Christ Church Pellon CofE VC Primary School

Christ Church Pellon CofE Primary School Sandbeds Road, Pellon, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX2 0QQ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 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 Good 2

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

 Teaching does not consistently demand the best from pupils, particularly the most able. Indeed, it does not always challenge pupils effectively to reach the levels of which they are capable.  Leaders and managers have not secured pupils’ good achievement in mathematics. Not all pupils make consistently good progress in mathematics to compensate for past weaknesses in their learning.  Pupils’ abilities to apply their mathematical skills to solve problems are not developed sufficiently well.  Not all teachers expect pupils to respond to and learn from the comments they make when marking their work. As a result, pupils do not always learn from their mistakes.  Leaders, including governors, have not done enough to develop the skills of middle leaders so that they can make a greater contribution to improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress.  Leaders have not yet ensured that their focus on high expectations is fully shared by all members of

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The school has the following strengths

 The headteacher and governing body have begun to set high expectations. They provide strong and stable leadership for the school.  Together they have ensured that teaching is getting better and the pace of improvement in pupils’ current attainment in reading and writing is accelerating and moving closer to expected levels.  The progress of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is good. Disadvantaged pupils also achieve well.  Provision for children in the early years is good.  The curriculum from the early years upwards is creative and effective in meeting the needs and interests of all pupils. It promotes traditional British values effectively and prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.  The school provides good support for pupils and families in most need.  The school’s good promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development strengthens every aspect of school life.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils behave well and the school’s work to keep them safe is good.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed the school’s work, considered information on pupils’ progress and scrutinised pupils’ books.  Inspectors listened to pupils read and talked with these children about their learning.  Inspection time was spent in classes observing teaching and learning in lessons, including two joint observations with the headteacher. Inspectors also observed small groups of pupils working with an adult other than their teacher.  Inspectors spoke with members of the school council and with groups of children on the playground, in the dining hall and around the school. They held meetings with the headteacher, governors, senior and middle leaders, members of the school staff and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the views of parents spoken with during the inspection and the responses to a recent internal school parents’ and pupils’ questionnaire. There were insufficient responses to the online

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Information about this inspection

questionnaire (Parent View) to include any relevant comment in the report.

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Inspection team

Maureen Coleman, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller-than-average-sized primary school.  Children entering the Reception class come from a range of different settings and attend full-time.  The headteacher has taken up the position of substantive headteacher within the previous 12 months.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils, those who receive support through the pupil premium, is nearly twice the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding provided by the government to support pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority.  The majority of pupils are White British. However, there is an increasing proportion of pupils from minority ethnic heritages, including from Eastern Europe and South Asia.  The number of pupils entering and leaving the school at other than the normal times is increasing and is above the national average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for

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Information about this school

pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above the national average.  The school is a nationally accredited Healthy School.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Bring greater consistency to the challenge offered to pupils by teaching and the impact it has on pupils’ learning and progress by:  ensuring that all teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve, particularly in mathematics  providing work that enables all pupils, particularly the most able, to make good progress in all subjects  making sure that pupils receive consistently good feedback on their work and that they act on the guidance in order to improve their standards  accelerating pupils’ progress in mathematics so that it is in line with the progress they make in reading and writing  ensuring that pupils have good opportunities to use their mathematical skills more effectively to solve problems in mathematics and in other subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the impact of leadership and management by:  further developing the skills of the middle leaders so that they evaluate more effectively the impact of their actions in improving pupils’ progress and attainment  ensuring that the focus on high expectations continues to be shared throughout the school.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Although leaders have high expectations, these are not yet shared fully throughout the school. However, the recently appointed headteacher is highly skilled, committed and has brought stability and effective leadership to the school.  Strengths and weakness are clearly identified. Comprehensive action plans are beginning to improve teaching and raise pupils’ achievement, particularly in reading and writing.  Despite the relatively recent changes to the leadership structure, there is considerable evidence to demonstrate the school’s capacity to secure further improvement. This is demonstrated, for example, by the good improvements in the early years provision since the previous inspection.  Through robust monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning, previous pockets of inadequate teaching have been eliminated. This has improved pupils’ attitudes to learning, and lessons now flow smoothly and without interruption.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Middle leaders conscientiously check on the quality of teaching and give effective advice to staff about how to improve their classroom practice. However, their skills have not yet been developed fully nor have they had time to impact on improvements in pupils’ attainment and progress across the curriculum.  Pupil premium funding is used wisely and provides additional support to help disadvantaged pupils with their learning. The school’s own checks show that these pupils are now making faster progress as a result, and that their attainment is catching up with the standards reached by other pupils within the school.  Pupils’ personal qualities develop well. Provision for their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is central to everything the school does and equality of opportunity underpins every aspect of school life. This, together with the experience pupils gain when they take part in the democratic process of electing

