Scholes (Holmfirth) J & I School

Inspection of Scholes (Holmfirth) Junior & Infant School Wadman Road, Scholes, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire HD9 1SZ

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 15 and 16 March 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn and achieve well in some subjects, such as mathematics. However, in other subjects, leaders and teachers do not check pupils’ knowledge and skills accurately. Pupils have gaps in their understanding. Although leaders have high ambitions for pupils, these are not being realised. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do not achieve as well as they should.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe and happy at this caring school. They are proud of their ‘KIND’ values and keen to share these with visitors. Pupils enjoy being given the different roles and responsibilities they have in school. Some pupils have been elected as head pupil, while others are trained playground leaders. Their kindness and thoughtfulness shine through when they talk about their cancer fundraising campaign that has inspired the whole community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy learning and like that their teachers have a good sense of humour. They say that teachers make lessons ‘enjoyable and fun!’

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is calm, but hums with a buzz of busy work chatter in classrooms. Pupils describe bullying as incredibly rare. Inspectors agree. When it does happen, pupils are confident that any member of staff will deal with it. Pupils who need extra help with their emotional and mental health get to speak to adults in ‘The Den’. Pupils say that this really helps them. Relationships between pupils and teachers are respectful.

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better?

All staff, leaders and governors want the very best for all their pupils and have high ambitions for what they can achieve. They work in positive and thoughtful ways with families and the wider community to support pupils. However, their high ambitions are not being reached. Leaders have not acted quickly enough to take the important decisions and actions needed to improve the school.

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better?

Leaders have very recently introduced a new phonics programme, which teachers are following with consistency. Children start to learn to read as soon as they begin school. Pupils who fall behind are identified and supported to catch up with additional reading sessions. However, teachers do not consistently use assessment with enough precision. Some of the books that pupils are given to read do not match the sounds that they know. This hinders their progress towards becoming fluent readers.

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better?

Some aspects of the curriculum are well planned and taught effectively. In mathematics, for example, staff use ‘quick recaps’ at the start of lessons. This helps pupils to remember what they have learned before. Assessments are used well to identify pupils who need extra support. Extra sessions with teachers focus sharply on helping pupils to recover any gaps that they have in their learning. 15 and 16 March 2022

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Leaders have clear curriculum plans for wider curriculum subjects, such as geography and art. However, these are very recent. The checks that teachers make on pupils’ understanding are not well developed in subjects other than English and mathematics. Teachers do not have a clear picture of what pupils can and cannot do in these subjects. Gaps in pupils’ knowledge are not being addressed and so misunderstandings persist.

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Teachers work effectively in early years to develop pupils’ language and communication skills. Pupils’ personal, social and emotional needs are well met. As a result of this, children are happy and engaged in their learning. However, some aspects of the early years curriculum are not planned carefully enough. Leaders have not clearly defined what they intend children to learn throughout the year in some areas of the curriculum. The curriculum lacks structure. This makes it hard for leaders to ensure that children are making the progress needed to be ready for the next stage of their education in Year 1.

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There have been recent changes to the leadership of some subject areas. Senior leaders have not provided some leaders with enough opportunity to monitor the delivery of the curriculum in the subjects they lead. The lack of rigour around subject monitoring means that the subject leaders have not identified where the curriculum is not taught consistently well.

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The needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are quickly identified, and support is put in place to help them. In some subjects, adults successfully adapt their teaching for pupils with SEND. This helps them to access the same ambitious curriculum as everyone else. However, this is not consistently the case across the curriculum. In some subjects, teachers are not meeting the needs of pupils with SEND and this hinders the progress that pupils make.

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Leaders give pupils the opportunity to attend a range of sporting and creative clubs. Pupils’ sporting talents are nurtured through participation in local and regional competitions. Residential visits help to develop pupils’ independence and resilience. Pupils know about a range of faiths and religions. However, the personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum has not helped pupils to understand the many different types of relationships and families that exist in Britain today. The KIND values that the pupils are taught do not cover the full breadth of modern British values. As a result, pupils do not have a clear understanding of the protected characteristics outlined in the Equality Act.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff receive regular training on safeguarding. They know how to identify and report concerns about a pupil’s safety or well-being. Leaders act swiftly to help pupils who may be at risk. Leaders draw on the support of other agencies such as emotional well-being workers when required. The high level of care the school has for its pupils and families is appreciated by parents and carers. 15 and 16 March 2022

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Pupils feel safe in school. They know whom to go to if they need help or are worried. The school continues to develop its computing curriculum, which gives pupils a growing understanding of how to stay safe when online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Assessment in subjects other than English and mathematics is not well developed. Teachers do not have an accurate picture of pupils’ understanding in these subjects and so gaps in pupils’ knowledge and skills are allowed to persist. Leaders should develop systems of assessment so that teaching can build accurately on what pupils already know and can do in all subjects across the curriculum.  Leaders do not provide opportunities for all subject leaders to monitor their subjects. Subject leaders do not have the skills needed to do this effectively. As a result, inconsistencies in the teaching of the curriculum are not being addressed quickly. Senior leaders need to ensure that subject leaders have the time and training required to effectively monitor their curriculum subject, and provide effective support to staff so that the curriculum is consistently well taught.  Leaders have not developed a coherently planned and well-sequenced curriculum

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

for early years that sets out what children will learn and by when. Children are not well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Leaders should develop and implement a curriculum that sets out the knowledge that children will learn across the different areas of learning.  Pupils’ understanding of the many different types of relationships and those with protected characteristics in modern Britain is underdeveloped. Pupils are not clear about the different forms a modern family could take. They do not remember what they have been taught about healthy relationships. As a result, pupils leave school unprepared for life in modern Britain. Leaders should review the PSHE curriculum to ensure that pupils have an appropriate understanding of the protected characteristics and the diverse nature of British society.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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 . 15 and 16 March 2022

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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. 15 and 16 March 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Dr Margaret Culshaw

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Date of previous inspection

11 and 12 July 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

This was the first routine inspection the school had received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders, and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors met the headteacher, the two assistant headteachers, other leaders, a group of governors and the school improvement partner from the local authority.  Inspectors conducted deep dives in reading, mathematics, art and design, and geography. During deep-dive activities, inspectors met with subject leaders, considered curriculum planning from early years through to Year 6, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. 15 and 16 March 2022

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 Inspectors visited early years and spoke with leaders and staff about how the curriculum is implemented.  Inspectors spoke to pupils about their learning and heard pupils read with familiar adults.  Inspectors spoke to pupils and staff at breaktime and during lunch and in separate focus groups.  Documentation was reviewed, including school improvement plans, minutes of meetings of the governing body, documents linked to pupils with SEND, records of behaviour and exclusions, and safeguarding records.  Inspectors considered the Ofsted survey responses from 31 pupils, 19 staff and 13 parents. Inspectors also spoke to parents before the start of the school day.  Inspectors met with the designated safeguarding lead to consider how staff log concerns and the actions that leaders take in response. Inspectors also met with a range of staff about the training that they have received for safeguarding.  Inspectors observed pupils playing at lunchtimes and at breaktimes.

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Inspection team

Asa Britton, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Chris Pearce Her Majesty’s Inspector 15 and 16 March 2022

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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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