Badsworth Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School

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

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Mrs Liz Jones Badsworth Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School Main Street Badsworth Pontefract West Yorkshire WF9 1AJ

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Junior and Infant School

Following my visit to the school on 7 March 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 was judged to be good in March 2013.

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Junior and Infant School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have developed a friendly and caring environment underpinned by the school mission statement, ‘CARE: Consider and Respect Everyone’. You know the school community well. Staff, pupils and parents feel that they are listened to and valued and that you take appropriate steps to help and support pupils.

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Junior and Infant School

You and your deputy headteacher work well together and staff comment on the good, clear levels of communication that exist within school. The induction of new staff is a strength. Leaders are quick to ensure that new staff understand systems in the school, such as procedures around safeguarding pupils. Staff value the high level of support and training provided by your leadership team. The effective induction and professional development they receive help to make sure that, despite recent staff turnover, provision for pupils has remained good.

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Junior and Infant School

At the last inspection, you were asked to improve the quality of teaching. You have high expectations and regularly hold staff to account for the impact of their teaching on pupils’ outcomes. Consequently, the proportions of pupils reaching expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics are above national averages by the end of Year 6.

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Junior and Infant School

You regularly monitor how well pupils are achieving. You, and your deputy headteacher, have a thorough understanding of why teaching is effective and how it can be made even better. You are both highly ambitious and determined to see pupils achieve their best. You rightly identified that there are instances in a few lessons where work could be even more challenging for some middle-attaining pupils, particularly in key stage 1.

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Junior and Infant School

At the time of the last inspection, inspectors recognised the many strengths in the school, including the behaviour and welfare of pupils and the good start they have in the early years. You have been successful in maintaining these strengths. You have also addressed the areas identified as requiring improvement, notably improving the quality of boys’ writing, which is now particularly strong in key stage 2.

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Junior and Infant School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Staff receive regular training so that they are vigilant and aware of pupils who may be at risk. Members of staff new to the school affirm that the training they receive is thorough and comprehensive.

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Junior and Infant School

All pupils who spoke to me and those who responded to the Ofsted questionnaire said they feel safe at school. Pupils confirm that incidents of bullying and poor behaviour in school are rare. When incidents do occur, they are confident that staff deal with them quickly and effectively.

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Junior and Infant School

Pupils are taught how to stay safe online. The school’s ‘5 Smart Rules for Staying Safe Online’ is set as the background on all pupils’ computers to reinforce the key messages of protecting themselves when using the internet.

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Junior and Infant School

You, and your staff, recognise when pupils and their families need extra support. You keep detailed and useful records of your work in this area, showing your timely responses. You provide a channel of communication for families and signpost support from external agencies when necessary.

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Inspection findings

 I wanted to explore current pupils’ progress in writing. The previous inspection report and outcomes in 2016 had suggested that the most able boys in key stage 2 were not making enough progress. You agreed, and told me that you and your governors had already identified this as a key priority for the school.  Visits to lessons and scrutiny of pupils’ books demonstrate that a wide range of exciting writing opportunities are available across the curriculum. Leaders focus on different ways to motivate boys to write and this has resulted in an increased number of boys achieving higher levels in key stage 2. Boys enjoy writing activities because they are purposeful and encourage them to stretch their imagination. Year 6 pupils were all highly engaged in planning their newspaper report about a ghost they had photographed on a recent residential visit.  I was also keen to explore with you the progress of pupils in key stage 1. This

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Inspection findings

was because, over time, published information in key stage 1 shows that while most pupils make progress in line with similar pupils nationally, there are some middle-attaining pupils who could make better progress. You recognised this and have begun work to continue to improve the outcomes for middle-attaining pupils by closely monitoring those pupils who leave the early years at expected levels.  Within some lessons, teachers were providing middle-attaining pupils with work that challenges them and stretches their thinking. There are still some inconsistencies within the progress of this group of pupils across key stage 1.  The teaching of phonics and reading is good. As a result, the proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check has remained above the national average for the last three years.  Pupils get off to a good start in the school. The indoor and outdoor environment

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Inspection findings

in the early years is exciting and purposeful. Activities are varied and appealing so that children are drawn in and sustain concentration. Adults in the early years pay great care and attention to detail when setting out resources so that they encourage children’s independence and challenge their thinking.  Pupils make strong progress in the early years and develop good writing habits. In the Reception class, pupils were writing the story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’, using a word bank to support them. They were successful in sounding out tricky words and in writing well-composed sentences legibly.  The progress of disadvantaged pupils was also an area I examined. The number of disadvantaged pupils in each group is too small to compare to other schools. However, overall, most, but not all, of these pupils make good progress.  Leaders at all levels, including governors, have a clear understanding of the

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Inspection findings

strengths and areas for development of the school. You have rightly identified that levels of attendance for disadvantaged pupils must improve. Although your clear stance with parents about punctuality and attending school regularly is beginning to have a positive impact, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils remains lower than you would want.  The majority of pupils recognise that attending school regularly is important. This message is reinforced in weekly assemblies where year groups with the best attendance are awarded an attendance cup along with a toy dog named Sam, ‘School Attendance Matters’.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 the proportion of pupils working at greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics at key stage 1 increases  pupil premium funding is used more effectively to improve the progress and attendance of disadvantaged pupils. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Leeds (CE), the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Wakefield. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

We met throughout the day to discuss different aspects of the school’s work. We visited lessons together across the school, with your deputy. I met with representatives from the governing body and a representative of the local authority. I also spoke with your school improvement adviser.

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Information about the inspection

I scrutinised the school’s safeguarding procedures with the senior administrator. I met with a group of staff who joined your school recently and considered the 11 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for staff.

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Information about the inspection

I talked to pupils about their learning; I looked at their books and displays around the room and listened to pupils in the early years and key stage 1 read their work. I met with a group of pupils from Year 5 and Year 6 and scrutinised their books in a range of subjects.

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Information about the inspection

I considered the 62 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, and talked with parents and carers at the beginning of the day.

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