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 566868 Direct F 01695 729320 Direct email: pnuttie@cfbt.com

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Mrs Sharon Hutchinson Headteacher Adwick Primary School Stafford Road Woodlands Doncaster South Yorkshire DN6 7LW

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Serious weaknesses first monitoring inspection of Adwick Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 8 May 2014, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions which have been taken since the school's recent section 5 inspection.

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Serious weaknesses first monitoring inspection of Adwick Primary School

The inspection was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to have serious weaknesses in January 2014. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Evidence

During the inspection meetings were held with the headteacher and members of the senior leadership team; a group of governors including the Chair and two new governors appointed by the local authority; a representative of the local authority and the national leader of education who is supporting the school. The local authority’s statement of action and the school’s improvement planning were evaluated. Other documents, including records of checks on the quality of teaching and minutes of governing body meetings, were scrutinised.

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Context

Since the inspection three teachers have left the school and two new teachers have been appointed. A parent support adviser has been employed which has enabled a deputy headteacher to become class-based and focus more on improving the quality of teaching. Some teachers are now teaching in different year groups. The Vice-Chair of the Governing Body has resigned. The local authority has acted to appoint two additional governors.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

The headteacher is providing strong leadership and a clear sense of direction. She is receiving very good support from the headteacher of Hill Top Primary School, who is a national leader of education. Together they have a very detailed understanding of strengths and weaknesses of the school and are rapidly addressing the areas for improvement. The school’s improvement planning is detailed and includes sufficiently measurable success criteria to hold people to account. The school’s planning is tightly aligned with that of the local authority. These plans provide appropriate targets and clear milestones so that those responsible for evaluating the school’s effectiveness can assess the progress the school is making.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

Much has already been done to improve the quality of teaching across the school. Expectations have been raised and senior leaders are using performance management processes effectively to tackle weaker teaching. Less experienced teachers are responding positively to support and the changes to the teaching staff would indicate that there will no longer be any inadequate teaching. Programmes to strengthen the teaching of phonics (the sounds letters make) have been introduced and are having a positive impact. Standards in Key Stage 1 are expected to rise considerably this year. Standards at Key Stage 2, particularly in mathematics, remain more of a concern, and the school is currently focusing intensively on these areas. Considerable effort is being made to provide additional support for pupils in Year 5 and 6 to address gaps in their knowledge. Systems to track the progress of each pupil are now more sophisticated. This means pupils making slower progress are

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

identified quickly and receive additional support for reading, writing and mathematics. Because the quality of teaching is improving, pupils are developing more positive attitudes and there are fewer concerns about poor behaviour.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

Senior leaders are clear about their roles and responsibilities and are taking effective action to address the areas for improvement. Their checks on the quality of learning are carefully planned and coordinated. The good support they are receiving from colleagues at Hill Top Primary School means they are increasingly confident to tackle barriers to improvement. Subject leaders are more involved in checking the quality of teaching and learning, but more still needs to done to ensure the teaching of literacy and, particularly, numeracy is more consistent.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

An external review of governance has begun, although it will not be completed until June. The local authority has appointed two additional and experienced governors and this has strengthened the governing body. A school improvement committee has been established which meets each month to check on the impact of planned actions and the progress of pupils. Although at an early stage, this committee has begun to provide an effective forum for holding school leaders to account.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

Following the monitoring inspection the following judgements were made:

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

The school's improvement plan is fit for purpose.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

The local authority's statement of action is fit for purpose. I am copying this letter to the Secretary of State, the Chair of the Governing Body and the Interim Director Children and Young People's Service for Doncaster. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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