Carlton Junior and Infant School

Carlton Junior and Infant School Off Upper Road, Batley Carr, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, WF13 2DQ

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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, governors and senior leaders are highly ambitious for all pupils. They have rigorously addressed the decline in standards in the past two years, and now pupils’ achievement is good.  Many pupils start school with skills below those typical for their age. They make good progress to reach average, and increasingly above average standards, especially in reading by the end of Key Stage 2.  The early years provision is good. Outdoors and indoors, children access interesting and well- planned learning experiences.  Teaching is good because most teachers plan interesting activities that encourage pupils to think for themselves.  Pupils from different cultural backgrounds, including those at an early stage of learning English, achieve well.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, achieve equally well. Staff use accurate information about pupils’ needs to provide bespoke and timely support.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupil premium funding is used successfully to promote the achievement of disadvantaged pupils.  The most able pupils are challenged appropriately and make good progress.  Pupils behave well, enjoy their lessons and are proud of their school. They say how much school life has changed for the better, in recent times, and how safe and well cared for they feel.  Leaders promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through the exciting curriculum. The many visits and extra-curricular opportunities help build pupils’ self-esteem and raise their aspirations.  Parents are positive about the school’s work. They value the ways in which staff prepare their children for life in modern Britain, and in their local multi-cultural community.  The headteacher has skilfully managed recent and significant staffing changes. Her high expectations ensure strong teamwork, improving teaching and high staff morale.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The recently re-constituted governing body is increasingly adept in holding school leaders to account through the detailed information received about the school’s work.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 A small minority of pupils, especially girls, do not make sufficient progress in writing, across Years 3 to 6.  Occasionally, teaching does not check that all pupils understand fully, before moving on to other activities.  Sometimes, activities are not modified sufficiently to meet some pupils’ changing needs.  A small minority of pupils are insufficiently motivated to give of their best. Not all respond readily to teachers’ comments about how to improve further their work.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in 14 different lessons, of which one was a joint observation with the headteacher.  Pupils’ work was sampled informally in lessons in a wide range of subjects. In addition, writing and mathematics work from Years 3 and 4 was sampled separately.  Inspectors also reviewed a range of documents, including the school’s own data on current pupils’ progress, planning and monitoring documentation, minutes of meetings of the governing body, records relating to behaviour and attendance and documents pertaining to safeguarding.  Meetings were held with pupils across Years 3 to 6, governors and school staff, including those with management responsibilities. A discussion also took place with a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors evaluated the 20 responses of parents to the Ofsted on-line questionnaire (Parent View) as well as responses from parents to the school’s own questionnaires. Inspectors also took account of the views

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Information about this inspection

of 16 members of the school’s staff through the inspection questionnaires they returned.

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Inspection team

Andrew Swallow, Lead Inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller than average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are of Pakistani or Indian heritage. The vast majority speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils, those supported through the pupil premium funding, is above the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding to support those known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above the national average.  Full-time reception provision is made in the early years.  In 2014, the school met the government’s current floor standard, which is the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of Year 6.  The school is a member of the Batley, Birstall and Pennine Alliances of primary schools, and receives support from the local education authority.

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Information about this school

 Recently, a new headteacher has been appointed. The governing body has been re-constituted, with a new Chair and vice-chair of the Governing Body. In addition, there have been significant changes in staffing in Key Stage 2, and changes in the senior leadership team.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching even further by:  ensuring that all teachers systematically check pupils’ understanding before moving on to other planned activities in lessons  ensuring that all teachers are sufficiently flexible to change the planned activities in lessons to meet pupils’ changing needs  ensuring all lessons are sufficiently motivating to inspire all pupils to pay good attention so as to give of their best, and to respond to teachers’ comments about how to improve further their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of pupils, especially girls, making expected and more than expected progress in writing, across Years 3-6, by:  ensuring all writing activities, as far as possible, provide scenarios that interest pupils  sharpening pupils’ accuracy in spelling more adventurous words, encouraging the use of a wider range of language and punctuation for effect, and building pupils’ confidence to express their ideas in increasingly complex sentences and better-thought-out paragraphs.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school is led by an inspirational headteacher. She has high expectations of all pupils, and is highly regarded by parents, and by all who work alongside her.  In a short time, the headteacher has transformed the quality of the school’s work and pupils’ outcomes. She has managed very well indeed the many and recent changes in staffing and governance. Under the headteacher’s skilful guidance, staff are a cohesive team who work well together.  The headteacher is fully supported by senior leaders, teachers and non-teaching personnel. In this small school, senior leaders and subject coordinators achieve a good balance between providing support for colleagues and checking the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ learning.  A range of training opportunities are provided and are well matched to the needs of individual members of staff. Much of the training comes from the Batley, Birstall and Pennine Alliances of primary schools, and is

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The leadership and management are good

also provided by the local education authority. This training has supported good improvements in the quality of middle leadership and teaching, as of late, and resulted in rapid gains in pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding.  Robust performance management arrangements underpin all of this work. The headteacher has the right procedures in place to make accurate decisions about any teachers’ movement up the salary scale. Governors are appropriately informed of and included in all of this work.  The school has an accurate picture of its strengths and areas for development. Leaders and middle managers produce detailed plans to improve further the school’s work. For example, they have identified the work still to be done to improve the proportion of pupils making expected and more than expected progress in writing. Leaders have good plans to improve teaching even further and to additionally improve

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The leadership and management are good

the skills of the new senior leaders. Teachers know their pupils well. They make good use of the school’s refined arrangements to check the progress of all pupils, pinpointing early any underperformance and addressing shortfalls in achievement. As a result, the school makes sure that all pupils have an equal opportunity to do well.  Although disadvantaged pupils lagged behind their peers and other pupils nationally in 2014, the school has worked hard to improve this. Gaps in the progress made by disadvantaged pupils and their non- disadvantaged peers are closing. In some years they have fully closed. This is because of effective use of the pupil premium funding.  The curriculum is enhanced by regular sporting, musical, singing and drama opportunities and visits to museums, libraries and local places of interest. Pupils talk enthusiastically about the exciting arts project at Dewsbury library, the recent visit by the ‘Rock Man,’ the trip to the Houses of Parliament, and the new

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The leadership and management are good

link with a local primary school in Gomersal.  The school’s motto ‘dream, aspire, achieve’ underpins pupils’ good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Through the daily formal, and informal, learning experiences, staff help all children to become confident citizens of the future.  Through the work of the school council, visits from the police and from people in positions of authority within the local community, the school promotes exceptionally well the fundamental British values of freedom, law and equality of opportunity. Well-planned assemblies, personal development lessons, and strict observance of ‘The Carlton Best,’ also contribute. Staff promote the concept of good relations at all times and tackle decisively any discrimination that may arise.  Partnerships with parents are good. Staff work hard to forge links with families that are sometimes reluctant to come to school, and to encourage parents to support their children’s learning at home.

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The leadership and management are good

Increasingly, parents express confidence in the work of the school, and the impact that it has on their children’s lives.  Safeguarding arrangements are very effective and meet requirements. School leaders are adept in identifying any pupils at risk of harm, and engaging with the local children’s safeguarding board, and other partners to respond appropriately.  The local authority knows the school well and provides appropriate support to enhance the quality of teaching of mathematics, the work of the governing body, and help to moderate the school’s own judgments about its overall effectiveness.  The governance of the school:  Recent changes to the working practices of the governing body have strengthened governors’ confidence in holding senior school leaders to account for the school’s outcomes. Governors carry out their responsibilities diligently and effectively.  Governors receive and understand detailed information about pupils’ progress, attendance and

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The leadership and management are good

behaviour, as well as the quality of teaching and impact of arrangements to keep pupils safe. This information is used increasingly to ask probing questions. They understand how to compare their school to others using national data.  Governors have detailed discussions about major spending decisions, in particular the allocation of pupil premium and sport funding. For example, they have authorised additional staffing and resources to support teaching literacy and numeracy in small groups. They have appointed sports coaches to improve the teaching of physical education. Governors plan to check even more rigorously than they have done in the past, the impact of these initiatives.  Governors have been thorough in the arrangements that they have put into place, to review annually, the performance of the recently appointed headteacher. They receive appropriate information about the performance targets set for teachers, and check potential links with salary progression. They know that

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The leadership and management are good

the headteacher will ensure that teachers only receive financial reward, if pupils reach their challenging targets.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. The vast majority enjoy positive relationships with one another, and all of the adults. They take seriously their roles as ‘Carlton Guardians,’ ensuring that no-one feels left out of play and lunch time activities.  The vast majority of pupils are welcoming to visitors, are sociable, and proud to talk about their school and its values. They speak enthusiastically about how they celebrate the different cultures and backgrounds that pupils come from in school, and emphasise how important it is to treat everyone fairly and courteously.  Pupils are keen to talk about each other’s achievements. They relish their responsibilities as peer mentors, play leaders, and class representatives on the school council which shows how these positions help them to contribute to a strong school community.  Most pupils show a good understanding about the importance of rules, and are keen to explain how

