Outwood Primary Academy Ledger Lane Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Leaders and governors should ensure that:
  • new plans for the foundation curriculum consider the sequencing of learning in order to deepen pupils’ knowledge and understanding even more successfully
  • opportunities to develop pupils’ reading fluency and comprehension across a range of subjects are maximised
  • leaders and families continue to work together to improve attendance for the few pupils who are persistently absent.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• Leaders are highly ambitious for pupils’ achievement. Their vision of ‘children first, raising standards, transforming lives’ is understood by staff, pupils, parents, carers and the wider community. This vision for excellence has contributed significantly to the school’s improvement from good to outstanding.
• Leaders are uncompromising in their determination to continually improve pupils’ outcomes. They have a firm grasp of the school’s strengths and any relative weaknesses which emerge. They use this information to routinely fine-tune their systems and processes to realise the required improvements.
• Leaders have transformed the curriculum for reading in response to pupils’ historical outcomes not being as consistently high as those in writing and mathematics. Leaders have also elevated the profile of reading throughout the school. A wide range of high-quality texts, competitions, author visits and a pupil-run book bank are examples of how leaders are successfully inspiring pupils to read more regularly.
• Leaders have created an effective talent management and succession planning strategy. Leaders prioritise high-quality professional development for staff. The wealth of professional development opportunities on offer, as part of the multi-academy trust, results in many staff being promoted internally. Their familiarity with the school’s approaches means that changes in staffing do not diminish the stability of leadership.
• A culture of teamwork is evident in the way that staff, pupils and governors all contribute to the school’s success. Teachers and teaching assistants value the high-quality and focused development they receive. Collaboration across the local multi-academy trust schools ensures that there are plentiful opportunities to share good practice and learn from others. The range of development strategies has a very positive impact on the quality of teaching and learning and consistency of approach evident throughout the school.
• Leaders have developed a thematic curriculum which makes links between subjects to provide purposeful learning opportunities for pupils. The broad curriculum experiences contribute well to pupils’ high levels of spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding. However, the curriculum in some foundation subjects, such as music, is not always designed with enough continuity from one year to the next. While pupils learn very well within a unit of work, there are missed opportunities for them to revisit and build on prior learning to deepen their knowledge and understanding even further over time.
• Leaders have high aspirations for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). As a result of targeted support through effective use of funding, these groups of pupils are making very good progress across the curriculum.

