Alwoodley Primary School

Inspection of Alwoodley Primary School Cranmer Rise, Alwoodley, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS17 5HX

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Early years provision Outstanding Previous inspection grade Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Good

This school was last inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 11 years ago and judged ‘Outstanding’ under a previous inspection framework. This reflected the school’s overall effectiveness under the inspection framework in use at the time.

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Overall effectiveness Good

From then until November 2020, the school was exempted by law from routine inspection, so there has been a longer gap than usual between graded inspections under section 5 of the Act. Judgements in this report are based on the current inspection framework and also reflect changes that may have happened at any point since the last graded inspection. 23 and 24 April 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

A warm, caring and nurturing staff team welcome pupils, parents and visitors to Alwoodley. There are high expectations for all, including the school leaders themselves, the staff and pupils. As a result, pupils display consistently exemplary behaviour in lessons and at playtime. Pupils love the recently introduced outdoor play and learning activities at lunchtime. Pupils recognise that the stimulating and engaging equipment improves their cooperation and communication skills.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have impressively positive attitudes to their learning from the early years to Year 6. Nursery children follow the school’s routines. They know how to be kind to each other, to share and to care for resources. This lays the foundations for the exceptional behaviour and attitudes across the rest of the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has created a customised personal development offer for pupils based on evidence gathered from its school surveys. For example, the school’s ‘habits of mind’ programme develops character traits, such as resilience, perseverance and self- belief. Supplementing this are activities assigned to each year group, intrinsically linked to developing pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural appreciation.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ knowledge and understanding of fundamental British values, equality and diversity are outstanding. They recall assemblies inspired by books that explore themes such as racism. One pupil said, ‘No matter where you come from, you are always special and everyone is welcome.’

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better?

The school’s value of ‘learning together, growing stronger’ underpins its curriculum. There are also three golden threads: cognitive education, a love of reading and personal development. The school references these consistently in lessons.

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better?

Following a change in leadership, the school has reviewed some aspects of its curriculum. Staff receive high-quality, focused professional development to enable them to understand the curriculum rationale. Subject leaders are knowledgeable and have the expertise to ensure that their subjects continue to rapidly improve.

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better?

The school has prioritised ensuring all subjects are well planned and sequenced. Some subjects, such as geography, are ambitious, with an established curriculum structure, while others, such as history and art and design, are being refined. The school recognises that the next action is to develop how it checks pupils’ learning in some developing subjects.

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better?

The school has prioritised early reading. The school has a dedicated story time each day for all classes. Adults select books from the ‘diet of reading’ curriculum created by the school. These are books that feature a range of genres, authors and topics. The school began using a new phonics programme in April 2023, with the Reception cohort. This academic year, it is being used across the whole school. Some pupils, 23 and 24 April 2024

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who are not keeping up with the programme, have phonics lessons in a small group, coupled with additional catch-up sessions. As a result, pupils use their phonics knowledge well to read unfamiliar words.

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Mathematics books are well presented and show a clear, age-appropriate progression of skills. Adults identify gaps and misconceptions in pupils’ mathematical knowledge swiftly. They address these through their daily mathematics warm-up. Pupils are clear about how previous learning is helping them with their current lessons. This contributed to the positive mathematics outcomes in 2023 at the end of key stage 2, which are higher than the national average.

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The school recognises, and has addressed, the changing needs of the school’s population. This includes an increased number of pupils with significant special educational needs and/or disabilities. Where possible, pupils access the same curriculum as their peers, with support or adaptations. This enables pupils to make progress across all subjects. The school has developed a small play-based provision tailored to meet individual learning needs, primarily for those who require support for social, emotional and mental health. The positive impact of this provision on pupils’ engagement, confidence and willingness to interact is evident.

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The design and implementation of the curriculum in early years are exceptional. There is a consistent approach to when and why practitioners intervene in children’s play to enrich their learning. The indoor and outdoor learning environments support and enhance the curriculum, with a wide range of opportunities for children to apply the skills they have been taught. Consequently, children are deeply engaged and show sustained concentration.

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There is a whole-school approach to teaching pupils about healthy relationships and consent. This is progressive from Nursery to Year 6. The school holds annual parent workshops to share information about the content of these sessions. Pupils value the opportunity to share in confidence any worries via the ‘I wish my teacher knew’ box. Pupils take on a variety of roles, in which they contribute positively to the life of the school. For example, the communications (comms) ambassadors check the suggestion boxes that promote pupil voice. They use this information to shape further school improvement.

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Leaders at all levels share the school’s highly ambitious vision for excellence. The school’s governors are knowledgeable. They recognise that the decisive actions of school leaders ensure that the curriculum continues to evolve and improve. They are proud of the school’s inclusivity. Consequently, pupils thrive at Alwoodley.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 23 and 24 April 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The system for checking pupils’ progress and understanding across some subjects needs further development. This means the school does not have specific information in some subjects on pupils’ progress. The school should ensure the procedures are fit for purpose and consistently applied.

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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). 23 and 24 April 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Christopher Smith

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 25 and 26 June 2013, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was appointed in September 2022.  The school does not use any alternative providers.

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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 judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  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, curriculum leaders, staff and pupils.  Meetings were also held with representatives of the local governing committee and the local authority. 23 and 24 April 2024

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, art and design and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also looked at the school’s curriculum thinking in music and history.  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 around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The views of parents, staff and pupils were considered from meeting with them and from the responses to Ofsted’s questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Alison Stephenson, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Helen Hussey Ofsted Inspector 23 and 24 April 2024

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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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