Shay Lane Primary (J and I) School

School report Shay Lane Primary (J and I) School Shay Lane, Crofton, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF4 1NN

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 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 Requires improvement 3

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

 Whilst there have been improvements to pupils' progress in English and mathematics since the last inspection it is not yet consistently good in all classes.  Teachers do not make full use of their knowledge of pupils' ability to set work that enables all pupils to do their best.  Occasionally, teachers do not make the best use of other adults in the classroom to further increase pupils' progress. Although teachers mark work regularly, they do not always provide precise enough feedback to enable pupils to effectively improve their work in all subjects.  The plans to move the school forward do not provide specific and clear enough guidance to bring about the best rate of improvement.  The role of staff who lead and manage subjects, is not fully established to drive improvement in their areas of responsibility.  The governing body are not yet well enough informed to hold leaders fully to account.

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The school has the following strengths

 Standards are average by the end of Year 6 and have continued to rise since the last inspection.  The school is a warm and friendly place where pupils of all abilities, and from many ethnic backgrounds, are safe, behave well and work and play in harmony.  Pupils have interesting opportunities to find out about the world around them, such as learning Mandarin, and participate in a wide range of after school clubs. This contributes well to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and positive attitudes to learning.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 13 lessons including a joint observation with the headteacher. The inspectors also made a number of shorter visits to classrooms.  Discussions were held with a group of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body, a representative of the local authority and members of staff including senior and subject leaders.  Inspectors took account of nine responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and outcomes from the school’s consultations with parents. They also analysed the school's own consultations with parents.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a range of documents, including data on pupils’ current and previous progress, the school development plan, performance management documentation and records relating to pupils’ behaviour and safety.

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Inspection team

Andrew Clark, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Dina Martin Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The majority of pupils are from White British families.  The proportion of pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds, particularly from Eastern Europe and including those from traveller's families, is above average.  The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium funding is above average.  The proportion of pupils supported by school action is average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The school meets the current government floor standards which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of good and outstanding teaching in order to further improve rates of pupils' progress by:  ensuring that teachers set work which fully meets the needs of all pupils during all lessons  making sure that all adults working with pupils are well prepared and deployed, to have the maximum impact on pupils' learning  make full use of marking and feedback to help pupils improve their literacy skills, especially in subjects other than English.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 In order to increase the rate of school improvement senior leaders must:  ensure the school development plan contains the precise and accurate steps to achieve challenging targets  ensure all leaders and managers have a clear role in achieving school improvement and are accountable for outcomes in their areas of responsibility  thoroughly check the impact of the work of teaching assistants  strengthen the effectiveness of the governing body in checking the outcomes of school priorities and holding leaders to account.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ achievement requires improvement because their progress is not yet consistently good throughout the school.  Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills and understanding which are typically below those expected for their age, especially in communication and literacy. They often make a good early start in developing communication and social skills. However, this pace of learning is not consistently maintained.  Lesson observations and the school's tracking indicate that the large majority of pupils make expected progress in literacy and numeracy. This is a reflection of good teaching over time in Years 2 and 6 and the school’s increased focus since the previous inspection on developing reading and writing skills.  Although a steadily increasing proportion of pupils are making better than expected progress this is not improving fast enough to ensure that pupils' achievement overall is good.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs largely make expected progress. Where adult support is well deployed to help them, they sometimes make good progress. However, the assessment of pupils’ progress, within targeted teaching programmes, is not always checked closely enough to ensure that they always lead to accelerated learning.  Pupils have positive attitudes to reading and the school’s concentration on teaching letters and sounds is a quick-paced enjoyable way to boost learning. Pupils in Key Stage 1 increasingly develop the skills to tackle new words systematically and they read with increased fluency. These skills ensure that all groups of pupils, including those supported by the pupil premium, make at least expected progress. The focus on basic reading skills also helps pupils who speak English as an additional language make progress which is at least as good as their peers.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils from traveller families often make good gains in their reading skills because of the close partnership with their parents and early identification of their needs.  Pupils take pride in their work and generally present it well. There are good opportunities for pupils to practise their reading, writing and mathematical skills in other subjects such as history and science which increases their enthusiasm for learning.  There is a sharp concentration on developing pupils' mathematical calculation skills and achievement is particularly good when pupils use their skills to solve problems independently. For example, in Year 6 pupils develop a good understanding of mean and mode averages through challenging practical problems. In other lessons progress is limited because pupils are all taught the same calculation skill when some already know how to do it and others do not understand.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Whilst there is good and occasionally outstanding teaching, including in the Early Years Foundation Stage, there are too many lessons which require improvement. As a result, pupils do not always make the best possible progress.  A significant strength of all lessons is the good management of pupils' behaviour and the calm and friendly ethos. As a result, all groups of pupils, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, feel included and enjoy their learning. The pupils are happy and have positive attitudes to learning as a result.  In too many lessons, the work set is not at the right level for all pupils. Sometimes teachers do not make good enough use of their knowledge of pupils' previous achievement and set work which is too easy for some and too hard for others.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage group tasks such as those developing early reading skills, for example, are often well planned and effective. However, some of the activities children

