Victoria Primary School

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

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Inspection dates: 21 and 22 November 2023

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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

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Overall effectiveness Good

Previous inspection grade Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Jane Dark. This school is part of Nurture Academies Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Wahid Zaman, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Pamela Smith. 21 and 22 November 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Victoria Primary School are polite and respectful. They celebrate the diverse nature of their school community. Pupils learn about a range of faiths and cultures and show tolerance and respect to people’s differences. They are accepting and understand the different needs of others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides a calm and orderly environment for pupils. Pupils behave well. Staff model the core values that they expect to see from pupils. In classrooms, pupils, for the most part, engage well and listen to their teachers. This is particularly the case when the learning is closely matched to pupils’ needs and abilities. Pupils say that bullying is very rare. They understand what bullying is and what it is not. They know that they can talk with a trusted adult in school if they have any worries or concerns. Pupils play happily together on the playground, supported by staff who encourage them to take part in games and activities .

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff know the pupils extremely well. As a result, relationships between staff and pupils are very strong. Parents and carers appreciate the lengths to which the school goes to support their children and themselves. These positive relationships are a key part of leaders’ work to continue to improve the attendance of pupils. Leaders support families to ensure that their children come to school every day and on time. They challenge any prolonged absences away from education.

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better?

The school has successfully put in place a structured reading programme. This starts in Reception and continues to the end of key stage 1, or beyond when needed. Staff are well trained in delivering phonics. They regularly assess pupils and use this information to ensure that pupils get extra help when needed. Additional phonics sessions are well planned and enable pupils to catch up. In key stage 2, pupils take part in regular reading sessions with their teacher. These enable pupils to build up the wider skills needed to become fluent and confident readers. Pupils say that they have a good choice of books and lots of opportunities to read throughout the day.

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better?

Adults in the early years promote a love of reading as soon as children start in Nursery. This supports the strong focus on the development of language and vocabulary in the early years. Children enjoy the books that are read regularly to them. They are eager to try and read these books for themselves and do so using the language that they have been taught. Leaders have made effective improvements to the provision and curriculum for children in the early years since the last inspection.

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better?

In mathematics, the school follows a clear curriculum, which outlines the knowledge that pupils should learn at each stage. This knowledge is broken down into small, manageable steps. There are opportunities within lessons for pupils to build on their previous learning. Occasionally, pupils who need additional support do not always access the appropriate curriculum for their age and stage. Instead, teachers use 21 and 22 November 2023

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these lessons to target specific gaps in pupils’ learning. This is beneficial for some pupils and helps them to catch up. However, for a few pupils, they continue to access a curriculum that is not as ambitious, even when they have made strides to catch up.

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The school wants all pupils at the school to achieve well. However, in a few subject areas this is not yet realised. In some subjects, such as history and geography, the school has clearly identified what they want pupils to learn and how this should be taught. In these subjects, knowledge is carefully broken down and is appropriate to the year groups it is planned for. However, in other subjects, such as science and design and technology, the precise knowledge that the school wants pupils to learn is not as clear. This leads to some inconsistencies in how these subjects are taught. Learning activities are not always matched well to the intended knowledge that pupils are required to learn.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified quickly by staff and those leaders who are responsible for SEND. Actions are put in place to meet their particular needs. The school is tenacious in ensuring that pupils get the right support from external agencies.

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The school places a strong emphasis on pupils’ personal development. Pupils take part in learning beyond the classroom. They talk enthusiastically about going on regular visits out of school. Pupils take part in events within the local community, such as gardening competitions. They actively fundraise for both local and national charities.

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Pupils enjoy taking on leadership responsibilities. These include being part of the junior leadership team, subject leader roles and eco-leaders. Pupils have opportunities to develop independence and confidence. As leaders, they plan and deliver weekly assemblies, which are informative and celebrate the achievements of others.

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Leaders are ambitious to broaden pupils’ horizons. The school has developed a focus on careers education. This is woven through curriculum opportunities and supported by visitors to school. Pupils are developing high aspirations for their future and are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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Leaders are in the early stages of carrying out regular checks on the wider foundation subjects. These checks are not yet fully effective. As a result, some inconsistencies in the teaching of some subjects remain. Leaders do not use the information that they gather when making these checks to make the necessary improvements in a timely way.

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Parents are positive about school leaders. They say that staff are approachable and swiftly deal with any concerns. Wider stakeholders, such as local governors and trustees, have the appropriate skill set to continue to support and challenge school leaders effectively. 21 and 22 November 2023

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have not effectively checked how well the wider curriculum is being delivered. As a result, leaders do not know whether pupils are learning the planned curriculum. Leaders need to check how well the curriculum is delivered so that they can make the necessary improvements in a timely way.  In some subjects, such as science and design and technology, the precise knowledge that leaders want pupils to learn at each stage is not clear or well sequenced. This leads to some misinterpretation and inconsistencies in how the subject is taught and delivered. The school should ensure that the precise knowledge that it wants pupils to learn is made clear at each stage in order to further improve the appropriate choice of learning opportunities provided in the classroom.  A small group of pupils do not access an appropriately ambitious curriculum in mathematics. This is because they are not moved quickly enough to their age-

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

appropriate curriculum. This limits what some pupils can learn and achieve. Leaders should ensure that all pupils access an appropriately ambitious curriculum in mathematics in a timely manner.

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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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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 21 and 22 November 2023

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School details

Headteacher Jane Dark Website www.victoria.bradford.sch.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 19 and 20 November 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Nurture Academies Trust. It joined the trust in January 2017.  The school does not use any alternative provision for any of its pupils.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

Inspections are a point-in-time inspection judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and leaders of SEND, early years, behaviour, attendance and pupils’ welfare. They also met with representatives of the local 21 and 22 November 2023

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governing body, representatives from the trust and the chief executive officer for the trust.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history, science, and design and technology. Inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at a sample of pupils’ work. In addition, a wider sample of documentation and books were looked at from other subject areas.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture of safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors spoke with parents as they dropped their children at school. In addition, they considered responses to free-text comments submitted via Ofsted

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Parent View.  Inspectors took account of the responses from staff to Ofsted’s online survey.  Inspectors spoke with pupils about their experiences of school life and their views on behaviour and bullying. They observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and at lunchtimes.

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Inspection team

Sarah Gordon, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

David Taylor Ofsted Inspector 21 and 22 November 2023

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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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