Travis St Lawrence CofE Primary School

Travis St Lawrence CE Primary School Cuckoo Lane, Hatfield, Doncaster, DN7 6QE

p.1

Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

p.1

This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Teaching is not yet consistently good and this lack of consistency has slowed pupils’ learning over time.  There are not enough more-able pupils reaching the standards they should in writing and mathematics.  Work given to pupils, particularly the more able, does not always match their ability because teachers have not thoroughly checked pupils’ previous understanding. In Key Stages 1 and 2 teachers’ questioning does not always make more-able pupils think hard enough.  Teachers do not always make it clear to pupils what they are going to learn. Pupils are not given enough time to improve their work by responding to their teacher’s marking.  The quality of pupils’ writing in their books is not good enough because some of the words they use regularly are not spelt correctly and older pupils are not using punctuation as well as they should.  Sometimes teachers talk for too long and pupils spend a long time listening, causing

p.1

This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

them to become less involved in their learning.  Middle leaders are not yet fully involved in improving the quality of teaching and learning.

p.1

The school has the following strengths

 The headteacher provides good, clear leadership and is well supported by two very able deputies. Their actions have led to improvements in teaching. There is none that is inadequate and an increasing proportion of good teaching.  Pupils enjoy and do well in reading.  The school’s outdoor area is used well and helps pupils to enjoy learning.  Pupils’ work is celebrated effectively throughout the two different sites.  The school works well with parents and has received an award in recognition of this.  Children are given a good start in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

p.1

Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 18 lessons taught by 15 different teachers and listened to two groups of pupils read. Three lessons were jointly observed with the headteacher.  The inspectors had meetings with staff, three groups of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors met with some parents informally at the start of the school day and took into account the 34 responses from parents to the online questionnaire (Parent View).  Inspectors looked at a range of evidence including the school’s self-evaluation, the school improvement plan, the school’s data for tracking pupils’ progress, monitoring reports, pupils work, governing body minutes and documentation relating to safeguarding.

p.2

Inspection team

Sharona Semlali, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Karen Foster Additional Inspector Rosemary Batty Additional Inspector

p.2

Information about this school

 Travis St Lawrence is a new school that is larger than the average-sized primary school. It opened in September 2011 and is located on two sites.  Most pupils are White British.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is slightly lower than average.  The proportion of pupils with special educational needs supported through school action is low.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is slightly lower than average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  This is the school’s first inspection.  The school has achieved two major awards which are the ‘Leading Parent Partnership Award’ and the ‘Royal Horticultural Society’ Level 5.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching and pupils’ achievement so they are at least consistently good or better by:  ensuring work matches pupils’ different abilities by checking their progress and understanding rigorously  developing teachers’ questioning skills so they can help pupils think more deeply, particularly in mathematics  ensuring that teachers make it clear to pupils what they are going to learn and help pupils to know when they are successful in their learning  giving pupils more time to respond to their teacher’s marking  ensuring that teachers talk less during the introduction to lessons so that pupils are more involved in their learning  increasing the proportion of pupils achieving the higher levels in writing, insisting that pupils’ presentation and quality of writing is of a high standard in all subjects  addressing pupils’ poor use of basic punctuation and spelling errors much more quickly, particularly for the more able and the older pupils

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 securing pupils’ knowledge of the different letters and sounds, showing them how they can use this to improve their spellings.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by:  training the middle leaders so that they are involved in closely checking the quality of teaching and can hold others responsible for the work they do with their pupils  ensuring that the governing body is involved in making decisions about how the funding for the pupil premium is spent.

p.3

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children join the Nursery with most having skills that are typically seen for their age, although they are slightly lower in communication, language and literacy, and in aspects of their personal, social and emotional development. The well-organised learning areas, together with the support of skilled adults, effectively help children to make good progress in these two areas of their learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  Pupils enter Year 1 with broadly average skills for their age. Pupils make expected progress in mathematics and writing in Key Stage 1. Progress in reading is good. Pupils enjoy reading regularly. Improvements in the quality of teaching have resulted in most pupils making the progress expected of them in writing and mathematics in Years 3 to 6 but remaining inconsistencies mean that not enough do better than this.  By the time pupils leave at the end of Year 6 they have made good progress to reach

p.4

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

significantly above-average standards in reading tests. Their attainment in mathematics and writing is average. Those pupils who are capable of doing better than this do not reach the standards they should, particularly in writing.  The few pupils with special educational needs and those who are eligible for pupil premium funding make similar progress to all other pupils in the school. This is because their progress is always checked regularly. Any specific needs are identified and actions to improve their learning are quickly put into place. A sensory room and a quiet place are used for those who need their own space in a much quieter environment. This demonstrates how well the school is promoting equality of opportunity.

p.4

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching is improving but is still too variable throughout the school. This is why there are not enough pupils making good progress and reaching the highest levels of attainment in writing and mathematics.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage the quality of the outdoor and indoor learning classrooms help children to explore, investigate and stimulate their imaginative play. It is well organised and resources are available for all children. During the inspection, whilst outside, a group of children enjoyed pretending to speak through a microphone to an adult who was successfully developing their speaking and listening skills.  When providing explanations to pupils teachers in some classes in Key Stages 1 and 2 sometimes focus too much on the activity to be completed. As a result, although pupils are clear about what they have to do, they do not have a clear understanding of how this will help them

p.4

The quality of teaching requires improvement

to learn or improve their work so that they make good progress.  At times the activities provided for pupils do not challenge them to do their best because teachers do not use the information they have about what pupils already know when planning lessons. Teachers do not always use probing questions effectively to deepen pupils’ thinking skills, particularly the more able pupils.  Sometimes teachers talk for too long at the beginning of a lesson, causing some pupils to sit back and let the teacher do all the work.  In some classes teachers organise their classrooms well to support learning. This was seen in two Year 5 lessons where pupils were plotting the different suspense and tension of two class stories on a line graph. The main themes and sequences of the stories were clearly displayed on the walls and pupils were frequently referring to them to prompt their memories.  Pupils are given a wide range of experiences to stimulate their writing such as being reporters

p.4

The quality of teaching requires improvement

for the school. They are encouraged to write in different subjects. However, pupils’ books show that the standard of presentation and the quality of writing in some subjects is not high enough. Commonly used words are not spelt correctly and some older pupils do not always use basic punctuation properly. These errors are not always corrected soon enough.  In a Year 4 mental mathematics lesson pupils enjoyed trying to work out the answers to different types of questions but there were missed opportunities to deepen their understanding of angles and why they were getting some of the questions wrong.  All pupils’ work is well marked but pupils are not given time to respond to it.  Pupil premium funding has been used well to develop the skills of the teaching assistants. They carefully support and check the progress of those pupils who are entitled to the funding and pupils with special educational needs, so that these pupils are helped to make up lost ground.

p.4

The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say they feel safe in school and a very large majority of parents who responded to the online Parent View survey agree with this. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. Typical examples from the younger pupils were that ‘fire bells keep us safe and adults have lists when we go on visits to make sure no-one is lost.’ Older pupils in Key Stage 1 have a buddy system where they look after the younger ones at lunchtime. Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe when using the internet. Some have designed posters demonstrating this for younger pupils.  Breaktimes and lunchtimes are well supervised on both sites and pupils say they can go to the adults if they have a concern. A group of pupils in Years 5 and 6 are play leaders and help to ensure that pupils get along well.  Most of the parental responses and those from pupils indicate that behaviour is good throughout the school, although a minority of parents responding to the online survey do not feel that

p.5

The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

bullying is effectively dealt with by the school. School records show that incidences of bullying and name-calling are rare but, if they do occur, appropriate actions are taken and recorded.  Pupils are very eager to learn. They respond well to praise and were consulted in wanting to keep the reward systems such as the ‘Golden Rules’ and ‘house points’ in their new school. Pupils enjoy being rewarded with a ‘golden ticket’ where they have the opportunity to shadow a member of staff. However, on occasions when teaching is not effective, pupils do not concentrate as well as they should.  Attendance is above average with very few persistent absences, showing that the pupils enjoy coming to school.

p.5

The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher is very determined, passionate and has a clear view of how successful the new school can be. She has sensitively merged two different schools. This was achieved very quickly in a short space of time with good support from the local authority and the governing body. The new school has a strong Christian family ethos with happy staff.  The senior leadership team are firmly helping to make improvements in the school by supporting, and working closely with, those with less experience. There is no inadequate teaching and much more teaching is now good. However, these improvements have not been in place long enough to be fully effective. Middle leaders are still fairly new to their duties and are not yet fully involved in holding others to account.  Senior leaders regularly check the quality of teaching, including by watching how pupils learn in lessons, but this is still quite new and will need more time to fully make a difference. As part of

p.5

The leadership and management are good

the reward system pupils have observed lessons with the headteacher; this has been very helpful as they are able to give feedback to the teachers from a child’s point of view.  The headteacher ensures that there are regular meetings with all teachers to find out how well the pupils in their class are doing. The school has detailed information about this which is closely looked at and used to quickly identify when pupils are not making enough progress. Support programmes are put in place to help them catch up, for example pupils who are identified with special educational needs and those who are less able.  Subjects are taught in exciting ways to get pupils to learn. A group of pupils were involved in helping to maintain the garden at a local old people’s home. This helps them to make contributions to their local community whilst they are learning. The school has achieved the ‘Royal Horticultural Award’ because of how well the school uses its gardens for teaching and

p.5

The leadership and management are good

learning. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves healthy through the ‘Bike It’ project where they are encouraged to come to school on their bicycles. Recently pupils enjoyed having a ‘French Day’ which helped them understand French culture well.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is taught well. Pupils have good opportunities to think. Candles and classical music help to create a calm and welcoming atmosphere during collective worship.  The school works closely with parents. A forum has been set up where parents meet and give their ideas on how to make improvements to the school. The school has received a ‘Leading Parent Partnership Award’ in recognition of the work with parents and this helps to foster good relationships within the school community.  The local authority gave the school good support throughout during the development of the new school, which has helped to improve the quality of teaching.

p.6

The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body has a good knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the school and a clear understanding of the quality of teaching. Governors were fully involved in creating the new school. They provide good support and challenge to the senior leaders and are involved in checking how well the school is doing. Governors who are responsible for the performance of the headteacher have received training to help them carry out this task. The governing body looks at whether good teachers should be rewarded or not. It is not yet involved in making decisions about how pupil premium funding is spent and does not evaluate the difference it is making to how well pupils achieve.

p.6

Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

p.7

Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

p.7

School details

Unique reference number 106766 Local authority Doncaster Inspection number 400231

p.8

School details

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

p.8

School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 393 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ralph Silvester Headteacher Elizabeth Gibson Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 01302 842164 Fax number 01302 842164 Email address admin@travis.doncaster.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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 .

p.8

School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

p.9

School details

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

p.9

School details

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. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

p.9

School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

p.9

School details

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

p.9