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

choose for themselves do not provide sufficient challenge and interest for children of different abilities limiting the progress they make.  The best lessons engage pupils from the start in contributing to and participating in lively and motivating activities. In these lessons, teachers set a brisk pace and involve pupils in giving their views on how well they understand their work, and using this as a springboard to help them move on to increasingly challenging work. This results in good and sometimes outstanding progress. These strengths in teaching quality are not consistently evident in all lessons.  A good improvement since the last inspection is that teachers do not spend too long talking to pupils at the start or end of lessons. Teachers successfully expect pupils to present their work neatly and to take some responsibility for organising it.  Teachers generally question pupils well to deepen their understanding and help them retain facts

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

and information.  The effective use of all adults in the classroom is variable. They often provide good support for specific pupils such as those with a disability or special educational needs and those with English as an additional language. However, teaching assistants and other adults are sometimes not clear enough about what is expected of them to ensure they have the maximum impact on pupils' learning.  Teachers' mark work and provide regular positive feedback to pupils. However, they sometimes describe what the pupil has learned rather than making it clear what the pupils can do to reach the next step in their learning and checking that they have done this. For example, errors in basic spelling are not always pointed out to pupils in all subjects.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils behave well in classrooms and around school. The school is calm and orderly, and relationships between pupils and adults are good. Occasionally, when work is not challenging enough, pupils lose concentration which limits their progress.  Pupils treat each other with respect and consideration. Older pupils work and play well with younger ones and take good care of them, especially in the playground. The school works closely with parents in supporting pupils to be punctual and attend regularly.  Pupils take responsibilities and make a contribution to the safe environment through their roles on the school council and as playground buddies. They enjoy taking care of the school pets and do so responsibly. They are often involved in charitable work and fund raising activities and are proud of this.  The school works well with parents to support pupils with emotional and social difficulties and to

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

help them manage their own behaviour. Consequently poor behaviour is rare.  Pupils have a good understanding of different types of bullying and feel that very little goes on. They have a particularly good understanding of the potential dangers of the internet through their work on safe use of computers. They are proud that pupils from many different backgrounds work well together without fear of harassment or prejudice.  The pupils respond well to the strong moral and social guidance they receive. They develop positive attitudes to life and learning through the teaching of common values and adults' high expectations. Pupils are introduced to ethical issues through their learning in different subjects and the strong links with, for example, a school in Gambia.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders and managers have in the main responded positively to the issues raised at the last inspection. However, the steps identified for school improvement are not always clear enough and pursued robustly to secure the best rates of change and improve pupils' achievement to good or better overall.  The headteacher, supported by the deputy headteacher, create a calm and steady ethos which is reflected in the sense of harmony between pupils from different backgrounds and cultures.  Staff generally work together well as a team. However, the areas for school improvement are built on separate action plans and it is not clear what the overarching priorities are for all staff and the governing body to work towards. This means that some of the initiatives undertaken are too ad hoc and staff have not been fully empowered to take enough ownership of their own areas of subject responsibility. As a result, they do not have the maximum impact on pupils'

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The leadership and management requires improvement

learning.  Senior leaders’ judgements of the quality of teaching are accurate. Staff yearly targets are appropriately based on improving pupils' achievement. Training is provided to help staff achieve their targets and pay rises are linked to how well they perform. Although this has led to some improvement in the quality of teaching, activities to check and bring about further improvement are not always rigorously applied.  Steps to check and improve the work of teaching assistants and other adults are not well established.  Equality of opportunity is at the heart of the school’s work and the staff go the extra mile to meet pupils’ differing needs although there is more work to do to ensure this happens in every lesson. The school tackles any issues of discrimination well and this contributes to the harmony in the community.  The school takes good care of its pupils and procedures to ensure pupils’ safety are thorough

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The leadership and management requires improvement

and meet legal requirements. The school has strong links with education welfare and other support agencies to meet the pupils' emotional and behavioural needs well. Parents hold the school in high regard.  The local authority provides increasingly good support to the school. They have established a programme of regular visits and training matched to the needs of the school through the 'Securing Good' project. This is already bringing improvements to the school development planning and supporting staff well through training.  The school makes learning exciting and memorable through the different subjects and the links between them. It promotes a good understanding of diversity through community projects and global issues. As a result, pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well and good links exist between subjects such as art and design, history and science.  The governance of the school:

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governing body has identified the need for more detailed first-hand information on pupils' progress to fully hold leaders to account. There have been several recent changes to membership of the governing body and good training opportunities from the local authority are helping to develop their role. The Chair of the Governing Body, who was appointed after the last inspection, has undertaken planned visits to the school to build on the information from the local authority and the headteacher. They manage the school finances well and work closely with the efficient business manager. They support the use of pupil premium funding in developing the programme to tackle weaknesses in pupils' literacy skills regardless of age. They take appropriate steps to review and improve the performance of all staff, including the headteacher. However, they recognise that this process is not yet thorough enough.

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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

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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.

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School details

Unique reference number 130375 Local authority Wakefield Inspection number 406379

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 192 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Carol Crake Headteacher David Wright Date of previous school inspection 12 January 2011 Telephone number 01924 303910 Fax number 01924 303911 Email address headteacher@shaylane.wakefield.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 .

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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.

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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

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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

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School details

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School details

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

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