Crookesbroom Primary Academy

Crookesbroom Primary Academy Crookesbroom Lane, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN7 6JP

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected as an academy This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The executive principal and head of academy are extremely ambitious and outstanding in directing the academy’s improvement. They are constantly looking for where to go next, always asking themselves what they need to do to further strengthen the academy.  Governors are effective in securing a comprehensive oversight of the academy’s work and performance through which they tailor support and challenge very effectively.  Senior leaders, managers and governors work tirelessly to ensure that teaching is good and pupils make good progress. As a result, standards are rising and the academy is improving rapidly.  Pupils thoroughly enjoy the academy and value their experience of learning and making progress. Their behaviour is outstanding and they apply themselves to work exceptionally well.  The arrangements for keeping pupils safe are outstanding. Pupils have a very good understanding of how to keep themselves safe.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The quality of teaching over time is good and is effective in pupils achieving well. Teachers plan lessons well, using assessment thoroughly to set work that closely matches the different points pupils are at in what they know, understand and can do.  From typically very low starting points when they start school, pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. By the end of Year 6 attainment in reading, writing and mathematics has improved and is average or above.  In 2014, Year 6 pupils attained above average standards in reading and made outstanding progress in doing so.  The good teaching and broad range of activities in the early years ensure that children make good progress in Nursery and Reception Years. Outcomes for children at the end of Reception Year are improving and they are increasingly well prepared to start Year 1.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Opportunities are missed in teaching mathematics for pupils who are ready, the most able in particular, to move on to harder work.  There are too few opportunities for the most-able pupils to make better progress by tackling longer pieces of writing.  In the early years, the underdevelopment of the outdoor classroom does not provide sufficient opportunities for children to explore the environment in greater depth.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed teaching and learning across the academy. The executive principal and head of academy joined the inspectors in observing in two lessons.  Meetings were held with senior and middle leaders and teachers.  Discussions took place with representatives of the academy’s sponsors, the School Partnership Trust Academies, whose Board of Directors are the governors of their multi-academy trust. There was also a discussion with representatives of the academy’s Education Advisory Board, a sub-committee of the governors with a specific brief for the governance of Crookesbroom Primary Academy.  An inspector selected a small group of pupils and listened to them reading and also met with a group of pupils to hear their views of the academy and their experiences of learning.  Inspectors looked at a range of the academy’s documents, including information on pupils’ progress, the academy’s development plan, the academy’s own evaluation of its work and policies and procedures for

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Information about this inspection

child protection and the safeguarding of pupils.  Inspectors took account of the views of the 15 parents who completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire (Parent View). They also considered the academy’s survey of the views of 87 parents. The views of 20 staff who responded to the Ofsted questionnaire were examined.

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Inspection team

Alan Lemon, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average sized primary school which became an academy in April 2012. Its sponsor is the School Partnership Trust Academies. This is the academy’s first inspection. When its predecessor school, Hatfield Crookesbroom Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted it was judged to be outstanding overall.  The very large majority of pupils is White British. The proportion of pupils supported through the pupil premium is above average. The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is average.  The school makes morning nursery provision for up to 26 children.  There is a breakfast club each day and a variety of after-school clubs through the week in term times.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for

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Information about this school

pupils’ progress and attainment in reading, writing and mathematics.  The executive principal gives two days per week to supporting the work and improvement of Trust academies and local authority schools.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and learning, especially for the most-able pupils, by:  ensuring that mathematics teaching maintains consistent challenge in increasing progress and raising the standards attained  strengthening the challenge in writing through more opportunities for pupils to write at length on a variety of topics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop the resources for learning in the early years outdoor area and ensure that children have the freedom to choose to work and play indoors or outdoors, when they have a choice of activities in order to explore the environment more fully.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Senior leaders very effectively develop well-chosen initiatives that have brought significant improvement in literacy, mathematics in particular, but also in promoting pupils’ personal, social and emotional development.  The track record of successful improvement since the academy opened and the trajectory of further developments, set out in rigorous development planning, provides substantial capacity for continued rapid improvement.  This fits very well the aims and aspirations of the academy’s sponsors. The School Partnership Trust Academies are always close at hand and very capable of supporting and encouraging the growth of the academy. Parents are very happy with the quality of education and the way in which their children are cared for, kept safe and supported.  The executive principal regularly gives support to academies in the Trust as well as some local authority schools, mentoring new principals and doing work to improve leadership, teaching and behaviour. Strong

