Dallow Primary School

Dallow Primary School Dallow Road, Luton, LU1 1LZ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected as an academy This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 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

 In 2014, standards were below average at the end of Year 2 and well below average at the end of Year 6 in reading, writing and mathematics.  The achievement of disadvantaged pupils was significantly lower than that of their classmates in Year 6.  Girls outperformed boys at the end of the Reception Year in 2014.  Parents are not involved as fully as they could be in the life of the academy or in their children’s learning.  Teachers do not always set the most-able pupils work that is challenging enough for them.  Teachers do not make much use of practical equipment to support learning in mathematics. At times, they also do less than they could to make new vocabulary clear to pupils who are learning English as an additional language.

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The school has the following strengths

 The academy is rapidly improving as a result of the good leadership of the Principal and other leaders and of the rigorous support and challenge provided by the academy trust.  Since the school became an academy, there have been marked improvements in the quality of teaching and standards are beginning to rise.  Pupils behave well, have good attitudes to learning and feel safe in the academy.  The quality of teaching is now good and an increasing proportion of pupils are making rapid progress.  The academy provides well for pupils in the early years and there is a strong emphasis on improving children’s learning in literacy and numeracy.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team visited 45 lessons. In combination with looking at pupils’ books, talking to them about their work and checking their progress over time, this provided a balance of evidence on teaching and learning. Inspectors heard a small number of Year 1 pupils read, looked at lunchtime and playtime arrangements, talked with a group of pupils and observed two assemblies.  Meetings were held with the Principal and deputy Principal, year leaders, the early years leader, the special educational needs coordinator, staff who provide support for pupils who speak English as an additional language and with the family workers. Discussions took place with two representatives of the governing body and the academy board, and with the interim Chief Executive Officer of Chiltern Learning Trust.  There were too few responses to the online survey, Parent View, for these to be considered but an inspector spoke with some parents when they brought their children to the academy. The inspection team

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Information about this inspection

took into account the 30 completed staff questionnaires.  The inspection team observed the academy’s work and looked at a range of documentation. This included: the academy’s self-evaluation and development plan; records of pupils’ attainment, progress, behaviour and attendance; and systems for protecting and safeguarding pupils.

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Inspection team

Margaret Goodchild, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Inspection team

Jacqueline Underwood Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Dallow Primary became an academy on 1 December 2013. It is sponsored by Chiltern Learning Trust.  The academy is much bigger than the average-sized primary school.  Children in the early years attend full time.  Nearly all the pupils come from minority ethnic backgrounds, the vast majority being of Bangladeshi or Pakistani heritage. A high proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language and there are over 30 home languages spoken.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by pupil premium funding is well above average. This funding is for pupils looked after by the local authority and those known to be eligible for free school meals.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is broadly average.  The academy does not meet the government’s current floor standards, which set minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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Information about this school

 There have been a number of staff changes since Dallow Primary became an academy, including the appointment of a new early years leader.  The pre-school and children’s centre on the academy site are managed separately, and so did not form part of this inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise standards so that they are at least in line with the national average at the end of each key stage by:  increasing the proportion of pupils who make better than expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics at Key Stages 1 and 2  bringing the attainment of boys closer to that of girls by the end of the Reception Year  narrowing the gap between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and that of their classmates  increasing parents’ involvement in the life of the academy and in their children’s learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Build on existing strengths in teaching by making sure that teachers:  always give the most-able pupils work that is challenging enough for them  use practical equipment more frequently to support pupils’ learning in mathematics  make new vocabulary absolutely clear to pupils learning English as an additional language.

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The leadership and management are good

 The Principal, senior leaders and the academy trust have worked well together to bring about rapid improvement since Dallow Primary gained academy status. Senior leaders are strongly committed to making the academy as effective as possible and it is well placed to improve further. They have established a culture in which relationships are positive, teaching can flourish and pupils are expected to behave well.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership of teaching is good and leaders have been rigorous in tackling ineffective teaching. Regular checks on teachers’ performance ensure that leaders identify those teachers who are most effective and those who need additional support. There are good opportunities for teachers to observe best practice elsewhere, including through links with other schools that the academy sponsor has established.

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The leadership and management are good

 Year Leaders are closely involved in the academy’s work to raise achievement and improve teaching, and subject leaders are becoming increasingly involved in identifying areas for development and in working to bring about improvement. Other leaders, including the special educational needs co-ordinator and the early years leader, are making a good contribution to the academy’s development.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders collect a significant amount of information about pupils’ attainment and progress. This puts them in a good position to judge how well pupils are achieving, to identify those who need extra help and to ensure pupils receive equal opportunities. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated.

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The leadership and management are good

 The curriculum promotes pupils’ academic and personal development well. The academy has adapted learning opportunities well to reflect the revised National Curriculum and has introduced an effective system of assessing pupils’ attainment without levels. A wide range of educational visits, clubs and special events stimulates pupils’ learning. Opportunities for pupils to take part in artistic and sporting events are a particular strength of the academy.

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The leadership and management are good

 The academy fosters pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well, and members of different faiths are regular visitors. A strong focus on values such as tolerance and honesty underpin the academy’s work and ensure pupils learn about British values. The academy prepares pupils effectively for life in modern Britain and provides them with opportunities to learn about ways of life that are different from those of the immediate locality.

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The leadership and management are good

 The academy uses its pupil premium funding appropriately to support disadvantaged pupils. An increase in the number of support groups for those pupils who need extra help with their learning is beginning to narrow the gap between their achievement and that of their classmates. The academy also uses its pupil premium to enable eligible pupils to attend breakfast club and to provide opportunities that expand their horizons.

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The leadership and management are good

 The academy makes effective use of its primary physical education and sport premium to increase pupils’ physical skills and improve their health and well-being. It has used the funding to increase the number and variety of sports clubs, to provide specific training for staff and to pay for sports coaches. Pupils have had increased opportunities to take part in matches, tournaments and festivals with other schools across Luton.

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The leadership and management are good

 The academy provides good support for parents, especially through its use of family workers. They conduct home visits when children join the academy, run a number of special events and work closely with families to promote their children’s personal progress and academic achievement. Otherwise, partnership with parents is good in the early years but less well developed in the rest of the academy.

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The leadership and management are good

 The academy has very effective systems for keeping pupils safe, and its arrangements meet statutory requirements. The academy conducts rigorous checks on staff and works closely with other agencies to make sure pupils are protected. It keeps detailed records which are checked regularly.  Through its own monitoring and the use of a range of external consultants, the Chiltern Learning Trust has a detailed knowledge of the academy’s work and it has made a strong contribution to its development. The trust has been instrumental in improving the quality of teaching through establishing valuable links with other schools and making training readily available to teachers. It provides constant challenge and support for senior leaders, and has worked closely with them to identify priorities for development.

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The leadership and management are good

 The academy has worked closely with a number of external consultants who have been provided by the academy trust. Detailed reviews of teaching and learning, of safeguarding and of other key aspects of the academy’s work have been conducted by external advisers. The academy has also worked with the local authority to improve assessment and the tracking of children’s progress in the early years. This support has increased leaders’ knowledge of what is working well and helped to fine tune their awareness of how the academy could be improved.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body holds senior leaders to account and governors have a good awareness of data, including the spending and impact of pupil premium funding. The governing body is well informed about the quality of teaching and has supported the Principal in tackling underperformance. Governors make sure that teachers’ performance management and pay closely reflect the impact of individuals on pupils’ progress.  The governing body has high expectations for the academy and is working well with leaders and the Chiltern Learning Trust to bring about continuous improvements.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. The academy sets clear expectations for how pupils should behave and they are polite and respectful. Pupils know the rules and behave sensibly around the academy, at playtimes and in assemblies.

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Behaviour

 Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning and greatly enjoy school. Children in the early years develop a love of learning and pupils throughout the academy concentrate and engage well in lessons. They get on well together and readily help one another. They take a pride in their work, are eager to learn and keen to please their teachers. Gaining a ‘pen licence’ is valued very much and encourages pupils to present their work with care.

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Behaviour

 Pupils speak with enthusiasm about the various activities the academy provides for them, including educational visits. Their enjoyment of learning is evident in the improving rate of attendance, which is now close to the national average.

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Behaviour

 Low-level disruption in lessons is rare but pupils do not always take as much responsibility for their own learning as they could, for instance, by putting up their hands when they have finished a piece of work or getting a dictionary when they do not know how to spell a word.

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Safety

 The academy’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say that they feel safe and they have a good awareness of how to keep themselves secure. They know about cyber-bullying and the importance of being careful when using the internet. In an assembly in the lower school, pupils showed that they have a good knowledge about road safety and the importance of not talking to strangers.

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Safety

 Pupils know about different types of bullying although those interviewed said that there is not any bullying in the academy. Records show that there are very few incidents, mostly of name calling, and that these are handled promptly. The academy teaches care and consideration for others, and pupils from different backgrounds relate harmoniously with one another.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching has improved significantly since Dallow Primary became an academy. Largely as a result of the highly focused support provided by the academy trust, previous shortcomings in teaching have been tackled successfully. This is enabling pupils to make faster progress and to fill past gaps in their learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Throughout the academy, teachers question pupils carefully to check their understanding and usually explain new tasks clearly. There are some good opportunities for pupils to explain their learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of reading is generally good and the academy has introduced some recent improvements to the way it teaches phonics (sounds linked to letters). Younger pupils have regular opportunities to read to an adult, and in the older classes teachers often ask pupils to read aloud. Pupils develop their reading skills across a range of subjects to gain factual information and as a stimulus for their writing. This was evident in the Mayan myths topic in Year 5 and when pupils in Year 6 were involved in researching and creating a fact file on earthquakes following the disaster in Nepal.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of writing is good. Teachers provide pupils with good opportunities to draft and redraft their ideas so that they improve the structure of their sentences. Teachers often show pupils what effective writing looks like and there is evidence of older pupils in particular improving their writing in response to marking. Throughout the academy, teachers make good use of projectors to enable the whole class to see, comment and improve on each other’s work.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of mathematics is good. Teachers provide clear explanations for pupils and make good use of interactive white boards to show them how to tackle particular tasks. Teachers ask challenging questions to check and extend pupils’ understanding. In a lesson in Year 5, teachers’ high expectations were evident when they introduced the most-able pupils to a sample question from a Level 6 test paper on algebraic problem-solving.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Some teachers make good use of practical equipment to support pupils’ learning in mathematics but it is not used as a matter of course. As a result, some pupils do not always make as much progress as they could in their knowledge and understanding.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The academy provides a wide range of support groups for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, for disadvantaged pupils and pupils at early stages of learning to speak English. These generally meet pupils’ needs well, and teaching assistants provide valuable support in class for pupils who need extra help with their learning. At times, however, teachers do not make new vocabulary as clear as they could to pupils learning English as an additional language.

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requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because the academy is still working to overturn the legacy of underachievement it inherited when Dallow Primary gained academy status. While standards are rising, they remain below national expectations in most year groups.

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requires improvement

 A significant proportion of children join the early years with limited skills in speaking and listening, reading, writing and mathematics, and in their knowledge of the world. In other areas, children’s skills are broadly typical of those for their age. When they start the academy, most children are at an early stage of learning to speak English as an additional language. The proportion of children who reached a good level of development at the end of the Reception Year in 2014 was well below average, and boys performed less well than girls, especially in literacy and mathematics.

