Norristhorpe Junior and Infant School

Norristhorpe Junior and Infant School School Street, Norristhorpe, Liversedge,West Yorkshire , WF15 7AW

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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

 In writing and mathematics, too few pupils exceed expectations for their age. Many have difficulties with aspects of their spelling and the quality of writing is not high enough in all subjects.  The quality of teaching is not yet consistently good or better. In the Early Years Foundation Stage, children are not enabled to learn enough outdoors. In Key Stages 1 and 2, pupils are not independent learners and more-able pupils could be stretched more. Marking is not consistently effective in guiding the pupils’ next steps in learning.  The curriculum does not sufficiently incorporate pupils’ interests. Learning is not always relevant to the pupils’ lives so that it is meaningful for them. This is particularly the case in mathematics and hampers pupils’ progress.  Subject leaders are new to their roles and their actions are too recent to have an impact on raising achievement in their subjects.  Senior leaders are in the early stages in using

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

the new system for recording pupils’ progress to identify strategies to raise achievement for pupils but the impact on standards is not yet fully evident.

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The school has the following strengths

 The actions taken by the new headteacher are improving the quality of teaching and addressing any areas of weakness in the school.  Attendance has significantly improved since the previous inspection because pupils enjoy coming to school.  Pupils achieve well in reading throughout the school.  Pupils feel safe. They are very eager and keen to learn and their behaviour is good.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well throughout the curriculum.  The school has built up strong relationships with the parents who are now much more involved with the school and their children’s education.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team visited 19 lessons and observed an assembly. Three lessons were observed jointly with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, members of the governing body and with key staff. Two telephone conversations were held with representatives from the local authority.  The inspection team listened to pupils read and looked at random samples of pupils’ work.  The inspection team looked at a range of documents, including the school’s information about pupils’ progress, monitoring documentation, minutes of governing body meetings, notes of visits and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding arrangements.  The inspection team took into account the 51 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View). Discussions were held with parents at the start of the school day and the inspection team took in to account 29 responses from staff questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Sharona Semlali, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Jane Alexander Additional Inspector Frances Farnorth Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Norristhorpe is a larger than average-size primary school.  Since the previous inspection, the substantive headteacher retired in December 2011. An interim headteacher was seconded for two terms and the current headteacher was appointed in September 2012.  There have been a significant number of staff absences in recent times.  The proportion of pupils eligible for support through the pupil premium is below average. This is additional government funding for looked after children, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and pupils with a parent in the armed forces.  The proportion of disabled pupils or those with special educational needs supported by school action is above average. The proportion supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The school uses alternative provision at the local pupil referral unit in Huddersfield when

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Information about this school

individual pupils need specialist support for special educational needs.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is below average with very few speaking English as an additional language.  The school meets the government’s current 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?

 Raise standards in writing and mathematics and increase the proportion of pupils attaining the higher levels in these subjects by ensuring that: - mathematics activities are linked to real life events and are more inspiring - pupils can spell key words that are used frequently - pupils produce standards of high quality written work in all subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that the quality of teaching is consistently good or better by: - continuing to improve the outside area in the Early Years Foundation Stage - embedding the practice of sharing and spreading the good and outstanding teaching that exists within and beyond the school - ensuring that the work given to the pupils matches their needs and appropriate challenge is given to all pupils, particularly the more able, and that they are given more opportunities to be independent - ensuring that marking consistently helps pupils to improve their work in all subjects and they are given time to respond and act on the advice given.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the effectiveness of leadership and management by: - strengthening the skills of the subject leaders so they can effectively raise pupils’ achievement in their subjects - embedding the use of the new data systems that clearly inform all leaders about pupils’ achievement throughout the school - ensuring that the curriculum incorporates pupils’ interests, and wherever possible, putting it into a meaningful context.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because pupils’ overall progress could be faster. Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills that match expectations for their age and pupils’ attainment improves at a steady rate so that by the end of Year 6, standards are broadly average.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make expected progress. They do particularly well in their personal and social development because all the adults know the children well. To help to improve handwriting, children in the Early Years Foundation Stage learn to join their letters together using a cursive script.  By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils’ attainment is average. Attainment in mathematics at the end of Key Stage 1 has improved over the last three years. It was significantly above average at the end of Key Stage 2 but this fell in 2012 and was almost a term behind the national average. The proportion of pupils capable of achieving the higher levels was lower than average.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 By the end of Key Stage 2, attainment is broadly average overall. However, writing standards are below average at the end of Year 6, and the proportion of pupils attaining the higher levels in this subject was lower than average. The standard of written work produced and presented by pupils varies greatly between the different year groups and subjects. Pupils often misspell key words that are frequently used and the errors are not always corrected.  Across the school, pupils achieve well in reading. Standards in the 2012 phonics (letters and the sounds they make) screening check in Year 1 were above the national average. The proportion of pupils reaching the higher levels in reading is above average at the end of Key Stage 2. Pupils have plenty of opportunities to improve their advanced reading skills such as skimming and scanning. This was seen in a Year 6 class when they were using these skills to do their research

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

about the ‘Luddites’ using very challenging texts.  Disabled pupils, those who have special educational needs, including those attending the alternative provision, and those from minority ethnic groups make adequate progress. Extra support is given where necessary. This ensures that all pupils have equality of opportunity to succeed.  Those who are eligible for the pupil premium make similar progress to their peers. The attainment of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals in English and mathematics is below that of those pupils in the school not eligible for free school meals. However, the gap between these two groups is closing.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching over time has not been strong enough to get some pupils to the high levels of which they are capable by the time they leave the school. The information provided by the school, and observations during the inspection, show that the quality of teaching is improving. Teachers have recently started to observe good and better practice both within and beyond the school to help them to enhance their own skills.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage, all adults work to promote children’s independence by ensuring that resources are well prepared. Teachers use computer technology well to record children’s learning so that they can share this with parents and use this information to inform their planning. The inside classrooms reflect the different areas of learning. However, the outside area is less developed and does not extend and stimulate children’s language and physical development enough.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers in Year 1 utilise their outside area well. In a Year 1 lesson, the teacher effectively used well-prepared resources and the use of the outside area to stimulate the pupils’ imagination. As a result, pupils immersed themselves into re-telling the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’ in the outdoor area.  Key strengths in the outstanding lessons were the high levels of challenge given to all pupils. Teachers’ expectations were high and the work given to the pupils accurately matched their needs. This was seen in a Year 4 music lesson, where all pupils were learning to play the French horn and in a Year 6 mathematics lesson where pupils were enjoying finding the circumference and area of a circle.  Teachers do not always ensure that the work matches the needs of the different pupils and they are not always given the appropriate levels of challenge or independence needed.  In mathematics, the activities set do not always interest pupils nor relate sufficiently to real life

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

situations.  Some work in pupils’ books shows that marking does not consistently guide pupils in how to improve their work. Pupils do not always have enough time to respond and act on the advice given.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are very polite, cooperative and helpful. They conduct themselves well around the school and they are keen to learn. Most of the parental responses from the online questionnaire agree that behaviour is good.  Pupils are responding well to the new behaviour system and look forward to earning a raffle ticket and being rewarded at the end of the week.  Behaviour in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good. Children play well together throughout the different areas of learning. They take turns and share resources well.  Pupils are involved in taking on different responsibilities in school, such as becoming junior road safety officers. They help to inform others about how to keep themselves safe when crossing the road. Other roles include being reliable playground leaders and ensuring that the equipment is ready for use at lunchtimes.  The school works closely and effectively with other agencies, including the school offering

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

alternative provision in order to support the work of those who find themselves in vulnerable and challenging circumstances.  Pupils say they feel safe in school. They have a good understanding of the different forms of bullying, including cyber-bullying. They say there is some bullying that takes the form of ‘name- calling’ and ‘pushing’ but they confidently feel that the adults will sort out any issues.  Attendance is improving and is now above average.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Over time leaders have not helped pupils to achieve as well as they should. Part of the reason for this is the instability of leadership over the last few years. However, initiatives and actions taken by the new headteacher have quickly helped to improve staff morale and bring about necessary changes.  Most subject leaders are new into their role and are being trained to develop their leadership skills. They are learning how to use the new data system so that they can rigorously check and evaluate the quality of learning in their subjects. Currently, this is mainly undertaken by the headteacher with some external support.  The school is tackling discrimination by offering extra adult support to those that need it in smaller groups. In this way, the school secures equality of opportunity for all.  The performance of staff is reviewed regularly. Teachers now have challenging targets for how well their pupils achieve. The success in achieving these is linked to their progression along the

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The leadership and management requires improvement

salary scale.  The curriculum offers a wide range of subjects, which include themed days, for example, one connected to topic work on Mexico. However, it does not always provide enough challenge especially for the more-able pupils. Sometimes it does not incorporate pupils’ interests and is not always meaningful enough, particularly in mathematics where work is not sufficiently linked to real life situations.  The promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong and supported well through assemblies and specific activities in lessons.  Increased parental support and confidence are developing strong relationships between the school and families. Parents say that teachers are approachable and will advise them on how to support their children’s learning.  The local authority gives the school good support offering advice and providing training.  The governance of the school:

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The leadership and management requires improvement

- The governing body is stable and is in a stronger position to support and challenge the school than it was at the time of the previous inspection. Governors have received good quality training enabling them to have a much better understanding of their roles and responsibilities. They have particular areas of responsibilities that are linked to the school’s priorities. This helps them to have a clearer picture of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They are well informed about the quality of teaching and the performance in the different year groups. Now, they are involved in planning the allocation of the pupil premium funding and checking on its impact. The performance of the headteacher is reviewed annually and targets set for raising achievement across the school. Governors have a good understanding of the performance of teachers and the procedures for rewarding good teaching. They ensure that all safeguarding

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The leadership and management requires improvement

policies and procedures meet statutory requirements both on and off site.

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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 107685 Local authority Kirklees Inspection number 405120

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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 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 403 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Steve Parsons Headteacher Claire Lyles Date of previous school inspection 30 March 2011 Telephone number 01924 325720 Fax number 01924 325706 Email address office.norristhorpe@edukirklees.net 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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