Ingrow Primary School

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

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Ms Angela Vinnicombe Federation Leader Ingrow Primary School Broomhill Avenue Keighley West Yorkshire BD21 1BW

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Short inspection of Ingrow Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 29 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 November 2012.

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Short inspection of Ingrow Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Despite the significant constraints of disruptive building work during the last two years, you have remained focused on raising pupils’ achievement. The partnership between you and your head of school has been effective in bringing about improvements to teaching and learning as well as addressing areas identified for improvement at the school’s last inspection. In the early years, for example, children are provided with more opportunities to learn outdoors.

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Short inspection of Ingrow Primary School

Governors bring a range of expertise to the governing body, which provides good support and challenge. You have robustly addressed any issues of weaker teaching and have brought together a skilled and enthusiastic teaching team. You have identified the strengths and current priorities for the school accurately. You detail further actions to address these priorities in the school development plan. You acknowledge that some recent actions aimed at raising standards in reading are in the early stages and need further work. Too few pupils reach the higher levels in this subject.

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Short inspection of Ingrow Primary School

Since the last inspection, you have raised your expectations of pupils’ outcomes, and improved the quality of teaching, learning and assessment through good-quality professional development for staff and sharing in good practice at other schools. Less experienced teachers talk positively about the support they have received to develop their teaching. These improvements are now accelerating the rates of progress pupils make in their learning. The achievement of the most able pupils, for example, particularly in writing and mathematics, has improved as pupils are now provided with more demanding tasks. Governors and leaders at all levels keep a close eye on the quality of teaching and learning and are highly effective in evaluating the impact of this on pupil achievement and identifying pupils who are not on their ‘flight path.’ This drives school improvement and provides a keen focus for teacher appraisal.

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Short inspection of Ingrow Primary School

The school’s inclusive support for some of the most vulnerable pupils has resulted in improved attendance and positive attitudes from those who sometimes find settling in school and focusing in lessons more of a challenge. During the year, a high proportion of new pupils have been admitted into the school and others have left. The school manages this high level of mobility well with no concession for underachievement. Pupils’ personal development and good attitudes to learning have been pivotal in raising aspirations. You have been successful in creating a culture where pupils take responsibility for their own learning, for example practising and achieving personal targets in mathematics to ‘travel’ from one continent to another using their ‘maths passports’.

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Short inspection of Ingrow Primary School

The school promotes good citizenship skills and pupils understand and show respect for people’s differences. They are keen to take on responsibilities as a school councillor or digital leader. Pupils are courteous; their behaviour in lessons and their conduct around school is good. Pupils take a pride in their work and the good standard of handwriting is evident right from the start. Some of the youngest pupils have already developed a neat joined style of writing.

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Short inspection of Ingrow Primary School

Many pupils have been accommodated, some at very short notice, in temporary classrooms. Despite this, there has been no compromise in establishing an effective learning environment. Displays in classrooms and around school convey a clear message of high aspirations. Pupils are keen to meet the school’s challenge of ‘going for gold’ by achieving well in their work and attaining this accolade.

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Short inspection of Ingrow Primary School

You take a rigorous approach to safeguarding. You have been particularly vigilant during the building works to ensure adequate safety checks are carried out and risk assessments are put in place. Actions have been taken to address issues identified in your recent safeguarding audit. Training for staff and governors is fully up to date and recruitment procedures are robust.

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Short inspection of Ingrow Primary School

Your work with many vulnerable pupils and their families is well documented. In addition to using the school’s own resources, such as a speech therapist and a family liaison worker, the school is proactive in engaging with and involving external agencies. Summary records of incidents of concern are collated and evaluated. Any incident of poor behaviour is taken seriously and each is recorded and acted upon. Pupils state that there is no bullying but a few incidents have been recorded by the school and addressed. The culture of keeping pupils safe and putting them at the heart of an inclusive school community is very evident. The school promotes pupils’ personal, social and emotional development very well. Pupils who require further guidance to develop their social skills are well supported in the school’s nurture group or through the ‘Thrive’ scheme so they can function as effective learners.

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Short inspection of Ingrow Primary School

Pupils say that they feel safe. They have regular teaching on good behaviour, bullying and online safety, and as a result are very knowledgeable in these areas. Pupils know how to stay safe and free from worries while in school. They understand how to avoid situations that may prove dangerous when not at school. Pupils were very clear that there were plenty of people in school they could and would turn to if they were worried.

