Moor Allerton Hall Primary School

Moor Allerton Hall Primary School Lidgett Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS17 6QP

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The changes in staffing since the time of the previous inspection, particularly in the leadership of the school, have led to some inconsistent rates of progress across classes, groups and the school’s curriculum.  Leaders’ evaluation of the school is overgenerous because recent improvements have not yet had a positive impact on outcomes for all pupils.  Although improving, progress for pupils in English and mathematics is not sufficiently consistent given the good progress they make in the early years.  There is inconsistency in the rigour of subject leadership. Not all subjects are monitored thoroughly or systematically and the quality of teaching varies too much, both between and within subjects.  Teachers do not consistently use information about pupils’ starting points to plan tasks at the correct level and this slows pupils’ progress in lessons, particularly middle-ability pupils.  Some teachers do not have high enough

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

expectations of what pupils can achieve and teachers do not use questioning well enough to check that pupils understand what they have to do.  Weaker teaching does not challenge or support pupils effectively. As a result, pupils can become distracted or lose interest and the quality of their work suffers.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The senior leadership team, governors and dedicated staff have determinedly made many changes that are improving the school.  Pupils’ personal development, welfare and behaviour are good. The school’s caring culture is ever-present. Pupils are considerate and thoughtful towards others.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural learning is highly effective. The school prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.  Children make a good start to their schooling in the early years. They make good progress from their starting points. The teaching of phonics is good. Pupils’ outcomes in the Year 1 phonics check are rapidly improving.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Secure consistency in the quality of teaching so that pupils make at least good progress over time by: – raising expectations and the level of challenge for all groups of pupils – ensuring that teachers make effective use of pupils’ progress information to plan tasks that are appropriately matched to the needs and abilities of pupils – improving teachers’ questioning skills to ensure that pupils clearly understand what is being asked of them.  Improve the effectiveness of leaders, managers and governors in helping the school to become good or better by ensuring that: – all subject leaders are well trained and sufficiently thorough in monitoring the quality of teaching to bring about rapid improvement in pupils’ outcomes – accurate evaluation of the school’s performance information is used precisely to tackle inconsistencies across the school – priorities for improvement lead to improved outcomes for all groups of pupils,

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Changes to the senior leadership since the time of the last inspection have proved a significant barrier to the school’s efforts in securing good progress for pupils. Pupils’ outcomes have not risen quickly enough from their starting points.  The headteacher’s return to the school has been overwhelmingly welcomed by the governing body, and by staff, parents and pupils. The headteacher is clearly demonstrating her positive vision and aspiration to improve the work of the school rapidly.  Senior leaders and governors work closely with the local authority on key aspects of school improvement. Regular monitoring and review visits take place. Although reports on the school’s performance identify clear and accurate priorities for improvement, the overall evaluation of the school is overgenerous. Improvements have not yet had a significant impact on pupils’ outcomes in all year groups and subjects.  Systems for recording and tracking the performance of individuals and groups of pupils

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

have improved greatly since September 2016. They are now rigorous and are enabling the early identification of pupils in need of support. Monitoring of the performance of those pupils who join the school during the academic year, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged is particularly rigorous.  Teaching is improving in English and mathematics, because these subject leaders work in effective teams and demonstrate rapid improvement in their ability to evaluate pupils’ achievement robustly.  Currently, the monitoring of other subjects is not sufficiently thorough or systematic enough to bring about rapid improvement in the quality of teaching across the curriculum. Consequently, pupils’ outcomes vary too much across subjects, particularly in key stage 2.  The excellent opportunities that were planned for pupils’ spiritual, moral and social development at the last inspection remain a strength of the school. The school

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

continues to build on the rich cultural diversity of pupils and is a cohesive community. Pupils’ work in personal, social and health education, including the recent visit by Year 6 to the Houses of Parliament, is particularly effective in preparing pupils for life in modern Britain. Weekly themes such as ‘I can treat others with respect’ and the extensive opportunities for visits and residentials provide pupils with long-lasting memories and experiences which they record in their blogs and newsletters.  Leaders listen to the views and opinions of pupils and parents, acting on these to improve the school. Pupils make good use of their ‘aiming high together’ assemblies to identify how they too can contribute to the school’s development plan.  The school’s curriculum equips pupils with the knowledge and understanding necessary to accept and respect others, regardless of their culture, religious beliefs or

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

family background. The range of extra-curricular activities has widened recently to include opportunities for pupils to participate in drama, musical and sporting activities. Although the school’s revised curriculum is broad, it is not always balanced across all classes because of the school’s significant focus on improving pupils’ basic skills.  Leaders have transformed the teaching of reading since 2016 when too few pupils in Year 6 reached the required standard. Pupils’ progress in reading is improving rapidly and there is greater consistency in teaching across classes. There is a strong promotion of the love of reading across the school.  The primary school physical education and sports funding is used effectively. Sports coaches develop the expertise and skills of teachers. The number of girls participating in physical activity is increasing as a result of the successful ‘mini-mermaids’ running