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The leadership and management requires improvement

school councillors, prepares them effectively for life in modern Britain.  Pupils learn about different faiths and celebrate a range of religious festivals. This helps the school to foster good relations with all and to tackle discrimination in all its forms.  The school works hard to support all pupils and their families, particularly those in greatest need. Attendance is continuing to improve and there are effective procedures in place to monitor any absence. Parents say they appreciate the way staff care for their children.  Although the most-able pupils are not always provided with the right level of work, the school is committed to providing equal opportunities for all pupils. The current good provision for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, the support for those who join the school part-way through their primary education, and those from minority groups indicate that leaders are some way

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The leadership and management requires improvement

towards success in this respect.  The local authority has provided good support through training and advice to this improving school.  The additional funding for primary school physical education and sport is used creatively to develop staff skills. It also provides opportunities for greater numbers of pupils to take part in a range of after-school sporting activities and competitive team games.  Safeguarding procedures meet current requirements and are effectively implemented. The pastoral staff team is effective in monitoring the safety and well-being of pupils in most need, and takes appropriate action if and when necessary.  The governance of the school:  Governors are generally effective and know the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They make regular checks and ask searching questions of the headteacher and senior management team. Although in the past governors have overlooked aspects of the school’s work that have resulted in pupils’

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The leadership and management requires improvement

progress slowing, they now have a good understanding about the quality of teaching and of the school’s performance data in relation to other schools.  Governors have undertaken an audit of their skills and access relevant training to support them in their duties. The school’s budget is well managed; governors receive frequent and detailed reports about school finances.  Governors monitor the spending and impact of additional funding. They are clear about the link between teachers’ classroom performance and salary increases. They are now well informed about the quality of teaching, although this was not always the case in the past. They are fully aware of how the school tackles underperformance in the classroom. They check the performance of the headteacher in conjunction with an external adviser.  Governors ensure that all safeguarding and child protection policies and practice meet requirements.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils say behaviour around the school, in the dining hall, in lessons and in the playground is typically good. Pupils are proud to be members of the school community and wear the school uniform with pride.  Different groups of children play well together. Older pupils relish the opportunity to spend time during their lunch break to help younger children improve their reading skills and develop a love of reading and books.  Pupils are respectful and polite towards each other, staff and visitors. For example, they open doors in corridors to allow others to go through and spontaneously invite adults to go ahead of them in a queue.  Pupils and their families who join the school at other than normal times are welcomed and well supported. This ensures that pupils settle quickly and get off to a good start at their new school.  The school’s consistent approach to managing behaviour and the highly successful Rocket Chart in every

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Behaviour

class are effective. They are clearly understood by all pupils.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils feel safe in school and are confident to approach any adult with concerns they may have.  Pupils have a good understanding of all forms of bullying including homophobic, racist and other forms of bullying based on prejudice. They also know how to keep themselves safe when using the internet.  The need for pupils’ regular attendance is a constant message given to parents and pupils. The school’s positive reward system for good attendance is effective and instrumental in improving attendance so it is now broadly in line with the national average.  Parents spoken with during the inspection were very positive about the school’s efforts to keep all pupils safe. One parent, expressing the views of many, commented, ‘This school is like an extended family where everyone is treated well and kept safe.’