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Inspection findings

 Since the school’s last inspection you have developed the outside areas for the youngest children in the early years. Children now have access to a range of resources and equipment to develop their physical skills. Children were clearly enjoying the sense of space, riding on bikes and trikes, using the ‘car wash’ and handling bats and balls with accuracy.  Individual areas have been thoughtfully constructed to provide interesting activities. The mud kitchen, the water and growing areas were being well used for scientific enquiry, evident when two children confidently presented us with a large earthworm for further investigation. Outside, the celebration of the written word and access to books and a range of writing materials is, however, less evident. Opportunities for children to read and write outside still require some further development.  Your focus on improving outcomes for the most able pupils since the last

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Inspection findings

inspection has been largely successful. You have developed lessons with further challenge in mathematics in both key stages 1 and 2. In Year 6 in 2016, both the progress and attainment of the most able pupils overall was similar to the national average. In Year 2, the proportion of pupils achieving greater depth in mathematics was lower than the national average, but not significantly. These outcomes represent good progress from their previous starting points.  The school has reviewed its teaching of mathematics, adopting a new approach to teaching mastery in mathematics, improving teachers’ subject knowledge and using a pre- and post-learning approach to new topics. This is being further enhanced by training teaching assistants to pick up any misconceptions immediately in lessons so that they can be rectified. Pupils are given sufficient time to consolidate the learning of basic skills and then apply them to problem-

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Inspection findings

solving. Pupils’ books show that this is having a positive impact on progress. Even the youngest pupils can demonstrate their mathematical reasoning through simple diagrams.  At the school’s last inspection, the school was tasked to improve the proportion of pupils achieving the expected and higher levels in writing at the end of key stage 1. Standards in writing by Year 2 are much improved. At the end of Year 2 in 2016, the proportion reaching the expected standard was similar to the national average. The proportion of most-able pupils reaching the higher level was also in line with average. Current pupils’ books show an even better picture, with some pupils making rapid progress. Some of the youngest pupils are writing to a high standard for their age.  Achievement in reading is not as good as in writing and mathematics. Leaders have already introduced many strategies aimed at improving reading. Additional

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Inspection findings

resources and interventions, for example, are being used to boost pupils’ enjoyment of reading. Parent workshops, special events, competitions and the reading club have been successful in creating pupils’ genuine love of books. Pupils talk about ‘escaping’ into their books or reading to help calm down after a strenuous playtime. The school’s website also provides helpful materials for parents to support reading at home. There is, however, a lack of clarity as to which strategies are really making a difference to pupils’ outcomes.  The most able pupils are able to read fluently and talk about their preferences for particular authors. They can accurately retrieve information from a text to answer a question. However, pupils are less secure when inferring the author’s intention or mood when the text is not explicit. Pupils of all abilities are not given sufficient opportunities to reflect on their choice of reading material or evaluate their own

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Inspection findings

and others’ preferences, to extend their experience of different genres.  The school promotes ‘words of the week’ to immerse pupils in vocabulary they would not necessarily encounter in everyday life. Achievement of the most able pupils is sometimes hampered by their lack of understanding of unfamiliar words.

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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

 pupils reach higher standards in reading by:  promoting reading and writing activities in the outside area of the early years  evaluating recent initiatives and strategies to improve reading so there is clarity about what is making a difference  giving pupils an opportunity to evaluate their reading choices  improving most-able pupils’ vocabulary and their understanding of unfamiliar words.

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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 Bradford. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, the head of school and middle leaders to discuss aspects of the school’s work, particularly your evaluations of changes you have made to improve the quality of learning. We visited a range of classes to see the impact of the work you are doing to raise standards in mathematics and writing in key stage 1 and reading in key stage 2. We also checked on the progress you have made since the school’s last inspection in developing the outside area for the early years.

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Information about the inspection

I looked at a range of school documents. These included the school’s self- evaluation, the school development plan and behaviour and attendance records. I met with the chair of the governing body and three other governors, as well as a representative from the local authority.

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Information about the inspection

I considered the views of the school’s recent pupil and parent questionnaire. The views of parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were also considered. I spoke to several groups of pupils about their work and behaviour, heard some pupils read and looked at pupils’ books with the subject leaders for mathematics and English.

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