Westroyd Primary School and Nursery Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by:
  • raising teachers’ expectations to ensure that pupils build on their good starting points to make more rapid progress in their learning, particularly in Year 1
  • making sure that any previous gaps in pupils’ learning are fully addressed in key stage 2 to enable all pupils to improve quickly to achieve as well as they can in reading, writing and mathematics
  • ensuring that work is planned carefully to challenge pupils at different levels, but particularly for the most able, so that all pupils achieve the standards of which they are capable
  • improving the standard of pupils’ writing further by increasing opportunities for pupils to practise their spelling, handwriting, punctuation and grammar.
• Improve the effectiveness of leadership, management and governance by ensuring that:
  • the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is monitored rigorously across all subjects to help to tackle inconsistencies, particularly in teachers’ expectations of pupils’ learning
  • the evaluation of the school’s performance is accurate and is used more effectively to identify precise areas for improvement leaders ensure secure and rapid increases in the outcomes achieved by pupils, including those who are disadvantaged.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Over time, the actions taken by leaders have not been effective in ensuring that teaching secures consistently good outcomes for pupils. In 2016, Year 2 pupils made too little progress from their starting points. Currently, pupils are not making consistently strong progress, particularly in writing.
• Plans for improvement focus on the correct priorities needed to improve the school. However, some targets set have not secured rapid improvement in pupils’ outcomes or in the quality of teaching. Plans do not focus sufficiently on accelerating the progress of groups of pupils who are not doing well enough, such as disadvantaged pupils, the most able disadvantaged pupils and the most able pupils.
• Leaders, including middle leaders, regularly check on the quality of teaching and provide helpful feedback to teachers on their strengths and aspects for development. This has resulted in improvements to the quality of teaching and the attainment and progress of pupils in mathematics. However, some leaders have an overly positive view of the impact of their work on improving teaching.
• Staffing instability has been a major concern for leaders, particularly since the expansion of the school began. They acknowledge that changes in leadership, teachers and learning support assistants have contributed negatively to pupils’ outcomes in some classes. Leaders are working hard to ensure that pupils receive a more consistent quality of teaching. In mathematics this academic year, the strong subject leader is improving progress for pupils across different year groups, particularly pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged.
• Currently, the monitoring of other subjects is not as sufficiently thorough or systematic to bring about rapid improvement in the quality of teaching across the curriculum. Consequently, pupils in need of support are not identified quickly enough and their progress is too variable across subjects, particularly in key stage 2 and for those pupils who join the school during the academic year.
• The headteacher’s strong and stable leadership clearly demonstrates her determination and aspiration to rapidly improve the work of the school. She and the governing body have worked tenaciously to minimise the disruption to pupils’ learning through a period of significant change. They have maintained their high expectations of pupils’ conduct in and around school, and have ensured that all staff share those high expectations. The impact of this work can be seen in the robust safeguarding procedures and good attendance and behaviour of pupils.
• Senior leaders and governors work closely with the local authority on key aspects of school improvement. Regular monitoring and review visits take place. Although reports on the school’s 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 all year groups and subjects.
• Since the time of the last inspection, the school has successfully strengthened links with schools and communities outside the immediate area since the time of the last inspection. Pupils’ spiritual, moral social and cultural development is effective and ensures that pupils gain a clear understanding and appreciation of the lives of children from communities and cultures different from their own.
• Staff make good use of the Westroyd learning poster ‘ASPIRE’, which is designed to encourage pupils’ positive attitudes towards learning. Pupils enjoy celebrating successful ‘Westroyd learners’ in their weekly class and celebration assemblies.
• The school’s curriculum is rightly focused on improving pupils’ basic skills, while ensuring that pupils study a range of subjects, including technology and music. Pupils enjoy the opportunities to join partner schools to participate in extra-curricular activities and sporting events.
• Leaders have continued to promote pupils’ love of reading from an early age. Pupils’ progress in reading is beginning to improve despite some inconsistency in teaching across classes. Pupils say that they enjoy reading and there are plentiful opportunities for them to do so.
• The primary school physical education and sport funding and the support provided by specialist sport students from Leeds Metropolitan University are used effectively to develop the confidence and skills of teachers. Pupils enjoy participating in a range of activities during ‘healthy week’ and a number of events across Leeds, such as the recent ‘Wake Up Shake Up’ competition. These initiatives and the annual sports day contribute successfully to increasing pupils’ enjoyment of school and to developing their self-esteem and understanding about how to be fit and healthy.
• Some of the additional funding for supporting disadvantaged pupils is used effectively to secure the good attendance of disadvantaged pupils. There is also good use of this funding to provide opportunities for this group of pupils to participate in all aspects of school life. Although rates of progress are below those of other pupils nationally, this group of pupils receive strong support from learning assistants. This support contributes well to their personal development and welfare needs, and is beginning to close the gap between their achievement and others.
• Leaders, including governors, ensure that the additional funding to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities has a positive impact on these pupils’ progress. Leadership of the provision for this group of pupils is effective and specific interventions are having a positive impact on pupils’ outcomes.
• The school’s breakfast club caters well for pupils, providing a healthy breakfast and a range of suitable activities. Staff engage with pupils and ensure a calm start to the school day and a positive readiness for learning.
• The school is working closely with two local primary schools to improve teaching and the accuracy of assessment of pupils. The headteacher and governors value the support and challenge that this provides, particularly in strengthening the reviews of subjects and developing the capacity of leaders and governors.

Governance

• Governors are committed to promoting an inclusive and nurturing environment for the most vulnerable pupils, which is supporting some pupils to make better progress and overcome barriers to their learning.

• Governors are keen to access external support from the local authority and partner schools to ensure that they have the skills they need to improve the school. This has helped the school to improve aspects of its work, such as by a review of the assessment process which has strengthened its accuracy and the frequency of checks on pupils’ progress.
• Records of meetings of the governing body demonstrate that until recently, governors have accepted leaders’ responses to their questions too readily. They now probe leaders’ reports on pupils’ outcomes more rigorously, and they regularly ask members of the senior leadership team to provide them with updates on their work and on the impact of the use of the pupil premium funding on eligible pupils. Governors are aware that they need to improve their skills further so they can challenge leaders about the progress of groups of pupils in a wider range of subject areas.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The school has rigorous procedures in place for child protection. Staff have been well trained in safeguarding issues, for example radicalisation and child sexual exploitation, and know what to do if they feel a child is at risk.

• Leaders engage appropriately with parents and other agencies to make sure that all pupils are safe. In particular, they are tenacious in following up concerns about pupils with the local authority and are not afraid to take a lead role in securing the appropriate package of external support for pupils and families who are experiencing challenging times.
• Leaders ensure that the curriculum gives pupils a good understanding of those key issues which may affect their safety, such as types of bullying and the importance of staying safe online.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement because they are not consistently good across classes and subjects. While improving, the quality of teaching remains too variable and slows the overall progress made by pupils. Recent changes in staffing have not had enough time to bring about the improvements necessary.

