Thomas Whitehead CofE School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.1

Elaine Fairclough Headteacher Thomas Whitehead CofE VA School Angels Lane Houghton Regis Dunstable Bedfordshire LU5 5HH

p.1

School

Following my visit to your school on 10 and 11 May 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions that have been taken since the school’s recent section 5 inspection.

p.1

School

The inspection was the first monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures following the inspection that took place in November 2015.

p.1

School

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time:

p.1

Leaders and managers are not taking effective action towards the

The local authority’s statement of action is fit for purpose.

p.1

Leaders and managers are not taking effective action towards the

The school’s action plan is fit for purpose.

p.1

Leaders and managers are not taking effective action towards the

The school may appoint newly qualified teachers before the next monitoring inspection. This should be done after consultation with Her Majesty’s Inspector. Only one newly qualified teacher should be appointed at key stage 2. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the diocese of St Albans, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Central Bedfordshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.1

The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took place in

– rapidly increasing the numbers of pupils who make good or better progress in reading, writing and mathematics, so that pupils achieve at least as well as others nationally by the end of Key Stage 2 – urgently raising the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and the most vulnerable pupils in the school to close the gap with other pupils – providing greater challenge for the most-able pupils so that they can exceed the national expectations in all subjects – rapidly increasing achievement in phonics to enable more pupils to achieve well in reading in Year 1 – improving the accuracy and use of school assessment information so that staff focus more sharply on how well pupils are learning and plan precisely for them to make even more progress.

p.3

The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took place in

– planning interesting lessons that stimulate learning and which make pupils think hard and persevere – making sure teachers set work in lessons that is appropriate for all abilities – ensuring that planned activities help all pupils make good progress over time, work hard and apply their knowledge and skills in a variety of ways – using accurate and precise teaching in mathematics.

p.3

The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took place in

– giving clear roles and responsibilities within the senior leadership team so that accountability is clear for the performance of the school – undertaking a thorough and accurate evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the school so that everyone understands the areas for improvement – regularly and systematically checking and evaluating the quality of teaching and learning, taking prompt action when it is not good enough and giving clear guidance to teachers on how to improve – robustly holding staff to account for raising outcomes – implementing all the recommendations from the recent external review of the use of the pupil premium – analysing and using accurate assessment information to raise the achievement of all groups of pupils.

p.3

The areas for improvement identified during the inspection that took place in

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

p.4

Evidence

The inspector observed the school’s work, scrutinised documents and met with the headteacher, the deputy and additional deputy headteachers, other senior leaders, teachers and pupils. She met members of the governing body monitoring group and a representative of the local authority, and spoke with the director of education for the diocese of St Albans. Visits were made to all year groups, and included an examination of pupils’ work. The statement of action and the school’s action plan were evaluated.

p.5

Context

Since the previous inspection, an additional deputy headteacher has been appointed for two days per week to strengthen the senior leadership team. One teacher left the school at the end of the autumn term and two teachers returned from maternity leave at the beginning of the summer term. The local authority appointed an additional governor who is a national leader of governance. The school is starting to prepare its transition to academy status due in the autumn term 2016.

p.5

The effectiveness of leadership and management

Insufficient progress has been made since the previous inspection. For a variety of reasons, the development of a reliable system for assessing pupils’ progress has taken too long. The lack of accurate assessment is making the evaluation of teaching and learning unreliable. It also hampers the management of staff performance because leaders do not have reliable information across all subjects to give a clear picture of how well pupils are progressing. More effective assessment practice is developing in the early years foundation stage.

p.5

The effectiveness of leadership and management

The criteria used to evaluate teaching and learning place too much emphasis on what teachers do at the expense of what pupils actually learn and understand. Consequently, outcomes are not improving fast enough. Leaders do not have high enough expectations of what constitutes good leadership of teaching. The additional deputy headteacher provides much-needed training to staff. She does this well, working closely with the experienced deputy headteacher. However, this work is not followed through sufficiently well by staff. New ideas are not applied promptly and consistently across classes and subjects of the curriculum. The leadership of mathematics is developing but numerous changes of teachers in some year groups are affecting pupils’ progress. The subject leader for mathematics is receiving expert advice from a local authority adviser but the difference this is making is insufficient. The future leadership of mathematics is uncertain as the

p.5

The effectiveness of leadership and management

current leader is leaving the school at the end of this term.

p.6

The effectiveness of leadership and management

The school’s action plan identifies relevant actions to address the weaknesses that were identified at the time of the previous inspection. The success criteria and timescales are largely appropriate but more urgency is required if these are to be met. There are risks of slippage because of staff changes. In addition, the role of subject leaders in ensuring highly effective teaching in subjects other than English and mathematics is unclear.

p.6

The effectiveness of leadership and management

The school may appoint up to two newly qualified teachers because leadership of this work is effective. The frequent observations of their class and the detailed feedback that they receive help them improve their practice. The local authority is vigilant in checking that the school has the necessary resources, induction and mentoring processes so that teachers make a successful start in their teaching career.

p.6

The effectiveness of leadership and management

An external review of the use of the pupil premium funding was conducted a year ago, in May 2015. One year on the recommendations are still not being implemented with sufficient urgency. The information published on the website is not as detailed as it should be. Leaders manage the performance of the teaching assistants but, at these appraisals, insufficient account is taken of the impact of the support on pupils’ outcomes.

