South Elmsall Carlton Junior and Infant School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching in key stages 1 and 2 so that it is consistently good or better, and leads to good outcomes for pupils, by:
  • making sure that work is consistently well adapted to meet pupils’ varying needs and abilities, especially to challenge most-able pupils
  • developing teachers’ questioning skills so they effectively check whether pupils fully grasp and understand their learning
  • making sure that time in lessons is used effectively and pupils are moved on quickly to more challenging work
  • providing pupils with more opportunities to write freely and creatively
  • making sure that all teachers have a good understanding of what pupils should know and be able to do in subjects beyond English and mathematics as they progress up through the year groups.
• Improve the effectiveness of leadership, management and governance by making sure that:
  • improvement plans pinpoint precisely the intended difference actions are to make to pupils’ outcomes
  • agreed new approaches to teaching are evaluated to check they are effective in enabling pupils to make good progress
  • the skills of subject leaders are developed so that they can make an effective contribution to checking and improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes
  • curriculum plans for subjects beyond English and mathematics are developed so that pupils effectively develop their knowledge and skills as they progress up through the school
  • governors hold the school to account for making sure that the pupil premium is used well and enables disadvantaged pupils to make good progress.

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Over time, leaders and governors have not ensured that the quality of teaching is consistently good. They have not secured good outcomes for pupils in key stages 1 and 2, particularly disadvantaged pupils and the most able.
• Since the last inspection, the headteacher and governors have made many changes to improve the school. Leaders’ existing improvement plans are extensive. However, plans are not sharply focused on where improvements are needed to improve pupils’ outcomes. Leaders are unable to pinpoint precisely what difference these actions are intended to make.
• Seniors leaders check that the agreed approaches to teaching are adhered to consistently by staff. However, they do not evaluate effectively which approaches to teaching work well and which do not. Senior leaders’ evaluations of the quality of teaching through the school are overgenerous. Across the school, teaching remains inconsistent and some groups of pupils in key stage 2 make slow progress.
• Over time, subject leaders have not been given the time they need to check the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress in their areas of responsibility. Their skills in doing so are underdeveloped. Senior leaders have not provided them with the training they need to do this effectively.
• Recently, systems that assess pupils’ skills, knowledge and progress have been revised and strengthened. Pupils’ progress is now checked more efficiently and accurately. However, this information is not being used effectively, for example to make sure that teachers plan work that is well matched to pupils’ varying needs and abilities.
• Curriculum changes have brought more structure to the way reading, writing and mathematics are taught. In these subjects, pupils’ outcomes, although not yet good, are improving. In subjects beyond English and mathematics, however, curriculum plans require improvement so that pupils develop their knowledge and skills effectively as they progress up through the school.
• Leaders have put in place well-planned systems that promote inclusion of all pupils. Pupils confidently say that everyone is welcome in their school.
• The headteacher is passionate about enabling pupils to expand their horizons. A wide range of trips and visitors enrich the curriculum as well as pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
• The use of the primary school physical education (PE) and sports funding is focused and has a wide range of purposes. Leaders have used the funding to purchase equipment, develop the skills of staff and bring in specialist coaching. Pupils achieve well in PE.
• Parents are mostly positive about their children’s experience at school and would recommend the school to others. They acknowledge that it is a school full of happy children. Parents are kept well informed about what is happening in school.

