Setting

CfBT Inspection Services Suite 22 West Lancs Investment Centre Maple View Skelmersdale WN8 9TG T 0300 1231231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 01695 566939 Direct F 01695 729320 Direct email: glaw@cfbt.com

p.1

Miss J Hartley The headteacher Wheatcroft Community Primary School Holbeck Hill Scarborough North Yorkshire YO11 3BW

p.1

Education act 2005 to Wheatcroft Community Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 15 March 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report on the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

p.1

Education act 2005 to Wheatcroft Community Primary School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in December 2012. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

p.1

Evidence

The inspector held meetings with the headteacher and deputy headteacher and an acting senior leader; three members of the governing body School Performance Group, including the Chair of the Governing Body, and a representative from the local authority. During the visit, the inspector evaluated the school’s improvement plans and looked at their data on pupils’ progress and monitoring data on teaching and learning.

p.1

Context

Since November 2012, a senior leader within the school is on long term sickness absence which is being covered by an existing member of staff. The classes in Key Stage 1 have been reduced from three to two. [Type text]

p.1

Main findings

Senior leaders, including governors acted swiftly to devise an action plan to move the school forward. They have set aspirational targets, and have raised teachers’ expectations of what good progress looks like through a new tracking system and more rigorous meetings to discuss individual pupils’ progress. The action plan is detailed, covers the areas for improvement and has timely milestones. It is, however, over ambitious in the timescale of how quickly these improvements will bring about the required impact on pupils’ progress across the school. The improvements carried out so far, in improving writing, are starting to show in pupils’ progress. These writing improvements have been successful because they are closely aligned to developing teachers’ skills in using assessment systems, including the improved marking of pupils’ work, to move learning forward. However, teachers are not using similar systems to assess pupils’ progress in reading and mathematics and are over

p.2

Main findings

The governing body has formed the School Performance Group (SPG) which meets regularly to monitor the school and hold senior leaders to account for pupils’ outcomes. The committee is working closely with the local authority and has carried out an audit of governors’ skills and where these could be improved. They are focused on moving the school forward and are beginning to hold senior leaders and teachers to account for pupils’ progress.

p.2

Main findings

Senior leaders’ systems to monitor the quality of teaching and learning across the school need to be more sharply focused on how much progress different pupil groups are making in lessons. They also need to act swiftly to upgrade teachers’ knowledge of how to assess pupils’ progress in mathematics and reading.

p.2

Main findings

Senior leaders and governors have begun to take effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. Following the visit to the school, HMI recommend that further action is taken to:

p.2

Main findings

 develop successful systems for assessing pupils’ progress in mathematics and reading which move away from termly testing so that teachers’ skills improve in this area and pupils’ progress can be checked more regularly  work with the local authority to identify a local school where there are successful assessment systems which have been proved to help accelerate pupils’ progress and from which teachers at Wheatcroft can learn  ensure that senior leaders’ monitoring has a sharper focus on the impact of teaching on different groups of pupils’ learning and progress through lesson observations; and report the findings of this work to the governing body.

p.2

Main findings

Ofsted will continue to monitor the school until its next section 5 inspection. [Type text]

p.2

External support

The local authority is offering the school an increased level of support and has visited regularly. Local authority personnel have worked with staff and the Governing Body to carry out an audit of skills and improve governors’ ability to hold senior leaders to account.

p.3

External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for North Yorkshire.

p.3