Ninelands Primary School

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

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Mrs Jillian Sabourn Ninelands Primary School Ninelands Lane Garforth Leeds West Yorkshire LS25 1NT

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Short inspection of Ninelands Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 3 October 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 December 2012.

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Short inspection of Ninelands Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You, your leaders and governors have an accurate and in- depth understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for future development.

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Short inspection of Ninelands Primary School

You have nurtured a new but determined leadership team and its members have brought renewed energy to the school. Together with your leaders, you have prioritised the actions needed to bring about the most effective changes at the school. This has been highly successful in improving outcomes for pupils across all key stages. Ninelands Primary School is a rapidly improving school and has the capacity to improve further.

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Short inspection of Ninelands Primary School

You were quite rightly pleased with the most recent outcomes for pupils in key stage 1, key stage 2 and early years. These results for 2017 show a remarkable improvement on the previous year. At key stage 2, the proportion of pupils who are now attaining expected and higher than expected standards in reading and mathematics is above average. At key stage 1, the improvement is equally good, with outcomes that are similar to and sometimes above average. The strong leadership and improved provision in early years have secured your best ever results for this part of the school. The proportion of children attaining a good level of development in early years has rapidly improved and is now well above average.

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Short inspection of Ninelands Primary School

Staff have responded well to your raised expectations, and morale in the school is high. You ensure that teachers are held strongly to account for the achievement of their pupils. Teachers support and challenge each other to improve their practice and have benefited from a range of good training opportunities.

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Short inspection of Ninelands Primary School

At the time of the previous inspection, inspectors asked you to raise attainment, particularly in writing and mathematics. This you have successfully done. Work in pupils’ books shows that learning activities are appropriately challenging for most pupils, and pupils are applying their writing and mathematical skills in different subjects well. Following the introduction of a new mathematics curriculum, pupils now have good opportunities to use their mathematical skills to solve number problems, and evidence from pupils’ work shows that they are doing this effectively.

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Short inspection of Ninelands Primary School

The standards that pupils are currently attaining, and the progress they are now making, are a result of well-thought-out plans to improve teaching and learning. As a result of actions you and your leaders have taken to improve standards in writing, most pupils are using a range of interesting vocabulary and complex sentences in their written work. However, you agreed with me that in a small number of classes, most-able pupils were not being challenged sufficiently in their written work. Consequently, these pupils are not achieving the standards in writing of which they are capable.

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Short inspection of Ninelands Primary School

When we visited classrooms, we observed well-behaved pupils who were engaged in and enjoying their learning. Pupils confirmed to me that this is typical. Teachers mostly plan work that is appropriately matched to pupils’ needs. Teaching assistants work alongside teachers effectively and give good support to pupils during lessons. However, you recognise that occasionally the needs of some pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are not met sufficiently well because the work they do is too hard.

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Short inspection of Ninelands Primary School

Leaders have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. There is a strong safeguarding culture in the school where nothing is left to chance. School leaders follow up any concerns diligently and work effectively with external agencies to ensure that children and families get the support they need. Parents who replied to Parent View, Ofsted’s questionnaire, report that their children are safe and secure at the school and are well looked after.

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Short inspection of Ninelands Primary School

Staff have benefited from appropriate training and understand what to do should a safeguarding issue or concern arise. All your policies and procedures relating to safeguarding, including safeguarding checks on adults working at the school, meet requirements and are up to date. Governors are fully involved in the oversight of safeguarding across the school.

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Inspection findings

 During this inspection, I wanted to establish what leaders have done to achieve the rapid improvement in pupils’ most recent outcomes. It soon became very clear from speaking with you and your leaders, visiting classrooms and looking at pupils’ work that you have raised expectations considerably. Strong and determined leadership, including from those leaders responsible for English, mathematics and early years, has ensured that the quality of teaching has improved and as a result increased the progress pupils make.  Standards in mathematics have improved considerably. Following changes to the mathematics curriculum that you and your leaders have made, pupils now complete learning activities that help them to improve their skills. Evidence in pupils’ books shows that pupils are completing a range of challenging and well- thought-out tasks.  Early years is exceptionally well led and the leader ensures that the provision for

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Inspection findings

children is of the highest quality. Clear priorities have been identified and addressed, such as improving writing, especially for boys. The rapid development of children’s skills, knowledge and understanding during their time in early years means that the proportion of children who are ready for learning in Year 1 is much higher than average.  Pupils’ outcomes in writing have shown a significant improvement. However, the standard that pupils attain in writing is not as high as the standard they attain in other subjects. The number of pupils who reach the higher standard in writing is smaller than that found nationally. During the inspection, I looked at why this could be the case. Following our scrutiny of pupils’ work and visits to classrooms to observe learning, you agreed with me that in a small number of classes, the most able writers are not being challenged sufficiently.  Pupils who read to me said how much they enjoyed reading and that they

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Inspection findings

regularly read at home. Less able pupils use a range of techniques to help them read unfamiliar words; most-able pupils read more challenging books with fluency, expression and interest.  Previously, some pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities had not made as much progress as they should. You ensure that these pupils receive additional support at different times of the day and as a result they are currently making better progress. However, you and your leaders acknowledge that sometimes the needs of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are not sufficiently well met during lessons. This is because the work they do is too hard for them.

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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

 teachers consistently set work that is sufficiently challenging for the most able pupils so they achieve the standard of which they are capable in their writing  in all classes, provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities continues to improve so that the needs of these pupils are well met.

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

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I held meetings with you and your leadership team. I also spoke with five members of the governing body and a local authority representative. I spoke with pupils informally during lunchtime and when listening to pupils read. I made short visits to classrooms in each year group with you and looked at pupils’ books with your leadership team. I scrutinised various documents, including the school’s self-evaluation, improvement plans and safeguarding documents. I considered the 22 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and the 136 responses to Ofsted’s online parent questionnaire, Parent View. In addition, I took account of the 103 messages from parents using the free-text messaging service.

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