Hill Top CofE Primary School

Hill Top CofE Primary School Common Road, Low Moor, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD12 0TL

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 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. They make good progress overall, from starting points that are generally below the expected levels, to achieve well- above-average standards overall by the end of Year 6. In some year groups pupils make outstanding progress.  The quality of teaching is good overall, and occasionally outstanding, enabling most pupils to learn and progress well.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs achieve well. Pupils at risk of falling behind are quickly identified and high-quality support is put in place to ensure that they achieve as well as they should.  Pupils’ behaviour is a particular strength of the school. They care for one another’s safety and welfare and are extremely courteous and respectful to adults and each other.  The school places great emphasis on promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. This practice makes a

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

significant contribution to pupils’ personal development.  Senior leaders are ambitious for the school and ensure it continues to improve through carrying out rigorous checks on the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement.  Parents have very positive views about the school. All those who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire and those who spoke to inspectors would not hesitate to recommend the school to another parent.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Although the quality of teaching is good overall, it is not yet consistently good in all lessons. Occasionally work is not set at the right level of challenge to enable pupils to gain full benefit from their learning, particularly in writing.  Standards in writing are not as high as those in reading and mathematics.  Subject leaders do not have sufficient opportunities to check on the teaching and learning in their subjects to enable them to contribute more effectively to school improvement.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors carried out 17 lesson observations, of which one was a joint observation with the acting headteacher, and looked at work in pupils’ books.  Meetings were held with the Chair of the Governing Body, staff, pupils and seven parents who asked to speak to the inspectors.  A telephone call was held with a representative of the local authority.  Parents’ views were taken into account through the 42 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, the school’s most recent survey of parents’ views and by speaking to parents during the inspection. The views of staff were taken into account through discussions and responses to the Ofsted staff survey.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of school documents, including a summary of the school’s view of its performance and documents relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Angela Shaw, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Sonya Williamson Additional Inspector Elaine Maloney Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Hill Top CofE School is an average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are White British.  A below-average proportion of pupils are known to be eligible for pupil premium funding. (Pupil premium is additional funding provided by the government to support pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, those in local authority care and the children of service families.)  The proportion of pupils who are supported through school action is below average. The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also below average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The current headteacher has been granted extended leave for a year; since September 2012 the deputy headteacher is acting headteacher and the assistant headteacher is acting deputy headteacher.

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Information about this school

 The school has a range of awards including Healthy School status and Inclusion Charter Mark.

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What does the school need to do to improve further

 Improve the quality of teaching to outstanding to raise achievement further, especially in writing, by:  making sure teachers always set suitably challenging tasks and effectively check on pupils’ progress during lessons, so eradicating inconsistencies in progress  ensuring teachers use effective questioning to move pupils’ understanding of text structure and the correct use of grammar and punctuation on to a deeper level.

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What does the school need to do to improve further

 Further strengthen leadership and management by:  developing subject leaders’ skills of checking the quality of teaching and learning  ensuring that improvement planning has clear, measurable targets for success based on pupils’ outcomes.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils start school with skills below the levels typically expected for their age. They make good progress so that by the time they leave Year 6 their standards are well above average overall in English and mathematics, and have been so since 2008. Achievement is good rather than outstanding because progress is not always as rapid across all year groups and attainment in writing is not as high as that in reading and mathematics.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress. The outdoor provision has been much improved since the last inspection and contributes effectively in providing a good range of learning activities for the children.  Pupils’ standards in mathematics by the time they leave Year 6 are well above the national average as a result of pupils having gained high levels of skill in calculation methods.  Progress in reading is very good. Teachers have a good knowledge of how to teach phonics (the

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The achievement of pupils is good

relationship between letters and the sounds they make).The school has a higher than average number of pupils reaching expected levels in the Year 1 screening check. Year 4 pupils showed good skills in reading to prepare their own podcasts for a range of fiction books. This was also a good example of linking their reading skills to work in other subjects. By Year 6 pupils read with confidence across a range of texts and reach well-above-average standards.  In writing, standards are not quite so high as those in reading and mathematics because teachers do not consistently set work that challenges all pupils sufficiently and do not always help pupils to fully understand how to use grammar to help them structure their work. As a result, pupils do not always achieve as well as they could in this subject.  As a result of highly effective support and carefully planned programmes of work, the progress of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is at least good and often

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The achievement of pupils is good

outstanding.  Pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium also receive additional support. Test results and pupil progress data show that this effective support helps pupils known to be eligible for free school meals score as well in national tests as others in the school who are not eligible for free school meals. By the end of Year 6 their attainment is above the national averages for all pupils. This demonstrates the school’s success in promoting equality of opportunity for its pupils.  Inspection findings support the very positive views of parents that pupils make good progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Excellent relationships and clear expectations for good behaviour result in classes having a calm and purposeful atmosphere. Teachers offer lots of praise and this helps build pupils’ confidence and self-esteem.  Teachers set clear learning intentions and effectively share these with the class. Pupils therefore have a clear understanding of what they are expected to learn. Steps to success are provided to guide pupils’ learning.  A small amount of outstanding teaching was observed during the inspection; in those lessons all pupils were appropriately and very well challenged and made outstanding progress.  Although good overall, teaching is not consistently so in all lessons. Occasionally activities do not match pupils’ differing abilities precisely enough and teachers are not always effective in checking on pupils’ progress during lessons to ensure the best possible progress is made by all pupils.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The team of teaching assistants provide highly effective support both in and out of the classroom, especially for lower-ability pupils and those who are disabled or have special educational needs. They know what pupils’ needs are and work closely with teachers to make sure that their support is planned well and focused sharply on making sure that particular pupils make at least good progress.  Spiritual, moral, social and cultural education plays a significant part in the learning of pupils throughout the school and in their lessons. This has contributed to a culture of thoughtful and reflective pupils who are fully committed to ensuring that their own learning and that of others progresses.  Children in the Nursery and Reception Years enjoy stimulating surroundings both inside and outdoors. They have plenty of opportunity to play, explore and follow their own interests. Well- planned activities ensure they learn early reading, writing and numeracy skills systematically.

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The quality of teaching is good

Staff know the children very well and make sure that they get the best out of every child.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils are exceptionally proud of their school. They are very welcoming to visitors and are eager to talk about how happy they are to be in school. Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to learning in lessons are often outstanding and contribute very effectively to their achievement.  Pupils say that they feel safe in school. Parent View, the results of school questionnaires to parents and the views of those parents who spoke to inspectors show that parents are very pleased with the standards of behaviour in the school.  Pupils have a very secure understanding of the different forms bullying can take and are adamant that there is no bullying: “It doesn’t happen in our school”. However, they are confident that, if it did occur, adults would deal with it quickly and effectively. School records relating to behaviour and bullying in recent years confirm pupils’ views.  Records relating to support for pupils who are vulnerable are detailed and show that the school

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

does all it can to help these pupils and their families, including support from the parental involvement worker and learning mentor.  Relationships in class are never less than good and often outstanding, and this ensures pupils feel confident to ask for help when they do not understand.  Attendance is above average and pupils are punctual in arriving at school at the start of the day.  The pupils’ excellent behaviour, their deep sense of right and wrong and respect for others, including those who are different, show that there are great strengths in pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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The leadership and management are good

 The acting headteacher is firmly committed to the further improvement of the school and is fully supported by the staff. She and the acting deputy headteacher have an accurate view of the priorities for improvement which form the basis of the school improvement plan. Teachers’ work is managed well.  Senior leaders regularly check the quality of teaching and this is leading to improvements overall. However, subject leaders do not have enough opportunity to check on teaching and learning in their subjects.  The curriculum offers a good range of interesting topics. There is a strong and successful focus on ensuring that pupils develop secure basic skills in reading, writing, and mathematics. Pupils are well prepared for their future education.  Considerable thought has gone into the use of the pupil premium. It is being used very effectively to fund additional group activities and one-to-one tuition to assist pupils in areas of

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The leadership and management are good

learning in which they require support, in addition to providing extra pastoral support for pupils.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development plays a significant part in their learning. Pupils experience a good range of cultural and educational visits .For example, they have visited a range of places of worship, engaged in a “Young Voices” music event and take part in reciprocal visits to other local schools. Pupils learn French and enjoy going on residential trips to France so they can practise their language skills.  The school has an excellent partnership with parents, as shown by Parent View and the school’s own parental survey, as well as in the opinions expressed by parents who spoke to the inspectors.  Subject leaders have a secure understanding of strengths and areas for improvement in their particular areas of responsibility. However, improvement planning is not precise enough and

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The leadership and management are good

lacks clear, measurable targets for success based on pupils’ outcomes.  The local authority has every confidence in the leadership of the acting headteacher and provides light-touch support as appropriate to this good school.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is effective in ensuring that the school meets all of its duties in relation to safeguarding and child protection. Its members, led by an experienced Chair, have a good understanding of the school through regular governor surgeries, visits and reports from the acting headteacher, including the progress of those pupils benefitting from pupil premium funding and the quality of teaching. They are aware of how the school compares nationally to other schools. They have a good understanding of the link between the management of teachers’ performance in the classroom and the use of salary scales to reward good teaching.

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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 107434 Local authority Bradford Inspection number 403038

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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 Foundation Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 261 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mr R Sutcliffe Headteacher Mrs F Nolan (Acting Headteacher) Date of previous school inspection 9 October 2007 Telephone number 01274 678386 Fax number 01274 678957 Email address office@hilltop.bradford.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

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’.

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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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