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

club. The subject leader for physical education is working closely with teachers to improve teaching and this is used well to include the teaching of active mathematics. These initiatives contribute successfully to increasing pupils’ enjoyment of school and to developing their self-esteem and understanding about how to be fit and healthy.  Additional money for supporting disadvantaged pupils is used effectively to enable the learning mentor, behaviour support worker and the teacher for the nurture group to provide regular social, behavioural and emotional support. This has contributed to the increase in attendance and improvement in the behaviour of some disadvantaged pupils. There is also good use of this funding to provide one-to-one and small-group sessions with teaching assistants, which is contributing to the recent improvement in the attainment of disadvantaged pupils.  Leaders, including governors, ensure that the additional funding for special educational

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

needs has a positive impact on pupils’ progress. Leadership of provision for this group of pupils is very effective. The wide-ranging specialist support and intervention are having a positive impact on pupils’ outcomes.

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Governance of the school

 Since the last inspection, there have been considerable changes to the membership and organisation of the governing body. Governors now have a clear understanding of their strategic roles and responsibilities in implementing the school’s improvement plans.  Governors benefit from a wide variety of training to enable them to challenge leaders robustly, particularly about the progress all pupils are making. Governors scrutinise teachers’ performance information thoroughly.  Governors visit the school regularly and they use this first-hand information to ask some insightful and challenging questions of leaders. Governors now have an accurate knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. However, their previous evaluations have sometimes been too generous. As a result, teaching is not consistently strong across the school.  Governors ensure that additional government funding is used to improve the progress

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Governance of the school

of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Governors ensure that the school’s sports premium funding is used effectively.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Stringent checks are carried out prior to making any staff appointments. All staff and governors receive regular, suitable safeguarding training. This means that staff understand and carry out the school’s policy and procedures well.  Staff work closely with other agencies to help support the needs of those pupils whose circumstances make them vulnerable. There are good systems in place for working with the local authority and parents to support vulnerable children.  There is a strong safeguarding culture across the school, including in early years. Pupils are kept safe and they feel safe. Pupils spoken to by inspectors said that they know whom they should go to if they have a concern.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 The quality of teaching over time is not consistently good enough across the curriculum or year groups to secure good progress for all pupils by the end of key stage 2.  Pupils’ rate of progress, particularly in key stage 2, is hindered because teachers need to compensate for previous ineffective teaching in order to fill the gaps in pupils’ learning in reading, writing and mathematics. Work in books shows that pupils are not given enough challenge to progress their learning across the whole curriculum. For example, pupils make slow progress in French because work is not demanding or frequent enough to enable pupils to make rapid progress.  Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve, especially middle-ability pupils, are not high enough. In some classes, teachers do not use information about pupils’ progress effectively; consequently, work is not always at the appropriate level and progress is not strong enough for some pupils based on their starting points.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 In some classes, teachers do not take sufficient account of the needs of middle-ability and lower-ability pupils. They were observed to be struggling with tasks and they produced incomplete or inaccurate answers which slowed their rate of progress; on another occasion, pupils lost interest in their learning and they became distracted, producing untidy or little work.  The teaching of English and mathematics is improving, particularly for the most able pupils, but this is not consistent across the school. In some classes, pupils are given the same tasks to complete, even though the most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, already understand how to complete it. This slows the progress of these groups of pupils.  In classes where teachers accurately assess pupils’ work, they quickly identify pupils’ misconceptions and provide targeted support for those pupils who need it most. This rapid intervention and use of carefully designed tasks are successful in developing

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

pupils’ skills and understanding as well as their mastery of topics in mathematics, particularly in Year 1 and in Year 6. The work in pupils’ ‘final product’ literacy books is of a high standard and is very well presented.  Inspectors observed some teachers and their assistants making clear what they expected, which enabled pupils to gain a secure understanding of some challenging concepts. For example, a teaching assistant’s specific instructions enabled lower-ability pupils in Year 2 to perfect their use of the bar model when solving fractions.  The impact of teachers’ questioning varies. Some teachers, for example in English, use their good subject knowledge, probing questions and assessment skills well to design precise tasks which challenge pupils’ understanding and enable them to make good progress. However, teachers spend too long posing questions to the whole class that only a minority of pupils respond to. Consequently, pupils do not always understand

