Byron Primary School

Byron Primary School Barkerend Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD3 0AB

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher provides strong leadership. His high aspirations ensure that pupils achieve increasingly well from their starting points.  Senior and middle leaders are effective in checking the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress regularly and bringing about improvements.  Governors are ambitious. They know the school’s strengths and priorities for improvement and provide good levels of support and challenge.  Pupils’ outcomes are improving strongly and have risen significantly since the last inspection. The proportions of pupils reaching the expected standards in Years 1 and 2 phonics are now at the national average.  Pupils make good progress in a range of subjects across the school, especially in writing. Across all years, pupils learn to read fluently and with meaning.  However, in 2016, key stage 2 pupils’ reading outcomes fell. Pupils’ abilities to locate and retrieve information under test conditions were

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

insufficiently developed, as were their skills in making inferences and drawing conclusions.  Different groups of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, make increasingly good progress, because of the well-targeted support they receive.  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved notably, and is now good. Staff are keen to learn from each other and from experts in other schools.  On occasions, some teachers do not set tasks for the most able and some disadvantaged pupils that sufficiently challenge them, especially in mathematics.  Early years provision is good. The thoughtfully planned activities ignite children’s curiosity, indoors and outdoors. As a result, the proportion of pupils reaching good levels of development is rising, and is just below the national average.  The school is a harmonious environment in which pupils from a range of different

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

nationalities and backgrounds work, play and learn successfully together.  Parents are positive about the school. They say how well adults care for their children and that they are safe at all times.  The curriculum is well planned to meet pupils’ needs, especially those at an early stage of learning English. After-school clubs and the wide range of visits all promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching to raise pupils’ achievement in mathematics even further by: – ensuring that teachers consistently provide the most able with work that challenges them to use their mathematical skills as soon as they are ready to solve problems – ensuring that all adults check pupils’ learning and progress carefully in lessons, especially pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, revising work and the timing of activities so that pupils make maximum progress.  Improve pupils’ reading skills by the end of key stage 2 by: – honing their abilities to scan written texts more efficiently and retrieve key information quicker – enhancing their abilities to respond concisely to questions about written texts – developing their confidence to reason and make inferences.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 Determined leadership from the headteacher has led to strong improvement across the school. Staff morale is high. The headteacher has developed a culture of high expectations. As a result, the quality of teaching has improved significantly since the last inspection. Pupils’ achievement in most years is now good.  Leadership at all levels is strong. The quality of middle leadership has particularly improved. Senior and phase leaders work in close collaboration with one another. As a result, the progress that key groups of pupils make is checked carefully. Any additional barriers to learning are quickly identified and tackled. The school has a firm focus on promoting equality of opportunity, so that all pupils can achieve well, irrespective of their backgrounds or starting points.  Leaders with responsibility for different key stages and subjects have an accurate understanding of the strengths and areas for development in their areas of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

responsibility.  Regular checks on the quality of teaching and pupils’ work have led to improvements in the quality of teaching. High-quality professional development and training, sourced from the Bradford Birth to 19 Teaching Alliance and other local schools, is carefully linked to the needs of individual teachers, as well as to the school’s priorities. Staff work together to reflect on and share the best practice they observe. The school’s rigorous system for checking on the performance of teachers is closely linked to improving the quality of teaching.  The curriculum is well planned. Teachers ensure that it is stimulating, responds to pupils’ interests and develops their skills across a range of subjects. The many extra- curricular opportunities, including trips, visitors and work outdoors, enhance the more formal curriculum. Pupils talked enthusiastically about experiences at the Jodrell Bank

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

Discovery Centre and the Hull DinoStar museum. They were clearly enthused by the visit from a palaeontologist and the opportunity to study dinosaur fossils at close proximity.  Displays around the school celebrate pupils’ artistic skills in capturing images of the Great Fire of London and firework displays, and in collage work depicting Norman battleships. Displays promote key school and British values such as respect and tolerance for family differences and the concepts of freedom and equality that underpin the British political and legal systems.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well. Opportunities to learn about different religions, and to celebrate the different backgrounds and cultures of pupils in school, deepen pupils’ spiritual and cultural awareness. Pupils develop an understanding of democracy through assembly themes, in the annual election of school councillors, and in their close adherence to the school’s ‘golden rule’.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

