Setting

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

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Ms Lisa Corson Headteacher South Hiendley Junior Infant and Early Years School George Street South Hiendley Barnsley South Yorkshire S72 9BY

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Junior Infant and Early Years School

Following my visit to your school on 3 November 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Junior Infant and Early Years School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in July 2016. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. At its section 5 inspection before the one that took place in July 2016, the school was also judged to require improvement.

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Junior Infant and Early Years School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the last section 5 inspection in order to become a good school.

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Junior Infant and Early Years School

The school should take further action to:

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Junior Infant and Early Years School

 more quickly address the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection relating to: – improvement plans being sharply focused on speeding up pupils’ progress – making sure that tracking of pupils’ progress provides a clear and accurate picture of how well pupils are progressing.

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with senior leaders, the governing body and a representative from the trust to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. I evaluated the school improvement plan and spent time reviewing school documentation relating to: performance management; pupil assessment information; monitoring of teaching and learning; and governance. I observed teaching and learning with you in all of the classes and we spoke to pupils and scrutinised their work. I also reviewed the checks that are made on the suitability of adults to work with children.

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Context

There have been very few changes to staffing since the last inspection. Recruitment is currently taking place for the three vacancies on the school’s governing body. The school is working closely with the Inspire Partnership Academy Trust, with a view to becoming an academy in the near future. Two teachers are new since the last inspection, including one newly qualified teacher.

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Main findings

As a result of some of the actions taken to address the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection, there have been some encouraging signs of improvement in terms of pupils’ outcomes. In particular, pupils’ progress at the end of key stage 2 in 2017 was broadly in line with the national average, having previously been significantly below national figures in reading and mathematics. Progress and attainment for disadvantaged pupils, which was well below the national average for reading and mathematics in 2016, also improved in 2017. Progress for current pupils in key stage 2 is not consistently strong in all year groups and subjects. However, you have identified where this is the case and have put appropriate support in place to redress the balance and ensure that pupils make the necessary progress. You are aware that you need to further develop your tracking system so that information about pupils’ progress is more precise to

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Main findings

support you in securing the rapid improvement needed.

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Main findings

There are pleasing signs of improvement in the teaching of mathematics, where pupils are increasingly using problem-solving and reasoning to probe their thinking and deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts. You recognise that continuing to establish the changes you have implemented, such as with the teaching of mathematics, will be critical to improving outcomes further still.

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Main findings

An external review of governance has been carried out and governors have been quick to respond to all of the areas identified for development. This is resulting in governors holding school leaders more rigorously to account. An annual planner, used as a working document, is effectively supporting governors in identifying governors’ training needs and ensures that the governing body keeps a regular check on pupils’ outcomes. Governors are now asking more challenging questions about the school’s assessment information and are gaining a greater understanding about the context of particular cohorts. Governors are also increasing their checks on the impact of leaders’ actions through their planned visits to school. Through talking to pupils and seeing for themselves the evidence of school improvement actions, governors are successfully checking the accuracy of information they receive from leaders. Having information from school leaders in advance of

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Main findings

governing body meetings is also helping governors to prepare questions and identify possible areas to explore further at future meetings or visits to school. A wider range of leaders are now making more regular presentations to the governing body in person. This is also providing governors with even more detail and background to the information they receive through the headteacher’s report.

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Main findings

Leaders also commissioned a review of pupil premium spending following the previous inspection and have since had another review to make sure that the actions taken are having the intended impact on improving pupils’ outcomes. Leaders have used nationally recognised research to make sure that provision for disadvantaged pupils is more closely targeted to their needs. Tracking of the impact of pupil premium spending has improved, which is enabling governors and leaders to make informed decisions about how to target future funding. A particular barrier identified by leaders was pupils’ speech and language development. As a result, a speech and language therapist is now providing support on a fortnightly basis. This is not only effective in helping individual pupils but is providing additional training for school staff so they are able to make a more effective contribution to pupils’ language development.

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Main findings

Leaders can now illustrate the provision for disadvantaged pupils clearly through provision maps and plans which track the impact of interventions over time for each individual. Staff now have increased accountability for the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils. They are more aware of pupils’ specific needs and training has resulted in more precise support, both in class and in intervention groups. Leaders are now much more aware of disadvantaged pupils’ progress. However, you acknowledge there are still inconsistencies in the progress made by disadvantaged pupils across subjects and year groups. Leaders are currently analysing the outcomes for disadvantaged pupils by comparing their attainment with that of other pupils in each cohort and not also to other pupils nationally. This means they are not well informed about whether the difference in attainment for disadvantaged pupils compared with other pupils nationally is diminishing over time.

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Main findings

Data analysis, school improvement planning and self-evaluation from leaders are still in the process of being developed and at present are not sharp enough to bring about more rapid improvements. Self-evaluation does not always focus precisely enough on critical aspects of the school’s work, for example outcomes for disadvantaged pupils as a result of pupil premium funding. Likewise, unhelpful comparisons are sometimes made about data. However, leaders have plans in place to make the necessary changes to the school’s improvement systems in order to further increase the pace of improvement.

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External support

Leaders have been swift in their response to advice from external reviews of governance and of pupil premium spending. This has helped leaders to achieve some of the improvements seen in pupils’ outcomes. However, advice from the local authority about the need to sharpen school improvement planning and self- evaluation has not been acted on as quickly.

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External support

Support from the Aspire Partnership Academy Trust has begun, with a view to the school becoming an academy in the very near future. The trust has already helped leaders to identify precise areas for improvement and leaders are keen to respond to the suggestions made. For example, plans to make use of a trust-wide assessment system and procedures for self-evaluation and improvement planning have been arranged.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, 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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