Primary Pupil Referral Service

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

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Mrs Alison Ward Acting Headteacher Primary Pupil Referral Service Park Road Batley West Yorkshire WF17 5LP

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Short inspection of Primary Pupil Referral Service

Following my visit to the school on 28 March 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 March 2014.

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Short inspection of Primary Pupil Referral Service

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have successfully continued to lead the school since your appointment as acting headteacher in 2016. You have worked with determination to address areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. You have proven to be a dedicated and committed headteacher with a strong desire to provide a positive re-engagement learning experience for the pupils who attend your school.

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Short inspection of Primary Pupil Referral Service

You and your leaders are a strong team and you have developed strong and supportive relationships with staff. You manage and lead effectively and inspire colleagues to share your high aspirations for pupils at the school. Staff feel well led and managed and are proud to work at the school. They are treated fairly and with respect. Those who work in your outreach service report that they are made to feel part of the staff team though a variety of opportunities to join the team that works at the school.

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Short inspection of Primary Pupil Referral Service

There has been a significant change to the pupil profile, with the school now admitting pupils with more complex social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs alongside those with moderate learning difficulties. The number of pupils who are now attending the school has also substantially increased.

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Short inspection of Primary Pupil Referral Service

Your teachers have opportunities to visit mainstream schools, where they see examples of effective practice, which they introduce and use well back in school. You have many positive links with other schools in your local authority due to the number of services you supply, including a number of highly skilled and knowledgeable outreach workers. Schools appreciate the work that you and your staff do throughout the local authority to support and educate other professionals. As one headteacher told me, ‘If it wasn’t for the work and support of the primary referral service our school couldn’t be as inclusive as it is.’

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Short inspection of Primary Pupil Referral Service

Most parents are very happy with the placement of their child at your school. They appreciate the level of communication and enjoy being invited into school for a variety of events. They recognise that their child is progressing both in their academic studies and in their social and emotional skills.

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Short inspection of Primary Pupil Referral Service

Pupils are happy at school and enjoy their lessons. They are welcoming to visitors and are willing to talk and say hello. They appreciate the work that staff carry out and understand how this helps them to become more resilient and to moderate their behaviour.

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Short inspection of Primary Pupil Referral Service

Governors of the school are highly experienced and dedicated. They are ambitious for the pupils and understand clearly the difficulties that staff and pupils can face each day. They provide a good level of challenge to you and hold you in very high regard.

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Short inspection of Primary Pupil Referral Service

You have made sure that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. A strong culture of safeguarding and care permeates throughout the school.

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Short inspection of Primary Pupil Referral Service

Safeguarding records are detailed and of high quality. The required checks are made on adults employed to work with children. Staff receive regular and effective training and are up to date with current legislation. They are clear and confident on procedures they must follow if they have any concerns. You have created a safeguarding culture in which all staff see it as their responsibility to keep children safe.

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Short inspection of Primary Pupil Referral Service

The designated safeguarding lead has exemplary knowledge of all aspects of safeguarding and child protection. She leads training effectively and sometimes with innovative methods to ensure that staff appreciate all aspects of her training. Staff enjoy the safeguarding quizzes and report that they really enable them to take part and thoroughly understand their training, with one member of staff telling me, ‘It’s fun and you understand the things you need to know, it’s better than just having someone talking at you.’

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Short inspection of Primary Pupil Referral Service

The pupils have lessons around keeping safe and online protection. Pupils have staff members they can trust and that they can talk to about concerns or sensitive matters.

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Short inspection of Primary Pupil Referral Service

The school works exceptionally well with the local authority and other external agencies. The local authority acknowledges the essential work the school’s outreach staff do in supporting those with additional SEMH needs in local authority mainstream schools as well as in the school itself.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils who remain at the school for longer periods of time settle more quickly to their work and show significantly more progress in building resilience and moderating inappropriate behaviour.  Pupils are excited about their learning as teachers plan interesting and interactive lessons, taking full advantage of the resources available, including the developing outdoor learning space. Pupils remain engaged during lessons and are inquisitive to know what the next lesson holds.  Pupils have opportunities to work independently. However, sometimes this is achieved by providing tasks that are not challenging enough. Occasionally some staff appear reluctant to allow pupils to try for themselves.  The introduction of Poppie, the school puppy, has made a significant positive impact with pupils in a variety of ways. Pupils are learning to take care of her and they understand that she is learning to behave appropriately. Pupils enjoy

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Inspection findings

working with her and reluctant readers will read to her when they don’t feel confident enough to read to an adult. Some pupils are encouraged to complete writing tasks when Poppie is on hand to watch them write.  Staff have high expectations for behaviour in lessons and around school. Most pupils enter classrooms to learn, those who struggle to do so accept support readily from the highly trained and experienced staff. Positive reward initiatives consolidate the importance of learning and resilience to pupils.  Evidence in lessons and pupils’ books shows that sustained progress is being made by pupils but this is not appropriately reflected in the data tracking processes used by leaders. Leaders have not identified individual pupil attainment targets to enable the school to show accurate outcomes for individual pupils.  Leaders do not assess their actions accurately and it is therefore difficult to

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Inspection findings

measure the impact of their actions effectively.  Attendance at the school is below the national average. You have implemented a variety of ways to improve attendance. However, this is improving slowly and leaders recognise that there is more to do.

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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

 information produced is informative and relevant, particularly in evaluating pupils’ progress  whole-school development plans are precise and sharply focused so that leaders can evaluate the impact of their actions accurately and effectively  effective strategies are implemented to increase attendance and decrease persistent absence. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Kirklees. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection I carried out a variety of activities to gather evidence about the quality of education at the school. I held meetings with you and a number of other school leaders and middle leaders. I visited classrooms and observed four lessons with you. I analysed school tracking systems relating to pupils’ progress, attendance, behaviour and exclusions. I met with three governors, a representative of the local authority and spoke with a number or pupils and staff. Six responses were made to Parent View and 17 staff surveys were considered. A number of documents, including the school’s evaluation of its work, minutes from governing body meetings and the school development plan were scrutinised.

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