Ling Bob Junior, Infant and Nursery School

Ling Bob Junior, Infant and Nursery School Albert Road, Pellon, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX2 0QD

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils achieve well in mathematics and English. They make good progress from their starting points to reach broadly average standards by the end of Year 6.  Pupils, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, enjoy reading. They respond positively to adult support and practise their reading skills regularly. As a result, pupils achieved well in the Key Stage 1 national phonics test (recognising letters and the sounds they make).  Teaching and support staff know their pupils well, planning carefully for individual needs. As a result, pupils learn, attend and behave well. Keeping a daily log of their progress in learning, attendance and behaviour improves pupils’ eagerness to learn and do well.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength of the school. Pupils say they feel very safe in school and are cared for well.  The headteacher and other leaders have

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

worked hard and been successful in improving the quality of teaching so that most of it is good or better in this improving school. This is helped by the excellent systems to check on pupils’ progress.  There is high morale amongst all staff. They all want the school to improve further and work very effectively as a team.  Governors are very knowledgeable and are fully involved in decision-making, for example, in how well the pupil premium funding is used.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teachers do not always tell pupils how well they have achieved in relation to their targets and what they must do to improve.  Teachers do not always provide opportunities for pupils to respond quickly to comments in marking to help improve their skills.  Most children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress. However, there is scope to improve the plans to help individual children with complex learning needs to accelerate their progress further.  Not all staff are fully trained in the recent Early Years Foundation Stage guidance.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 14 teachers teaching 17 lessons and five teaching assistants providing additional learning support for individuals and small groups. One lesson was a joint observation with the headteacher. Inspectors also listened to small groups of pupils read.  The inspectors held meetings with staff, groups of pupils, three governors and a representative from the local authority.  The inspectors studied a range of evidence including: the school’s website; pupils’ assessment information and reports; pupils’ workbooks and folders; the school improvement plan and school self-evaluation documents; local authority reports on the school and school policies and documents, including those relating to safeguarding and behaviour.  The inspectors considered 30 responses to the staff questionnaire.  The inspectors met with three parents informally in school, and looked at two letters from parents. They took into account of 13 responses from parents to the on-line questionnaire

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Inspection team

John Ashley, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Peter Marsh Additional Inspector Rosemary Batty Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than average sized primary school.  An above average proportion of pupils is known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in local authority care, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children from service families.  A well above average proportion of pupils is supported by school action.  A well above average proportion of pupils is supported at school action plus, whilst the proportion of pupils with a statement of special educational needs is higher than average.  The majority of pupils are White British, although the number of pupils who speak English is an additional language, including, Polish and Eastern European languages, has increased since the last inspection. There is a very small number of families new to this country, in which parents are asylum seekers.  The school has a higher than average number of pupils arriving and leaving at other than the

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Information about this school

usual times throughout the year.  The school has a specially resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs. This is for ten pupils who have a visual impairment.  The school works in partnership with the separately managed children’s centre on the school site. The school also works in partnership with a local special school to provide mutual support for individual pupils.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school has undergone a number of staffing changes since the last inspection, especially in Key Stage 2.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the proportion of teaching that is good or better so that pupils make increased progress in their learning, by:  making sure that pupils consistently receive advice and guidance about what they have achieved in regard to their learning targets and the next steps to improve their work  making sure that opportunities are swiftly made available for pupils to correct their work and further improve their skills.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Accelerate children’s progress even further in the Early Years Foundation Stage to move from good to outstanding by:  further developing information gathering in partnership with the children’s centre, in particular for those children who have complex pastoral and academic needs, to provide the full range of information about how well children are doing  improving the individual plans for children with complex learning needs  ensuring that the new members of the Early Years Foundation Stage team are fully trained or updated in the recent Early Years Foundation Stage guidance.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills that are well below those typically expected for their age, particularly in speaking, listening, and their social and emotional development. They make good progress but their skills are still below average by the end of the Reception Year.  Children listened and responded well to staff when asked about why washing on the clothes-line had turned icy. They showed good phonics (the sounds that letters make) knowledge when practising writing letters and their names, although one pupil struggled to recognise ‘b’ and ‘k’, which was not immediately picked up. Reception children acting as ‘zoo keepers’ practised counting ‘penguins,’ using terms such as ‘altogether’ or ‘less’. These visual and practical activities involved and interested pupils well because they enjoyed them and could see the purpose behind learning to count or read.  Pupils make good progress in Key Stage 1 and the results in the Key Stage 1 national phonics

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The achievement of pupils is good

test exceeded the national average. Progress is strongest in Key Stage 2. By the time pupils leave school at the end of Year 6, most have made good progress from their starting points and their attainment is in line with the national average in English and mathematics.  Year 4 pupils demonstrated good skills of working on their own when listening to an audio- mental mathematics task. They needed to understand instructions, which led to their solving problems, for example, ‘make the biggest number you can from these three digits – 5, 3, 7’.  Year 5 pupils keenly described ‘Treasure Island’ characters to a partner, who then drew a picture based upon the description. Pupils used this exercise to develop their descriptive writing. This was an example of good social development because it helped them work together as a pair.  Year 6 pupils achieved very well when using problem-solving skills to work out areas, perimeters

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The achievement of pupils is good

and costs after discussing how to equip an L-shaped kitchen.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make good progress because staff know their needs well and plan effective support to promote their progress. Pupils with visual impairments, who are part of the specially resourced provision, achieve well and make good progress. Appropriately pitched resources, together with specialist teaching and support, ensure that these pupils are fully included in lessons.  Pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals make similar rates of progress as others, for example, when practising and improving their mental mathematics skills or descriptive writing. These pupils reach standards which are broadly the same as other pupils in the school and that of pupils nationally.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language make good progress overall. Occasionally, a few do not always achieve as well in reading when they are faced with words or terms they have

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The achievement of pupils is good

not come across before, or when visual resources are not sufficiently stimulating.  Where teachers check pupils’ work against agreed learning targets, for example, in a Year 6 mathematics lessons, pupils make rapid progress because they are aware of what they have achieved and know what the next steps are. Where this is not the case in some year groups, progress is not as rapid.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is mostly good or better, showing an improvement since the last inspection. These improvements have occurred rapidly since the new staff have settled in.  Early Years Foundation Stage staff plan classroom and outdoor activities in ways that interest and involve children so that many make good progress in their speaking, listening, social and behavioural skills. An increasing number of children are beginning to work confidently by themselves in other aspects of their learning, for example, in reading, writing and mathematics. The school knows that planning for individual children with more complex learning needs could be improved further including where other support might be required, for example, from the school’s staff who provide personal support for children and their families.  Because of a consistent approach to the checking on pupils’ learning, attendance and behaviour, pupils monitor their own progress through their ‘successful learning’ profile booklets. As a result,

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The quality of teaching is good

pupils are thinking more about their learning and behaviour and are better motivated to achieve well, for example, when practising their mental mathematics skills.  Teachers carefully plan their lessons using information from pupils’ profile booklets and through regular meetings with other support staff, so that each year group is discussed in detail approximately every half term. Consequently, individual pupils or small groups, such as those who are eligible for the pupil premium, receive the support they require in order for them to have equality of opportunity to succeed.  Good support from adults and teachers either in or out of class results in pupils extending their knowledge of letters and the sounds they make, or the use of descriptive language in their everyday writing in different subjects.  Staff carefully plan specific support for individuals and small groups, for example, those with

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The quality of teaching is good

special educational needs, so that resources, support and teaching are generally pitched at the right level. For example, pupils with a visual impairment successfully enjoyed a mathematics lesson about how to work out area and perimeters due to the careful deployment of support staff and relevant visually-enhanced resources.  Where teaching is outstanding, teachers have excellent subject knowledge, high expectations for their pupils and use impressive questioning techniques. Lessons are planned with individual needs in mind, for example, during a Year 6 mathematics lesson where planning was adapted to meet pupils’ changing needs, which the teacher astutely picked up as she was going along. In this lesson, pupils not yet able to solve problems about shape and money received additional effective support out of class from the teaching assistant. In addition, more-able pupils were provided with precise marking and feedback so that they knew what to do next. As a result, one

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The quality of teaching is good

pupil stated that she needed to be able to use multiplication and division in her problem solving in order to achieve Level 5.  Where teachers’ checking and marking of work is not outstanding, there is less precision in explaining to pupils how they have achieved against agreed targets. There is not as much urgency in following up errors or misunderstandings and giving pupils the opportunities to practise their weaker skills. In these cases, progress is less rapid.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils is good

