Spring Bank Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Accelerate improvements to the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress, by:
  • ensuring that new approaches to mathematics are successfully implemented across all year groups and that misconceptions are swiftly addressed
  • raising expectations for the quality of pupils’ writing
  • embedding new approaches to reading so that pupils’ skills of inference and deduction are further developed
  • improving the quality of teaching across the school, including in the early years, in particular so that children of all abilities can learn more effectively when working without direct teacher supervision.
• Enhance the effectiveness of leadership and management by:
  • strengthening the quality of monitoring to ensure that leaders maintain a stronger focus on the ongoing impact of improvement plans
  • further developing the roles of middle leaders by enabling them to share good practice and work with colleagues to improve the quality of teaching
  • intensifying strategies to support disadvantaged pupils to diminish differences in their attendance and outcomes from those of their peers
  • strengthening the curriculum so that pupils can develop greater knowledge, skills and understanding across a wide range of subjects.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• While senior leaders have maintained good progress at key stage 1, they have been slower to respond to a decline in progress at key stage 2, where progress has been below average for two consecutive years. New improvement strategies are being implemented but their impact remains variable as progress remains inconsistent at key stage 2.
• Leaders have worked closely with local authority partners and local schools to develop expertise and address areas for improvement. Improvement plans are in place to address key priorities and these have already secured improvements in pupils’ attendance. However, they have not yet secured consistent improvements in the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes.
• Leaders and teachers have established a cohesive community where pupils interact positively and show respect for one another. Leaders and teachers maintain a continual focus on pupils’ welfare.
• Leaders have monitored many aspects of school performance and have an awareness of many of the areas to address as part of their improvement plan. External moderation of pupils’ work at key stage 1 has found teachers’ standards to be accurate. However, some aspects of monitoring are not rigorous and do not pick up rapidly enough on areas which require further improvement.
• Leaders and teachers with new responsibilities have received training to support their roles in developing new initiatives to improve the quality of teaching, including new approaches to teaching mathematics. However, they have not yet had the time or opportunity to implement these new approaches consistently across the school.
• The headteacher has refined performance management arrangements to link teachers’ performance targets more closely to whole-school priorities. Governors are using performance management more stringently to address areas of underperformance.
• Leaders have worked with local authority partners and experts to develop the leadership of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. A new leader is in place and is working closely to establish more formal referral processes and regular reviews of progress. However, overall progress for these pupils is still variable and leaders do not have cohesive systems in place to check the progress of these pupils and the impact of additional funding.
• Leaders have reacted to a decline in outcomes for disadvantaged pupils by commissioning a review of the use of pupil premium funding. Leaders have increased the accountability of class teachers for the progress of these pupils and they are checking the impact of interventions more closely. However, leaders’ actions have not secured rapid improvements for these pupils and, on occasions, school tracking information provides an overgenerous picture of their progress.
• Leaders are using assessment-tracking systems to provide teachers, leaders and governors with termly reviews of pupils’ progress. These systems do not always give timely enough insights into progress, given the scale of recent underperformance of some key groups.
• Leaders provide a broad and balanced curriculum. Pupils gain access to a range of experiences that enhance their learning and provide exciting and meaningful contexts for learning. Regular visits to external venues and visitors to school enliven learning. A cohesive personal, social and health education programme enhances pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils develop social responsibility by providing support for younger pupils and they regularly explore different faiths and cultures.
• Leaders have used additional funding to support pupils’ engagement in sport to increase participation in a wider variety of sports and physical activity, including dance, gymnastics, basketball, cricket and football.

