Moorthorpe Primary (J and I ) School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • middle leaders continue to develop their effectiveness by contributing further to overall school improvement priorities
  • governors effectively hold leaders to account by playing a full role in supporting and challenging them further.
• Continue to embed recent changes to the teaching of writing by ensuring that:
  • teachers’ subject knowledge is secured to promote good progress for all pupils
  • all pupils are taught how to edit and improve their work and given time to do so
  • the most able pupils and older pupils are given increased opportunities to plan and write independently.
• Raise expectations so that the speed with which letter sounds and patterns are introduced, in the early years, more closely matches the chosen phonics programme.
• Continue to improve the attendance of pupils by ensuring that strategies to improve attendance are continually evaluated and adapted as and when necessary.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since the appointment of the headteacher, in September 2018, leaders have acted decisively to address the identified areas of underperformance. The headteacher has worked quickly with other leaders to ensure that there is a sharp focus on the priorities identified at the previous inspection. She has had a substantial impact, within this short period of time, taking some difficult decisions to improve the school further.
• The headteacher has rapidly established a positive culture, ensuring that leaders are individually and collectively ambitious for the school. Leaders have identified appropriate priorities and are able to demonstrate clear progress towards meeting their goals. They understand their contribution towards whole-school improvement, although it is too early to evaluate the full effect of the work of some less experienced leaders.
• Subject leaders for mathematics and English have undertaken a range of monitoring activities. As a result of this work, targeted support and additional staff training has been put in place, where appropriate. For example, the leader for English has established a new approach for teaching writing, aimed at securing better progress over time. Alongside this, the mathematics leader has monitored the use of new resources to ensure an appropriate balance between mathematical fluency, reasoning and problem solving. As a result of these actions, leaders have influenced teachers’ practice. They are clear about the next steps necessary to improve the quality of teaching.
• Staff are extremely committed and positive about their own development following recent training. They feel valued and supported by leaders.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has well-established and effective procedures for identifying, supporting and reviewing the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Referrals to external specialist agencies are timely. Interventions are carefully monitored and evaluated, to ensure that funding is targeted appropriately. As a result, the progress of pupils with SEND is strong and improving.
• Leaders have ensured that pupil premium funding is appropriately targeted to diminish the differences in outcomes between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally. Leaders’ actions are appropriate, timely and linked to milestones which will enable them to check the effect of their plans along the way. There are early signs that these actions are having a positive effect on disadvantaged pupils’ learning and attainment.
• Leaders have used the physical education (PE) and sport premium funding to provide specialist teaching in PE and to encourage as many pupils as possible to participate in after-school sports clubs. As a result of leaders’ use of this funding, participation levels have risen. Nonetheless, leaders are keen to ensure further opportunities for pupils through developing links with other schools.
• Leaders have established a rich curriculum to ensure that pupils are able to learn from a wide range of experiences. ‘Hooks’, such as high-quality children’s books, educational visits and visitors to school, are all used to engage pupils in their learning. The curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to develop an understanding of the wider world and to learn about the responsibilities of citizenship in modern Britain.
• Leaders actively encourage parents and carers to participate in learning with their children. For example, activities such as the recent ‘enabling enterprise’ day have successfully engaged parents and supported pupils to learn the skills they will need in the workplace.
• The vast majority of parents and carers who spoke with inspectors or who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, or the school’s own recent survey, are supportive of the school and would recommend it to others. However, a very small minority feel that leaders do not respond effectively to their concerns. Leaders are actively seeking to address these concerns by encouraging parents to work with the school.

Governance of the school

• There have been substantial changes to governance since the previous inspection. As a result of an active recruitment campaign, several additional governors have joined the governing body. This has widened the governing body’s skillset and strengthened the ability of governors to support and challenge leaders.
• Following the most recent monitoring visit, the chair of the governing body has taken steps to ensure that governors have a better understanding of their role and are more able to take an active part in holding school leaders to account. Some governors have attended training with further training already planned. Such is governors’ determination to be as effective as possible in their role that they have brokered an external review of governance, scheduled to take place early in the New Year.
• Governors have a broad understanding of school priorities for improvement and are beginning to be able to offer more effective support and challenge to school leaders. The role of link governors is being developed, but this is at an early stage. However, governors are not complacent and continue to seek additional training opportunities so that they can further challenge and support leaders in their work.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• All appropriate safeguarding checks are undertaken for staff working with pupils at the school. Staff receive regular updates to ensure that they are familiar with safeguarding legislation and there is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. Leaders are clear that it ‘underpins everything we do’.
• Leaders have taken appropriate action to safeguard pupils in the light of challenges which are particular to the school’s community. Pupils are confident in explaining how to stay safe online, what to do if they don’t feel safe and how to look after their own safety.
• Some pupils who spoke to inspectors had a clear understanding of what bullying is, but some were a little unclear about the differences between bullying and falling out or other everyday disagreements. In discussion, pupils were able to say that being picked on in a persistent, targeted, hurtful manner is not common and were confident that an adult would sort it out. For example, leaders are not complacent about bullying and held a recent anti-bullying assembly. They know there is more work to do to help pupils and parents have a better understanding about the nature of bullying.
• Designated staff follow procedures for recording incidents and referring safeguarding concerns to external agencies in a thorough and timely way. This minimises the risk of a delay when urgent action is required. Records show that leaders are diligent in ensuring that referrals are followed up with external agencies.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers plan lessons that engage and challenge pupils, therefore helping them to develop positive learning attitudes. For example, one group of pupils were excited by the challenge to write a Christmas story for the teacher’s own child. Teachers encourage pupils to explain their thinking and most pupils respond well to teachers’ feedback. As a result, pupils are developing the resilience necessary to improve their own work when they are given the opportunity to do so.
• Teachers’ skilful use of questioning encourages pupils to remember what they have learned previously. Effective questioning also makes links with prior learning and encourages pupils to explain what they have learned or what they are thinking. For example, some pupils could clearly articulate the process of column addition and could show how they had built up their skills across the term.
• Teachers’ subject knowledge is, in the main, strong. Teachers ensure that pupils have the resources they need for learning, such as word lists to support spelling choices or apparatus to aid understanding of place value. Recent training on the teaching of writing is not yet fully embedded but, in some classes, pupils’ progress is improving quickly because they are spending more time on developing their skills of redrafting and editing. This was especially evident in the quality and quantity of written work produced by some pupils as part of their topic work.
• Teachers make effective use of assessment information to plan their next steps in learning. Teachers are confident in adapting lessons as necessary to provide further support or challenge for pupils and to ensure greater progress. For example, in one mathematics lesson, the teacher stopped pupils working independently when she recognised that the class needed further teaching about working methodically to partition numbers.
• Leaders emphasise the importance of securing consistently stronger teaching of reading, writing and mathematics. Careful monitoring and sharing of good practice are beginning to ensure that any gaps in learning are addressed as a priority. Teachers help pupils to improve their skills in these areas through practising regularly and, where appropriate, targeted interventions.
• Leaders have recently introduced new resources to support the teaching of reasoning and problem solving in mathematics. As a result, pupils are increasingly confident to explain their thinking and to apply their knowledge to solve problems where there is more than one answer. Teachers use the resources effectively to extend pupils’ learning and help them make strong progress.
• Reading books for pupils in the early years and key stage 1 are well matched to pupils’ skills, allowing them to develop confidence and fluency. Leaders are taking action to ensure that comprehension skills are taught with a greater degree of consistency across the school, and early evidence suggests that this approach is having a positive impact. For example, recent tests show that an increasing number of pupils are working at the standard appropriate for their age.
• While there are growing strengths in the teaching of phonics, it is not yet sufficiently strong enough to ensure that all pupils have the knowledge and skills they need to be able to achieve well in reading and writing by the end of key stage 1. Pupils’ outcomes in the Year 1 phonics screening check, although close, are slightly below the national averages. Leaders have identified that pupils need to make more rapid progress by the end of the early years so that they are ready to meet the challenges of learning in key stage 1.
