Otley the Whartons Primary School

Otley the Whartons Primary School Inspection report

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Age group 5–11 Inspection date(s) 25–26 June 2012 Inspection number 395476 Unique Reference Number 107881 Local authority Leeds Inspection number 395476 Inspection dates 25–26 June 2012 Lead inspector Keith Bardon

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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 5–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 203 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Maureen Mason Headteacher Jane Sanders Date of previous school inspection 19 November 2008 School address The Whartons Otley LS21 2BS Telephone number 01943 465 018 Fax number 01943 465 180 Email address secretary@otleywhartons.leeds.sch.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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Introduction

Keith Bardon Barbara Martin Additional Inspector Additional Inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. Inspectors visited 13 lessons, observed seven teachers, held meetings with staff, members of the governing body, and pupils, and talked informally with parents and carers. Inspectors observed the school’s work including pupils being taught in small groups, heard pupils read and looked at a range of evidence including policies, the school’s improvement plans, pupils’ work and the school’s records indicating pupils’ progress and attainment. They analysed 106 questionnaires returned by parents and carers and those completed by pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

Otley the Whartons is a smaller than average-sized primary school and is situated on the outskirts of the town. A very large majority of pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. The proportion of pupils supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average. The school meets the current floor standard which sets the government’s minimum expectations for attainment and progress. The school has Healthy School status, holds the Charter Mark for sustainable schools and has received the Activemark award.

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Information about the school

Since the school was last inspected there have been several significant changes in senior leadership, including a new headteacher who took up the post in September 2010. A school- managed breakfast club is available to pupils each day. A voluntary committee operates a daily after-school club. This will be inspected separately and the report will be on the Ofsted website. 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

 Otley the Whartons is a satisfactory school which promotes pupils’ personal development well. It is not yet a good school because there are inconsistencies in the quality of teaching, and pupils’ progress in Key Stage 2 is no better than satisfactory. 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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Key Findings

 Pupils are taught well and make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and in Key Stage 1. As a result of the inconsistent quality of teaching in Key Stage 2, pupils’ progress is uneven and they gain knowledge, understanding and skills steadily rather than quickly.

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Key Findings

 Teaching in Key Stage 1 engages pupils in challenging but achievable tasks that are set in stimulating and exciting contexts. There are also examples of well-structured and effective lessons in Key Stage 2, but these are less common and at times pupils in this key stage are given work that does not fully match their abilities. Most classrooms provide an attractive and positive learning environment.

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Key Findings

 Pupils’ behaviour is good. They work and play well together, listen attentively to teachers and follow instructions carefully. Pupils of all ages respond positively when asked a question in class and try hard to give a full and accurate answer. They take pleasure in the praise they are given and celebrate the successes of others enthusiastically.

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Key Findings

 Under the focused leadership of the headteacher and with support and challenge from the governing body, weaknesses are being addressed and the school’s effectiveness is improving. Clear performance targets are set for staff closely linked to the school’s key priorities. Teachers have appropriate management responsibilities and some make a good contribution to school improvement, but others have limited knowledge and understanding of leadership skills and strategies. Individual pupils’ progress is tracked closely but systems for identifying the progress made by different groups of pupils lack refinement.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 To accelerate pupils’ progress, particularly in Key Stage 2, improve the quality of teaching by: - ensuring that in all lessons the tasks provided enable pupils of different abilities to make rapid gains in their learning - making full use of opportunities provided by different subjects to extend and promote pupils’ learning in literacy and numeracy - ensuring that all classrooms provide a highly stimulating learning environment - providing a curriculum which builds pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills progressively and at pace in all subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the effectiveness of leadership and management by: - ensuring all teachers with management responsibilities have the leadership skills needed to make a full contribution to school improvement - refining assessment and tracking procedures to provide a clearer picture of the progress different groups of pupils are making.

