Luddenden CofE School

School report Luddenden CE School Dene View, Luddendenfoot, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX2 6PB

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils’ attainment in English and mathematics by the end of Key Stage 1 is average and they make good progress from below average starting points.  Pupils make good progress in the key subjects in each year in Key Stage 2. Recent checks show that attainment has further improved and is well above average by end of Year 6.  Rising standards in all stages demonstrate that this is an improving school.  Above average proportions of most-able pupils exceed the highest levels.  Pupils, including those who are disabled or have a special education need, benefit well from the good teaching provided by staff in and out of classrooms.  Pupils behave well. They work hard and get on well with each other in classrooms, on the corridors and outside the school.  Attendance is broadly average and a lower proportion of pupils than in other schools miss days.  Pupils say that they feel safe. Pupils say that

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

they enjoy coming to school and parents confirm that this is true.  Senior leaders, including middle leaders, accurately identify and decisively tackle any weaknesses in teaching. They are determined to improve the school even further.  The governing body holds school leaders to account well. They have a clear understanding of how the school is performing and how well teaching is improving as a result of their actions.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Occasionally staff miss opportunities to move pupils quickly on to the next tasks when they have understood what to do.  The effective marking system is not used consistently by all staff.  At times, the work provided for pupils involves too much repetition. This can slow them making the best progress.  The school’s support for pupils eligible for the pupil premium is not always focused sharply enough on what is holding them back.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching in nine lessons, one observed jointly with the headteacher. Inspectors also visited an assembly, observed lunch and break times and listened to pupils reading.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils from Key Stages 1 and 2, staff and school leaders. A meeting was held with eight members of the governing body, including the Chair of the Governing Body. A separate meeting was held with the local authority representative.  Inspectors took account of the results of the school’s own surveys of parents’ views and responses from 14 staff questionnaires. They considered 20 responses to the Ofsted on-line questionnaire (Parent View). Inspectors also spoke to parents dropping off children and visiting during the day.  A number of school documents was examined. These included information about pupils’ progress, school improvement plans and records of governors’ meetings. The work in pupils’

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Information about this inspection

books and records relating to the quality of teaching, behaviour, attendance and safeguarding were also scrutinised.

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Inspection team

Jonathan Woodyatt, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Doreen Davenport Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller in size than other primary schools.  Most pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action is much lower than in most other schools. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is lower than that found in most other schools.  The proportion of pupils supported through the pupil premium funding is similar to that of other schools. (The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those children who are looked after by the local authority.)  The ‘STEP Out of School and Holiday Club’ is a breakfast- and after-school club operating on the school site which is not run by the governing body. It is subject to a separate inspection and reports can be found on the Ofsted website.  The composition of the governing body has changed since the last inspection, with several

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Information about this school

members leaving and others joining.  The school is part of the ‘Calder Valley’ cluster of local schools.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching even further in order to raise achievement, especially for those eligible for the pupil premium, by:  staff always knowing how well pupils are doing so they can intervene quickly to move them on to the next tasks when they have learned what they need to learn  ensuring that the effective marking system is used consistently by all staff  staff providing tasks that ensure the best challenge for all pupils and by eliminating unnecessary repetition.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children who start in the Early Years Foundation Stage have skills that are typically below those expected for their age, especially in their communication, reading, writing and number skills. Some leave the school at the end of Nursery and others join in Reception, similarly with skills below those expected. They make good progress and achieve well in both the Nursery and Reception years and are well prepared to enter Year 1.  Pupils make good progress in Key Stage 1 in their reading, writing and mathematics and their attainment overall is average by the end of Year 2. Recent tests show that they make further improvements from the standards reached in previous years.  Pupils’ achievement improves in each year in Key Stage 2. By the end of Year 6 in 2013, pupils made good progress in reading and writing, although progress was less overall in mathematics because a few pupils missed gaining the higher Level 5. Standards in reading and writing were

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The achievement of pupils is good

above those in other schools. Very recent results from in-school checks show that progress in mathematics has rapidly caught up and standards in the key subjects have risen further because leaders are relentlessly improving teaching. At present, the school is awaiting the outcomes of the national tests for reading and mathematics.  The proportion of most-able pupils reaching and exceeding the highest level in mathematics in 2013 was above that in other schools. Recent evidence shows this has increased further and more pupils are reaching high levels in reading as well. This is a clear indicator of the school’s successful work with challenging these pupils.  Disabled pupils and those who have special education needs overall make good progress, owing to their needs being identified accurately and effective strategies being put into place to aid their learning, for example in the small groups or one-to-one with staff. Pupils with a statement and

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The achievement of pupils is good

those identified at school action plus do better compared to those in other schools.  In 2012 the national screening check of pupils’ phonics skills carried out in Year 1 showed that a well-above average proportion of pupils reached the levels expected nationally. A dip in 2013 has been tackled effectively by leaders and recent results show rapid improvements. Checks reveal that even more pupils in 2014 reached the levels expected than in 2012.  By the end Year 2 and 6 in 2013, pupils eligible for free school meals were about three terms behind others in the school. Inspection evidence shows that gaps between the standards reached by eligible pupils and others in the current Year 2, and especially in Year 6, have reduced. However, the gaps have not completely closed in the different subjects and there is still more to be done to push these pupils’ standards higher by increasing the focus on the learning

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The quality of teaching is good

 Year after year teaching has improved. This is because leaders have introduced agreed ways of working which systematically secure good teaching skills through regular checking and support of staff.  The teaching of reading, writing and mathematics is good at all stages in the school. Evidence from inspectors’ observations of the learning in classrooms, school records and by scrutinising pupils’ work in their books confirm this.  The school ensures that there are good opportunities to make the most of learning across the different subjects. For example, the Egyptian day in Year 3 followed on from a recent museum visit and challenged pupils to utilise their skills to write booklets, create artwork and dress up. This activity successfully brought the learning to life.  Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage focuses well on developing the necessary skills in reading, writing and numbers. Activities provided by staff clearly ignite children’s imaginations.

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The quality of teaching is good

For example, having recently experienced a camp fire while on a visit outdoors, they came back to school eager to experience their own ‘camp fire’, which they made by cutting out flames from paper.  Pupils are avid readers, enjoying their opportunities to read at school and at home. Inspectors listened to younger pupils reading with fluency and expression from unseen passages in their books. Pupils knew what was happening in the stories because they had a good understanding of what the words meant.  Small-group and one-to-one activities led by staff inside and outside classrooms provide good learning opportunities for pupils who need extra support. This includes those who are disabled, those with special education needs or who have fallen behind with their different skills, and the most able who are working at the higher levels, such as in mathematics.  Staff are good at checking how well pupils are learning because they keep a close eye on their

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The quality of teaching is good

work. On the rare occasions staff miss opportunities to check how well pupils are working, some pupils carry on with tasks they have learned to do for too long, instead of quickly moving on to the next ones.  Staff frequently mark work in pupils’ books using the school’s agreed system. For example, inspectors read helpful written comments and noted pupils following up on the advice being given. However, not all staff provide these comments in order for pupils to further improve.  Evidence of work in pupils’ books demonstrated how well they are learning in the different subjects in each class. However, at times staff provide tasks that require pupils to practise similar skills over and over, for example on worksheets. Consequently unnecessary repetition slows their progress and limits their learning.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They need little supervision from staff when moving around the school or playing outside. They are polite to visitors and co-operate well with each other during lessons, which ensures that the school is calm and purposeful. They have positive attitudes to their learning, ensuring that they benefit well from the good teaching.  There are very few records of misbehaviour in the school’s logs and pupils mentioned to inspectors that staff are good at dealing with any misbehaviour that might occur. They talked about how well staff help them to make improvements in their behaviour on the few occasions when they sometimes struggle themselves.  A very small minority of parents say that sometimes bullying happens in the school. Inspectors took note of this but could not find any evidence to support this. The school’s records show that there are no bullying incidents. School records also show there are no racist or homophobic

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

incidents. All the staff and pupils agree that the school deals effectively with bullying.  There have been no permanent exclusions in the last three years. The few fixed-term exclusions have been used as a last resort for pupils who struggle to manage their own behaviour well enough.  Attendance has remained broadly average over a number of years. The proportion of pupils who repeatedly miss school is less than that found in other schools nationally. Pupils say that they enjoy coming to school and this ensures that they attend regularly.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Parents and staff fully agree with this.  Pupils say that they feel safe in school. They told inspectors about the different ways that they have learned to keep themselves safe, such as recognising and knowing what to do using the internet.  Inspectors observed staff keeping a close watch on pupils at all times of the day, including

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

during breaks and lunch. Staff are available to talk to parents at the start and end of the school day, which many parents said helped them to quickly find out how well their children were doing and to provide answers to any questions they needed to ask.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher is successfully ensuring that pupils’ achievement is improving and has improved well since the last inspection. This is because she has maintained a rigorous approach to raising the standards of teaching through clear performance targets for staff, close monitoring, quick actions to tackle weaknesses and by providing effective training and mentoring to continuously improve teachers’ skills.  The headteacher and middle leaders have an accurate view of how well the school is performing from the wide range of information that they meticulously gather and thoroughly scrutinise. As a result, there are clear plans to ensure that the school has the appropriate next steps in place to improve further.  The curriculum successfully helps pupils to develop their basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics. For example, there is effective support available outside the classroom for pupils

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The leadership and management are good

who need a boost in their skills, such as reading and for the most able to reach the highest Level 6, for example, in mathematics. As a result, standards continue to rise.  The provision for pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is effective. For example, pupils consider different faiths and celebrate each other’s successes in their assemblies. Visits out of school help pupils gain a deeper understanding of other cultures and enhance their appreciation and enjoyment of the outdoors.  All parents who responded to Parent View agreed that the school ensures that their children are happy and are kept safe in the school. Those who spoke to inspectors were very complimentary about being able to approach the headteacher with their concerns.  The primary sport funding is used to secure the help of a sports coach from the cluster. It has increased the amount of time provided for pupils to take part in sport during and after school,

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The leadership and management are good

such as running and climbing, and increased opportunities to compete against others. As a result, the funding is supporting improvements in pupils’ overall health, well-being and sports skills development.  The local authority recognises that the school is well led. They provide helpful support to the governors and visit the school at least every term to help confirm the quality of the school’s monitoring information gathered by the headteacher.  The governance of the school:  The governors have a good knowledge of the performance of the school and the standards of teaching. They are provided with a wide range of detailed information collected by the school’s leaders, which they discuss and consider well at their meetings. They visit the school often to monitor improvements and to confirm the efficacy of their plans. This gives them the clear understanding required to drive further improvements forward.

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The leadership and management are good

 They embody high expectations for the school to improve and have a clear vision of the next steps. They ensure that the headteacher and staff work closely as a team. They link the headteacher’s pay to challenging targets and are helped by the local authority representative to do this well. They ensure that this also happens for the teachers. Recent evidence of improvements in achievement confirms their effectiveness with tackling any underperformance.  The governors manage the school’s finances well. They work closely to their budget so that they can maintain the levels of staffing and provision of activities, such as extra staff for small- group and one-to-one support, to meet the needs of most pupils well. They make sure that the school uses the primary school sport funding well. However, they recognise that there is more for the school to do to close the gap between the attainment of all pupils and for those

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The leadership and management are good

supported by the pupil premium.  Arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet requirements.

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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 107541 Local authority Calderdale Inspection number 430591

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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 193 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Tony Hillyard Headteacher Lisa Hoyle Date of previous school inspection 11 July 2012 Telephone number 01422 886353 Fax number 01422 886354 Email address admin@luddenden-ce.calderdale.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 and 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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