Pupils’ regular participation in a variety of sporting activities and competitions enhances their social skills and their awareness of the importance of encouraging one another.  Funding to support disadvantaged pupils is used effectively. The impact of key spending decisions is checked closely by leaders and governors to establish how well pupils are doing. Since the last inspection, end of key stage 1 differences between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally have diminished in reading, writing and mathematics, and in writing at key stage 2. Across the school, disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes in reading are rising strongly, and staff have identified the need to accelerate the progress of some disadvantaged pupils in mathematics in Years 3 to 6.  Primary physical education and sport funding has been used successfully to widen the range of sports on offer. Pupils have opportunities to develop their skills in a range of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

different sports including football, basketball, and parachute and movement clubs. Participation in after-school activities has increased, as well as success in local sports competitions.  The school’s information shows that parents are highly supportive of the work of the school. Staff and pupils’ views are positive about the changes that have been made to school life since the last inspection.

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Governance of the school

 Governors are ambitious for pupils and families in the local community. They show a good understanding of the strengths of the school and key priorities for continued improvement.  Governors have worked with the headteacher to tackle weaknesses in teaching, and establish a culture of high expectations. Governors thoroughly understand the link between performance and pay progression. They have supported the headteacher in taking assertive action when performance is poor.  Governors have a good understanding of the quality of teaching and the progress of different groups of pupils, including those eligible for pupil premium funding. They are well informed and confident in asking questions of key leaders.  Governors place a high priority on keeping pupils safe, and ensure that staff training is up to date and relevant.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Staff training is constantly updated, including the ‘Prevent’ duty training.  Leaders follow the school’s safeguarding procedures carefully, including when concerns are raised, liaising closely with the relevant external organisations.  Senior leaders and governors regularly undertake audits for safeguarding, to ensure that the school’s practice is of a high quality.  Leaders ensure a safe environment for pupils through regular risk assessments. The school site is secure and staff are vigilant in keeping pupils safe. They understand thoroughly the implications of the latest version of ‘Keeping children safe in education’.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Teaching has improved since the last inspection so that it is now consistently good. Staff are keen to share effective practice in school and to visit other schools to learn from colleagues with specialist expertise.  Teachers have a good understanding of pupils’ different interests, and plan well to ensure that learning is meaningful and thought-provoking. Skilful questioning on the part of teachers and teaching assistants in lessons, and in small groups out of the classroom, encourage pupils to work things out for themselves and reach their own conclusions.  The teaching of writing across the school is good. In many classes pupils write successfully in a range of formal and informal contexts, and for different audiences and purposes. Most pupils work on tasks that encourage them to think carefully, write in detail, and with an eye for punctuation and vocabulary that makes a real impact on the reader.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Pupils are taught to read well and many enjoy reading for pleasure. Younger pupils use their phonics knowledge effectively to read unfamiliar words accurately. Older pupils appreciate the importance of reading and read regularly in school and at home. However, some teachers do not develop sufficiently pupils’ abilities to scan written texts rapidly and retrieve key information without delay. Some teachers do not equip pupils with the skills to answer questions about what they have read, in a succinct and precise manner.  The teaching of mathematics is improving strongly. Teachers are developing pupils’ confidence to work out calculations orally, and to explain how they have reached their answers. Pupils are increasingly successful in applying what they have learned to answer more complex questions. However, on occasions, teachers do not provide the most able pupils with work that challenges them to use their mathematical skills to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

solve problems as soon as they are ready. In some classes, some adults do not check pupils’ learning and progress carefully enough, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds and, as a consequence, some are not challenged to make as much progress as they could.  Teaching in a range of other subjects is good. The use of specialist coaches for physical education ensures that pupils receive high-quality teaching, for example in developing dribbling skills in basketball. Class teachers also learn from this specialist expertise. Skills in history are taught well, with pupils able to consult different sources to explain the key characteristics of the Bronze and Iron ages, and to account for the success of William the Conqueror at the battle of Hastings. The teaching of art is also good, with pupils empowered to experiment with an array of different materials and techniques. The teaching of science enables pupils to consider a range of interesting

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

facts, such as magnets and forces, but does not yet consistently develop key enquiry and investigative skills.  Teaching assistants provide pupils with effective support, which heightens their learning from their different starting points.  Homework promotes good opportunities for pupils to practise and develop their skills in reading, writing and mathematics, as well as undertaking activities and tasks which build on their learning in the wider curriculum.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Lessons promote stimulating experiences that intrigue pupils about the world around them and develop their appreciation of people from different backgrounds and cultures, as an essential part of their preparation for life in modern Britain.  Adults take every opportunity to celebrate pupils’ different nationalities and to explore the different countries their families come from.  Pupils’ knowledge of the concepts of freedom and democracy and of Britain’s Parliamentary system is good. They are proud of their elections to the membership of the school council, and to other roles such as sports leaders, reading buddies and library monitors.  The school has a harmonious atmosphere. Pupils mix happily with each other. Pupils are well mannered, holding doors open for adults and generally showing consideration for one another in the dining room and playground.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils feel safe in school and know that staff will sort out any problems that may arise. Pupils know they can openly share their problems with staff.  Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe and are clear about the importance of keeping safe online or when using a mobile phone.  Pupils understand about different types of bullying, and know that bullying is something that is repeated regularly and is to be prevented. Pupils say that when rare incidents of bullying occur, they are dealt with quickly and successfully.  The daily breakfast club provides a welcoming early morning experience for pupils who arrive before the formal start of school. This experience reinforces the school’s aim to help to develop caring young people.  Pupils learn how to eat healthily and develop a good appreciation of the importance of hygiene, diet and exercise.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils show positive attitudes to learning and work cooperatively in all years. They listen to each other’s points of view, and help one another with their learning. For example, pupils in Year 3 were excited by their ‘times tables’ challenge, and spurred each other on to gain their next award.  Staff are very skilled at supporting the small number of pupils who sometimes find it difficult to manage their own behaviour. They calmly but firmly establish the parameters for learning, adapting their responses to each individual’s needs.  Absence has fallen since the last inspection, and is now similar to the national picture. The school works hard to improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Good attendance is rewarded. Staff work closely with individual families whose children demonstrate irregular

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Behaviour

attendance patterns, and who choose to make extended visits to their countries of origin during term time.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Standards have improved since the last inspection. The work in pupils’ books, current in-school assessment information and other inspection evidence confirm that pupils make good progress across a wide range of subjects.  Pupils are extending their historical knowledge and developing their abilities to interrogate different sources of information and asking key questions. High-quality physical education experiences develop levels of stamina and physical agility. Opportunities to experiment with different materials and equipment enhance pupils’ artistic and technological skills. By the end of key stages 1 and 2, pupils reach national average standards in the science tests.  In 2016, key stage 1 standards rose to national averages in reading, writing and mathematics. These outcomes represented good progress from pupils’ different starting points. Current work in pupils’ books in Years 1 and 2, and the school’s

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Outcomes for pupils Good

progress information, indicate that the vast majority of pupils are achieving well and working at age-related expectations.  The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check is at the national average. This is because children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 receive good-quality phonics teaching which is well-matched to their different needs.  By the time they reach the end of Year 6, most pupils make good progress to reach the standards expected of them in writing, and some do better. The majority of pupils reach the national standards in grammar, spelling and punctuation.  In reading, key stage 2 outcomes fell in 2016 to below average. Senior leaders quickly investigated the reasons for this decline. Measures were swiftly put in place to heighten pupils’ skills in scanning and retrieving information more efficiently from written texts, and honing skills in making inferences and deductions. Inspection activities confirm

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Outcomes for pupils Good

that these measures are taking effect.  Inspection evidence also shows that, despite the 2016 test outcomes, the vast majority of pupils across the school read regularly and enjoy reading. Pupils from different abilities read fluently and with understanding to inspectors. When reading to inspectors, they used acquired phonics skills to pronounce unfamiliar words accurately. Many pupils could answer questions confidently about key characters, and how the storyline might develop.  The majority of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress, particularly in one-to-one and small-group scenarios. Staff are well trained in assessing the needs of these pupils and providing appropriate support.  Disadvantaged pupils make increasingly good progress, and especially so in reading and writing. Consequently, the attainment of disadvantaged pupils is improving and differences are diminishing. This is because the funding for these pupils provides

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Outcomes for pupils Good

additional support and resources which are matched closely to their needs. School leaders have identified the need to accelerate the progress of some disadvantaged pupils across Years 3 to 6 in mathematics.  Overall, the most able pupils make good progress, especially in writing. In mathematics, however, teachers sometimes do not challenge the most able as effectively as they could. As a result, these pupils do not always make the best possible progress in applying their mathematical skills to solve problems and test their thinking fully.  Pupils who are new to learning English make good progress in their language acquisition and the vast majority learn to speak English fluently. This is because they receive timely and good-quality support from specialist practitioners.

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Early years provision Good

 The vast majority of children make good progress in the Nursery and Reception classes, and by the end of the Reception Year, the proportion reaching a good level of development is closing on the national average. Children are increasingly well prepared to start Year 1.  Children settle quickly and become confident learners because routines and expectations in the early years are well defined. They behave well and show respect for and patience towards one another.  Children are encouraged to help each other with all of the planned activities. They confidently explore all of the stimulating resources, indoors and outdoors, collaborating enthusiastically to build a rocket with large wooden blocks, and sharing scissors and glue to make Christmas cards.  The vast majority of the adults ask questions that encourage children to think for themselves and develop confidence in communicating with each other. In a Nursery

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Early years provision Good

session, where children were making mince pies for Santa’s reindeers, an adult’s prompts deepened their thinking about how many pies each reindeer could eat, and how they would be delivered.  Teachers and teaching assistants know the children well. They check regularly how well children are doing, and identify quickly how they can develop further. For example, the current work on raising boys’ reading and writing skills is paying dividends, through stories and activities better matched to their needs.  The regular modelling of sounds and actions by all of the adults particularly lends confidence to children who are new to learning English to catch up with their peers. Those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported effectively alongside their peers. Pupil premium funding is used successfully to provide disadvantaged pupils with additional support and resources.  The most able children are also challenged increasingly well to ensure that they make

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Early years provision Good

good progress. In one session, for example, children were well supported in developing their learning about different shapes while building a model of Santa’s sleigh.  The leadership of the early years is effective. Staff work collaboratively across the different classes and ensure that the quality of teaching and provision is of a consistently good standard. Relationships are highly positive. Children are kept safe because all staff adhere closely to safety procedures and risk assessments.  There are regular workshops for parents to encourage them to support their child’s development. However, not enough parents are yet recording and contributing examples of children’s learning beyond school, so that children’s individual learning journals have a full picture of the progress that they are making.  Early years staff have recognised that there are inconsistencies in some learning journals about the exact nature of the next steps that children are recommended to

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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

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 3 – 4 December 2014

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Information about this school

 The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.  This is a much larger than the average primary school.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for support through the pupil premium is above average.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is average.  Almost all pupils are from minority ethnic groups, the vast majority being from Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritages. Almost all speak English as an additional language.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  Children in the Reception Year attend full time. Children in the Nursery attend part time.  The governing body makes provision for a daily breakfast club.  The school works informally with other primary schools within local authority

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Information about this school

partnerships and with the Bradford Birth to 19 Teaching School Alliance.  Since the last inspection, there have been significant changes in staffing, including senior and middle leaders, a new chair of governors and new governors.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited a range of lessons across the school, looking at pupils’ work in all lessons. Three visits were made with senior leaders. In addition, one inspector attended one of the school’s regular forums for parents, addressed by the headteacher.  Alongside senior leaders, inspectors reviewed pupil progress data and pupils’ work in books, information about the performance of teachers, documents pertaining to safety and behaviour, and information pertaining to safeguarding.  Inspectors listened to pupils read and observed pupils’ learning in small groups. They spoke with pupils in lessons, at lunchtime and at playtimes, and met with groups of pupils separately.  Meetings were held with the headteacher and deputy headteacher, senior and middle leaders, and governors. Conversations were also held with a representative from the local authority and the head of teaching and learning at the Bradford Birth to 19

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Information about this inspection

Teaching School Alliance.  Too few parents responded to Parent View (Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents) for inspectors to access their views. However, inspectors did take account of the 19 online responses returned by pupils and the 17 returned by staff. In addition, inspectors sampled recent school questionnaires completed by parents.

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Inspection team

Andy Swallow, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Mujahid Ali Ofsted Inspector Kate Rowley

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Inspection team

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

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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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.gov.uk/ofsted

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