Intake Primary School

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

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Mrs Lisa Reid Headteacher Intake Primary School Mansfield Road Intake Sheffield South Yorkshire S12 2AR

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Short inspection of Intake Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 16 October 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 January 2014.

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Short inspection of Intake Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Intake Primary School

You set high expectations and have a clear idea of both the strengths of Intake Primary School and those aspects that require further improvement. At the heart of the school is a strongly shared commitment to inclusion and equality of opportunity. This is reflected in your school’s vision – ‘To have a happy school where everyone feels secure and can confidently reach their academic, physical and personal potential’. Pupils are very polite and show respect for each other and for adults. They work extremely well together in activities in the classroom and on the playground. Pupils are supportive of each other. Playground friends make sure that all children are included in games and activities at playtimes and lunchtimes.

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Short inspection of Intake Primary School

The parents and carers I spoke with, and those parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were full of praise for the quality of education and care that their children are receiving. Parents are confident that their children are making good progress in their work and that they are safe in school. Among other positive comments, parents described the school’s staff as ‘going above and beyond’ and as ‘being caring, professional and approachable’. One parent commented that the school exceeded their expectations and, ‘We are 100% happy and proud our son is a pupil of this school.’

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Short inspection of Intake Primary School

You and your leaders have an accurate view of the quality of the school’s provision. You celebrate your pupils’ success but also identify those areas where pupils do not attain the standards they are capable of. For example, leaders recognise that some groups of pupils need to make better progress to be able to reach the same standards as their peers. You have ensured that all teachers, as part of the management of their performance, have a target that focuses on accelerating the progress of pupils in their class. Leaders have reviewed the way in which pupils are supported by adults during lessons. Your structured approach to adult-supported learning encourages pupils to work more independently. Pupils are increasingly confident in their learning and make choices about the level of challenge they attempt in their work.

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Short inspection of Intake Primary School

Since the previous inspection, leaders have continued to ensure that the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good. Staff receive relevant training. Leaders support and coach less-experienced teachers so that all pupils receive high-quality teaching and learning experiences. Effective questioning has been developed so that teachers are skilled in using this to probe pupils’ understanding and develop their skills in analysing written texts.

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Short inspection of Intake Primary School

You are addressing the area for improvement from the last inspection, which asked you to give the most able pupils harder work and to move their learning on at a faster rate. Staff have high expectations of all pupils and are enabling them to develop the knowledge and skills needed to achieve the higher standards. However, analysis of the progress data of the most able pupils indicates that there is still some work to do. This is needed to ensure that this group of pupils reach the higher standards expected of them by the end of key stage 2, especially in mathematics and reading. To do this, you are focusing on developing pupils’ acquisition of a wider and more complex range of vocabulary in all subjects of the curriculum. As a result, provisional assessment information for 2018 indicates that the proportion of pupils reading at the higher standard by the end of each key stage has increased.

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Short inspection of Intake Primary School

You have extended the use of detailed reports on each pupil at the end of each year. These inform teachers in the next year group about pupils’ strengths and the gaps in their learning, as well as their emotional needs. This approach is intended to ensure that teachers are aware of pupils’ prior attainment. As a result, teachers plan appropriately challenging work that is targeted to ensure that all pupils make good progress towards their individual attainment targets. By giving pupils a choice about the level of work they attempt, they invariably choose the most challenging tasks. This has a positive impact on their progress towards achieving higher standards.

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Short inspection of Intake Primary School

Leadership at all levels has developed since the last inspection. Subject teams, led by senior leaders, enable all staff to monitor and evaluate pupils’ work. A whole- school monitoring and evaluation day – scrutinising work in all subjects across the school – creates a culture of collective responsibility for pupils’ achievement from early years through to the end of key stage 2. The information from these evaluations informs the leadership team of any subjects, pupil groups or areas that need to be focused on for further improvement. For example, leaders’ monitoring has highlighted mathematical reasoning as an area to develop in order for pupils to achieve the higher standards in mathematics. Leaders at all levels work alongside other subject leaders in the learning partnership you have forged with local schools. Together, they check that your assessments are accurate. This enables leaders to be confident that the recorded standards in the school are an accurate reflection of

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Short inspection of Intake Primary School

The governing body is ambitious for the school and is committed to securing the best provision for pupils. Governors offer appropriate levels of challenge and support for all leaders. They have a clear understanding of the school improvement priorities and the actions that leaders are taking to address these.