• Teachers do not have consistently high expectations of pupils’ learning and their learning behaviour. At times, when teaching is less engaging, or not well matched to pupils’ needs, some pupils lose interest and do not get on with their work. In some lessons, the work is not set at the right level of difficulty for pupils, especially the most able. When this happens, pupils’ learning slows down because the work is too easy and they are not moved onto new learning quickly enough. This results in some pupils making slower progress from their starting points than they should.
• Improving the quality of the teaching of writing is a priority for school leaders. It has been slow to improve because pupils have had too few opportunities to develop secure handwriting techniques or to write at length across a variety of subjects. This does not build well on the effective practice in the early years where children develop a sound understanding of their next steps in writing.
• A number of pupils, particularly those who joined the school at the end of key stage 1, lack a firm understanding of the basic literacy and numeracy skills they need. For example, in the mixed Year 3 and Year 4 class, pupils do not apply basic sentence structures in their writing and they regularly forget to use full stops and capital letters. These pupils are not supported effectively to enable them to quickly catch up on lost ground quickly enough.
• The teaching of phonics is effective in the early years but less so in key stage 1. This inconsistency in approach slows pupils’ development of comprehension skills at a higher level, and prevents pupils from making effective links between reading and writing to strengthen their writing across the curriculum. When listening to pupils read, it was clear that pupils of different abilities are able to use their phonic skills effectively when trying to pronounce unfamiliar words.
• Learning assistants have a positive impact in those classes where teachers make clear their expectations for pupils’ learning. In these situations, assistants provide support which encourages pupils, makes use of practical resources to aid understanding, and is effective in developing pupils’ independence and thinking skills. These pupils often have special educational needs and/or disabilities and are the most vulnerable learners.
• Leaders have recently improved teachers’ access to a range of assessment information about pupils, which is supporting them in identifying any gaps in learning and making sure that work is better matched to pupils’ stages of development. This has been particularly effective in raising teachers’ awareness of those disadvantaged pupils and other individuals who need to make more rapid progress to reach the expected standard. As a result, teachers are targeting the learning and progress of these individuals so that they are now beginning to catch up.
• The teaching of mathematics has been a focus for leaders. The result of substantial training and support in this subject has been the development of teachers’ skills in teaching reasoning and problem-solving, and making use of practical resources to aid pupils’ understanding. This is becoming much more consistent and is supporting the improved progress seen in this subject throughout the school.
• Strong relationships between staff and pupils help to create a purposeful working atmosphere where most children are keen to learn. Teachers give pupils good opportunities for discussing and sharing their work with their learning partners, helping them to develop their speaking and listening skills effectively. Pupils say they love to earn rewards for good learning and they look forward to showing their parents too in thoughtful weekly class assemblies.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Most pupils develop positive attitudes towards their learning, embracing and putting into effect the school’s learning poster and the rules and values that each class produces.

• Pupils who are play leaders and members of the school council relish their roles of responsibility and discharge them with maturity and care. They listen to each other’s ideas and are impressive ambassadors for the school.
• Pupils know how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations, such as when using the internet or mobile phones. From their entry into the early years, pupils are taught to value and celebrate the similarities and differences they have with others. The school’s curriculum equips them with the knowledge and understanding necessary to accept and respect others regardless of their culture, religious beliefs or family background.
• The school is very sensitive to the needs of vulnerable pupils and their families. As a result, pupils gain confidence and other personal skills that are essential for overcoming barriers in their lives.
• Pupils who have complex learning and medical needs are well supported and feel valued. One parent, whose view was shared by others, wrote, ‘Staff are exceptional, warm and provide a safe, nurturing environment, going above and beyond to ensure children are happy’, and another said, ‘The school has prepared my children to have a positive attitude to any challenges they face.’

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.

• Pupils conduct themselves well in lessons, during playtimes and at lunchtimes. They are eager to collaborate during paired and group activities, offering support and encouragement to one another.
• The vast majority of parents consider that the school makes sure that pupils are well behaved.
• Leaders’ checks on attendance are highly effective in identifying any group or individuals whose attendance is a concern. Pupils’ attendance, particularly for vulnerable groups, is good and very few pupils are persistently absent from school.
• Pupils take care with the quality of presentation of their work in mathematics. In English and the wider curriculum, pupils do not show that same level of pride in their work. This is because teachers’ expectations of both handwriting and presentation are not consistently high.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils have not made strong enough progress from their generally high starting points at the end of the early years. Although pupils are generally making faster progress, this remains variable for some pupils. It depends on the quality of teaching they receive.

• In 2016, too few pupils reached the standards of which they were capable in writing and mathematics. Although standards were broadly in line with the national average in reading, not enough pupils, including the most able pupils and disadvantaged pupils, reached the higher standards. Progress for current pupils overall, including those who are eligible for pupil premium funding, is improving. A greater proportion are working at, and beyond, the age-related expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The most able pupils are confident and fluent readers. The proportion of pupils meeting the expected threshold in the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1, including those who are disadvantaged, rose to above average in 2016. This success was not reflected in outcomes for pupils in Year 2, where fewer than expected pupils met the required standard in phonics because of the variation in the quality of teaching.
• Provisional results from the most recent national tests show that pupils’ progress in writing improved little compared with the disappointing results in 2016. School leaders have identified the need for staff to increase the opportunities for pupils to hone their writing skills, especially in grammar, punctuation and spelling, and in their use of complex vocabulary, to improve outcomes further across all classes.
• Progress in the wider curriculum, beyond mathematics and English, varies between subjects. This is because some subject leaders are not yet influencing sufficiently achievement in their subjects. However, displays around school demonstrate that some high-quality cross-curricular work is now produced.
• Progress in mathematics is also improving. Pupils’ work shows that they have the opportunity to use different methods of calculation and to learn from their errors. They solve interesting problems and apply their learning in other subjects, such as science. Pupils now feel much more confident with these skills and are using them with greater ease.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress as a result of well-targeted support from skilled teachers and learning assistants.
• The number of disadvantaged pupils in each year group is small. The pupil premium funding is used effectively to monitor and support this group of pupils. Current information shows that the gaps between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally are reducing.

