Methodist Voluntary Controlled Junior, Infant and Nursery School: With Communication Resource

Methodist Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School; with Communication Resource Field Lane, Thornes, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF2 7RU

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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.  Throughout the school, all pupils achieve expected standards with a good proportion exceeding them because teaching is always good and increasingly outstanding.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including those who are part of the communication resource, make good progress because support for their emotional development accurately matches their needs.  Pupils in receipt of the pupil premium make good progress because the funding provides effective support to close gaps in attainment.  Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding, they are courteous, polite and have highly positive attitudes to their learning and feel safe.  Senior leaders ensure good and outstanding teaching through effective monitoring and robust performance management. This has secured better achievement for all pupils and demonstrates the school’s ability to improve further.  Governors are well informed on all aspects of

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

the school’s work and are committed to making it outstanding.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching is not yet outstanding because pupils do not always respond to their teachers’ helpful marking. Opportunities for the more able pupils to make accelerated progress are missed when work set does not challenge them to reach the highest levels.  Teaching assistants make a valuable and worthwhile contribution to the academic progress and personal development of the pupils they support, but their effectiveness is not formally assessed so that their impact and identified training needs are not clear. Resource, 9–10 July 2013 2 of 10

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Information about this inspection

 On day two of the inspection the whole of Key Stage 1, as well as Year 4, were away on a field trip.  Inspectors observed 12 lessons, as well as a number of part lessons and sessions taught by teaching assistants, including some in the communication resource base. Two observations were conducted jointly with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with senior leaders of the school, a group of governors, which included the Chair of the Governing Body, a representative from the local authority and the local authority representative for the communication resource.  Inspectors examined a selection of pupils’ work books, listened to pupils read and scrutinised the school’s assessment information for current learners.  Inspectors also examined records of the school’s monitoring of teaching and learning and information on the management of teachers’ performance.  Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of documents including: the school development plans,

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Information about this inspection

minutes of governing body meetings, reports of visits by external consultants, self-evaluation information, records of any behaviour incidents, and information with regard to safeguarding.  Inspectors considered 28 responses to the online parents’ questionnaire (Parent View) as well as the school’s own recent survey of parents’ views and considered responses from 26 staff questionnaires. An inspector spoke with a group of parents during the inspection.

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Inspection team

James Kilner, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Mary Daly Additional Inspector Frances Farnorth Additional Inspector Resource, 9–10 July 2013 3 of 10

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Information about this school

 The school is an average-sized primary school with one class for each year group.  Almost all the pupils are White British. Other pupils come from a variety of minority ethnic groups.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well below average.  The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium is well below the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and those children who are looked after by the local authority. In this school, this is extra government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is below the national average  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported at

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Information about this school

school action plus or with a statement of educational needs is above average.  The school has specially resourced provision for 10 pupils with special educational needs for their speech, language and communication disorders, and autism.  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?

 Make greater use of the exemplary practice evident in the school to ensure more teaching is outstanding by:  making full use of information about more-able pupils’ achievements to extend their learning to the highest levels in lessons  providing pupils with sufficient time to respond to teachers’ marking so that they are able to improve their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Formalise the arrangements for the performance management of teaching assistants in order to identify their professional training needs and evaluate their impact on the levels of progress made by pupils. Resource, 9–10 July 2013 4 of 10

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children start in the Nursery class with skills and knowledge around those expected for their age. As a result of good and outstanding teaching, a bright and stimulating learning environment and strong links with home they make good progress. Almost all children leave the Reception class having met and, in some cases exceeded, the expectations for their age, particularly in their personal social and emotional development as well as mathematics.  Pupils’ achievement is good, it is not yet outstanding because sometimes the more able pupils work at the same pace and level as the rest of the class meaning that work set does not challenge them to attain the very highest levels.  Following last year’s underperformance by girls in the phonics (the sounds that letters make) screening test, an intense programme of phonics teaching has ensured that attainment for all Year 2 pupils is now at or above the national average. Significantly more pupils than last year

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The achievement of pupils is good

have attained the higher Level 3 in reading, writing and mathematics; this represents good progress from their starting points.  As a result of good and increasingly outstanding teaching, progress for all pupils is now consistently good in all year groups in Key Stage 2. National data on the performance of pupils in 2012 indicated some underperformance. However, this did not reflect the good progress from very low starting points made by the boys who joined the school’s communication resource provision over the course of Key Stage 2. Unvalidated national test results for Year 6 in 2013 indicate a significant improvement in all pupils’ achievement this year. The school has exceeded their challenging targets in writing and mathematics and has met them in reading so that standards are above average.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including the pupils who attend the communication resource, make good progress from their starting points. This is because

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The achievement of pupils is good

work is matched very closely to their individual speech, language and emotional needs. Pupils on the Autistic Spectrum do well because the individual support they receive is precisely matched to their individual learning styles. Their small steps to achievement are carefully built on each day so that they build their confidence in their own ability to succeed.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language make good and sometimes outstanding progress in their reading, writing and mathematics because language support is carefully matched to their learning needs.  The achievement of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is now above that of their peers nationally, as a result of sharply-focused support in English and mathematics.  Reading is taught well and the pupils who read to inspectors showed well-developed skills in linking the letters to the sounds they make when reading unfamiliar words. Older pupils could

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The achievement of pupils is good

use a wide range of different strategies to make their reading fluent and expressive.  Pupils confidently apply their reading, writing and mathematical skills in different subjects across the well-planned exciting curriculum using correct punctuation, accurate calculations and maintaining the high standards of presentation of their work no matter what the subject they are exploring.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The headteacher and senior leaders monitor the quality of teaching and link the outcomes to the amount of progress pupils are making. Teaching is now consistently good with an increasing proportion that is outstanding.  Teachers plan activities which accurately match the needs of their pupils, leading to good achievement for all. While the needs of the more able are catered for there are missed opportunities in good lessons for these pupils to make outstanding progress. Information about Resource, 9–10 July 2013 5 of 10

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The quality of teaching is good

their current targets are not always used to devise suitable challenges for them to reach the very highest levels. In these cases, they are listening to information they already understand rather than beginning their own investigations at an earlier stage in the lesson.  All teachers adhere to the school’s effective marking policy, which is suitably appropriate for the age of the pupils, with older pupils receiving more detailed feedback on their targets to improve. However, there are missed opportunities for this good guidance to be put to best use because not all pupils are given the opportunity to respond to their teacher’s guidance for improvement.  Pupils’ attitudes to learning are exemplary, they always concentrate fully in lessons and can be seen at break and lunchtimes reading for pleasure for lengthy periods without interruption from their peers.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage, children enjoy exploring their learning both independently

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The quality of teaching is good

and with adults in well-resourced work areas both indoors and outdoors. Regular, accurate assessments are used to build up their profile of achievement, which is shared with parents, in most cases, via email. Parents praise this innovation, which further strengthens the very good links between home and school.  Teachers plan activities which interest and enthuse all pupils, firing their imaginations to describe their experiences, for example, as a paratrooper leaping from a plane in the Second World War.  In each key stage there are examples of outstanding teaching where pupils are challenged to achieve highly in fast moving, exciting and inspirational lessons where all succeed.  In an outstanding English lesson, older pupils were challenged to describe the characteristics of ‘Mr Stink’ using adjectives and adverbs within a timed, four minute, exercise. All succeeded and were able to appraise the work of their peers using the same correct grammatical terminology as

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The quality of teaching is good

the teacher.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs who attend the communication resource are taught well by specialist teachers and teaching assistants and, as a result, make good progress.  Good liaison between class teachers and those in the communication resource ensure that pupils are successfully included in lessons in the main part of the school for an increasing number of periods during the day.  Teaching assistants are effectively deployed supporting pupils, particularly those pupils who need additional help, and work closely alongside the class teacher to create a team committed to ensuring the good achievement of all.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils’ outstanding behaviour, both in lessons and around the school, is typified by their exemplary manners, their respect for one another and the adults in the school, as well as their above average attendance.  Older pupils relish the opportunities to take on responsibilities, either as elected members of the active school council or acting as playground buddies, carefully watching the ‘Friendship Stop’ for signs for anyone not having a good day. Should this be spotted they are swiftly on the case ensuring no one is friendless for very long.  Pupils are adamant that the school will not tolerate any form of bullying or name calling and know exactly where to go should they ever need help.  Pupils enjoy a wide choice of sporting and arts-based activities at lunchtimes and after school. These opportunities add greatly to their social as well as cultural development.  They show a very good understanding of how to keep safe when using mobile phones and the

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

internet.  They have an extremely strong work ethic and stick with tasks they are given to the very end, producing good quality art work and well-crafted and well-written creative pieces.  The behaviour of pupils attending the communication resource is expertly and professionally Resource, 9–10 July 2013 6 of 10

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

managed by all staff and there are excellent role models from all their classmates when the need arises for them to modify their behaviour.  All staff responding to the questionnaire and the overwhelming majority of parents contributing to Parent View state their satisfaction with behaviour and behaviour management in the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 A strong and effective leadership team ensure a clear focus on raising standards throughout the school.  Since the last inspection, the headteacher and governing body have benefitted greatly from the local authority’s, ‘securing good’ programme of intervention led by an experienced school improvement adviser.  The impact has been highly effective. For example, in developing an extended senior leadership team who check on and evaluate teaching, learning and achievement accurately throughout the school. This enthusiastic team, including the leader for the Early Years Foundation Stage, challenge and support colleagues and have been instrumental in securing good and increasingly outstanding teaching throughout the school.  The communication resource is managed effectively ensuring that the pupils who attend receive high quality support and achieve successfully both academically and socially.  A robust performance management system, linked to the achievement of pupils and

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The leadership and management are good

observations of the quality of teaching, ensures that only effective teachers are financially rewarded.  The strength of the leadership of the school in continually identifying and developing potential leaders, coupled with the improving achievement of all pupils gives the school a good capacity to improve further.  Teaching assistants are well led and managed both in the main school and in the communication resource. Their undoubted skills, patience and expertise ensure that pupils’ emotional, as well as academic, needs are fully met. Currently, however, their performance management process is very informal and does not focus on the effectiveness of their teaching of support programmes nor does it identify their professional development needs. This is something which staff questionnaires from the group identify as a something they would welcome.  The effective inclusion of all the pupils in the school community, regardless of need, strongly

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The leadership and management are good

supports the school’s Methodist ethos of justice, love of learning, respect for self and others, forgiveness, truth and working together, thus ensuring equal opportunities and ensures discrimination of any sort is not tolerated.  Staff morale is high and the overwhelming majority of parents spoken to during the inspection and the analysis of questionnaires and Parent View support fully the work of the school.  A stimulating curriculum based on the pupils’ and families’ interests provides excellent opportunities for pupils to put in to practice their improving literacy and numeracy skills. From a very early age, pupils are encouraged to produce their own writing so they are able to express their feelings and opinions well. Opportunities for pupils to enhance their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development abound and is epitomised by the great respect and care they show for each other’s feelings and opinions on global issues.

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The leadership and management are good

 Parents value the opportunities to learn with their children during the regular ‘Inspire’ mornings for all classes, working together on a theme to produce an artefact or conduct an investigation, which is shared and celebrated with the whole school.  The governance of the school:  Governors are fully involved in all aspects of school development planning, and appropriately assist in implementing and checking on initiatives intended to improve the school’s performance. They are aware of how the pupil premium is spent and the difference this is making to improve the standards of those pupils eligible for the funding.  The governing body is actively involved in the life of the school and receive regular Resource, 9–10 July 2013 7 of 10

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The leadership and management are good

presentations from members of the senior leadership team on curriculum developments and the levels of achievement of all pupils.  The performance of the headteacher is managed very effectively to ensure improvements in teaching. Governors are fully aware of the performance of teachers and the work of the communication resource.  Safeguarding procedures are very good and meet the statutory requirements. Resource, 9–10 July 2013 8 of 10

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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. Resource, 9–10 July 2013 9 of 10

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School details

Unique reference number 108252 Local authority Wakefield Inspection number 412302

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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 Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 256 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andrew Pepper Headteacher Carolyn Gilrain Date of previous school inspection 3 March 2010 Telephone number 01924 303630 Fax number 01924 303631 Email address headteacher@methodist.wakefield.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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