Micklefield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of leadership and management, by:
  • securing the monitoring and evaluation systems so that governors can challenge school leaders with greater rigour against well-defined targets for improvement
  • pursuing with continued rigour work with families that leads to improvement in attendance and reduces the rate of persistent absenteeism.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, by:
  • developing staff skills to ask probing questions to deepen and stretch pupils’ thinking, especially that of the most able pupils
  • developing skilled use of the recently updated curriculum plans to organise learning and assessment with greater precision to meet pupils’ needs, especially those of the disadvantaged and most-able pupils, across the full range of subjects taught. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Governors’ monitoring and challenge to school leaders have not led to sustained improvements across a range of subjects, particularly foundation subjects. They do not check closely enough that pupils, including disadvantaged and most able pupils, are making enough progress compared to others.
• School improvement planning identifies the most important areas to improve, but is not detailed enough to enable governors to hold leaders firmly to account.
• Governors and leaders recognise that pupil premium spending has not had positive enough impact on the progress of disadvantaged pupils. They have not yet succeeded in accelerating the progress made by disadvantaged pupils to diminish the differences in attainment with others in core subjects. While progress rates are now improving quickly overall, the differences in achievement between these groups are nevertheless diminishing less rapidly. The curriculum provides a broad and balanced range of learning and development, which stimulate pupils’ interests and engage them. However, leaders recognise that curriculum planning in foundation subjects has not been sharp enough, because planning and assessment have not been developed with the same precision as in English and mathematics. Pupils’ literacy skills, and to a lesser extent numeracy skills, are well supported through a wider range of subjects. Very recent changes in curriculum plans for foundation subjects have not had time to make a positive difference.

• Leaders use the primary sports premium effectively. They ensure that pupils benefit from a wider range of sports and physical education activities by engaging additional expertise, including swimming instruction, and have purchased additional equipment to promote pupils’ physical health. Pupils have a good understanding of the value of physical activity and how it contributes to their well-being.
• Leaders ensure that teachers and classroom staff are well-informed about the needs of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders liaise with other teams and agencies to align external support to promote pupils’ well-being and achievement, including the deployment of family liaison worker. Pupils are well cared for, learn together with others and enjoy their time in school.
• The broader curriculum that supports pupils’ personal development and well-being is a strength of the school. Pupils develop self-confidence, and the social and interpersonal skills they need in readiness for the next steps in their education. These arise from careful planning, aligned to well-managed pastoral systems and collaboration with other agencies.
• Leaders ensure that pupils have frequent opportunities to learn about their own and others’ beliefs and backgrounds, learn about healthy relationships and different types of family unit, and about how public services and governance work. Pupils, as a consequence, are open and interested in others. They show consistently how they respect others, and have a strong sense of right and wrong.
• Leaders have accurately identified those areas that need to be improved most quickly. They have focused energy on improving achievement in core subjects. As a result, progress in English and mathematics is improving quickly overall.
• The school’s work to reduce absence rates is leading to improving attendance for some pupils who attended poorly in the past. However, a small number of pupils do not attend regularly enough and are persistently absent, including during test periods. This has a negative effect on pupils’ progress and attainment.
• Governors and the headteacher demonstrate their values and their vision for the school in their day-to-day interactions with pupils, staff and parents. As result, staff are motivated to do their best to help pupils thrive and achieve well. They feel valued and enjoy their opportunities for continuing professional development. Performance management plays an important part in recognising staff efforts and achievement, and in improving outcomes for pupils.
• Pupils value their time in school, because leaders ensure that they feel safe and that there is always someone who will respond to their needs if they have a problem. Leaders make sure that staff know how to recognise signs of abuse or neglect and what to do if they have a concern. Parents agree that pupils are kept safe.
• Leaders in the early years ensure that they work with parents to gain a detailed understanding of how best to accelerate children’s learning through a rich range of learning experiences. They monitor children’s development carefully and shape provision to best meet each individual child’s needs effectively. As a result, children make strong progress considering their starting points.

