Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

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

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Miss Clare Kelly Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School Stoney Lane Hall Green Wakefield West Yorkshire WF4 3LZ

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

Following my visit to the school on 14 February 2018, 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 June 2013.

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I am of the opinion that the school has demonstrated strong practice and marked improvement in certain areas. This may indicate that the school is improving towards being outstanding. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection be a section 5 inspection.

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

You challenge and support the whole school community to ensure that pupils achieve the best they can. You listen carefully to staff and pupils and empower them to contribute to the school’s improvement. This work has helped to develop an extremely strong culture of learning and behaviour in pupils, and strong levels of professionalism in the staff. The stimulating and rich experiences adults make available to pupils are manifest in the high-quality displays throughout the school.

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

Parents and carers are extremely supportive of the school. They very much appreciate the level of care and guidance that is given to their children as a matter of routine. As one parent stated, ‘The school is a nurturing environment where all children can flourish.’

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

Leadership at all levels is characterised by a considerable drive and determination. This is ensuring that the school continues to improve rapidly. You provide many opportunities for staff within school to effectively take on new responsibilities. This trust in their ability to lead and develop initiatives is clearly appreciated, as shown in the overwhelmingly positive responses to the staff survey. Equally, it impacts on the high standard of teaching that pupils experience in the classroom. Systems to check on the quality of teaching are very well developed, and provide leaders with a detailed understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development. Planning for improvement is strong and, as a result, rapid actions are taken when needed. All leaders play a clearly defined and effective role in monitoring the impact of the work of the school. It is very evident that if any action or initiative is not

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

having the necessary impact then it is very quickly adapted or replaced.

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

A continuous focus on high-quality teaching and learning is evident across the school. Ongoing assessment is rigorous and it is used effectively to inform planning and identify additional support required for individual pupils. You and your governors are clear as to the standard required from anyone wishing to work in the school. As one member of the governing body said, ‘Excellence is our standard.’ In recent years, you and your leadership team have further extended the quality of teaching through your policy of ‘growing our own staff’. This has included developing staff new to the profession and those who are just beginning their initial training. It is a testament to this approach that staff want to stay, and continue their professional development at the school. Staff recognise the quality of experiences and opportunities you provide. All staff who responded to the staff online survey were proud to be a member of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

Despite children entering school with skills and knowledge below those typical for their age, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development at the end of Reception is typically above national averages. Learning gets off to a strong start. Pupils continue to achieve well in key stage 1, especially in reading and writing. In these subjects in 2017, an above-average proportion of pupils reached levels of greater depth by the end of Year 2. The proportion reaching these higher levels in mathematics, however, was average. Work is already underway to ensure that this improves.

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

In key stage 2, overall, pupils are making strong progress. This is a result of the consistently high expectations of staff and strength in teaching. Progress in writing is particularly rapid. This is shown through the high-quality written work that is on display. In Year 6 in 2017, the overall proportion of pupils reaching the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics combined was much higher than the percentage that did so nationally. However, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils reaching this standard was lower. In reading and mathematics, the progress of disadvantaged pupils lagged behind others. You have already taken swift action to ensure that disadvantaged pupils do as well as other pupils in the school and this is already paying off. However, you recognise that this remains a key focus for further school improvement. Governors bring a wide range of relevant skills and experience

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

to the school. Governors understand the strengths of the school, and those aspects that still require further work. Governors are not in the least bit complacent and they robustly challenge you about the impact you and your staff’s work is having on pupils’ learning.

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

Pupils work effectively with one another and show positive attitudes towards learning. Pupils spoken to understand the need to attend regularly and appreciate what the school has to offer them from creative work in art to the opportunity to visit China in Year 6.

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

You have decisively addressed areas for improvement from the previous inspection; for example, through implementing and embedding the new ways of working identified at your last inspection, then rigorously monitoring their impact. This has led to boys consistently progressing as well as girls. You and your staff have continued to strengthen pupils’ opportunities to develop as independent learners. For example, in Year 6 pupils were able to independently refer to previous learning on coordinates and then use this knowledge to support their current work in mathematics.

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

The school ensures that the safety and well-being of pupils is a high priority. You have developed a dedicated team of staff to ensure that the standard of safeguarding is high. The checks you make on the suitability of adults who work in or visit the school are exemplary. Any pupil who feels unhappy or concerned is quickly identified, and then support is provided by caring adults. Those pupils who are the most vulnerable are carefully nurtured, which enables them to feel secure and to thrive in school. Pupils spoken to feel that they can trust your staff and particularly value the care they provide. You and your staff know the families in the community very well and work closely with them to provide the appropriate support and guidance.

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

You keep very detailed records of the actions you take to protect children and their families. Records show that you and your staff are tenacious in following up actions to get the best results possible for your pupils.

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

You have worked alongside pupils in school. You have tapped into their knowledge and understanding of how to keep safe to produce a child-focused booklet on safeguarding. Pupils spoken to feel it is very helpful and gives clear ‘top tips’ on what to do if they have any concerns or issues.

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Short inspection of Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School

There is a distinct culture of care across the school. From the very start of the day at the well-attended breakfast club, staff work to support and nurture pupils. Pupils of all ages are very responsive and considerate towards each other and recognise that some pupils in school have very distinct needs who may need their help. Crigglestone Dane Royd Junior and Infant School displays an extremely inclusive approach to all families and their children.

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Inspection findings

 High-quality teaching and highly effective subject leadership of mathematics has resulted in pupils being challenged successfully, particularly in key stage 2. This is because subject knowledge of both teachers and teaching assistants is strong. They are successful in supporting pupils to tackle more increasingly complex problem-solving and reasoning tasks. As a result, more pupils currently in Year 6 are working at the higher standards of attainment and to a slightly lesser extent in Year 2 at greater depth. However, the school is very aware that work still needs to continue to ensure that the progress of key stage 1 pupils in mathematics matches that of key stage 2 pupils. Already, well-considered measures have been put in place by the subject leader to address this.  The leadership and provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is strong. The school is recognised by parents as one that goes

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Inspection findings

above and beyond to support pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. Leaders and teachers identify the needs of pupils as soon as they enter Nursery and Reception and, from there, a very carefully planned programme of interventions and guidance is put in place. Teachers and teaching assistants are extremely adaptable and are quick to take on additional training to make sure they can provide the right level of support for each pupil. As a result, pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities, from their different starting points, make strong progress and in upper key stage 2 progress is rapid.  Phonics teaching is effective. Adults rightly emphasise children’s language development as soon as they begin their schooling, so children are encouraged to talk and listen. High quality, interactive and engaging teaching is provided to develop pupils’ accuracy in their use of phonics. Progress is monitored carefully

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Inspection findings

and, when necessary, personalised programmes of support are put in place. Over recent years, pupils’ attainment in the Year 1 phonics screening check has been above the national figures. However, in 2017 this dipped due to a number of pupils with very particular needs not reaching the appropriate standard. Most pupils currently in Year 1 are on track to reach the expected standard. There is a clear focus on all pupils being appropriately challenged, and an expectation that they will move on, when ready, to the next stage of development. For example, children in Nursery moved quickly from saying the initial sounds ‘e’ and ‘c’ in words, to forming the letters with the teacher and then being able to say the relevant sounds in the middle of more challenging words. As an end activity, children were then able to recognise the word and place it next to the appropriate object. Throughout the session, because of the teacher’s enthusiasm

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Inspection findings

and expertise in teaching phonics, children were motivated and eager to learn.  Leaders within school are taking effective and focused action in supporting disadvantaged pupils. Your deputy headteacher strongly leads this aspect of work in school and is very proactive in finding, and providing, the exact level of support that this group of pupils need. The deputy headteacher actively involves the pupils themselves in making decisions about their learning and this has increased their levels of independence. A recent independent review of the school’s support for disadvantaged pupils indicated that you and your staff are taking all the steps needed to help pupils make appropriate progress. As a result, from their starting points, disadvantaged pupils are making strong progress. However, you and your staff are aware of the need to continue to work on this aspect so that disadvantaged pupils progress at a similar rate to that of other

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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 achieving at a greater depth in key stage 1 mathematics continues to rise and is sustained at or above that seen nationally  disadvantaged pupils’ progress continues to improve at a similar rate to that of other pupils in school.

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

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you and your senior leadership team. I held a meeting with a group of pupils, and I spoke to pupils less formally in lessons. I met with six members of the governing body, including the chair of the governing body. I also met with the school improvement adviser from the local authority. Together with you and your deputy headteacher, we visited the early years, Year 6 and key stage 1 to observe the quality of teaching and learning. In addition, I undertook a learning walk in key stage 1. I listened to pupils from Year 6 read and children informally in the Reception class. I also looked at pupils’ work in books from this academic year and examples from the previous year for Year 2 and Year 6. I examined the school improvement plan as well as other documents, including assessment information, pupil tracking, external reports and monitoring and evaluation files. I examined safeguarding documents, including the single central

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Information about the inspection

record of security and suitable checks on staff. I took account of 110 free-text responses from parents and 110 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire. I also took account of 32 responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire and one response to the pupil questionnaire.

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