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Behaviour

everyone strives to meet ‘The Carlton Best.’ They say how much these classroom principles help pupils to understand how behaviour affects their own rights, and those of others.  Pupils know of the different types of bullying, particularly racist, homophobic and cyber-bullying. Records show that infrequent incidents of inappropriate behaviour are dealt with effectively, and quickly, by staff.  In lessons, most pupils enjoy working together and support each other well. They embody successfully the school’s motto, ‘dream, aspire, achieve.’ On occasions, a small minority of pupils lose concentration, and do not persevere with planned activities. This is particularly the case where their needs and interests are insufficiently met.  Staff work hard to make parents more aware of the importance of regular attendance, and are increasingly vigilant about holidays taken during term time to home countries. As a result, attendance is

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils know how to keep themselves and others safe, when learning outdoors, during visits, for example. They are confident in the use of the internet, and conscious of potential risks posed by e-mails from unknown people, by social media and extreme websites.  Outdoors and indoors, pupils work and play sensibly, and are well supervised. Training keeps staff up-to- date with child protection and safeguarding procedures. The school’s ethos encourages pupils to share openly their thoughts, and to listen to, and value, each other’s views and ideas.  Pupils are confident that they are well looked after, and that there is always someone with whom they can share a problem. They know about organisations such as Childline, and who to contact should they have worries away from school.  Governors visit the school with increasing regularity. They carry out safety checks, ensure that pupils are

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Safety

well looked after, and confirm they are well equipped to live in the diverse, and multi-cultural, local community.  The vast majority of parents who responded on Parent View, and to the school’s questionnaires during the current academic year, say their children feel happy and safe.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is improving strongly. Staff readily share ideas about their teaching with other staff in school and in local primary schools that form part of the Batley, Birstall and Pennine Alliances. As a result, pupils learn and achieve increasingly well.  Most teachers plan stimulating experiences to motivate pupils, and encourage enjoyment in learning. For example, in a Year 5 literacy lesson, pupils were immersed in a whole class debate about the merits and shortfalls of bringing a mobile phone to school. They had a good grasp on how to deliberate on a point made by someone else, and how to present their own argument. Similarly, Year 1 pupils were fascinated by the Easter story, and concentrated very well to write their own versions of the life of Jesus, and the people of Jerusalem.  The teaching of reading, in particular of phonics (the connections between letters and the sounds they make), is good. A high proportion of pupils indicate how much they enjoy reading. They read regularly, at

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The quality of teaching is good

home and in school, showing good levels of understanding of fictional and non-fictional texts. They develop competent inference skills.  The teaching of mathematics is also effective. Pupils practise diligently their times tables, and persevere well to improve mental arithmetic skills. In books, work over time shows a balance between calculations and problem-solving opportunities.  The school has already drawn up an action plan to address inconsistencies in the teaching of writing. Sometimes pupils are motivated by the topics provided for them to write about, but at other times they struggle to write about a topic in which they are not interested.  A small minority of teaching does not promote successfully pupils’ accurate spelling of new and adventurous words, model a range of punctuation and grammar for effect, nor build pupils’ confidence in writing increasingly complex sentences.  Relationships with pupils are good in almost all lessons. The atmosphere is one in which most pupils

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The quality of teaching is good

spontaneously help and encourage each other. The skills of teaching assistants are particularly well honed. They make a real difference in supporting individual pupils to succeed.  Most teachers know their pupils well. Overall, teachers plan carefully to meet particular pupils’ needs. As a result, the most able learners, disadvantaged pupils, and disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, achieve well.  Increasing opportunities are provided, by most teachers, for pupils to respond to marking that invites them to improve their initial written work. Not all teachers yet insist that pupils take full advantage of these opportunities, to fully stretch themselves.  In a small minority of lessons, teaching does not check carefully whether all pupils understand sufficiently what they are learning, before moving on to new activities. At times teachers are not yet flexible enough to adapt the planned experiences to meet pupils’ changing needs.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The majority of children join the early years with skills and understanding below those typical for their age. In the early years, they make good progress. A similar proportion of children, as seen nationally, reach a good level of development, by the time they join Year 1.  In Year 1, a small minority of pupils still lack confidence in speaking, listening, and communicating their ideas to others. The extra daily support they receive in Year 1 enables them to make up lost ground. As a result, together with their peers, they make increasingly good progress across Key Stage 1, reaching securely average standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 2.  Significant changes in staffing in Key Stage 2 since the previous inspection and previously inadequate teaching, contributed to a fall in standards over the past two years. In 2014, whilst the school met the overall national floor standard, attainment in reading, writing and mathematics fell to below national