Governance of the school

• Governors know the most important areas for the school to improve. Changes to the way governors work to challenge and support school leaders are beginning to lead to better outcomes for pupils. Governors use the information they receive about pupils’ overall progress in core subjects, but do not pay enough attention to the progress made by disadvantaged pupils towards well-defined targets for improvement. They follow their action plan to monitor the school’s actions for improvement, but have not linked these to well-considered quantifiable success criteria, by which to hold leaders and themselves firmly to account. Governors ensure that the curriculum is effective in supporting pupils’ personal development as well as academic achievement. However, governors have not kept the impact of teaching and the curriculum on the progress made by groups of pupils, especially disadvantaged and most-able pupils, in sharp enough focus.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Governors and leaders ensure that all the required checks are carried out and recorded carefully to make sure only suitable adults work with pupils. Leaders ensure that all staff have regular up-to-date training on safeguarding and child protection. Governors and leaders ensure that the latest guidance from the Secretary of State is followed.

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• Staff know about different types of abuse and neglect and the signs to look out for. They are vigilant and record all concerns carefully, so that appropriate early intervention or other action can be taken in a timely manner.
• The school’s work to ensure that pupils grow in confidence, understand healthy relationships, and know that there is always someone in school to they can talk if they have a concern supports pupils’ safety and contributes to their safeguarding.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching and learning and assessment is uneven. Teachers do not plan progression in learning precisely enough to enable pupils to make consistently good progress from their starting points, especially across a wider range of foundation subjects.
• Teachers do not ask probing questions consistently, particularly of most-able pupils, to make pupils think hard, deepen their understanding and reapply their learning. However, teachers are careful to check for any misunderstandings and find ways to explain and correct pupils so that pupils are not left behind.
• Teachers know their pupils very well. They maintain high expectations of pupils’ conduct, creating a positive learning climate to which pupils almost always respond well. As a result, pupils apply themselves to the tasks teachers set and try to do well. Staff always challenge any inappropriate or derogatory language, on the rare occasion when it is necessary to do so. In return, pupils respond positively.
• Teachers focus on developing pupils’ reading, writing and speaking skills well across the curriculum and particularly through subjects such as geography, history and religious studies. Pupils practise their learning from English lessons in these subjects and this helps them improve the range, quality and accuracy of the language they use. However, teachers’ firm focus on improving literacy skills, and to a lesser extent numeracy skills, through other curriculum areas detracts from a sharp enough focus on developing subject-specific knowledge, skills and understanding. Progression over time is not as secure in foundation subjects as it is in English and mathematics as a result.
• Pupils enjoy reading, and, as they develop their skills, do so with increasing accuracy, using pronunciation to aid understanding and intonation. The work being done to improve reading from an early age is contributing well to the school’s work to accelerate pupils’ overall progress.
• Achievement in the national phonics screening check was well below the national average in the previous school year. Since then, approaches to the teaching of phonics have been changed. The school’s new scheme is improving pupils’ early reading and writing skills. Pupils read with increasing confidence using their phonics skills to decode, pronounce and make sense of words. As a result, pupils are more able to access learning across the wider curriculum.
• Opportunities to reapply mathematical skills in other parts of the curriculum are less well developed. Where these skills are used, for example in science, pupils use mathematics to support their use of scientific methods to show their ideas and report their findings.

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• The school provides parents with written annual reports and supplements these with parents’ evenings and daily opportunities to talk with staff. The information about pupils’ development and progress in the reports helps parents understand how well pupils are progressing. A new reporting format has been prepared in line with the changes to the school’s wider curriculum, for the end of this academic year.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Leaders and staff have created a warm and caring atmosphere in the school which enables pupils to flourish, feel secure and develop confidence as learners. As a result, pupils take pride in their well-presented work and their achievement as members of the school community. Pupils’ positive outlook on their learning helps them make progress in the school’s orderly environment.
• A wide range of opportunities for pupils to learn about other people’s backgrounds and cultures helps them develop the skills to compare and contrast others’ lives with their own. Pupils learn about others’ religious beliefs and traditions. Pupils are helped to understand, from an early stage in age-appropriate ways, about healthy relationships, different types of relationship, and, as they get older, same-sex relationships. As a consequence, pupils learn to appreciate differences and show that they have respect for others in their interactions with each other, staff and visitors and when they meet others on school visits or for sporting activities.
• Pupils have regular opportunities to explore their responses to the world in discussions in lessons, writing in English and in the spiritual, artistic and musical life of the school. These enrich pupils’ development and learning and complement pupils’ well-developed sense of right and wrong.
• Pupils know how to eat a heathy diet and that physical exercise is important for their health. Pupils enjoy walking their ‘mile a day’, and return refreshed and ready to learn. The school’s breakfast club is available to all pupils. Pupils enjoy sharing breakfast time and a range of activities. These help them to be ready for the school day.
• Pupils are confident that if they have a worry, they will always have someone they can talk to, and that they will be helped. This helps keep them well emotionally. The school works closely and effectively with other agencies and teams to support pupils’ physical and emotional well-being.
• Pupils understand the part they play in the school community to ensure that any bullying is tackled promptly. Pupils understand different types of bullying and how to keep themselves safe when using the internet and mobile technology. They know the harm that bullying can cause. Pupils are confident, and parents agree, that, though rare, bullying is always taken seriously and dealt with quickly and effectively.
• The effective support for personal development which the school provides, and the support to those in need of additional help, prepares pupils well for their next steps in education and their future lives as young British adults.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Too many pupils do not attend regularly enough. A larger-than-average proportion of pupils are persistently absent. Due to its focused efforts, the school has brought about significant improvement for some pupils, who previously attended poorly. However, there remains a group of pupils that still attends poorly.
• Pupils conduct themselves well in lessons, lunchtimes and when they move around the school. Occasionally, some pupils let their good behaviour slip, but they respond positively to teachers’ reminders.
• Almost always pupils are polite to each other and the adults who work with them. For a small number of pupils use is made of the school’s sanctions, such as the behaviour monitoring sheet. This helps pupils manage themselves better, with support from adults in the school.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Attainment at key stages 1 and 2 has been low in each of the last two academic years.
• Pupils’ progress in foundation subjects, overall and for different groups of pupils, is not as secure as in English, mathematics and science. However, learning in other subjects is effective in supporting pupils’ musical and physical development and health and is used well to provide additional opportunities to practise their basic skills, particularly in English.
• The school’s intense focus on pupils’ progress in core subjects is paying dividends. Current pupils are making strong progress across year groups in key stages 1 and 2 in mathematics and English, especially in their reading and writing. The work done in the early years to develop children’s speaking and reading skills is developed well in other subject areas, as they study a range of topics. Pupils improve their writing skills by reapplying them in their topic work. The progress made by current disadvantaged pupils has improved quickly in English and mathematics, because the school has begun to focus additional learning activities, supported through the pupil premium funding, more sharply. However, this group’s progress continues to lag behind that made by other pupils, who have improved their learning more rapidly.
• Leaders’ and teachers’ knowledge of the needs of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities ensures that there is a complementary mix of external support and additional learning activities that meet these pupils’ needs well. Currently, they make strong progress from their starting points in English and mathematics in particular.
• The most able pupils, including most-able disadvantaged pupils, make similar progress to others in the school, but their learning is not consistently stretched enough to help them achieve as well as they could.

