Cookridge Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School

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

p.1

Ms Cath Hellings Headteacher Cookridge Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School Green Lane Leeds West Yorkshire LS16 7EZ

p.1

School

Following my visit to the school on 21 March 2019, 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 2015.

p.1

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 specific areas. This may indicate that the school has improved significantly overall. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection be a section 5 inspection.

p.1

School

You have provided determined, dedicated and astute leadership and you and your leadership team have an uncompromising desire for the school to improve. Staff morale is high and all teachers feel valued and work hard as a team to provide well for the pupils. Teachers have created a lively, stimulating environment where everyone’s views are valued. Nearly all the parents who I spoke with informally at the start of the day were wholeheartedly in support of the school and were effusive in their praise. One told me: ‘It’s an amazing school. The staff are fantastic. My child is confident and happy – I can’t fault it!’ These views were reinforced in Ofsted’s online parent questionnaire. One parent wrote: ‘We are really happy with our child’s progress and development at this school. It has a lovely, positive atmosphere and offers lots of diverse opportunities for the children who attend it.’

p.1

School

Like staff and parents, pupils are also proud of their school. All pupils who spoke to me were keen to describe its friendly, caring values and said they would recommend it to a friend. Your relentless pursuit in developing the school further and providing the best for the pupils has meant that areas for improvement, which were recommended in your last inspection report, have been addressed thoroughly and successfully. In order to improve the quality of teaching, a team of highly effective middle leaders has been established, who share their good practice and provide support to colleagues. All teachers tailor the work set to meet the varying needs of pupils, who, consequently, have developed greater independence in their learning. Your lesson observations show that the quality of teaching has improved over the past four years. Teaching is consistently good and often better than good. The quality of pupils’ work in their

p.1

School

exercise books and the very high standards of attainment reached in national tests reflect this. Leaders are determined that the present high standards of attainment and progress are sustained. Pupils are given tasks to extend their thinking. In a Year 6 mathematics lesson, a pupil was able to explain clearly to me what strategies I could use to solve a complex problem involving ratio. Your last inspection report also asked the school to raise attainment and accelerate the progress of most-able pupils. You have addressed this very well. In 2018, at the end of both key stages 1 and 2, an above-average proportion of pupils reached the higher standards of attainment. It was particularly high in reading and at the end of key stage 1. Similarly, a well-above-average proportion of pupils reached the higher standards in writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2, which placed the school in the top 20% of schools nationally for pupils’ progress. Results in the Year 1 phonics

p.2

School

screening check have also been much higher than average for the past three years. These outcomes indicate that most-able pupils have achieved well. Furthermore, inspection evidence confirms that currently across the school they are effectively challenged and making rapid progress.

p.2

School

Pupils display excellent attitudes and are fully involved in the life of the school. In lessons, they are confident and willing to share their ideas. They complete tasks to a high standard. All pupils were keen to talk about their targets and explained how these helped them ‘to make progress’.

p.2

School

As the designated safeguarding leader, you ensure that all the necessary safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that all records are of high quality and meticulously kept. Together with the school business manager, you ensure that all checks for the recruitment of staff are in place. Teachers and governors attend regular child protection training.

p.2

School

Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. They say that there is rarely any bullying. They feel very safe and well cared for in school, and parents and governors agree. Pupils explained to me about the role of the learning mentor, who is always there ‘if you need an adult to talk to’. Behaviour logs show that leaders and teachers respond appropriately to any rare incidents of bullying. Pupils talk confidently about keeping themselves safe when they are using the internet. They were able to describe to me exactly what I need to do to stay safe online.

p.2

School

Governors have made sure that safeguarding arrangements are fully compliant and have completed a variety of training, including ‘safer recruitment’ training.

p.2

Inspection findings

 My first line of enquiry looked at how well disadvantaged pupils in receipt of pupil premium funding are achieving. This is because, in 2018, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils who achieved the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 was lower than that of their peers and lower than other pupils nationally. You have already identified this in your school self-evaluation summary and were able to explain how you check the progress and attainment of these pupils. Funding has been used to good effect to provide teaching assistants and tailored support. Increased parental involvement and the use of ‘Beanstalk’ reading volunteers and university students to support learning are also having a positive effect. However, you agree that a gap in attainment between the most able disadvantaged pupils and their peers, and other pupils nationally, remains and further work is needed to close it.