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Achievement of pupils

While this varies from year to year, the majority of children enter school with skills and knowledge that are expected for their age. Children achieve well in the Early Years Foundation Stage and in Key Stage 1. By the end of Year 2, pupils’ attainment is above average, particularly in reading and writing. With very few exceptions, Year 2 pupils read with the abilities expected of the age group, and a good proportion show above average skills. They have a good understanding of the text and are able to explain clearly how different characters are influencing a story. New and unfamiliar words are sounded out and identified with confidence and accuracy. In a stimulating lesson in Year 2, pupils enthusiastically added ‘ly’ or ‘est’ to words held up by a member of the class and confidently formed well-structured sentences using the extended words.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils’ achievement in Key Stage 2 is satisfactory but inconsistent. Since the last inspection, pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 6 has varied, often being a little above average but only very occasionally well above, and in 2011 falling to average. School assessment data, pupils’ work and inspection evidence indicate that the measures the school has put in place are having a positive effect and standards are rising: higher ability pupils in particular are achieving more and attainment in Year 6 has risen to above average. There is, however, scope for further improvement to ensure that the good start pupils make in Key Stage 1 is successfully built upon and all pupils achieve to the best of their abilities. A stronger emphasis on the use of lively vocabulary and on varying punctuation and grammar has improved pupils’ writing and many are constructing stories of a good quality. In a well- taught literacy lesson in Year 4, pupils made very good use of wide range of sentence

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Achievement of pupils

connectives to improve their writing and add interest for the reader. By the end of Year 6, most pupils are reading at or beyond the standard expected, and have formed preferences for particular authors and styles of writing. The basic skills pupils acquire provide a solid foundation for learning in the future. Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs maintain a satisfactory rate of progress, similar to that of their peers. Although there are year-on-year variations depending on the make up of the cohort, there is little difference overall in the progress made by boys and girls.

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Quality of teaching

The quality of teaching varies substantially, and generates a faster pace of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 than in Key Stage 2. Because of the inconsistencies in the quality, teaching is judged as satisfactory overall but improving, and the proportion of lessons which are taught well is steadily increasing. Most teachers take account of pupils’ differing abilities in their planning. While some match activity to ability with precision, others do not move pupils on to more challenging tasks quickly enough. Where work is matched to best effect, the success criteria pupils are expected to meet is carefully varied and displayed clearly so that everyone is certain about what has to be achieved by the different groups.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers have a secure grasp of different subjects and deliver the curriculum confidently. However, pupils’ learning in subjects such as history and geography does not always build systematically on what they have previously learned. English and mathematics are given a high profile but opportunities to extend pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills to full advantage in other subjects, such as science, are not always used well enough. Teachers pay careful attention to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Around the school, wall displays, celebrating local and other cultures, raise important global and environmental issues, demonstrating the very constructive way in which teachers promote pupils’ personal development and social awareness.

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Quality of teaching

A small number of very high quality lessons are characterised by excellent and continual use of assessment to check pupils’ progress towards sharply focused learning objectives together with lively activities which move pupils’ knowledge forward at a fast pace. Teachers and teaching assistants work very well together and ensure that pupils have a full understanding of what they have to achieve and how to go about it. In contrast, there are lessons which fail to motivate pupils sufficiently because the work is too mundane and does not progress logically from one stage to the next. In most instances, teachers and teaching assistants ask well-judged questions to aid pupils’ understanding and guide them. The teaching of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is satisfactory but on occasions their progress is also affected by the inconsistencies in the quality of teaching that other pupils experience.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils’ enjoyment of school is reflected clearly in their high and rising attendance. Scrutiny of behaviour records, and discussions, confirm pupils’ behaviour is good over time. Pupils are polite, friendly and well mannered. Their attitudes to learning are good and in most lessons pupils’ willingness to concentrate well until a task is complete has a very positive effect on their learning. Very occasionally a lack of stimulus in teaching causes some pupils to lose interest and to sit passively rather than engage in the lesson. The character of different cohorts varies considerably and in one class in particular pupils can be boisterous, something a small number of parents and carers commented on in their communication with inspectors. Observations of lessons showed this to be exuberance and enthusiasm rather than bad behaviour, something that, with skilful management, the class teacher utilises to

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

very good effect to engage pupils and encourage them to learn. A very large majority of the parents and carers who returned the inspection questionnaire expressed very positive views of behaviour in school. Pupils make good progress in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and by Year 6 have matured into sensible and responsible young people. They show respect for adults and each other, reflect carefully on issues which may affect their lives, such as how to protect and improve the local environment, and willingly help around school. A small minority of the parents and carers who added comments to their questionnaires expressed some concerns about bullying, although others commented that their children had not experienced any. School records show that bullying is rare and incidents brought to the attention of senior staff have been addressed thoroughly. Pupils have an excellent understanding of different forms of bullying and express a high level of confidence in the

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

school to deal effectively with any that does occur. The school keeps a close watch on any pupils whose circumstances may make them vulnerable and with very few exceptions, parents and carers firmly believe that their children are safe in school, a view endorsed by the pupils and the inspection team. Pupils who attend the breakfast club enjoy this well- organised start to the school day.

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Leadership and management

Working closely as a team, senior leaders supported by the governing body monitor the performance of the school systematically, and make accurate and realistic judgements of its performance. With the help of the well-organised governing body, senior leaders plan carefully for its development. The governing body fulfils its statutory duties and ensure that arrangements for the safeguarding of pupils meet current requirements. Other teachers with management responsibilities have not developed the leadership skills to make a significant contribution to school improvement.

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Leadership and management

Senior leaders observe and evaluate the quality of teaching in lessons systematically and provide staff with regular opportunities for training and professional development. A much better understanding of assessment data has increased teachers’ appreciation of how their work is influencing pupils’ progress, and their ability to identify those who need additional help with their learning. Well-targeted support programmes and the effective deployment of teaching assistants are helping to accelerate pupils’ progress, particularly those who are in danger of falling short of expectations for their age. Systems to identify how different groups of pupils are performing are satisfactory, but do not always provide ready access to all the information leaders and managers need. The rise in attainment and in the quality of teaching demonstrates the school’s capacity to continue to improve. The management of provision for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is satisfactory;

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Leadership and management

the school has recognised the need to pass leadership responsibility from the headteacher to a designated member of staff to ensure that sufficient management time is available for this important area. A smooth transfer of responsibilities is well under way.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is satisfactory. It provides pupils with interesting opportunities to learn and enriches their experiences, with regular visits and visitors to school, but lacks cohesion and does not ensure that pupils’ learning in all subjects progresses logically and quickly. Equality of opportunity is satisfactory but is adversely affected by the variations in the quality of teaching. Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good and is a strength of the school. Opportunities to share experiences with pupils from other schools who have different home and cultural backgrounds are much enjoyed and add much to pupils’ understanding and appreciation of the diverse nature of the society in which they live.

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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 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 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 to 31 December 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.

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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

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

Floor standards the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures

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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 Otley the Whartons Primary School, Otley, LS21 2BS

Thank you very much for the very friendly greeting you gave the inspectors when we visited your school recently. We thoroughly enjoyed finding out about the work you do. Special thanks go to those who talked with us about the school and to those in Years 1, 2 and 6 who read to us. Otley the Whartons is a satisfactory school, which makes good provision for your personal development. Your behaviour is good and we were pleased to see you working hard in the lessons we visited. It was nice to hear you feel well cared for by staff and we know they will be pleased.

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Inspection of Otley the Whartons Primary School, Otley, LS21 2BS

The progress you make is satisfactory overall, but quicker in the Reception class and Years 1 and 2 than higher up in the school. This is because the quality of teaching in some classes and lessons enables you to learn more than it does in others. To ensure all pupils receive the best possible teaching and to help you achieve even more, particularly in Key Stage 2, we have asked staff to:

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Inspection of Otley the Whartons Primary School, Otley, LS21 2BS

 make sure everyone has work that challenges them to do their very best all the time  make full use of different subjects to increase your literacy and numeracy skills  ensure that all classrooms are as attractive and provide as much stimulation for learning as possible  improve the curriculum so that your learning in different subjects builds in a more systematic and secure way.

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Inspection of Otley the Whartons Primary School, Otley, LS21 2BS

We know that you enjoy a challenge and will play your part by continuing to work hard in lessons. We have also made suggestions to help staff and governors make the school even better. Thank you once again for a very enjoyable two days and best wishes for the future.

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Inspection of Otley the Whartons Primary School, Otley, LS21 2BS

Keith Bardon 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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