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The leadership and management are outstanding

partnerships among the Trusts academies, as well as with schools and local authorities, give rise to the many opportunities for the professional development of staff and much sharing of good practice.  Staff are inspired by the academy’s direction and commit themselves fully to achieving its aims. Middle leadership roles are widely distributed among the staff. Their leadership and management are highly motivated. They do a very good job in ensuring that new initiatives are firmly rooted throughout the academy.  The academy is modelled very effectively to meet the needs of its pupils and is one on which all pupils thrive on all of their experiences. The academy very effectively promotes equal opportunities and prevents discrimination.  Leaders achieve the high expectations they set for the standard of education with considerable success. Pupils’ performance has improved and there is an upward trend in attendance, results in subjects and in

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The leadership and management are outstanding

the achievement of different groups of pupils.  The pupil premium spending is well targeted, as good decisions are made on the use of this additional money based on a deep knowledge of the needs and progress of disadvantaged pupils. As a result, teaching is substantially narrowing the gap between them and other pupils.  Leaders are deeply committed to promoting pupils’ well-being and achievement. They ensure that all of the academy’s work is sharply focused and its energies finely tuned to this end. The quality of the staff’s work and the benefits pupils get from it are kept constantly under review. No stone is left unturned to make sure pupils are ready and well prepared for the next stage of education.  Improvement is driven relentlessly by leaders’ detailed and accurate understanding of the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress. They do not settle for less than good teaching throughout the academy.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

Remedies for weaker aspects of teaching are quick and effective. Good momentum for improving the quality of teaching is gained through the robust management of teachers’ performance.  The Trust has adopted preferred models for the new National Curriculum and matching assessment procedures, which its academies are developing. This shared endeavour has led to good progress.  Crookesbroom’s curriculum gives appropriately strong emphasis to communication, reading, writing and mathematics. Opportunities for pupils to develop these skills are spread to very good effect through the breadth of the curriculum.  Pupils’ work and activities are carefully planned with their interests and needs in mind, which has led to their love of learning and enjoyment of school. The promotion of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a significant feature running through the curriculum, the values and aims of the academy.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. Their preferences are used to plan after-school clubs and among the activities pupils thoroughly enjoy are dancing, football, gardening and baking.  The primary school sport funding pays for expert physical education and sports coaching. This has helped staff improve their knowledge and skills and raised expectations. More opportunities for pupils to take part in sports has increased participation, contributing significantly to a healthy lifestyle and personal development, teamwork and attitudes to learning, in particular.  The governance of the school:  Governors bring considerable experience and expertise to checking on and evaluating pupils’ performance and the quality of teaching. Governors ensure that the academy’s management is kept rigorous. They give careful scrutiny to senior leaders’ evaluation of teaching, how well weaker teaching is tackled and ensure that fair decisions are made on teachers’ pay progression.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Good quality information on the academy’s work and outcomes is gathered from leaders through detailed reports and presentations, regarding in particular the quality of teaching and analysis of data on pupils’ progress. Governors visit and check the work of the academy first hand and have a sharp eye for what is working well and what can be improved. The management of safeguarding pupils is thoroughly checked. Governors make sure safeguarding arrangements meet statutory requirements and work effectively in keeping pupils safe.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. All staff set high expectations and manage pupils’ behaviour consistently and very effectively. As a result, behaviour improves rapidly and pupils throughout the academy conduct themselves extremely well. Pupils are proud of what they achieve in making the academy calm and orderly and thrive in its warm atmosphere.  The five golden rules and the reward of golden time are strong incentives to behave well. As soon as they start nursery, children learn daily routines and the good behaviour expected of them. Positive attitudes to learning develop from an early stage.  Across the academy, attitudes to learning are excellent. Staff encourage independence and responsibility. Nursery children hang up their coats and change for physical education without adult help. Pupils can be left to work on their own for large parts of lessons and they stick to the tasks they have been set. They

