Castleford Three Lane Ends Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching so that it becomes consistently good or better by:
  • making better use of recently developed assessment systems and planning teaching that matches pupils’ needs and abilities effectively
  • improving the deployment of teaching assistants to ensure that they have a positive impact upon pupils’ learning
  • ensuring that opportunities to develop pupils’ mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills are consistently developed across the school
  • further improving pupils’ application of grammar, punctuation and spelling in their writing and the consistency of the quality of their handwriting and presentation further improving the teaching of reading and phonics so that pupils’ progress accelerates.
• Increase the impact of leadership and management and accelerate the rate at which the school improves by:
  • strengthening the leadership of provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and evaluating the impact of funding to support the progress of these pupils
  • making more effective use of the range of evidence available when evaluating the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress to arrive at more accurate school self-evaluation judgements
  • improving governors’ level of challenge to school leaders, particularly in relation to pupils’ outcomes, and checking the impact of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Improve provision for pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare by:
  • developing pupils’ confidence and independence when presented with work which challenges them so that they can tackle work with which they are less familiar
  • strengthening the strategies to improve the attendance levels of disadvantaged pupils and reduce their levels of persistent absence.
• Improve the progress of children, including disadvantaged children, in the early years so that the proportion of children achieving a good level of development matches the proportion found nationally by:
  • improving the quality of outdoor provision to accelerate children’s learning in literacy and mathematics
  • providing learning activities that engage boys and accelerate their progress in all areas
  • improving the accuracy of assessment in the early years. 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. An external review of governance 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

• Over time, leaders, including governors, have not been effective enough in securing consistently good teaching and good progress for pupils. Leaders’ actions have not fully addressed the required improvements, including in the early years. However, the recently appointed headteacher is taking appropriate action to address these areas for improvement. There is early evidence that this is bringing improvements in pupils’ outcomes at the end of Year 2 and Year 6.
• Leaders have previously been too positive in their overall judgements of the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes. The new headteacher has introduced a more systematic approach to checking the quality of teaching and the recording and review of pupils’ progress information. Although not fully embedded, these systems are beginning to identify where leadership, teaching and pupils’ outcomes need to improve.
• The current interim leadership arrangements for provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are not strong enough. Leaders have not checked carefully the progress of these pupils or the impact of the additional funding provided for supporting the outcomes for these pupils. Consequently, the additional funding is not spent effectively.
• Pupil premium spending has a variable impact on accelerating the progress of disadvantaged pupils. In key stage 1, disadvantaged pupils generally make progress similar to that found nationally. In key stage 2, some disadvantaged pupils do not make sufficient progress in mathematics. However, the provisional 2017 key stage 2 results indicate the differences between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and others are beginning to diminish. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who achieve the expected standard in the phonics screening check is low. Levels of absence for disadvantaged pupils are too high and, despite leaders’ efforts, still require further improvement.
• The headteacher has accurately identified the need to improve the impact of pupil premium funding. Along with the trust’s director for primary, she has begun to review the impact of this funding.
• The subject leader for mathematics has taken action to improve the teaching of problem-solving and reasoning in mathematics. Pupils’ books show that there are increasing opportunities for pupils to develop their learning in these areas. However, this is not consistent across the school and pupils’ attainment in mathematics remains below that found nationally by the end of Year 6.
• The subject leader for English has taken some appropriate actions to improve pupils’ progress in this subject, for example by encouraging increased opportunities for pupils to develop their writing in subjects other than English. There is emerging evidence that this work is beginning to improve pupils’ writing. However, this approach is not consistently developed across the school.
• Leaders’ actions to improve the teaching of reading are beginning to have a positive impact on pupils’ attainment by the end of Year 2 and Year 6. However, the checking of the quality of the teaching of phonics has not been rigorous enough and pupils’ outcomes are below those found nationally.
• The key stage 1 phase leader has rightly focused on increasing the proportions of pupils working at greater depth by the end of Year 2. This has resulted in assessments that are more accurate and planning of teaching in Year 2 which better meets pupils’ needs. Consequently, in 2017, the proportions of pupils working at greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics have substantially increased.
• The school’s improvement plan generally identifies appropriate actions to address the school’s priorities. However, the measures of success for checking and evaluating the plan’s impact are not sharp enough to hold staff to account and drive rapid improvement.
• Leaders make effective use of the additional funding for sport and physical education (PE) in primary schools. Teaching by PE teachers from the high school both provides specialist PE teaching for pupils and enhances the primary school teachers’ expertise. There are increased opportunities for pupils to enjoy a wider range of physical activities. As a result, opportunities for pupils to take part in competitive sports and develop healthy lifestyles have improved.
• The school’s topic-based curriculum ensures effective coverage of the national curriculum subjects. Pupils benefit from specialist teaching in music and PE. They also have access to a good range of after-school clubs which enrich the curriculum. Leaders have ambitious plans to revise the curriculum for the next academic year.
• The encouragement of pupils’ social, moral and spiritual development is a strength of the school. For example, pupils have a good understanding of ‘right and wrong’ because the school’s approaches, such as the school rules and ‘Golden Time’, are well understood by pupils. Regular opportunities to become a member of the school council help pupils to understand democracy and citizenship.
• Following a period of changes to leadership and staffing, the school is in a more stable position for starting the next academic year. Teachers who are at an early stage of their careers are provided with appropriate support to develop their skills. Appropriate systems are now in place for teachers’ performance management.
• The trust has provided relevant support to help leaders improve their approaches to checking the impact of school improvement and for improving the quality of teaching. The support for leaders is beginning to improve their self-evaluation skills. The recent work of the trust’s director for primary alongside the headteacher has provided a more accurate view of the school’s position for the trust and governors.

Governance of the school

• Governors are supportive of school leaders and staff. They have a good understanding of the community the school serves. However, they have not provided sufficient challenge for leaders in aspects such as pupils’ progress, including in the early years, and the impact of the use of resources such as the pupil premium funding. They have not completed their agreed actions in the school improvement plan in a timely fashion. As a result, some leadership aspects of the school’s development plan have been delayed.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders complete careful safeguarding checks for all staff, governors and volunteers. The safeguarding policy meets the current national requirements and staff understand the procedures and their own responsibilities. Staff and governors receive regular and appropriate training so that they know how to keep pupils safe, including training about how to protect pupils from radicalisation and extremism. Leaders and staff work effectively with other agencies and parents to ensure that they meet the needs of pupils and families who may be vulnerable and establish a culture of safeguarding.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching is inconsistent and, as a result, over time too few pupils make good progress.
• The quality of the teaching of phonics is variable and pupils’ progress from the early years through to the end of Year 2 is uneven. As a result, not enough pupils achieve the expected standard in the phonics screening check by the end of Year 1.
• Teaching assistants are supportive of pupils’ behaviour in lessons and they encourage pupils to engage with their work. However, teaching assistants’ impact upon pupils’ learning is more variable.
• In mathematics, some teachers are now using a wider range of approaches to improve pupils’ mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills. However, in other classes, opportunities to develop these skills are more limited. Consequently, pupils’ progress in mathematics across the school remains variable.
• An increased focus on developing pupils’ grammar, punctuation and spelling skills is paying dividends and this is helping pupils to make improved progress in developing these skills. However, these skills are not always transferred into pupils’ other written work. Some teachers’ expectations for presentation and handwriting are not high enough. As a result, the quality of pupils’ writing is variable and requires further improvement.
• Pupils are enthusiastic about reading. Older pupils read with fluency, although their understanding of the text is not always fully developed. Pupils in Year 2 are developing a love of reading and use their phonics skills to help make sense of unknown words.
• Improvements to the assessment system and opportunities to check the accuracy of assessment with staff in other schools are starting to help teachers improve their understanding of the age-related expectations in the national curriculum. This is beginning to help some teachers plan work that is better matched to pupils’ needs.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Some pupils are not fully clear about how to be confident successful learners. Occasionally, when pupils are presented with challenging tasks, their levels of independence and resilience are low or they are overly dependent upon adult support.
• Lessons and assemblies help pupils know how to stay safe, including online. The headteacher is particularly active in letting pupils know that they can approach her for support if they have concerns.
• Pupils understand the different forms of bullying and, while they report that incidents are very rare, they believe that these are well addressed by staff. School records show that leaders take any incidents of bullying seriously and that they deal with these promptly and appropriately.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• Overall attendance levels are similar to those found nationally. However, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils is not high enough and some of these pupils have high levels of persistent absence. Recent actions by leaders, such as the introduction of the breakfast club, are beginning to make improvements but leaders recognise that there is still more to do.
• In the vast majority of lessons, pupils are well behaved and keen to learn. However, where teachers’ expectations are not clear enough or the work is not well matched to their needs, some pupils’ interest wanes and this results in less positive behaviour or a lack of engagement with the tasks before them.
• During playtimes and lunchtimes, pupils behave well. They socialise suitably and choose between well-organised games or taking time to chat with their friends in the quieter seated areas in the playground.
• Pupils display good manners and are polite and welcoming. They move around the school very sensibly. The manner in which they came into the hall for assembly during the inspection was exemplary.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Outcomes for pupils require improvement because, in key stages 1 and 2, pupils’ progress has been variable over the last two years. The quality of teaching has not been consistently good enough over time.
• By the end of Year 6, pupils’ attainment is below that found nationally. The difference between the school’s results and the national averages is particularly wide in mathematics. As a result, some pupils are not well prepared academically for starting their next stage of education.
• The proportion of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, achieving the expected standard in the phonics screening check in Year 1 has been below the national average for the last three years. This is because the teaching of phonics is variable.
• By the end of Year 2, the proportions of pupils working at greater depth have been too low. However, actions instigated by the key stage 1 phase leader are addressing this shortcoming. Consequently, the 2017 provisional key stage 1 results show substantial improvements in the proportions of pupils in Year 2 working at greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics.
• In key stage 1, disadvantaged pupils’ progress from their starting points is generally similar to that found nationally. However, disadvantaged pupils do not always make enough progress, particularly in mathematics, across key stage 2. However, the 2017 provisional key stage 2 results indicate that the difference in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and others has started to diminish. In the past, leaders, including governors, have not tracked the progress of this group of pupils closely enough.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make variable progress and sometimes their progress is below that found nationally. Leaders have not checked the progress of this group of pupils carefully enough.
• By the end of Year 6, the most able pupils’ progress is in line with that found nationally. Recent improvements to the accuracy of assessment and teachers’ planning in Year 2 have increased the proportion of pupils, including the most able, who are working at greater depth.
• In 2017, provisional results show that Year 6 pupils’ attainment in grammar, punctuation and spelling assessments improved from the previous year and were very close to the national averages. This reflects teachers’ focus on improving pupils’ skills in these areas.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Children start in the early years with skills and abilities that are generally typical for their age. From their starting points, children make good progress in Nursery. However, this is not sustained throughout the Reception Year. The overall proportion of children achieving a good level of development has been below the national average for the last three years. As a result, not enough children are well prepared for Year 1.
• Improvements in the progress of disadvantaged children have been inconsistent. The spending of additional funding for disadvantaged children has had a variable impact. Consequently, the differences between these children’s outcomes and those of others nationally do not show a clear diminishing pattern. None of these children achieved a good level of development this year.
• The quality of teaching is variable. In Nursery, staff engage children effectively in both adult-led learning and where children are choosing the activities. For example, children were totally focused as they worked with a programmable toy and a range of attractive practical resources to develop their mathematical skills. However, in Reception, activities do not always secure the interest of children as effectively.
• Boys’ attainment lags behind that of boys nationally. Staff are beginning to introduce activities that will motivate and engage boys in learning. However, more needs to be done to improve boys’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The current interim leader for the early years is keen to improve children’s outcomes and she has taken some appropriate actions to improve the provision available. However, she has not checked carefully to see if these have made the required differences.
• Learning opportunities in the outdoor areas offer a range of learning experiences. However, there is insufficient focus on activities that will develop children’s literacy and numeracy skills. As a result, children are not achieving well in these areas.
• Early years staff have systems for assessing children’s learning and regularly recording children’s progress. However, previous assessments were in some instances too low. This makes planning appropriate next steps in learning and measuring children’s progress difficult.
• Staff effectively support the development of children’s personal and social skills. As a result, children cooperate well, sharing resources and taking turns sensibly.
• Early years staff work well with parents. Parents are involved with children’s assessments and staff provide information to help parents understand how to support their child’s learning. Parents are positive about the support provided by the early years staff.
• Children feel safe and secure. Safeguarding is effective and all welfare requirements are met. The substantive leader for the early years has received a high level of safeguarding training.
• Staff make effective links with other agencies where children may require additional support.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 141290 Wakefield 10031038 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 Academy converter 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 448 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address John Iveson Katie Greatorex 01977 524 483 www.tleacademy.co.uk headteacher@tleacademy.co.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school is much larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The school converted to academy status in September 2014 and is part of the Castleford Academy Trust.
• The current headteacher was appointed September 2016.
• The vast majority of pupils are White British.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium funding is similar to that found nationally.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is well below that found nationally.
• The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan is above that found nationally.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed learning in 21 lessons or parts of lessons. The headteacher joined the lead inspector for four of the observations in lessons.
• The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour around school and reviewed the school’s promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The inspectors observed pupils in the playground, during lunchtime and in assembly.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, phase leaders and the teachers responsible for leading English and mathematics. Meetings were also held with the interim leader for the early years, as well as the interim special educational needs coordinator. The lead inspector met with two members of the governing body, including the chair of the governing body. He also met with the director of primary from the trust.
• A group of pupils discussed their opinions about the school and their learning with the inspectors. The inspectors listened to six pupils from key stage 1 and key stage 2 read.
• The inspectors held discussions with parents at the beginning of the school day and considered the 16 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. There were no responses to the pupil or staff questionnaires.
• The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including minutes from meetings of the governing body, information about pupils’ achievement, the school’s evaluation of its own performance and its development plan. Behaviour and attendance records and information relating to safeguarding were also considered. The inspectors scrutinised pupils’ work in their books.

Inspection team

Michael Reeves, lead inspector Tracey Ralph Nicola Shipman Liz Moore

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector