Woodfield Primary School

Woodfield Primary School Woodfield Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG1 4HZ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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

 Not enough pupils make good progress in reading or mathematics from their individual starting points.  Reading is not taught regularly enough. There are few opportunities for pupils to practise sounding out new words or develop their comprehension skills.  Teachers do not always plan lessons that challenge pupils to reach their full potential, especially for lower ability pupils.  The comments teachers write in pupils’ books do not always allow them to address mistakes or make further improvements to their work.  Reading and mathematics skills are not applied in subjects other than English or mathematics.  Pupils, especially boys, are not always engaged or interested in their learning. This leads to a minority of pupils not following teachers’ instructions first time, poor listening and chatter amongst friends during lessons.  The checks made on the quality of teaching by senior leaders are not frequent enough or

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

sufficiently focussed on how different groups of pupils achieve in lessons.  Leaders have an overly-positive view of teaching. They do not take account of the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning and outcomes over time.  Although the work of the governing body is improving, the way it challenges leaders about the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement is not sufficiently founded on its own checks.

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The school has the following strengths

 The headteacher has successfully steered the school through a particularly turbulent time over the last 18 months. Teaching and pupils’ progress are now improving more quickly.  Pupils make consistently good progress in their writing.  More able pupils are regularly challenged to reach higher standards in their work.  Educational visits, visitors and sporting and musical opportunities successfully enhance the curriculum.  Pupils feel safe and are well looked after by adults within the school. Every effort is made to support pupils who may be experiencing difficulties.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 13 lessons delivered by six teachers. In addition, a number of shorter visits were made to sessions that teach pupils letters and the sounds they make (phonics), guided reading groups and to pupils receiving additional support outside of their classroom.  One lesson was jointly observed by the headteacher.  Inspectors observed pupils in lessons, around the school and during play. They looked at a selection of pupils’ work from all year groups and listened to a number of pupils read.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, the headteacher, senior leaders and those with responsibility for English and mathematics and a group of governors, including the Chair of the Governing Body. Discussions were also held with two representatives from the local authority.  The inspection took account of the 10 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) that were submitted during the course of the inspection. The inspectors also spoke to groups of

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Information about this inspection

parents at the beginning and end of the school day and took account of feedback from 14 staff questionnaires.  The inspectors observed the school’s work and examined a range of documentation including the school’s own records of pupils’ learning and progress, the checks made on the quality of teaching and performance of staff and those relating to behaviour, attendance, child protection and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Lee Owston, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Katharine Halifax Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Woodfield is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding is well above that found nationally. 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 that are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action is below that found nationally.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above the national figure.  The school meets the government’s current floor standard, which sets the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school shares a site with Bilton Children’s Centre. This is inspected and reported upon separately by Ofsted.  The school has recently moved into one building after a period of construction work and

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Information about this school

refurbishment. There have also been significant staff changes since the time of the last inspection. A new senior leadership team was formed in September 2013.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good or better across the school by:  ensuring activities engage pupils’ interest, especially for boys  planning tasks that challenge pupils to reach their full potential, especially lower ability pupils  adapting the activities that pupils choose for themselves in Year 1 so that when working without an adult they make good or better progress  ensuring teachers’ comments in pupils’ books provide areas for pupils to improve upon so that they can address any errors in their work and make quicker progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Hasten the progress pupils make in their reading, particularly for boys, and in mathematics by:  ensuring pupils who find reading difficult have greater opportunities to practise what they have learnt by reading books that include only words that can be sounded out  increasing the time available for the teaching of reading comprehension skills  providing more opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical skills to real-life and problem solving contexts  developing pupils’ reading and mathematical skills across all subjects in the curriculum.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the leadership and management of teaching by ensuring that:  the frequency with which senior leaders check on the work in classrooms increases, making sure that judgements made about the quality of teaching take sufficient account of the difference teaching is having on the progress made by different groups of learners  the judgements made about the quality of teaching take account of the work in pupils’ books and the progress pupils have made over time, as well as through lesson observations  governors check more regularly on the work going on within school so that they can challenge leaders more directly about the quality of teaching and achievement of pupils.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils, especially boys, make inconsistent progress as they move through the school due to variations in the quality of teaching. Not enough pupils make good progress in reading or mathematics.  Pupils make consistently good progress in writing because pupils’ writing is proudly displayed to inspire others and every opportunity is used throughout the day, including in other subjects, to reinforce learning.  Pupils do not achieve as highly in reading or mathematics. There are too few opportunities to develop reading comprehension skills or for pupils to use their mathematical knowledge in real- life or problem solving contexts. Teachers do not plan carefully enough for how reading and mathematics might be promoted and developed across subjects other than English and mathematics.  Children arrive in Nursery with skills and abilities that are below what is typical for their age. They make good progress during their time in the Early Years Foundation Stage so that by the

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

end of Reception, a similar proportion of pupils to that found nationally are ready for learning in Year 1. However, some children still exhibit weaknesses in their early language and number.  In the phonic screening check carried out at the end of Year 1, too few pupils reached the national expectations for six-year-olds in 2012 and 2013 and this is reflected in pupils’ reading. Pupils want to read but they do not always have the skills to do so independently. This is because there are weaknesses in the school’s approach to teaching phonics.  Pupils make steady rather than good progress across Key Stage 1 and 2. Although the standards reached by pupils at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 have increased year-on-year since the time of the last inspection, this is due to the consistently good and sometimes outstanding teaching in these year groups. The same increases in achievement are not evident across other classes.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 More-able pupils achieve well. Teachers plan tasks for this group that stretch their capabilities and challenge them to reach their full potential. As a consequence, the proportion of pupils reaching the higher levels has increased year-on-year, at the end of both key stages.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make similar progress to that of their classmates. Sometimes they make even better progress; this is when teachers make sure that work is pitched at the right level for their starting points and small group or one-to-one work delivered outside of the classroom is built upon successfully during whole-class sessions.  Pupil premium funding is used well to target this group of pupils so that they now make similar progress to their peers and the standard of their work is catching up. This is because training has been provided for teaching assistants to deliver high-quality support programmes. By the

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

end of Year 6, there is approximately a term’s difference in reading, writing and mathematics between pupils eligible for free school meals and those of other learners; much better than the gap found nationally.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Not all pupils have had the benefit of good teaching over time and this has slowed their progress. Inspectors observed some good and outstanding teaching within the school but much that was observed was not as exciting or engaging as it could have been.  The teaching of reading requires improvement because not enough time is devoted within English lessons or across the school day, particularly to develop comprehension skills. Weaker readers do not have enough books that contain only words that can be sounded out to enable them to quickly practise their reading, achieve success and raise their self-esteem.  Teachers show a good understanding of how to teach calculation skills. This has allowed pupils to work competently with number. However, there are not enough opportunities for these skills to be used in real-life or problem solving contexts to raise pupils’ attainment further.  Where teaching is good or better it is typically characterised by the strong subject knowledge of

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

teachers and the accurate use of assessment to identify pupils’ gaps in understanding. In a Year 2 literacy lesson, the teacher planned activities to not only address the next steps in pupils’ learning but also to suit how they learn best. As a result, all groups of pupils were challenged to reach their full potential and achieved well.  In the less successful lessons, activities are not always pitched at the correct level so that pupils can find work too easy or too hard. The work given to pupils of lower ability in particular is not always considered carefully enough by teachers to enable them to make good progress. As a result, these pupils can sometimes become distracted and off-task.  Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good and sometimes outstanding. Staff quickly assess children’s skills, understanding and interests so that they are purposefully engaged in a range of teacher-led and independently chosen activities.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Activities that pupils choose for themselves in Year 1 do not challenge pupils to make consistently good gains in their learning. Teachers’ planning for these times of the day do not expect enough of pupils when they are working independently and their progress slows.  Pupils receive regular comments in their books from teachers. These are often positive, such as ‘good work’ or ‘well done, you can now add two numbers to 10,’ but they do not routinely provide areas for improvement that pupils can easily address to enable a faster rate of progress.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. When lessons are not sufficiently engaging and tasks do not capture pupils’ interest, they switch-off from their learning. Boys especially disengage, often finding other less purposeful activities to do, such as washing their hands for a long time, chatting unproductively to their friends or tidying equipment that has been left at the side of the classroom. This slows their rate of progress.  Typically, pupils are polite, show respect to each other and know the difference between right and wrong. Behaviour can be of the highest quality during break and lunchtimes when pupils know that adults will be watching them carefully, for example when walking into assembly or going on educational visits. During less supervised times, a small minority of pupils can become boisterous, leading to some running and silliness in corridors or toilets. When this behaviour is

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

checked by teachers, it is quickly corrected.  Pupils are confident that bullying is rare and that should they seek help from adults, any issues are resolved quickly. They know that bullying by saying unkind words is wrong. One pupil’s comment that, ‘you might be picked on because someone thinks you are different to them, and not as good,’ typifies pupils’ developing understanding of prejudice-based bullying, including that relating to racism and homophobia.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. The overwhelming majority of parents who responded to Parent View or spoke with inspectors were positive about the care their children receive so that they are happy and safe in school.  Pupils keep themselves and others safe around school and show a good knowledge of road, railway and personal safety, including that relating to child protection. They are well-versed in how to stay safe when using computers and the internet.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The school has good systems for supporting those pupils whose circumstances may make them vulnerable. Effective links with external agencies, such as those relating to mental health, allow pupils to receive the specialist support they need. In-school activities, such as ‘Guinea Pig Club’, engender the importance of care and responsibility, while recent activities such as the visit to a local climbing centre by Year 5 develop confidence, team work and independence through sport.  Attendance is improving though figures have fluctuated since the previous inspection. It is now broadly average.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher has successfully brought stability to the school following some changes to staffing and disruption brought about through building work. Staff responses to the inspection questionnaire show that they have every confidence in getting the school back on track quickly. As one member of staff commented, ‘we have overcome so much in what has been a difficult couple of years but I am truly proud to be part of the Woodfield school team.’ Staff morale is high.  Nevertheless, leadership and management require improvement because not enough has been done to secure consistently good teaching and ensure that pupils make at least good progress in reading and mathematics since the time of the last inspection.  The headteacher knows her school well. Priorities identified for improvement are correct but not enough has been done to identify the underlying issues that are preventing better progress and

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The leadership and management requires improvement

teaching. This is because the leadership of teaching requires improvement.  Senior leaders do not check up on the work going on in classrooms frequently enough to identify pertinent areas for improvement. Leaders’ lesson observations have focussed too much on what the teacher is doing and not enough on whether their teaching methods are making a positive difference to the progress of different groups of learners.  Middle leaders (those responsible for English and mathematics) are enthusiastic about their subjects. Together with senior leaders they have observed teaching and looked separately at pupils’ work over time and pupil progress information. However, the judgement given during a ‘snapshot’ lesson observation has taken precedence over other evidence about how well pupils are achieving over time. This has given an overly-positive view of the quality of teaching.  Performance management arrangements are effective. Decisions about the salary each teacher

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The leadership and management requires improvement

receives are now based on the detailed analysis of progress made by the pupils in their care.  Middle leaders are strong teachers themselves, who, in the past, have supported colleagues in other schools to improve teaching. They are well placed in Year 2 and Year 5/6 to offer support to colleagues in each key stage and this is improving the quality of teaching.  The curriculum has strengths in the range of activities provided to enhance pupils’ learning. Sporting, musical and cultural opportunities, such as taking part in the school choir, promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. The academic curriculum is not as strong. Not enough time is devoted to the teaching of reading and there are few opportunities to develop pupils’ reading or mathematical skills in other subjects.  Sports funding is used well to allow staff to observe the delivery of high-quality physical

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The leadership and management requires improvement

education with their class. Pupils say they enjoy these sessions although they are too new to judge whether they are making a difference to pupils’ health and well-being.  Arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet statutory requirements. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated. Gaps between the achievements of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and other learners have narrowed successfully through good use of additional government money provided for such pupils.  The local authority has successfully worked alongside the headteacher to analyse pupil outcomes and plan for improvement. However, recent reports provided to the school rely too heavily on the judgements made at the time of the previous inspection, without considering more recent first-hand evidence of what is happening in school. This has compounded the school’s overly- positive self-evaluation.  The governance of the school:

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Governors are developing their understanding of what goes on in school and the standards pupils’ achieve, including the difference pupil premium funding is making to eligible learners. They are committed to see the school improve further given the turbulence of the past 18-24 months and are keen to access further training to support their own development, such as data analysis. They ensure that their statutory duties are met. For example, systems to safeguard and protect pupils meet requirements. They acknowledge there is still further work to be done to increase the confidence of governors to challenge and hold senior leaders to account. They currently do not check themselves on the information they receive about the quality of teaching and the progress pupils make by visiting the school to see it at work. This would give governors a better understanding of how teachers are held to account for their

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The leadership and management requires improvement

performance and why good teachers are being rewarded through salary progression.

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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 121469 Local authority North Yorkshire Inspection number 427274

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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 152 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Joyce Reeve Headteacher Caroline Chadwick Date of previous school inspection 20 October 2010 Telephone number 01423 566494 Fax number 01423 529840 Email address headteacher@woodfield.n-yorks.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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