 Pupils’ attitudes in and around school are good because they take responsibility for their actions, for example, when having to stay indoors due to the weather. Any low level disruption relates to the rare occasions when work is not pitched at the right level.  Parents, staff and pupils confirm that behaviour is typically good. Pupils feel safe in school and say that staff help them to keep it that way.  A strong pastoral team has helped to improve pupils’ attendance, which is now at the national average. There is a positive atmosphere within the school, particularly helped by the ‘successful learning’ profile system which motivates pupils to attend and behave well. They talk with enthusiasm about how they can earn the chance to achieve weekly rewards, such as ‘Blingo’, which adds to the community feel at the school.  The house system and extended schools activities provide pupils with further motivation and

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The behaviour and safety of pupils is good

opportunities to partake in school life and be part of a happy school community. As a result, pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strength of the school.  Behaviour at break times, during assemblies and at lunchtimes is consistently good. Pupils throughout the school move around school calmly and responsibly.  There are few incidents of poor behaviour and only one fixed-term exclusion since the start of the academic year. Behaviour is managed consistently well in line with the agreed school policy. Most issues, especially those relating to pupils who may have additional social, emotional or behavioural difficulties are dealt with on site by skilled staff in close partnership with parents and other agencies.

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The leadership and management is good

 The senior leaders, in partnership with a strong governing body, have shared and high aspirations for the school. These are clearly communicated to all staff, parents and pupils, as well as to the local authority and network of schools.  Leaders ensure that the designated provision for pupils with visual impairments is skilfully supported by specialist teaching and support staff, as well as appropriately designed resources. The very small numbers of pupils with visual impairments are fully included in classes because there is good joint planning between all staff.  Early Years Foundation Stage leaders have accurately identified the need for further Early Years Foundation Stage training for some staff.  Teaching is improving at a rapid rate because of rigorous checks by the headteacher and senior managers. Effective training in the observation of lessons and ways for teachers to support each other (known as peer mentoring) is having a positive impact throughout the school on improving

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The leadership and management is good

teaching. Performance management systems are used well to set relevant targets which aid school improvement.  Teachers, support and pastoral staff have been well-trained in areas such as the teaching of letters and sounds and behaviour management. As a result, pupils’ attitudes and behaviour are good and improving because they feel valued and supported in their learning and social development.  The school’s improvement plan and evaluation of its performance are accurate and robust. The headteacher’s reports to governors about progress and development are endorsed by the local authority’s view of the school’s improvement. The local authority support partner provides light touch support for this good school.  Although school policies are clear and are usually practised with consistency, some aspects of the teaching and learning policy are not put fully into practice. The checks made on pupils’ work

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The leadership and management is good

are not consistently followed up, with the result that pupils’ progress in their learning is not always as rapid as it could be.  The school’s curriculum provides a wide range of opportunities for pupils to use and apply their skills in English, mathematics and information and communication technology. For example, a visiting pantomime encouraged pupils to go in the ‘hot-seat’ as Cinderella; during an Olympic- themed topic, a Year 3 Chinese pupil was motivated to contact a school in Beijing, which led to her making a presentation, partly in Chinese, to an assembled group of 200 people. These experiences contribute towards pupils’ good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, which is a strength of the school.  The school works very well with parents. Very good links with the Creations Children’s Centre enables good transition arrangements for when children start at the school. Parents receive

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The leadership and management is good

regular newsletters, attend parents’ evenings and praise the school for its education and care of their children. There is scope to improve the information gathering in partnership with the children’s centre, in particular for those children who have complex pastoral and academic needs, to provide the full range of information about how well children are doing  The school meets the requirements for effective safeguarding so that the premises are well maintained and protected, risk assessments for educational visits are completed carefully and the safe recruitment of staff is well managed.  The governance of the school:  Governors are well-informed about the school’s work because they conduct visits to check on progress and, following training on school data systems, they know how well their school is performing in relation to the national picture. Governors ensure that the school follows the policy for equal opportunities. They have agreed a well-planned and effective approach to the

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The leadership and management is good

use of pupil premium funding to support vulnerable groups. Through regular visits and reports, governors familiarise themselves with and recognise the quality of teaching throughout the school. They provide good support and challenge, holding leaders and teachers to account for their work through effective performance management systems. Governors have attended relevant training in safe recruitment and have been fully involved in recent staff appointments. Finances are well managed and an efficient system has been set up so governors can check on spending in each of the school’s improvement priority areas.

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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 107497 Local authority Calderdale Inspection number 405104

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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 379 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Julie Bousfield Headteacher Rosemary Solan Date of previous school inspection 9 March 2011 Telephone number 01422 434000 Fax number 01422 434001 Email address admin@lingbob.calderdale.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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