Low Moor CofE Primary School

Low Moor CE Primary School Inspection report

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Age group 5–11 Inspection date(s) 19–20 January 2012 Inspection number 377567 Unique Reference Number 107307 Local authority Bradford Inspection number 377567 Inspection dates 19–20 January 2012 Lead inspector Carmen Markham

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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 controlled Age range of pupils 5–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 395 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sue Furniss Headteacher Virginia Hartley Date of previous school inspection 13 November 2006 School address Park House Road Low Moor Bradford BD12 0NN Telephone number 01274 600797 Fax number 01274 414066 Email address office@lowmoor.ngfl.ac.uk 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

Carmen Markham Christine Millett Additional inspector Additional inspector David Matthews Additional inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection. They observed 14 teachers teaching 14 lessons, of which two were joint observations with members of the senior management team. In addition, the inspection team observed two ‘support lessons’ where experienced practitioners worked with pupils requiring specialist support. Meetings were held with two groups of pupils, the Chair and vice chair of the Governing Body and school staff, including senior and middle leaders. Discussions were held with some parents and carers. Inspectors heard some pupils from each year group read and talked to them about their reading. Inspectors observed the school's work, and scrutinised a number of documents, including the school development plan, safeguarding and equality policies and recent minutes of the governing body meetings. Inspectors analysed 124

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Introduction

parental and carers’ questionnaires and others completed by pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

This school is much larger than the average-sized primary school. The school population consistently consists of more boys than girls. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is a little below the national average. Most pupils are from White British backgrounds, although the proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups, mainly of Asian backgrounds, is above average. However, the proportion of pupils who speak English as a second language is below average. The proportion of pupils entering or leaving the school other than at the usual times is above the national average. The school meets the government’s current floor standards. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and those with disabilities is broadly in line with the national average for primary schools. The school has gained a number of awards including Healthy School status, Sing Up (Gold), the Basic Skills Quality Mark, Investors in Pupils and Investors in People.

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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 an outstanding school. It is rigorous in its drive to achieve excellence in all aspects of its work and has built on previous strong practice. Attainment is consistently well above average in both English and mathematics by the end of Year 6, with an exceptionally high proportion of pupils attaining the higher Level 5. Pupils make exceptional progress because they thrive in the very harmonious and purposeful school environment. Their needs are identified quickly and the most appropriate support is available to ensure their success in learning, and in their outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Key Findings

 Teaching is outstanding throughout the school, including in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Teachers know pupils’ performance well because regular high quality assessment, and the rigorous monitoring and review of progress are undertaken very effectively. Pupils who need additional support benefit from special programmes provided by school staff and a range of external partners so that the gaps in learning of different groups of pupils, including boys and girls and those with special educational needs and those with disabilities in Key Stage 1 are closed or much reduced by the end of Key Stage 2. A very small minority of pupils, who have joined the school in upper Key Stage 2, find reading more difficult than work in other curriculum areas because they have lacked the benefit of the school's excellent systematic teaching of sounds and letters.

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Key Findings

 High expectations for considerate and courteous behaviour and excellent relationships between all members of the school community, promote strong community cohesion and outstanding behaviour. Pupils are very positive about school and their learning. The outstanding curriculum is broad and very relevant to pupils’ needs and interests. Pupils’ ability to assess and manage risk and to keep themselves safe is excellent. The arrangements for safeguarding pupils are exemplary.

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Key Findings

 The exceptional leadership, management and governance of this school are fully reflected in the school’s outstanding outcomes and provision. Their vision of excellence is adopted successfully by all staff. Pupils, parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the excellent practice of the school in all aspects including support for pupils with special educational needs and those with disabilities, which some parents and carers say has been, ‘life changing’ for children and their families.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the already strong effort to enable that very small minority of pupils who joined the school in upper Key Stage 2 to improve their reading skills by providing them with more strategies to read unfamiliar words.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils' achievement is outstanding. School data, inspection observations and work in pupils’ books demonstrates that attainment overall has been consistently high since the previous inspection. Most children enter school with skills below age-related expectations, particularly in communication, language and literacy, and leave school at the end of Year 6 with attainment that is significantly above the national average. Pupils rapidly develop the skills of effective learning. They are aware of the progress they are making and know how to improve their work. They understand their responsibility for their learning and most are confident, independent learners. In lessons, pupils are very well motivated and fully engaged in learning as their work is relevant to their interests. Pupils enjoy the high level of pace and challenge. Their outstanding behaviour contributes well to their learning.

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Achievement of pupils

By the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, nearly all children achieve above age- related expectations and have made very strong progress in their communication, language and literacy. By the end of Key Stage 1, attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is consistently well above the national average with significantly high performance at the higher Level 3 in all areas. This pattern continues into Key Stage 2. By the end of Year 6, attainment is significantly above the national average in English and mathematics, including performance at the higher Level 5 and the proportion of pupils attaining both English and mathematics at Levels 4 and 5. By this stage in their education, pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds , including those who speak English as an additional language, pupils with special educational needs, those with disabilities, pupils in receipt of free school meals and boys and girls, are all achieving very well compared to their peers nationally. Attainment and

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Achievement of pupils

progress in mathematics is a little stronger than English because a very small minority of older pupils who join the school in upper Key Stage 2 have not fully mastered strategies to help them to read fluently. However, attainment in reading by the end of Year 6 remains well above average. Parents and carers fully recognise and appreciate the excellent achievement of their children as they move through school.