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Behaviour

are keen to do well and take seriously their teachers’ advice on how well they are doing. Classes are calm and focused on the lesson. Pupils listen carefully and confidently contribute by sharing thoughts and in answering questions. They take to work with enthusiasm and enjoyment.  Attendance is average and is improving along with punctuality, as a result of leaders’ concerted efforts with pupils and parents. The breakfast club is popular and attracts many pupils. They enjoy a wholesome breakfast and lively activities before the start of the school day. As the school opens early for the breakfast club, many parents bring their children to school earlier. Classes compete for the best attendance record and an increasing number of pupils are achieving 100% attendance. They are celebrated and rewarded and this acts as a positive incentive to others not to miss school.  Staff encourage pupils to help each other and there are times in lessons when pupils work extremely well

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Behaviour

together in small groups. Pairs of pupils read to each other and they each help with correcting mistakes or with pronouncing difficult words. Staff have devised a wide range of responsibilities for pupils in the library, cloakroom and tuck shop, which pupils are keen to undertake. Year 6 pupils give up free time to play with nursery children.

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Safety

 The academy’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. The security and safety of premises and the academy’s boundaries are rigorously managed. Pupils are well supervised. Staff are very alert and together with pupils’ excellent behaviour ensure that they stay safe.  Pupils learn about the different forms of bullying. The ‘no touch’ rule is very effective at eliminating conflicts and pupils say there is no verbal, physical or other type of bullying as a result. Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe outside the academy and know the dangers associated with using the internet and social media.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Since the academy opened, increasingly effective teaching has raised standards in reading, writing and mathematics. In the early years, good teaching has improved outcomes in all areas of learning, particularly in communication, language and literacy.  Leaders have invested enormously in improving teaching and have brought consummate expertise to the task. Throughout the academy, teaching ensures that pupils learn well and are secure in the knowledge and skills they need before they take the next step.  The few pupils who need more time than most get the extra support needed to bring them up to speed. Good planning meets their needs in lessons, so disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs spend very little extra time catching up with their peers. Teaching assistants work in classes where they are needed most. They are well briefed by teachers in how to help pupils and are skilled in

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The quality of teaching is good

supporting learning.  Teaching is invariably lively, well paced and an enjoyable experience for pupils. Teachers’ good command of their subjects and knowledge of pupils promotes effective learning. Teachers demonstrate considerable skill in teaching reading, writing and mathematics. This reflects leaders’ priorities and the substantial amount of professional development teachers have undergone in ensuring that learning in reading, writing and mathematics is effective.  Very occasionally, opportunities are missed to increase the challenge for pupils. For example, some who were ready to move on to more difficult mathematics were left with fairly repetitive multiplication problems which they found easy to do. While pupils write well, they have too few opportunities to write at length on a variety of topics. In handwriting, there is a lack of clarity about when pupils should begin to use joined-up writing consistently.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Since the academy opened, standards in reading, writing and mathematics have been on the rise across year groups and are approaching expected levels by the end of Key Stages 1 and 2. Leaders and staff are firm in their belief that all pupils can achieve high standards and they have worked relentlessly to strengthen teaching and the curriculum to this end.  Teachers have their set their sights on the most-able pupils attaining high levels of attainment in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 2 and Year 6. So far, except in reading, the proportion of pupils who have done so is below average, even though their progress has been good. More pupils currently in Year 2 and Year 6 are on track to achieve the higher levels. However, the most-able pupils are not always being moved on to harder mathematics work quickly enough or challenged sufficiently to write at length.  Significant improvement in the teaching of literacy has impacted very positively on recent outcomes for all