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching is not yet based on high expectations of what all pupils can achieve, especially the most able, in all classes.  Information about how well pupils have done in previous activities is not used well enough by staff to plan work that moves pupils on with their learning. As a result, pupils sometimes repeat work they can already do.  Teachers do not always adapt tasks quickly enough, particularly in mathematics, to ensure that there is a good match of challenge to individual children’s ability and interests.  In mathematics, pupils are not given enough tasks which develop their skills and enable them to apply these to problem-solving activities. The most-able pupils are not given hard enough work and this impedes their progress. Opportunities to work on solving problems both in mathematics and in other subjects are too few.  Leaders have introduced a good new system for marking pupils’ work. In some classes, teachers are

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

working hard to follow the guidance and mark work in line with the school’s policy. However, there are differences between classes in relation to ensuring whether or not pupils respond to the comments and guidance made on how to improve their work. As a consequence, the rate at which some pupils learn slows.  Phonics (the sounds that letters and combination of letters make) are taught well. The teaching of early reading skills is good and pupils are encouraged to enjoy reading as they continue to develop their skills through Key Stage 2. Lessons in reading and literacy are well planned, enabling pupils to make better progress in reading and writing than in mathematics.  Teaching assistants are used well and are skilfully guided by teachers in lessons. This is particularly evident in the support for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. As a result, pupils are able to be fully included in all lesson activities and to make good progress overall.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Disadvantaged pupils, those from an ethnic minority and newcomers to the school receive good support from additional programmes. This helps them to make accelerated progress and, consequently, the gaps in the progress and attainment between these pupils and their classmates are continuing to narrow.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Overtime, pupils have not made the progress they are capable of from their individual starting points. This is particularly the case in mathematics.  In 2014, attainment in all subjects improved at the end of Key Stage 2 but remained below average, especially so in mathematics. However, pupils currently in Year 6 are working at a level above the national average in reading and writing and just below the national average in mathematics. This is as a result of improved teaching in reading and writing.  Work in pupils’ books shows inconsistent progress. The most-able pupils comment that work is sometimes easy. Marking does not always give pupils guidance on how to improve their work or deepen their understanding in order to reach the higher levels of which they are capable.  Insufficient proportions of pupils make the expected progress to the higher levels in mathematics across both key stages.  Presentation of pupils’ work in displays around the school and in their books is good, with some that is

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

quite exceptional. This is now helping pupils to aspire to do their best, especially in writing.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make faster progress than other pupils in the school because the tracking and monitoring of their progress is especially good.  The most-able pupils are starting to make faster progress. The school’s checks show the number of pupils on track to reach the higher levels in the national tests at the end of Year 6 is rising.  In mathematics, the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in the national tests in 2014 at the end of Year 6 was two terms behind other pupils in school and four terms behind all pupils nationally.  In reading, disadvantaged pupils’ attainment in 2014 was similar to their classmates, but three terms behind all pupils nationally. In writing, they were just over half a term behind other pupils in the school and just over two terms behind all pupils nationally.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The performance gap between disadvantaged and other pupils has narrowed since 2014 in all subjects and inspection evidence indicates that gaps are continuing to close. Indeed, the progress of disadvantaged pupils exceeds that made by others within school and is closing the gap with other pupils nationally.

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The early years provision is good

 Children generally enter the early years with skills and abilities that are below those typical for their age. Their skills in communication and literacy are particularly weak and they are behind others for their age in their personal development.  Leadership in the early years is good. In a relatively short period of time, the inside and outside learning areas have been successfully developed. These now provide vibrant and exciting places for young children to learn and play.  Different groups of children, including disabled children and those who have special educational needs, make good progress in all areas of learning and especially in their personal development.  Children are very proud of their learning journals and willingly share the contents of their books with visitors. One child confidently selected his journal and talked excitedly about activities he had enjoyed in the autumn term.

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The early years provision is good

 Teaching is good and staff check children’s progress regularly to ensure that activities are set at the right level for all children, including the most able.  Children make good progress across the setting, particularly in their personal, social and emotional skills and most are well prepared for their learning in Year 1.  Children respond well to the instructions of adults. For example, when it was time to move to a different activity the class teacher used songs and music to give instructions, to the delight of the children who responded immediately.  Planned activities are imaginative, enticing and children are eager to try out what is on offer. The same opportunities are available whether children choose to work inside or outside the classroom.  Staff work well with parents and are readily available to discuss any worries or concerns they may have.  Children feel safe and are well behaved. They cooperate well with each other, taking turns on the large

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The early years provision is good

play equipment, sharing resources and working together to tidy away at the end of an activity. This helps foster children’s social skills.

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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 107535 Local authority Calderdale Inspection number 462284

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 183 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Michael James Headteacher Emma Midgley Date of previous school inspection 2 July 2013 Telephone number 01422 350792 Fax number 01422 350792 Email address admin@christchurch-pellon.calderdale.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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