Setting

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

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Mrs Joanna Kurasinski Headteacher Fearnville Primary School Fearnville Drive Off Sticker Lane Bradford West Yorkshire BD4 8DX

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School

Following my visit to your school on 27 September 2016 with Kirsty Godfrey, HMI designate, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in February 2016. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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School

At its section 5 inspection before the one that took place in February 2016, the school was also judged to require improvement.

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School

Senior leaders and governors are not taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the last section 5 inspection in order to become a good school.

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School

The school should take further action to:  address the areas for improvement with the urgency and sufficiency that is needed to secure the rapid progress pupils need to make from their very low starting points.

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with you, other senior and middle leaders, three members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. The school action plan and interim position statement were evaluated. Lessons were visited with you; we spoke to pupils and scrutinised their work. Time was spent reviewing school documentation relating to the monitoring of teaching and learning, attendance and governance.

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Context

Since the last inspection there have been a number of staff changes. A new full- time substantive headteacher was appointed from 1 September 2016. The special educational needs coordinator and inclusion leader has left and an interim leader appointed. This post is presently being advertised. There is a new leader for mathematics. Several members of the teaching staff have left. Some of these vacancies have been filled with permanent appointments. The vacancies pending recruitment have been filled with temporary arrangements and staff available in school.

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Main findings

Since your appointment on 1 September, you have quickly gathered an accurate view of the school. You have drawn up a detailed position statement which identifies the work that needs to be done to tackle the areas for improvement and some other aspects of the school’s work. You acknowledge that ‘there is much to do’ and have yet to reflect on this work and prioritise your actions into an action plan.

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Main findings

Prior to your arrival, the interim executive headteacher worked hard to implement much-needed systems and procedures for the monitoring of teaching and performance management. This was to address the weak teaching and inconsistencies identified at the last inspection. Nevertheless, the resulting changes in staffing and leadership have slowed the progress and impact of actions to improve teaching. The school still remains in a vulnerable position given the number of vacancies in teaching and some aspects of leadership.

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Main findings

Observations of teaching and learning, scrutiny of pupils’ work and the school’s monitoring records show that some of the changes implemented have provided greater consistency in aspects of teaching, such as marking and feedback. You agree that there are, however, a number of fundamental weaknesses in teaching that are limiting the pace of pupils’ learning and progress. This includes teacher subject knowledge and the use of assessment to inform planning and teaching, in order to pitch work at the right level for pupils and provide the appropriate challenge they need. For example, we saw how this is limiting the learning and progress of pupils in mathematics, in particular the most able. To date, regular evaluations of teaching have focused heavily on checking compliance with the agreed expectations of teaching, rather than the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning. This has not helped you or other leaders to evaluate teaching in the depth needed to know precisely

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Main findings

what teachers need to improve in order to accelerate pupils’ learning.

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Main findings

At the start of term, you and your leaders did not check closely enough or take prompt action to ensure that pupils at key transition points had the best start. For example, teachers have not used the end of foundation stage assessments and transition information well enough to ensure that pupils start at the right point in mathematics. This means that some pupils have taken a backward step, which has further impeded their progress. This is particularly the case for the most able. Although you identified pupils who are in need of additional teaching and support to improve their phonics knowledge, you have not actioned this. Consequently, these pupils do not get the most out of daily guided reading sessions.

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Main findings

Improvements in the leadership and teaching of early years have ensured that more children are ready for the next stage of their learning. There is, however, work to be done to secure a better start for children in the Nursery, by ensuring that more children attend and the links with the children’s centre are developed to engage parents from the outset. The early years leader was able to share what actions need to be taken, but has not developed a focused action plan to demonstrate what she expects as a result of the actions taken.

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Main findings

You have continued to address the ongoing issues with attendance and punctuality and pupils know they need to be in school every day and arrive on time. You have been hindered in this aspect because of a slow response from the local authority concerning the removal of a number of pupils who had been registered as missing in education. In addition, despite a ‘zero tolerance’ approach, a number of children are still taken out of school on extended holidays. This remains a high priority for you.

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Main findings

The school does not meet the requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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Main findings

The governing body has the skills and knowledge to provide the support and challenge the school needs. It regularly pursues the challenges it makes by seeking more evidence from leaders. It would benefit from having an action plan that has some measurable milestones for the quality of teaching, pupil outcomes and attendance, in order to check and assess the impact of leaders’ actions and the level of progress the school is making.

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External support

The local authority, through the work of the new achievement officer, has begun to provide the support and challenge the school needs. She has a comprehensive and accurate view of the school because of the regular and robust checks made.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body and the director of children’s services for Bradford. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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