Whingate Primary School

WHINGATE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 29 April – 2 May 2002

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WHINGATE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Full inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated.

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WHINGATE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. Whingate Primary School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The Governing Body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 30 th June 1997 Whingate Primary School - 4

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responsibilities

4074 Mr R Gill Registered inspector Foundation stage, art and design and music. What sort of school is it? The school’s results and pupils’ achievements. How well are the pupils taught? How well is the school led and managed? What should the school do to improve further? 8922 Mrs B McIntosh Lay inspector Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development. How well does the school care for its pupils? How well does the school work in partnership with its parents? 19041 Mr R Linstead Team inspector English, English as an additional language, geography. 30823 Mrs B Clarke Team inspector Mathematics, design and technology, religious education and equal opportunities. 15551 Mrs P Mitchell Team inspector Special educational needs, science and history 1882 Mrs L Chapman Team inspector Information and communication technology (ICT) and physical education. How good are the curricular opportunities? Whingate Primary School - 5 The inspection contractor was:

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responsibilities

Independent School Inspection Services (ISIS) 3 Harrowby Road West Park LEEDS LS16 5HN

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responsibilities

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints that are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor should be raised with OFSTED by writing to:

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responsibilities

The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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responsibilities

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Whingate Primary School - 6

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 7

Information about the school How good the school is What the school does well What could be improved How the school has improved since its last inspection Standards Pupils’ attitudes and values Teaching and learning Other aspects of the school How well the school is led and managed Parents’ and carers’ views of the school

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HOW HIGH ARE STANDARDS? 12

The school’s results and pupils’ achievements Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Whingate Primary School is situated to the west of Leeds’ city centre in an area of social disadvantage. It has 407 pupils on roll and is larger than most primary schools. The nursery class caters for an additional 78 children, who attend part-time. About twenty-seven per cent of pupils are eligible for free schools meals, which is above the national average. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs is above the national average. There are six pupils with a statement of special educational needs and this is broadly average. Most of the pupils with special educational needs have moderate learning difficulties, but about a quarter have more severe problems related to behaviour or communication difficulties. There are twenty-seven pupils that have ethnic minority heritages. Twenty-one pupils are learning English as an additional language. The school caters for a small number who are from travellers’

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

families or who are asylum seekers. Most children enter the school with levels of attainment that are below average. The school is part of an Educational Action Zone and also receives funds from the Excellence in Cities initiative. A learning mentor has been appointed with some of these funds. It is part of a group of primary schools in Leeds that have a Pupil Development Centre designed to promote high self-esteem among pupils and prevent educational failure. The school recently received an Achievement Award from the Department for Education and Skills for its improved standards over the last four years.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

The school provides a satisfactory standard of education for its pupils. Standards in 2001, for eleven year olds, were above the national average in English and in line with it in mathematics and science. This year results are likely to be below the national average, but nevertheless this represents good achievement for a year group in which there is a high proportion of pupils with special educational needs. This is as a result of some good teaching, particularly in Year 6. The improvement in standards has been steered well by the headteacher and ex deputy headteacher, but there are weaknesses in the school’s management that prevent achievement being even better. The provision for pupils with special educational needs is not managed effectively and the supportive governing body is not well enough involved in monitoring standards and the quality of education provided. The school provides satisfactory

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

What the school does well • Results in national tests have been improved well. • The school provides a strong ethos for learning in which pupils’ behaviour is managed sensitively • The positive relationships throughout the school encourage pupils’ personal development well. • The Pupil Development Centre is already having a significant effect on how pupils view the school and their own capabilities. • The school’s provision for pupils’ personal development is good overall, but very good for moral development and this is having a very positive effect on the way pupils react to one another.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

What could be improved • Standards in English, mathematics and science. • The effectiveness of the current systems for recording pupils’ attainment and setting targets for future achievement. • The governing body’s role in monitoring standards and the quality of education provided by the school. • The management of the provision for pupils with special educational needs. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

When the school was inspected in July 1997 it was described as providing a sound quality of education. This position has been maintained satisfactorily. Moreover, the school has increased its amount of very Whingate Primary School - 8 good teaching and tackled the unsatisfactory teaching successfully. The school has put in place methods to improve the weaknesses identified at the time of the last inspection and has, in particular, improved pupils’ attainment in ICT and spiritual development. Since 1997 the national strategies for literacy and numeracy have been introduced to good effect, particularly in Year 6. The nursery and reception classes have been successfully formed into a cohesive foundation stage. There is now an assessment policy and a system of recording pupils’ progress, but it is not finely tuned enough to ensure better results for those pupils capable of higher attainment at the end of Year 2 and sustained

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by pupils at the end of Year 6 based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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STANDARDS

Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

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STANDARDS

English E E B A well above average above average A B Mathematics E E C B average below average C D Science E E C B well below average E

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STANDARDS

Standards attained by pupils at the end of Year 6 in the 2001 national tests were considerably better than in previous years and compared well with results produced by similar schools. Targets for English and mathematics in 2001 were met successfully. Test results in English, mathematics and science have been improving faster than in other schools over the last four years. The proportion of pupils that meet or exceed expected levels each year at the end of Year 6 is dependent on the number of pupils, in the year group, with special educational needs. Nevertheless, pupils achieve well whatever their starting point. For example, the low scores in 2000 represented a significant achievement for these pupils. The same was true for the better 2001 results. Current standards in English, mathematics and science in Year 6 are below average but pupils have achieved well compared with their results at the end of Year 2.

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STANDARDS

Standards in reading and mathematics in Year 2 are below average, but standards in writing are about average. Achievement is satisfactory overall though not enough of those capable of reaching an above average level are doing so.

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STANDARDS

Children achieve well in the nursery and reception classes and are on course to reach expected levels at the end of their reception year and in personal, social and emotional development they will exceed expected levels. By the end of Year 6 pupils attain beyond the national expectation in music and achieve well due to the lively and informed teaching they receive. The satisfactory standards in ICT at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 represent good achievement from a low starting point. There is also good achievement in physical education in Year 3 to Year 6.

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STANDARDS

Pupils with special educational needs, those learning English as an additional language, pupils from travellers’ families and those capable of more demanding work make satisfactory progress.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Attitudes to the school Good. Pupils are enthusiastic and keen to learn. Whingate Primary School - 9 Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Good. Pupils behave well throughout the day.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Personal development and relationships Good. Pupils are confident as learners and form good relationships with adults and other children in the school.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Attendance Satisfactory. Most pupils are keen to come to school.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Teaching of pupils in: Years N-R Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Quality of teaching Good Good Satisfactory Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Teaching is satisfactory on balance, but better than it was at the time of the last inspection. It now satisfactorily meets the needs of all pupils. The proportion of very good teaching has increased and unsatisfactory teaching has been reduced. Good teaching has a positive effect on children’s learning in the nursery and reception classes and some successful teaching in Year 1 and Year 2 follows this. The teaching of English and mathematics is satisfactory in general except for English in the infants where improvements in writing in particular, are the result of good teaching. However, pupils’ achievements in Year 2 are sometimes limited by teaching that does not make consistent enough demands on pupils who are capable of higher attainment. Teaching in the juniors is satisfactory, but it is generally good and often very good in Year 3 and Year 6. While teaching in Years 4 and 5 is satisfactory it is here that

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

unsatisfactory teaching exists. In unsatisfactory lessons learning does not progress fast enough when work is not well matched to pupils’ capabilities. The teaching of ICT is good now that staff are well trained and there are enough computers. The teaching of music is good in the infants and very good in the juniors, where the specialist services of a senior support assistant are very well used. Physical education is well taught in the juniors, particularly in Year 5 and Year 6 because well qualified teachers work well together with staff from the local sports centre. The teaching of pupils with special educational needs is satisfactory, despite some weaknesses in the way that it is managed, because teachers and their classroom support assistants know their pupils so well. Pupils who are learning English as an additional language are taught soundly, on balance.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

The quality and range of the curriculum Satisfactory. The curriculum meets statutory requirements and also provides a wide range of additional opportunities for learning. However, activities are sometimes not focused sharply enough for pupils with special educational needs or those who can manage more demanding work.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Satisfactory in the nursery and reception classes, but unsatisfactory for other pupils throughout the school. There is a good level of adult support, but this extra help is often not directed well enough.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils with English as an additional language Satisfactory. Many of these pupils are already fluent in English. They make good progress up until the age of seven and satisfactory progress in the juniors. Whingate Primary School - 10 Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Good. Particular strengths are the very good provision for pupils’ moral development and the contributions made through a range of opportunities for music.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

How well the school cares for its pupils Very good care for pupils’ personal development and behaviour, but weaknesses in supporting pupils’ academic progress through its system of assessment and target setting.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

How well the school works with parents. Good. The school works well with parents and they have a very positive opinion of the school.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff Satisfactory. Leadership is strong in relation to the school’s ethos and raising standards by the end of Year 6. There are weaknesses in the management of special educational needs and in the management of academic progress for higher attainers.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Unsatisfactory. The governors are very supportive of the school and are confident about its strength. However, they do not have systems with which to keep the school well enough under review and are unclear about what needs to be developed.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

The school’s evaluation of its performance Satisfactory. The monitoring of teaching is reasonably effective, but is not strong enough on areas to be developed. The school’s development plan is very thorough and well reviewed, but it omits important issues like special educational needs and the effectiveness of the governing body.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

The strategic use of resources Satisfactory. Staff are well inducted into the school’s routines and teaching assistants are deployed well, but the weak management for special educational needs limits their effect. Finances are used satisfactorily to support the school’s priorities. The new Pupil Development Centre is used very well to raise pupils’ self-esteem and to generate positive attitudes to learning.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

The school provides a good number of teachers and assistants. Resources for teaching and learning are generally good. Governors are not only concerned about financial implications, they acknowledge their role in pursuing standards, but lack the methods by which to judge best value in this respect. Nevertheless, best value principles, in general, are applied satisfactorily.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved • Children like school and are well behaved. • They are comfortable in approaching the school with problems or suggestions. • The school is well led and managed. • Teaching is good and children make good progress. • The school has high expectations for its pupils and helps them well in their personal • The amount of homework set. • The amount of information given about children’s progress. • The range of activities outside lessons. Whingate Primary School - 11 development.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

Inspectors agree with most of the parents’ positive views. Pupils make good progress in many lessons, but the achievement of the highest and the lowest attainers could be better. The amount of homework set is satisfactory. The school’s open door policy is working for most parents, but the lack of a consultation evening for parents in the spring term limits the opportunities for formal discussion about progress. Provision for extra-curricular activities is good, but a few parents seem to be more concerned about the lack of before and after school facilities. Whingate Primary School - 12

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

1. Pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 6 has improved since 1997, at the time of the last report, and risen faster than in most schools. A similar pattern of improvement exists in the infants. There has been an increase in the number of pupils reaching the nationally expected level by the end of Year 2. Pupils’ writing has been a relative weakness in the past, but the extra work put into improving standards is paying off. For example, in 2001 ninety-three per cent of pupils in Year 2 reached the expected level in writing. This was higher than the proportion for reading or mathematics compared to most schools. The school received an achievement award for the standards attained in 2001 at the end of Year 6. Compared to similar schools, Whingate was well above the average nationally in English and above it in mathematics and science. These pupils also did much better than expected compared to their achievement in the 1997 tests for seven year olds.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

2. Children’s attainment on entry to school is generally below what would normally be expected for their age. However, children are on course to reach the expected levels, in literacy, mathematics, knowledge and understanding of the world, physical development and creative development by the end of the reception year. They are on course to go beyond expectations in personal, social and emotional development due to the very good teaching they receive. The above average standards at the end of Year 6 in 2001 represented very good achievement for these pupils from their low start in nursery.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

3. Currently, the Year 6 pupils are achieving standards that are below average in English, mathematics and science by the time they are eleven. The school’s targets for 2002 are likely to be met because it was recognised that this was a lower achieving year group compared to 2001 due to the higher proportion of pupils with special educational needs in it. The pattern of achievement throughout the school is uneven to the extent that teaching in Year 6 has to accelerate pupils’ learning rapidly in order to help them meet the targets. This is because progress in the juniors is good in Year 3, but slows in Years 4 and 5 until it picks up again in Year 6. Similarly in the infants, achievement is often good in Year 1 and steady in Year 2, particularly in mathematics, where some pupils could reach higher levels of attainment if teaching was more tuned to meeting the needs of different groups of pupils. Pupils have

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

made satisfactory progress from the end of the reception classes to the end of Year 2. However, not enough pupils have reached the higher than expected level and this brings down the school’s average.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

4. Pupils’ individual test results and records of achievement have not been recorded in a systematic way to include targets for each year from Year 1 onwards. There are annual aspirations for pupils, but these are not part of a wider system of goal setting from five to seven and from seven to eleven years. The school has started to create a comprehensive record of pupils’ attainment that can be used to decide what degree of progress individual pupils should make in any one year. In essence the tests results and other assessment information have not been used well enough, in the past, to guide pupils’ progress. The lack of such a system has meant that teaching has not identified specific areas, clearly enough, in which individual pupils could make better progress and this has adversely affected standards. Whingate Primary School - 13 5. Beyond English, mathematics and science, pupils’ attainment is typical for their age in

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

all subjects except music by the end of Year 6 where attainment is higher than found elsewhere. This is due to the specialist teaching they receive and the school’s very positive programme for singing and performing. Pupils are achieving well in ICT and standards have risen from below the national expectation in 1997 to be broadly typical of Year 2 and Year 6 pupils. They benefit from a trained staff and a very well equipped room for computers. Pupils’ achievement in music is good throughout the school even in the infants where attainment is satisfactory. Pupils have made good advances from the beginning of Year 1, particularly in singing and playing instruments. Pupils’ achievement is good in physical education by the end of Year 6 due to the specialist teaching pupils receive from staff at the school and from the local sports centre. Pupils with additional physical challenges make particularly good progress

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

6. The achievement of pupils with special educational needs is satisfactory, but they do not achieve as well as they could. In most cases, teachers and their assistants know the pupils very well and help the pupils with special educational needs make sound progress. However, in some cases, pupils’ individual education plans are too infrequently used in all subjects to plan work that is adapted to meet their individual needs. This can limit the progress made by some pupils. Where teachers provide adapted work pupils can achieve well, for example in a Year 3 science lesson about plant growth pupils with special educational needs were given extra help by the teacher and some of the key words needed to help them to write their conclusions. When pupils receive support from classroom support assistants within the classroom this often helps them to learn well. The support assistants know the pupils well and

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

are able to help them to complete the work. However, in cases where pupils’ individual plans are not used at all or infrequently, pupils get along too slowly. This was that case in the unsatisfactory work taking place for some Year 2 pupils in a withdrawal group for literacy.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

7. Currently, of the twenty-one pupils who are learning English as an additional language, three are at an early stage. They make good progress up to the age of seven by which time their attainment is not significantly different to that of other pupils. Achievement is satisfactory in the juniors and pupils’ attainment by the end of Year 6 is similar to other pupils. The small number of pupils from asylum seekers or travellers’ families also achieve well due to the individual attention they receive. Pupils who are gifted or generally capable of higher attainment make satisfactory progress, but work is sometimes not well matched to their needs to enable them to do better in English, mathematics and science. There is no significant difference between the achievements of boys and girls. Talented pupils do well in singing and in the compositional aspect of music. They thrive in all aspects of the extra-curricular

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

sporting provision. The positive effect of the national strategies for literacy is seen, for example in the content of written work related to science and geography, but the national strategy for numeracy is not always used well enough. In design and technology, for example, pupils do not use their skills in measurement well enough and their achievement is unsatisfactory in this respect. Whingate Primary School - 14

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

8. Pupils have good attitudes and behave well. They respond very well to the good values consistently promoted by the school. Their personal development is good. Pupils clearly like coming to school. They say that this is a good school and the teachers are great. This is an improvement since the time of the last inspection.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

9. Children in the nursery and reception classes are well behaved. At the start of the day they enter the classroom confidently leaving their parents easily showing few anxieties. They have good relationships with their teachers and each other that help them settle quickly and happily into the routines of the day. The children know where everything is kept and get out what they need. The children are enthusiastic and sustain good levels of concentration in the activities on offer. For example, when baking biscuits the children readily waited their turn and watched each other with interest and great patience as they learned to weigh out the correct amount of flour. In the nursery the children get on well with each other and any minor problems are quickly addressed. The teacher has confidence in the children to behave sensibly, for example they were allowed to eat apple segments whilst listening to and talking about

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

10. Pupils’ attitudes are equally positive as they get older and this helps them to learn. Pupils speak with enthusiasm about school and their work. They say that they enjoy their lessons because the teachers make learning fun and explain the work well so it is easier to understand. They show a good level of interest in their work and apply themselves well to their learning. They respond particularly well when the activities are interesting and exciting and provide a good degree of challenge. For example, in a Year 3, numeracy lesson the pupils were motivated to solve problems using number. They listened well and were keen to answer questions and suggest a variety of ways to solve the problems. Similarly the Year 5 pupils were highly motivated and focused on their task of using a calculator to calculate discounts on a holiday. The subject of pirates totally captivated the Year 3 pupils when planning an adventure

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

story. Pupils’ interest and involvement in the additional activities provided are very good and they speak enthusiastically about the opportunities on offer at the school.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

11. Parents’ positive views about the pupils’ behaviour are confirmed by the inspection. Boys and girls of different race and ability behave well. In lessons the good behaviour contributes well to pupils’ learning because very little time is wasted through inattention and distraction. Pupils respond well to the school’s high expectations of their behaviour and have a good understanding of what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Movement to and from lessons and to assembly is quiet, considerate and orderly. Outside play at breaks is energetic and all pupils get on well together. The school is a happy, friendly community. During the inspection there was no indication of unsociable or racist behaviour whatsoever. Pupils with special educational needs are well integrated into the life of the school. They are able to work co-operatively with other pupils and join in all class activities and visits. They are

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

interested in and enjoy their work and so work hard. There are good relationships between the staff and pupils and this motivates them to work hard and increases their confidence and self esteem. There have been no exclusions from school during the last year.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

12. The pupil’s personal development is good. The good relationship pupils have with each other and their teachers creates a very positive working environment. Pupils of all ages take turns to have responsibilities in the classroom and they carry out their duties willingly and sensibly. Older pupils are rightly given a wider range of Whingate Primary School - 15 responsibilities around school. The older pupils who volunteered to help at lunch times work diligently and their contribution is highly valued. Pupils have a good regard for their teachers and behave with courtesy towards all adults. Staff take every opportunity to value and give credit to pupils’ efforts and achievements. This raises the pupils’ self esteem and as a result they take a pride in their work. Pupils co- operate very well in group, class and individual activities. For example, in a Year 1 numeracy lesson, the success of the group activities was due to the pupils’ high level

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

of co-operation and collaboration with each other. The pupils are friendly and polite and enjoy chatting to adults about themselves, their work and their school.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

13. There is a good sense of community among pupils and adults with everyone showing respect for each other. Pupils show real empathy and understanding when they talk about the needs and problems of their classmates and how they help them in class. Older pupils have a good deal of respect for other cultures. They feel it is helpful and interesting to learn about each other’s religion and customs.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

14. The level of pupils’ attendance is satisfactory. Most pupils want to come to school and attend regularly. Unauthorised absence is declining. Current incidences are mainly the result of a small number of parents having a relaxed attitude to the importance of school attendance. The school receives support from the educational welfare officer in its efforts to promote and raise awareness of good attendance. Most pupils arrive at school on time and are keen not to miss the start of the school day.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

15. The school has improved the consistency of teaching since the last inspection. There are now more very good and less unsatisfactory lessons. Nevertheless, it remains satisfactory overall. There are exceptions within this general picture. There is, for example, much good, and some very good teaching at the beginning and the end of the juniors. There is some good work in Year 4 and Year 5, but also some unsatisfactory teaching that lowers the junior profile. Equally, the good teaching in the infants contains a weakness in relation to the way that teaching does not use assessment information sufficiently well to target and challenge pupils who are capable of a higher level in English and mathematics. Teachers are beginning to tackle this issue and have, for example, raised the pupils’ achievement in writing, by the end of Year 2, well. Pupils with special educational needs achieve satisfactorily,

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

in most cases, because of the way that they are taught in the classroom, but could do better if the systems that support their learning were better managed. This confirms the parents’ view expressed before the inspection. They considered teaching to be good, but a few parents thought that in some cases higher and lower attaining pupils could do better.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

16. The good quality of teaching in the nursery and reception classes is due, primarily, to the meticulous organisation for learning that takes place and the good use of support staff. The pattern in the nursery class is for the teacher and the two assistants to take a group each for direct instruction. On one occasion, for example, the teacher worked very sensitively with a group of ten children while the assistants were busily employed elsewhere. The teacher’s group was encouraged to talk about how they came to school. Most found it very hard to communicate in sentences, but very patient teaching helped them become more confident at speaking aloud. This kind of well structured teaching is based on children’s needs, identified by well recorded assessment information, and is continued into the reception classes. Children in the reception classes have, for example, used a digital camera well to photograph the

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

Whingate Primary School - 16 local area and displayed the images on the computer. This provides a very rich source of conversation. Children really enjoy using this form of technology and make good gains in speaking as a result. Teachers’ planning is carefully based on the early learning goals for children of this age. Relationships are very good and the teachers have a good understanding of the needs of young children. This has a very positive effect on children’s personal, social and emotional development. They become confident, self-disciplined and able to join in very well with adults and other children by the time they reach the end of the reception year.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

17. The national strategies for literacy and numeracy are taught soundly across the school. There is some very good teaching of literacy in the Year 1 and Year 2 lessons where the purpose of the lesson is very well explained and animated discussion between teacher and pupils leads to positive gains in learning. This work is very well supported by classroom support assistants who have a most productive relationship with the pupils. Some lessons in Year 1 and Year 2 are not so effective. Teaching is generally good at planning what will take place and setting the scene well at the beginning of the lessons. Teachers ask helpful questions that demonstrate a good knowledge of the work in hand. Sometimes, however, the teachers talk for too long and pupils become restless. Classroom support assistants are not given a clear enough role in the first part of the lesson and are effectively under employed at these

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

times. By contrast, on one occasion an assistant compiled written evidence of pupils’ performance for the class teacher while the lesson was being introduced, which was a most productive use of the time available. In some Year 2 numeracy lessons the work is not quite correctly matched for different groups of pupils. Sometimes higher attainers lack challenge in their learning and at other times lower attainers are not catered for well enough. These examples of imprecise teaching contribute to the slight lack of progress for some pupils in Year 1 and Year 2. Moreover, the withdrawal of some lower attaining Year 2 pupils for literacy work is unsatisfactory. They are not being taught the literacy strategy properly and tasks are not matched to their needs as identified on their individual learning plans.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

18. In Year 3 to Year 6 there are some very good examples of teaching literacy and numeracy. Lessons are brisk and proceed at a lively pace. They succeed well due to the grouping of pupils by attainment to allow activities to be more precisely matched to their needs. Successful lessons are characterised by thorough planning, the knowledgeable teaching of reading, writing and mental arithmetic and the very good management of pupils’ behaviour. Teachers make good use of homework to reinforce learning and in Year 6 pupils are helped to revise, ready for national tests, in a way that boosts their confidence and self-esteem very well. In the best lessons this applies equally to pupils with special educational needs, higher attainers and those who are learning English as an additional language. However, there are some weaknesses in the lessons in these year groups that limit pupils’ learning and result in

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

the teaching being satisfactory overall. For example, the placing of pupils in classes for literacy and numeracy based on their level of attainment does not always work. Some teachers tend to plan one piece of work for the whole class thereby ignoring the wide range of capability within it. This disadvantages both those pupils capable of higher attainment and those who find the work difficult. In some lessons the teachers do a bit too much talking and leave little time for pupils to talk about their own learning. Speaking as a route to understanding was undervalued on several occasions in most year groups. Classroom support assistants work very closely with the pupils in their care and help them achieve satisfactorily. They are, like their Year 1 and Year 2 counterparts sometimes under deployed during the first half of the lesson. Whingate Primary School - 17 19. There are good opportunities for pupils to use their literacy skills in geography,

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

science and design and technology, for example, but the use of measurement and calculation in other subjects is limited and does little to reinforce or extend learning. The development of pupils’ ability to speak about their learning is not undertaken with sufficient depth in any subject.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

20. Teaching in the rest of the subjects has many strengths. The teaching of ICT, for example, has greatly improved since the last inspection. Teachers are now far more knowledgeable and can help pupils get the best from the vastly improved range of computers. Physical education teaching towards the end of the juniors, in particular, benefits from teachers’ specialist knowledge and their ability to coach pupils in skills like striking and catching. Music teaching contains strengths throughout the school where its effect on pupils’ self-esteem and cultural development is marked. This is particularly true in the juniors where one person undertakes teaching, mainly. Some lessons contribute to pupils’ moral development in a significant way. For example, in a Year 5 geography lesson pupils were given very good opportunities to reflect on the plight of countries in which water was polluted but people had no choice but to drink it

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

because they were caught in the poverty trap. In some lessons the enthusiasm of pupils is a key factor in their success. Year 5 pupils were making biscuits in a design and technology lesson and sighed with disappointment when it had to end. Some unsatisfactory lessons balance these energetic and productive ones. Teachers talked too much and used undemanding worksheets, for pupils who either found them too hard or too easy - for example, in Year 4 and Year 5 science lessons. Higher attainers often had to mark time in these lessons while others caught up with them.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

21. Teaching of pupils with special educational needs is satisfactory, on balance. Teachers and their assistants know the pupils well and cater appropriately for their individual needs. In lessons a variety of strategies and methods are often well used to help them to learn. However, pupils’ individual education programmes, which are written by the special needs co-ordinator, are often not specific or practical enough to be easily used in the classroom. Consequently, pupils could make better progress because they are sometimes given work that is too easy or too hard for them. The classroom support assistants provide good quality care and work hard to help pupils learn. However, they do not receive training and direct instruction from the special needs co-ordinator and consequently there are occasions when they are unsure about how to help the pupils in their care. The contribution made by the new Pupil

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

Development Centre to pupils’ confidence in learning is very good and a strength of the school. The teaching of pupils who are learning English as an additional language is satisfactory on balance although it is good up until the age of seven.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

22. Methods of assessment are well established, but the use made of the results to record the individual progress of pupils, in English, mathematics and science, and to set targets for learning is less well developed. This has a limiting effect on the way in which pupils talk about their own learning and understand what they need to do to improve. It also has a detrimental effect on the teachers’ ability to use the information to plan further learning.

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PUPILS?

23. The school provides a broad and balanced curriculum, which meets the requirements of the National Curriculum and the locally agreed syllabus for religious education. The curriculum in the main reflects the aims and values of the school well and all pupils benefit according to their needs. The quality and range of the curriculum is good in Whingate Primary School - 18 the nursery and reception classes and satisfactory overall in the infants and the juniors. The staff have implemented well the new curriculum guidelines for the nursery and reception classes. They have grasped successfully the essential features of the guidance that make educational play a central feature of the day. Good teaching ensures that children play and learn well at the same time.

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PUPILS?

24. The curriculum provision, in Year 1 to Year 6 is not managed well enough for pupils with special educational needs. Work is not always at the right level of difficulty for these pupils because their individual programmes are sometimes not used well enough to plan their work. Pupils who are learning English as an additional language are able to benefit fully from the range of learning experiences offered by the school.

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PUPILS?

25. Across the school the majority of pupils receive relevant, rich and varied experiences which stimulate and interest them, so that by the end of Year 6 they achieve well in English, mathematics, science, ICT, music and PE. However throughout the school, particularly in Year 1 and Year 2 and in Year 4 and Year 5 insufficiently challenging work is planned for both higher and lower attaining pupils.

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PUPILS?

26. In the quality and range of learning opportunities there is, overall, too little emphasis placed on developing pupils’ ability to talk about their learning. They answer the teachers’ questions well enough but are nor encouraged often enough to speak at length about what they understand and judge their learning to be like. In history and science, investigation and research skills are developed well through a curriculum that focuses on the study of key periods and topics. High quality experiences in music and physical education provide enjoyment and enrich the ethos of the school through the many out-of-school clubs and activities.

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PUPILS?

27. The school, rightly, places particular emphasis on the development of pupils’ basic skills and makes sound use of the national numeracy and literacy strategies. Teachers sharing the same age group of pupils often plan together, this helps to ensure consistency of the curriculum through the year. Overall sufficient time is allocated for teaching the curriculum so subjects beyond English, mathematics and science are not disadvantaged. The grouping of pupils in Year 3 to Year 6 into classes based on their attainment in literacy and mathematics has variable outcomes. At best pupils are challenged with relevant work, but here are times when work is not well matched to the needs of higher and lower attaining pupils.

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PUPILS?

28. The curriculum for ICT has improved dramatically since the last inspection and is now a strong feature of the school’s work and the pupils are benefiting from the well organised computer suite. They are very effectively supported by the knowledgeable and recently appointed ICT co-ordinator.

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PUPILS?

29. A particularly strong feature is the provision made for personal, social and health education. The school’s learning mentor and the staff of The Pupil Development Centre provide a programme of well-planned experiences. These experiences help pupils to develop appropriate skills and knowledge in citizenship, sex education and drugs awareness and encourage them to have very positive attitudes to learning and to other people. In Year 6 an example of groups of pupils collaborating to solving problems to given criteria, increasing in complexity, demonstrated the importance the school places on developing opportunities for pupils to work with others.

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PUPILS?

30. The subject policies help to create consistent approaches and support new staff. In all subjects, schemes of work are very good, and match and reflect national recommendations well. They are very detailed and provide good guidance to Whingate Primary School - 19 teachers. Termly plans based on the schemes of work are effective and written to a common format that is easy to use. There is consistency in all teachers’ lesson plans that include a focused outline of what pupils are expected to learn in each lesson. In some cases however, this is too general, and the outcomes of assessment of pupils’ performance are insufficiently used to plan tasks well matched to pupils’ needs.

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PUPILS?

31. Plans are sometimes based around themes containing a number of subjects and in some cases are focused on one subject such as English. In Year 1, Year 2 and in Year 6 in particular, teachers make good links between subjects in their planning, for example, in mathematics and geography in the use of co-ordinates. History teaching in Year 6 provided good practise of literacy techniques when pupils wrote empathetic pieces about being an evacuee in World War Two. Furthermore, there were good examples of ICT being used effectively to support drafting and editing skills in English and history work, retrieving and ordering of information for science topics and supporting the knowledge of musical instruments.

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PUPILS?

32. The curriculum is enhanced very well with extra-curricular activities, visits and visitors to the school. These include competitive sports, and a residential week, cycling proficiency and musical concerts, all of which successfully extend the curriculum. As part of the Excellence in Cities initiative the school in association with West Yorkshire Playhouse provides SPARKS (sport and art towards knowledge), an initiative to broaden pupils’ experiences. Visiting specialists, for example a violin teacher and sport coaches in football, rugby and tennis are enhancing the skills of both pupils and staff. Good links with a local sports centre offer further opportunities to develop skills in a range of sports. Visits are usefully made to museums and heritage sites each year to support work in history and geography. Overall the school maintains satisfactory links with the local community and neighbouring schools that contribute to

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PUPILS?

pupils’ learning. Visitors from local churches come into school and pupils visit the local churches such as a visit to the Gudwara. Overall, however, there are insufficient opportunities for members of faith communities to visit and share their faith and cultures with the school community. A local business is presently involved in a project to improve reading. Volunteers read weekly with individual pupils and this is having a positive effect on pupils’ reading progress.

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PUPILS?

33. The provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good overall and has improved since the last inspection. It is a strength of the school. The good provision is reflected in the caring, supportive ethos and promotes good standards of personal development. It has a positive impact on pupils’ attitudes to school, to the work they do and prepares them well for the next stage of their education.

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PUPILS?

34. Provision for pupils’ spiritual development is good. This represents a very good improvement since the last inspection. The school has developed a climate in which all pupils grow, flourish and are taught to respect one another’s beliefs and opinions. A strength is the way in which staff raise pupils’ self-esteem and make them feel valued. Pupils have developed a real trust in the adults in school. They say they feel safe in school because they always have someone to talk to. There are good opportunities for the pupils to explore their feelings and emotions, for example, pupils say the ‘Listening Box’, into which they can post a problem, is a good idea because it is a way they can let out their feelings and get a weight off their chest. Pupils’ spiritual development is promoted well in assemblies where a positive sense of community, shared values and achievements are celebrated together. Singing is a strong feature

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PUPILS?

of the school creating a very special atmosphere that makes a very good contribution Whingate Primary School - 20 to pupils’ spiritual and cultural development. Pupils have opportunity to reflect on world issues such as the unequal shares of global wealth and its effect on health. The distribution of world wealth challenged the Year 5 pupils to reflect on the link between economic success and access to clean water.

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PUPILS?

35. Provision for pupils' moral development is very good. From their earliest days in nursery, pupils are encouraged to consider how their actions affect others. There is a strong emphasis on good behaviour throughout the school. Moral values and issues are regularly reinforced in lessons and assemblies so that pupils have a good understanding of right and wrong. Members of staff create an orderly environment and help pupils to become responsible members of the community. Adults set a good example to pupils and encourage good relationships. The culture of the school is one where good behaviour is positively reinforced and as a result pupils grow in self- confidence. The regular ‘Thought of the Week’ encourages pupils to reflect on the needs and feelings of others. For example, they are asked to think of ways that sharing helps others, or how to make the school a healthier place.

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PUPILS?

36. Provision for pupils’ social development is good. It is effectively enhanced by the warm relationships between adults and pupils. Within the curriculum teachers provide good opportunities for pupils to co-operate and collaborate in group activities. For example, a key feature of a Year 5 design and technology lesson designing biscuits for the Queen’s jubilee was their ability to evaluate their ideas and adapt them in response to the views of others. Class and school responsibilities increase appropriately as pupils get older. Extra-curricular activities, including sport, drama, art and other lunchtime clubs provide good opportunities for pupils to work and play together outside lessons. Pupils knowledge and understanding of the wider world community and of people less fortunate than themselves are increased through a range of activities such as raising funds for local and world wide charities. The

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PUPILS?

annual residential visit helps pupils develop their independence and personal and social skills through a range of challenging, adventurous activities. The school has a well-planned programme for personal, social and health education that incorporates aspects of citizenship. This helps pupils develop their understanding about being a member of a community and how society functions.

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PUPILS?

37. Provision for pupils’ cultural development is good. The cultural dimensions of pupils’ learning feature frequently in a range of curricular activities. For example, they enjoy special days when they dress up and experience food and traditions from a particular time in the past, such the Tudor or Viking period. Pupils respond to various drawings and paintings of different artists and illustrate the mood of the picture they are studying by choosing various sounds from a wide range of musical instruments. Pupils are helped to develop an understanding that people from a range of backgrounds and countries may have a culture that is different from their own. The cultural diversity of the school is well drawn upon as a resource, for example pupils from a range of heritages are pleased to share the customs of their own cultures and often bring resources from home. The Asian Week is particularly successful

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PUPILS?

because of the involvement of some Asian parents who cook food and supply costumes and artefacts for the pupils to see and use. The Indian Music Week in the reception year group saw a demonstration of Indian dancing and children had Mendhi patterns painted on their hands. There is useful teaching about different faiths within religious education .

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

Whingate Primary School - 21 38. The school has established a caring and supportive environment that enables pupils to gain self-confidence so that they can learn effectively. The pastoral support is of a high quality and underpins the ethos of the school and the values it promotes. Pupils say that their teachers and other adults in school are kind and caring and they can readily ask them for help if it is needed. Parents firmly agree that the school is helping their child become mature and responsible. Pupils are happy to come to school.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

39. A carefully planned induction programme helps the children settle quickly and happily into the routines of the nursery. Members of staff meet individual parents and their children prior to the children starting nursery. This arrangement helps forge links between families and the school from an early stage. The transfer arrangements into the reception class provide a valuable experience for the children to familiarise themselves with the school and the routines and it makes the transition to full time education easier for them. However, parental attendance at the introduction to school meeting prior to the children’s admission to the reception class is declining with less then half of the children represented.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

40. The school has an appropriate policy for health and safety and the management of this is satisfactory. The headteacher and caretaker regularly carry out informal safety inspections of the premises and grounds and deal promptly with any hazards found. However, the involvement of the governing body in monitoring the health and safety procedures in practice is unsatisfactory. The school has no formal arrangements in place to regularly assess, record and take action on risks in the building and grounds. Child protection procedures are securely in place and staff awareness is very good. The school is very vigilant in this aspect, and perceives that all staff have a role to play. There was concern amongst some parents about the care for and supervision of pupils at lunchtimes. The inspection findings are that the pupils are appropriately supervised and looked after at break times and lunchtimes.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

41. Procedures for monitoring and supporting pupils’ personal development are very good. The Learning Mentor and the Pupil Development Centre, funded through the Excellence in Cities, have a significant role in providing high quality personal support and guidance for the pupils. They provide a wide range of well-planned support strategies to individual children, groups of children and, where necessary, individual parents or families. The arrangements for caring and supporting pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties are very effective. The formal development of the personal, social and health curriculum complements the work of the Pupil Development Centre and the Learning Mentor and together they form a very successful initiative. There are very good systems for identifying those pupils who might benefit from working on the themed activities in the centre. Pupils’ individual targets are communicated to the class teachers to ensure there is a shared

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

understanding and working towards the areas identified for improvement. The staff carefully monitor and record the progress pupils make towards their targets. Pupils are helped overcome their problems so that they can concentrate on their learning in class and this has a positive impact on their academic achievements. A good programme of personal, social and health education is taught within lessons and time set aside for discussion. Pupils look at aspects of personal safety and are taught how best to help themselves if they are faced with a potential danger. The school recognises and rewards individual achievements and successes and these are celebrated through a weekly assembly. The older pupils enjoy extra classes to boost their attainment and feel that they are well prepared for their national tests. The Transition Assistant employed through an Education Action Zone provides very good support for pupils preparing for transfer to high school.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

Whingate Primary School - 22 42. The procedures for promoting good behaviour are very good and are working well. Teachers and other staff are good role models and expect high standards of behaviour in and out of the classrooms. Pupils duly respond and have a clear understanding of what constitutes acceptable and unacceptable behaviour within the school community. Good relationships foster strong mutual respect and teachers use praise and rewards effectively. Pupils say that the reward system is fair and encourages them to work hard and behave well all the time. It makes them feel proud to receive an award in assembly. Some parents feel there is an element of bullying at playtimes and are unhappy about how issues are dealt with. Pupils feel that there is very occasional bullying that is dealt with swiftly and effectively and speak highly of the Learning Mentor and teachers who always listens to them and help sort out their

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

problems. The success of the school’s methods is reflected in the consistently good behaviour of the pupils and the very small number of individuals referred to the headteacher for behavioural matters. The school’s positive approach to including all pupils in every aspect of school life has ensured that the Pupil Development Centre has become an integral part of the school community.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

43. The way that the provision for pupils with special educational needs is managed is unsatisfactory. This is largely due to the co-ordination and organisation of special educational needs throughout the school that leads to a minority of pupils not always getting the appropriate support they need. For example, in literacy lessons for a small group of Year 2 pupils the individual education plans are not used or referred to at all. Progress towards the targets in individual programmes is reviewed termly, at a meeting between the class teacher and the special needs co-ordinator and new targets set appropriately. However these targets are not regularly used and modified. There is no overall monitoring system to track the progress of pupils with special educational needs throughout their time at school.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

44. The monitoring and promoting of attendance is good. The school makes good use of the data provided by the computerised registration system to monitor pupils’ attendance. Absences causing concern are investigated rigorously. The learning mentor takes an active part in monitoring attendance and receives regular and effective support from the educational welfare officer. When needed families are helped overcome their social difficulties that often directly influence the child’s absence. In some cases this has a positive impact on improving a child’s attendance. The Pupil Development Centre has established successfully an Early Birds’ club, which is used by a number of children who attend the school. This facility provides the children with a good breakfast and the opportunity to build relationships with each other through the various activities on offer. It is a stimulus to come to school early and has a positive effect in motivating the children and improving their

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

45. Since the last inspection when very little was in place, the school has made satisfactory improvements to the way in which pupils’ achievements are assessed and monitored. One significant weakness remains. Whilst there is a good range of assessment opportunities, these are not collated by the senior management team to give an overview of standards, nor to routinely track the attainment and achievements of groups and individuals year on year. For example, there are good procedures for assessing pupils’ attainment and achievements within year groups and on transfer to the next class. This information, however, is not used as a management tool to predict pupils’ results at the ends of Year 2 and 6, or to consistently set realistic targets for groups and individual pupils. This is demonstrated by the considerable gap between teachers’ assessment of pupils’ performance at the end of Year 6 in 20001 and the results that they actually achieved. The school has introduced optional

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

Whingate Primary School - 23 testing of pupils in English, mathematics and science in Years 3, 4 and 5, and teachers use these effectively to inform future planning and revision. Pupils’ answers to questions in Year 6 national tests are systematically analysed and curriculum planning is adapted to address areas where pupils’ knowledge and understanding is insecure. However, the results of initial assessments, when children first enter school and national test results at the end of Year 2 are not rigorously analysed. Opportunities are therefore missed to ensure that curricular provision more closely meets the needs of pupils. There are good systems for assessing pupils’ attainment in most other subjects but all teachers do not consistently use these. This makes it difficult for the school to track pupils’ attainment and achievement in these subjects. The school analyses assessment information by gender, but does not monitor the

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

attainment and achievements of pupils with English as an additional language, or their stage of English language acquisition.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

46. Each pupil has individual targets for mathematics and English. These are set each term and are reported to parents. Some of the targets are very focused, such as “Write numbers to 20 correctly”. Others, such as “Be able to complete every day simple problems”, are too wide, making them difficult to measure and having little impact on pupils’ daily work. Whingate Primary School - 24

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

47. The majority of parents have very positive views about the school. In many aspects parents are supportive of what the school does and achieves. A very good number of parents took the opportunity to answer the questionnaire and give their opinions at the pre-inspection meeting. At the meeting, most parents were always happy with the school and some stated that it was superb. There is general support for the view that standards are good except that those pupils capable of more demanding work are not challenged enough and those with difficulties are not always helped to overcome their problems. Inspectors share these concerns, because the work set for pupils is not always sufficiently matched to their needs. The responses to the questionnaire show that the majority of parents are extremely pleased with most aspects of school life. Parents clearly see their children liking school, making good progress and working

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

hard to achieve their best. They feel comfortable approaching the school with any questions or concerns. A number of parents have reservations over the opportunities for activities outside school and the amount of homework given. The inspection findings are that the extra-curricular provision is good and better than is often seen but the activities are mainly for the junior children. The arrangements for homework are overall satisfactory and typical to those found in other schools of a similar kind.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

48. The quality and range of information provided to parents is good. Day-to-day communication is good. Parents receive information about the school and its activities through the regular letters and newsletters. In addition, year group newsletters are provided each term giving details about the curriculum and topics to be taught as well as reminding parents about general routine matters. The school governors’ annual report to parents is satisfactory in terms of statutory requirements but lacks the friendly style of communication about the life of the school that characterises many reports. The prospectus contains a lot of detail about the schools routines and procedures, but the valuable information about its ethos and values that are strengths of the school is missing. There is a range of additional useful booklets for parents of new pupils starting nursery, which strengthen the partnership between home and school. The annual reports on pupils’ progress are of

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

good quality and provide a detailed analysis of their achievements together with specific targets for areas of future development. Parents have two formal opportunities to find out how their child is getting on, one at the beginning of the school year and one during the summer term. This arrangement attracted some negative response on the parents’ questionnaire and a good number of parents say they would support an extra meeting during the spring term. Pupils feel that it would be a good idea for their parents to come into school each term so that they can see the work that they have been doing.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

49. The relationships between the school and parents are good. The impact of parental involvement on the work of the school is good and the contribution parents make to their children’s learning at home is satisfactory. The majority of parents take an interest in school and they want their children to do well. Parents are welcome to assist in school in whatever role they feel they may be of benefit. The parental take up of the opportunities on offer varies greatly. Several parents regularly assist in school and there is always a good response when volunteers are sought for specific events such as accompanying a class on a visit. Parental attendance at consultation evenings and any event involving their children such as the Harvest Festival, concerts and musical evenings is extremely good. Attendance at information evenings about the curriculum or general ‘open days’ is poor and this is disappointing for the school.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

There is no parents’ or friends’ association but parental support of the children for fund raising and charity events is exceptionally strong. The school received Whingate Primary School - 25 tremendous support from parents and other volunteers in helping to produce the great number of wonderful high quality ‘story sacks’. The sacks are a valuable resource and are well used by the teachers in the infant and nursery classes to support teaching and learning. As well as the teachers using the sacks in class, a good number of parents take the opportunity in borrowing them to support their child’s learning at home. Parents of the reception children enjoy the opportunity to work alongside their children during the weekly workshops and say it gives them good knowledge of what their children can do. The children clearly like to learn with their parents and are pleased to demonstrate their skills. This contributes to the positive

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

attitudes the children have towards school and their learning.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

50. Parents of pupils with special educational needs have a satisfactory involvement in their child’s development. Parents are informed as soon as a pupil is identified as needing extra help and are involved in the annual review meetings for pupils with statements. Progress made by pupils with special educational needs is discussed at parents meetings, however they do not receive a copy of the individual programmes.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

51. Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher continues to provide good leadership in ensuring that there is a team approach in school and that the ethos is positive. The headteacher has played a significant role in improving the quality of teaching and the behaviour of pupils since the last inspection. The improvement of national test results at the end of Year 6 has been publicly recognised as an achievement. Parents, rightly, have a high regard for the school. However, there are weaknesses in the way that the school is managed that limit its success overall.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

52. The school is an inclusive establishment and this is well recognised by parents and the local education authority. The school was chosen to have a Pupil Development Centre because of its success in making all pupils feel positive about themselves and their learning. This strength in building self-esteem is part of a wider sense of community that exists. This has a positive influence on pupils’ behaviour and the way that pupils with different talents, and from different backgrounds, are welcomed into the school. This applies equally to those who are learning English as an additional language, those who are seeking asylum and those who are from travellers’ families as it does to the majority. Pupils with special educational needs make satisfactory progress, due to the diligence shown by their teachers and their support assistants, but could do better if the management of the system that supports their leaning was

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

not unsatisfactory. The policy for special educational needs is very out of date and no move has yet been made to implement the new code of practice. The school has invested a large amount of money in staff to support these pupils, but the effect is not as good as it could be. Classroom support assistants are not always deployed in a way to make the most of their time and they are not sufficiently trained by the school to make the most of their commitment. Some teachers who work specifically with pupils with special educational needs are also not as effective as they could be. In one case, for example, the teaching of a small groups of pupils in the infants, who were withdrawn from the classroom, was being undertaken without proper reference to the pupils’ identified needs and the national strategy for literacy. Not only was teaching unsatisfactory, but the monitoring of this work was inadequate. Gifted pupils

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

make satisfactory progress in lessons, but the school has not yet identified specific pupils and decided on any special provision. Talented pupils are catered for well in art and design through the school’s links with The West Yorkshire Playhouse and in music due to the lively and informed teaching they receive in class and from the local education authority’s music service, but there is no overall strategy for this provision. Whingate Primary School - 26 53. The school has made satisfactory progress since the last inspection in the reported key issues. The most well managed aspect has been the improvements made in ICT. Pupils have achieved well to be able to attain the expected standards. The school has made sure that there are enough computers and that staff are well trained and confident to use them. Standards in English, mathematics and science have improved since 1997, but the school’s average is still low in some years due to the

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

relative lack of pupils that reach a higher level. There is a sound assessment policy and teaching is regularly monitored, but refinements have yet to be made to these aspects to help teachers raise attainment even further.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

54. The whole school system of assessing where pupils are up to in their learning, altering ways of teaching and learning in line with the findings of these assessments and setting new challenges for groups of pupils has been led well by the headteacher and senior managers. This has resulted in, for example, some very focused teaching in Year 6 that has improved results in national tests. What is currently missing, in this respect, is a complete picture, on paper, of what pupils have achieved, in tests and lessons and specific targets for the next stage in their learning. Without this evaluation and system for incremental challenges, in English, mathematics and science, from Year 1 onwards, too much is left until Year 6 in terms of catching up. The problem starts in the infants where information received form the reception classes is not turned into aspirational targets for when these pupils reach Year 2 and

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

Year 6. The current system is based on a year-by-year review only and in this way the overall view of standards and what teaching needs to do to raise them is lost, particularly for those pupils who are capable of higher attainment. The co-ordinator for Years 1 and 2 is also the co-ordinator for the reception and nursery classes. This overloading of responsibilities contributes to the weaknesses in managing pupils’ progress throughout the school. In day-to-day terms it means that no one is making sure that lessons are pitched at the correct level to keep pupils’ learning on track.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

55. Governors are very supportive of the school. At the time of the last inspection, the part that individual governors played in the general life of the school was praised. This is still the case, but the way that the governing body is organised to monitor standards and check the quality of education provided has not kept pace with national developments since 1997. They rely heavily on the headteacher to keep them informed and this is successful, as far as it goes, but they do not find enough out for themselves to be able to make fully objective decisions. The role played by individual governors, particularly in literacy and numeracy and special educational needs is not strong enough to identify potential weaknesses in the school’s provision. Governors also have a weak understanding of what the school needs to do to improve its curriculum and the way it is taught. The successful effect of the school’s policy for

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

health and safety is due to the good site management carried out by the headteacher and the caretaker because the governors have not instigated formal assessments to guide them.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

56. The leadership and management of the nursery and reception classes are good. The co-ordinator works well with all the staff to ensure that children make good progress throughout the two years. A particular strength in the leadership is the co-ordinator’s ability to attract funding and involve the school in special projects. This has resulted, for example, in very good outside play facilities and a rich array of resources for learning in classes.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

57. The monitoring and evaluation of teaching was in need of development in 1997. Since then every effort has been to allow, for example, all co-ordinators to view some Whingate Primary School - 27 teaching in their subjects. This has evolved in line with the national requirements for the management of teachers’ performance. This has been successful up to a point and staff have been developed accordingly. However, the monitoring by the headteacher, senior staff and co-ordinators has concentrated, almost exclusively, on what the teacher does and not enough on what pupils are learning and how they are achieving. The school is now, correctly, aware that monitoring needs to be more sharply focused and that points for development need to be more closely linked to pupils’ learning, standards achieved and the school’s system of performance management.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

58. The governors, the headteacher and the secretary manage the budget well and are making satisfactory use of any grants given to assist the school’s development. Moreover, any surpluses are well accounted for in this respect, for example, the large surplus in 2001 was set aside for The Pupil Development Centre, which has been a very good innovation. There are efficient administrative systems in place to support the governors their management of the budget. The school is not knocked off course by administrative demands from its local education authority or the government. All paperwork is prioritised in an efficient fashion. The governors are helped greatly by the headteacher in this respect. The regular meetings between the headteacher and chair of governors make sure that things run smoothly at an administrative level. The school always makes sure that money is spent wisely by always researching how to

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

spend it and choosing the goods and services that represent the best value for the school. The school has clear plans for future spending contained within its plan of action. The governors have not yet put in place measures to judge how effective their major spending has been, for example, the purchase of ICT equipment or the funding of additional support staff. Thus they are not in a good position to challenge the school to do better. Whingate Primary School - 28

p.27

with support from the local education authority should:

1. Improve the standards reached by pupils at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 in English, mathematics and science by: • identifying and catering, effectively, for pupils who are capable of higher attainment; • improving the effect of grouping arrangements in the juniors; • making better use of assessment information; and • improving pupils’ spoken English to include more opportunities for pupils to talk about their learning. (Paragraphs 3,15,18,25,26,53,75,81,87,89,94,101,100,125)

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with support from the local education authority should:

2. Improve the systems for assessing pupils’ attainment and achievement by: • recording pupils’ attainments more effectively; and • refining the target setting procedures. (Paragraphs 4,22,30,45,46,53,54,78,96,116,139,150)

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with support from the local education authority should:

3. Improve the Governing Body’s role in monitoring standards and the quality of education provided by: • strengthening the committee structure to discuss these issues and to ensure that all legal requirements are met; • giving clearer direction to nominated governors to assist in their monitoring and evaluation duties; • ensuring that monitoring and evaluation are discussed regularly at full governing body meetings; and • training governors to gather the information that they need to monitor and evaluate effectively. (Paragraphs 55,58)

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with support from the local education authority should:

4. Improve the management of special educational needs by: • speeding up preparations for the implementation of the new code of practice; • providing training for teachers in the writing of pupils’ individual education plans; and • making sure that individual education plans are used effectively in all relevant lessons. (Paragraphs 6,15,17,21,24,43,50,52,125)

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with support from the local education authority should:

Minor issues for improvement identified during the inspection were: (i) the unsatisfactory teaching in Year 4 and Year 5 that slows progress in the juniors; (paragraphs 3,15,20,25,84,104,105) (ii) the training needs of classroom support assistants; (paragraphs 17,18,21, 52,78,96) and (iii) the monitoring of lessons and pupils’ work to identify areas for improvement in learning and standards. (Paragraphs 57,88,97,111,116,139,150) Whingate Primary School - 29

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 37

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactor y Poor Very Poor

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

The table gives the number and percentage of lessons observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about teaching. Care should be taken when interpreting these percentages as each lesson represents more than one percentage point.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR – Y6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 39 407

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals N/A 112

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Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 0 6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 2 102

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Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 21

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 30

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 21

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Attendance

School data 6.8 School data 0.3 Whingate Primary School - 30 National comparative data 5.6 National comparative data 0.5

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Attendance

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Whingate Primary School - 31

p.30

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2001 27 30 57

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Boys 23 25 25 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 27 28 27

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 88 (86) 93 (88) 91 (84) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (83) 86 (84) 91 (90)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Boys 24 25 25 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 27 27 28

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 89 (90) 91 (86) 93 (88) at NC level 2 or above National 85 (84) 89 (88) 89 (88)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year.

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2001 24 27 51

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Boys 20 19 24 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 21 15 23

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentage of pupils School 80 (57) 67 (50) 92 (72) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (75) 71 (72) 87 (85)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Boys 17 20 19 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 15 18 18

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentage of pupils School 63 (45) 75 (52) 73 (50) at NC level 4 or above National 72 (70) 74 (72) 82 (79)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Whingate Primary School - 32

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage 2 Black – Caribbean heritage 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – African heritage 0 Black – African heritage 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Any other minority ethnic group 5 Other minority ethnic groups 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

This table refers to pupils of compulsory school age only. This table gives the number of exclusions of pupils of compulsory school age, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded.

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 18 Financial year 2000/1

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 23.9

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR– Y6 Total income 926,373

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 18 Total expenditure 878,869

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 513 Expenditure per pupil 1914.75

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery Balance brought forward from previous year 3,600

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 1 Balance carried forward to next year 51.104

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 39

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 2

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 66

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 1

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 2

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Recruitment of teachers

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 0

p.32

Recruitment of teachers

Number of vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of a term or more (FTE) 0

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of unfilled vacancies or vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of less than one term (FTE) 0

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Recruitment of teachers

FTE means full-time equivalent. Whingate Primary School - 33

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Percentage of responses in each category

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Strongly agree Tend to agree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child is making good progress in school. 57 39 3 0 1

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Behaviour in the school is good. 45 48 4 1 2

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 38 46 13 2 1

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 46 38 15 1 0

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 61 33 4 2 0

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 64 35 0 0 0

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school works closely with parents. 37 46 14 2 1

p.33

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is well led and managed. 58 38 2 1 1

p.33

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 52 43 2 1 2

p.33

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 41 40 11 4 5 Whingate Primary School - 34

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

60. Children start school in the nursery class in the term in which they are three years of age. On entry to the nursery the children’s levels of attainment are generally below average. Children achieve well in both the nursery and reception classes making a significant step forward in their attainment. By the end of the reception classes most children are on course to reach the expected levels for their age. Many children go beyond what is expected in personal, social and emotional education by the end of their reception year due to the very good teaching they receive that places a great emphasis on self-discipline, being responsible and joining in well with others. The ability to speak clearly and in sentences by many children is limited and this prevents standards being higher, particularly in literacy and numeracy.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

61. A pattern exists in the quality of teaching and the achievements made by children. Good teaching generally produces good achievement. The quality of teaching is influenced strongly by the energetic and informed contribution made by the support assistants. This is more often more marked in the nursery class where assistants regularly teach children for sustained periods.

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Personal, social and emotional development

62. A strength of the nursery class is its organisation and routine, which gives children a great sense of security and gives them confidence to learn effectively. The good teaching, and sometimes very good teaching, that is present, in both the nursery and the reception classes, helps children to succeed and feel positive about their learning and this is reflected in the very good attitudes that they show in class. The staff in both year groups use recorded music well to create an atmosphere for learning. For example, the playing of Mozart at clearing up time has transformed children’s attitudes and efficiency when clearing up. Many of the children in the nursery class are able to work well together as a whole class. For example, they all listened very well to a recording of, ‘Perfect Day’, but were quite reticent to speak their thoughts in front of the other children. Nevertheless, after successful coaxing by the teachers

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Personal, social and emotional development

and assistants many make rapid progress in this respect. By the time they are at the end of their year in reception most can concentrate for long periods and have the confidence to speak out in class. They were, for example, almost spellbound when their teacher was demonstrating how they could test the capacity of water containers. Higher attainers, in particular, could compare one with another and were eager to say which held the most fluid. They can dress and undress well when getting ready for physical education and are proud to be invited to the lunchtime club by the Learning Mentor. They learn to play well together because their teachers give them timetabled opportunities to think about how to do it. For example, they have learnt to dance around the maypole to practice skills of collaboration.

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Communication, language and literacy

63. Work in this aspect of children’s learning is incorporated in each lesson every day. It is very common for children to be practising communication skills when ordering items at the nursery hardware store, baking scones, building mounds in the reception sand tray or writing about the beans they are growing to reach up to the giant’s castle. They have good attitudes to their work due to the good support that they receive from Whingate Primary School - 35 teachers and classroom support assistants. Most children, as a result of the good teaching they receive are on course to meet the goals, set nationally, and this represents good achievement from their low starting point.

p.34

Communication, language and literacy

64. The effective teaching methods employed demonstrate the importance that is placed on speaking and listening as a means of communication in their own right and for eventual proficiency in reading and writing. By the end of the reception year many children are confident to speak out in front of the class. Those that are not are well supported and prompted by teachers and classroom support assistants. For example, in an ICT lesson in the reception class, children enjoyed drawing the hungry caterpillar and writing a caption underneath it on a computer presentation, but some found it hard to recall proper names. One child said, ‘Where’s the caterpillar’s little curly round things?’ One higher attaining child knew which words rhymed together, but most found it hard to articulate like this. Children achieve well since in the nursery class many clam up when it is their turn to speak or find it hard to contribute very

p.35

Communication, language and literacy

much due to limited general knowledge. For example, some children were fascinated by the idea of telling Teddy how they came to school, but only a few could say what happened in the proper sequence.

p.35

Communication, language and literacy

65. The good quality of the teaching of reading and writing is firmly and successfully based on those methods advocated in the national strategy for literacy. Teaching is well versed in such methods and children often make good progress in lessons. Opportunities for early reading and writing are all around in the nursery class. For example, children write lists of items that they need to restock in the shop. Children’s reading of single words and their ability to say sounds that go to make up words is developed well by the use of a specific scheme to teach letter sounds in a systematic fashion. Currently, average attaining children in the reception class can read single words and phrases like, ‘Look in here’ and are very confident to say the sounds in short words like, ‘big’. Higher attainers can read a small book at one go and revel in talking about the story. This demonstrates the good effect of the specialist teaching in

p.35

Communication, language and literacy

letter sounds. Several of the highest attainers can read all forty-five recommended words for their age group from the national literacy strategy already and can use their knowledge of letter sounds to tackle unknown words. Children’s enthusiasm for writing is widespread. Most children in the nursery class enjoy making their own marks on paper to represent words and several can make good attempts at writing their own name. For example one child wrote, ‘Rop@’ for Robert, taking great delight in introducing a computer keyboard symbol. All children in the reception classes hold pencils correctly and many can write simple sentences unaided. Children’s reading and writing is greatly assisted by the opportunity to use, ‘Story Sacks’, which are collections of objects and resources relevant to a story such as The Hungry Caterpillar. Children relish matching the items in the sack to the pictures in the book.

p.35

Communication, language and literacy

They also delight in taking them home to share their enthusiasm with family members. Children respond well to the good teaching they receive and they all make good progress including those that are learning English as an additional language and those with special educational needs.

p.35

Mathematical development

66. Children are achieving well in this aspect of their development and most are on course to meet the national expectations by the end of the reception year. Some higher attaining children in the reception class can already count up to one hundred and can manage to complete, verbally, a number sentence like 7 scales + 3 scales = … Children have come a long way, in two years, to be able to do this. In the nursery class many find it hard to join in with the number song, ‘Five little ducks’. When Whingate Primary School - 36 counting ducks many get lost and confused when counting each duck when someone else is pointing at them. Their confidence in counting is quite weak when doing something else at the same time. For example, children find it hard to sing a number song and do the actions to it at the same time. Children in the reception class have progressed to be able to use resources to help them spot that ten plus nothing leaves

p.35

Mathematical development

them with the original ten. It is their confidence in saying what the answer is that reveals the strong progress that they have made in this area of learning. Having had lots of valuable experience in the nursery class in filling containers with salt, flour or water, for example, children in the reception class are confident with the idea of containers being half filled with water and talk well about their teacher’s demonstration to show two exactly equal halves. Most are on course to be able to compare two or more items for similar capacity. Children with special educational needs get caught up in these class activities and learn well by being carried along with the flow. They are also very well supported by classroom support assistants who encourage them to speak up in class with their answers or discretely withdraw them for individual attention if that is more relevant at the time. A strength of the teaching in the nursery

p.36

Mathematical development

and reception classes is the way in which staff talk to children about numbers, use exciting resources to reinforce ideas, set demanding but realistic activities and make accurate assessments on children’s work. Children respond in a very positive fashion. The teachers and the assistants use every opportunity to promote the use of mathematical language in a wide variety of contexts. Words to describe measurement were well used, for example, when children were baking in the reception class they were involved in counting spoonfuls of flour and using scales to judge weight comparisons. Teaching also uses computers well to assist in the development of mathematical ideas.

p.36

Knowledge and understanding of the world

67. The children enjoy learning about the world around them. They achieve well in this area of their development as a result of good teaching and most children are on course to reach the expected level in their learning by the end of their reception year. The provision of activities designed to compensate for many children’s relatively weak knowledge of the world around them is a real strength of the teaching in both the nursery and the reception classes. For example, children in the nursery class have prepared their own snacks while listening to stories that enlarge their general knowledge, used computers to make graphs to show information about cars and used binoculars to talk about what they can see through them. In the reception class children have grown beans and are fascinated by the speed at which they shoot leaves and gain height. Some average and higher attaining children can speak well about the way that the plants have grown and are able to draw them in great detail,

p.36

Knowledge and understanding of the world

showing roots and veins in the leaves. Good achievement results from teaching that concentrates well on first-hand experiences and gives plenty of opportunity for focussed discussion. On one occasion children investigated simple ideas about forces by rolling toy cars down a slope. The look of amazement on their faces when the speed of the car increased with the angle of the slope was indicative of their joy of finding out about the physical world around them. Despite the rich provision made for the children to widen their horizons, limited spoken language prevents a few from achieving the expected levels. They are often excited by the activity, but cannot discuss well enough in groups to make the most of the experience. For example, children in the reception class were baking scones and despite the good teaching that concentrated on talking, speech structures and social skills, several children found it

p.36

Knowledge and understanding of the world

hard to offer thoughts about what was happening. Children learn to use technology well. They have used a digital camera well and know about computer presentations and how to make them. Whingate Primary School - 37

p.36

Physical development

68. The children are likely to meet the nationally expected levels by the end of their year in reception. This represents good achievement from a relatively weak position when they entered the nursery class. Many of the children have not had to opportunity to develop the finer skills of pouring, balancing and cutting accurately, for example. They have ample chances to exercise fully in the school hall and in the well equipped outside play area. They are achieving well because they get off to such a good start in the nursery class and continue the momentum of this achievement throughout their time in the foundation stage. They thoroughly enjoy their work and are very enthusiastic in all lessons. The nursery programme to develop children’s physical faculties is detailed and extensive. When they start in the nursery class many children, including those with special educational needs, require help to use a knife or

p.37

Physical development

to spoon some mixture into a container. As a result of the many interesting activities available children refine their manipulative skills. They also get ample chances to ride on bikes and climb on apparatus. By the time they are in the reception class many average and higher attaining children can use climbing apparatus well in the school hall. Their achievement is greatly enhanced by the outside play facilities. They can play in the outside house, building with large plastic bricks and play games with bats and balls. There are even opportunities for them to write and draw outside as well. Teaching is good on balance because teachers work so productively to provide experiences for children to develop physical skills. The teaching provides plenty of opportunities for the children to develop good control over pencils, crayons, paintbrushes and other tools. Children, for example, have good control when cutting

p.37

Physical development

dough in the nursery class and making hungry caterpillars in the reception class.

p.37

Creative development

69. The quality of teaching in this area of learning is good and the children are on course to reach the expectations for their age by the end of the reception year. Their achievements are good despite the problems some children have with speaking effectively with adults and other children, which makes imaginative play difficult. Achievement in the nursery is very good when adults get involved in role-play with the children. For example, on one occasion a support assistant was most active in helping children take orders for toilet seats in their hardware store and then add up the likely takings on a calculator. Just occasionally resources are not so well provided. For example, the sand tray in the nursery is not well positioned, and the amount of sand in it is inadequate at times for the number of toys available. Children’s achievement in painting and drawings is good by the time they reach the end of the

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Creative development

reception class. High attainers, for example, have used pencil crayons to draw the beanstalks and shown, in delicate fine detail, the veins on the leaves and the hairs on the roots. Their singing is enthusiastic and tuneful. By the end of the reception year many children can sing simple songs from memory and recognise simple repeating patterns in music. They love the lyrics of. ‘Super duper pupa’ for example and can clap its pattern and stop, with control, when required. This is a great achievement since in the nursery class many children find it hard to join in with songs especially if they are expected to do actions at the same time. 70. Three teachers teach children: one in the nursery class and two in the reception year. The quality of teaching is good, on balance with some very good teaching in the reception classes on occasions. The adults play very well with the children drawing out ideas and ensuring understanding through conversation and incidental discussion.

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Creative development

The two classes are well managed and the team of staff work well together despite the cramped conditions in the reception area. Whingate Primary School - 38 71. The school provides a rich and interesting curriculum and staff regularly assess children’s efforts well so that they know how to plan the next stages of the work. There is very good support for children with special educational needs supplied by classroom support assistants. Children who are learning English as an additional language also receive close attention and make good progress. The staff keep many good individual records for children, but do not yet use this information to work with teachers in the infants to set ambitious goals for the end of Year 2. The strength of the teaching is the way in which children are organised and motivated in activities that are full of fun. Parents are fully involved in their child’s introduction to the school and

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Creative development

as a result they settle in quickly. The provision of homework activities is successful and much appreciated by most parents. It helps children practise basic skills to good effect. The school also provides very good information for parents to keep them up to date with their children’s attainments and achievements. The co-ordinator is ever active in planning new developments and these impact well on children’s development.

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ENGLISH

72. By the end of Year 6, current standards in speech, reading and writing are lower than those in most primary schools. Standards are low this year and have gone down since the last inspection. This is because of the large number of pupils with special educational needs in Year 6 and their low standards in English when they started in the juniors. However, pupils’ achievement is often good in the juniors. This is because of high quality teaching, particularly in Years 3 and 6. Last year, for example, pupils achieved above average standards in the national tests at the end of Year 6. Over a third of pupils achieved higher than the nationally expected standard. Girls achieve higher standards than boys, following a national pattern.

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ENGLISH

73. Good relationships with teachers, and the pupils’ good attitudes to learning develop their listening skills well. Staff also teach listening skills effectively through their own good examples, whenever a pupil talks to them, and high expectations of concentration in lessons. As a result, good standards of listening give a firm foundation for learning in most lessons in both the infant and junior classes. However, after a good start in the nursery and reception classes, the school does not give pupils enough opportunities to develop their speech and drama skills. This is because of teachers’ concentration in the literacy hour on reading and writing skills, and some missed opportunities to talk about learning. For example, at the beginning of literacy lessons, teachers do not usually give enough time for pupils to read books aloud with or after them, recite or to talk in pairs to share ideas. Also, in a significant

p.38

ENGLISH

number of lessons, teachers talk too much and pupils not enough.

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ENGLISH

74. In a few very good lessons teachers do encourage pupils to learn effectively by talking about what they know. For example, in a Year 1 lesson the teacher introduced a story through a lively class discussion on songs that the children sang about God. Skilled questioning helped them to develop their answers and give their own ideas. The good quality of music lessons and singing throughout the school enhance pupils’ listening skills and the accuracy of their speech. All pupils get a little taste of speaking in public when their class presents an assembly. As a result, nearly all pupils speak reasonably confidently and their use and knowledge of words grow as they get older. However, their speaking skills are not as high as they could be by the time they reach the end of Year 6. Whingate Primary School - 39 75. Pupils make steady progress throughout the school. One of the strengths of teaching

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ENGLISH

in the infants is pupils’ thorough grounding in basic reading skills. This is because teachers give pupils lots of practice and make learning enjoyable. They link writing and reading well and challenge pupils to make up words from sets of sounds, in games and exercises. For example in Years 1 and 2 pupils use their white boards quickly and accurately in simple games. They are keen to get answers right, and learn spellings quickly and easily at the same time. Teachers also tell and read stories excitingly. Pupils are therefore keen to learn to read by themselves, and to answer questions about stories. Slower learning pupils make good progress because of high levels of adult support at school. The progress of a small number of pupils with special educational needs withdrawn from English lessons in Year 2 is unsatisfactory because they do not follow the national literacy strategy and miss out on the stimulus of whole class work. Many pupils reach the expected standards by

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ENGLISH

the end of Year 2, but the school’s average is low due to the relative lack of pupils who achieve higher than the expected level.

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ENGLISH

76. A strong feature of the development of reading has been the big investment in books so as to improve the quality and range of reading material for teachers and pupils to choose for both home and school use. This has evidently raised the standard of boys’ reading in the juniors, but has not yet made its full impact on standards. Teachers also ensure that pupils use reading books that match their attainment.

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ENGLISH

77. Between Year 3 and Year 6, pupils make good progress in widening and improving their reading, particularly in Year 3 and in sharpening their reading skills in Year 6. Nearly all pupils read independently for enjoyment by the age of eleven, and most of the juniors read a little non-fiction to follow up interests, for example in wrestling, poetry, space and animals. The literacy hour has increased pupils’ understanding of the different types of reading material, their skill in reading between the lines and appreciation of the qualities of good books and writers. The junior teachers do a good job in helping pupils understand new key words and ideas, particularly in English, mathematics and science. Pupils’ literacy standards, particularly for higher attaining pupils, are such that their skills in reading give them full access to all subjects and do not create barriers to learning.

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ENGLISH

78. The school has begun to address the shortcomings in its provision for reading. The main one is the need to target support more effectively for pupils who have little help at home and those who are beginning to struggle or to lose interest. Teachers are not using assessment enough so as to use support staff more effectively to this end at present.

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ENGLISH

79. Library skills and pupils’ abilities to find information in books and from computers are satisfactory in both the infants and the juniors. Junior pupils know how libraries arrange books by subjects, but do not understand how numbering systems work. This is mainly because there is no obvious catalogue system or display for them in the school library. Slower learners and pupils with special educational needs often confuse library arrangements of fiction and non-fiction books.

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ENGLISH

80. The school’s determination to raise writing standards has paid off. Despite below average standards in writing overall, standards of spelling, presentation, punctuation and handwriting are as expected for pupils’ ages. This is because of good standards of marking, particularly in Years 3 and 6, effective writing homework and regular learning and testing of spelling throughout the school. Pupils write effectively to learn in most subjects. They use notes, summaries, bullet points and some imaginative work to record new learning, particularly in science, information and communication Whingate Primary School - 40 technology, geography, history and music. The school is also good at encouraging pupils to write about their own experiences. As a result their work gains a personal voice. Junior pupils’ editing and re-writing improve their accuracy and expression.

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ENGLISH

81. By the end of Year 2, standards in writing are similar to those in most primary schools. Almost all pupils achieve the standard expected for seven-year-olds. Pupils’ good progress in writing in Years 1 and 2 is a direct result of good teaching, thorough learning of letter sounds, shapes and patterns, the school’s determination to raise writing standards and effective early use of homework. Standards in speech and reading are lower than those in most schools, and also lower than when last inspected. This is mainly because teachers work hard to ensure that nearly all pupils achieve the basic reading standards expected for their ages. However, they do not always sufficiently challenge higher attaining pupils enough. As a result, very few of these pupils achieve the higher standard of which they are capable.

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ENGLISH

82. A major strength of teaching and learning in writing in both the infants and the juniors is the development of pupils’ skill in using a wide range of non-fiction forms. Pupils are therefore good at planning and structuring, arguing and persuading, organising and developing ideas. For example, Year 2 pupils used bullet points effectively to describe the importance of Florence Nightingale. In geography they made clear comparisons between Gambia and Armley. In science they made small books on “Our Environment” with contents pages and indexes. Year 6 pupils wrote detailed book reviews, sets of instructions and a balanced evaluation of a ruc-sack.

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ENGLISH

83. The major weakness in pupils’ writing is the unsatisfactory development of descriptive power in the junior school classes. Teachers work hard to enrich language in the literacy hour, but limited individual reading and speech development result in average and lower-attaining pupils lacking words to enliven their story writing when working independently.

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ENGLISH

84. Taken overall, the quality of teaching is good in the infants and satisfactory in the juniors. Very good management of pupils, thorough teaching of basic skills, good, well-prepared resources and careful assessment of pupils’ progress brings about the good quality of learning in the infant classes. Despite some good and occasionally very good teaching in the juniors, particularly in Year 3 and Year 6, the quality of teaching overall is balanced by satisfactory and occasionally unsatisfactory lessons. 85. Good relationships between pupils and teachers build a good atmosphere for work in nearly all lessons in both infant and junior classes. This establishes good listening from the start in which pupils readily learn both from the teacher and each other. For example in a Year 6 literacy lesson all pupils quickly learned new reading and writing skills through careful listening to the teacher’s explanations as she showed clearly

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ENGLISH

86. The strengths of teaching in the junior classes are teachers’ awareness of the levels pupils are working at, their good knowledge of the National Curriculum and national strategy for literacy, and effective management and assessment of pupils’ progress as they learn. However, expectations of the amount and rate of written work are commonly not high enough. This is because teachers do not always make clear how much time there is or how much pupils are to do. Pupils therefore at times achieve less than they should.

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ENGLISH

87. A significant weakness in the teaching in both the infants and juniors is that teachers do not stretch pupils enough to ensure they reach the highest levels of which they are capable. This is why fewer pupils reach levels above those expected for their ages by Whingate Primary School - 41 the end of both the infants and the juniors. It is also the reason why overall standards though steadily improving never quite catch up with improving national standards.

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ENGLISH

88. As a result of the satisfactory help and support they get from teachers and classroom support assistants, pupils with special educational needs make satisfactory progress. Pupils who are learning English as an additional language do as well as other pupils. Those pupils who have a limited knowledge of English when they enter school make rapid progress. Teaching staff and children give full and sensitive support to all new pupils, particularly refugee children and those who arrive with little English part way through the year.

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MATHEMATICS

89. Standards of work are below average by the end of Year 2 and Year 6. Taking into account pupils’ attainment on entry to Year 1, which is about average, by the end of Year 2 most pupils make satisfactory progress. In the current Year 2, teacher assessments indicate that approximately ninety percent of pupils will achieve the recommended standards for seven year olds in the national 2002 tests. However, too few pupils achieve the higher levels and this lowers the school average.

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MATHEMATICS

90. Standards of attainment for the current Year 6 pupils have moved from well below at age seven, to standards just below national expectations at age 11. This good achievement reflects the effective procedures developed by the school to raise pupils’ attainment through the vigilant, frequent analysis of pupils’ test results in Years 5 and 6, and the use of carefully targeted additional support staff. This ensures that strengths and weaknesses are analysed and remedial action taken, and that most pupils receive relevant work at the right level. The extra classes to boost pupils’ attainment in Year 6 are attended by most pupils and have contributed to the improved results over the last two years. Additionally, the consistently good quality of teaching in Year 6 is based on carefully structured work that builds on pupils’ prior learning, together with good opportunities to revise previously taught work. This

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MATHEMATICS

enables pupils to approach new work confidently in lessons. 91. Although there is variation between successive years, the overall trend in the Year 2 and Year 6 national tests is upwards. Scrutiny of test results over the years 1998 to 2001 shows good improvement in the last two years with more pupils achieving national levels. This is an improving picture because the school is appropriately focused on raising standards. Improvement is due in part to the effective introduction of the National Numeracy Strategy. Pupils respond well to the structured approach to learning that this provides, and consequently enjoy mathematics lessons. All teachers plan carefully structured lessons, give effective demonstrations and clear instructions so that pupils know exactly what is required. This enables all pupils, including those with special educational needs and English as an additional language, to achieve satisfactorily. Most achieve well in Year 6 as the rate of learning

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MATHEMATICS

92. In Years 1 and 2, teaching focuses on strengthening pupils’ understanding and application of mathematical skills, whilst simultaneously developing knowledge and understanding of shapes, measure and simple problem solving techniques. Hence, by the end of Year 2, pupils have satisfactory skills in number. Nearly all pupils recognise numbers to 100, odd and even numbers and the patterns they make, and can add a single digit to a 2-digit number. Pupils achieve some measure of success when using centimetres and grammes, and identifying the properties of plane shapes. They develop a sound understanding of data handling; for example, using diagrams to record items weighing more than and less than a kilogram, or a chart recording Whingate Primary School - 42 differing hair colour. Most identify the correct number operation to use in a simple problem, but experience difficulties when more than one stage is required. For

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MATHEMATICS

example, Year 2 pupils successfully added two amounts of money but could not calculate the change required. High attaining pupils can add two digit numbers together, successfully differentiating between the tens and units and making good use of pencil and paper jottings to record working out. Teachers provide challenging work that interests and motivates pupils. However, in Year 2, the matching of work for different groups of pupils is sometimes imprecise and this limits the progress of all pupils who are capable of reaching a higher level of attainment.

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MATHEMATICS

93. Pupils in Years 3 to 6 systematically build up mathematical skills because teachers plan work that enables pupils to see connections in their learning. For example, pupils learn that subtraction is the inverse of addition as they manipulate number patterns, use knowledge of 10 and 100 when rounding up and down to the nearest 10, or building on this when solving problems of percentage and decimals. Pupils acquire confidence in mental calculations, developing a good range of strategies to speed their answers. Overall, pupils’ use and application of mathematics is under developed. Pupils use the correct number operation when solving simple clear cut problems but make mistakes when more than one process is required. The lack of opportunities to apply knowledge gained in mathematics in a variety of open-ended tasks results in pupils becoming over-reliant on their teachers, rather than gaining confidence in their own abilities. This is a significant reason why too few pupils

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MATHEMATICS

achieve higher levels in national tests. By the end of Year 6, average and higher attaining pupils develop a good understanding of geometry, measuring a range of angles accurately. They successfully convert analogue and digital time and imperial to metric measures. Pupils’ skills at data handling in a variety of forms are unsatisfactory. Computers are used to reinforce some work, such as in the Year 4 work charting dog race results, but overall, they are insufficiently used. There are few examples of mathematics being applied in other subjects for measurement and calculation purposes.

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MATHEMATICS

94. Pupils in Year 3 to Year 6 are grouped by their level of attainment to facilitate more closely focused teaching. However, the groups are large, resulting in a wide spread of ability. In most classes teachers do not differentiate the work sufficiently to cater for the varying needs of pupils within the set. This sometimes results in insufficient challenge for high attaining pupils, or the work being too difficult for pupils with special educational needs, for example. This is characterised by few mistakes in high- attainers work, but a significant number of mistakes for those with lower attainment.

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MATHEMATICS

95. The quality of teaching and learning is at least satisfactory in all lessons with consistently good teaching seen in Years 1, 3 and 6. Teachers manage pupils’ behaviour well, resulting in a good class ethos where pupils work hard and concentrate for good periods of time. Teachers give clear explanations so pupils know exactly what to do, and approach their work confidently. The school has invested well in new equipment to support the introduction of the National Numeracy Strategy, and teachers and pupils use learning resources effectively. For example, in a Year 5 lesson changing percentages to decimals, the teacher used an overhead projector and calculator well to give step-by-step support to pupils, as they keyed in numbers to their individual calculators. This good level of resourcing enabled all to use equipment without interruption and resulted in good achievement in this lesson. Most teachers ensure that lessons have a brisk start successfully engaging pupils’

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MATHEMATICS

attention. However, in half of the lessons observed, teachers talked for too long, resulting in pupils loosing focus, and insufficient time available for pupils to practise skills. Whingate Primary School - 43 96. The use of termly targets is inconsistently applied across the age groups. At best, targets closely match the needs of individual pupils, but in many instances are too broad to impact on pupils’ current work so that pupils are unsure of their progress. Throughout the school, pupils’ work is marked and dated by the teacher, but there are few comments to indicate the next stage of learning or to gauge progress against the pupils’ individual targets. Teachers use questions effectively to assess pupils’ understanding in lessons. Pupils’ progress is also effectively monitored through regular assessments and annual tests. The effectiveness of the deployment of classroom support assistants varies. They frequently sit for substantial periods of

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MATHEMATICS

time during the initial session of the daily lessons in mathematics. Some then support pupils very effectively as they work in groups, contributing significantly to pupils’ progress. Others are unsure of their role, and consequently work less effectively to help pupils to learn. One classroom assistant was used very effectively in a Year 2 lesson working on simple addition sums with a small group of pupils whilst the teacher taught the rest of the class.

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MATHEMATICS

97. Subject leadership is good overall, but has some weaknesses. Two teachers, who have good subject knowledge and give good support to colleagues, share the co- ordination role. The co-ordinators have monitored the quality of teaching and learning in classrooms to ensure the effective introduction to the numeracy hour. Monitoring of teachers’ planning and pupils’ work has been carried out to ensure that activities match the learning intentions, but has not highlighted the lack of differentiation in pupils’ work. Using an appropriate range of recently introduced assessments, senior managers have begun to systematically analyse the attainment and progress of individual and groups of Year 5 and 6 pupils, successfully using this information to identify target groups and the additional support they require. This is resulting in pupils achieving well in these age groups. However, this rigorous assessment is not

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MATHEMATICS

used as a tracking device throughout the school, nor to drive up standards year on year. This is a significant weakness in the school’s strategy to systematically raise pupils’ attainment and achievements.

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SCIENCE

98. The results of national tests in 2001 show that standards reached by the end of Year 6 were at the national average with a third of the pupils reaching the higher level. These results also show standards were above those in similar schools. Standards are not as high this year and are below the national average because of the high number of pupils in Year 6, a third, have special educational needs. However, the proportion of pupils reaching the expected level by the age of eleven has improved since the last inspection and pupils are achieving well. This is because the subject is very competently led and managed, pupils’ work is monitored and test results are analysed to find out where there are weaknesses and action is taken to address them. For example, the school has successfully targeted an improvement in the teaching of forces and data handling.

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SCIENCE

99. The standard of teaching, although satisfactory overall, is good in Years 3 and 6, with an emphasis on learning through investigating. Extra classes after school in Year 6 are well attended and contribute to pupils’ achievement. The behaviour and attitudes of the pupils are good, they work hard, are interested and enthusiastic. There is a good quality scheme of work for teachers to follow that builds up pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding year on year. There are good quality resources, effectively used. Assessment is thorough, is carried out consistently and the results are used in the planning of future work. Transition meetings where teachers pass on Whingate Primary School - 44 information about pupils’ attainment before they move to other classes help to ensure that lessons build on what pupils already understand. All these contribute to the improvement in achievement. However the progress of individual pupils is not tracked

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SCIENCE

as they move through school to ensure all are achieving, as they should.

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SCIENCE

100. By the end of Year 2 most pupils reach the national average, an improvement from the standards reached at the time of the last inspection, and most pupils achieve satisfactorily. They follow a full and varied curriculum, including investigations, and learn the correct scientific vocabulary. They learn to collect data, such as who likes or dislikes certain foods and present their results using a simple table. They investigate an electrical circuit and are able to draw a circuit that lights up. They make predictions about which materials will sink and which float and then test them to see if they are correct. However pupils who are capable of achieving more are not reaching the higher levels. Suitable work is not planned for higher attaining pupils, not enough is expected of them and they are underachieving.

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SCIENCE

101. The achievement of pupils with special educational needs is satisfactory. In the infants many reach the national average because they are helped in lessons by classroom support assistants and are helped to complete the work the same work as the rest of the class successfully. Sometimes teachers provide aids such as lists of key words to help. Pupils with behaviour problems achieve well throughout the school because teachers manage pupils’ behaviour well allowing them to concentrate and learn. In the juniors progress is more erratic. Most pupils achieve well in Years 3 and 6 where work is adapted at the right level to meet their needs but too often in Years 4 and 5 this does not happen and their work is often unfinished or inaccurate.

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SCIENCE

102. Pupils who are learning English as an additional language achieve as well as the rest of the pupils. All are fluent or almost fluent in English, are fully integrated into their classes.

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SCIENCE

103. Teaching and learning in the infants is satisfactory. Class management is good, as are relationships between adults and pupils and between pupils. These lead to high standards of behaviour and a pleasant working atmosphere in the classrooms where pupils concentrate and try hard. Activities are chosen that interest pupils and they work with enthusiasm, but the pace of the lessons is sometimes a bit slow with pupils sitting for too long on the carpet listening to the teacher, when they can get a bit restless. Within the mixed ability classes lessons are generally aimed at the average pupils and so are not well matched to the needs of the higher achievers in the class. For example pupils in Year 1 learnt to recognise, name and label the parts of a flower. All pupils completed the same activity although the words needed were written on the board to help lower attaining pupils. The higher attaining pupils finished their work

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SCIENCE

quickly but accurately and spent the rest of the lesson colouring their drawings. The adults value pupils’ contributions and this is helping them to become more confident learners.

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SCIENCE

104. Teaching and learning in the juniors is satisfactory overall but it is variable. It is good in Years 3 and 6, satisfactory in Year 5 but unsatisfactory in Year 4. In the best lessons class management is very good as are relationships between adults and pupils and between pupils resulting in high standards of behaviour. Pupils collaborate well in pairs and groups to complete investigations and are able to decide on a suitable method, including how to make it a fair test, make predictions and record their results as a graph. In Year 6 they gain a good understanding of their own learning as they work at their own pace to answer questions, correct their answers using reference books, then self test themselves on areas they are unsure about. Whingate Primary School - 45 They work hard and responsibly. Teachers have a good knowledge of the subject and high expectations of the pupils. They plan tasks that are challenging for pupils of

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SCIENCE

all abilities and always stress the correct scientific terminology. Marking is good, letting pupils know how they can improve their work. The quality of teaching in Years 3 and 6 is boosting pupils’ attainment and helping them to achieve well.

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SCIENCE

105. In the unsatisfactory lessons teachers have too low expectations of the pupils and the work is not well matched to the pupils’ needs. For example, in a Year 4 lesson about the skeleton pupils did not learn the correct names for the bones, tasks completed were undemanding, such as cutting out pictures of bones and copying out information. Too many worksheets were used, which were unstimulating and slowed the pace of the lesson, as all the class had to wait until everyone had finished. These were too hard for lower attaining pupils to read because their individual programmes were not used when planning the work. Nothing was provided to challenge more capable pupils who did not achieve as well as they should. These lessons are limiting the achievement of pupils of all abilities.

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SCIENCE

106. Information technology is used occasionally in science, for example when pupils record their results as graphs and tables. However it is not used enough throughout the school.

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ART AND DESIGN

107. Standards are typical of those expected of pupils by the end of Year 2 and Year 6. These satisfactory standards have been maintained since the time of the last inspection. Pupils are more involved in their lessons now, particularly in the juniors because the unsatisfactory teaching has been tackled and cases of noisy inattention have been eliminated. Pupils’ attitudes are good throughout the school. Pupils, including those with special educational need and those for whom English is an additional language achieve satisfactorily, but this general analysis does not do justice to some of the high quality and occasionally breathtaking work that is produced in drawing. However, this really successful work takes place within too narrow a range of activities. Little has been undertaken in, for example, three dimensional work or printing.

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ART AND DESIGN

108. The pupils’ achievement is directly attributable to the satisfactory quality of teaching they receive, which is strongly influenced by the school’s guidance for the planning of lessons. Recently, the staff have adopted the nationally recommended scheme of work, which is initially having a limiting effect on learning, in some cases, because teachers without specialist knowledge are finding it difficult to implement. The co- ordinator is very aware of this potential flaw in the school’s provision and has already begun to revise the planning for lessons to blend the best of the school’s previous practice with the broad, useful intentions of the national advice.

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ART AND DESIGN

109. Some higher than expected standards are achieved in Year 6 in drawing, in particular. Pupils have produced, for example, some powerful pictures of red peppers that almost jump from the page because the three dimensional effect is so good. Higher attaining pupils have also drawn, with very good attention to perspective, some Lowry type scenes of terraced housing contrasted by gentle pastel landscapes that show a very light tough in the use of colour. Pupils’ progress within a narrow range of activity is good throughout the juniors. In Year 5 the close observation of shells has resulted in some pencil work of very fine detail and in Year 3 the drawing of ammonites is of equally high quality. Good and occasionally very good teaching has helped pupils to produce this kind of work. The same is true in the infants. In Year 2 pupils were Whingate Primary School - 46 introduced to Monet’s, ‘The Bridge on a Winter Night’ and produced their own versions

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ART AND DESIGN

that contained a good use of tone and an appreciation of distance. They have even drawn successfully their own group portraits using ideas from L.S. Lowry’s own portrait style. They have been taught well by knowledgeable staff.

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ART AND DESIGN

110. The current curriculum, inspired by the national guidance, is often taught well but pupils do not yet produce work with the same kind of flair as exhibited in the red peppers. In a Year 3 lesson, for example, pupils drew quick sketches of their classmates posing as models to show relationships similar to those in Elizabethan portraits. They were interested in their work and the lesson was taught well enough but teaching did not allow enough time for discussion about the elements of art such as line, colour and tone. Furthermore, pupils were not challenged enough to talk about their learning; what problems they encountered and how well they thought they were doing, for example. The initial phase of implementing the national guidance has resulted in lessons where the content is rushed at the expense of the quality of the process and useful discussion.

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ART AND DESIGN

111. The subject is managed satisfactorily overall and well in some respects. The co- ordinator, for example, has a good knowledge, through monitoring lessons and pupils’ work of what is being taught and how the curriculum could be improved, but has not made any judgements about the standards achieved. This is exemplified by the collected examples of pupils’ work that are not judged in terms of attainment. ICT plays a sound role in lessons, but the range of other activities such as sculpture, textiles and printing is weak and is already a central feature of the co-ordinator’s action plan. Pupils study a number of artists and their work but the cultural references are limited. There is too little work planned to cover art produced beyond Europe.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

112. Pupils attain satisfactory standards in most aspects of the subject. Standards are similar to the last inspection. However, a comprehensive set of guidelines has been produced to ensure that pupils build up new skills and understanding in a consistent way, resulting in a curriculum that is broad and balanced. There is now suitable focus on food technology and the use of textiles, which was a shortcoming at the time of the last inspection. This indicates good progress since the last report.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

113. By the age of seven, pupils have a sound understanding of the design process. This is because teachers plan detailed coverage through an extended piece of work. They first provide sound opportunities for pupils to find out how things work by disassembling a range of items prior to designing. This provides pupils with good insight into the requirements of the task. For example, when making a waterproof coat for a teddy or a doll, pupils first took a coat to pieces to identify the salient parts. They tested a range of materials such as cotton, vinyl and leather to find which gave protection against water. They drew detailed designs prior to making, and discussed ways of improving the finished items. Teachers also ensure that all pupils have the necessary skills to complete the work. For example, in the Year 1 lesson observed, pupils made a model of Barnaby Bear, which when placed on a slider, moved across

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

a decorated background. The teacher appropriately revised the use of levers and split pins, and carefully demonstrated safety aspects. Clear demonstration, in simple terms, enabled the higher attaining pupils, in particular, to work independently and all produced finished designs that met the design specification and were of good quality. Pupils clearly enjoyed this work. They persevered with difficult tasks, shared resources well and gained self-esteem from a job well done. Whingate Primary School - 47 114. In Years 3 to 6, pupils, including those with special educational needs, continue to develop a range of skills that appropriately increase the scope of learning. For example, they examine electrical circuits, successfully incorporating these into moving fairground rides or when constructing torches. They handle textiles appropriately as when designing and making a shopping bag in Year 4 or slippers in

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

Year 6. They develop sound understanding of cogs and axle when designing and making vehicles with moving parts, and design rigid structures, such as boxes, using a good range of strengthening techniques. Pupils understand the requirement to ensure that the finished product meets its design specification, but is also aesthetically pleasing. For example, in the Year 5 lesson observed, pupils were required to design a biscuit suitable for sale at the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. The teacher employed an effective range of strategies such as pupils individually designing biscuits and then coming together in small groups to negotiate and incorporate the best features of their designs. Through skilful questioning, pupils thought about the materials they would require, and means by which they would colour and attach decoration. Pupils listened respectfully to the views of others, working well as a team, and evaluating their ideas in a mature way. Higher attaining

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

pupils succeed particularly well because of this well planned and questioning approach on the part of the teachers

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

115. The link to other subjects is also emphasised in the choice of topics. For example, in geography, Year 1 pupils have followed Barnaby Bear on his travels to differing countries. Their designs had to incorporate one of these countries, with the bear wearing suitable clothing. Year 5 pupils designed musical instruments to be played in future music lessons. Sound opportunities are used to apply skills taught in literacy lessons to the design process; for example, listing requirements, labelling diagrams and writing up evaluations. There are insufficient opportunities for pupils to apply skills taught in mathematics, especially through use of measurement. Pupils do not have opportunities to use computers in the design process.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

116. The co-ordinator supports colleagues effectively, for instance, by ensuring that teachers have all the resources they require prior to commencing new work. There are detailed curriculum plans for each module of work that give good support to teachers and ensure that skills develop in a consistent way. There are good assessment opportunities attached to each module of work, but these are not used consistently by all teachers, and subsequently, cannot be used to evaluate pupils’ attainment and achievements over time. The co-ordinator has limited opportunities to evaluate the quality of teaching and learning in classrooms. The school is well resourced for the subject and much has been done to develop a well-organised technology area.

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GEOGRAPHY

117. By the end of Year 6, the standards of pupils’ knowledge, understanding and skills in geography are similar to those in most primary schools. This is an improvement since the last inspection when they were found to be lower. Teachers make good use of topics from the nationally recognised whole school plan of work for geography. This ensures that pupils address all the work they should, and that they gradually build up their geographical skills. All pupils, including those with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language, make steady progress.

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GEOGRAPHY

118. The school teaches geography and history in alternate terms . This gives pupils equal experience of the two subjects. The co-ordinator ensures good links between Whingate Primary School - 48 subjects wherever possible. For example pupils apply and develop their map reading skills in history work on the area around the school. To bridge the half terms when there is no geography topic, junior pupils follow a weekly study of “What’s in the News” to understand the human situation in different parts of the world, and to locate the countries and settlements in the news on world maps.

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GEOGRAPHY

119. By the end of Year 6, pupils have average mapping skills. They use four-figure grid references to find human and physical features on maps. Higher and average attaining pupils understand the difference between climate and weather. They know why the world climate zones affect people’s lives, work and leisure. Pupils also investigate and gain understanding of local issues through observation and discussion. For example, pupils in Year 6 explore the issue of whether the local high street should be closed to traffic. They come to understand how different people in the community may respond in different ways to a particular issue. By the end of Year 6 pupils’ recall and understanding of life in different parts of Britain and countries such as India and Africa is less strong than their knowledge of local geography. This is because of the recent change in the scheme of work.

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GEOGRAPHY

120. By the end of Year 2 most pupils have the mapping skills expected for their ages. For example they use names and symbols to map their routes to school, showing human and natural features. They also understand some of the differences between island and mainland, seaside and countryside, town and village. Higher attaining pupils, in particular, enlarge their view of the world, weather and climate through investigations into their holiday experiences and study of video material.

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GEOGRAPHY

121. The overall quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. The strengths of the teaching include effective use of good quality resources. For example Year 2 pupils learned a lot about France and Channel crossings through a high quality video of a holiday in Brittany. In a Year 5 lesson on clean water, by studying atlases and Water Aid literature, pupils saw how water problems linked directly to the wealth of a country. They were shocked to discover the dire effects of unequal shares of wealth and basic resources around the world.

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GEOGRAPHY

122. Teachers make good use of local fieldwork, and outings farther afield for the junior classes, to enrich pupils’ understanding of their environment. Orienteering is part of the junior curriculum and sharpens map-reading skills.

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GEOGRAPHY

123. Good leadership and management have ensured that the school dealt fully with all the key issues in the last inspection, and have significantly raised standards by the end of the juniors. The co-ordinator has also correctly identified the priority for developing learning: increasing teachers’ understanding and use of National Curriculum levels in their planning and assessment.

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HISTORY

124. Pupils’ attainment at the end of both Year 2 and Year 6 is in line with what is expected in most schools. This results from a good quality scheme of work for teachers to follow that builds up skills, knowledge and understanding year on year. The subject is well led by an enthusiastic co-ordinator who has put together a selection of work produced by pupils from each year to help teachers to accurately judge the standards of work produced by the pupils in their class. Resources are good and support each topic taught well. Teachers make good use of displays as pictures, posters and artefacts are used to interest and motivate pupils. They use these in lessons to help pupils appreciate how different sources of evidence can help them to understand Whingate Primary School - 49 about past times. Procedures to assess pupils’ attainment are in place but these are not yet used consistently throughout the school and so there is no overview of the

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HISTORY

125. The achievement of most pupils is satisfactory, though those who are capable of achieving more do not develop the higher levels of knowledge and understanding. Within the mixed ability classes lessons are aimed at the average pupils and so are not well matched to the needs of the higher or lower achieving pupils in the class. There is a lack of challenge for more capable pupils and they do not achieve as well as they could. Pupils with special educational needs make satisfactory progress but they could achieve more. Work is not always adapted to their needs and they do not always have the help of a classroom support assistant. Pupils who are learning English as an additional language are fluent, or almost fluent, in English. They are fully integrated into their classes and attain satisfactorily.

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HISTORY

126. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory through the school with good management of pupils, resulting in high standards of behaviour. The topics taught capture the interest of pupils and they work hard and with interest. For example pupils in Year 1 start to appreciate that evidence about the past can be found by looking at pictures and artefacts when they studied toys from different ages. There is some overuse of worksheets, especially in Year 4, in which the lessons lack pace. Pupils who finish have to wait for the rest of the class before moving on. As worksheets are not adapted for pupils of different abilities, there is a lack of challenge for higher attaining pupils and lower attaining pupils do not always complete the sheets accurately. In Year 6 pupils enjoy learning about the changes in Britain since 1948. Boys and girls work co-operatively in mixed ability groups or pairs, discussing

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HISTORY

their ideas and conclusions. For example pupils used books, a video, questionnaires, photographs and the Internet to research for specific information on areas that interested them including fashion, technology and music. By the end of the lesson they were confidently able to describe some of the changes that occurred. Teaching concentrates appropriately on teaching pupils the skills needed to research successfully including skim reading, taking notes and deciding whether evidence is a fact or an opinion.

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HISTORY

127. Topics are well supported by visits and visitors that bring the subject alive for the pupils. For example pupils in Year 4 experience a Tudor day that they remember enthusiastically. Effective links are made with English, as pupils practise their literacy skills in writing historical accounts and reports, for example pupils in Year 6 wrote with empathy about being an evacuee during the war. Some use is made of computer skills when the Internet and CD-ROMs are used to gain information but this aspect is not yet fully developed.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

128. The majority of pupils attain standards in ICT that meet national expectations for their age by the end of Year 2 and Year 6. This is a very good improvement since the last inspection when ICT was a significant weakness. Pupils achieve well due to improvement in the quality of teaching, a good scheme of work and curriculum planning which ensures progression in knowledge and skills, greatly improved resourcing and facilities, and an effective ICT co-ordinator. The school is in a strong position to improve standards further. All pupils, including those with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language, achieve well in lessons because of good teaching and effective support by additional staff. Also in Whingate Primary School - 50 many lesson lower attaining pupils are paired to work with pupils who have achieved good computer skills; they achieve well as a result.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

129. By the end of Year 2, the majority of pupils can use the mouse competently to pick up screen items and move them around to a given target. Pupils are becoming increasingly familiar with different parts of the keyboard and with a minimum of help they can save, retrieve and print their work. They use word processors to write poems and alter the arrangement of the text so that the shape of the poem reflects its meaning. Higher attaining pupils are adept at using encyclopaedias on CD-ROM in order to find information on their topics, for example, finding out about different plants and labelling these in preparation for their science lesson. Pupils construct databases containing a range of information about members of the class and are able to use art programs to ‘paint’ and ‘draw’ attractive and well-constructed multi-coloured faces on greetings cards.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

130. By the age of eleven, most pupils are combining text and pictures effectively to produce well constructed reports and posters. They are able to incorporate pictures from a variety of sources, such as those taken with a digital camera, images downloaded from the Internet and clipart taken from various programs. They create well-presented documents using word processing and desktop publishing programs, carefully considering the intended reader. Higher attainers are able to type at a good rate, paragraphing and punctuating correctly as they do so. Most pupils know how to use a good range of facilities, such as the spell checker, and page review to improve the quality of their work. This helps to foster enthusiasm and creativity, which in turn results in good attitudes to learning. In Year 3 in work related to music pupils can use the CD-ROM to help them understand that computers can control and select sounds.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

Year 4 pupils competently select readable text colours and try different layouts and fonts and sizes before making their final choices in their work on teeth. In Year 5 pupils can enter information into a database and make decisions about the most effective graph to produce their findings and discuss and interpret outcomes. The higher attainers can draw up their own databases.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

131. Pupils work hard in lessons and share ideas well. For example, in a Year 6 lesson much animated discussion and sharing took place when pupils used a program to turn a lighthouse foghorn on and off and communicated what they had done by drawing well labelled flow charts. Pupils throughout the school build well on the skills they have previously learned and use them in relevant, interesting and enjoyable ways.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

132. The quality of teaching is good throughout the school. The structure of most lessons includes demonstration, clear instruction, time for practise and reviewing the understanding of the intended learning outcome. In the best lessons, the pace was good, skilled questioning checked pupils’ understanding and identified the next stages of learning. The benefits from staff training combined with very helpful guidance and advice from the ICT co-ordinator have contributed significantly to teachers’ good knowledge and understanding. Lessons are planned carefully ensuring that time in the computer room is spent efficiently and constructively. Staff have good relationships with pupils and encourage them to ask questions and to seek help when needed. As a result pupils’ attitude to the subject is good and frequently very good. The success that many pupils achieve in ICT helps to raise their self-esteem and

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

boosts their confidence in their own abilities. This includes those who are learning English as an additional language. Whingate Primary School - 51 133. Pupils with special educational needs achieve well in this subject. Computers enable them to achieve things that many find difficult with paper and pen, such as writing pieces of text and presenting their work legibly and in an attractive way. 134. The management of the subject is very good, but computers have not been in place long enough for standards to be higher that they are. The co-ordinator is very hard working and totally committed to developing ICT skills across the school to the highest standard. The scheme of work and guidance for staff is very good and ensures good teaching and learning. The advice on how ICT can support the development of skills and knowledge in other subjects is used particularly well in English, science, history and art. ICT is underused in mathematics and design and

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

technology. Provision of a very good range of high quality resources to support all ICT work across the school has been achieved to the benefit of pupils’ learning.

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MUSIC

135. The standards achieved by pupils at the end of Year 6 are above those expected for their age and represent good achievement since the school’s last inspection. In 1997 a significant minority of pupils were disaffected in some lessons as a result of unsatisfactory teaching. Now there are new arrangements for teaching that are working very well. A well qualified senior support assistant leads the lessons supported by the class teacher who works with groups of pupils. Involvement by pupils is now strong and the very good teaching means they learn at a fast pace. The improvement in standards in the juniors is built on the solid foundations laid in Year 1 and Year 2. In these classes the satisfactory standards result from some good teaching that concentrates well on the basics of rythmn and pitch, for example. The majority of pupils achieve well including those with special educational needs and

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MUSIC

those who are leaning English as an additional language. Pupils’ skills in literacy are used well in learning music and they speak well, in lessons, when answering teachers’ questions. They are not, however, often given enough opportunity to talk about their own learning and how it is developing. This has a limiting effect on the achievements made by average and higher attaining pupils, in particular.

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MUSIC

136. Singing in worship and assemblies was lively in 1997 and has even improved since then. The new system of accompaniment by an electronic music box that plays pre- recorded music adds an exciting dimension to the singing. The quality of the sound produced is warm and rounded in its tone. Pupils control the dynamics of their singing well. They add volume but not by shouting. Older pupils, in particular, so enjoy their singing that they eagerly anticipate visitors listening to it. This joy that pupils experience in singing is a strong aspect of the school’s provision for spiritual development.

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MUSIC

137. As a result of the very good teaching pupils receive in the juniors they can, by the age of eleven, talk with confidence about their current project of putting their version of Macbeth to music. This has involved learning the rudiments of traditional notation and playing a range of instruments in evocative ways to, for example, conjure up the magic and mystery of the scene depicting the meeting of Macbeth and the three witches. The pupils’ pride in what they are doing is most apparent. Talented pupils in music achieve well when taught in such a successful way.

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MUSIC

138. By the age of seven, pupils can talk well about what they know, although many are hesitant in using the correct terminology. They thoroughly enjoy games that test their knowledge of music by getting them to respond quickly to cards that require a change of pitch, for example. In one lesson for both Year 2 classes pupils used their musical abilities well when preparing to produce a tape of sound effects to accompany a story Whingate Primary School - 52 for children in the reception classes. Their attainment, however, is often hampered by a weak memory for names and terminology. One pupil, for example, described a xylophone as, ‘That thing where you hit those things.’ Nevertheless, their achievement is good given that over one third of the pupils in Year 2 have some kind of special educational needs.

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MUSIC

139. The co-ordinator has, with the help of the senior support assistant, improved the school’s provision for music since 1997. A good use is made of ICT in the form of electronic keyboards, singing is very good and composition is well advanced in terms of national recommendations. Very good use is made of the music service provided by the local education authority. The sixteen pupils that learn the violin reach good levels of proficiency, which is a great boost to their self-esteem: social and spiritual development. A talented teacher leads a recorder club in which a sizeable number of junior aged pupils play very sweetly often with descant accompaniment. Talented pupils and those pupils capable of higher attainment thrive with this kind of provision. They also play prominent roles in the schools many and well received productions. The choir in effect comprises every pupil in the school and the co-ordinator’s

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MUSIC

conviction in this respect promotes a high degree of pride in singing throughout the school. The co-ordinator does not have an up-to-date knowledge of standards achieved by pupils and cannot therefore determine what needs to be developed in this respect. Assessment of pupils’ achievement has been undertaken but the system does not give valuable information to help teachers plan more effective lesson in the future.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

140. By the end of Year 6 pupils meet the national expectation. This represents good achievement for these pupils whose attainment was below expected levels at the age of seven. This improvement in pupils’ performance is largely due to the very good teaching pupils receive in Year 5 and Year 6. In some lessons, for example, there were excellent cases of pupils with severe physical and learning difficulties playing a full and active apart. These pupils, who had the help of classroom support assistants, achieved very well. Pupils in Year 5 achieve well at tennis. In one lesson they were practising different strokes. They worked exceptionally well despite being spread out over a large area of the playground. Higher attaining pupils were able to name different shots such as lob, volley and slam and explain when to use them. The high level of knowledge and skill shown by the pupils was due to the very focused

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

teaching which motivated them so well. Pupils in Year 6 showed high standards of teamwork in a lesson designed to prepare them for the rigours of their forthcoming residential visit to Ingleborough Hall where outdoor and adventurous pursuits will be followed. This very good teaching at the end of the juniors is balanced by satisfactory work in Year 3 and 4.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

141. By the end of Year 2 pupils, including those with special educational needs, meet expected levels and achieve satisfactorily. Most pupils can, for example, catch and throw balls accurately at a target when practising for seasonal ball games. They are sensibly aware of other pupils when moving around during a game and make good decisions that demonstrate a sound knowledge of the rules. Pupils enjoy their lessons, work enthusiastically and listen well to instructions. They pay close attention to the teaching points provided, but have too little opportunity to talk about their own performance or that of others.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

142. Good teaching, on balance, in the juniors follows the satisfactory teaching in the infants. Good learning habits are evident throughout the school and in some lessons Whingate Primary School - 53 behaviour is impeccable. However, the learning of a significant minority of pupils is thwarted by their lack of stamina and being too quickly out of breath. In the best lessons the purpose of the work is shared well with pupils and a very good balance is struck between instruction, coaching, demonstration and evaluation. In satisfactory lessons pupils are sometimes not challenged sufficiently and have too little opportunity to talk about their success and areas for development.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

143. Teaching is well supported by specialist coaches and teachers at the local sports centre who help to raise standards and further develop teachers’ skills and confidence. The sport’s centre staff significantly contribute to the majority of pupils meeting the national expected requirement in swimming. Many pupils surpass the required distance and then focus on improving skills in a range of strokes. Resources have greatly improved since the time of the last inspection and helped to raise achievement in the juniors. There is a good range of extra-curricular activities, including competitive sports. Many pupils, particularly in the juniors, enjoy a good range of competitive sport.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

144. The co-ordinator leads the subject enthusiastically and works hard to support staff and secure outside specialist coaching and organises sporting events, both friendly and competitive. The school regularly wins the local league matches in a range of sports. The policy and planning is good and provides helpful guidance to staff to ensure pupils make appropriate progress in the different elements of games, athletics, gymnastics, swimming and dance. Planning for the development of skills in the different elements of physical education and swimming is good. Effective timetabling enables pupils to develop skills in seasonal games. The co-ordinator has undertaken class observations and helpful written feedback has been given to individual staff.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

145. Standards at the end of Years 2 and 6 meet the expectations of the Locally Agreed Syllabus for religious education, and are similar to those found at the last inspection. The achievement of most pupils, including those with special educational needs and English as an additional language, is satisfactory.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

146. Most of the work undertaken in Years 1 and 2 has involved first hand experiences and discussion. For example, Year 1 pupils have listened to stories about the life of Jesus, and through this, begun to make comparisons with their own lives. When hearing the parable of the Good Samaritan, they have considered kindness to others and, through listening to the Christmas and Easter stories, are developing an understanding of the significance of Christian festivals. By the age of seven, pupils are aware of different religions and higher attaining pupils, in particular, understand that each has festivals and artefacts that are special to them. For example, in a Year 2 lesson about religious symbols, pupils interpreted a drawing of hands as a sign of Christian prayer, and of ritual washing in the Islamic faith. Pupils showed a real interest in the subject, listening attentively and asking relevant questions.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

147. Pupils in Years 3 to 6 study specific religions in greater depth, for example, Christianity, Islam and Sikhism. They visit a local church and gain sound understanding of the principle areas and artefacts within the building, such as altar and lectern. They compare some of the similarities and differences between religions such as dietary requirements, religious practices and items of clothing. A discussion with a group of Year 6 pupils revealed that most pupils could recall a satisfactorily detailed knowledge of Islam and Christianity; for example, of prayer and fasting, Whingate Primary School - 54 special books and clothing, and key figures within the faith. Their knowledge and understanding of the Sikh religion was less well developed. Pupils had limited understanding of the importance of a faith and its impact on the life of a believer. During their time in school, this group of pupils had visited the local Methodist church,

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

but revealed that they knew very little about the different places of worship in the area.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

148. Most pupils gain a satisfactory understanding of the subject, because religious education is systematically taught. However, some pupils have limited opportunities to consolidate what they have learnt by drawing or writing about it. For example, scrutiny of pupils’ work in Year 5 revealed only three pieces of written work in the autumn term. This is because the curriculum time given to teaching religious education is less than that recommended in the Agreed Syllabus. Some pupils have insufficient time to reflect on, or to consolidate learning, through written work.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

149. Teaching was good in two, and unsatisfactory in one, of the three lessons observed during the inspection. A scrutiny of pupils’ past work and discussions with teachers and pupils confirm that pupils learn and retain information and that teaching is at least satisfactory overall. In the good lessons seen, teachers had good subject knowledge, planning interesting lessons with a clear focus. This enabled the lessons to run smoothly so that no time was wasted, and pupils maintained interest and listened attentively. Resources were used effectively to reinforce learning. For example, in a Year 6 lesson about the journeys of Paul, good use of bibles and atlases enabled pupils to gain a deeper understanding of the subject. The scope and rate of learning accelerated for Year 2 pupils as they listened with rapt attention to their visitor, Reverend Jane, describing her special clothing and the symbolism this portrayed.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Overall, pupils behave well, and show respect, both to other views expressed in class and also to different faiths. In the less effective lesson, time was not used to the full, and the inappropriate behaviour of a few pupils impacted on the work of the class. The teaching was narrow and lacked relevance to the pupils’ previous experiences. Insufficient resources such as books and pictures were available to add breadth to the learning. This resulted in pupils loosing interest and making insufficient progress.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

150. The subject co-ordinator is relatively new to this role, but has written a suitable action plan to develop the subject. There has been no monitoring of teaching and learning in the classroom to ensure that pupils build on what they know and understand, or an analysis of pupils’ work to evaluate the quality and quantity of written work. There are, as yet, no formal arrangements for assessment in the subject and the school recognises this is an area for development. Despite the satisfactory standards, there are, as yet, very few opportunities for pupils to visit, or meet visitors from, other places of worship or to handle a range of religious artefacts to enliven the subject. This lack of first-hand experiences prevents standards from being higher than they are.

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