Governance of the school

• Governors know their responsibilities. They undertake training and are focused on improving the school. Governors recognise that they need to check for themselves that new approaches to teaching are helping pupils to learn more effectively. They are now visiting the school more regularly and this is further deepening their understanding.
• Although governors challenge the headteacher in regard to the management of the school, they have not held the school effectively to account for making sure that pupils achieve well in key stages 1 and 2 as a result of good teaching.
• Governors check the school finances and know what money is spent on. However, they have not ensured that the pupil premium is used to good effect. Disadvantaged pupils in the school are not achieving well. Gaps between these pupils and others remain too wide.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders have made sure that all staff understand their responsibilities and are clear about their duty to keep pupils safe. Staff are vigilant and know how to report matters of concern. Record keeping is detailed. Leaders work extensively with external agencies to make sure that children who need help receive it.
• Leaders place a very great emphasis on children’s welfare and keeping them safe. They ensure that pupils are taught how to stay safe in different situations. Further work to better identify risks of radicalisation is underway. Pupils confidently explain the rules about internet and road safety.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching across the school is variable in quality. Although teaching is good in the early years, overall, in key stages 1 and 2, it requires improvement. As a result, pupils’ outcomes are not good.
• Since the last inspection, considerable changes have been made to approaches to the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders have provided staff with the necessary training and professional development and staff have participated with enthusiasm. Although much has already been put in place, teachers’ knowledge and confidence in using new teaching approaches are still developing.
• Teachers do not adapt learning effectively to ensure that it meets pupils’ varying needs and abilities. The work provided is often too easy. Work for the most able pupils lacks challenge. Work is not adjusted promptly enough so that it remains challenging and interesting.
• Teachers’ range of questions is sometimes too narrow and does not probe pupils to deepen their understanding. Teachers’ questions sometimes fail to identify pupils’ misconceptions and/or misunderstandings, which in turn are not addressed. This hampers pupils’ progress.
• Lesson time is not used well. Pupils spend too much time on completing basic tasks that they can already do, leaving too little time for new, more challenging learning. In mathematics, for example, pupils are required to spend time on completing calculation tasks that they are already competent in and find easy before being allowed to move onto more challenging reasoning or problem-solving tasks.
• The teaching of writing requires improvement. Across the school, all pupils are required to work using a handwriting framework when they write. While this effectively helps some pupils to write more neatly and legibly, for others this approach is too restrictive. Opportunities for pupils to write freely and creatively or to learn to plan their writing, for example, are missed.
• The teaching of reading is improving. A new reading system is now in place. This is motivating pupils and encouraging them to read with greater understanding. Pupils particularly enjoy taking part in a reading quiz where they are challenged to understand and recall details of characters and the plot of their book. Pupils’ understanding of new vocabulary is enhanced through teaching assistants’ questions during reading time.
• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment in subjects beyond English and mathematics is variable. In music and PE, for example, teaching is good. Pupils make rapid gains in these subjects. They participate readily in additional musical and sporting opportunities so that they refine and develop the knowledge and skills they learn in lessons. In other curriculum subjects such as art, history and religious education, however, work does not build progressively on what pupils already know and can do and teachers’ expectations of this are unclear. Pupils struggle to explain what they are learning. Pupils’ books confirm that learning in pupils’ topic work is sometimes slow.
• Effective teaching in Year 6 is helping pupils to make strong gains in their learning in reading, writing and mathematics. Previous gaps in pupils’ knowledge and skills are being effectively filled. However, pupils’ often lower starting points when they enter Year 6 make it a challenge to consistently teach what is expected of Year 6 pupils. As a result, by the end of Year 6, too few pupils reach the expected standards of attainment.
• Pupils have good relationships with adults. Pupils cooperate appropriately and are responsive to instructions in lessons. Lessons run smoothly as a result.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Personal development and welfare Good

• Leaders’ work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils are thoughtful in how they conduct themselves, and make visitors feel very welcome in their school.
• Pupils say they feel safe and enjoy coming to school. They like being given a golden ticket, and feel excited about getting their ticket picked out to win a prize. Pupils also like collecting gems, as the team with most gems wins a party at the end of term.
• Pupils engage positively with each other at playtimes and lunchtimes. They value the equipment they have in their playground and use it positively. Pupils like school lunches.
• The wide variety of well-attended sports and clubs after school has a positive effect on pupils’ well-being. Pupils enjoy football, multi-sports, dance and learning in woodland activities.
• Breakfast club provides a positive start to the day. Pupils who attend enjoy using the computers. They can explain how to stay safe online.
• Parents say pupils are happy and enjoy school. They say behaviour is mostly good.

Behaviour

• Pupils are attentive in lessons. They willingly answer questions and are keen to help and support one another. Pupils cooperate when working in groups and are mature enough to work independently and show initiative. Their good attitudes to learning are an important factor behind their improving rates of progress.
• Leaders have developed a range of strategies to improve attendance and this has paid off. Attendance has improved and is now much nearer to the national average. The number of pupils who are persistently absent has reduced over the last three years.

Outcomes for pupils

Requires improvement

• In key stages 1 and 2, pupils, especially the most able pupils and disadvantaged pupils, do not consistently make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
• In Year 6 in 2018, pupils’ attainment improved slightly on that in 2017. However, it was still below average. These outcomes also reflected that progress was slower than it was for pupils in Year 6 in 2017. Given their starting points, pupils’ progress was too slow, especially in writing. As a result, too few pupils reached the expected standard. This was particularly the case for disadvantaged pupils. Pupils are not well prepared for secondary school.
• Inspection evidence, including work seen in pupils’ books, shows that current pupils’ progress in key stage 2 is very inconsistent. This is because the quality of teaching in these year groups is variable. Pupils are making better progress in Year 6 than in other year groups.
• In 2017, by the end of Year 2, the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics was much lower than average. Very few reached the higher standards in reading and mathematics, and none did so in writing. In Year 2 in 2018, pupils’ attainment improved considerably although it remained below average. Children’s good start to learning in the early years is not built on effectively in key stage 1.
• Pupils’ attainment in the Year 1 phonics screening check has improved over the last three years, and in 2018 was just below the national average. The teaching of reading is improving.
• In the early years, disadvantaged children make good progress and start to catch up quickly. However, in key stages 1 and 2, disadvantaged pupils do not achieve well. Their attainment has lagged some way behind that of other pupils in the school and nationally in recent years. While some disadvantaged pupils are now starting to make better progress, others are not. As a result, the gap is not closing quickly enough, especially in writing. The pupil premium is not being used effectively to enable this group of pupils to catch up quickly.
• Most-able pupils do not make good progress, especially in key stage 2. In Year 6 in 2018, a well-below-average proportion of pupils reached the higher standards in reading and mathematics, and none did so in writing. Their work lacks the challenge needed to ensure that they reach their full potential.
• Inconsistencies in the quality of teaching, provision and support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) result in variable rates of progress. Over the last three years, their progress in reading, for example, has not been good.

Early years provision Good

• The early years leader has a thorough knowledge of children’s development. She accurately and confidently identifies children’s starting points on entering the early years. She continually works with feeder pre-schools to ensure a positive transition for children.
• Most children start school with skills, knowledge and understanding that are below that typical for their age. Structured teaching and good relationships between key workers and children, and with parents, help children to make a good start. They quickly become independent and confident learners. Children make good progress from their starting points and, by the end of Reception, the large majority are ready for the demands of Year 1.
• The early years leader and her team have a good knowledge of each child and what children need to learn. They organise the learning environment very effectively to meet children’s learning and development needs. Children engage competently in the different areas, acquiring knowledge and practising their skills. Outdoor learning engages children in conversation while they explore new learning and practise new skills.
• Children’s early writing skills are effectively developed through a wide range of interesting activities. All children are keen to write, and almost all form letters carefully and legibly due to the good instruction they receive. Inspectors observed children enthusiastically making valentine cards. After designing the front of the card, they confidently and correctly wrote their names inside.
• Good teaching of early phonic skills helps to support children in learning to read and write. Staff engender an early love of reading books.
• Good links with parents are fostered. There are many opportunities for parents to discuss and contribute to their children’s learning journeys. Parents engage in sessions which are run before their children start in Reception.
• Staff establish good relationships with children and have high expectations of them. Discussion is encouraged and adults question children at the right time to move their learning on effectively. Children, dressed as chefs, happily followed instructions from staff and measured ingredients to make biscuits.
• Leaders ensure that staff have the right skills to meet children’s needs. For example, an external speech and language therapist has recently provided training for staff, as well as support for parents, on how to effectively support children who have language difficulties. This is helping to improve children’s early communication skills further.
• Children develop good attitudes and learn to behave well so that they are well equipped to enter Year 1.
• Disadvantaged children are given effective additional support which helps them to catch up with others and make a good start to their time in school.
• All appropriate welfare and safeguarding requirements are met.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number Type of school School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils 130866 Wakefield 10059054 Primary Maintained 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 453 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Wendy Evans Craig Pickering-Mills Telephone number 01977 643 129 Website Email address www.carltonjandischool.co.uk headteacher@carlton.wakefield.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 1–2 November 2016

Information about this school

• The school is an above-average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are supported through pupil premium funding is above average.
• Most pupils are White British. A below-average proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of pupils who receive support because they have SEND is average. The proportion who have an education, health and care plan is below average.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors looked at information regarding pupils’ progress and documents relating to behaviour and safeguarding.
• Inspectors looked at pupils’ work across the curriculum in books and observed pupils’ learning in 22 lessons. Inspectors were accompanied to many of the lessons observed by the headteacher and deputy headteacher.
• Inspectors listened to several Year 1, Year 2 and Year 6 pupils read, and observed pupils learning in small groups. They spoke with pupils in lessons, in a meeting, at lunchtime and at playtimes.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders and three members of the governing body. A meeting was held with a representative of the local authority.
• The views of 28 parents were taken into account through Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. Inspectors also spoke to a small number of parents as they brought their children to school.
• Inspectors also considered the views of one pupil and 35 staff who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaires.

Inspection team

Lesley Allwood, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Gina White Matthew Knox Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector