Whinmoor St Paul's Church of England Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • information on a range of issues such as behaviour, attendance and progress is analysed in more depth to identify patterns, strengths and weaknesses and to see if actions taken are successful
  • all senior and middle leaders develop their role so that they are more accountable for the part they play in school improvement.
• Improve the quality of teaching so that the rate of progress for all pupils is faster by ensuring that teachers:
  • in all year groups have higher expectations and are more ambitious of what pupils can achieve
  • plan more carefully so that the most able pupils have challenging work to move on to as soon as they are ready
  • in the early years make the most of more incidental and planned learning opportunities.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• A strong and visionary headteacher is leading school improvement at Whinmoor St Paul’s. However, although the headteacher is beginning to empower her team, senior and middle leaders are not as effective in improving teaching and learning as they should be. They are not taking full responsibility or being held fully to account for the part that they need to play in school improvement.
• Leaders do not analyse information they have on aspects such as attendance, behaviour or progress. Consequently, they are unable to identify trends and whether or not actions that they have taken are successful. When challenged, leaders struggle to interpret their own information.
• The headteacher has an accurate picture of the strengths and weaknesses in the school. She has worked successfully with external support and the local authority to quickly improve the school in the short time that she has been headteacher.
• Leaders are developing a more systematic approach to monitoring the quality of teaching and learning. This monitoring now includes regular meetings to review pupils’ progress in each class, alongside information gathered about the quality of teaching in that class. Staff who responded to the Ofsted questionnaire responded positively regarding issues such as pupil behaviour, safety and the quality of leadership and management.
• The support that the headteacher has given the mathematics leader to develop her role and therefore the quality of mathematics has had a direct positive impact on the quality of outcomes and teaching. However, the special educational needs coordinator has not developed her role fully, so her knowledge of the effect of additional support for these pupils lacks detail.
• The curriculum engages pupils very effectively. Activities and topics are made exciting by teachers so that pupils want to learn, such as when Year 4 were writing about an imaginary animal. Visits and visitors further enhance learning in school.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. The Christian ethos permeates every day and teachers promote British values so that pupils are keenly aware of what is right and wrong.
• Leaders spend additional funding, such as pupil premium funding, appropriately and evaluate the improvement that these pupils make as a result of this funding.
• Parents recognise that the school has very recently improved. They know that the quality of education is improving and that their child is happy and feels safe. Many parents who responded to Ofsted’s parent survey commented on the vast improvement since the new headteacher joined the school and the confidence they have in her ability to maintain the pace of improvement.

Governance of the school

• Governors, and the diocese in particular, identified when the school was in need of support. The diocese brokered intensive support from a local teaching school. This support, along with that from the local authority, has been highly influential in supporting school improvement in the last six months. A joint review group receives regular reports from the headteacher which have helped them identify the impact of the support. They now need to challenge this information in more detail so that improvement continues. School leaders have worked well with other schools and forged partnerships with external providers to ensure that the sports funding is well spent. A variety of programmes, including the ‘Inspiring Champions project’, have enabled pupils to take part in and excel in sporting activities and for teachers to improve their own subject knowledge and skills.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All staff receive appropriate training and checks are completed to make sure that all adults are suitable to work with children.
• The headteacher has taken extra measures with site security to ensure that the school is now a safer place to be in.
• Appropriate action is taken when pupils do not arrive at school in the morning. However, the lack of detailed analysis of this information means that adults are not clear about which groups of pupils are at risk of non-attendance or which strategies are working well to improve attendance.
• Middle leaders keep records of any bullying or racist incidents and this is fed back to senior leaders and governors. At the moment, no analysis is completed on this information to identify what strategies are required to eradicate these types of incident.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teachers’ expectations of their pupils are not high enough. Consequently, some pupils do not reach their full potential across different subjects and activities.
• Some teachers are not aware of what the most able pupils are capable of doing. They do not set them sufficiently challenging work or take account of learning in lessons so that they can learn at a greater depth and at a faster pace.
• Teachers are now using a mathematics scheme well to teach mathematics, which has enabled pupils to work at an appropriate depth of learning.
• Pupils say how teachers make learning fun, for example throwing a ball between them when completing mental mathematics in Year 6. In Year 4, pupils enthusiastically wrote about their imaginary ‘liger’ animal.
• Teachers have good subject knowledge, for example in physical education lessons. They are also proficient at linking learning to British values, as pupils learn about democracy and the rule of law.
• Teachers use good, consistent strategies such as ‘think it, say it, write it, read it’ and ‘RUCSAC’ (read, understand, choose, solve, answer and check) to help pupils with their written work and problem-solving.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils in Year 6 all have roles and responsibilities which they carry out well and with pride.
• Pupils hold doors open for visitors and greet them with a smile. They confidently speak to visitors and respond articulately to any questions.
• Pupils know how to keep themselves safe and have a clear understanding of what information they should not give out when using the internet.
• Pupils know what bullying means and that it can take place in many different forms of communication.
• Pupils told inspectors that very recently racist and homophobic name-calling has become a concern with a minority of Year 6 pupils. The headteacher is acutely aware of the problem and of its detrimental effect on some pupils. She immediately implemented a strategy to respond to this unwelcome and atypical behaviour. A programme of study from a personal, social and health education package is being taught to help pupils understand how harmful this name-calling can be.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils move around the school in an orderly manner without the need for adult instruction.
• There is very little disruption in class as pupils show a love of, and interest in, learning.
• Teachers use good and consistent strategies to manage behaviour and pupils respond well to these strategies.
• Although attendance has in the past been below that of other schools nationally, it is now improving. Levels of attendance are higher now than at the same time last year and now match national standards. Pupils who have special education needs and/or disabilities have levels of attendance below those of other pupils but have shown an improvement due to strategies that the school has introduced.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ achievements require improvement as, following a legacy of underachievement, pupils need to make faster progress, particularly in English and mathematics, to enable them to make good progress from their starting points. Pupils are not making consistently rapid progress so they are not fully prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Pupils, particularly those in Years 1 and 2 and in reading and writing, have not, in the past, made enough progress due to inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. This is being addressed by leaders, and improving rates of progress are now evident.
• Few pupils are reaching greater depths of learning in reading and writing as teachers are not setting work at a level that allows pupils to realise their full potential.
• More recently, current pupils are making better progress, particularly in mathematics, which means that they are reaching standards closer to those of other pupils nationally.
• Disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are often small in number and their progress is variable across the school. The school leaders have identified how to spend the funding for these pupils so that action is taken to attend to both academic and emotional needs. External professional support is now available for some pupils as well as extra support in school.
• Pupils make good progress in physical education. Teachers ensure that pupils develop good skills in lessons and then give them the opportunity to test their skills alongside pupils from other schools.
• Teachers take every opportunity to encourage pupils to read aloud, for example in Year 2 when they read ‘Not Now Bernard’ and when they read ‘We Are The Worst Class’ in Year 3. This, along with a range of literature and good phonics teaching, is helping pupils make better progress in reading.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Adults in the early years do not make the best use of the numerous learning opportunities that are available in this exciting environment.
• At times, adults are not aware of how and when to extend learning. For example, not encouraging children to count beyond ten when they consistently show that they are ready to do this.
• Most children enter the early years provision with skills that are typical of children their age and up until recently they have not made the progress that they could make. The picture of progress is improving.
• Last year, learning in the early years improved and, therefore, children were more prepared for learning in Year 1. Leaders and other adults, although very new to the early years provision, have planned and organised an exciting environment where children can access all the different areas of learning.
• Children behave well and are friendly and caring to each other. Adults act as good role models in promoting good manners and kindness to others.
• Relationships are good. Adults and children get along well and children play amicably together.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 108051 Leeds 10036573 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 Maintained voluntary aided 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 220 Appropriate authority Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Governing body Karl Blackshaw Margaret McBride 0113 265 7250 www.whinmoorstpauls.co.uk/ office@whinmoorstpauls.co.uk Date of previous inspection 24–25 November 2015

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school meets floor standards, which are the minimum standards for attainment and progress that the government expects schools to meet.
• Whinmoor St Paul’s Church of England Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The large majority of pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support through the pupil premium and the proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are above the national average.
• From September 2017, a breakfast club and an after-school club were made available every day. These clubs are run by an external provider.
• A joint review group, with representatives of the governing body, the diocese and the local authority, has been set up since the last inspection to support school improvement.
• The headteacher joined the school in January 2017.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors visited an assembly and lessons across all year groups. A number of observations were undertaken jointly with the headteacher. During observations, the inspectors sampled work in pupils’ books and talked to pupils in order to evaluate the quality of their current work.
• In addition, the inspectors scrutinised in detail a sample of books containing work from a broad range of subjects but particularly focusing on mathematics. This scrutiny was undertaken jointly with the headteacher and the mathematics leader.
• The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour and attitudes around the school at different times during both days.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, middle and senior leaders and groups of pupils. Further meetings were held with governors, representatives of the teaching school alliance and a representative of the local authority. A telephone conversation was held with the chair of governors.
• The inspectors scrutinised a range of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plans, external evaluations, policies, assessment information and records of checks on the quality of teaching. The inspectors looked at records of attendance and behaviour, minutes of governing body meetings, minutes of the Joint Review Group and safeguarding information.
• There were 39 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, and 43 responses to the online Parent Text. There were 93 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey and 21 responses to the staff survey. The lead inspector spoke informally to a number of parents.

Inspection team

Jo Sharpe, lead inspector Lynda Florence

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector