Willoughby Road Primary Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • leaders more precisely evaluate the impact of how additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is used so that effective plans are put in place to help them make better progress
  • support for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is checked, evaluated and refined where necessary, to ensure that it more accurately measures and increases the impact it is having on their progress compared to all pupils nationally with similar starting points
  • governors have sufficient and accurate information, including about the spending of pupil premium funding, to provide robust challenge and to hold senior leaders to account effectively
  • middle leaders develop the ability to contribute more significantly to improving the quality of teaching and learning in their areas of responsibility
• Secure consistency in the quality of teaching in every classroom so that pupils make at least good progress over time, by ensuring that:
  • teachers in key stage 2 provide increased opportunities for pupils to develop their reading, writing and mathematics skills across the curriculum
  • learning is sufficiently challenging to enable more pupils to achieve higher standards, especially the most able pupils. An external review of the school’s use of pupil premium funding 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

• Leadership and management require improvement because too few pupils meet the academic standards that are expected for their age. Some pupils are not prepared well enough for secondary school because their basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics are not secure.
• Since the head of school’s appointment in January 2016, she has taken robust actions to quickly address underperformance. However, they have not fully made amends for the weak teaching which pupils’ received in previous years. Leaders have now eradicated the inadequate teaching which existed and are taking effective action to increase consistency in the quality of teaching. Consequently, the achievement of current pupils is improving quickly.
• Middle leaders’ checks on work in pupils’ books are enabling them to identify inconsistencies in pupils’ progress. However, they do not routinely check the progress of pupil groups from their starting points compared to other pupils nationally to ensure that the differences are diminishing.
• Leaders have not effectively evaluated the use of the extra funding to support disadvantaged pupils or those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Therefore, they have not been able to analyse the impact of the support they receive on pupils’ attainment and progress and make adjustments where necessary.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive effective specialist support and intervention from a team of skilled teaching assistants. However, leaders do not currently monitor or evaluate the impact of these actions on pupils’ outcomes and cannot, therefore, accurately determine the effectiveness of the measures taken.
• Leaders’ self-evaluation of the school’s performance is accurate and they are focusing on the right aspects for improvement. However, actions have not yet led to consistently good progress across school due to a legacy of underachievement. Outcomes are improving in the early years and key stage 1.
• The multi-academy trust has implemented an assessment system that regularly tracks the performance of individual pupils. The headteacher and trust learning directors meet teachers weekly to monitor progress and identify pupils who are at risk of falling behind. This is resulting in more pupils being on track to meet expected standards than in previous years.
• The headteacher has established a culture in which every pupil is expected to learn well and succeed. In pursuit of this, staff have been well trained to provide skilled support for pupils. Staff are able to observe and learn from outstanding practice in other schools within the multi-academy trust. Teachers, including those at the early stages of their career, feel well supported and have a clear understanding of what they need to do to improve their teaching through the performance management process and informal feedback they receive.
• Cross-curriculum themes such as ‘iron man versus Stone-Age man’ interest pupils in their learning. However, there are missed opportunities for pupils to consolidate their reading, writing and mathematics skills in other subjects. Leaders are aware that the curriculum needs to be reviewed so it has a more positive impact on pupils’ development and progress.
• The physical education (PE) and sports funding for primary schools is used well and is resulting in increased opportunities and greater participation in a wider range of sports. For example, by providing transport to enable pupils to take part in local competitions and the use of specialist coaches to deliver high-quality lessons.
• The wider curriculum provides good opportunities for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain. Pupils learn about fundamental British values and the school council makes a valuable contribution to pupils’ understanding of being involved in whole-school decision-making. Pupils were proud to tell inspectors of an example when the school council were successful in improving school dinners. Councillors were involved in interviews to select a new provider and now more pupils are eating a healthy school dinner as a result.

Governance of the school

Safeguarding

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching requires improvement because the impact on learning is variable. Over time, not enough pupils make the good or better progress required to achieve their full potential. Improvements in pupils’ outcomes have been slow due to the weaknesses in teaching which leaders have since tackled. Teachers do not sufficiently challenge the most able pupils.
• In key stage 2, teachers do not provide enough opportunities for pupils to deepen their understanding and/or consolidate or extend their reading, writing and mathematics skills by applying them across the curriculum.
• Regular review of pupils’ learning using the new assessment system is enabling leaders and teachers to work together to identify which pupils need to urgently receive targeted support in class to help them catch up. Teachers now have an accurate understanding of the gaps in pupils’ learning and are using this to plan their next steps.
• Lesson observations, pupils’ work and assessment information show that teaching throughout school is helping pupils to catch up lost ground in their learning resulting from their prior underachievement. More pupils are now on track to meet expected standards.
• Teaching is becoming increasingly consistent across key stage 1 and 2 and is ensuring that pupils are making swifter progress towards the end of each key stage.
• Teaching is consistently strong in Year 6 and is benefiting from additional support from academy trust learning directors. Pupils are keen to improve their work and routinely self-assess their learning and set themselves targets to help them improve. This means that they have a good understanding of the expectations and are producing a higher standard of work as a result.
• The teaching of phonics is a particular focus in key stage 1 and pupils who need to catch up receive intervention. This is helping them to read and spell new words.
• Teaching assistants are an asset to the school and work closely with teachers to improve learning for pupils. Intervention for disadvantaged pupils and support for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities successfully help pupils to practise their basic skills independently.
• Pupils enjoy sharing a class book and are making good use of the new library facilities.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• High expectations from teachers result in keen attitudes to work that contribute well to pupils’ learning. Pupils are able to concentrate and sustain their interest for long periods and were often unaware of the inspectors visiting their classrooms.
• School leaders have ensured that the wider curriculum helps pupils understand how to stay safe. Pupils referred to assemblies and displays around school which remind them about how to stay safe online or how to report a concern about safety.
• Pupils are aware of different types of bullying and understand the dangers. They explained that while bullying sometimes happens they know what to do and who to speak to. Pupils feel reassured that they have a nominated member of staff each year who is someone they can comfortably talk to about anything that is worrying them.
• Pupils make a good contribution to the life of the school and enjoy taking on responsible roles such as school councillors.

Behaviour

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Standards and progress in key stage 1 and 2 have not been good enough in recent years. Standards which are below the national average at the end of key stage 2 mean that many pupils are not adequately prepared for the next key stage. The progress that current pupils make is rapidly improving and far more pupils are on track to meet the expected standard this year. However, a legacy of underachievement for these pupils means that there is still a significant amount of catching up to do.
• Progress is strong and improving in key stage 1 for pupils who met the expectations at the end of the early years. However, lower-ability disadvantaged pupils and most-able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, did not make as much progress in reading, writing and mathematics as other pupils nationally with the same starting points.
• The proportion of pupils meeting the standard in phonics is rising each year and was 72% in 2016. This does remain below the national average of 81%, however. Current pupils are receiving effective phonics provision and those who read to inspectors showed they were using phonics strategies well. Combined with additional intervention for targeted individuals, this is resulting in predictions for the improvement to continue.
• Although disadvantaged pupils benefit from improved teaching and additional intervention to address the gaps in their learning, the difference between their attainment and other pupils nationally is not diminishing quickly enough. Leaders do not sufficiently evaluate the use of pupil premium funding to help them identify which activities will result in the greatest impact on pupils’ learning.
• Leaders have increased intervention and targeted support in Year 2 and 6 to help as many pupils as possible make the progress needed for them to catch up with reading, writing and mathematics. Consequently, work in books and lessons confirm that progress has accelerated in these year groups and is helping more pupils to be ready for the next stage of their learning. However, teachers do not always make sure that the most able pupils are sufficiently challenged to make the progress they are capable of.
• The improvements seen in English and mathematics are not replicated in other subjects across the curriculum. Leaders also recognise that further extending pupils’ reading, writing and mathematics skills in other subject areas needs development.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported to work independently and meet the targets they have been set. However, leaders do not evaluate the impact of this provision on the group of learners to make decisions about how best to meet their needs.

Early years provision Good

• Progress in the early years is good because leadership has had considerable impact on improving outcomes for children. The proportion of children who are reaching a good level of development has increased from 43% to 63% over the last three years.
• Children typically begin school with starting points which are much lower than usual for their age. They often have underdeveloped speech and language but due to the teaching they receive they begin to catch up quickly. This gives them a positive start so that they are more ready for the curriculum in key stage 1. An increasing proportion of children are predicted to exceed the early learning goals at the end of the school year.
• The funding for disadvantaged children is being used to successfully diminish the difference between disadvantaged children and all children nationally over time. However, leaders are aware that boys do not make as much progress as girls.
• Leaders have tailored the provision to place a focus on children’s reading, writing and mathematics development. Teachers plan learning activities which are clearly focused on the next steps for individuals and groups and this results in children making good progress with their learning.
• Leaders have ensured that staff are highly skilled to be able to support the children’s learning and development. For example, all staff are using learning time well to help improve children’s phonics skills. This means children have lots of chances to practise their newly acquired skills throughout the school day, whether indoors or out.
• Teachers use their knowledge of children’s interests to encourage them to participate in activities which precisely target the skills they need. For example, a child who was having difficulty with pencil control was quick to improve once provided with an enjoyable task appealing to their competitive nature and love of spiders.
• The early years unit has a very calm atmosphere and children demonstrate positive learning behaviours. They share, cooperate and access the provision independently with appropriate levels of concentration for their age. The older Reception-aged children are good role models for the Nursery-aged children. Consequently, they quickly learn about the expectations of their learning behaviour and general conduct.
• Staff take safeguarding responsibilities seriously and all of the welfare requirements are met. The fortnightly meetings for staff are a successful means of staff receiving safety and welfare updates.
• Staff make regular contact with parents each day and while leaders recognise that links with parents could be strengthened further, the participation in a reading programme which provides free books and promotes a love of reading is encouraging parents to read more often with their children at home.

School details

Unique reference number 140625 Local authority North Lincolnshire Inspection number 10023796 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 Academy sponsor-led 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 384 Appropriate authority Delta Academy Trust Chair Headteacher Steve Hodsman Elaine Jupp (Head of Academy) Telephone number 01724 842608 Website Email address www.wrpacademy.org.uk info@wrpacademy.org.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• Willoughby Road Primary Academy became a sponsored academy on 1 April 2014 with School Partnership Trust Academies, now known as the Delta Academy Trust. When its predecessor school, Willoughby Road Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted it was judged to require improvement.
• The headteacher, known as the head of academy, began her post in January 2016 and the executive principal in January 2017. Three teachers have left the school in the last year and have been replaced by newly qualified teachers. The vice-principal was absent from school at the time of the inspection.
• The school receives extensive support through the multi-academy trust. Currently, this includes a learning director who supports the school for two days a week.
• The school is larger than average.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding is above the national average.
• The majority of pupils are White British and a small proportion are from a range of minority ethnic groups. The proportion who speak English as an additional language is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is average and the proportion who have an education, health and care plan is below the national average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of specified information about the curriculum, special educational needs and/or disabilities and the PE and sport premium on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed teaching in every class. Most observations were undertaken jointly with the headteacher. Inspectors observed the teaching of early reading skills and listened to pupils read. They talked to pupils about their school and evaluated the quality of work in a sample of pupils’ books.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher and executive principal, the regional director from the Delta Academy Trust and two representatives from the governing body, one of whom was also chair of the board of directors. Inspectors also discussed the school’s work with the early years leader and the leaders of English and mathematics. Discussions took place with teachers and newly qualified teachers about the support and development they receive.
• A range of documentation was considered including the school’s self-evaluation; records of the monitoring of teaching and learning; the school improvement plan; the school’s performance data; information on the progress of particular pupil groups; information relating to attendance and behaviour of pupils; safeguarding and child protection records; and minutes from governing body meetings. Documents outlining the arrangements for the use of pupil premium and the PE and sport premium funding were also considered.
• Inspectors spoke to parents informally at the start of the school day in order to seek their views about the school. Inspectors took account of the 28 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View.
• Twenty-seven responses to the staff questionnaire were also taken into account.

Inspection team

Kirsty Godfrey, lead inspector Don Parker Sue Birch

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector