Woodside Academy

Woodside Academy Fenwick Drive, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD6 2PG

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Early years provision Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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This is a school that requires improvement

 Ineffective leadership has led to a sharp decline in achievement since the last inspection.  Since the school became an academy, it has been isolated. Leaders and teachers have not engaged enough with external professionals, so have not received sufficient challenge and support.  Middle leaders are underused and underdeveloped. Until recently, they have had little opportunity to contribute to school improvement.  Too few pupils make more than expected progress, so many pupils with low prior attainment do not catch up, and the most able pupils do not do as well as they should.  By the time they leave the school, too many pupils are not well prepared for secondary school because they have not achieved the required standards.  The quality of teaching is too variable across the school, and in different subjects, so outcomes for pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs or disability,

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This is a school that requires improvement

are also too variable.  Too few children in the early years make more than typical progress, because the quality of teaching is inconsistent and some activities do not challenge children enough.

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The school has the following strengths

 The very effective acting principal and interim assistant principal are beginning to turn the school around.  Under the strong leadership of the chair of the governing body, governance has improved. Governors challenge leaders well and have pointed the school in the right direction.  By the end of Year 1, most pupils meet the expected standard in early reading so are well on their way to reading fluently and with confidence.  Pupils’ personal and social development is good. Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership by: securing a permanent senior leadership team developing middle leaders so they make more difference to the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes improving the consistency of assessment practice so that underperformance can be more accurately pinpointed.  Raise standards by: ensuring that more pupils make greater than expected progress to reach their full potential providing more frequent opportunities for pupils of all abilities to attempt challenging mathematics problems and to develop their reasoning skills improving pupils’ reading comprehension skills and ensuring that pupils read more widely and more often providing more opportunities for pupils to write at length in a range of subjects.  Improve the quality of teaching so it is consistently good by ensuring that teachers: make better use of assessment information to set tasks that match the needs of pupils, especially the

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

most able, the disadvantaged and pupils who have special educational needs or disability improve their questioning skills more systematically check pupils’ learning in lessons and adapt teaching to support pupils of different abilities provide frequent opportunities for pupils to practise and apply their reading, writing and mathematics knowledge, understanding and skills in challenging ways in a range of subjects use teaching assistants effectively throughout lessons.  Improve early years provision so that more pupils make more progress by: securing the accuracy of entry assessments through internal and external checking and agreement making sure that the activities children access independently provide greater challenge, especially for most- able pupils and for boys improving the questioning skills of adults so that they all match those of the best.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

 Since the last inspection, standards have fallen sharply. This is because senior leaders and governors took their eye off the ball and have not carefully checked pupils’ progress, particularly in the key skills of reading, writing and mathematics.  Shortly after the last inspection, the school became a ‘stand-alone’ academy, following which engagement with external professionals was greatly reduced. As a result, leaders and teachers have not had the hard- edged challenge and support they need.  Middle leaders have not been involved enough in the leadership of the school. The principal has not devolved enough responsibility to other leaders to carry out checks on the quality of teaching, and has not held them to account for the impact of their actions. Consequently, middle leaders’ skills are underdeveloped.  Over the last year and a half, governors have been successful in securing the appointment of an effective

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

vice-principal through the government’s ‘Future Leaders’ programme, and an additional assistant principal on a one-year contract, to give leadership a boost. These leaders have put in place essential systems for assessing and tracking pupils’ progress and checking the quality of teaching. These actions are beginning to bear fruit. Governors have very recently appointed the vice -principal as the interim principal, following the departure of the previous principal.  Senior leaders have their finger on the pulse and know where the strengths and weaknesses are because they are checking weekly on the quality of teaching. Teachers therefore know what aspects of their practice need to improve, and increasingly value the challenge and support they receive. Senior leaders are developing the skills of other leaders by involving them in this work.  Because of the improvements in leadership, there are clear signs of improvements in teaching. In the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

staff survey, fewer than half the staff said they felt leaders trusted them to take risks and try new ideas, but under the current leadership confidence is improving.  Leaders have made appropriate use of the additional government funding to support disadvantaged pupils, but weaknesses in the quality of teaching and the failure of leaders to track pupils’ progress carefully enough means that regardless of interventions, gaps in achievement remain between disadvantaged pupils and others.  Leaders have not tracked the progress of pupils who have special educational needs or disability sufficiently well. Neither have they supported teachers in analysing the needs of the pupils precisely enough. As a result, the progress of these pupils is variable and too many are not catching up with their peers.  Leaders have supplemented government funding for sports and physical education with additional school

