Victoria Primary School

Inspection of Victoria Primary School Cartmel Road, Keighley, West Yorkshire BD21 2RD

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected 19–20 November 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ wider personal development is a strength. Staff at Victoria Primary School really care about the pupils. Staff provide pupils with a range of opportunities to learn and grow outside the classroom. Pupils really enjoy their visits to the local outdoor education centre with pupils from other very different primary schools. Pupils speak with enthusiasm when they describe what they enjoy about school. They particularly enjoy listening to their teachers read.

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What is it like to attend this school?

In and around school, pupils are polite and well mannered. They play happily in the playground on the scooters, bikes and climbing wall. On the odd occasion a pupil misbehaves, teachers nip this in the bud quickly. There is very little bullying. Pupils say that, from time to time, they can fall out with each other. However, they also say that teachers help them make friends again quickly. Pupils feel safe. They say that teachers help them to understand how to stay safe all the time.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers want the best for pupils. However, pupils have not done as well as they should have over time. Learning activities are not always suitable for pupils, especially for children in Reception and pupils in key stage 1.

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better?

Leaders have recently introduced a new curriculum. They intend to refine this further in the coming months so that schemes of work focus more closely on the most important content in each subject. New subject leaders have only just been appointed in the last few weeks. Pupils’ achievement in reading and mathematics over time has been strong. However, it is too soon for leaders to know if the new curriculum will have a positive effect on pupils’ attainment, which has been poor for some time. A large number of pupils move onto their next stage of learning without reaching the expected standard for their age. This means that some teachers have to go over old ground a lot, before pupils can start to learn new content.

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better?

The new curriculum is more ambitious than the last. Teachers and support staff know pupils’ additional needs in detail. In class, and in the many one-to-one support sessions, pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are pushed to do their best. Staff adapt the curriculum and extra-curricular activities successfully so all pupils can take part. A large number of pupils attend after-school clubs, particularly the two choirs, who regularly perform at civic events and in the local care home.

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better?

Children in the early years do not get off to a good start. Many children arrive at school in Nursery or Reception well below the expected levels of development for their age. While staff know who these children are, the activities and learning opportunities that staff provide for children do not help them to catch up quickly, especially in reading. Some staff say they have not had the training they need to be able to teach phonics as well as they could. As a result, too many pupils go into Year 1 unable to read or write sufficiently well. This holds them back throughout 19–20 November 2019

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One of the main reasons pupils fall behind in their learning is absence. Too many families take their children out of school for extended periods of time. Leaders work very hard to contest this. Systems and support for families to improve attendance are strong. Leaders have a good handle on this issue. Although persistent absence is higher than average, pupils are attending more than they have done in the past.

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Provision for pupils’ personal development is central to the work of the school. Staff work closely with pupils to ensure that they meet or visit a wide range of successful business people. This is helping to raise pupils’ aspirations and show them the many different kinds of jobs they could go onto do. Leaders have successfully developed a programme of shared worship across the school. Although not always the case, all pupils now participate in worship and reflect on the same set of core values and beliefs.

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Leaders are passionate about the community and the pupils who attend Victoria Primary School. They know families well. This ensures that leaders can signpost or provide the right kind of support to ensure that pupils are safe or well cared for. Staff morale is high. Staff really appreciate the care and attention that leaders demonstrate when it comes to managing their workload and well-being.

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An analysis of leaders’ work highlights that school improvement planning could be sharper. Sometimes, leaders’ plans and actions are not as focused as they could be on improving pupils’ achievement. The information that governors receive varies too. This means that governors and trustees cannot sufficiently hold leaders to account in relation to the quality of education on offer.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff know what to do if a pupil comes to them with a concern. Leaders keep detailed records of all disclosures and act on them swiftly when they are worried about the safety or welfare of a pupil. Leaders link well with external agencies so that the pupils and families who need help receive it quickly.

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Safeguarding

Pupils look up to their teachers. This is important to pupils. They say that staff watch out for them. Pupils work closely with the local police and community support officer (PCSO) to develop their understanding of the benefits and dangers of using the internet. In this way, pupils are very ‘tech-savvy’.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders and staff work extremely hard to improve pupils’ attendance and achievement. However, their efforts are impeded when families decide to take long-periods of extended leave. This can be up to seven or eight weeks of lost 19–20 November 2019

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learning in some instances. Over 900 days of absence were unauthorised in this way last year. Leaders should continue to work closely with families to help them understand the detrimental impact prolonged periods of absence is having on their children’s learning, particularly in their formative years.  The new curriculum is in its infancy. Leaders should ensure that they regularly review the impact of the new curriculum on pupils’ learning. They should amend it swiftly so pupils learn the most important subject content in a sequential way. This will help to improve their long-term memory and retention of knowledge.  Children in the early years do not get off to a good start. Already substantial gaps in their knowledge, particularly linked to reading and writing, are not addressed swiftly enough. Children in Reception and pupils further up the school move onto the next stage of their learning before they have mastered the basics of reading

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and writing in some instances. Leaders must urgently address this issue by improving the effectiveness of staff training and the implementation of the phonics programme in all classes.  Pupils’ attainment at key points in their learning journey is not as strong as it should be. Leaders must ensure that the quality of education improves in all areas of the curriculum so that pupils’ attainment improves from their different starting points.  Leaders’ plans to improve the school are not as precise as they need to be. Leaders must ensure that governors and trustees are given precise information relating to how well the curriculum is being enacted and the impact this is having on pupils’ attainment and achievement over time. In turn, governors and trustees must ensure that they hold leaders and staff accountable for the quality of education they provide.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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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. 19–20 November 2019

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school is slightly larger than the average-sized primary school.  Nearly all pupils speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils with SEND attending the school is above average.  Since opening as a new school in 2017, a new deputy headteacher, two assistant headteachers, a school business manager and a special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) have all been appointed.  The school is part of the Nurture Academies Trust along with five other local primary schools: Denholme Primary School, Lapage Primary School, Parkwood Primary School, Byron Primary School and Fearnville Primary School. The aims of the trust can be found on the trust’s website: http://nurturetrust.org.uk .  Children attend part-time early years provision in the Nursery.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 We undertook deep dives into the following subjects: Mathematics, reading, 19–20 November 2019

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geography and history. This involved a meeting with subject leaders, visits to a sample of lessons in these subjects and listening to pupils read. The deep dives also included scrutiny of pupils’ books and other kinds of work produced by pupils who were part of classes observed by inspectors. In addition, we had discussions with teachers and a group of pupils from the lessons observed.  Meetings were held with senior and subject leaders, teachers and administrative and support staff, governors and the chief executive office from the Nurture Academies Trust. I also spoke on the telephone to a trustee.  We scrutinised pupils’ work during lessons and with subject leaders.  We held informal and formal discussions with many pupils and observed interactions during social times.  We observed the work of the school and scrutinised a wide range of evidence, including the school’s self-evaluation document, attendance and behaviour

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records, safeguarding files and records, reports from external consultants, recruitment checks and bullying logs.  We took into account the eight responses from parents who completed Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire. Twenty-seven members of staff completed Ofsted’s online staff surveys. There were no responses from pupils to the pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Lee Elliott, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Joan Williamson Ofsted Inspector 19–20 November 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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