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Short inspection of Intake Primary School

Governors speak with confidence about the impact of pupil premium spending on the progress of disadvantaged pupils. This group has better rates of progress than pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. However, you and your leadership team, together with governors, are aware that there remains work to do. This is necessary to ensure that disadvantaged pupils make even better progress to close the attainment gap with non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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Short inspection of Intake Primary School

Leaders have created a culture in which staff carefully monitor pupils’ well-being and report any concerns they might have. Leaders work closely with parents and outside agencies when they have a concern about a pupil. Parents are confident that children are kept safe in school. A programme of assemblies and targeted lessons helps pupils to learn about the importance of staying safe. Pupils say that bullying is not a problem in their school. They are confident that if they had any problems, they would know who to speak to for help and advice. Safeguarding records are detailed and of high quality. The school business manager makes sure that necessary checks take place when new staff are appointed. All staff are well trained and receive updates to their safeguarding training. An electronic system ensures that any information is shared promptly with the leaders responsible for safeguarding matters. Safeguarding policies are appropriate and up to date. A

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Short inspection of Intake Primary School

governor with responsibility for safeguarding checks to ensure that safeguarding procedures are consistently applied. A recent external review of safeguarding confirmed that all processes are secure.

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Inspection findings

 While the progress of disadvantaged pupils is broadly equal to, and sometimes better than, that of non-disadvantaged pupils within the school, attainment gaps are still evident with other pupils nationally. The disadvantaged group is complex and includes some pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. There is still work to do to support these pupils to make the best possible rates of progress to close the attainment gaps between them and their peers.  The proportion of pupils achieving higher standards in all subjects has been above the national average for three years and has increased year on year in reading. Teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve. You promote the use of more complex reading material and vocabulary to further raise standards in English. You teach pupils to use their skills to analyse English texts and to decipher mathematical problems so they can decide on the methods

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Inspection findings

to solve them. Your rigorous approach of profiling every pupil’s strengths and the gaps in their learning ensures that teachers plan work that is appropriately challenging. This enables pupils to meet their targets.  Leadership at all levels has been strengthened through the creation of subject teams led by senior leaders. This has given all staff the opportunity to monitor and evaluate pupils’ work and to determine which individual pupils, pupil groups, year groups and aspects of the subject require further development. Pupils’ work in mathematics shows that they are secure in their calculation methods and are beginning to apply their mathematical reasoning skills to solve problems.  Pupils’ attendance is improving. This followed a dip in 2017, when the proportion of pupils that were frequently absent from school increased. Current data indicates that the overall attendance rates for 2018 have improved to be in line

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Inspection findings

with the national averages. However, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is below the national average.

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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

 disadvantaged pupils make the substantial progress they need in order for their outcomes to catch up with other pupils nationally  all teachers give pupils ample opportunities to apply their skills of mathematical reasoning  the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is improved to be at least in line with national averages.

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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 Sheffield. 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, your deputy headteacher, your assistant headteacher, your English leader and a group of governors. I spoke to the local authority representative. I considered the responses of parents to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View, and the responses of staff and pupils to their Ofsted surveys. I met parents on the playground at the start of the day. I accompanied you to several classrooms in the school, spending a short time in each. I looked at samples of pupils’ work. I viewed a large range of documents, including leaders’ evaluation of the school’s current performance and its plans for further improvement. In addition, I scrutinised your information on how the pupil premium is spent, as well as a number of policy documents, including those for safeguarding and SEN. I considered governors’ minutes and information about pupils’ progress and attainment. I took account of attendance figures and case studies. I observed

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Information about the inspection

pupils’ behaviour in lessons and at morning playtime. I met with Year 5 and 6 pupils and visited the lunchtime club.

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