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The achievement of pupils is good

groups of pupils in reading. In 2014, Year 6 pupils made outstanding progress in reading over Key Stage 2. By the end of Year 6, the proportions reaching the expected level and higher levels were above average, despite the fact that when they were back in Year 3 these pupils were well below average.  Concerted efforts from early years onwards to improve literacy are transforming pupils’ outcomes. An average proportion of pupils in Year 2 is now achieving the expected level in reading and writing, replacing a trend of low attainment. Effective learning of letters and the sounds they make gets pupils reading and enjoying books from an early stage. The results in Year 1 from testing skills in knowing letters and their sounds have gone from below average to average in a few years.  Pupils read regularly in school and the time spent reading to each other contributes significantly to fluency and accuracy. Pupils discuss what they read which deepens their understanding of what authors write.

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The achievement of pupils is good

The few pupils who struggle to master reading by the end of Year 2 make accelerated progress in Years 3 and 4, so that they read fluently and can confidently tackle difficult words using the sounds letters make.  The general improvement in standards has impacted positively on the performance of disadvantaged pupils and the gap between them and other pupils in the academy and pupils nationally has narrowed. In 2014, disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 were less than one term behind others in their attainment in reading, writing and mathematics and, despite their low starting points, were only one term behind pupils nationally. However, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils making more than expected progress was well above average in reading and above average in writing.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make good progress. They stay fully involved in learning during lessons with precisely planned work and support. They are able to keep up with their

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The achievement of pupils is good

classmates and seldom need extra support in order to secure knowledge and skills.

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The early years provision is good

 Early years provision is led and managed well. The high expectations and ambition found throughout the academy are clearly evident in the drive to make sure children are kept safe, get off to a good start and make rapid progress.  The care and support for children is exceptional, particularly in the nursery, and this nurturing experience contributes significantly to how well they settle and take full advantage of learning opportunities.  A thorough check is kept on the quality of teaching, provision and children’s progress. Assessment is thorough, well moderated with other early years providers and is accurate.  As a result of the strong partnership with parents, teachers gather good information on children, keep parents up to date on their progress and find effective ways in which parents can help more with their children’s learning and personal development. Links with pre-school and playgroup providers means

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The early years provision is good

children are being prepared well for starting nursery.  The academy provides a playgroup one afternoon each week and this has been a positive influence, particularly on children’s personal, social and emotional development before nursery. The early indication is that now fewer children start nursery behind in their knowledge and skills. Currently, around half of the nursery children start with a low level of language skills and are behind in their personal, social and emotional development. Outcomes at the end of early years are improving and this is impacting well on rising standards now being seen in Year 2. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development is near to the proportion nationally. There is no gap in outcomes between disadvantaged children and others.  Children get actively involved and thoroughly enjoy the broad variety of activities. Good teaching of key skills and the many opportunities for learning letters and their sounds, reading, writing and counting lead

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The early years provision is good

to good progress.  The outdoor classroom is not used enough or developed sufficiently in resources and equipment in order to enable children to explore the environment more fully. Learning outdoors is not as rich as it could be, especially in further promoting children’s language and communication skills.  Children’s behaviour is good in the nursery, but outstanding by the time they complete the Reception Year. It takes time for them to settle in the nursery and meet expectations, but by Reception children are showing a good level of independence, such as changing for physical education. Their attitudes to learning are very positive.

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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 138008 Local authority Doncaster Inspection number 453192

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Academy converter Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 235 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Helen Harrison Headteacher Anne Elliott Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected as an academy Telephone number 01302 841337 Fax number 01302 351727 Email address info@cpacademy.org.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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