Wilthorpe Infant School

Inspection Report Wilthorpe Infant School

p.1

106567 Unique Reference Number Barnsley Local Authority 287546 Inspection number 11 °12 December 2006 Inspection dates Philip Cole Reporting inspector

p.1

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

p.1

Greenfoot Lane School address Primary Type of school Barnsley Community School category South Yorkshire S75 1AQ 3 °7 Age range of pupils 01226 288676 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01226 288676 Fax number 180 Number on roll (school) Mr R Willerton Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs J Bradley Headteacher 25 September 2001 Date of previous school inspection

p.1

Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 287546 11 °12 December 2006 3°7 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.1

This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

p.2

Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

p.2

Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

p.3

Description of the school

Wilthorpe Infant is an average sized primary school that serves a mixed community with local authority rented and privately owned houses. The school has a Children's Centre that was inspected in August 2006. Almost all the pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is broadly average as is the number of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, which include hearing impairment, speech or communication, and learning difficulties. The school has achieved the Healthy Schools Award and NAACE and BECTA Quality Marks for advancing education through the use of Information and communication technology (ICT).

p.3

Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Wilthorpe Infant School, 11 °12 December 2006

p.3

Grade: 1

Wilthorpe Infant is an outstanding school. The pupils thrive in a school where 'every child is made to feel special and where no ceiling is placed on their achievement', as the headteacher justifiably claims. The school has a very high reputation locally and parents feel that their children enjoy learning enormously and are treated as individuals. Every effort is made to care for pupils, to ensure their well-being and particularly to enable them to succeed. Pupils are eager to talk about how much they enjoy lessons and being in school. They feel safe and secure and very well looked after. Care starts early and finishes late, thanks to the children's centre, which the headteacher fought hard to establish. Its activities integrate very effectively into the life of the school and benefit pupils and their families. Pupils' personal development is outstanding. Their behaviour is exemplary and they respond very positively to the high expectations placed on them. Even the youngest

p.4

Grade: 1

children in Nursery concentrate exceptionally well and engage in cooperative tasks sensibly and safely. The pupils say that, 'everyone is friendly in this school and you learn lots of new things'. Indeed the pupils' excellent behaviour, attitudes and eagerness to do their best provide the foundation on which their learning is so successfully built. Children get off to a strong start in Nursery and Reception and make excellent progress in the infant classes. By Year 2, standards are significantly above national averages in reading, writing and mathematics and have been for several years. Pupils' achievement is outstanding with all pupils achieving exceptionally well. The main reasons for this are the good teaching found across the school and particularly the excellent care, support and guidance given to pupils. Great care is taken to ensure that teaching challenges all pupils and extremely well focused support is given to those who need

p.4

Grade: 1

extra help. Pupils are given outstanding academic guidance based on rigorous assessment and very regular, detailed tracking of their progress. No pupil is allowed to 'slip through the net' if their performance shows any sign of dipping. 'Pupil Development Plans', reviewed and agreed each term with pupils and their parents, ensure that everyone knows what each pupil needs to do to make their work better and to reach challenging targets. This approach has a profound impact on the progress that pupils make. Teachers plan lessons that are firmly based on what pupils need to learn and they make purposeful links between subjects, which helps to make learning relevant and more interesting. Although strong teaching is found across the school, there are some minor inconsistencies that stop its overall effectiveness from being outstanding. The curriculum is constantly reviewed and fine-tuned to meet pupils' learning needs more

p.4

Grade: 1

effectively. Philosophy sessions designed for children, problem solving and an emphasis on creative approaches enhance the outstanding curriculum. The curriculum meets the needs of those with learning difficulties well and appropriately challenges the gifted and talented children that the school has identified. Leadership and management are outstanding. The headteacher, through her clear vision, high expectations and determination provides extremely strong leadership. She 2 Inspection Report: Wilthorpe Infant School, 11 °12 December 2006 is very ably supported in this by the senior managers and subject leaders, who are very professional, analytical and reflective in their approach. Self-evaluation is rigorous and accurate, takes good account of the views of stakeholders and underpins the successful drive to continually improve the quality of provision and sustain and improve outstanding standards and achievement. Progress since the last inspection has been

p.4

Grade: 1

impressive. The school has an excellent capacity to improve and provides outstanding value for money.

p.5

Grade: 1

Children enter the Nursery with a wide range of attainment. Overall, this is below the expected levels for their age. The progress of children in the Foundation Stage has been good in the past, enabling them to reach average levels of attainment at the end of the Reception year. Recent changes to curriculum and teaching approaches that place more emphasis on developing children's independence and decision making skills are starting to pay dividends. Consequently, progress is improving, with almost all of the current class being on track to reach the nationally expected standards and a significant number on course to exceed them. Progress across Years 1 and 2 is excellent for all pupils, with both boys and girls attaining significantly better than the national averages. An impressive proportion of pupils reach the higher Level 3 and only rarely do any lower attaining pupils fail to reach the average Level 2. Standards have been

p.5

Grade: 1

significantly above national averages since at least 2001, and in 2006 they improved noticeably over those in 2005.

