Berry Brow Infant and Nursery School

Berry Brow Infant and Nursery School Birch Road, Berry Brow, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD4 7LP

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Early years provision Requires improvement 3

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

 Progress has slowed, particularly in reading and mathematics, since the previous inspection.  Over time, the provision for disadvantaged pupils has not resulted in them making good progress, particularly in reading and mathematics.  Achievement in mathematics across the school is not good enough.  The provision for children in the early years requires improvement. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development, at the end of the early years, has been low.  Teaching in some classes does not always check well enough on pupils’ understanding. When this happens, pupils repeat mistakes and they do not reach the standards they are capable of.  Teachers’ marking of pupils’ work does not always give clear guidance to pupils on how they can improve their work.  The role of senior and middle leaders has not been fully developed in identifying when pupils are falling behind in their learning, and addressing this

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

effectively.  The governing body has not been effective in holding senior and middle leaders to account for the standards reached by all pupils.

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The school has the following strengths

 All are agreed that Berry Brow Infant and Nursery School provides high levels of care for its pupils.  Over time, most pupils reach high standards in their writing.  Recently, the quality of teaching has improved and this is helping pupils throughout the school to reach higher standards across reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils’ behaviour around the school and in lessons is good. Attendance has improved and is now in line with the national average.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe is good.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils have a well-developed understanding of responsibility.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed a range of lessons or parts of lessons; one observation was carried out jointly with the headteacher.  Inspectors met with senior leaders, subject leaders and middle leaders, staff, the Chair of the Governing Body and five governors, and two representatives of the local authority.  Inspectors examined a wide range of documentation that included national assessment data and the school’s assessments, the school’s own view of its work, minutes from governing body meetings, curriculum information, safeguarding information and samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors met with pupils who are members of the ‘Children’s Board’, and an additional group of pupils who talked about keeping safe. Inspectors listened to pupils read from Year 1 and Year 2. They spoke informally to pupils around the school, at playtimes and at lunchtime.  Inspectors spoke with parents, and took account of the 29 responses received at the time of the

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Information about this inspection

inspection from the online questionnaire (Parent View).  Account was taken of the 34 staff questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Deana Aldred, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Berry Brow Infant and Nursery School is slightly smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The Nursery classes are part time and the two Reception classes are full time.  Pupils in Year 1 and in Year 2 are taught in two single-aged classes in each year group.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is broadly in line with the national average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by pupil premium in 2014 is slightly below the national average. (The pupil premium is additional government funding provided to support pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are in the care of the local authority.)  Most pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups has increased over the past three years. Very few of these pupils speak English as an additional language.  The headteacher is a Local Leader of Education, and is deployed by the local authority to support

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Information about this school

improvement in other schools.  The school provides childcare at the start of each day.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching, including for disadvantaged pupils in mathematics and reading, to at least good in order to raise pupils’ achievement by making sure that:  teaching effectively checks on pupils’ understanding during lessons, so that all pupils make at least good progress  the marking policy and practice help pupils to correct their mistakes and to improve their work  the work given to pupils fully develops their mathematical skills, particularly those of calculation and problem solving  pupils are given good-quality resources, and good opportunities to apply and develop their reading skills.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics throughout early years so that more children start in Year 1 having achieved a good level of development.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management, including governance, by:  ensuring that the role of senior leaders, middle leaders and subject leaders is fully effective in improving the quality of teaching and raising standards  making sure that governors hold school leaders fully to account for the standards all pupils reach. The governing body has arranged for a self-review of governance to be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because leaders and governors have not ensured that all teaching has been good over time. The standards reached in mathematics and reading have fallen since the previous inspection, when they were significantly higher than those reached nationally.  Recently, teaching has improved but there remains some inconsistency across classes and year groups in the progress pupils are making, particularly that of disadvantaged pupils in mathematics and reading. Subject leadership of writing is effective and has ensured that, over time, pupils reach high standards in their work.  The leadership team has been slow in identifying when pupils are falling behind in their work and this has been especially so for disadvantaged pupils. School leaders have not used the information about pupils’ progress effectively to ensure that all pupils achieve what they are capable of.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Senior leaders have recently identified the improvements that are needed. The actions they are now taking are helping to improve progress rates across the school.  Procedures to manage staff performance have strengthened this year. Staff targets are now linked more closely to the standards expected of teachers. This is beginning to have a positive impact on ensuring that all pupils make at least good progress.  All senior leaders and middle leaders have had the necessary training but have not had the opportunities to check on the quality of learning. They are not yet fully effective in using this information to raise achievement throughout the school, including across the early years provision.  School policies are in place but not implemented consistently across all classes. This is contributing to variations in the quality of teaching that have not been successfully addressed.  All safeguarding policies and procedures meet statutory requirements. Leaders have created a safe

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The leadership and management require improvement

environment, where pupils enjoy learning.  The school’s curriculum is having a good impact on preparing pupils for life in modern Britain. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils enjoy their responsibilities within school and the curriculum ensures that they have a good understanding of other faiths and cultures, for example through their links with a school in Lahore in Pakistan.  Pupils are proud of their artwork and their musical talents. They enjoy the many outdoor learning experiences provided by the Forest Schools. Many pupils take part in the clubs that the school provides, ranging from ukulele to karate.  The primary school sport funding is well spent by the school. It provides playground equipment to ensure high-activity games at lunchtimes, and the training of play leaders. It also provides inter-school competitive sport, expertise in teaching, and a range of clubs. The funding is effective in improving the

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The leadership and management require improvement

standards reached by pupils, healthy choices and levels of exercise.  The school welcomes all pupils and provides high levels of care. It takes decisive actions against discrimination of any type.  The local authority is confident in the leadership of the school, and uses the expertise of the headteacher to support leaders in other schools.  The governance of the school:  Governors are very supportive of the school, and visit often. They use these visits to ensure that the school maintains its high levels of care for all of its pupils, as well as the many opportunities within the curriculum for pupils to live the school’s vision of ‘Reach for the stars’.  The governing body has an overview of the school’s performance and areas for improvement. However, governors have not checked school data thoroughly, for example to compare the progress of disadvantaged pupils with that of non-disadvantaged pupils in school and non-disadvantaged pupils

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The leadership and management require improvement

nationally.  Governors know how the pupil premium funding is being spent, but they have not checked fully that this extra funding is making a positive impact on pupils’ progress. Over time, the school has not been successful in closing gaps between pupils eligible for additional funding and those who are not, particularly in mathematics and reading.  Governors know that the school has taken more robust actions to improve the quality of teaching, including in mathematics and across the early years provision. They know that achievement across the early years has improved.  The governing body oversees the process used to hold teachers to account and links teachers’ pay with their performance. They know of the school’s recent improvements to its system, which is helping them to reward good teachers and to hold teachers to account for the progress that all pupils are making.  The governing body has recently commissioned a self-review of its effectiveness to inform its plans for

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The leadership and management require improvement

improvement.  Governors ensure that national requirements for safeguarding and child protection are met in full. They provide additional expertise which is valued highly by school leaders.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They are courteous and confident, and they get on well with each other. At lunchtimes, the high level of supervision means that pupils are all involved in safe and active play. There are happy times when older pupils take care of and play with younger ones. For example, they lead playground games and, as they told inspectors, ‘help children to exercise and be healthy’.  Lunchtimes are sociable with adults and pupils eating together.  Pupils and parents agree that behaviour is good. Pupils told inspectors that they know whom to go to if they need help. All are agreed that behaviour has improved, there are very few problems, and any are quickly resolved.  Pupils behave well in lessons and want to do well in the tasks given to them. They show good levels of concentration and perseverance, eager to complete work and to improve it. For example, when writing a fact file about the planet Mars, pupils used the information provided to write at length, describing the

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Behaviour

features of the planet. They were confident to then continue in their writing, comparing Mars with other planets. Pupils achieve well in writing, and have done over time. The teaching of writing is a strength of the school.  The school has worked hard to improve attendance, which is now in line with the national picture.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. All are agreed that the school’s procedures keep pupils safe and happy.  Pupils who talked with inspectors reported that they feel safe in school and they know how to keep themselves safe in other situations. For example, they are well aware of road safety and the danger of strangers.  They know how to keep themselves safe from bullying. They understand bullying in the form of physical bullying or name calling. They say it does not happen very often in school and, when it does, they know to speak to an adult for help.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In some classes, pupils do not make as much progress as they should because teaching does not always give them the guidance they need. Some teaching does not check effectively on what pupils already know and so does not give them the support they need to successfully complete the work given to them. This is especially so when pupils do not have a secure understanding. For example, pupils working with given numbers to generate calculations using division were not reminded of how they could check their answers. As a result, they repeated the same errors throughout a lesson and this meant they did not make the progress they are capable of.  In some lessons, teaching gives good guidance to pupils on how they can improve their work. Pupils then act on the advice given and this helps them to make good progress. For example, some of the most able pupils in Year 1 were skilfully guided to extend their number skills of doubling by using the position of tens

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

and units to double two-digit numbers. However, this quality of guidance is not consistent in all classes.  Improved teaching of mathematics is being supported by the recently reviewed mathematics policy and staff training.  Teachers’ marking is predominantly used to praise pupils, but gives little practical guidance on how to improve their work. Some errors, for example of numeral formation, are not corrected.  The teaching of phonics (the sounds that letters make and represent in words) is helping pupils to reach high standards in their writing and to read unfamiliar words. The school has rightly identified that pupils need additional help in order to read words such as ‘some’ and ‘because’, which cannot be read by blending the sounds of the letters. These words are listed in the reading record books used by many parents to support their children’s reading at home.  The school is working hard to promote reading at every opportunity so that all pupils have a good range