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

what is being asked of them or they are not stretched sufficiently, which slows their learning.  Leaders have provided an effective programme of training to enable all staff, including those who are new to the school, to have a more accurate understanding of the revised age-related expectations of pupils across the curriculum. However, the quality of teaching is inconsistent both between and within subjects. The amount of work produced by pupils varies greatly across subjects and classes. As a result, the progress of current pupils is also variable.  The teaching of phonics is good. There is consistency in the quality of the teaching of phonics in the early years and in key stage 1. Teaching of reading across the school is improving strongly and is highly effective. Pupils have the confidence to use their phonics skills to read unfamiliar words. Parents and staff work well together to help pupils make good progress and develop effective reading strategies.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 Some inspiring teaching leads to an enthusiastic response from pupils and so they make good progress. There is some strong teaching in English, mathematics, physical education, personal, social and health education and science. Pupils enjoy being challenged, and in these subjects, pupils are keen to tackle the work that requires them to think deeply. A number of pupils are learning British sign language and they are proud of their ability to communicate and work alongside those classmates who have impaired hearing.  Teaching assistants have received specialist training to enable them to provide effective support to pupils in lessons and in small groups. Teaching assistants are used well and deployed effectively to support pupils, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Resources, such as vocabulary lists and examples of accurate grammar, are used well to prompt pupils’ use of complex language. Pupils who speak English as an additional

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

language find these aids particularly helpful as pupils are able to make faster progress in lessons.  Staff from the specialist resource provision for pupils who are deaf and hearing impaired provide highly effective support to ensure that pupils who attend the provision participate fully in lessons and small group sessions.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  All staff care a great deal about pupils’ personal development and working relationships between staff and pupils are strong. The school works hard to support the social and emotional needs of all pupils. Pupils told inspectors that they know that adults will look after them if they feel unhappy. Parents agreed and many gave specific examples of how the school staff have helped their families during difficult times. Having experienced some personal family circumstances, one parent said, ‘I will be forever grateful for the care that they provided.’ The school’s work to support the learning and welfare needs of pupils whose circumstances may make them feel vulnerable is very effective.  Most pupils are confident and self-assured and show positive attitudes through the school’s development of their ‘six learning muscles’: enquiry, resilience, reflection,

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Personal development and welfare

independence, collaboration and managing distractions. There are occasions when pupils lose concentration and become distracted in lessons because work is sometimes not at the most appropriate level for them. On these occasions, pupils’ attitudes and willingness to learn can slow their progress.  Pupils know how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations, such as when using the internet or mobile phones. Pupils say that bullying is not an issue at the school. All who were asked felt confident that if there was ever a concern, adults would be able to quickly sort it out. From their entry into the early years, pupils are taught to value and celebrate the similarities and differences they have with others.  By the time they reach Year 6, pupils relish their roles of responsibility. They are mature in house teams, the school council and when caring for and supporting younger pupils. Pupils are taught from an early age to listen to each other’s ideas, weighing up what

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Personal development and welfare

they have heard and responding with thoughtful arguments. This is demonstrated clearly by the success of the schools’ representatives in the local debating competition in Leeds.  Pupils have a clear understanding of how to keep healthy and fit. They are taught to make sensible choices about food and calorie intake.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils are typically pleasant and happy and this is reflected in their behaviour around the school. Records show that there are very few incidents of misbehaviour. Senior leaders swiftly take appropriate action should there be any poor behaviour.  The school’s values are used well by staff to encourage pupils to celebrate their achievements, raise aspirations and increase pupils’ respect for each other. As a result, the school is a happy, friendly place. Pupils say that they enjoy school and they talk with enthusiasm about their learning and experiences.  The school has successfully established productive relationships with parents to enable them to gain a greater understanding about how they can help to improve their children’s learning. Leaders have taken a firm stance on attendance and have implemented a range of effective actions to improve this. As a result, school

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Behaviour

attendance is now around the national average. The proportion of persistent absence is falling, including that of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those with an education, health and care plan.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Outcomes for pupils are improving. However, the progress of pupils is too variable across subjects, groups and classes. The current progress across key stage 2, while not as poor as it has been in the past, is still not good. This does not prepare pupils well for their entry into secondary education.  The school’s own evaluation of outcomes indicates that the progress of current pupils in all year groups continues to show a mixed picture. Gaps in achievement between groups and across the curriculum persist. Pupils do not develop secure knowledge, understanding and skills in a wide range of subjects.  With the exception of reading, writing and mathematics, assessment of pupils’ progress is not sufficiently rigorous. Current progress information and pupils’ work indicate variable rates of progress, and an inconsistent quality of work over time being produced in different classes.  Pupils’ progress by the end of key stage 2 in 2016 was well below the national average

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

for reading. It was in line with the national averages in writing and mathematics. Standards achieved at the end of key stage 1 and by Year 6 pupils were below national averages in reading and mathematics.  The proportion of Year 1 pupils who achieved the required standard in the phonics screening check continues to improve and remains above the national average.  The school’s own assessment information shows that more pupils than in the past are reaching age-related expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. The work in pupils’ books confirms this for some classes. However, there is still too much variation in the achievement of pupils across the school, particularly for middle-ability pupils.  A high proportion of the school’s pupils are disadvantaged. Pupil premium funding is used effectively to monitor and support disadvantaged pupils, including the most able. Published results, information supplied by leaders and inspection evidence all show that

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

their progress is improving in line with that of other pupils in the school. However, their progress generally remains below that of other pupils nationally, reflecting the complexity of the needs of this group of pupils.  The progress of pupils who speak English as an additional language is similar to that of all pupils by the end of Year 6. Despite this, the attainment of these pupils is still below national figures at the end of key stages 1 and 2.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress by the end of key stage 2 in reading, writing and mathematics. Currently, provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, particularly those with an education, health and care plan in the resource unit, is effective because of the high- quality specialist support, improvements in reviews of pupils’ progress and greater involvement of parents.

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Early years provision Good

 Children enter the early years with skills that are below those typical for their age. Communication, language and aspects of literacy skills are particularly low on entry. Leaders accurately assess children’s starting points and they design stimulating activities to meet the diverse needs of individual children. Hence, children get off to a positive start and make at least good progress in the early years. Over the last three years the proportion of pupils achieving a good level of development has continued to improve and is now around that seen nationally. Children are well prepared for Year 1.  Parents are very supportive about the welcoming and supportive provision. They say that their children are helped to settle down quickly and that routines are quickly established. Parents particularly like the fact that they can discuss any concerns or queries with staff on a daily basis. Staff provide numerous opportunities for parents to

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Early years provision Good

be actively involved in their child’s learning, for example by making contributions to their child’s section of the ‘hopes and aspirations tree’.  Teachers ensure that they promote the values of the school from the time children start attending. The culture of care that is present throughout the rest of the school begins here and is evident in children’s thoughtfulness towards each other and adults. The children show great pride in their ‘wow wall’ and they enjoy identifying their six ‘learning muscles’ from well-designed pictures. Safeguarding is effective and all statutory duties are met.  The leader of early years ensures that activities and learning themes run throughout the high-quality learning environment, indoors and in the outdoor area. These promote children’s development in all key areas of learning well, and enable children to be happy, resilient and self-confident learners.  Staff plan activities that successfully build on children’s learning needs and interests. In

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Early years provision Good

one session, a discussion with children about where they would love to travel to in the world was used creatively by staff. Exciting activities involving a travel agency, large world maps and a variety of vehicles were quickly assembled and used very effectively to motivate children to improve their use of language.  Staff have high expectations for what children can achieve, and challenge them effectively to develop early skills in literacy and numeracy. Imaginative teaching, including in phonics, enables children to improve their ability to read and write words and sentences rapidly.  Teachers deploy other adults well to support pupils of differing abilities and developmental stages. Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged make good progress because of the particularly effective specialist support provided for them.  Staff record a wide range of evidence to help them to judge accurately the progress of

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Early years provision Good

individual children. Assessment information, however, is not used so effectively to report on the progress of specific groups of children, such as boys.

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.moorallertonhall.leeds.sch.uk

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School details

Email address lesley.mckay@moorallertonhall.leeds.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 17–18 October 2012

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Information about this school

 The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.  There has been significant change in staffing and in the leadership of the school since the previous inspection, including the unavoidable long-term absence of the headteacher.  The school hosts Leeds City Council’s specialist resource provision for nine pupils who are deaf and hearing-impaired. These pupils come from across the city of Leeds.  The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium funding is higher than the national average.  The percentage of pupils from minority ethnic groups is higher than the national average.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is higher than that seen nationally.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is in line with the national figures.

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Information about this school

 Increasingly across the year groups, a number of pupils enter the school at different times throughout the year.  The school provides full-time places for children in the Reception classes and part-time places for children in the Nursery group.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards (the minimum expected of pupils’ attainment and progress).  The school meets the Department for Education’s definition of a coasting school based on Key Stage 2 academic performance results in 2014, 2015 and 2016.  The school gained the Primary Silver Award quality mark for science in 2016.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors undertook a series of short, focused visits to classrooms and longer lesson observations in each year group. A number of these were conducted jointly with the senior leaders.  Formal and informal discussions took place with senior leaders, including governors, subject leaders, pupils, parents and a representative from the local authority.  Documentation relating to the school’s website and safeguarding, including the single central record of recruitment checks, was scrutinised.  The school’s self-evaluation, plans for improvement and analysis of pupils’ attainment and progress were evaluated.  Alongside senior leaders, inspectors scrutinised pupils’ work in different subjects.  Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and during break and lunchtimes was observed by inspectors.  Inspectors listened to pupils read individually.  Inspectors took into account the 64 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent

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Information about this inspection

View, 62 pupil responses and 34 staff responses to the online survey.

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Inspection team

Cathy Morgan, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Chris Campbell 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

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open- government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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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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