Iveson Primary School

Iveson Primary School Iveson Rise, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS16 6LW

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Inadequate 4 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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

 Too few pupils are working at the appropriate level for their age or are making progress at a better than expected rate.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are not making progress rapidly enough, especially in developing their speaking and listening skills.  Teaching is not always planned well enough to meet the learning needs of all pupils.  Teachers do not sufficiently check pupils’ progress during lessons in order to alter the level of challenge as required.  Too many pupils cannot work independently without an adult being with them and this leads to some low-level silly behaviour.  The pace of school improvement is not as fast as it could be because leaders do not identify and tackle weaknesses with sufficient precision and rigour.  The monitoring of teaching does not lead to support and guidance to help teachers improve their lessons to a consistently good quality.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils’ achievement in English and mathematics has improved to the extent that the school no longer gives cause for concern.  Well-planned extra support means that groups of pupils with additional needs make progress at the same rate, and often better, than other pupils.  Persistently inadequate teaching has been removed in the past year.  New teachers have settled in quickly and are showing a strong commitment to raising standards.  The assessment of pupils’ progress and learning needs has improved significantly and is now very useful to teachers.  Pupils’ attendance has improved significantly in the last year from very low to being in line with the national average.  The headteacher uses performance management well to ensure that effective leaders are appointed and that they help to improve teaching across the school.  The governing body has become much more effective in evaluating pupils’ performance and

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The school has the following strengths

challenging the school to improve it further.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors carried out 13 lesson observations, of which one was carried out jointly with the headteacher. Inspectors looked at work in pupils’ books, talked to groups of pupils and heard pupils reading.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, senior and middle leaders, the Chair of the Governing Body and the vice-chair, a local authority adviser and a national leader in education who works with the school.  The inspection team examined a range of management documents, including those relating to pupils’ achievement, self-evaluation, improvement planning, performance management and safeguarding.  Inspectors could not take account of parents' responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) because there were only two recorded, which is insufficient for analysis. They considered 11 inspection questionnaires completed by staff.

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Inspection team

John Rutherford, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Dina Martin Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with section 13 (5) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires significant improvement.

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Information about this school

 The school is similar in size to most primary schools nationally.  Around one third of pupils are supported by the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in local authority care, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and pupils whose parents are serving in the armed forces. This is above the average for schools nationally.  The number of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs who are supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is broadly average, while the number supported at school action is below average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is around twice the national average. The proportion requiring additional support because their first language is not English is broadly similar to many schools nationally.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school receives support from a national leader in education.  There have been significant changes to staffing since the previous inspection and the senior and middle leadership teams have only been fully established within the last year.  Following the inspection in January 2012, the school was given a notice to improve.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching in order to raise pupils’ achievement to good, by:  using information about pupils’ progress more effectively to plan work at the correct level of challenge for all groups within the class  regularly checking pupils’ progress during lessons and providing more support or challenge when required  increasing pupils’ skills in working independently  extending pupils’ speaking and listening skills, especially in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by:  adopting a more probing approach to evaluating pupils’ achievement and the quality of teaching so that there is a clear and detailed understanding of what the school must improve in order to become good  stating frankly the key priorities for improvement in self-evaluation reports and setting out practical methods for tackling them without delay in the school improvement plan  using self-evaluation reports and the school improvement plan to focus the work of all staff, governors and external partners on the key priorities for improvement  ensuring that, following lesson observations, teachers are clear about any weaknesses in their practice and that they receive guidance and support to help remove these weaknesses.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 When children start in the Early Years Foundation Stage, their skills and knowledge are below those typical for their age. By the end of Year 6, their standards in English and mathematics are broadly average. In the age groups between there are significant pockets of underachievement, which the school is now tackling effectively.  A growing proportion of pupils are making progress at the expected rate or better with the result that around half to two-thirds are now working at the level expected for their age. School leaders have identified those who are behind and are providing effective additional support to help them catch up.  The proportion of higher attaining pupils is increasing and is close to the national average, because they receive extra challenge in lessons.  Well-planned support outside of lessons helps most pupils with additional needs to accelerate their progress. This includes less-able pupils, disabled pupils and those with special educational

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

needs and those whose first language is not English. Their progress often slows down when they are in lessons, however, because the teaching is not sufficiently adapted to meet their needs.  The attainment of pupils supported by the pupil premium is close to that of the others because the additional funding is used effectively to increase their literacy and numeracy skills. In 2012 they were, on average, half a term ahead in English and half a term behind in mathematics. This year, they have made at least the same and often better progress than other pupils.  For many pupils, a lack of confidence and fluency in speaking slows their learning. They do not make enough progress with this in the Early Years Foundation Stage because adults do not spend enough time promoting extended conversation with them.  Pupils have adequate skills in using letters and sounds, which help them to read unknown words. They do not always understand new words, however, because they struggle to find clues

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

in the rest of the sentence or in pictures.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers consistently make learning interesting for pupils by using a range of first-hand experiences. For example, a stimulating film from their topic on ‘the sea’ motivated them to write vivid descriptions; sharing food consolidates their understanding of fractions and a visit to the local market demonstrated the contribution of different minority ethnic groups to their community.  This approach helps pupils to make reasonable progress in using their literacy and numeracy skills in different situations.  Teachers maintain a brisk pace in lessons by not talking for too long and regularly giving problem-solving tasks or questions to small groups of pupils.  The pace of learning slows when pupils are given too many similar activities to develop a skill that they have already mastered or when unchallenging worksheets are provided instead of interesting problems.  While pupils are busy, teachers miss opportunities to assess their learning and alter the level of

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

challenge if it is required.  Teachers mark pupils’ work carefully and frequently give feedback to help them improve. This feedback is sometimes not as effective as it could be because it does not focus on one key skill that the pupil can work on to achieve a higher level.  Teachers put a lot of effort into their lesson plans, showing good subject knowledge and consideration of how some tasks can be adapted to suit pupils working at different levels. This adaptation does not always meet the needs of the different groups, particularly those who require more support with their learning. One reason for this is that there are insufficient links between what pupils do when they receive support outside the classroom and what they do in their class lessons.  It is mostly the group work in the second half of lessons that is adapted for pupils’ different learning needs, therefore, for much of the first half, teaching is pitched at one level which is too

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

hard for some and too easy for others. An exception was the beginning of a mathematics lesson where the teacher and teaching assistant worked well together to provide different levels of explanation for different groups, with considerably greater challenge for the more able. This ensured good progress for all pupils.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 In general, pupils behave well and the incidence of serious misbehaviour is rare. Staff responses to the inspection questionnaire confirm that this is generally the case.  Pupils feel safe in school and they say there is little threat from bullying or harassment in any form.  The school’s behaviour and racist incident logs confirm that there is little significant disruption to learning. On the rare occasions when more serious incidents occur, they are dealt with firmly and appropriate guidance is provided to prevent problems arising again.  Some pupils immediately go off task or become silly when an adult is not directly involved with them. While this does not disrupt the rest of the class, it significantly slows their own learning progress.  Pupils’ attendance has improved considerably in the last year and is now similar to most schools nationally. This has come about, largely, because a recently appointed attendance officer has set

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

up systematic approaches to monitoring absence trends and identifying precisely where he should focus support and challenge for pupils and their families.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher and deputy headteacher have brought two years of stability to the school after a period of disruption. With the support of recently appointed senior and middle leaders, they have improved teaching and pupils’ achievement to the extent that the school no longer gives cause for concern.  School leaders have used performance management processes well to remove inadequate teaching and to ensure consistency in classroom practice across the school.  Staff responses to the inspection questionnaire show that school leaders have a high level of support from staff in continuing to improve the school.  Staff have been well selected for promotion to positions of responsibility and they are already demonstrating their capacity to introduce improvements. Notable examples are the work of a new inclusion manager, which has significantly improved provision and outcomes for pupils with additional needs and the attendance officer who has brought about a considerable reduction in

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The leadership and management requires improvement

absenteeism.  School leaders collect very useful assessment information about pupils’ progress from term to term. The information is used well to ensure appropriate additional support is provided for any underachieving pupils and this helps them to accelerate their progress.  Leaders also use this assessment information alongside lesson observations to identify strengths and weaknesses in the school’s performance. From this, they gain a broad view of where improvement is needed, however, their self-evaluation reports and improvement plans do not show precision in identifying a key priority which, when tackled, will make a significant difference to pupils’ achievement. As a result, while school leaders have effectively removed the causes for concern, the pace of improving the school to being good is not sufficiently rapid.  When feedback is given to teachers following lesson observations, strengths are highlighted, but

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The leadership and management requires improvement

weaknesses are not always probed in sufficient depth, therefore, teachers do not receive the guidance or support they need to teach consistently good lessons.  The school’s curriculum is well planned to link subjects within topics that are relevant to the pupils’ interests and needs. These topics provide pupils with many opportunities for extending literacy and numeracy skills in a range of situations and for extending their understanding of how to maintain harmony in a culturally diverse society.  A range of activities are arranged to promote the school’s partnership with parents, such as open assemblies, drop-in sessions to talk to school leaders and classes to improve their skills in supporting their children’s learning, for example, in science. School information shows that many parents take advantage of these opportunities.  The national leader in education and the local authority have a clear understanding of the

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The leadership and management requires improvement

school’s performance and, on the basis of this, they provide a good balance of challenge and support to improve leadership and teaching. The school has made effective use of this. The local authority is correctly reducing, but not removing, external support because they recognise the growing capacity of school leaders to bring about improvements independently.  The school meets requirements for safeguarding pupils.  The governance of the school:  Since the previous inspection, members of the governing body have developed their skills in evaluating pupils’ performance. This has been helped by agreeing with school leaders clearer methods for presenting information, which enables them to grasp quickly where there are weaknesses and to seek assurance that action is being taken to tackle them.  They have not yet adopted this approach with school self-evaluation reports and improvement plans, however, they acknowledge that this is an important next step.

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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 107886 Local authority Leeds Inspection number 399654

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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 210 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Alun Ellis Headteacher Diana Mann Date of previous school inspection 30 January 2012 Telephone number 0113 225 6868 Fax number 0113 225 6767 Email address ivesonprimary@leedslearning.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

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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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