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

of reading experiences. Most pupils who spoke with inspectors said they enjoyed the book fair which was held in school.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are well supported. Their specific needs are quickly identified and help is provided so that they make good progress from their different starting points. During the inspection, pupils were observed to be secure in their learning and confident in what was expected of them.  Disadvantaged pupils benefit at different times from additional adult support. This support and the quality of teaching have varied over time. As a result, achievement has been variable and has not been consistently good.  Pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds are helped to make similar progress to that of other pupils. Those who speak English as an additional language are well supported and pupils new to the school receive high levels of care.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because rates of pupils’ progress are inconsistent throughout the school, across classes and subjects.  High standards reached by pupils at the time of the previous inspection have not been maintained in reading and mathematics. In 2013, standards reached by pupils at the end of Year 2 fell from significantly higher than national to just above national. Standards in reading remained at this level in 2014. In mathematics, in 2014, the proportion of pupils reaching the nationally expected level fell from significantly higher than national to slightly below the national figure. In comparison, high standards have been maintained in writing, with proportions significantly above those nationally reaching the higher levels.  The achievement of disadvantaged pupils has varied over time, linked to the quality of teaching. In 2014, they were about two terms behind their classmates in reading and just over a term behind non-

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

disadvantaged pupils nationally. In mathematics, they were nearly three terms behind others in school and two and a half terms behind non-disadvantaged pupils nationally. In writing, they were just less than a term behind other pupils nationally and about one and a half terms behind their classmates.  The school-held data show that the gaps are now closing, as a result of improved teaching. Gaps that remain in the progress pupils are making are linked to inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. This demonstrates that the school is working hard to make sure that it is as effective as it should be in promoting equality of opportunity.  Children join the Nursery with skills that are mostly below those typical for their age. Their skills are slightly lower in the personal and social aspects of learning, as well as in language and communication. Effective teaching in these areas ensures that children quickly make gains in confidence and skills.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

However, during their time in the early years, children do not make good enough progress, particularly in their reading, writing and mathematics, so a low proportion reach a good level of development.  Pupils start in Key Stage 1 with standards lower than average. Some make good progress and reach slightly higher than average standards by the time they leave Key Stage 1. In writing, some pupils make outstanding progress. However, these rates of progress are not consistent throughout the school, for all groups of pupils.  The most able pupils make good progress and achieve well when they benefit from good teaching, particularly in writing. Pupils who spoke with inspectors said that writing is their favourite subject. Teaching provides well-planned opportunities for pupils to apply and develop their skills in writing for many different purposes.  The results of the most recent national screening check at the end of Year 1 on pupils’ knowledge of

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

phonics improved to be just above average. During the inspection, pupils used their phonics skills to read unfamiliar words such as ‘taste’. Most told inspectors they enjoy reading, although some were not familiar with a wide range of books and authors.  School data show that there is no significant difference between the attainment of pupils from different ethnic backgrounds. Those who join speaking English as an additional language are helped to catch up and then make similar progress to that of their classmates. As the proportion of pupils is small, the school tracks their achievement as individuals.

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The early years provision requires improvement

 The proportion of children achieving a good level of development for the last two years was low, affecting their readiness to start Year 1. Children did not develop their skills well enough in reading, writing and mathematics. As a result, achievement, teaching and leadership and management of the early years require improvement.  In some areas of learning, children make good progress. This is particularly so in communication and language, and the personal and social aspects of learning. For example, children sang enthusiastically when rehearsing songs for their Christmas performance. All took part, remembering many words, singing at a good pace, and most in character as Father Christmas during one of the songs!  In some activities, children’s learning is not developed well enough, particularly when dialogue and questioning do not extend their skills and understanding. For example, when halving a slice of bread,

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The early years provision requires improvement

teaching did not fully explain what is meant by a half, and when using crayons children were not guided to control their mark making more carefully by holding the crayons with the correct grip.  Children’s behaviour and safety are good. They are keen to cooperate and engage eagerly in the activities provided for them. Children across the early years are confident in their relationships. At lunchtime they play happily with older pupils in the school, taking part in games with partners and in small groups. They take responsibility for organising themselves, for example, when dressing to go outside.  All the statutory requirements are in place.  Parents and governors who spoke with inspectors agree that children settle well into the early years.  The school data for 2014, when compared with 2013, show improvements in the standards reached. Much of this is due to heightened expectations in teaching.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 107599 Local authority Kirklees Inspection number 448345

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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 3–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 213 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Dr Elizabeth Taylor Headteacher Mrs Jacqueline Hall Date of previous school inspection 9 February 2010 Telephone number 01484 222805 Fax number 01484 222806 Email address office@berrybrow.co.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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