Early years provision Good

• Careful assessment of children’s needs when they enter the early years is informed by information staff gather from parents. External moderation of the progress that children make provides confidence in the accuracy of assessment. A large proportion of children enter the provision with skills and development below those typical for their ages, especially in their personal development and language and communication skills.
• Leaders use the checks made on children’s progress skilfully to organise a range of learning experiences that best meet individual children’s needs. Staff are well-deployed to conduct adult-led activities that strengthen both children’s social and speaking skills in particular. A rich range of opportunities to explore their surroundings inside and out enables children to practise their skills further, as they play creatively and interact with others. As consequence, children thoroughly enjoy their learning experiences and exploration and begin to develop a greater understanding of the world around them.
• In recent school years, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development has been below the national average. However, well-judged support to meet individual children’s needs, aligned to carefully recorded small steps of development, means that staff can challenge and stretch current children to progress quickly. Whatever their starting points, including those who speak English as an additional language or those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, current children make strong progress, particularly in their communication and personal skills. Adults are adept as using and promoting children’s communication skills to express their understanding of number work, through rhyme and early mark-making for numbers.
• Governors’ and leaders’ decision to open a provision for two-year-olds has been equally well led by the early years manager. Children are kept safe and are cared for well; all the welfare requirements are met. Children in this section glow with excitement as adults help them discover new things moment by moment, from hunting out ‘green treasure’, to recording their experiences themselves on camera. They grow in confidence in their social skills as a consequence and begin to widen their vocabulary and ability to express themselves.
• Leaders make sure that both the internal and outside learning areas are kept safe and free of hazards and obstacles. Staff help children to understand from their first days in the provision about moving safely, taking care of others and playing safely. As a result, children quickly become accustomed to routines for activities and the safe use of equipment. In the same way, they learn to meet their own personal needs step by step. Children show care and awareness of others as they move around the provision, share equipment and organise their own activities.
• Leaders ensure that safeguarding arrangements are effective. They make sure that all the required checks on staff working with children are carried out and recorded, and that there are no breaches of the statutory welfare requirements. Staff in the provision are trained in safeguarding to the same high standard as others in the school. They know about the signs of neglect and abuse and what to do if they have a concern.

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• Leaders have used their analysis of prior achievement and their deeper understanding of the changing needs of children entering the provision to change the ways in which they teach phonics. This is leading to more rapid progress and supports children’s early reading and mark-making skills well. As a result, children in the Reception Year are making stronger progress than in the past, and develop the skills and knowledge they need in readiness to start Year 1.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 107992 Leeds 10031086 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary controlled 2 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 108 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Paul Wrigley Gillian Dodsworth 01132 869232 www.micklefieldprimary.org.uk office@micklefieldceprimary.co.uk Date of previous inspection 19–20 March 2013

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Micklefield Church of England Primary is a smaller-than-average primary school for boys and girls, aged two to 11. Pupils come from the local area around the school.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for free school meals is higher than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• A very large majority of pupils come from White British backgrounds. A larger than average proportion of pupils are from Romany or Gypsy backgrounds.

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• Since the previous inspection, a new chair of the governing body has taken up post and a there have been a small number of other staff changes, including among middle leaders.
• The school has opened a small provision for two-year-old children since the last inspection.
• At its previous inspection in March 2013, the school was judged to be good. The most recent section 48 inspection of religious education was carried out in April 2016.

• The school runs a breakfast club.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed lessons in each class. The inspector scrutinised the work done by pupils in a sample of their books.
• The inspector observed activities in the early years provision and talked with children informally.
• Meetings were held with governors, a representative of the Diocese of York, senior leaders and middle leaders. The inspector spoke with the local authority’s school link officer by telephone.
• The inspector talked with groups of pupils and considered their responses to Ofsted’s online survey. In the same way, the inspector took into account the views of parents, expressed on Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, and those given to the inspector personally during informal discussions. The inspector also considered the views of staff in the school.
• A large number of documents were considered, including the school’s self-evaluation summary and planning documents together with school records of pupils’ progress. The inspector examined the documentation relating to safeguarding and records of attendance.

Inspection team

Chris Campbell, lead inspector

Ofsted Inspector