William Austin Infant School

William Austin Infant School Culverhouse Road, Luton, LU3 1PZ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 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 headteacher, senior and subject leaders, and governors have ensured that teaching is good and that pupils achieve well.  The school is a harmonious and very positive school community where pupils learn, develop and flourish.  Pupils are enthusiastic and keen learners who behave well in lessons and all around the school. In some lessons their behaviour is exemplary.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well.  Procedures to ensure that pupils are safe are outstanding. As a result, pupils feel safe and very well looked after by staff.  A good range of clubs and visits enhance pupils’ learning and contribute well to their cultural and social development.  The good teaching enables all groups of pupils to make good progress. Some teaching is outstanding.  Teachers expect pupils to try their best and are especially successful in developing pupils’ speaking skills and vocabulary.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Children in the Reception classes have a good start to school. They make good progress in the areas of learning.  Good progress continues in Years 1 and 2 and attainment by the end of Year 2 has been consistently above average in reading, writing and mathematics.  The school is successful in helping parents to support their children’s learning. Parents rightly hold positive views about the school.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Standards in Year 1 phonics (letters and the sounds they make) dipped in 2014.  Outdoor learning facilities are underused for children in the early years.  At times, pupils are not extended enough and do not have opportunities to decide how to plan and organise their own work.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes. Some lessons were seen jointly with the headteacher or the deputy headteacher.  Pupils’ work was scrutinised and the information about their attainment and progress was analysed.  Discussions were held with the headteacher, other staff, a representative from the local authority and governors and pupils.  The inspectors took account of 51 responses to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View.  Eighty nine questionnaires from staff were taken into account.  The inspectors examined a range of documents, including school policies, safeguarding procedures and the school’s self-evaluation and improvement planning.

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Inspection team

Derek Watts, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 William Austin Infants’ is a much larger than average size school when compared to primary schools nationally.  Over half of the pupils are of Pakistani heritage and over a quarter are from a Bangladeshi background. Other pupils are from a range of different heritages.  Most pupils in the school speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is about a third, and this is well above average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils (about one in five) eligible for the pupil premium additional funding is average.  Children in the Reception classes attend full time.  An experienced headteacher retired in July 2013. The current headteacher was acting headteacher from September 2013 and became the substantive headteacher in January 2014. She had previously been the deputy headteacher.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the already good teaching so that more pupils make rapid progress by:  ensuring that, in all classes, work is sufficiently challenging and pupils have opportunities to plan and organise their own work.  building on the improvements to pupils’ learning in phonics  extending the outdoor learning opportunities for children in Reception.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has been well led and managed since the previous inspection. The headteacher, senior leaders, other leaders and governors have ensured that teaching is good and that all groups of pupils make good progress and achieve well.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders have created a very harmonious school community where pupils can learn and develop. The teachers and support staff work well together and strive to do their very best for the pupils and their families. The school has been successful in helping parents to support their children’s learning. Family literacy and numeracy sessions have been helpful to parents.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders place considerable emphasis on the care, protection and safety of pupils. Safeguarding in the school is outstanding and, as a result, pupils are safe at school and extremely well looked after. Leaders and staff establish strong relationships with pupils, manage them well and ensure that pupils are well behaved. All pupils have full access to the learning opportunities provided and the school effectively tackles all forms of discrimination.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well. Through assemblies and teaching, the school successfully promotes values such as determination, responsibility, respect and tolerance. Pupils show a good understanding of their own and different faiths. They are well prepared for life in a modern democratic society.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and other leaders effectively review the school’s performance and have accurately identified the school’s strengths and areas in need of improvement. Decisive action is taken to ensure that improvements are brought about. The school is particularly effective in identifying the needs of different groups of pupils and providing guidance and support to enable them to do well. As a result, all groups of pupils achieve well and any gaps in attainment between different groups are minimal. The school is aware of the need to offer some pupils greater challenge and more opportunities for independence on occasions.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership of key areas such as English, mathematics, early years and inclusion is all effective. Leaders are fully engaged in checking pupils’ progress and in improving their areas of responsibility.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership and management of teaching is given strong emphasis. Leaders and the local authority check the quality of teaching on a regular basis. Arrangements for teachers’ performance management contribute to the improvement of teaching, because targets for development are closely linked to pupils’ progress and to the priorities in the school’s improvement plan. Newly-qualified teachers receive good mentoring and support from experienced colleagues.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school provides a broad and interesting range of subjects which promote pupils’ good achievement. Pupils enjoy the additional activities provided, such as clubs, sport and educational visits. The school is at an early stage of developing a new assessment system to reflect national changes. It is too early to evaluate the impact of this new approach.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupil premium funding is well used to provide disadvantaged pupils with additional support, particularly in literacy and numeracy. This support is effective and disadvantaged pupils often attain higher standards than the others.