Early years provision Good

• Children make good progress from their starting points, which are typically as expected for their age. The proportion of children reaching a good level of development is above average. Children make consistently strong progress across the curriculum. In particular, accelerated progress is seen in writing for boys and girls, and for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

• The wide range of work produced in children’s learning journals shows that they make strong progress towards their early learning goals over time. A vast and detailed collection of precise quotes by children, alongside photographs of them at play, demonstrate strong improvements in their speech and language since September.
• Teaching in the early years is good because staff use assessments well as a daily part of their practice. Records and observations of children are used effectively to make adjustments in teaching and ensure timely interventions. Early reading, writing and number skills are given high priority. The outdoor areas in the Nursery and Reception classes are carefully set up to support these skills with a range of activities for children to practise and apply skills in independent play.
• As a result of carefully constructed activities, children make sensible choices and decide where to play, including outdoors. On a rainy day, staff successfully incorporated opportunities for children to enjoy hopping in puddles to count the number thrown when rolling a dice.
• Teachers and their assistants ask skilful questions that appropriately challenge the children. Adults are mindful of not overcompensating for the children and expect them to undertake tasks and activities independently. Consequently, the children develop personal skills that prepare them well for Year 1. For example, one boy wrote a letter following the careful guidance of the teacher. The teacher’s effective questioning and encouragement enabled the child to articulate his understanding of addressing the envelope, which he did accurately. He also independently added a drawing of the Queen’s head as a stamp.
• The school engages effectively with parents and promotes strong home–school relationships. These start with effective transition arrangements and include assessment practice and homework. The vast majority of parents are appreciative of the care taken to ensure that their children are happy and make good progress. They speak highly of approachable staff.
• The additional funding to support the small number of disadvantaged children is used well and there are few gaps in outcomes as the children move into Year 1.
• Safeguarding practice matches the good practice across the rest of the school. All welfare requirements are met. In the safe environment, children behave well.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 107827 Leeds 10031004 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 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 210 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Ian Cotton Joanne Ponton 0113 2551 601

www.westroydprimaryschool.co.uk office@westroyd.leeds.sch.uk

Date of previous inspection Good

Information about this school

• In September 2015, Westroyd Infant School began the transition to a primary school over a period of three years. The age range of pupils increased to include those in Years 3 to 6. The infant school was renamed Westroyd Primary School and Nursery.

• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• Since the transition began, the number of children in the early years has been reduced and there have been significant changes in staffing. A number of pupils join the school at different times during the academic year.
• There is a Year 1 class, three Year 2 classes and one mixed-age class for Year 3 and Year 4 pupils. The Nursery and Reception classes are on a separate site from the main school.
• Almost all pupils are White British.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is lower than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is around that seen nationally. None 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.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school provides out-of-school care in the form of breakfast and after-school clubs.
• The school is a member of the local learning alliance with two other schools.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors undertook a series of short, focused visits to classrooms and longer lesson observations in each year group. A number of these were conducted jointly with senior leaders.
• Inspectors visited the school’s breakfast club.
• 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 schools’ self-evaluation, plans for improvement and analysis of current pupils’ attainment and progress were evaluated.
• Pupils’ work in different subjects was scrutinised alongside senior leaders.
• Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons, during break and lunchtimes.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read individually.
• Inspectors took account of 19 staff questionnaires and the responses from seven pupils. There were 56 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View.
• Inspectors spoke with pupils about their work informally during lessons and met with groups of pupils, including the school council, to discuss their learning and listen to their views about their school.

Inspection team

Cathy Morgan, lead inspector Ian Clennan

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector