Shelf Junior and Infant School

Inspection of Shelf Junior and Infant School Shelf Hall Lane, Shelf, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX3 7LT

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 21–22 January 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and safe in this school. Staff really go the extra mile to make sure of this. They are friendly and approachable. They know and understand each pupil very well. Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and caring. One parent commented, ‘My daughter is a very happy young lady who thoroughly enjoys going to school.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s motto is ‘Shine at Shelf’. The new headteacher is convinced that every single pupil can succeed. She has made sure that all staff believe this too. This means that pupils are now doing much better, especially in reading, writing, mathematics and science.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well and have good manners. They cheerfully greet staff and each other as they move around the school. Bullying does happen very occasionally. When it does, pupils speak to a teacher about it. They know that it will be dealt with quickly. Leaders know that behaviour during lunchtime can be boisterous. They are working closely with staff to make sure that this is calmer.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The new ‘Oasis’ room gives pupils a calm space where they can rest and reflect. Pupils really love ‘hot chocolate Fridays’ with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. They try hard across the week to ‘shine at Shelf’, so that they can be invited to this special occasion.

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better?

The new headteacher has made many positive changes across the school during her first year. Staff and governors have high ambitions for the school and its pupils. Governors told inspectors that they want the school to be ‘a shining light in the community’. The headteacher and senior leaders are inspiring and supportive role models. This has resulted in a happy and highly motivated team of staff, who are all proud to be part of the school.

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better?

The headteacher and senior leaders have recently redesigned the school’s curriculum. Teachers know what to teach pupils and in which order ideas should be taught. It is clear how pupils will build on their learning each year. The work that pupils produce in some subjects closely follows the school’s new curriculum design. However, this is not the case in all subjects.

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better?

Leaders have successfully adapted the curriculum to meet the needs of pupils in mixed-age classes. One parent told inspectors that ‘all the staff have a committed approach to making their teaching fun and engaging.’ Teachers use the ‘fluent in five’ strategy at the start of each lesson. This is helping pupils to remember more in each subject so that they can apply their skills to complete more difficult work. For example, pupils constantly revise French words and phrases so that they can hold longer conversations. Pupils have very positive attitudes to their learning. They know that any form of disruption in lessons is not acceptable. 21–22 January 2020

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Reading lies at the heart of the school. Staff have been trained well to use the new phonics programme. They make sure that the books pupils use to practise reading are matched to the sounds they have learned. This means that most pupils soon gain the skills they need to become fluent readers. Staff quickly provide effective support for those pupils who are falling behind. This helps them to catch up quickly. The ‘Vocabulary Ninja’ displays in classrooms help pupils to understand the books they read. However, some older pupils do not always read with enough fluency and accuracy. Staff do not gather enough information about how widely and often the older pupils read.

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Children in the Reception classes get off to a great start. They are well prepared for Year 1. Staff sequence the children’s learning carefully. This means that children build really well on each small step of their learning each day. The outdoor area has been completely revamped since the last inspection. It is now full of exciting and meaningful activities. Children choose their learning task and focus well on it. They show high levels of self-confidence and are keen to learn. Parents are very happy. One commented, ‘Our child speaks fondly of his teacher and goes every day with confidence and ready for the day.’

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Everyone understands the ‘SHINE’ values of ‘success, happiness, independence, nurture and equality’. One parent noted that ‘the school’s values are visible. Everyone knows them and what they represent.’ Pupils understand healthy lifestyles. They respect different cultures, religions and relationships. Pupils have interesting discussions which help them to consider and express their opinions in appropriate ways.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive good support. This happens mainly within the classroom. The inclusion leader carefully checks each pupil’s programme of learning. Teaching assistants know pupils’ needs well. They help pupils to work independently. A parent told inspectors, ‘Staff very quickly put a plan in place for my son and gave him tools to help him. He is now much more confident doing his work.’ The attendance of pupils with SEND is particularly high.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The headteacher, as the safeguarding leader, uses her expertise to keep staff up to date in their training. Staff know how to report concerns and are vigilant of pupils’ welfare. Record-keeping is meticulous. Communication between staff is strong. Leaders make appropriate checks to make sure that all adults in school are suitable to work with children. They keep accurate and up-to-date records of these checks. 21–22 January 2020

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum intent is clear. Schemes of work for all subjects detail key knowledge and skills, together with a clear teaching sequence. However, teaching in some of the foundation subjects does not yet follow this sequence fully. This means that some aspects of pupils’ study are not developed as well as they could be. Leaders need to make sure that teachers follow curriculum plans consistently and that all subject leaders check this.  Leaders talk with pupils and know that many of the pupils in key stage 2 read frequently at home. However, they do not always get enough information to check that pupils read from a range of genres. Sometimes, they miss opportunities to follow pupils’ specific interests. Leaders are already considering ways in which they can gather information about the books that pupils choose to read. Staff will then be better equipped to help pupils find new authors and genres that will further develop pupils’ love of reading.

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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 are the school and you are 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. 21–22 January 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10121675 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Amanda Jayne Parkinson

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11–12 October 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The current headteacher was appointed in January 2019. There have been several other staff changes since the previous inspection.  A new chair of the governing body was appointed in April 2018. All but two of the governors have been appointed since the previous inspection.  In September 2019, the structure of the classes in key stages 1 and 2 changed. There are now mixed parallel classes of Years 1 and 2, Years 3 and 4, and Years 5 and 6.

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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 met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, assistant headteacher and early years leader during the inspection. We also met with a group of governors, including the chair, and with the local authority’s school effectiveness officer.  We did deep dives into these subjects: reading, mathematics, science, French and geography. We spoke with senior leaders about the structure and planning of the curriculum. We met with the curriculum leader for each subject and visited a 21–22 January 2020

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selection of lessons with them. We also scrutinised a range of pupils’ books in each subject and met with a selection of these pupils to discuss their learning. We listened to pupils reading and talked with them about the books they enjoy. We had discussions with the teachers of the classes that we visited.  We checked the school’s policies and records around safeguarding. We spoke with the designated safeguarding leader, governors, pupils, staff, and parents and carers to check on the school’s culture of safeguarding.  We observed and spoke with pupils during their social times. We considered 65 responses to Ofsted’s Parent View, together with free-text comments. We also considered 20 responses to the pupils’ survey and 18 responses to the staff survey.  We visited a school assembly and a session for pupils led by a visiting organisation that works with schools to teach about personal safety. We spoke

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with the inclusion leader and visited lessons to observe a range of pupils with SEND. We also looked at the education, health and care (EHC) plans for some of these pupils.  We looked at how well leaders protect pupils from bullying and manage staff workload and well-being.

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Inspection team

Heather Mensah, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Adrian Fearn Ofsted Inspector 21–22 January 2020

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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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