Governance of the school

• Trust leaders are highly visible in school. Their regular visits and well-established systems for checking pupils’ outcomes make sure that leaders are held to account for the impact of their improvement actions and that appropriate support is put in place to achieve ambitious targets.
• The academy council makes effective use of national data and that from other schools within the multi-academy trust. This helps governors to challenge school leaders and keep the focus sharply on further improvement.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders and governors have put thorough systems in place for safeguarding pupils. These are understood and carried out diligently by staff. Regular training supports staff in being alert to the possible warning signs of abuse that pupils may present. Staff report concerns promptly and the designated safeguarding leader acts swiftly.
• Leaders have ensured that keeping pupils safe is threaded through all aspects of the school’s work. The very strong culture of safeguarding that is evident in the school ensures that pupils feel safe and secure and are in a very good position to learn.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Leaders make sure that there are consistent approaches to the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics. Teachers demonstrate firm subject knowledge. This supports them in providing clear and precise explanations and asking focused questions to check pupils’ understanding and challenge their thinking.
• Teachers have incredibly high expectations of pupils’ learning attitudes and achievement, which are exemplified by leaders. Pupils respond by taking great pride in producing work which is of high quality and is presented neatly. They value the collaborative learning opportunities they are given. When working with others, pupils demonstrate high levels of maturity and offer support and encouragement to their peers.
• Teachers provide incisive feedback, at the point of learning, which enables pupils to respond in a timely manner. Teachers make sure that pupils fully understand how to improve their work. Pupils rise to the challenge, for example including the most demanding and complex of features in their writing. Pupils make use of the highly effective resources which provide examples of how they can aim high with their work. The resources are used very successfully and support pupils’ independence and a culture of high achievement.
• Teachers insist on pupils’ language development being given high priority. Teachers routinely identify ambitious vocabulary, for example through ‘words of the week’. Pupils are keen to incorporate these new words into their written work and understand how to make precise choices which make sense in the context of their writing.
• Leaders have implemented a new approach to the teaching of reading. Reading has now been given greater prominence, and lessons take place first thing each morning. Teachers use carefully chosen texts to effectively develop pupils’ comprehension skills.
• Teachers are highly proficient at teaching phonics. Through effective teacher modelling and repetitive practice, pupils quickly secure their phonic knowledge. Teachers make sure that any pupils who are not on track receive plentiful practice to improve their reading confidence and fluency.
• Staff provide personalised and highly skilled support for pupils who need to catch up with the expectations for their year group. This helps pupils, including those with SEND or who are disadvantaged, to reach their next learning steps and be more readily able to access the learning in their class.
• Teachers make sure that pupils use and apply their communication, writing and mathematics skills across the curriculum. However, planned opportunities for pupils to develop their reading through a wide range of subjects are sometimes not taken advantage of.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• The school’s expectations, ‘Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible’, promote a highly positive culture. Excellent relationships between pupils and staff make sure that pupils feel supported and valued so that they quickly develop as confident and self-assured learners.
• Pupils’ enthusiasm for learning permeates the school. Pupils are incredibly proud of their school and enjoy contributing to the whole-school community. They actively seek the opportunity to take on responsibilities in school, such as playground leaders and reading ambassadors. A group of pupils are currently running a book bank scheme, where families donate books which other pupils can take home to read.
• There is a determined commitment by school leaders to develop pupils as rounded individuals. A Year 6 diploma, which values pupils’ effort and attitude and recognises their strengths, contributes to the high-achievement culture.
• Bullying is extremely rare, and pupils are confident that adults in school will help them if they have any concerns.
• The curriculum ensures that pupils gain a solid understanding of fundamental British values. For example, pupils learn about democracy through the school parliament. A local Member of Parliament recently visited the school. Pupils were eager to present their road safety petition and ask for it to be taken to the House of Commons.
• The broad curriculum is bolstered by a range of after-school clubs, such as choir, mindful me, gardening and archery. These opportunities further enrich pupils’ learning experience.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Leaders and teachers set very high expectations which pupils clearly understand and strive to meet with determination. Pupils respond by behaving impeccably, demonstrating self-discipline as they move around school, including at less structured times of the day.
• The importance of good attendance is clearly understood by parents and pupils due to the high profile it is given, for example through newsletters, assemblies and ‘praising stars’ reports, which are sent home. Leaders carefully track the attendance of individuals and have built good relationships with families. This means that strategies to improve attendance are proving successful for the small proportion of pupils who are more frequently absent. Persistent absence has reduced this year and is now at a level similar to the national average in previous years.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Outcomes have continued to improve since the previous inspection. Current pupils achieve very well in all key stages and subjects. They are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stages 1 and 2 has been consistently above the national average over time. Disadvantaged pupils’ attainment often exceeds, and is at least close to, that of other pupils nationally.
• Pupils’ key stage 2 writing progress has been particularly impressive year-on-year. Pupils’ mathematics progress has also been consistently positive. Progress in reading, while at least average, has not matched pupils’ progress in writing or mathematics. However, current pupils are making much stronger progress in reading as a result of leaders’ actions to transform the curriculum for reading.
• The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in the phonics screening check has been consistently high, and above the national average, over time at Years 1 and 2. In the early stages of learning to read, pupils are reading books which closely match their phonic knowledge. This is helping them to become accurate and fluent in their reading.
• Pupils talk with keen interest and enthusiasm about the books they have enjoyed hearing in story time. The high-quality texts which pupils have access to mean that pupils are eager to read and develop a love of reading. Reading ambassadors, a patron of reading and pupils being given a voice through ‘read it, rate it, post it’ are examples of how reading is being brought alive for pupils.
• Pupils develop their learning very well across a wide range of subjects beyond English and mathematics. Pupils talk with pride and enthusiasm about their learning. They confidently articulate their thorough knowledge and understanding of the subject-specific vocabulary and concepts they have been taught. However, in some subjects, pupils do not always build on their prior learning from previous year groups as well as they might. At times, this limits them from deepening their knowledge and understanding even further.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Leaders are passionate about the importance of children’s early education. The early years leader has a firm belief that every member of staff’s interaction with a child should be a learning opportunity. This means that teaching opportunities are maximised and that children make very strong progress. The proportion of children reaching a good level of development over time has been consistently above the national average and is rising year-on-year.
• Leaders make sure that children get off to an incredibly positive start to their education in Nursery. Well-established routines and highly effective teaching mean that children sustain their interest and concentration well in the immensely engaging and focused learning activities set out for them. Children continue to build on this solid foundation as they progress through Reception.
• A focus on developing children’s language is at the heart of the school’s approach to the curriculum in the early years. Ambitious vocabulary is identified and displayed in the areas of provision so that staff know how they can extend children’s understanding and use of language. Adults model effective language structures well so that children’s speech and language skills are effectively developed.
• Leaders make sure that reading is highly prominent. Children are familiar with and enjoy listening to a wide range of stories, poems, rhymes and non-fiction texts. Books from their focus author and those related to the children’s topic are readily accessible. Children incorporate these into their play and can be seen retelling the stories independently and chatting away about the author and illustrator.
• The teaching of phonics is very effective. Teachers make sure that children are securing their phonic knowledge through repetitive practice and focused instruction. Children confidently make use of their phonic knowledge when spelling unfamiliar words. Resources are used exceptionally well to support children’s independence in doing so. For example, a group of children who were working independently used resources in the classroom to help them find the ‘ee’ sound which they needed for their writing.
• There are plentiful opportunities for children to use and apply their newly acquired skills in the enticing challenges which are set up in areas of provision, both indoors and outside. Teachers know children’s precise next steps to help them advance their learning. Activities are purposeful and linked to the topic. This sparks children’s enthusiasm. For example, children were eager to write instructions for the alien to take back with him.
• Staff have high expectations for children’s behaviour and safety. They model this in their interactions with children. For example, staff made sure that a child returned to their table to check that the chair was tucked in safely. Children demonstrate exceptionally high levels of cooperation with each other because of the positive relationships which staff develop with them. Leaders make sure that the legal welfare requirements are met.
• Links with parents are productive and effective in supporting children’s learning and development. Children settle easily, and parents are very satisfied that their children are safe, well looked after and are making excellent progress.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 139108 Wakefield 10081526 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 converter 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 344 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Principal Executive principal Chief executive principal Telephone number Website Email address Claire Stephenson Rachael Skirrow Jane Clayton Lee Wilson 01924 907430 www.ledgerlane.outwood.com/ enquiries@ledgerlane.outwood.com Date of previous inspection 17 April 2018

Information about this school

• This is a larger than average-sized primary school. Most pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is similar to that seen nationally. The proportion of pupils with SEND is much lower than the national average.
• The school converted to be an academy as part of the Outwood Grange Academies Trust in December 2012. The school is governed by the board of trustees. The academy council and executive board act as sub-committees of the board. The executive team takes responsibility for monitoring the school’s performance, under delegated authority from the board.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning throughout the school. Most of the observations were undertaken jointly with the principal, associate executive principal or trust directors. Inspectors listened to some pupils read and talked to several groups of pupils about their experience of school.
• Inspectors held meetings with senior leaders and subject leaders. A meeting was held with several members of the academy council, including the chair and vice-chair. A meeting also took place with trust representatives, including the chief executive officer, chief executive of primary and a member of the board of trustees.
• Inspectors looked at a range of pupils’ work in books, along with the school’s information on pupils’ achievement, to determine the progress that they are making.
• A range of documentation was considered. This included the school’s self-evaluation, records of the monitoring of teaching and learning, the school improvement plan, information relating to the attendance and behaviour of pupils, safeguarding and child protection records and minutes from academy council meetings. Documents outlining the arrangements for the use of pupil premium funding were also considered.
• Inspectors spoke to parents informally at the start of the school day to seek their views about the school. The 26 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, the 10 responses to the staff questionnaire and 167 responses to the pupil questionnaire were also taken into consideration.

Inspection team

Kirsty Godfrey, lead inspector Mary Lanovy-Taylor Elaine Watson

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector