Horton Park Primary School

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

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Mrs Salma Rahman Headteacher Horton Park Primary School Dawnay Road Bradford West Yorkshire BD5 9LQ

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Short inspection of Horton Park Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 9 May 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 your predecessor school was judged to be good in March 2012.

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Short inspection of Horton Park Primary 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.

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Short inspection of Horton Park Primary School

The school converted to an academy in December 2016 and joined Exceed Academies Trust. Over time, staffing in the school has been stable. Since 2016, leaders accurately identified and prioritised the areas for improvement. The trust invested heavily in the professional development of staff at all levels, including middle leadership positions. The chief executive officer of the trust is a national leader of education (NLE). Currently, the school has one local leader of education (LLE) in the headteacher, and five specialist leaders of education (SLEs), including the deputy headteacher and the two assistant headteachers. In addition, the number of middle leaders increased from two in 2016 to seven in 2019, all leading different aspects of the school, including mindfulness and well-being, research and development in education, and parental engagement. As a result, the leadership and management of the school have been strengthened even further.

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Short inspection of Horton Park Primary School

Governance makes a very strong contribution to the school. The chair of the local advisory board leads governors well. Governors have a wide range of skills and expertise. They are proud of, and passionate about, their school and are routinely involved in school life. Governors provide appropriate challenge and support to leaders and know the strengths and weaknesses of the school well.

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Short inspection of Horton Park Primary School

Since 2016, the school has improved the quality of teaching by ensuring that all lessons include activities that cater for the needs of all pupils, including the most able and disadvantaged pupils. Leaders have maintained and raised further staff expectations about the quality of teaching and learning and focused strongly on the professional development of staff. School leaders, working closely with the trust, ensure that staff have ongoing opportunities to observe and share most effective practice, not only within your school, but also through very effective collaborations with other schools. School leaders evaluate the impact of their actions through frequent monitoring of teaching and learning, directly linked to pupils’ outcomes. As a result, the quality of teaching and learning has improved over time and pupils’ outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 have been excellent and in the top 20% of schools nationally for the last three years.

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Short inspection of Horton Park Primary School

Leaders have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. There is a strong safeguarding culture in the school. All staff know the pupils well and you ensure that the monitoring of pupils’ welfare is thorough. Staff and governors receive appropriate training in child protection, including the dangers of radicalisation, child sexual exploitation and female genital mutilation. Weekly safeguarding meetings, quizzes and updates mean that all staff know what to do if they have any concerns about the children and pupils in your school.

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Short inspection of Horton Park Primary School

The school shares information with external agencies effectively. Leaders take action swiftly and monitor the impact of actions closely. As the designated safeguarding leader and together with your knowledgeable office manager, you ensure that you carry out appropriate checks on the suitability of all staff.

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Short inspection of Horton Park Primary School

Pupils are very polite and respectful to each other and to staff. They play well together and are considerate of each other. The relationships between staff and pupils are very strong. As a result, attitudes to learning, behaviour in lessons and conduct around the school environment are exemplary. Pupils say that they feel safe in school, including online, and know what to do and whom to go to if they have any concerns. They also say that bullying is extremely rare and when it does happen, teachers deal with it effectively. Inspection evidence and the views of parents and staff support this.

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Inspection findings

 In 2018, the progress of pupils at the end of Year 6 in reading, writing and mathematics was exceptional and well above the national average. This trend has been maintained over the last three years. The proportion of pupils achieving the expected and higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 has been consistently and significantly above national averages over recent years. In 2018, 95% of pupils achieved the expected standards in reading, with 62% achieving the higher standards; 91% achieved the expected standards in writing, with 28% achieving the higher standards, and 96% achieved the expected standards in mathematics, with 55% achieving the higher standards. Similarly, outcomes of pupils at the end of key stage 1 in reading, writing and mathematics have been consistently and significantly above national averages. Inspection evidence, scrutiny of pupils’ work and current

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Inspection findings

school assessment information indicate that these strong outcomes of pupils continue, at both key stage 2 and key stage 1.  Children enter Reception with skills and understanding well below those typical for their age. As a result of outstanding teaching, children make exceptional progress and by the end of Reception Year, the majority of children, including those who are disadvantaged, have caught up and have reached a good level of development. Although the proportion is typically below that of other schools nationally, this represents outstanding progress from children’s starting points. You agreed with me that the proportion of children achieving and exceeding a good level of development in early years, although improved, needs to continue to improve, year on year.  Phonics is taught well and, as a result, all pupils make strong progress from their different starting points. Younger pupils learn to use phonics confidently to help

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Inspection findings

them learn to read and spell new words. I was able to confirm this when I listened to pupils read. In 2018, the proportion of pupils at the end of Year 1 who achieved the expected standard in the phonics screening check was in line with national averages. However, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standards at the end of Year 2 was below national averages. A small number of pupils had a disproportionate effect on the published data. You agreed with me that the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standards in the phonics check at the end of Year 2 needs to continue to improve.  Since 2016, the quality of teaching and learning has improved even further. Leaders refined the school’s teaching and assessment policy and introduced ‘live marking’ which allows pupils to correct their work during lessons following teachers’ guidance. Leaders have also established a consistent layout in every

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Inspection findings

classroom, across all key stages, that underpins the teaching and learning strategies of the school. Leaders have linked the quality of teaching to the progress of pupils over time. Senior leaders, middle leaders and classroom-based staff use progress information effectively. Whole-school assessment information is frequently analysed to identify early any pupils who need additional support in order to close gaps in their learning. As a result, the progress that all groups of pupils make from their starting points is exceptional.  You and your leaders use effectively targeted training, regular scrutiny of pupils’ work and visits to lessons to monitor the quality of teaching. Teaching assistants are used very effectively to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and, as a result, these pupils make excellent progress from their starting points.  Staff have high expectations and use questioning effectively to provide stretch

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Inspection findings

and challenge for all pupils, including the disadvantaged and the most able pupils. The consistently very strong outcomes for pupils are clear evidence of the impact of your actions on improving teaching and learning.

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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 children achieving a good level of development at the end of Reception continues to improve  the proportion of pupils who achieve the expected standard in the phonics screening check at the end of Year 2 continues to increase.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees and the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Bradford. 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 deputy headteacher, staff and governors. I also held discussions with the chief executive officer of Exceed Academies Trust. I spoke to a range of pupils and parents. I listened to several pupils read. You and I together conducted tours of the school and observations of lessons, looking at pupils’ work and observing their learning. I also conducted a scrutiny of pupils’ work in a range of subjects with senior leaders. I scrutinised and evaluated a range of documents relating to safeguarding, assessment, behaviour, attendance, parents’ views and school improvement. I also took into account the 31 responses from parents to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, including the nine free-text responses. I analysed the 28 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and the 45 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.

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