• The teaching of subjects in the wider curriculum is variable. Some work, for example in art and PE, where teaching is carried out by specialists, is of good quality. However, learning is more superficial in some other areas. Work has started to deepen pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding in subjects beyond English and mathematics but this is not yet fully mapped out in every curriculum area.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are proud of their school and describe it as a welcoming place where everyone is tolerant of one another. They talk confidently about the core rules of the school as ‘tips to be happy’. These rules of ‘be ready, be respectful and be resilient’ are threaded through the curriculum and are consistently modelled and promoted by teachers and leaders. Pupils talk about the importance of everyone working together. They value the school council and learn about democracy through the process of electing representatives and contributing to debate.
• Throughout the inspection, pupils consistently demonstrated a pride in their school and frequently took opportunities to work together. Standards of presentation are mostly high and pupils were keen to talk about what they had achieved. Pupils were frequently supportive of one another and when one was struggling in some way, other pupils would seek to help.
• The well-considered programme of personal and social learning contributes strongly to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Leaders ensure that pupils access a wide range of experiences during their time at Moorthorpe. For example, during the inspection, Year 6 visited a church as part of their religious education (RE) studies, some pupils sang Christmas carols at a local home for the elderly and all pupils had the opportunity to participate in a whole-school carol service. There is a growing number of activities open to pupils beyond the school day, including football and music.
• Pupils who spoke with inspectors were confident about how to stay safe online and how to be safe when using the roads. Pupils referred to learning about cyber bullying and to a recent anti-bullying week.
• The majority of pupils are confident, self-assured learners. However, a small minority are much less confident and sometimes struggle to manage their own emotions. Consequently, leaders have made the development of emotional and mental health a priority. While it is early days, it is clear that leaders’ strategies are already having an effect in supporting some of the most vulnerable pupils.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are polite and considerate of one another and of adults. The vast majority of pupils behave appropriately, in lessons and when they are in the corridors or on the playground. When behaviour slips, staff address this in line with school policy and most pupils respond quickly and positively.
• The vast majority of parents, staff and pupils who shared their views with inspectors report that the behaviour of most pupils is at least good. During the inspection, inspectors saw behaviour which supported this view. However, leaders are aware that a very small minority of pupils demonstrate extremely challenging behaviour. Leaders know these pupils well and have successfully implemented behaviour management strategies, including appropriate referrals to external agencies. As a result of effective action and additional staff training, there has been a reduction in the number of fixed- term exclusions in the current academic year compared to the same period previously.
• Leaders have taken action to improve the poor attendance of some pupils, which was highlighted in the previous inspection. Pupils talk enthusiastically about the new systems for the celebration and reward of good attendance. Leaders have also communicated clear expectations to parents about regular attendance. These have included procedures that the school will follow when term-time holidays are taken.
• Leaders have focused targeted support towards improving the attendance of specific pupils who miss too many school days. As a result of these actions, there is some evidence of an improving picture for attendance across the school. Although leaders rightly identify attendance as a continued priority, there is still more to do to evaluate strategies and adapt where appropriate so that attendance continues to improve.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Over the past three years, pupils’ outcomes by the end of key stage 2 were broadly in line with national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Over time, pupils’ outcomes at the end of key stage 1 have been consistently below the national averages at the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics. However, outcomes in 2018 showed improvement, particularly in reading and mathematics.
• By the time pupils leave Year 2, almost all of them have successfully achieved the required standard in the national phonics screening check. Outcomes for the same check in Year 1 are broadly in line with the national averages, although in 2018 there was a slight dip.
• The proportion of pupils achieving the higher standard across reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2 has increased steadily over time. There has also been a marked increase in the number of pupils achieving greater depth in mathematics and writing by the end of key stage 1.
• The most able pupils are challenged to think hard and work is suitably matched to their needs. Leaders have taken action to ensure that the most able writers are given increased opportunity to write independently. For example, some pupils have had opportunities to apply their writing skills for different purposes across the curriculum. However, this is not yet well established across the school.
• The number of disadvantaged pupils in each year group varies considerably. The progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils are carefully tracked and interventions are planned to ensure that they achieve well from their varying starting points. The progress of disadvantaged pupils who left the school in 2018 was better than for other pupils nationally in reading and mathematics. Progress in writing was less strong, mirroring the picture for Year 6 pupils as a whole.
• The progress of pupils with SEND is strong overall and improving. This is due to effective leadership of SEND across the school. This ensures that pupils’ needs are identified accurately and that the right intervention is put in place to support pupils’ progress and attainment.
• Leaders are providing effective support and challenge to secure improved outcomes. The headteacher has introduced raising achievement plans this year and although they are not yet in place for every class, this increased focus is having a positive effect. This was seen, for example, when outcomes from recent tests showed an increased number of pupils across key stage 2 working within expected standards for their age. Pupils’ work in the books scrutinised as part of the inspection process also shows good progress across the year.

Early years provision Good

• Children’s outcomes improved considerably in 2018 with the proportion of children achieving a good level of development at the end of Reception rising to just above the national average. This was as a result of strong direction from leaders to ensure that children’s next steps in learning were recognised and that learning was adapted to meet those needs.
• Staff know the children well and learning is planned on the basis of assessment information. For example, many children showed below average levels of development in relation to their physical development and ability to manipulate small objects and tools effectively. As a result, leaders have ensured a focus on supporting these skills through actively teaching children to use zips, buttons and scissors.
• Parents have the opportunity to contribute to ongoing assessment of children’s progress and leaders are taking action to ensure that these opportunities are extended through the introduction of new technology. Parents also support learning through working with their children on the home-learning activities provided by school.
• Outdoor learning opportunities are sufficiently planned and provide strong challenge for children across the early years foundation stage. Children are able to work collaboratively and imaginatively. They use resources which are deliberately chosen for their potential to stimulate creative thinking and support independence. Staff intervene skilfully to extend learning and integrate key learning into play.
• Indoor provision includes opportunities for children to follow their interests and practise skills. For example, at the time of the inspection, there was a strong emphasis on getting ready for Christmas, with a place to write Christmas cards, a parcel-wrapping station and resources to support the retelling of the Christmas story.
• The early years leader has worked effectively with the team to bring about improvement since the most recent inspection. She has led improvements to the outdoor learning environment and uses assessment information effectively to plan for further development. She has begun to take action to ensure that the speed with which children are taught phonics is more in line with the expectations of the school’s chosen phonics scheme, so that more children are ready for the challenges of key stage 1. This is at an early stage of development, but there is evidence to indicate that some children are making better progress.
• The vast majority of children settle well and they are confident to work independently, both indoors and outdoors. Children engage confidently in conversation with adults and they work collaboratively with each other. At more formal times, some children struggle to listen and follow simple instructions. This suggests that classroom routines are not yet well enough embedded to support learning.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 130863 Wakefield 10053216 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 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 258 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Mr Mark Spink Mrs Deborah Birdsall Telephone number 01977 642820 Website Email address www.moorthorpeprimary.co.uk/ headteacher@moorthorpe.wakefield.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 2–3 July 2014

Information about this school

• The school is slightly larger than the average-sized primary school.
• Most pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is slightly above the national average, as is the proportion of pupils with SEND.
• The school offers breakfast club provision.
• The headteacher has been in post since September 2018.
• There have been substantial changes to governance since the last inspection.
• The inspection followed a monitoring inspection of the school in March 2018.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited 20 lessons or parts of lessons, four of which were jointly observed with the headteacher. They looked at a range of pupils’ work and heard a number of pupils from Years 1, 2 and 3 read.
• Meetings took place with the headteacher, other leaders, staff and groups of pupils, representatives of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.
• Inspectors looked at a range of documentation, including the school’s records of pupils’ attainment and progress, behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.
• Inspectors observed pupils at playtime and during lunchtime.
• Inspectors took account of the 60 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and written comments received during the inspection. The views of staff and pupils were also considered.

Inspection team

Gill McCleave, lead inspector Steve Shaw Rebecca Clayton

Ofsted Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector