Cavendish Primary School

Cavendish Primary School Hall Road, Eccleshill, Bradford BD2 2DU

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Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is a good school

 School leaders are utterly dedicated to the school and have been successful in driving improvements in teaching. There is a strong, caring ethos and expectations are high.  The governing body challenges and supports the school well.  Standards are rising and pupils make good progress in all subjects. The school has been successful in raising standards for boys in particular.  The quality of teaching is good. The work pupils are given is fun but also challenging, particularly for the most able.  Pupils behave well. They take a pride in their work and say they feel safe and secure when in school. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly happy with the quality of pupils’ welfare.  Children in the early years achieve well and learn to follow routines. When they leave, they are ready for the demands of Year 1.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils’ understanding of different cultures and religions is not as well developed in the curriculum as it might be.  School development plans are not sufficiently clear to enable the governing body to measure progress effectively.  The curriculum for art, music and drama is not as well developed as it is in other subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management so it becomes outstanding by ensuring that:  the curriculum helps pupils fully to appreciate life in a modern, multicultural Britain  development plans are written clearly enough for the governing body to measure their success.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise expectations of what pupils can achieve in art, music and drama by ensuring that:  the work pupils do in these subjects is sufficiently demanding.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The headteacher leads with energy and vision. With her senior team, she has managed to raise standards and improve the quality of teaching quickly. The school runs on a day-to-day basis very efficiently. Staff are motivated and dedicated to giving their best to the pupils. Parents are happy with the school, with most saying they would recommend it to others.  Middle leaders have good subject knowledge. They keep a close eye on teaching across the school and give high-quality training where it is required. Where teachers struggle, they are supported well, including those new to teaching. Middle leaders never stand still; they are always looking to improve how their subjects are taught. This high-quality self-evaluation has been key to the school’s rapid improvement.  The curriculum is strong, being enhanced well through many trips and visits. Sports have a high profile in the school. Science is taught weekly along with French in key stage 2. However, school leaders are aware

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

that there is scope to ensure that the work pupils do in these subjects is sufficiently demanding.  The school’s effective use of the sports premium funding has resulted in staff improving their subject knowledge of teaching sports. The uptake of sports among pupils has increased significantly, so the school would like to acquire a minibus to transport pupils to inter-school sports fixtures.  The pupil premium funding is used well to create smaller teaching groups in some years. It is also used to make sure that no pupils lose out on school trips and having the right equipment from an inability to afford them. The school’s accounting of the additional funding is of a high quality, ensuring that it has the right impact on reducing gaps in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and the others.  In assemblies, pupils’ achievements are celebrated, including their success in sports. Staff celebrate

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

examples of good work so that others can learn from it. This helps to ensure that pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness is strong.  The school receives good support from membership of the Bradford East One partnership of schools. Challenge from the independent school improvement professional has been high. Headteachers from other schools visit to help with self-evaluation and suggest improvements. This has been useful in helping the school to improve quickly.  The governance of the school  Governors have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. The headteacher breaks down achievement information for governors well so that they are in a good position to challenge and support the school.  The governing body checks on the progress being made on the school development plan through its various committees. However, the lack of clear measures at various points in the year makes it difficult

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

for governors to be sure that things are improving as well as they could.  The governing body takes its responsibilities to keep the school safe very seriously. All governors have been trained in preventing radicalisation and extremism.  Governors keep a close watch on the arrangements for managing the performance of the headteacher and teachers. Targets are ambitious and governors receive good-quality advice from the school- improvement professional used by the cluster of schools.  Arrangements for safeguarding are effective. An online system of reporting concerns means that any information is quickly and efficiently processed. The school works well with outside agencies in the care of its pupils. Appropriate checks are made when recruiting staff. A potential safety risk in the playground was pointed out by inspectors. Senior staff dealt with this immediately and the matter was resolved.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 The quality of teaching across the school is strong, particularly from Year 4 upwards. Teachers plan activities for pupils that are relevant, fun and challenging. For example, pupils not only learned about how blood is pumped around the body but also made their own stethoscopes.  Trips and visitors to the school bring learning to life for pupils. Year 4 pupils impressed an inspector with the detailed knowledge of Roman soldiers they had learned from a recent museum visit.  The most able pupils are challenged well because teachers make sure they use their assessment information to ensure that work is of sufficient difficulty.  Pupils who have special educational needs or disability receive good help in class but also in small groups where necessary. Teaching assistants know precisely how much support to give pupils while not doing the work for them.  In mathematics, teachers make sure that there are ample opportunities for pupils to solve problems

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

where they can use their number skills. In key stage 1, teachers ensure that in mathematics pupils know their times tables and can add, subtract, multiply and divide fluently.  Writing is taught well and good opportunities arise across the curriculum for pupils to write independently. In geography, pupils wrote persuasive letters on the subject of deforestation. In history, pupils wrote diary entries as if they were historical characters.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils say they feel safe and secure from any threats of bullying. Many say they would feel comfortable talking to an adult in school if they had any worries about bullying or harassment.  The many parents who responded to the online questionnaire felt that the school was safe and few expressed any concerns about bullying.  Outdoors, pupils make good use of the equipment provided by the school to keep them fit and healthy. Many play sports at lunchtimes, and those spoken to were able to talk about the importance of physical exercise.  Pupils are well prepared for living in a modern, democratic Britain. They learn about the importance of rules and laws. However, school leaders are aware that more could be done to ensure that pupils appreciate cultures and religions other than their own.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils behave well at lunchtime and during playtimes. There is the occasional disagreement in the playground, but pupils soon resolve these. In general, pupils play sensibly and look after each other during breaks.  School leaders keep detailed records of patterns of behaviour. These show dramatic decreases in poor behaviour over time. This is because teachers manage behaviour consistently well and the rules are very clear for pupils to understand. Moreover, the improvements in teaching mean that there is little motivation for pupils to misbehave and no time for them to drift off task.  In lessons, inspectors found that pupils’ attitudes to learning were strong. Pupils were eager to learn and get on quickly with their work. Often their behaviour was so good that they needed no reminders from the teacher on how to behave.  Inspectors were impressed with the care pupils took of their work and the presentation of their

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Behaviour

handwriting.  Parents feel behaviour is good in school.  Attendance is rising and the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent is reducing quickly as a result of the school’s close working with parents to help their children attend regularly. In particular, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils has shown a large improvement over the past year.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 In 2015, pupils had made good progress at the end of Year 6 in all subjects. However, standards were still below average because, for this cohort of pupils, teaching had not been consistently good when they were younger.  Over time, standards have been rising steadily due to better teaching throughout the school and in particular, better progress being made by children in the early years. In 2015, standards in key stage 1 had risen to broadly average after several years of them being below average.  A rising proportion of pupils in Year 1 succeed in the screening check for phonics (letters and the sounds that they make). In 2015 it was broadly average.  Inspectors found that for pupils currently in the school, achievement continues to rise, with gaps in attainment between boys and girls narrowing. There has been particularly good progress in mathematics, an area which school leaders have been working hard to improve.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Disadvantaged pupils achieve well. In reading, they make better progress than their peers. Gaps in their attainment with other pupils remain, but inspection evidence shows that they are narrowing in nearly all year groups in the school.  Pupils who have special educational needs or disability make good progress. Those that struggle with reading make good progress in linking sounds to letters, leading to them reading independently as they get older. Their progress in mathematics is good because teachers often use counters, blocks and other resources to help pupils fully understand how to calculate.  The most able pupils reach high standards at the end of key stage 2. During the inspection, complex mathematics on interior and exterior angles, approaching GCSE standard, was being tackled by Year 6, some of whom managed it well.  The school has worked to develop a library so that low-ability readers have a good stock of books to

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Outcomes for pupils are good

enable them to learn the basics and improve their vocabulary. The most able pupils use the library to read for pleasure and many choose demanding books. Some Year 4 pupils spoke to an inspector about the new words they had learned when reading ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ novels by CS Lewis.

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Early years provision is good

 Standards are rising. Children, including those who are disadvantaged, make good progress during their time in the early years. Children’s progress in the Nursery in particular is accelerating so that a greater proportion of children are now starting the Reception Year with skills that are appropriate to their age.  There has, until recently, been a gap in achievement between boys and girls, with fewer boys reaching the early learning goals. The school has been successful in narrowing this gap by giving boys more opportunities to take part in exciting writing opportunities, for example by using a ‘writing shack’ outside. Moreover, staff celebrate good writing by displaying it on the walls.  Leadership of the early years is strong. Leaders analyse achievement information well. Targets for pupils’ achievement are ambitious and leaders are well aware of the provision’s strengths and remaining areas of

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Early years provision is good

development.  All staff contribute to the assessments of children. Next steps in learning are clear to parents, so they are able to help their children at home. Good-quality records are kept so that staff are able to challenge children well to do their very best. Those that achieve the expected standard for their age in the Reception class are given opportunities by staff to go even further in their learning.  Adults go out of their way to make learning exciting. The indoor and outdoor areas are well equipped to enable children to develop their reading, writing, numeracy and social skills well.  Teaching is vibrant and exciting. The space topic during the inspection had captured many children’s imaginations. Some had designed satellites, some had designed underpants for aliens (inspired by the picture book) and others had written letters to aliens inviting them to come to Earth.  Children are thoroughly engaged and love learning. One child said, ‘I enjoy school so much, I can’t wait

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Early years provision is good

for Mondays to start!’  Children in the Nursery class quickly learn important routines and behaviours. For example, many children have a school meal, which they eat together using a knife and fork and take responsibility for clearing up after themselves.  The school motto ‘we care’ is very apparent in the support and care of children who have special educational needs or disability. Children are well supported and take part in all activities alongside their peers. Consequently, they make good progress, particularly in their speech and language.

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School details

Unique reference number 107243 Local authority Bradford Inspection number 10002030

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 481 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Alix Mann (acting) Headteacher Noreen Dunn Telephone number 01274 772175 Website www.cavendishprimary.org.uk Email address office@cavendish.bradford.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 24–25 June 2014

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Information about this school

 This school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils supported through the pupil premium is above average. This is additional funding provided by the government to support pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is similar to other schools around the country.  Most pupils are of White British heritage and so the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language or who are from minority ethnic groups is below the national average.  There have been changes in governance since the last inspection. The previous vice-chair of governors is now acting chair.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which are the 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

 The school is part of the Bradford East One Partnership of 12 schools. The schools support each other and share an independent school-improvement professional who provides external scrutiny and challenge. Headteachers and staff from the schools often meet to share expertise and learn from each other.  The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching throughout the school. They scrutinised pupils’ books and listened to them read. A number of these activities were carried out alongside senior leaders.  Inspectors talked with pupils both in meetings and around the school at lunchtimes and playtimes. They also held discussions with senior and middle leaders. The lead inspector met with the school- improvement professional who works with the cluster of schools, a representative from the local authority and with several members of the governing body.  Various documents were scrutinised by the inspection team, including the school’s checks on the quality of teaching, development planning, school policies and child protection records. Prior to the inspection, the lead inspector looked at information on the school’s website.  Inspectors considered the 258 responses to the online parent questionnaire (Parent View). Additionally,

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Information about this inspection

various parents were met by an inspector informally at the start of the school day.

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Inspection team

Robert Jones, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Ella Besharati Ofsted Inspector Jane Langley 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

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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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