Governance of the school

• Governors have good levels of educational expertise that they are using to bring added challenge to leaders. This is contributing to a stronger focus on improvement. Additional insights from the local authority and partners help them to gain objective insights into the school’s effectiveness.
• Governors receive updates on pupil progress but they do not always receive these updates in time to enable them to measure the impact of school improvement plans with sufficient urgency.
• Governors show a clear understanding of strategic priorities and of strengths and areas for improvement. They have used performance management processes more stringently to address aspects of underachievement.
• Governors are reviewing the progress of pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding more closely and have recently received the outcomes of a review of the use of this funding. However, their influence in this area has not yet secured rapid improvement.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders and governors take their responsibilities for pupils’ safety very seriously. They carry out appropriate checks to ensure the suitability of adults working on site. Leaders commission audits of safeguarding practice from the local authority to check the effectiveness of policies and practice.
• Leaders ensure that safeguarding has a high profile around the school. They ensure that training is up to date. The school has a safeguarding team who meet regularly to explore concerns over pupils’ welfare. Records show that leaders pursue concerns over pupils’ welfare, although some actions are not recorded in full detail.
• Pupils feel safe and happy in school and appreciate the work of the school to support their social and emotional health. Leaders and the wider team are aware of pupils’ particular needs, including their medical needs. The vast majority of their parents agree that their children are safe and well-supported. Pupils believe that bullying is extremely rare and that staff act effectively on the rare occasions bullying does occur.
• Leaders actively promote pupils’ welfare and safety. They have taken action to raise pupils’ awareness of safeguarding issues. Recent partnerships have raised pupils’ awareness of the potential threats they can experience online.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching varies between key stages and subjects and contributes to varying rates of progress across subjects and for different groups of pupils.
• Teaching does not pitch work at a level that enables middle-ability pupils to make consistently strong progress and work at greater depth. New plans are in place to support pupils in working at greater depth but these are not consistently in evidence across classes.
• Pupils make slower progress when working in groups without direct teacher supervision as they do not work with sufficient pace or purpose and are not always clear on the steps they can follow to make stronger progress.
• Teachers and teaching assistants maintain positive relationships with pupils and generate interest and enthusiasm in many aspects of learning. Pupils enjoy learning and pursuing connections between themes and topics.
• Although leaders are introducing new schemes of work to improve teaching in mathematics, these changes have not led to consistently effective practice across the school. Pupils do not get regular opportunities to work at greater depth. Work in books shows that pupils do not always address misconceptions or correct errors they have made. As a result, pupils’ progress remains uneven.
• Teachers and teaching assistants effectively model sounds and develop pupils’ abilities to recognise the links between letters and sounds. These approaches contribute to the majority of pupils achieving the required standard in the phonics screening check. Leaders are introducing a range of strategies to build pupils’ skills of inference and deduction. Inspectors listened to pupils reading with concentration and focus during teacher-led guided reading sessions. Well-tailored interventions are in place, although their implementation remains at an early stage.
• Teachers use wider experiences and creative links to texts to provide exciting opportunities for pupils to write in a range of genres. These approaches enable some pupils to develop accomplished writing skills, combining inventive language use with an awareness of style and purpose. However, wider standards of writing are more variable as standards and expectations are not implemented consistently across all classes. A new focus upon spelling and accuracy is not having consistent impact.
• Teaching enables pupils to explore topics that capture their imagination and interest. They develop a range of skills in technology and art and work with enthusiasm and purpose in creative projects. Pupils are given discrete opportunities to work scientifically. However, pupils do not consistently access subject-specific knowledge and skills in sufficient depth in subjects such as history and science.
• Pupils benefit from a variety of opportunities to develop their sporting skills and physical fitness through a range of sporting activities and access to different types of dance.
• Teachers regularly set homework which pupils feel supports their learning. The majority of teachers provide feedback in line with the school’s policy. However, teachers do not consistently pick up on pupils’ misconceptions and this can result in pupils failing to learn from their errors.
• Leaders and teachers have worked with external partners and specialists to improve support for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. The new leader is working with external partners to map out appropriate support and to work with teachers to measure the impact of interventions. These developments are at an early stage and progress for these pupils remains mixed.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. The curriculum provides regular opportunities for pupils to explore their thoughts and feelings through a well-established personal, social and health education programme. Pupils were seen discussing strategies on how to cope with stress and anxiety by practising breathing techniques.
• Pupils develop a sense of social responsibility in a school community that celebrates diversity and develops strong bonds between pupils. Pupils work and play well together. Year 6 pupils provide regular support for Reception children at lunchtime, demonstrating friendliness and a sense of responsibility.
• The majority of parents value the cohesive nature of the school community and the care and support provided for their children.
• The school’s learning mentor works with pupils and parents to develop pupils’ self-confidence. A range of interventions also help to develop pupils’ language and communication skills, such as new reading initiatives.
• The school provides a breakfast club that supports pupils with aspects of their literacy and numeracy but which also supports their wider personal and social development.
• Pupils’ physical welfare is promoted through access to a range of sports. Pupils’ wider fitness is developed through access to dance, sports, outdoor pursuit and a range of sporting competitions.
• Pupils believe that bullying is rare and they are confident that, if it did occur, teachers would address their concerns effectively.
• Pupils are able to discuss the actions that the school has taken to help them keep safe. New initiatives and links with external providers are developing pupils’ awareness of how to keep safe online.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils interact well with one another, showing consideration towards one another. They often discuss their views and share ideas productively in lessons.
• Behaviour in lessons and at breaktimes is typically good. Some pupils can become distracted when working without direct supervision as they are not as clear on the steps they can take to work more productively.
• Leaders have worked with parents and pupils to secure improvements in attendance. Through a mixture of support and challenge, leaders have secured improvements for pupils who previously had high rates of absence. Overall rates of attendance improved slightly in 2017 and that pattern has accelerated this academic year, such that attendance is now in line with that seen nationally. The attendance of disadvantaged pupils has improved although they remain more likely to be absent than their peers.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Outcomes require improvement because current pupils do not make strong progress across a range of subjects and differences exist between year groups and between different groups of pupils. The proportions of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics combined was below that seen nationally at the end of key stage 2 in 2017.
• Pupils typically make stronger progress at key stage 1 than at key stage 2, achieving outcomes that are often above those seen nationally. Pupils receive a good start to many aspects of their learning but this is not built upon sufficiently at key stage 2.
• Although new strategies are being developed to increase progress in mathematics, variations in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment contribute to uneven progress. Over the past two years, progress in mathematics has declined and in 2017 was significantly below average. Current work shows continued variation in the quality of pupils’ work in mathematics. Pupils are not given regular opportunities to apply their reasoning and problem-solving skills across year groups and misconceptions are not always addressed and acted upon. This can limit progress for pupils.
• Leaders have introduced new initiatives to improve pupils’ progress in reading which has been below average for the past two years, particularly for middle-ability pupils. Interventions are supporting more detailed explorations of inference and deduction. These initiatives are at an early stage of development and progress remains uneven.
• Pupils’ progress over time in writing has been variable at key stage 2 and more so for middle-ability writers. While many pupils demonstrate creativity in their use of figurative language and language choices, these qualities are tempered by weaker standards of accuracy in punctuation, paragraphing and handwriting. Pupils do not consistently demonstrate a clear pride in the presentation of their written work.
• Disadvantaged pupils do not make good progress. The proportions who have achieved the required standard in reading, writing and mathematics at key stage 2 have been well below the national average for the past two years. In addition, the progress of the majority of disadvantaged pupils in reading and mathematics has been well below average over the same period. Although there is evidence that interventions are beginning to improve outcomes for current pupils, differences in their attainment and progress persist across subjects and phases and have not diminished rapidly enough.
• The progress of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is mixed. New leadership is providing more formal systems to identify needs and track progress. These new systems are at an early stage and while there are signs that some pupils are making good progress from starting points, the overall picture is more variable.
• Teaching enables the majority of pupils to achieve the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check, with outcomes in the past two years being in line with those seen nationally.
• The most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, make progress in line with their peers nationally, although current progress in books presents a more variable picture as they are not given consistent opportunities to work at greater depth.
• Pupils benefit from a broad and balanced curriculum that enhance their wider experience of science and the creative arts and that supports their personal and emotional development. On some occasions, pupils do not acquire subject specific knowledge and understanding in sufficient depth in the wider curriculum, including in science and history.
• Outcomes in the early years are typically above those seen nationally although provision does not enable children to make consistently good progress.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• The overall provision in the early years requires improvement as children are not consistently engaged in productive learning activities and this can create variability in their progress and development.
• The early years leader and teaching assistant provide effective teaching in teacher-led activities. They use questions thoughtfully to probe and deepen understanding. They sustain highly positive relationships and children feel greatly valued and supported.
• Learning is less effective in child-directed sessions as provision does not provide sufficient opportunities for children to develop their skills, interests and understanding. On too many occasions, children, particularly boys, flit from task to task as activities do not engage their interests on a sustained basis.
• Routines in the early years are not well-established and, on occasions, children are slow to settle to learning and do not always tidy up after learning tasks. The movement of staff to different phases has contributed to less-developed routines which impact upon children’s progress.
• The early years leader provides effective teaching and has a clear vision of how to improve the quality of provision for children but does not have sustained opportunities to implement strategies for improvement.
• Parents value the care and support their children receive from the early years team. They appreciate the increasing opportunities they receive to take part in their children’s learning through regular play and learn sessions and other activities.
• The early years leader and the teaching assistants model sounds effectively and encourage children to develop their understanding of the links between letters and sounds. Their work to support children’s emergent writing and mark making is less well developed.
• The proportion of children achieving a good level of development by the end of Reception has been above that seen nationally, although variation remains in those children making stronger progress in writing.
• Teachers monitor children’s progress closely and record this accurately. Children’s work and progress is captured through a variety of tasks and activities. On occasions, assessment does not always inform the next steps in children’s learning and does not address the needs of children who may require additional support.
• Safeguarding practices in the early years are largely effective. There are no breaches of statutory welfare requirements. The ethos of care and support that defines much of the school’s work extends to the early years. In some cases, risk assessments are not sufficiently customised to meet the specific needs of the provision.

School details

Unique reference number 107890 Local authority Leeds Inspection number 10037737 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 212 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Janet Matthews Headteacher Michael Brawley Telephone number 0113 204 3120 Website www.springbankprimary.org/ Email address brawlem01@leedslearning.net Date of previous inspection 21–22 May 2013

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is well above average. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above average.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is below average.
• The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum requirements for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed a wide range of lessons, covering all classes in the school. The headteacher accompanied inspectors during observations on the first day of the inspection.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher and senior and middle leaders. Inspectors also met five members of the governing body, including the chair and vice-chair. Inspectors met a group of pupils at lunchtime on the first day of the inspection. Inspectors also met the local authority school improvement partner.
• Pupils’ behaviour was observed during lessons and around the school.
• Inspectors listened to pupils reading during guided reading sessions and talked to them about their reading.
• Inspectors talked to parents as they dropped their children off at school on day 1 of the inspection.
• Inspectors extensively examined the quality of work in a wide range of books. They discussed pupils’ work and their learning with them in lessons.
• Inspectors looked at the school’s work and considered documents including the school’s self-evaluation, the school improvement plan, and information relating to pupils’ achievement and safeguarding.
• Inspectors took into account 54 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View and 34 free-text responses from parents. They also took into account 12 responses to the staff questionnaire.

Inspection team

Malcolm Kirtley, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Lynda Florence Ofsted Inspector