Clough Head Junior and Infant School

Inspection of Clough Head Junior and Infant School Bolster Moor Road, Golcar, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire HD7 4NW

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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 25–26 February 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Clough Head is a very nurturing and welcoming school where pupils feel valued. They are proud of their school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations of pupils, both in terms of their work and behaviour. Pupils talk enthusiastically about their learning. One pupil said, ‘Lessons are great, and the teachers give us a real thirst for learning.’ Pupils work hard to live up to the school’s core values, which include trust, tolerance, honesty and resilience.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Behaviour in the school is good. Pupils say there is no bullying. Relationships between staff and pupils are strong. Pupils know they can turn to any adult for help. As a result, pupils feel very safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders’ work to support pupils’ personal development is good. Adults provide a range of opportunities to broaden all pupils’ talents. Older pupils have various roles, including organising activities at lunchtime. Pupils respect everyone’s differences.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is at the heart of the community. Pupils contribute to local charities and have organised their own fundraising activities. Parents talk very positively about the school and appreciate how all staff are approachable.

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better?

The headteacher and staff have worked hard to develop the curriculum. Leaders gathered the views of parents and pupils. They used this to create a curriculum which is stimulating, ambitious and unique to the context of the school. Overall, pupils achieve well.

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better?

Subjects are logically sequenced and carefully planned. There are many opportunities for pupils to revisit knowledge and practise skills. This helps pupils to remember the most important information. For example, there are short, focused sessions to help pupils remember mathematical facts. However, there are too few opportunities for pupils to fully develop their mathematical reasoning skills.

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better?

The development of pupils’ reading skills is a key priority of the school. Leaders and teachers are determined for pupils to be confident readers. Teachers share their love of books with pupils, reading to them daily. Phonics lessons are well structured, and teachers help pupils catch up quickly if they start to fall behind. Pupils talked enthusiastically about their favourite authors, such as JK Rowling and Michael Murpurgo. Parents are encouraged to be involved with their child’s reading. They receive a dedicated reading newsletter and have the opportunity to attend reading workshops. 25–26 February 2020

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do well. Staff are well trained and skilful in supporting the needs of pupils with SEND. The school is truly inclusive. As a result, all pupils are fully included in lessons and other activities.

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Pupils value the opportunities to contribute to the life of the school. For example, pupils elect school councillors. Also, older pupils are sports leaders who organise games for younger pupils. The school offers a wide range of clubs, which are well attended. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. Pupils have participated in a project which involved working with pupils from differing backgrounds.

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Leaders know the school well and are highly reflective. They continually seek to improve the educational offer for pupils. After a period of staff turbulence, the headteacher has built a motivated team. Staff feel proud to work at the school and value the training and support provided by leaders. Governors fully support the school and visit regularly. They are closely involved and are knowledgeable about all aspects of the curriculum.

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Parents and carers are very supportive of the school. One parent, reflecting the views of many, stated, ‘Clough Head is a wonderful school and I’m so glad my children get to spend their school years here.’

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Staff work very closely with families and children in the early years. The youngest children listen carefully and follow instructions well. They enjoy listening to stories, such as ‘Three Billy Goats Gruff’, and investigating a crime scene based on the story. Children are provided with many activities to help their development. However, there are limited opportunities for children to practise their writing skills independently. Children learn to share equipment and to work with their friends. Staff check on children’s learning accurately and quickly identify those who need extra support.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Safeguarding procedures are well understood by staff, who undertake regular training to keep up-to-date with current guidance. Appropriate checks are made on all adults who work in the school, including volunteers.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn about the risks they may face in a range of contexts, including online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In key stage 2, the knowledge and skills pupils need in mathematics are coherently planned and sequenced so that pupils know more and remember more over time. However, pupils have too few opportunities to develop their reasoning skills. This means that pupils do not consistently develop a deep understanding of 25–26 February 2020

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mathematical concepts. Leaders should ensure that pupils have more opportunities to further develop their reasoning skills. They should also ensure that teachers have high expectations of pupils’ reasoning work.  Teachers do not consistently provide enough opportunities for children to mark make and write in the early years. This means that children do not develop their writing skills as quickly as they should. Teachers need to plan more activities that develop writing skills, to enable children to practise and consolidate what they have learned. Leaders should check that this is the case.

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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. 25–26 February 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10121677 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.cloughheadpri.kgfl.dbprimary.com

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School details

Date of previous inspection 7–8 November 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The large majority of pupils are White British.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average.  The proportion of pupils receiving support for SEND is below the national average.  The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan is above the national average.

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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 and other senior leaders, including the early years leader and the special educational needs coordinator.  We met with members of the governing body. 25–26 February 2020

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 We did deep dives in reading, writing, mathematics and geography. In doing so, we met subject leaders for these subjects and visited lessons. We also talked to teachers and pupils. We looked at pupils’ work and listened to them read.  We reviewed leaders’ checks on the suitability of staff to work with children. We looked at attendance information, behaviour logs and safeguarding records. We met with senior leaders about safeguarding.  We spoke informally with pupils and observed their behaviour at various times during the day.  We met several parents at the start of the day, to gain their views of the school. We reviewed 36 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, as well as 35 additional free-text comments. We also considered other surveys which leaders had already carried out.

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Inspection team

Andy Taylor, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Mary Lanovy-Taylor Ofsted Inspector 25–26 February 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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