Kirkburton CofE (VA) First School

Kirkburton Church of England Voluntary Aided First School Inspection report

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Age group 4–10 Inspection date(s) 5–6 January 2012 Inspection number 377636 Unique Reference Number 107745 Local authority Kirklees Inspection number 377636 Inspection dates 5–6 January 2012 Lead inspector Rosemary Eaton

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 4–10 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 130 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mark Billington Headteacher Jeff Trigg Date of previous school inspection 26 November 2008 School address School Hill Kirkburton HD8 0SG Telephone number 01484 222734 Fax number 01484 222734 Email address office.kirkburton1st@edukirklees.net Inspection report: Kirkburton Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 5–6 January 2012 2 of 11

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with less than two days' notice. The inspector observed five lessons each taught by a different teacher. Meetings were held with groups of pupils, staff and the Chair of the Governing Body. No responses had been made to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View). The inspector observed the school's work, and looked at documents including the school’s analysis of assessment information, safeguarding records including those of incidents and accidents and the school’s plans for its future development. The 72 questionnaires returned by parents and carers were read and analysed as were those from staff and pupils.

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Information about the school

This school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is smaller than average as are the proportions of those from minority ethnic groups and those with special educational needs or who are disabled. The proportion of boys on roll is typically above average. Government floor standards are minimum nationally expected levels that pupils should attain by the age of 11. As this is a first school, the floor standards do not apply. The school’s Healthy School status was renewed in 2010. Inspection report: Kirkburton Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 5–6 January 2012 3 of 11

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Information about the school

Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key Findings

■ This is a good school. Because leaders evaluate its work and performance accurately, they are able to identify what needs to be done to enable the school to move forward. Its good leadership and management have made sure that all aspects of the school’s work and performance have either been maintained at a good level or improved since the previous inspection. Unsurprisingly, pupils and parents and carers think very highly of the school.

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Key Findings

■ Pupils achieve well. They make good progress as they move up through the school. By the end of Year 5, reading and mathematics are particularly strong elements of pupils’ attainment. Writing is a comparatively weaker area of their performance, but is already improving as planned actions start to bite.

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Key Findings

■ Teaching is good throughout the school. Teachers make good use of the information they collect about the levels at which each pupil is working. They plan lessons carefully to make sure that work is matched to what different groups of pupils need to learn next. Pupils say that the way teachers mark their books gives them confidence because it lets them know how well they are doing. However, marking does not consistently inform pupils just how they can improve their writing.

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Key Findings

■ Pupils behave well overall and behaviour is often outstanding during lessons, in assemblies and when pupils move around the school. They say that they feel safe in school and that they can talk to staff when they have any concerns. Pupils are well informed about matters relating to their personal safety. They understand what sorts of places and activities are potentially risky and how they themselves can take some responsibility for staying safe, for example, when using social networking media. Inspection report: Kirkburton Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 5–6 January 2012 4 of 11

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

■ Enable pupils to achieve as well in writing as they do in reading and mathematics, by:  ensuring that teachers’ marking always informs pupils exactly how they can improve their work  embedding the use of writing tasks that are based firmly on stimulating, first-hand experiences  implementing the actions the school has planned such as developing the use of sessions during which staff guide the progress of groups of pupils towards independent writing  increasing the opportunities and encouragement for children in the Reception Year to choose to write during their play activities.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils arrive at lessons keen to learn. They are ready to volunteer answers to questions, listen attentively to teachers and other pupils, and settle quickly to their independent tasks. Pupils’ ability to work collaboratively is a strong feature of many lessons. This begins in the Reception Year when children play together imaginatively, for example, in their role play igloo, and help each other to locate resources.

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Achievement of pupils

Inspection evidence, including pupils’ success in meeting challenging targets, indicates that all groups of pupils make good progress overall. Pupils with special educational needs and those with disabilities progress well from their starting points, so their attainment is moving closer to the national expectations for all pupils. Parents and carers are happy with the progress their children make and their confidence is justified. Progress is fastest in reading and mathematics and is not as rapid in writing.

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Achievement of pupils

Outcomes are good for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage. They make good progress and more children than average reach the expected levels at the end of the Reception Year, achieving particularly well in the areas linked to literacy and numeracy, knowledge and understanding of the world and physical development. Children’s outcomes in reading are stronger than those in writing.

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Achievement of pupils

By the end of Year 5, attainment is above average, particularly in reading and mathematics. Last year, around one-quarter of the Year 5 pupils reached Level 5 in reading and mathematics, but there were no Level 5s in writing. In reading and mathematics, the trend is one of rising attainment over the last three years. Attainment in writing has remained comparatively static.

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Achievement of pupils

From an early age, pupils learn the sounds made by letters and how to blend these to enable them to read words. Attainment in reading is above average at the end of Year 2 and Year 5. By the time they leave, pupils typically read fluently and with expression, and choose books with discrimination. They say that they read so well Inspection report: Kirkburton Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 5–6 January 2012 5 of 11

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Achievement of pupils

because there are plenty of interesting books in school, adults guide and support them, and they are taught that reading is enjoyable and important. Increasingly, pupils appreciate the link between reading and writing. They know that reading gives them ideas and vocabulary that can help to improve their writing. Pupils’ apply important skills such as numeracy and information and communication technology (ICT) well in lessons and other activities, such as promoting and budgeting for their Christmas Fair.

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Quality of teaching

Parents and carers are confident that their children are taught well and their view is supported by the inspection findings. Sequences of lessons are planned thoroughly to take account of what different groups of pupils need to learn next and the requirements of the curriculum. Skills are taught carefully in order to prepare pupils for their independent work. Increasingly teachers are providing opportunities for pupils’ writing to stem from memorable experiences but this has not had enough time to impact fully on the quality of written work. Nevertheless, pupils in Key Stage 2 speak with enormous enthusiasm about visits to museums dedicated to Victorian life and are proud to share written work such as newspaper reports about medical matters of the period.

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Quality of teaching

During lessons, teachers usually keep a close eye on how well different groups of pupils are learning. There are specific programmes for some pupils with special educational needs, but in general they are taught in class, with work adapted to suit their stage of development and often supported well by teaching assistants. Because they are in the classroom, the teacher is able to maintain an overview of their learning and step in to adjust tasks when necessary. Outstanding lessons are characterised by the pace with which teachers drive learning forward. All have high expectations, but some judge particularly accurately when to extend learning or demand more from particular groups. For example, in a lesson for pupils in Years 4 and 5, the teacher brought an activity about idioms to an end when she observed that pupils had gained sufficient understanding to move to a more exacting task.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers make good use of ICT to enthuse pupils and promote learning across the curriculum. Higher attaining pupils in Year 2 used laptop computers independently in a literacy lesson, finding and grouping information about wolves. This lesson also illustrated teachers’ strong contribution to spiritual, moral, social and cultural development as pupils were encouraged to marvel at the natural world. ‘That’s interesting!’ and ‘I can’t believe it!’ were typical responses as pupils learned more about life in the Arctic.

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Quality of teaching

Effective questioning is a strong aspect of teaching in the Reception Year. The teacher asked ‘What will happen if…?’ and ‘What would be a good thing to…?’ probing children’s understanding and stimulating their thinking as they played outside in the sand area. Writing is not always given sufficient emphasis, for example, when children are being taught reading or through stimulating play activities indoors and outside. Inspection report: Kirkburton Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 5–6 January 2012 6 of 11

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Parents and carers are confident that their children are kept safe and nearly all pupils report that they feel safe in school. Pupils say that a key reason for this is that the staff, including midday supervisors, always know where they are and keep them safe. Additionally, Year 5 pupils act as play leaders, taking their responsibilities seriously and stepping in to help and befriend others so all can enjoy their play.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Safety issues are covered thoroughly by the curriculum and daily activities. Pupils mention particularly ‘Safe and Sound’ and anti-bullying weeks and assemblies. As a result, pupils are well informed and able to take appropriate actions to minimise risks, for example, when using roads or approached by strangers.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Most pupils and their parents and carers are happy with standards of behaviour. A few have some concerns relating to the behaviour of a very small number of pupils who need help in order to behave well. These pupils benefit from the school’s support and consistent approaches as seen in their increasing ability to manage their own behaviour during unstructured periods such as playtime and the decreasing number of incidents of aggression. Pupils distinguish between this type of behaviour and bullying and consider that bullying is rare. Their views are supported by the school’s records, which also show that boisterous behaviour at lunchtimes does lead to a number of collisions and bumps. Lessons are seldom disrupted and are typically characterised by pupils’ positive attitudes and spirit of cooperation.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Attendance is above average and pupils are nearly always punctual.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher ensures that his vision for the school, and his high expectations are shared by staff and members of the governing body. As a result, for example, all teachers are enthusiastic about the new approach to the curriculum, working together to devise exciting experiences as starting points for learning. A range of methods is used to monitor and successfully improve teaching. Until recently, monitoring activities have chiefly been undertaken by the headteacher and deputy headteacher but other leaders are now becoming more involved. Plans for moving the school forward are tightly focused on the areas indicated by self-evaluation. Their effectiveness is seen in the good improvements made in reading and mathematics which also help to demonstrate the school’s clear capacity to continue to improve. Current priorities include writing, with a number of well-judged actions under way. These include organising classes into groups of writers, according to their needs,

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Leadership and management

guiding them to learn a specific skill, and supporting their progress to independent writing. Such developments are underpinned effectively by staff training, for example, through curriculum meetings in school or courses for individuals.

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Leadership and management

Members of the governing body take responsibility for monitoring particular aspects of the school’s development plan. They do this by methods such as visits to lessons to see for themselves how policies are being implemented, thus making a strong contribution to the school’s self-evaluation. Members of the governing body oversee safeguarding arrangements ensuring that they meet statutory requirements and give no cause for concern. Inspection report: Kirkburton Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 5–6 January 2012 7 of 11

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is good and meets pupils’ needs well at each stage of the school. The Year 1 curriculum has been adapted this year to take account of the needs of some of the current pupils, enabling them to benefit from an extended period of play- based activities. This demonstrates the school’s careful attention to providing equality of opportunity and tackling discrimination, in this instance smoothing the transition from the Early Years Foundation Stage to the National Curriculum. The curriculum is increasingly providing exciting opportunities for writing beyond literacy lessons, motivating pupils and already indicating improvements in their ability to engage the reader. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. The school fosters a strong sense of its own community, helps pupils to contribute to the local community, and appreciate and understand other cultures. Inspection report: Kirkburton Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 5–6 January 2012 8 of 11

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils' needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes ( see www.ofsted.gov.uk ).

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100. Inspection report: Kirkburton Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 5–6 January 2012 9 of 11

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupil’s work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school's efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils' punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school's overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the children' attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils' freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning. Inspection report: Kirkburton Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 5–6 January 2012 10 of 11

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to share with their children. It describes Ofsted's main

findings from the inspection of their school.

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Kirkburton, HD8 0SG

Thank you for being so friendly and polite when I inspected your school recently. I would particularly like to thank all the pupils who gave up their time to talk or read to me. You were extremely helpful and it was a pleasure to spend time with you. I really enjoyed looking at the displays of your work, including the projects about Charles Dickens. At the end of the inspection, I judged that yours is a good school. These are some of the key points that helped me make this decision. ■ You achieve well. You make good progress, especially in reading and mathematics, and by the end of Year 5 your attainment is above average. ■ Teaching is good at your school. Teachers make sure that the work you are given is just hard enough and they plan interesting lessons, often starting off topics with exciting activities such as visits. ■ You behave well and learn a good deal about how to stay safe. I did notice that

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Kirkburton, HD8 0SG

there are quite a few accidents when you are playing outside so you might try to avoid rushing and bumping into each other. ■ Your school is led and managed well. The school’s leaders keep a close eye on how it is getting on and plan carefully to help the school to improve even more.

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Kirkburton, HD8 0SG

You do not achieve quite as well in writing as in reading and mathematics. I have asked the school to help you improve your writing, for example, by: ■ making sure that teachers write comments in your books that tell you just how to improve ■ giving you exciting writing activities, such as the ones linked to visits you have made.

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Kirkburton, HD8 0SG

You can help by following your teachers’ advice and continuing to try hard. I send my best wishes to each of you.

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Kirkburton, HD8 0SG

Rosemary Eaton Lead Inspector Inspection report: Kirkburton Church of England Voluntary Aided First School, 5–6 January 2012 11 of 11

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Kirkburton, HD8 0SG

procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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