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

funding to put together an effective programme for the pupils. All key stage 1 and key stage 2 pupils receive instruction in kickboxing. Three quarters of the pupils participated in many of the available sports clubs last year, and two thirds participated in school and inter-school tournaments. All the upper key stage 2 pupils participated in off-site adventure activities. These activities build pupils’ confidence and fitness and help them to appreciate the importance of a healthy lifestyle.  Leaders have put together a broad and balanced curriculum so pupils study a wide range of subjects, such as science, history and art, as well as daily literacy and numeracy lessons. However, insufficient opportunities for pupils to practise their reading, writing and mathematics skills in challenging ways in other subjects limits their progress in basic literacy and numeracy.  A wide range of enrichment activities, such as exciting music and Spanish lessons taught by specialists,

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

and a range of after-school clubs, contribute strongly to pupils’ enjoyment of school and their broader personal and social development.  Leaders and teachers actively promote understanding, tolerance and respect for diversity through religious education and personal, social and health education lessons. Discussions with pupils reveal their appreciation of the views of others and their willingness to be open-minded about such issues as gender identity. This is preparing pupils well for life in modern Britain.  The governance of the school Under the direction of the current highly effective chair, the governing body has taken assertive action to address weaknesses in leadership. Governors have been successful in forming a new partnership with outstanding schools as part of a multi-academy trust (MAT). The governors have a good range of skills and experience that enable them to fulfil their statutory

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

duties, including safeguarding duties, consideration of teachers’ pay awards and ensuring proper financial management. Governors ensure that leaders provide information about teaching and pupils’ achievement in a format that can be understood. This helps them to ask the right questions and hold leaders to account. The governing body has secured an external reviewer to help governors increase their effectiveness. This is sharpening governors’ skills further. In addition, governors have also sought external professional reviews of the quality of teaching and learning to validate what leaders tell them.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders and other staff are trained in the ‘Prevent’ duty and how to recognise when children may be suffering, or at risk of harm. Adults are diligent in reporting concerns and detailed records are kept. Where necessary, leaders contact the local authority social care

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

service and check to see what action is being taken. Recruitment procedures are robust, so proper checks are carried out to make sure those appointed to posts are judged suitable to work with children.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 The quality of teaching across the school varies from class to class and from subject to subject. A high turnover of teachers has not helped. Consequently, pupils’ progress has slowed and many pupils, especially in the upper key stage 2 classes, are behind in their learning.  When planning learning, many teachers do not consider carefully what pupils already know and can do, so work for the most able pupils in all year groups is generally not challenging, and sometimes work given to those with low prior attainment is too hard.  The variability in the quality of teaching can be seen in the way teachers question pupils. Some teachers ask carefully worded questions that get pupils really thinking, while others too often ask questions that do not probe pupils’ thinking deeply enough. Some teachers are more adept at checking how well pupils are doing in lessons, adapting teaching to provide more challenge or support where needed. Other teachers

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

carry on with their plan, not taking enough account of how well pupils are doing. The more effective teachers have higher expectations of what pupils can and should achieve.  The effectiveness of teaching assistants varies. Where teachers guide them well, teaching assistants give good-quality support to pupils. Some teaching assistants are more experienced in giving pupils just the right amount of support. Occasionally teaching assistants are underused in some parts of lessons.  The provision for pupils who have special educational needs or disability is inconsistent. Not all teachers have analysed pupils’ needs well enough, so many do not make enough progress to begin to catch up with their classmates.  The teaching of early reading helps most pupils to reach the required standard by the end of Year 1. This gets pupils off to a good start, reading confidently and with some fluency. However, teaching does not

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

develop pupils’ comprehension skills well enough, so too few pupils reach the expected level by the end of Year 2. In key stage 2, pupils’ reading books are sometimes not well matched to their reading ability so may be too hard or too easy. Too few pupils read widely or often enough because the school has not done enough to promote an interest in reading.  In some year groups this year, more pupils have made greater than expected progress in writing than in other subjects, but this good progress is not consistent throughout the school. Teachers do not give pupils enough opportunities to write lengthy pieces. Because of this, increasingly effective work to improve pupils’ vocabulary does not always transfer into pupils’ writing. However, pupils’ grammar and punctuation as they progress through the school is generally accurate.  The teaching of mathematics is improving because teachers are increasingly giving pupils more problems

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

to solve, so that pupils have to think hard. However, this aspect still needs further improvement by giving pupils, especially the most able, more frequent and even trickier questions to investigate. Too many pupils, including those in upper key stage 2, have poor mental arithmetic skills, including not knowing their multiplication tables, and this slows their progress in other aspects of mathematics.  The workforce is made up of a large proportion of newly and recently qualified teachers and trainees. These teachers are well supported, so are improving their skills and becoming increasingly effective.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Woodside is a caring school. This is exemplified by the warm and friendly relationships between adults and pupils who enjoy the adults’ sense of humour. Adults encourage pupils to talk about their feelings and pupils show respect for each other’s ideas.  Pupils are positive about their learning. Most teachers use effective techniques to get pupils discussing their learning so pupils are confident and happy to share their views with each other. Pupils work well together, cooperating and collaborating in their learning. Lessons generally interest pupils and even where they are less challenged, pupils sustain concentration and engagement because the lesson content and resources stimulate their interest.  Pupils are happy in school. They smile and make eye contact, greeting visitors. They hold the doors open for each other.

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Personal development and welfare

 While the progress of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is variable, the school is effective at addressing the wider social and emotional needs of these pupils: for example, helping pupils with disabilities to form friendships and play musical instruments.  Because e-safety is taught well, pupils have a good understanding of how to stay safe using the internet, and they recognise the dangers of online bullying.  Pupils understand the importance of keeping fit and eating healthily. They puff and pant during kickboxing lessons and many enjoy healthy food choices in the ‘panini room’.  Bullying is rare, as is the use of racist or derogatory language. Pupils are confident that adults deal with incidents well.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils respond to the signals and requests of teachers quickly, so no time is wasted during lessons. They also respond well to the instructions of lunchtime staff, stopping when the whistle is blown and lining up sensibly. Pupils move around the school safely and in an orderly manner, including when they are not directly supervised.  Behaviour in the playground is good. Pupils are active, using the plentiful space safely, and are rarely boisterous or aggressive in their play. Older pupils take on the role of play leaders, organising games for younger pupils.  Clear measures are in place for pupils who exhibit challenging behaviour, including the involvement of external agencies and professionals. Exclusions have been almost eliminated as pupils are supported well and helped to control their behaviour and engage with their learning.  Attendance is currently just above the national average. Persistent absence rates have decreased since

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Behaviour

last year to below average, although there is still a gap between the absence rates of disadvantaged pupils and others.  Too many pupils are not punctual in the mornings as parents adjust to the earlier time set by leaders by which pupils should arrive. However, this is improving.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 Attainment has declined over the last few years since the previous inspection. This is because of the variability in the quality of teaching over time, resulting in pupils making weaker progress. The vast majority of pupils make at least expected progress, but too few make the more than expected progress needed in order to reach the required standards.  Over the last two years, no more than two thirds of pupils left Year 6 having achieved the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics combined, so many pupils were not well enough prepared for secondary school. The attainment of the current Year 6 group is no better.  Because teachers do not challenge the most able pupils, too few have reached above expected standards by the time they leave the school, and too few pupils currently in the school are working above expected standards.  Progress in key stage 1 has been variable at best. This year, most pupils have made at least expected

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

progress in reading and many have made more than expected progress in writing towards the end of Year 2, but some pupils have fallen behind in mathematics from their starting points. Outcomes in early reading by the end of Year 1 rose last year and are good again this year.  There are examples of stronger progress. For example, pupils by the end of Year 6 over the last two years made good progress in writing, so attainment in this subject was nearer the national average. Progress in writing across the school is generally stronger than in other subjects, especially in key stage 1 and lower key stage 2, where more pupils are making more than expected progress than in other subjects.  There is no real trend in gaps between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and others across the school and in different subjects. Gaps are narrow in a few year groups and subjects but remain too wide in too many instances. Gaps are not closed by the time pupils leave the school, so disadvantaged pupils

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

remain at a disadvantage in their learning as they enter secondary school.  Because provision for pupils who have special educational needs or disability is variable at best, progress for these pupils is also variable, so too many are not catching up.

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Early years provision requires improvement

 Leaders are uncertain about the accuracy of the assessment of children as they enter the early years. Senior leaders have not checked the assessments, nor has the school sought any external agreement on the accuracy of entry assessment. School information suggests that children make good progress, but evidence from children’s work and records shows that while just about all children make expected progress, too few make more than expected progress. Few of the most able children exceed the early learning goals because they are not well challenged.  Over the last two years, the proportions of children reaching the early learning goals in each area of learning were broadly in line with national averages. The gaps in achievement between disadvantaged pupils and others are narrowing. Most children are sufficiently prepared for learning in Year 1.  Teaching is inconsistent across the early years. For example, some adults are skilled in questioning

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Early years provision requires improvement

children to get them thinking, observing, explaining and describing. Other adults are less skilled, so children give one-word answers and are not helped to think deeply enough.  Children are generally purposefully engaged. They enjoy imaginative play. However, the quality of engagement and learning is generally better when children are supervised or when adults interact with children.  Too often, the activities children choose are not demanding enough. Activities do not provide enough opportunities for children to practise and apply their reading, writing and mathematics skills, especially outdoors. For example, boys choose to play football outside, and while this helps them to develop physically, adults do not exploit opportunities to encourage them into activities that will help them develop other important skills such as writing.  The curriculum is broad and balanced, covering all the required areas of learning, and adults are

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Early years provision requires improvement

responsive to children’s interests. Children’s experiences are broadened as adults encourage them to greet each other using French, German and Spanish.  Children generally listen to adults and follow routines and instructions. They behave well, cooperating with each other and taking turns. Where teaching is less challenging, children occasionally lose concentration.  Safeguarding is effective. Staff training is up to date and staff assess the potential risks to children, for example risk assessing the outdoor provision as it is modified each week.  Staff involve parents in their children’s learning, for example gathering information about the children before they enter school and involving parents in setting targets for their children.

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School details

Unique reference number 139042 Local authority Bradford Inspection number 10010993 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Academy converter Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 455 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Peter Addison-Child Acting principal David Harrison Telephone number 01274 414350 Website www.woodsideacademy.co.uk Email address david.harrison@woodsideacademy.co.uk Date of previous inspection 25–26 September 2012

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Information about this school

 Woodside Academy is larger than the average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are of White British heritage. About a fifth are from minority ethnic groups, and a few pupils speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is more than twice the national average. The pupil premium is additional government funding for disadvantaged pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and for children who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is above the national average.  The school meets the current floor standards. These are the minimum expectations of pupils’ achievement in English and mathematics set by the government.  The school is joining a multi-academy trust in September 2016.  The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited all classes at least once, some of these with school leaders, to observe pupils’ learning.  Inspectors questioned pupils about their learning, asking what it is like to be a pupil at Woodside Academy. Inspectors scrutinised pupils’ workbooks and listened to a number of pupils read. Pupils’ behaviour was observed around the school, including at breaktimes and at lunchtime.  Discussions took place with the headteacher, senior leaders and middle leaders, the chair of the board of directors, and the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust the school is joining.  Inspectors questioned parents at the start of the school day and analysed the responses of parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View.  The inspectors analysed responses to the staff questionnaire. There were no responses to the pupils’ questionnaire.  Documents were analysed, including school development plans, governing body minutes and information

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Information about this inspection

about pupils’ achievement. Records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding were scrutinised.

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Inspection team

Philip Riozzi, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Christopher Davies Ofsted Inspector Ann Gill Ofsted Inspector Mary Lanovy-Taylor Ofsted Inspector Christine Turner Ofsted Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Inspection team

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

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