p.3

Inspection findings

 My next line of enquiry related to the development of middle leaders and the effect that this has had on the quality of teaching and learning across the school. Middle leaders were able to explain how access to high-quality training and the opportunity to visit and work with colleagues from other schools had a positive effect on improving their own practice. All middle leaders have been involved in developing long-term plans for their own subjects, but have also worked closely as a team to establish links across the curriculum subjects. Middle leaders moderate pupils’ work and carry out observations of colleagues to ensure that the quality of work and teaching is consistently high across the school. The development of the role of middle leaders has meant that teaching and learning in science and other subjects beyond English and mathematics is also effective and pupil engagement is high. My scrutiny of topic books and science files

p.3

Inspection findings

reflects this.  At the end of key stage 2 in 2018, pupils did not make as much progress in reading as they did in writing and mathematics from their previous starting points. Training for staff, on the teaching of reading skills, and for teaching assistants, in supporting the teaching of phonics, is paying dividends. The teaching of reading is now very strong across the whole school. Older pupils read very fluently and confidently and they demonstrate very good comprehension skills. School information indicates that current pupils’ progress in reading through key stage 2 is improving and pupils currently in Year 6 are on track to reach even higher standards of attainment. However, this is yet to reflect in published outcomes of pupils’ progress over time. You know that you need to continue with your focus on reading to ensure that pupils make as much progress in reading as they do in writing and mathematics through key stage 2.

p.3

Inspection findings

 You have revised and improved the curriculum so that it is even more engaging and relevant. It meets the needs of the pupils very well. Pupils were keen to tell me about their ‘fun’ learning activities and extra-curricular opportunities. The school environment and the many and varied wall displays reflect the broad, balanced and rich curriculum that the school provides. The high standards in English and mathematics reflect the priority given to these areas, but this is not at the expense of other subjects. Class topic books show that pupils are covering the national requirements of, for example, history and geography effectively. Links to English and mathematics are appropriate and enhance these areas. School visits are used frequently to enhance learning across the subjects and pupils said how much they enjoyed these. Pupils were also keen to tell me about the work of the ‘Alive and Kicking’ theatre group and the ‘Wake up, Shake up’

p.3

Inspection findings

dance group.  Provision for children in early years is exceptionally strong. Areas of learning, both inside and outdoors, have been skilfully constructed to engage, build confidence and challenge. It was great to see children in the outdoor book shed reading to one another. Observations of teaching and my review of children’s learning journals confirm that children are very well prepared, both socially and academically, for the demands of Year 1. Over the past three years, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development has been much higher than the national average. The teaching of phonics in early years is a particular strength and this is reflected in the phonics screening scores and the key stage 1 reading outcomes in 2018.

p.4

Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

p.4

Next steps for the school

 pupils’ progress in reading through key stage 2 further improves so that it is as high as it is in mathematics and writing  there is a continued focus on reducing the gap in attainment between the most able disadvantaged pupils and their peers and other pupils nationally.

p.4

Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Leeds, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Leeds. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.4

Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I held meetings with you and your assistant headteachers, the leader for mathematics, the leader for English, middle leaders, the school business manager and members of the governing body. I evaluated documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation summary, the school’s improvement plan, assessment data and behaviour logs. I spoke with a number of parents at the beginning of the school day and considered the 114 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. I met formally with three groups of pupils from a range of year groups. The first group discussed safeguarding and behaviour with me. The second group talked about reading and I listened to them all read. The third group described the wider curriculum and extra-curricular activities. I also spoke with pupils informally in lessons and around school. You and I observed a range of learning across all classes, including phonics in Reception, mathematics in key stage

p.4

Information about the inspection

1 and writing and mathematics in key stage 2. We also visited the early years to gauge the quality of provision outdoors. During the afternoon, I carried out a scrutiny of the written work in English, science and topic work from several year groups. I also analysed the responses from Ofsted’s pupil and staff surveys.

p.5