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The leadership and management are good

 The primary sports grant is used effectively. The school has used local advisers and specialist sports coaches to improve sporting opportunities for the pupils. Teachers’ physical education skills have been increased by good training. Pupils’ participation in sport has increased. A good range of additional sports clubs are offered and pupils have participated well in local competitions and tournaments, which include football, golf and tennis.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority knows the school well and has a clear understanding of pupils’ achievement and the quality of teaching in the school. It provides effective advice and support.  The governance of the school:  Governance is good.  Members of the governing body have an accurate overview of the school’s performance, particularly pupils’ attainment and progress.  Discussions with governors reveal that they have a good understanding of the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ progress. They understand requirements relating to the management of staff performance and ensure that promotion and pay increases are based on the progress that pupils make.  Governors make sure that additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is used effectively and check the impact of the spending on the achievement of pupils for whom it is intended.  Governors make a valuable contribution to ensuring that the school’s safeguarding procedures are

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The leadership and management are good

robust and fully meet requirements.  The governors provide good support but also challenge leaders in order to hold the school to account.

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Behaviour

 Good behaviour starts in Reception. Throughout the school, pupils show enthusiasm for learning and are eager to participate in the wide range of activities provided. Pupils talk enthusiastically about their learning in phonics, mathematics and writing. Visits and clubs are clearly popular. Their positive attitudes and good behaviour contribute to their good learning and achievement.

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Behaviour

 In some lessons, pupils’ attitudes to learning, their behaviour and relationships with others are exemplary. Only occasionally are pupils’ attitudes and behaviour less than good.

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Behaviour

 All parents and carers who completed the online survey stated that the school makes sure that pupils are well behaved. The pupils themselves stated that most pupils in the school are well behaved most of the time.

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Behaviour

 Pupils are cooperative, friendly and polite. They work well in pairs or small groups when required to do so. Through their studies and local visits, pupils have gained a good understanding of different cultures and faiths. They take on additional responsibilities such as being lunchtime monitors or serving on the school council.

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Behaviour

 Attendance levels, while lower than average, have steadily improved in recent years. The school has effective systems for promoting and checking attendance.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding.

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Safety

 All parents and carers who completed the Parent View survey stated that their children feel safe at school. Pupils told the inspectors that they felt safe at school and that they were very well looked after by the staff. The very positive views held by parents and pupils reflect the findings of the inspection.

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Safety

 The headteacher and inclusion manager provide very strong leadership on safeguarding matters. The school takes every step possible to ensure that all pupils, particularly the most vulnerable, are very well cared for and protected. Case studies of the care and support for individual pupils provide convincing evidence of the school’s highly effective safeguarding arrangements.

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Safety

 Discussions with pupils revealed that they have a clear understanding of bullying. Pupils stated that there was very little bullying in their school. They were equally confident that should any bullying occur, it would be quickly sorted out by staff.  The robust systems for checking and recording safety matters ensure that all concerns are swiftly dealt with and important points are not missed. All staff are systematically checked prior to their appointment to the school. Staff and governors are highly vigilant in carrying out regular risk assessments and make sure that the school is a very safe place for pupils to be.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good in Reception and in Years 1 and 2. Teaching enables all groups of pupils to make good progress, particularly in speaking, reading, writing and mathematics. Some teaching is outstanding and this promotes rapid progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers expect pupils to do their very best and the pupils respond well to these high expectations. Teachers establish very positive relationships with their pupils. The teachers make the purpose of each lesson clear to the class so pupils understand what they are to learn.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers rightly place great emphasis on developing pupils’ speaking skills and in extending their vocabulary. Teachers introduce pupils to new vocabulary and provide good opportunities for pupils to apply this in their speaking and writing. Pupils at an early stage of learning English make good progress because of good teaching and effective support.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of reading is being strengthened, especially the teaching of phonics. Teachers ensure that pupils know the sounds that letters make by articulating them clearly to the pupils. Pupils are given good opportunities to apply their reading skills.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils receive effective demonstration and guidance from staff in writing. Grammar, punctuation and spelling are promoted well. Pupils have opportunities to write for different purposes and are given opportunities to apply writing skills in a range of subjects. For example, pupils in Year 2 wrote clear accounts of the Great Fire of London.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Mathematics is well taught. Great emphasis is placed on developing pupils’ mathematical vocabulary. Teachers use explanations and demonstration successfully to promote pupils’ understanding of calculation and mathematical operations. The pupils gain key knowledge and deepen their understanding of mathematical ideas. They are given relevant opportunities to apply their numeracy skills to solve mathematical problems.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are well taught. Learning activities are well suited to pupils’ specific needs and enable pupils to learn well. These pupils receive effective guidance and support from teaching assistants.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In most lessons, teachers’ effective planning helps to ensure that learning activities are suitably challenging for different groups of pupils. As a result, pupils are engaged and inspired, and their interest is sustained. As a result pupils make good gains in acquiring knowledge and deepening their understanding.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Occasionally, the work is not set at the right level of difficulty for pupils. Pupils’ learning can slow down because the work is too easy and they are ready to be moved on to more demanding work.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Sometimes pupils’ learning is over directed by the teacher. For example, pupils are required to complete tables and charts produced for them by the teacher. Opportunities are missed for pupils to decide how to organise and present their own work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children make good progress in Reception. This good progress continues through Years 1 and 2. All groups of pupils make good progress and achieve well. Since the previous inspection, attainment by the end of Year 2 has been consistently above average in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 There is no significant difference in the progress made by pupils from different groups or from different ethnic heritages.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2014, Year 2 disadvantaged pupils supported by the additional funding attained slightly higher standards than the others in reading and writing. These pupils attained similar standards to the others in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disadvantaged pupils at William Austin attained higher standards than other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. The school has been effective in closing gaps in attainment between disadvantaged and other pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress. The work set is well suited to their needs and they receive effective guidance and support from teachers and teaching assistants.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The proportion of pupils who attained the higher levels by the end of Year 2 in 2014 was above average in reading, writing and mathematics. The most able are mostly provided with work which challenges their thinking and extends their learning.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in speaking and listening because they are given plenty of opportunities to discuss their learning in pairs or small groups. They acquire new vocabulary and use this in discussion and in their writing. Pupils at an early stage of learning English make good progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils enjoy books and stories and make good progress in reading. An average proportion of Year 1 pupils attained the expected standard in the phonics check in 2013. However, phonics results dipped to below average in 2014. Positive steps are being taken increase pupils’ progress in this area. The older pupils use their reading skills well to find useful information. For example, one group found interesting information about Mexico. Another used books and leaflets to gather facts about diet and staying healthy.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils achieve well in writing. Pupils in Year 2 retold their favourite traditional stories such as ‘Puss in Boots’. They described the character and explained clearly why this story was a favourite. Their grammar, punctuation and spelling were accurate. In handwriting, pupils form their letters correctly but few are joining them.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In mathematics, pupils acquire essential calculation skills well. They have a good understanding of mathematical operations. Pupils acquire mathematical vocabulary well and apply this when explaining how they solved mathematical problems. For example, pupils in a Year 2 class made good gains in estimating and measuring the capacity of different containers. They used units and symbols correctly. Some explained to the class clearly what they had found out. They used words such as ‘litres’, ‘capacity’ and ‘container’ with confidence.

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The early years provision is good

 The early years provision is well led and managed. The staff work well as a team in planning and providing interesting learning activities for all groups of children. There are effective systems for checking and recording children’s attainment and progress. This information is used well to plan teaching and learning.

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The early years provision is good

 Good induction procedures, including home visits, and effective partnerships with pre-school providers enable children to settle into Reception quickly.

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The early years provision is good

 Children enter the Reception classes with knowledge, understanding and skills lower than typically found for their age, particularly in their communication and language skills. Children make good progress in all areas of learning because they are well taught and are provided with interesting activities which are well suited to the needs of different groups.

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The early years provision is good

 Teachers and support staff successfully develop children’s speaking and listening skills and extend their vocabulary. The development of children’s reading skills, particularly phonics, is given good attention. Children make good gains in working with number and solving basic problems. With good guidance and direction from adults, they make good progress in early writing skills. Imaginative role play areas such as the dental surgery promote language and creativity well.

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The early years provision is good

 The Reception areas have spacious outdoor facilities including covered areas. However, the outdoor facilities are not used fully to enhance children’s learning. There are not enough outdoor learning opportunities to extend and reinforce the good indoor learning.

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The early years provision is good

 In Reception, children are safe and well cared for. Adults establish strong relationships with the children, and this leads to good behaviour. The children grow in confidence and relate well to adults and to their peers. They share learning resources and take turns. They clearly enjoy their learning in Reception. Children are well prepared for Year 1.

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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 109584 Local authority Luton Inspection number 448657

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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 Infant School category Community Age range of pupils 4–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 441 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Stan Boelman Headteacher Bal Kang Date of previous school inspection 11 May 2010 Telephone number 01582 595198 Email address admin@williamaustininfants.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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