p.5

Grade: 1

Pupils develop self-confidence and very constructive relationships in the calm and purposeful learning environment. They have responded very well to the 'Healthy Schools' approach and they demonstrate a very good understanding of what they need to do to be healthy. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is exceptionally strong and reflects the excellent care and guidance they are given and the varied and rich learning experiences they enjoy. Pupils make a strong contribution to both the school and the local community, for example, by helping to design and make the outdoor role play area, performing at a hospice and taking part in local events. Their excellent personal development and very strong academic skills prepare them particularly well for the future. 3 Inspection Report: Wilthorpe Infant School, 11 °12 December 2006

p.5

Grade: 2

Teaching is good and has some outstanding features. Lessons are always very purposeful and relevant to pupils' needs because very good account is taken of the results of the close monitoring of pupils' learning. Teachers manage behaviour particularly well and the excellent attitudes of the pupils' means that their levels of concentration and involvement are always very high. Teachers questioning is probing and challenging. The excellent use of assessment and target-setting has been enhanced in some classes through the use of shorter term individual and group targets and pupils are responding well to these. This approach has yet to be adopted in other classes. Occasionally, teachers do not make clear enough to pupils what it is they are learning or miss opportunities to help pupils to learn from their mistakes and to read information for themselves. Teaching assistants work very skilfully with children who are given

p.6

Grade: 1

Considerable efforts have been made to ensure that pupils experience stimulating, enjoyable and effective learning opportunities, while making sure that all requirements are met. Artists in residence, dance days, and the introduction of approaches to encourage 'thinking skills' and problem solving, greatly enhance and extend learning opportunities. Several extremely well implemented programmes have been put into place to support pupils with learning difficulties. The excellent achievement of these pupils is testimony to their effectiveness. The nationally recognised awards the school has achieved acknowledge the robust curriculum that very successfully supports pupils' personal development and well-being and promotes their skills, particularly in information and communication technology. The research by teachers into the effectiveness of the initiatives they have introduced reflects the rigour with which the

p.6

Grade: 1

The school's motto 'everyone to be a confident and motivated learner' is brought to life and fully realised through the outstanding provision in this area. There are robust procedures to ensure children's safety and security, and well established and very effective strategies to make sure they are happy in school. Any problems are tackled promptly, should they arise. Transitional arrangements between the children's centre and other pre-school providers and the Nursery are excellent and enable children to settle very quickly. The excellent approach to academic guidance and support enables parents to forge a strong partnership with the school to support learning and this makes a very significant contribution to the progress their children make. 4 Inspection Report: Wilthorpe Infant School, 11 °12 December 2006

p.6

Grade: 1

Leadership and management have created a climate in which everyone works extremely well together to bring about success. Change is positively embraced and there is a wholehearted commitment to making things better. The robust procedures for evaluating the school's effectiveness provide a very accurate picture of its strengths and weaknesses. Senior staff and subject leaders are fully involved in reviewing school effectiveness but their skills in the monitoring of teaching are less well developed because the headteacher currently undertakes the bulk of this work. Resources are used exceptionally well to enable pupils to reach very high standards and achievement. Governance is outstanding. Governors have no reservations about holding the school to account and fulfil their responsibilities exceptionally well. 5 Inspection Report: Wilthorpe Infant School, 11 °12 December 2006 .

p.7

Grade: 1

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Wilthorpe Infant School, 11 °12 December 2006

p.8

Inspection judgements

School Overall Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

p.9

Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 1 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 1 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

p.9

Achievement and standards

1 How well do learners achieve? 1 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 1 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

p.9

learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The behaviour of learners 3 The attendance of learners 1 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

p.9

and interests of learners?

1 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

p.9

and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 7 Inspection Report: Wilthorpe Infant School, 11 °12 December 2006

p.9

and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 8 Inspection Report: Wilthorpe Infant School, 11 °12 December 2006

p.10

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

We really enjoyed our visit to your wonderful school. We think that you read and write very, very well and that you are just as good when you work with numbers. Your behaviour is really good and you do your very best in lessons. You all get on so well together and try to make sure that everyone is happy. Many of you said how much you enjoy coming to school because of the interesting things you do and the 'lots of new things you learn'. You are lucky that you come to a school where all the grown-ups care so well for you and listen to what you have to say. We think the ideas you have had to make your school better, such as the role play area that is being made in the playground, and the efforts you have made to make other peoples lives better, such as singing in the hospice, are really good. Your headteacher, all the other grown-ups and the governors want you to have the best school possible. They are doing all they can to make this happen. We think that your teachers do a

p.11

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

good job. They make your lessons interesting and give you work that helps you all to learn so well. There are a few things that we have asked them to do to make your lessons even better. Sometimes they could tell you more clearly what you are going to learn and sometimes they could help you more when you make mistakes. Your parents think you come to an excellent school. We agree with them and we are sure you will continue to be very happy there. 9 Inspection Report: Wilthorpe Infant School, 11 °12 December 2006

p.11