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requires improvement

 The academy’s results in the Year 1 screening of pupils’ knowledge of phonics were below average in 2014 and fewer pupils succeeded when retaking the test than in schools nationally. However, if the results of pupils who had been in the academy from the outset are separated from those who joined from other countries during Year 1, results are closer to the national average.  At the end of Year 2, standards were below average in reading, writing and mathematics in 2014. At the end of Year 6, standards were low in reading, writing and mathematics, and below average in English grammar, punctuation and spelling. Not enough pupils made at least the expected amount of progress during their time in Key Stage 2. However, only two terms of their time in Key Stage 2 took place after the school became an academy and there was a sharp increase in the rate of progress in all year groups from this point onwards.

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requires improvement

 At the end of Year 6, disadvantaged pupils were half a term behind their classmates in mathematics and over a year behind pupils nationally. They were a term behind their classmates in reading and four terms behind pupils nationally. In writing, they were half a term behind the rest of their class and four terms behind pupils nationally. Disadvantaged pupils made less progress than their classmates, and than pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. The academy’s records show that the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their classmates is narrowing and more of these pupils are now making good progress.

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requires improvement

 Lesson observations, pupils’ books and the academy’s own data show that an increasing proportion of pupils are now making rapid progress in reading, writing and mathematics. The academy is focusing effectively on those areas where there were gaps between the achievement of different groups of pupils in 2014. Whereas Bangladeshi pupils outperformed those of Pakistani heritage last year, there is no significant difference between the progress of the two groups now.

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requires improvement

 Pupils learning English as an additional language, who form the vast majority of the academy’s population, make similar progress to other pupils. Pupils at the early stages of learning English receive good support. Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are also supported well in most lessons and make good progress.

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requires improvement

 Teachers do not always set the most-able pupils work that is challenging enough for them in lessons but the academy’s data show that they are making slightly better progress overall than other pupils. At the upper end of Key Stage 2, they have good opportunities to tackle challenging work in mathematics and produce some imaginative written work. In writing after the style of Kit Wright, a pupil wrote: ‘I will put in my box, a snow-white feather from a flying dove, seven onyx-black wishes spoken in ancient Arabic, a third summer and an amber moon, and the flames of justice from the Statue of Liberty’.

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is good

 The early years is led and managed well. The early years leader and other staff have a shared commitment to raising children’s achievement and fostering a love of learning. Although the proportion of children who reached a good level of development was well below the national average in 2014, children are now making rapid progress. The academy is gradually narrowing the gap in achievement between boys and girls, and children are being prepared well for moving up to Year 1.

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is good

 Teaching is good and children make outstanding progress in some sessions. They have ample opportunity to develop their early literacy and numeracy skills. From the minute they arrive in the morning, they are busily engaged in learning activities. The teaching of phonics is good, matched well to the next steps in children’s development, and there are good opportunities for them to practise their letter formation and to write for a purpose.

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is good

 Staff talk in depth with children about what they are doing and provide excellent challenge for those who are most able. This was particularly evident in a mathematics activity where the most-able children were writing sums on small whiteboards such as 100 + 100 and 16 + 32 and arriving at the correct answers. The indoor and outdoor areas are rich with learning opportunities, and the outside area was a hive of activity as children cooked ‘chocolate cake’ in the mud kitchen, built dens, exercised and filled in booking forms in the ‘gym’.

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is good

 Children behave well and enjoy trusting relationships with the staff so that they feel safe. They concentrate for extended periods, try hard and show enthusiasm for learning.  The academy has been working to develop its systems for assessing children’s attainment on entry and has effective procedures in place for keeping parents informed about their children’s development. Parents are welcomed into the classrooms to see their children learning and many took advantage of this opportunity one morning during the inspection.

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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 139705 Local authority Luton Inspection number 450129

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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 Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 617 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Helen Abji Principal Linda Nouch Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected as an academy Telephone number 01582 616601 Fax number 01582 616602 Email address admin@dallowprimary.net guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . 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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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