Talbot Primary School

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

p.1

Mrs Parm Gill Headteacher Talbot Primary School East Moor Road Roundhay Leeds West Yorkshire LS8 1AF

p.1

Short inspection of Talbot Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 1 February 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school judged to be good in September 2011.

p.1

Short inspection of Talbot Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since arriving in 2014, you have led by example and have successfully created a culture of high expectations of both staff and pupils. This ‘have-a-go’ ethos has led to you spreading the leadership load and empowering staff to also take responsibility for improving the school further. As a result, staff morale is high and staff feel the school is well led and managed.

p.1

Short inspection of Talbot Primary School

The school is improving because you and your senior leaders have an accurate grasp of what is working well in school and what the priorities are. Your self- evaluation is accurate and clearly highlights next step priorities. As a result, you have rightly prioritised the need to improve the progress pupils make in writing, including creating more opportunities for extended writing across the wider curriculum.

p.1

Short inspection of Talbot Primary School

You and your leaders have a secure understanding of how well teachers are teaching through regular visits to classrooms, reviewing of pupils’ work and by talking with pupils about how well they are progressing. Consequently, you and your leaders have your finger on the pulse of what is happening in school and so attainment levels have remained high over time. Pupils continue to make particularly strong progress in reading and mathematics.

p.1

Short inspection of Talbot Primary School

Parents comment on the good quality of leadership in the school. They have rightly identified the improved levels of communication between school and home. You and other staff know your pupils extremely well and work particularly well with vulnerable groups of children in supporting them and their families. The vast majority of parents praised the ‘fantastic ethos’ and feel the ‘renewed levels of energy’ you have brought to the school.

p.1

Short inspection of Talbot Primary School

Like you, governors are passionate and determined to see the school further improve and provide effective challenge. Governors regularly pose appropriately challenging questions regarding how well the school is doing and seek to remove any potential barriers to further improvement. Governors have a good strategic understanding of how well the school is doing. Key governors focus on particular school priorities and the impact leaders are having. This has further helped governors understand how well leaders are doing in terms of improving pupils’ progress.

p.2

Short inspection of Talbot Primary School

Governors carry out their statutory duties well and, as a result, key school policies are reviewed, amended and ratified in a timely manner and published on the school website. Governors also have a good understanding of how additional funding is being used and the impact it is having on pupils’ progress.

p.2

Short inspection of Talbot Primary School

Teachers are thoughtful and proactive when it comes to keeping children safe. As one teacher said, ‘it is a journey that never ends’. This demonstrates the mindful and attentive attitude leaders and staff have towards safeguarding. Staff clearly understand that it is everyone’s responsibility to keep children safe. From the office staff to lunchtime supervisors, all staff are clear whom they speak to if they have any worries about a pupil’s safety.

p.2

Short inspection of Talbot Primary School

Regular and effective training has made sure that staff are confident in spotting any potential safeguarding concerns. Staff told me that they had found recent child protection training ‘hard hitting’ but extremely helpful. This has helped them feel confident and on the lookout for any potential safeguarding issues.

p.2

Short inspection of Talbot Primary School

Staff have a good understanding of the key messages from the Department of Education’s ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, and weekly one-minute updates ensure that safeguarding remains on everyone’s radar. The single central record is well maintained and up to date.

p.2

Short inspection of Talbot Primary School

Leaders support vulnerable pupils particularly well. Early help plans are used well to improve outcomes for these pupils, especially in relation to attendance. Leaders work well with a range of other agencies and professionals. Vulnerable pupil case files accurately and clearly capture the chronology of events and what actions need to happen next.

p.2

Short inspection of Talbot Primary School

The school provides a safe and welcoming environment. Pupils enjoy coming to school. As a result, attendance rates remain high. Leaders carefully analyse pupils’ attendance regularly. This helps them spot any emerging attendance issues and tackle these quickly.

p.2

Inspection findings

 Pupils have very good attitudes to learning. This is because leaders have invested time and effort in teaching pupils how to go about dealing with challenges. With this ‘growth mind set’ approach to learning, pupils, including the most able, enjoy choosing and tackling a range of challenges in lessons. Levels of challenge have increased since the time of the last inspection when this was an area for the school to improve. Vibrant and motivating displays in and around the school highlight the importance of not giving up and challenging and helping pupils to do even better.  Pupils are polite and friendly. They are keen to say hello to visitors and ask how they are. They usually play well together and treat the school with respect. Pupils are very positive about teaching and rightly feel that most of their lessons provide them with suitable challenge.  Leaders have made sensible changes and improvements to the early years

p.3

Inspection findings

provision. There are now more opportunities for child-initiated learning, and this is helping to engage children and sustain their levels of interest. Coupled with a more engaging learning environment, the numbers of children ready for key stage 1 is increasing year on year and remains above the national average.  Younger pupils in key stage 1 are developing their reading skills well. Weaker readers are improving their levels of fluency, expression and comprehension. This is because of well-delivered daily phonics sessions, which effectively target and address pupils’ specific needs.  The ‘creative curriculum’ is helping engage and enthuse pupils in learning. There are a range of exciting questions and enquiries that interest pupils. This is helping pupils gain a broad and balanced education. There are some opportunities for pupils to practise their extended writing but leaders rightly recognise that this is an area that needs further work.

p.3

Inspection findings

 Middle leaders are keen, committed and enthusiastic. They have a good understanding of how well their subjects are being taught and are clear about priorities for improvement. However, senior leaders recognise that middle leaders need to further develop their leadership roles, so they can more directly improve the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress.  The school development plans focus on the right priorities for further improving the school. However, plans do not clearly show when particular actions are to take place or the intended impact they will have on pupils’ progress. As a result, this makes it difficult for governors to evaluate the impact leaders are having.

p.3

Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

p.4

Next steps for the school

 pupils accelerate their rates of progress in writing and are provided with more opportunities for extended writing across the curriculum  middle leaders develop their roles and responsibilities further so that they play a greater role in further improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ rates of progress  plans for improvement have clear timescales for when actions will occur and clearly show what impact this will have on pupils’ progress.

p.4

Next steps for the school

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

p.4

Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, your deputy headteacher and a group of middle leaders. I also met with a group of governors and the local authority school improvement adviser. Together with you, your deputy headteacher and your assistant headteacher, we visited classrooms to observe teaching and to look at pupils’ work. I also listened to some pupils read. Consideration was given to 144 free-text responses from Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, and to 27 staff survey responses and 201 pupil survey responses. I evaluated recent information in relation to pupils’ progress, the school’s self-evaluation document, the school improvement plan and a range of documentation about how you keep pupils safe. I also sampled vulnerable children’s case files. They key areas I looked at during the inspection were how effective safeguarding arrangements are, and the progress children make in the early years, key stage 1 and key stage 2, especially the

p.4

Information about the inspection

progress of the most able. I also looked at whether governors are meeting their statutory duties.

p.4