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The achievement of pupils is good

averages.  In a short time, the new headteacher has addressed this decline, and successfully turned around the school’s work. Inadequate teaching has been tackled, and the school’s information, and pupils’ work, show that pupils’ current rates of progress in reading, writing and mathematics are now good. Year 6 pupils are at a level similar to the national average in mathematics and writing, and higher in reading. Given their slightly below average Key Stage 1 attainment, these levels represent good overall achievement.  The overall quality of pupils’ learning is good. They cooperate well together in groups, persevere well as individuals, and make good use of opportunities to share and refine their ideas with each other.  Progress across the school is particularly strong in reading. Pupils are taught to read effectively in their earlier years, read often in school and at home, and with growing confidence and understanding.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In mathematics, daily practice in manipulating times tables, and in calculating mentally, is making a real difference to improving pupils’ achievements. Most pupils are becoming confident in applying key number skills in a range of everyday problems and contexts, developing further their reasoning skills, and persisting in showing detailed working out in written calculations.  Most pupils are competent writers. As early as Year 1, pupils try out new vocabulary when they write about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, and describe the habitats of nocturnal animals. However, while many pupils now achieve well, across Years 3-6, a small minority, and especially girls, do not make enough progress. They do not always use and spell accurately more adventurous words, experiment with a wider range of language and punctuation for effect, or express ideas in increasingly complex sentences, and more fluent paragraphs.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 A very large majority of pupils respond enthusiastically to the many thought-provoking opportunities in other subjects, particularly science, history and art. They learn how to program a robot, investigate sound and vibrations and apply with assurance research skills to learn about the life of the 14 th century Moroccan scholar and traveller, Ibn Battuta. Some pupils produced stunning drip paintings in the style of the American painter Jackson Pollock.  Indian, Pakistani and pupils from White British heritage backgrounds increasingly make good rates of progress. Those who speak English as an additional language, including the very small minority at an early stage of learning English, achieve equally well. Pupils with special educational needs also make similar progress to their peers. This is because all of these pupils benefit from improved, targeted support, from adults who are now well trained to meet successfully their needs. This shows how the school’s

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The achievement of pupils is good

commitment to equality of opportunity for all has strengthened over the past year.  The most able pupils also achieve well. The school’s information and pupils’ work show increasing numbers making more than expected progress, especially in reading and mathematics, with proportions attaining the highest levels similar to those seen nationally.  The progress made by disadvantaged pupils is improving rapidly, and is also good compared with other pupils nationally. Any gaps from these pupils’ starting points in the Reception Year, in reading, writing and mathematics, with non-disadvantaged peers, both in school, and nationally, are now closing. In the school, they have closed completely in some year groups.  In 2014, disadvantaged pupils’ attainment by the end of Year 6 was almost two years behind non- disadvantaged pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. It was approximately one year

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The achievement of pupils is good

behind non-disadvantaged peers in school in reading, writing, and mathematics. The school has taken effective action, through daily, targeted one-to-one activities and small group work, to reduce significantly these gaps to approximately one year, and less than one year, respectively.  Pupils enjoy good experiences in physical education and sport. They participate in a wide range of activities, competitive and informal, funded from the primary school sports initiative.

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The early years provision is good

 Children make good progress and most are well prepared for entry to Year 1. A similar proportion achieves a good level of development, particularly in their personal, social and emotional qualities, and in reading, writing and mathematical skills, as seen nationally.  Well-organised induction procedures on entry to the Reception Year ensure that children settle quickly. These procedures include parental visits to school which help to provide detailed pictures of each child’s needs.  Early years staff plan experiences and activities that draw carefully on children’s interests. As a consequence, all children are stimulated by the daily activities. Children from different cultures and heritages happily play together, indoors and outdoors. They display overall positive behaviour and attitudes to learning, such as when they handle newly hatched chicks, and take turns in using specialist equipment to make ice lollies.

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The early years provision is good

 The quality of teaching is good. Adults constantly ask questions, regularly make informal observations, and record in each child’s learning journey emerging strengths and areas for further development. The wall given the name ‘proud moments’ encourages parents to share their observations of how well their children are developing. In such ways, children’s all-round achievements are carefully captured.  Early years practitioners are constantly involved in re-shaping and planning additional activities and resources, responding to children’s changing interests, and engaging continuously all learners.  Daily communication with parents is effective. Information about the progress that each child is making is shared informally, each day, as parents arrive at school with their children. It is reinforced by regular newsletters and more formal information sheets and reports.  The early years provision is capably led and managed by a knowledgeable member of staff. Teamwork is

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The early years provision is good

good and ensures that all children are well cared for and safe at all times.

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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 107600 Local authority Kirklees Inspection number 456104

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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 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 213 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Amir Afzal Headteacher Rizwana Mahmood Date of previous school inspection 24 January 2012 Telephone number 01924 325265 Fax number 01924 325266 Email address office.carlton@kirkleeseducation.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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