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Quality of teaching

The quality of teaching is outstanding. Teachers use their very accurate assessments of pupils' performance to group pupils by ability and to inform excellent, well-structured lesson plans. Teaching assistants are highly effective in developing and supporting pupils' learning. They work in very close partnership with class teachers. Lesson pace is challenging and evaluative. Teachers are very skilled in their use of questions to extend discussion and promote learning. In all lessons, pupils are fully engaged in their learning because teachers involve them fully and meet their learning needs.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers use the recently-improved curriculum very effectively to help pupils to apply their basic skills across a range of curricular subjects. They also promote pupils’ social, moral and cultural skills extremely well. For example, in an English lesson, where the development of characters was a key focus, pupils were engaged in developing empathy and applying this to their work. The excellent application and development of new skills across the curriculum is also seen very clearly in the outstanding Early Years Foundation Stage. High quality teachers' marking, the use of well structured personal targets and some very imaginative, pupil-focused reward systems, ensure that pupils are able to evaluate and improve their own work. All teachers and teaching assistants know their pupils well and, where necessary, work closely with families and external agencies to ensure the best possible provision. Parents and carers praise the high quality of teaching in school and how teachers enable

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils’ behaviour and their attitudes and knowledge of safety are outstanding. This is recognised and regularly commented on by parents and carers. Pupils make a good contribution to their school community and their views are sought and listened to by staff. Pupils say that they feel very safe in school and they can identify most of the actions that the school takes to ensure their safety. Pupils have an exemplary awareness of e-safety and how they should use the internet. They say that there is little, if any, bullying and that they know the actions to take if they have concerns. They are very aware of the need to respect others. The weekly citizenship awards focus the pupils’ attention well on taking responsibility for their actions and helping the school community, for example in Year 6 where pupils are young leaders and in Years 4 and 5 where pupils are lunchtime helpers. All pupils participate

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

in the effective management of their classrooms. The school’s very positive learning environment reinforces the value of exemplary behaviour and all pupils happily conform to this expectation in lessons, around the school and over time. Attendance is above average and punctuality is good.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher, senior leaders and the governing body, work as a highly effective team to ensure that pupils are successful in both their personal and academic development. This vision is subscribed to by all staff. All share a sense of purpose and morale is very high. Procedures to ensure rigorous monitoring and evaluation of the school’s performance are closely adhered to and provide information to support exceptionally well focused action planning. Significant improvements to teaching have been implemented, including the setting of challenging targets. The rigorous use of school data has enabled staff to plan lessons that match individual pupils’ needs. Inequality has been tackled exceptionally well. Outstanding achievement and teaching are testament to the excellence of leadership and management. The school’s capacity for sustained improvement is outstanding.

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Leadership and management

The governing body is very effective and plays an exceptional role in monitoring the school's work and action planning. It is also rigorous in the evaluation of its own performance and its work to ensure that safeguarding arrangements are fully in place. The outstanding curriculum is broad and balanced; it interests and motivates pupils and gives them many excellent opportunities to apply and refine basic skills learnt. Curricular enrichment also introduces pupils to many new experiences, for example, music, competitive sport and learning Spanish. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. It benefits from most elements of the curriculum and also from excellent assemblies and pupils’ strong contributions to the community. The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum is very strong. It provides a good mixture of independent activities initiated by children and focused activities led by an adult and are, therefore, providing a good foundation for

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Leadership and management

learning in later years. The school engages very well with parents and carers to ensure that they are active partners in their child’s learning. Personal contact and a range of media keep parents and carers informed and involved in school activities.

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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 sc hools 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.

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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 Low Moor CE Primary School, Bradford BD12 0NN

I would like to thank you for making the inspectors so welcome when we came to inspect your school. A special ‘thank you’ goes to the pupils who gave up some of their time to talk to us about their activities. Your celebration assembly was amazing. It showed us all the things that you value, such as citizenship, and your singing was beautiful.

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Inspection of Low Moor CE Primary School, Bradford BD12 0NN

You attend an outstanding school. School leaders and governors do an excellent job in managing the school. Children in the Reception class make a very good start to their education. By the end of Year 6, your attainment is high in English and mathematics and your achievement is outstanding. This is because teaching is outstanding and your behaviour is exemplary, so you are able to learn extremely well. Your attendance at school is good. You all feel very safe in school and you understand how to stay safe. You have an excellent understanding of internet safety. It was good to see how very considerate you all are of other people and how helpful and kind you are to each other. Your school is a happy place where you want to learn and find out more about the many exciting topics in your school curriculum.

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Inspection of Low Moor CE Primary School, Bradford BD12 0NN

To help some of you to make even more progress we have asked the school to:

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Inspection of Low Moor CE Primary School, Bradford BD12 0NN

 provide even more help for those older pupils who missed earlier lessons on how to use sounds and letters, to improve their reading, especially to help them to read new words.

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Inspection of Low Moor CE Primary School, Bradford BD12 0NN

Carmen Markham 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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