Valley View Community Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Valley View Community Primary School Coal Hill Drive, Rodley, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS13 1DD

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Outcome

Valley View Community Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents, carers and pupils value the sense of family. Everyone is very proud of being a member of Valley View. This is a caring school, with a real sense of community spirit. Pupils are well cared for and valued. Adults and pupils have strong relationships. They bring to life the school’s motto of ‘Enjoying, achieving and learning together’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy their lessons, especially in mathematics and art. Pupils appreciate the opportunities they have for learning beyond lessons. This includes a recent visit to the Czech Republic and performing Shakespeare on a theatre stage. Pupils take on extra responsibilities. Older pupils support Reception children at lunchtimes. They help them to clear trays and find their way around the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders go the extra mile to make sure that pupils are happy. Parents are positive about the school. One parent commented that staff are ‘nurturing, caring and respectful. This cascades to the children’. Pupils are confident and enthusiastic about learning. Staff expect all pupils to behave well. Bullying is rare. When bullying does happen, staff are quick to sort it out.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders want all pupils to achieve as much as possible. They have thought about what pupils should learn in each subject. Pupils build their knowledge well. They love the topics they study. The rich curriculum has high-quality experiences. For example, every child represents the school in sport. Also, all pupils learn to play musical instruments.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Since the last inspection, the governing body has strengthened. Leaders, including governors, know the school and its strengths and weaknesses well. They understand their responsibilities and show commitment to improving the school. Together, they make decisions which make a positive difference to pupils and staff. This includes supporting mental well-being for everyone. 16–17 October 2019

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Leaders are passionate about including all pupils in all aspects of school life. Adults know how to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They adapt activities so that these are not too easy or too hard. This helps most pupils with SEND to learn well alongside their peers.

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In science, pupils can recall the knowledge they have learned this term. In Year 3 and Year 6, pupils told me some amazing facts about light. They used accurate vocabulary, such as ‘reflection’, ‘refraction’ and ‘light source’. However, they struggled to link their learning to science taught in previous years. This means that they do not remember as much as they should. Leaders have started to improve the curriculums in science, history and geography to help pupils remember important knowledge.

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Mathematics is taught well. Since the last inspection, staff training has improved teaching. Teachers value this support. They understand clearly what pupils need to know. Teachers check regularly that pupils grasp these aspects. They expect pupils to think carefully and use their mathematical knowledge. During the inspection, Year 6 pupils were working with fractions. They knew they needed to use their knowledge of times tables, addition and converting fractions.

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Leaders foster pupils’ love of reading. Teachers choose a wide variety of books for pupils to read. They read with enthusiasm to pupils. Many pupils choose to read at home. Staff encourage parents to read to their children and record this in reading records. Pupils can talk about a range of stories, poems and rhymes. Books that are read in class are sparking pupils’ interests in other authors and text types. One pupil told me that reading now made them feel like ‘I am the person in the story.’

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Younger children get off to a great start in the early years. They are safe, happy and ready to learn. They have lots of early reading practice. Children read books that contain the sounds they know. They become confident readers. Staff teach phonics skilfully. They are clear about what children should be able to read by the end of each term. If a child struggles with reading, they get help to be more fluent and confident.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and governors have created a strong culture of safeguarding. They take their responsibilities to keep children safe seriously. Staff know what to do if they think a pupil may be at risk. The learning mentor knows pupils and families well so that extra help is quick for those who need it. Leaders work well with other agencies. Leaders are not afraid to challenge these agencies if they think pupils need more help. 16–17 October 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced across the full range of subjects. However, leaders should ensure that curriculum plans for science, history and geography set out in more detail the essential subject-specific knowledge and skills that pupils need to remember beyond each year. Leaders should check that this consistently enables pupils to know more and remember more beyond the immediate topic of work.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 24–25 May 2011.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 16–17 October 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10110767 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 19 January 2016

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Information about this school

 The school is much larger than the average-sized primary school.  The number of pupils has increased since the previous inspection. The school has now become a full two-form entry school, with one additional Year 6 class to cope with increased demand for school spaces.  Most pupils are of White British heritage. Very few pupils speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils who receive support for SEND is increasing and is now in line with the national average. The school caters for a growing number of pupils with additional needs.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average.  The school runs a very popular breakfast club that is attended by many pupils.

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Information about this inspection

 I met with the headteacher, senior leaders, subject leaders and other members of staff. I also met with a group of governors, including the chair of the governing body, and spoke with a representative of the local authority. I took account of the 40 responses to 16–17 October 2019

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Ofsted’s staff survey.  I looked in depth at the following subjects: reading, mathematics and science. In doing so, I visited classes across all year groups and reviewed pupils’ work. I spoke to pupils about their learning and listened to them read. I also met with teachers.  I observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school, including at playtimes and lunchtimes. I gathered pupils’ views about the school through formal and informal discussion. I also considered the 114 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.  I scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plans, minutes of governing body meetings and a range of safeguarding documents.  I gathered the views of parents at the start of the school day. I also took account of the views of 161 parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and the 159 free-text responses.

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Inspection team

Ian Clennan, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 16–17 October 2019

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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