of social and cultural backgrounds gain in confidence and self-esteem. This is effective and pupils are happy and caring individuals.
• Pupils share the playground space and equipment at playtimes with respect for others’ needs and this is also evident in pupils’ behaviour in the breakfast and after-school clubs. Pupils spoken to during the inspection said that playtimes are fun times with few ‘fallings-out’ and rarely any serious incidents. The school’s records confirm that there are few incidents of poor behaviour, and that those that do occur are resolved with pupils and, where necessary, parents.
• Pupils behave well in class. They are very attentive, keen to learn and want to please their teachers. Pupils move around the school sensibly, whether with adults or independently. They are polite to staff and each other.
• Pupils are keen to join the ‘kids crew’ and to take on extra responsibilities across the school. The school council takes its role very seriously and makes a positive contribution to the work of the school on a daily basis.
• Leaders and staff responsible for attendance have made sure that the whole school community understands the importance of regular attendance and punctuality. Overall attendance is improving but remains below that seen nationally. This is not helped by the unavoidable delay in removing pupils who leave the school from the school’s attendance register, because they appear to be persistently absent.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• The very high rate of mobility makes it difficult for leaders to report on the performance of those groups typically reported on. Published data showing pupils’ achievement indicates that standards by the end of Year 6 in reading, writing and mathematics are significantly below those expected and that across the school pupils do not make the progress expected of them over time. This information, however, does not reflect the very high proportion of children who join or leave the school during each key stage. In 2017, two thirds of the pupils in Year 6 joined the school during key stage 2 and only half of these pupils had taken national tests at the end of key stage 1 within the United Kingdom. Although these pupils made significant gains in their knowledge, skills and understanding across the curriculum during their time at the school, they had too little time to reach the standard expected for their age.
• The deputy headteacher is precise in her analysis of the progress of individual pupils and where groups can be identified she produces accurate reports on their performance. Leaders acknowledge that too few pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, who are in the school for most of key stages 1 and 2 make the progress expected of them in order to reach the standards they are capable of, particularly in writing.
• Improvements in the organisation of the curriculum, including more guided reading sessions in all classes, are beginning to raise standards of reading and mathematics in key stage 1. More-challenging texts are enabling teachers in upper key stage 2 to engage and challenge most-able readers and stimulate high-quality discussion. The school works hard to promote reading for pleasure across a wide range of languages in classrooms, the language room and in the school library. These actions are effective and current assessment information shows that, overall, more pupils are making the progress expected of them in reading and mathematics.
• Leaders are aware that not enough pupils reach the higher standards, and progress in writing is too slow across both key stages 1 and 2. The leader of English has begun to track this more carefully to ensure greater consistency in the teaching of phonics and handwriting in order to improve this. It is too soon to identify the impact of new initiatives as yet.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• The early years requires improvement because the quality of teaching is not consistently good. While children develop very well in some creative aspects of their learning, the proportion reaching a good level of development is not improving fast enough and remains well below that seen nationally. Progress in the key learning areas of reading, writing and number is too slow and needs to be accelerated quickly to enable children to access key skills in learning in key stage 1, particularly for boys. Children enter the school with skills and abilities that are generally below those expected for their age. A great number of children do not speak English when they enter school. The language-rich environment and excellent support from adults ensures that children’s speaking and listening skills develop quickly so that they are very well prepared for the challenges of key stage 1. You intend to strengthen this further by ensuring that all adults working in the early years have a good
• The leader of the early years is passionate about her approach to teaching and

learning. The development plan demonstrates how staff successfully nurture children and enable them to become self-confident and happy learners. Although the plan provides a range of actions, approaches and specific interventions, they lack the strategic precision necessary to secure rapid improvements in outcomes for children.

• Children enter the Nursery and Reception classes with skills and abilities that are below and sometimes well below those expected for their age. A great number of children do not speak English when they enter school. The language-rich environment and effective support from adults ensure that children’s speaking and listening skills develop rapidly so that they are quickly prepared for learning.
• The quality of teaching varies across the Nursery and Reception classes. Staff do not always challenge pupils to solve problems for themselves or intervene swiftly to ensure that they are writing often enough across a range of activities. In some mathematical activities, staff do not provide work that moves children on from what they already know, slowing the pace of learning. Not all adults are aware of the children’s next steps in reading, writing and number.
• Children behave very well in the early years and they are taught well to work cooperatively. This is due to the close relationship that children have with their teachers and other adults, and the clear routines that the teachers have quickly established. Children develop good learning behaviours.
• Teachers work closely with parents to support their children’s development. Parents are encouraged to come into school to work alongside their children and discuss their children’s progress. An increasing number of parents play an active part in their children’s learning.
• Staff take children’s safety very seriously and they are aware of the action they must take where they have a concern regarding a child’s welfare.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 107952 Leeds 10037707 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 365 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Rebecca Hawkins Sarah Millard 0113 2456136 www.ingramroad.leeds.sch.uk info@ingramroad.leeds.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 5–6 March 2013

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils who come from minority ethnic groups is significantly above the national average.
• A significant number of pupils enter the school in the early stages of learning English as an additional language.
• The number of pupils leaving or joining the school part way through the year is well above average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium funding is much higher than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is above that seen nationally. A very small number of these pupils have an education, health and care plan.
• The school provides full-time places for children in the Reception classes and part-time places for children in the Nursery.
• All pupils are taught in mixed-age classes.
• The school provides out-of-school care in the form of breakfast and after-school clubs.
• The school receives support from the local authority.
• The school has recently become a member of a local learning alliance partnership.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

• The school has a number of awards including Healthy School Status and the School Games Mark Gold Award.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors undertook a series of short, focused visits to classrooms and longer lesson observations in each class. A number of these were conducted jointly with senior leaders.
• Inspectors visited the school’s language room used to support children who arrive at the school with little or no use of English.
• Formal and informal discussions took place with senior leaders, including governors, subject leaders, pupils, parents and a representative from the local authority.
• Documentation relating to the school’s website and safeguarding, including the single central record of recruitment checks, was scrutinised.
• The school’s self-evaluation, plans for improvement and analysis of current pupils’ attainment and progress were evaluated.
• Pupils’ work in different subjects was scrutinised alongside senior and middle leaders.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read individually.
• Pupils’ behaviour was observed by inspectors in lessons, during break and lunchtimes as well as before school in the breakfast club and in the after-school club.
• The views of pupils were considered through the 14 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire.
• Inspectors took into account the four responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and 37 responses from staff to the online survey. Inspectors also took into account the responses to the school’s own surveys of parents.

Inspection team

Cathy Morgan, lead inspector Andrew Soutar Chris Cook

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector