England Lane Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching so that all pupils, especially the most able, achieve well, by ensuring that:
  • teachers have the highest expectations of pupils’ learning and behaviour
  • teachers plan activities that take full account of what pupils already know so that pupils’ interest and enthusiasm for learning does not wane in lessons
  • the deployment of teaching assistants and their development is more effective so that it has a greater impact on pupils’ learning.
• Improve leadership and management at all levels by ensuring that:
  • communications with parents are improved
  • the capacity of senior, middle and subject leaders to drive the improvement of pupils’ outcomes is increased
  • pupils are provided with more opportunities to consider life in modern Britain so that their understanding of British values is extended.
• Raise overall attendance rates.
• Improve the provision in the early years so that all children make rapid progress, by:
  • developing stronger links with parents
  • providing more information to ensure accurate and detailed records of assessment for children
  • using assessment to more closely match activities to the needs of children.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• The head of the school, governors and the trust are ambitious for the pupils, the staff and the school. Although the trust has clear plans to support and develop the school, the school itself has too little leadership capacity.
• Leaders have quite rightly identified that middle leadership requires significant development. At this time, many are still new to their roles and as yet their leadership is not being used to inform and update the school’s evaluation of its own effectiveness.
• The trust has already engaged the services of talented staff from within the trust to provide bespoke training and support. These actions have yet to have a major impact on the school’s development.
• The leadership of teaching, learning and assessment still require some improvement. Arrangements for checking on the quality of teaching are focused sharply on pupils’ learning and progress. The head of the school and high-quality teachers from the trust provide coaching and mentoring for staff. Feedback they give to teachers following observations makes it clear how teachers need to improve their teaching and pupils’ learning. However, the improvements are still not rapid enough in some classes.
• Leaders’ evaluation of the school’s effectiveness is accurate, honest and fair. The evaluation takes full account of the standards pupils reach at the end of the early years and both key stages. It properly takes account of the significant improvements in outcomes in the early years and key stage 1 since the school converted to academy status, while also acknowledging that standards are not high enough in some classes in lower key stage 2 and that teaching is not yet consistently good.
• The school promotes pupils’ social, moral and spiritual development well through a wide range of visits and visitors. However, although pupils have some knowledge of major world religions, the varied cultures of modern Britain are not well-represented in the curriculum or in the resources pupils use, for example in the library, or in displays around the school. This limits pupils’ cultural development and their awareness of diversity, which is a fundamental British value.
• Leaders competently track the attainment and progress of individual pupils and groups of pupils, especially in key stages 1 and 2. This is because the school’s current systems and procedures for assessment are regular, clear and precise. Consequently, where pupils may be struggling to keep up, interventions and support are quickly implemented to tackle any issues as soon as they arise. Ongoing assessment and the records of children’s achievement are less well advanced in the early years.
• The leadership of the provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is effective. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are served well because leaders make the best use of external agencies, one-to-one support and small-group work to assess and support their needs. In addition, their progress is effectively tracked to ensure that the support is working. If it isn’t, it is changed.
• The school’s curriculum is broad and balanced. Visits outside of school enhance pupils’ learning. For example, pupils in key stage 2 participate in adventurous pursuits on a residential visit and are soon to visit London where they hope to meet their member of parliament at the houses of parliament. These activities help pupils to learn new skills and make a significant contribution to their personal as well as academic achievement.
• Pupil premium funding is spent wisely and ensures that disadvantaged pupils at the end of each key stage achieve ever improving results when compared with non-disadvantaged pupils nationally. Disadvantaged pupils benefit from carefully targeted and bespoke tuition. Many attend the daily ‘early bird’ sessions after breakfast club.
• The physical education and sports funding has been used effectively to increase participation rates in a range of sporting activities and to increase teachers’ skills in delivering an improved quality of physical education lessons.
• The school offers a good range of extra-curricular activities which are popular and widely attended.
• A significant minority of parents who completed the online questionnaire, and a number of those who spoke informally to inspectors, expressed concerns about the school’s leadership and management, especially the lack of communication. Around three in 10 would not recommend the school.
• Since becoming the sponsor of England Lane Academy, the trust has challenged underachievement and done a great deal to remove the barriers which have prevented rapid progress. Inadequate teaching has been eliminated and leadership has been strengthened. However, there remains a major issue in the school not being able to secure good teachers and the appointment of new staff has been very difficult.

Governance of the school

• The governing body has full confidence in the school’s leadership and the trust’s capacity to secure the necessary improvements. This is a relatively new governing body which recognises that expectations of pupils’ learning and behaviour in the school have been too low in the past, including for disadvantaged pupils and the most able. They are aware that the pace of improvement in the school has been too slow. However, they are now effective and are ambitious for the school’s future success.
• Governors’ understanding about the key issues for school improvement and about pupils’ outcomes is supported very well by the wealth of key information they receive from the school’s leaders. For example, they have regular and robust detail about whether developments in the school are on track and whether these are bringing about enough improvement in pupils’ outcomes.
• Governors check the school’s work rigorously. They ask challenging questions and challenge leaders sharply about the school’s performance and any dips in pupils’ achievement.
• Governors have a clear view of how leaders use additional funding and the difference this is making to disadvantaged pupils’ progress. They correctly measure disadvantaged pupils’ achievement against others nationally. This means the previously low expectations are no longer tolerated.
• Governors have a good understanding of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in the school and the impact this is having on pupils’ learning. This awareness and a realistic view has been gained through visits to school, data and reports from the head of school and others. Governors are determined that weaker teaching will not be tolerated and have every faith in the trust to take necessary action to either support and improve teaching or to take further action as necessary.
• Numerous changes in the governing body mean that a number of governors are relatively new to their roles and at an early understanding of their responsibilities.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective and the vast majority of parents are happy that their children are safe and cared for well in school.
• All staff and governors have an up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding policies and procedures. Teachers and other members of staff speak confidently about what they would do if they had a safeguarding concern. Recruitment checks are well organised and complete.
• The school site is well maintained and orderly, including the early years areas. Secure perimeter fencing, attentive staff and security measures at all entrances ensure that pupils are safe.
• Governors understand their responsibilities for ensuring pupils’ safety. They are well-informed about some of the potential risks to pupils’ well-being, including extremism and radicalisation because they have attended appropriate training.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The impact of teaching on pupils’ learning over time requires improvement.
• In the past, teaching has not been consistently good because low expectations, frequent staffing changes and some weak teaching, have contributed to standards failing to rise quickly enough. As a result, pupils in both key stages and in the early years did not make sufficient progress in reading, writing and mathematics. This situation has now been remedied and in most classes the progress is better, though not consistently good throughout school.
• Although much improved of late, teaching is still not consistently good in all classes. Pupils in some classes struggle to make rapid progress because they have gaps in their knowledge and understanding due to the weaker teaching they experienced in the past. This has hampered learning because current teachers have to spend time covering fundamental aspects of literacy and numeracy which pupils should have secured at a much earlier stage in their education.
• Teachers’ expectations of pupils’ learning and behaviour are inconsistent. They are high in the majority of classes but are often too low in a significant minority of classes. Teachers’ responses to misbehaviour are also variable, leading to considerable differences in the quality of behaviour and learning in different classes.
• In most classes, teachers have high expectations and pupils respond by being motivated and keen learners. This is not always the case in other classes where the pace of learning slows because teachers have to repeatedly reassert expectations of good behaviour.
• Pupils sometimes become restless because teachers do not consistently use the information available about pupils’ prior learning well enough to move pupils’ learning forward briskly. The work they set for pupils does not fully deepen and extend pupils’ learning and understanding sufficiently well. This is particularly the case for the most able pupils.
• Phonics teaching is effective and the newly introduced phonic approach is equipping pupils with the basic reading and writing skills essential for success in English. There is good consistency in the quality of phonics teaching. The growing understanding of the new scheme is enabling teachers to respond quickly and effectively to the wide variations in pupils’ phonics knowledge. They accurately address any confusion or misconceptions which arise during lessons to ensure that pupils make secure and rapid progress.
• Teachers’ expectations of pupils’ writing are inconsistent. Writing is taught well in many classes but too often in the early stages of key stage 2, teachers do not consistently insist that pupils follow fundamental punctuation rules, such as using capital letters for people’s names. The work in pupils’ books from last year shows that pupils in Year 6 were writing well but improvements would be even more rapid if teachers raised expectations throughout the key stage, not just at the end.
• In mathematics, teachers develop pupils’ understanding of number calculations using effective resources and clear modelling. However, occasionally the activities currently planned for pupils contain too much repetition and insufficient emphasis on developing pupils’ deeper problem-solving and reasoning skills.
• The level of teaching assistant support is generous but its quality is a little variable. Additional adults are not used to good effect during all parts of lessons. For example, when teachers explain work to their class, opportunities to support and encourage pupils’ learning are missed. Some teachers do not plan for their teaching assistants well enough to ensure that they target the right pupils at the right time.
• Some teaching assistants are extremely effective, for example they explain tasks carefully to pupils when appropriate, and are patient with those who need more time to understand new ideas. In too many cases, however, teaching assistants’ expectations, like those of teachers, are too low. For example, some provide too much support for pupils. As a result, these pupils often do not learn how to work independently.
• Most teachers demonstrate good subject knowledge and this promotes an air of confidence to which pupils respond. This was clearly seen as a teacher in upper key stage 2 explained why Britain wanted to expand its empire in an interesting history lesson. In lower key stage 2, teachers’ subject knowledge in mathematics is not always good enough. Pupils are occasionally confused by their teachers’ explanations.
• Teachers regularly assess the progress that pupils are making and pay particular attention to the progress of disadvantaged pupils. They use this information quickly to identify any pupil who is beginning to fall behind their classmates and make sure that any such pupil is given extra support to help them catch up. They provide intervention lessons, focusing specifically on areas of weakness.
• At the upper end of key stage 2, pupils enjoy working together and sharing their views. They are keen to tell others what they know and delight in receiving praise. Pupils make the most progress in the classes of teachers who ask open-ended questions which require deep thought and reasoned answers.
• Throughout the school, teachers do not have high enough expectations of their most able pupils. As a result, they do not plan sufficiently challenging work. Too often, most able pupils have been expected to complete ‘more of the same’ rather than working at a greater depth. Consequently, not enough of the school’s most able pupils attain the highest levels at the end of the early years, key stage 1 and key stage 2.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good
• Most pupils take pride in the presentation of their work. The presentation and content of their writing continues to improve and many pupils have developed a sense of self-worth and to show perseverance and determination.
• Older pupils willingly take on roles of responsibility such as school councillors and peer mediators. Monitors take their roles seriously. They talk to younger pupils and help pupils who may be feeling out of sorts in the playground.
• Pupils told the inspector that they were very happy to attend England Lane Academy with one saying, ‘It’s hard work here but we have good teachers.’
• Parents have mixed views. A large majority are happy with the school because their children are happy in school. One parent told inspectors that ‘this school really cares for each child and treats them as individuals’. However, many parents have concerns because there have been many staffing changes which have clearly unsettled children at times.
• Pupils feel safe in school. They explained carefully to inspectors how to stay safe online by not talking to strangers and by not divulging any personal information such as their names, ages and addresses.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• The quality of pupils’ behaviour in lessons varies widely. Pupils’ attitudes to their learning are dependent on the quality of teaching. When pupils are challenged and inspired, they become totally engrossed in their learning. However, on other occasions, they switch off, lose interest and disturb other children.
• Pupils are aware of the different types of bullying. Pupils are absolutely confident that the head of the school and other staff will deal with any incidents of bullying straight away. They told inspectors that incidents of bullying have reduced but still do occur occasionally. The school’s procedures to record and analyse incidents of bullying are tight, consistently followed and robustly maintained.
• Pupils are aware that racist incidents are not tolerated in this school. They told inspectors that staff deal well with rare instances of pupils commenting upon other pupils’ skin colour.
• Pupils attend school more often this year than they have done in previous years. Persistent absence, which was much higher than average in previous years, has been greatly reduced this year. However, despite some improvement, the school’s robust actions and impending legal actions, attendance is still below the national average. A small number of parents still take their pupils on holiday during term time which affects pupils’ attendance.
• Although most pupils are kind to each other and behave well during playtimes, some are boisterous but not malicious.
• Around three in 10 of those parents who responded to the online questionnaire, and most of those who spoke with inspectors during the inspection, expressed concerns about pupils’ behaviour. However, pupils themselves felt very strongly that it was only a very few pupils who misbehaved and this wasn’t all of the time.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Standards are continuing to improve in key stage 2 but the after-effects of pupils’ previous underachievement continue to have an impact on standards. Standards attained by pupils in Year 6 were well below the national average in 2016, but their progress was not significantly different from that achieved by pupils in similar schools. With improved teaching, standards are rising and the work in pupils’ books is mostly at the level expected for their age. The school’s accurate assessment system and inspection evidence shows that at least seven out of 10 pupils are on track to reach the expected standards by the end of the year. This represents very good progress since their time in Year 2.
• Outcomes require improvement because over time, too many pupils have not made the progress of which they were capable. Standards are now improving rapidly, particularly in the early years and key stage 1. However, there is a legacy of underachievement caused by weak teaching and leadership prior to the school’s conversion to an academy in 2013, which still remains and means that some pupils are still catching up.
• In the early years and key stage 1, standards have risen significantly over the past three years and the school’s records and inspection evidence show that they are currently at national levels. This represents rapid progress from their starting points. Eight out of 10 pupils in Year 1 achieved the expected level in phonics in 2016.
• Pupils at the end of key stage 1 in 2016, achieved standards which were below average in reading and writing but matched the national average in mathematics. The school recognised that the lower standard in reading was the result of the teaching of phonics not being effective enough, so they revamped the approach. This is now having a significant impact on improving standards as can be seen in the early years and Year 1. Current standards of work in the workbooks of the Year 2 pupils indicate a continuing pattern of improvement.
• Because of the low standards they attained, Year 6 pupils in the past have not been ready for secondary school by the time they left England Lane. Inspection evidence and current work shows that they are on track to be prepared in 2017.
• Disadvantaged pupils are now being supported well with bespoke support and interventions. They often reach higher standards than non-disadvantaged pupils in school. Disadvantaged pupils are now achieving well in key stage 1. Accelerated progress in Year 5 and Year 6 means that most disadvantaged pupils are also achieving well and are on track to meet age-related standards at the end of key stage 2.
• The most able pupils do not make sufficient progress. Not enough reach the highest standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stages 1 and 2. Current workbooks indicate that the most able pupils are making better progress in reading and writing than they are in mathematics. Too often, the most able pupils are repeating work which they can easily complete and missing out on opportunities to work at greater depth in reasoning and problem-solving.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive good support from teachers and teaching assistants which is well suited to their specific needs. These groups of pupils currently make good or better progress from their individual starting points. Teachers include these pupils fully in lessons, demonstrating that the school strongly promotes equality of opportunity.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Assessments in the early years are accurate and the leader of the early years has an informed view of their starting points. However, the records and entries in children’s learning journeys are not focused enough and not precisely linked to the outcomes and stages in child development. Therefore, the information they provide does not identify next steps for learning or show the clear progress they are making. Without such records there is a risk that staff may not be able to plan for future learning with accuracy and staff cannot be sure that all pupils lagging behind are swiftly identified or given support to help them catch up.
• Parents are appreciative of the efforts the staff make in the early years to ensure that their children enjoy their time at school. However, this is not an effective partnership and parents rarely contribute to the children’s assessments. As a result, opportunities to extend children’s learning at home are not exploited and parents are not sufficiently involved in children’s learning.
• Until recently, children in the early years had not made the progress that they should, especially in reading, writing and mathematics. Provision has improved significantly and in 2016, from very low starting points on entry to the school, two thirds of children achieved a good level of development. This has shown a year-on-year improvement since the school converted to an academy and represents rapid progress for some children.
• Improvements in teaching since the school converted to an academy ensure that children are increasingly better prepared with the knowledge, skills and attitudes they need to learn well in Year 1. A sharper focus on the needs of disadvantaged children since the previous inspection led to an increase in the proportion achieving a good level of development in 2016.
• Progress in the acquisition of phonic knowledge is good and teachers in the Nursery and Reception classes plan for children effectively because they know the children well and, on a daily basis, they extend children’s learning.
• The quality of teaching is good. Perceptive observation and effective questioning by teachers and teaching assistants promote good development of thinking, communication skills and vocabulary. For example, one child had drawn a treasure map and the teacher used this opportunity to ask him to count the coins he had drawn and label some of the features. On another occasion, the teacher asked a child in the ‘estate agent’ role play area to explain about the price of a conservatory. On both occasions the child’s vocabulary was extended and their mathematical skills were enhanced.
• Adults develop children’s early reading skills well, ensuring that they listen carefully and follow instructions closely.
• The best learning in the early years occurs when children follow their own interests and adults encourage their learning with open-ended questions. The children do not flit between activities. They persevere when they are interested.
• Relationships are strong in the early years. Children behave well in both Nursery and Reception. They demonstrate good levels of cooperation, take turns and share. The children are happy in the setting.
• Leaders have developed and improved the outdoor learning environment. The children have constant access to a well-organised and resourced area and they love it.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140333 Wakefield 10019696 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 187 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Head of Academy Telephone number Website Email address Pam Smith Samantha Thompson 01977 722440 www.elacademy.org.uk info@elacademy.org.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school. In December 2013, the school became part of the School Partnership Trust Academies.
• Since conversion to academy status, leadership including the head of the school and almost every governor and teacher has changed.
• The proportion of pupils supported by pupil premium funding is higher than that found in most schools.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• Most pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is lower than the national average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.
• The school provides full-time early years provision in the Reception class and part-time education for those in the Nursery.
• The school operates a breakfast club on the school premises. This was included in the inspection.
• 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 inspection team observed learning in all classes, including some which were observed jointly with the headteacher.
• The inspection team held discussions with the headteacher, senior leaders, representatives of the trust, teachers, members of staff, parents and pupils. A meeting also took place with the chair of the governing body and two other governors.
• The inspection team took account of the 31 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire. In addition, inspectors considered the views expressed by parents who spoke with them informally during the school day.
• The inspection team also took account of the 11 responses to the staff online survey.
• The inspection team observed the school’s work and considered a range of documents, including the improvement plan, information about pupils’ progress and attendance, and safeguarding policies.
• The inspection team looked at a sample of pupils’ work provided by the school, as well as looking at pupils’ work in lessons. They also listened to pupils in Year 2 and Year 6 reading and visited an assembly.

Inspection team

Steve Bywater, lead inspector Ella Besharati Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector