Chapel Allerton Primary School

Chapel Allerton Primary School Inspection report

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Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 16–17 January 2012 Inspection number 377665 Unique Reference Number 107903 Local authority Leeds Inspection number 377665 Inspection dates 16–17 January 2012 Lead inspector Mark Colley

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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 Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 404 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Gale Daley Headteacher Nicholas Sykes Date of previous school inspection 21 October 2008 School address Harrogate Road Leeds LS7 3PD Telephone number 0113 2624851 Fax number 0113 2374797 Email address eastonc01@leedslearning.net You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child's school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

Mark Colley Steve Rigby Additional inspector Additional inspector Barbara Hudson Additional inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors visited 20 lessons or parts of lessons taught by 16 different teachers and looked at pupils’ work. They listened to pupils read and talked to them about how much reading they did. Discussions took place with groups of pupils, members of the governing body, staff and a small number of parents and carers. Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at its assessment data, evidence of activities and events, information about the curriculum, safeguarding arrangements and monitoring and evaluation documents. Inspectors analysed questionnaires from pupils and staff as well as 184 questionnaires completed by parents and carers. There were no responses to the on- line questionnaire (Parent View) to aid inspection planning.

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Information about the school

Chapel Allerton Primary School is a larger-than-average primary school. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is broadly average. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is increasing and well above the national average. The percentage of pupils who are learning to speak English as an additional language is broadly average but increasing. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and those with disabilities is below average. There have been significant changes to leadership and management roles since the last inspection and a new deputy headteacher was appointed in 2011. The school is experiencing increased numbers of pupils joining school at other than normal times, particularly in Reception and through Key Stage 2.

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Information about the school

The school holds a number of awards, such as the Activemark and has Healthy School status and the Stephen Lawrence Education Standard. The school exceeds the current government floor standard. 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

 Chapel Allerton Primary School provides a satisfactory education for its pupils. Adults ensure an inclusive, safe and welcoming environment in which pupils enjoy their learning and feel valued.

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Key Findings

 Children make rapid progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage because of good provision. Progress is satisfactory in Years 1 to 6. Achievement in mathematics is not as good as in English. This is because partly because teachers do not consistently explain how pupils can improve their work in order to make better progress. Although pupils’ attainment and progress has been historically average, pupils’ current progress is accelerating in response to increasingly effective teaching. Teaching is satisfactory overall but good in many lessons, particularly in relation to promoting pupils' reading and writing skills. In weaker lessons, teachers talk too much, leaving pupils with limited time for them to work independently and to embed their learning.

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Key Findings

 Attendance has improved significantly and is now above average, as a result of the consistent work of all staff. New systems to support improved behaviour have resulted in better conduct in classrooms. Behaviour in the playground and moving into school is not as good and pupils are aware of the need to improve this. Pupils feel safe and are well-informed of a wide range of safe practices.

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Key Findings

 The curriculum engages pupils well, reflects their interests and celebrates the different cultures and religions in the school, but it does not provide enough opportunities for pupils to use their skills in mathematics or to use information and communication technology (ICT) to support more independent and enquiry-based learning.

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Key Findings

 Leadership and management roles have been significantly changed in the last year and this has led to a more rigorous approach to monitoring and evaluating the quality of teaching and of pupils’ progress. Leaders have a good understanding of the impact of their work and this has led to more accelerated progress in the past term. Schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory may receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

  Raise achievement in mathematics by: - increasing the range of opportunities for pupils to use their mathematical skills across a range of subjects - ensuring that assessment in subjects other than mathematics effectively supports pupils' numeracy skills.   Ensure that a higher proportion of teaching is good and better by: - supporting all classroom staff, including teaching assistants, in using information on pupils' progress to plan the next steps in pupils' learning more precisely - providing more opportunities for pupils to work independently in lessons, to be more active in their learning and to practise and apply their ICT skills across a range of subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils' behaviour out of class to match that seen in lessons by ensuring that leaders and managers support all staff in developing a consistent approach to promoting pupils’ good behaviour at all times.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils make satisfactory progress Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 from their starting points and they make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage. In most lessons, pupils are active and enthusiastic and have opportunities to work with partners and in teams. This was seen when Year 6 pupils worked in pairs debating whether they should be able to stay up late at home. This helped them to develop high levels of speaking and listening skills through role play. Inspection evidence and the school’s analysis of pupils’ progress indicate that attainment is rising securely and progress is accelerating strongly. The overwhelming number of parents and carers who responded to the questionnaire felt that their children make good progress. While inspectors found that progress is good in some instances, overall it is no better than satisfactory.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils' attainment is broadly average overall. By the end of Year 6 it is average in mathematics and above average in English, particularly in reading. Children start school in the Nursery with skills that are broadly similar to those expected for their age, although in 2011 their attainment was low. A large number of children move to other schools at the end of Nursery and new children joining Reception have predominantly lower skills than those who leave. Despite this, children leave Reception with skills that match age-related expectations. All groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs and those with disabilities, make progress at least in line with those found nationally. The school does particularly well with the increasing number of pupils joining school in Key Stages 1 and 2. Many of these pupils are now making good progress. Pupils’ attainment in reading, in both Year 2 and Year 6, is above average, which reflects the high priority given in lessons

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Achievement of pupils

to developing strong literacy skills. Pupils are developing effective comprehension skills and strategies for decoding unfamiliar words.

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Quality of teaching

Although teaching has improved in the past year with a higher proportion of teaching judged good and better, overall it remains satisfactory and is still inconsistent across classes. Relationships between teachers and pupils are very positive and these help to secure predominantly good attitudes to learning. In the best lessons, teachers plan well for the needs of all pupils, targeting the work of higher-level teaching assistants and support assistants to great effect. Pupils are clear about targets relating to their written work and understand how to make further progress. In these good-quality lessons, teachers’ detailed marking and consistent follow-up work, focus pupils on specific areas for improvement and lead to more accelerated progress. A number of strong examples in pupils' literacy books evidenced very effective marking, promoting more complex sentence construction and improved punctuation

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Quality of teaching

and spelling over a very short period of time. In the less effective lessons, teachers talk for too long, with pupils taking a passive role in their learning. This results in pupils having little time to discuss or consolidate their learning. In these lessons, teachers do not consistently use their detailed information on pupils’ current and past progress to plan learning effectively and teaching assistants are sometimes under- used. Teachers provide too few opportunities for pupils to practise and apply their mathematical and ICT skills across the curriculum and assessments in other subjects are insufficiently linked to pupils' numeracy targets.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching generally promotes well pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, and satisfactorily ensures that pupils make step-by step-academic progress. Pupils are encouraged to think of the impact of their carbon footprint and the impact of deforestation on others through project work. Teachers also look to include the rich and varied heritage of many pupils to enhance teaching and learning. Almost all parents and carers feel that their children are well-taught. Inspection evidence supports parents’ and carers’ views in some instances, but not fully, with the overall inspection judgement being that teaching is satisfactory.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Most pupils say they feel safe in school and have a good perception of safety issues. Overall, pupils’ behaviour is satisfactory, although better in the classrooms than around school. This supported some concerns raised by pupils, parents and carers in a small number of questionnaires. Although the majority felt that behaviour is good and that bullying is dealt with effectively, a small number felt that the school was inconsistent in its approach in dealing with behaviour and bullying. A small number of pupils talked about cases of bullying involving name-calling and friends sometimes being unkind but they where quick to note that staff dealt with this quickly and effectively. This confirmed the view of inspectors that the school had made improvements in the consistency of behaviour management but that there was more to do. In lessons, pupils respond quickly to instructions from adults and unacceptable

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

behaviour does not disrupt learning. New systems in school for managing behaviour are having a good impact and issues linked to behaviour are rapidly reducing. Pupils are clear about the consequences of inappropriate behaviour and value the rewards and praise they receive from staff for good and better behaviour. A number of recent initiatives aimed at eradicating bullying, such as involving pupils as mediators across school are having a good effect. Attendance has improved significantly in school in the past year and is now above average as a result of a class-by-class focus and drive. The attendance of all groups and classes has improved. Pupils take great pride in their own attendance and that of their class.

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Leadership and management

New leadership roles across school have been embedded during the last year. This has distributed responsibilities and created genuine team work. All staff and the governing body share a renewed rigour and vision for their work. Although leadership and management are satisfactory overall, increasingly effective leadership is beginning to have some impact, most noticeably on raising attendance and ensuring better pupils' progress. Improvements have been developed through the better use of pupils’ progress data. More detailed discussions between teachers and school leaders, relating to individual pupils' progress is helping to target support and intervention more effectively. This is tackling any issues of variation in achievement for specific groups or individuals and helps all leaders, managers, teachers and the governing body to tackle discrimination effectively and to promote equality. School leaders have an accurate picture of the current quality of teaching and have been

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Leadership and management

successful in improving the practice of a number of teachers through continued professional development. The governing body supports the school well. It has a very good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and is starting to challenge the leadership team to have greater impact.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum and pupils’ spiritual, social, moral and cultural development are satisfactory. Although the curriculum reflects pupils’ interests well and provides some creative learning experiences, ICT is not planned for sufficiently across subjects. Pupils do not have the same wide range of opportunities to apply their mathematical skills in other subjects as they do with their English work. Although the curriculum and teaching promote a number of opportunities to discuss and think about current social and moral issues, opportunities for cultural development are not as strong. The school meets statutory requirements for safeguarding. Although monitoring and evaluation in school are more consistent and structured, some elements of self- evaluation judge the school too generously. Emerging improvements in some key areas have been very recent and as yet have not been sustained for any length of time. Therefore, the school has satisfactory capacity to improve further.

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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 up exactly to 100.

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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 pupils' work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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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 pupils' 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.

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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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Inspection of Chapel Allerton Primary School, Leeds, LS7 3PD

This letter is to share with you our findings after our recent visit to your school. Firstly, I would like to thank you all for your help and for the very friendly and interested way you talked to us and told us about your school. We found your school to be satisfactory. Here are some of the best things about your school.

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Inspection of Chapel Allerton Primary School, Leeds, LS7 3PD

 You are trying hard and your work is getting better but currently you make satisfactory progress in your learning.  Your reading is good.  Your attendance is much better than it has been. Well done.  You all know how to keep yourselves safe.

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Inspection of Chapel Allerton Primary School, Leeds, LS7 3PD

We have asked the headteacher governing body and the staff to do the following things to help the school improve in the future:  make sure more of your lessons help you use your mathematics and ICT skills  help you to learn more for yourselves and work more independently in lessons  make sure that staff always help you to behave well around school, not just in lessons.

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Inspection of Chapel Allerton Primary School, Leeds, LS7 3PD

You can help by making sure you are always well-behaved at break and lunchtime. Thank you again for your help with the inspection. Enjoy your time at Chapel Allerton and keep working hard! Yours sincerely

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Inspection of Chapel Allerton Primary School, Leeds, LS7 3PD

Mark Colley Lead Inspector 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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