p.6

The effectiveness of leadership and management

An external review of governance took place shortly after the November inspection. Governors quickly produced a useful action plan as a result. They know what they have to do and the frequent meetings of the newly established governing body monitoring group have become highly challenging. Governors are frustrated by the lack of accurate performance information. They want to check whether specific funding is making a difference to pupils’ learning but poor reports and an incomplete picture of the quality of learning across all subjects of the curriculum make this an arduous task.

p.6

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Staff want the very best for pupils but, in practice, not all are successful in achieving this. This is because teachers’ expectations are still too low. The work and targets set for pupils are not sufficiently precise or used to help them improve their work and raise standards in all year groups and subjects. When teaching is less effective, teaching assistants are not sure about what they have to do because the teacher is not directing their work well enough. Teaching is not improving fast enough, particularly at key stage 2. In English, staff are trying to use more exciting resources and relevant activities to develop pupils’ skills. Teachers are working hard to apply the school’s marking policy. This is beginning to help pupils improve their work and they understand what they need to do in response to the ‘purple polishing pen’. In mathematics, lessons do not develop fluency, reasoning and problem solving well enough. There is still much to do to

p.6

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

stimulate pupils’ learning, help them persevere and increase the rate of progress.

p.7

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

The profile of numeracy and literacy is not raised enough across subjects and, as a result, pupils are not given opportunities to see how these skills are applied in real life. The quality of pupils’ work in some books shows that the quantity of writing, presentation and writing skills are not being paid sufficient attention.

p.7

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Work is not yet matched to pupils’ ability. The most-able pupils in particular are not given work that develops their understanding further. When this is done well they are very excited to learn. Pupils say that they like science and art because they can discover things by themselves, learn from their experiments and be creative about what they are drawing and making. Too often, teachers do not provide the most- able pupils with challenging tasks early enough when planning the work. Precious learning time is then wasted.

p.7

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Pupils with special educational needs or disability continue to be taught well, as identified in the previous inspection report. Some parents said that the staff were ‘fantastic’ at helping their children integrate with the rest of the class. They also said that one-to-one support was improving their children’s confidence in reading. This monitoring visit confirms these positive views.

p.7

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

Teaching is improving in the Nursery and Reception classes and at key stage 1. The change of timings for the teaching of phonics and teachers now taking full responsibility for the whole-class teaching of English are key factors of this success. In phonics, staff are now clear about what they want pupils to learn. Pupils’ needs are often met because teachers use the information that they have to plan activities pitched at the right level for pupils in their class, including those who speak English as an additional language. The activities in the outdoor areas help children develop their communication and understanding of number.

p.7

Personal development, behaviour and welfare

The school continues to be a calm and safe place to learn as reported in the previous inspection. Pupils are kind and relationships with adults are good. The school was asked to improve pupils’ attitudes towards their work. Progress is being made where teaching is improving. In some classes, homework that is more creative is being set and pupils said that they ‘like doing research to find out interesting things’. This effective practice requires consolidation because pupils can often do better work than is expected of them. The most-able pupils said that they were losing interest in English and mathematics. In mathematics, they were repeating work when they had a new teacher or a supply teacher and, in English, they were often asked to ‘invent the end of a story’ when they actually felt able to write the whole imaginative story by themselves. Although the school has a ‘pupil- voice’ group, leaders are not genuinely listening to what pupils have to say about

p.7

Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Attendance is monitored closely. The school works well with the education welfare officer to tackle persistent absence. The deputy headteacher and family support worker ensure that families in need of intensive support are helped at times of crisis.

p.8

Outcomes for pupils

The proportion of pupils who make good or better progress in reading, writing and mathematics is not improving rapidly enough. Although current pupils in Year 2 and Year 6 appear to be doing better than pupils last year, it is unlikely that the 2016 results will match the national expectations. In Years 3, 4 and 5, pupils’ outcomes in reading comprehension, writing and mathematics are too low.

p.8

Outcomes for pupils

Because performance information is unreliable, the progress made by disadvantaged pupils is unproven. Some recent assessment information suggests that, at key stage 1, outcomes in phonics are improving rapidly and the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and others in the school is closing. This is not the case at key stage 2, where the attainment gap is far too wide.

p.8

Outcomes for pupils

The most-able pupils underachieve. Too few make rapid progress in their skills, knowledge and understanding across subjects. Too often, extension activities are bolt-on and the most-able pupils still have to go through the motions of completing undemanding work before moving on. In subjects other than English and mathematics, all pupils tend to do the same work. Teaching assistants are rarely asked to check whether the most-able pupils could reach higher standards.

p.8

Outcomes for pupils

Outcomes for the youngest children are improving. The links with the pre-school setting are strong and children are now better prepared to start their learning in the Nursery and Reception. The proportion of children reaching good levels of development at the end of Reception is predicted to rise from 52% in 2015 to 62% this year. More guided reading, use of appropriate texts and other resources are contributing to better outcomes.

p.8

External support

The local authority lead adviser and the governing body monitoring group have challenged the school on several occasions and raised concerns about the lack of performance information. The headteacher is responding too slowly and, at times, with insufficient precision, to their request. The local authority is working well with the diocese to ensure that training is funded appropriately and coordinated effectively. The additional deputy headteacher is clear about what needs to be done. The school improvement partner and subject advisers are checking the school’s work frequently. Some teachers visit effective schools but leaders do not check well enough whether new ideas improve the school’s practice.

p.9