Setting

CfBT Inspection Services Suite 22 West Lancs Investment Centre Maple View Skelmersdale WN8 9TG T 0300 1231231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 01695 566939 Direct F 01695 729320 Direct email: glaw@cfbt.com

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Mrs Hindmarch Headteacher Parklands Primary School Dufton Approach Seacroft Leeds West Yorkshire LS14 6ED

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Primary School

Thank you for the help which you and your staff gave when I inspected your school on 7 December 2011, for the time you gave to our phone discussions and for the information which you provided before and during the inspection.

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Primary School

Since the 2010 inspection five teachers from Years 2, 3, 4 and 5 classes have left the school. New staff have been appointed to replace those who left including four newly- qualified teachers.

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Primary School

As a result of the inspection in May 2010, the school was asked to address the most important areas for improvement which are set out in the annex to this letter.

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Primary School

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time the school has made satisfactory progress in making improvements and satisfactory progress in demonstrating a better capacity for sustained improvement.

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Primary School

Pupils’ progress has started to improve since the last inspection although it is inconsistent across the school. The unvalidated test results at the end of Year 6 in 2011, although still below the latest national figures, were higher than the school’s 2010 results. The floor standards set by the government for the proportion of pupils attaining Level 4 in both English and mathematics were met. Some, but not all, pupils met their targets, although all pupils with special educational needs met theirs. However, the gap between Year 2 pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics and the expectations for their age increased in 2011 and assessments by teachers were well below the latest national figures.

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Primary School

The school has acted to tackle the gaps in pupils’ attainment in Key Stage 1. Pupils are benefitting from a well focused phonics programme. As a result pupils in Year 1 and 2 are starting to make better progress in literacy and school data show they are making accelerated progress in speech and in recognising letters. A wider range of well chosen September 2011

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Primary School

Page2 intervention programmes such as daily ‘guided reading’ and ‘fun maths’ have been introduced for all classes throughout the school. Consequently, pupils’ confidence and ability in writing and in calculation at both Key Stages is improving. Personalised interventions such as focused reading programmes, one-to-one tuition and specialist speech and language support are helping pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and less-able pupils to catch up in basic skills. Most pupils who received this intensive support made rapid progress over the last six months to narrow the gap to reaching the expectations for their age.

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Primary School

A well focused programme of training has developed teachers’ skills and expectations of pupils in mathematics and English. They are applying this confidently to their teaching. Consequently, the overall quality of teaching is improving although there is some variability which the school is aware of. New teachers and pupils have settled well. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are good and almost all are interested in and engaged by stories, writing and in explaining their calculation methods. Pupils have opportunities to work independently and most understand what is expected of them. This is because mostly teachers plan tasks and activities that are better tailored to meet their needs and interests. For example, as a result of expert teaching by the literacy subject leader, Year 6 pupils confidently, and successfully, tackled the challenge of planning complex and imaginative story plots. However in a few

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Primary School

lessons the work set for less-able pupils was not modelled sufficiently or broken down into small steps so that they could quickly begin their work.

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Primary School

Children in the Reception classes are very proud of the small steps they are making to form letters, sound words and recognise numbers. Most children concentrate well; for example one boy writing a number calculation was supported very well by staff who encouraged him to take the next steps in counting up to seven to be able to complete the answer. In some lessons pupils made good use of word banks and class discussion to support their writing. Pupils in Year 2 are beginning to write independently and some pupils used their reading skills to good effect to make their descriptions of fairies interesting. For example, one pupil wrote, ‘her fairy eyes were bright orange like a bonfire’. Pupils in Years 3 and 4, who have not had the support of a phonics programme are also developing their writing, but they are much more dependent on their teachers.

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Primary School

The new marking and feedback policy is being applied consistently in pupils’ books. As a result pupils understand the strengths in their work and areas for improvement. They know their learning targets, but teachers do not always ensure that they act upon the suggestions for improvement. Increased opportunities to use computers have been provided but have yet to have a demonstrable impact on improving pupils’ information and communication technology (ICT) skills.

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Primary School

Monitoring and evaluation of teaching by senior leaders is well embedded and is beginning to extend to subject leaders. Almost all have new subject responsibilities this term and they are settling well to their roles, particularly those responsible for English, mathematics, history and geography. As a result of training and the published schedule of monitoring and evaluation they are clear about their roles and the expectations the school has of them. September 2011

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Primary School

Page3 The headteacher and her deputy have a detailed and accurate overview of teaching and learning and recognise where further developments are needed to improve pupil outcomes. School planning is carefully focused on raising attainment but the success criteria lack specificity about the impact that actions are intended to have on pupils’ outcomes. Consequently monitoring reports, such as those for attendance, describe the wide range of strategies but are not always focused on the impact that they are having on pupils. Nonetheless, the school is making inroads in tackling attendance and it has risen since the last inspection.

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Primary School

Governors are working towards developing a more challenging approach. Membership of the governing body has changed greatly since the last inspection. New governors are becoming involved in monitoring and evaluation. They are well informed on some issues and are active in seeking training.

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Primary School

Local authority advisers know the school well and provide challenge. The school has used their support in a highly-focused way to move forward, for example, in embedding the phonics programme, to assist them in reviewing the mathematics calculation policy and in raising their expectations of middle leaders.

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Primary School

I hope that you have found the visit helpful in promoting improvement in your school. This letter will be posted on the Ofsted website.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection which took place in

■ Raise standards in English, mathematics and ICT by:  providing more opportunities for pupils to develop literacy, numeracy and ICT skills in all subjects.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection which took place in

■ Increase the amount of teaching that is good by:  making sure that work set always matches the needs of all pupils  giving pupils enough time in lessons to work independently and make faster progress  ensuring that marking tells pupils clearly how well they are doing and how to improve.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection which took place in

■ Improve leadership, management and governance by:  giving subject leaders more opportunities to check provision of their subjects so that they can make informed decisions about what to improve  ensuring that the regular monitoring of teaching and pupils’ work focuses consistently on pupils’ learning  enabling governors to acquire the necessary information and skills so they challenge the school’s performance more effectively  improving levels of attendance.

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