Headfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior School

INSPECTION REPORT

HEADFIELD CHURCH OF ENGLAND VOLUNTARY CONTROLLED JUNIOR SCHOOL

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INSPECTION REPORT

Dates of inspection: 9 th -12 th October 2000

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INSPECTION REPORT

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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INSPECTION REPORT

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. Headfield CE VC Junior School

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Vicarage Road Thornhill Lees Dewsbury Postcode: WF12 9PD

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mrs A Whitworth

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 14 th October 1996 Headfield CE VC Junior School

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

John G F Parsons Registered Inspector Mathematics Art What sort of school is it? How high are standards? How well is the school led and managed? Mary Le Mage Lay inspector How high are standards? (Attitudes, values, personal development and attendance) How well does the school care for its pupils and students? How well does the school work in partnership with parents? April Dakin Team inspector How well are pupils and students taught? Kathleen Campbell Team inspector Information and communication technology History How good are curricular and other opportunities?

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

David Walters Team inspector Special educational needs Science Geography Kathleen Robertson Team inspector English

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

Robert Battey Team inspector Design and technology Music Physical education Derek Pattinson Team inspector Equal opportunities English as an additional language Religious education

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

TWA Inspections Ltd 5 Lakeside Werrington Peterborough PE4 6QZ

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect 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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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

The Registrar Inspection Quality Division

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Headfield CE VC Junior School

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6

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? 10

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

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Headfield Junior School in Thornhill Lees, near Dewsbury, is situated on a pleasant site but the buildings are scattered over a considerable area. There are 529 boys and girls on roll. The school is much larger than other primary schools, but is smaller than it was at the time of the previous inspection when there were 591 pupils on roll. The majority of pupils come from the local area. The attainment on entry to the school is well below average. Although the school is on an exposed site, vandalism is low and the local community respects the school. Employment in the area is low. The number of pupils who are eligible for free school meals at 32 per cent does not accurately reflect the level of social disadvantage in the area, and the combined percentage of free school meals and clothing grant of 65 per cent is a more accurate indicator. The number of pupils from minority ethnic groups and the number who speak English as an

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

additional language are very high at 84 per cent and 83 per cent respectively. The percentage of pupils who have special educational needs, 16 per cent, is below the national average, but the 4 per cent who have statements is above average.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

Headfield Junior School is an effective school and is improving. Pupils achieve well, from a base which is well below average on entry to the school, and standards remain well below average compared to those nationally by the time they are eleven. However, pupils’ standards are at least in line with and sometimes better than similar schools. The school has focused on teaching basic skills, especially in literacy. Together with the very good procedures for promoting positive attitudes and good behaviour, this has raised standards which have improved year on year. For example, in the 2000 National Curriculum tests the percentage of pupils who achieved the higher Level 5 1 scores were well above average compared with similar schools in English, mathematics and science. In addition, three pupils achieved Level 6, a very high score in mathematics. This illustrates how well pupils achieve once they have sufficient skills in

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

English. The good provision for pupils who speak English as an additional language is an important factor in raising standards, although the significant percentage of pupils with low level language skills has an adverse impact on standards. Once pupils have achieved functional English their standards rise significantly. Standards have also been significantly raised in art, physical education and design and technology since the last inspection. The school offers good value for money.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

What the school does well • The school is raising standards in English, mathematics and science year on year and exceeded its recent targets. • The teaching is good. • The provision for pupils for whom English is an additional language is good. • The school has effective strategies for teaching literacy. • Very good procedures for promoting good behaviour have ensured that behaviour and attitudes are good. • Parents consider the school is very good and there are effective links with them.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

What could be improved • Attendance is below the national average and unauthorised absence is high. • There is not enough monitoring of teaching. • The quality and use of ongoing assessment. • The personal and social development of pupils with special educational needs, through the identification of targets in individual education plans. • Standards in information and communication technology are not high enough. • There are insufficient opportunities for pupils to undertake research, to show initiative and to take responsibility. • Religious education does not meet the requirements of the Kirklees Agreed Syllabus. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

1 At Key Stage 2 the nationally expected level for pupils to reach by the end of Year 6 is Level 4. If a pupil is attaining Level 5 then he or she is reaching standards above that expected for a child of his or her age. Headfield CE VC Junior School

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

There has been good overall improvement since the last inspection in October 1996. Performance in teaching has improved significantly. Teachers’ expectations of pupils have been raised, the pace of teaching has improved and consequently so has the pupils’ work rate. The extension of the school day has improved the quality and range of learning opportunities, particularly in the subjects identified in the last report as having weaknesses: design and technology, art, information and communication technology and music. Except for information and communication technology which still has shortcomings, and religious education which does not fully comply with the requirements of the Kirklees Agreed Syllabus, the standards in all other subjects have improved significantly. The roles of the senior management team are now clear and time is given for them to monitor and to manage their subjects. Pupils’ work is evaluated,

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

monitored and targets are set. The roles of the governing body have been extended and all members now belong to a series of committees, although a weakness in their management is that the monitoring of teaching and learning is not in place. The management of the school has adopted the principles of best value and has reasonable running costs. A school gate has been erected to improve the safety of the grounds.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by 11 year olds 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 E B well above average above average A B Mathematics E E D B average below average C D Science E E E C well below average E

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STANDARDS

*N.B. this judgement is based on alternative statistics provided by the school and the local education authority (65 per cent free school meals and clothing grant).

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STANDARDS

Pupils enter school with standards which are well below those expected for their age, with particular weaknesses in English, because more than four-fifths of pupils speak this as an additional language. This adversely affects their standards in all subjects. Pupils achieve well and make significant gains in language development. By the time they are 11 in the National Curriculum tests of 2000, standards remain well below those expected for their age in English and science and below in mathematics. Compared with similar schools, standards are above average in English and mathematics and in line in science. Standards have improved year on year over the past three years. In 2000 there was a significant improvement in the higher Level 5 scores in all subjects. These have risen from 15 to 22 per cent in English from 15 to 24 per cent in mathematics and from 15 to 50 per cent in science from 1999 to 2000.

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STANDARDS

Three pupils achieved the very high Level 6 in mathematics. In all other subjects standards are in line with those expected for pupils’ age, except for: design and technology, physical education and music which are above expectations; art which is well above expectations; and information and communication technology which is below. The school exceeded its targets in both in 1999 and 2000 in mathematics English and science. The inspection found that those pupils who gained a functional standard of English achieved well and at least in line with their peers and sometimes better. The provision for English as an additional language is a very effective and an important factor in raising standards in this school. Headfield CE VC Junior School

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Attitudes to the school Pupils have good attitudes to their work; they are attentive and responsive in lessons.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Pupils behave well; they are courteous to adults and each other.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Personal development and relationships There are strong relationships between adults and pupils. They work well without supervision in literacy and numeracy lessons.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Attendance Attendance is unsatisfactory. It is below the national average at 93.6 per cent and unauthorised absence is high at 1.2 per cent.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Pupils’ attitudes to school are good. They arrive promptly and play well together prior to the start of the school day. Throughout the school, pupils have good attitudes to their learning. Their behaviour is good. The school is an orderly community where pupils move around the large site in a very sensible, unhurried and purposeful manner. Pupils are polite and cheerful. The moral principles of the school encourage pupils to consider the impact of their actions on others, this has a positive effect on behaviour and attitudes. Pupils enjoy coming to school and the high levels of absence are mainly due to pupils returning to their countries of origin on extended leave. The school rigorously monitors attendance and tries hard to improve it.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Lessons seen overall Good 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

The quality of teaching across the school is good overall and is the main factor in the school continuing to raise standards. However, it varies from excellent to unsatisfactory. Teaching at the last inspection was unsatisfactory in 15 per cent of lessons; this has reduced to 4 per cent. It is now satisfactory or better in 96 per cent of lessons, and good or better in 67 per cent. It is very good or better in 26 per cent of lessons, and three lessons were considered excellent. The proportion of good teaching has risen. At the last inspection teaching was good in 40 per cent lessons; it is now at least good in 67 per cent of lessons. The improved quality of teaching is having a positive effect on the progress pupils are making, especially in literacy and numeracy where the National Strategies are well implemented and taught. The teaching of English as an additional language is particularly effective and is a significant factor in raising standards.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

However, the improvement in teaching is a result of changes in staffing and improved curriculum planning, rather than rigorous monitoring. The teaching of pupils with special educational needs is satisfactory. Subject knowledge was less secure at the time of the last inspection, in design and technology, music, art and physical education. It has improved considerably and teachers’ subject knowledge is now good, and sometimes very good, in these subjects. Teachers are now teaching more to their strengths and visiting professionals such as the artist in residence are used very well to develop pupils’ skills and techniques, in observational drawing, for example. Headfield CE VC Junior School

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

The quality and range of the curriculum Satisfactory overall. Most schemes of work follow guidelines provided by the government’s Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and the curriculum fully covers all the National Curriculum subjects except for religious education, which does not fully comply with the requirements of the Kirklees Agreed Syllabus.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Satisfactory. The policy for pupils with special educational needs ensures adequate provision.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils with English as an additional language Curriculum provision is very good. The extensive range of teaching and support staff and the high quality teaching and curriculum provided ensure pupils make very good progress.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Good provision overall, for the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils has made a significant contribution to raising standards across the school.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

How well the school cares for its pupils Satisfactory. The steps taken by the school to ensure the welfare, health and safety of its pupils are similar to the last inspection.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

How well the school works with parents The effectiveness of the partnership between the school and the parents is very good and has a positive impact on standards across the school.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

The implementation of good schemes of work has ensured the school provides a curriculum which includes all subjects of the National Curriculum and that is very relevant to the needs of all pupils, particularly those for whom English is an additional language. However, religious education does not meet the requirements of the Kirklees Agreed Syllabus. All pupils with special educational needs have access to the curriculum and religious education. Support staff are allocated appropriately and teachers have copies of pupils’ individual education plans for reference when they are planning their lessons. The school’s curriculum provision acknowledges the diverse needs of all pupils. Safety is given high priority in lessons and the general welfare of pupils is well catered for in the daily life of the school. Headfield CE VC Junior School

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff The headteacher is an effective leader. She and the new deputy headteacher, together with subject co-ordinators and those with key responsibilities make a good contribution to pupils’ achievements.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities The governing body provides sound support for the headteacher and holds the school to account, but is not sufficiently involved in monitoring teaching and learning in the school.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

The school’s evaluation of its performance The school undertakes extensive evaluation of its performance by analysing the National Curriculum tests and optional tests.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

The strategic use of resources The school makes good use of the strategic resources available.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

There is a good range of expertise in the large teaching staff. A full programme of development is linked well to the school development plan, where the needs of the school and individual staff are taken into account. Staff receive a good range of training opportunities relevant to recent curriculum and educational developments. These training opportunities further enhance the good range of expertise and qualifications staff have already achieved. However, the monitoring of teaching does not focus sufficiently on developing skills. The nature of the scattered accommodation, which ranges from good to unsatisfactory, leads to the duplication of some resources with consequent impact on funding. Resources are very good in art, and good in geography, design and technology, physical education and science. In all other subjects resources are satisfactory. The headteacher and all key staff provide effective leadership and manage the

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

school well. The school has successfully implemented the principles of best value when purchasing goods and services.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

Two parents attended their meeting and 128 parents’ questionnaires were returned.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved • Their children like school • Their children make good progress • Behaviour is good • Teaching is good • The school is well led and managed • The amount of homework their children receive • Information about their children’s progress • The school working more closely with parents

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

The inspectors agree with parents’ positive views, but inspection findings do not confirm their negative ones. The governing body is responsible for producing an action plan based on, ‘what the school should do to improve further’, within 40 working days of publication of this report. Headfield CE VC Junior School PART B: COMMENTARY

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

1. Pupils enter school with standards which are well below those expected for their age. They have particular weaknesses in language, as more than four-fifths of pupils speak English as an additional language. This adversely affects their standard in the majority but not all subjects. Pupils achieve well and make significant gains in language development but, by the time they are eleven, standards in English and mathematics in the National Curriculum tests of 2000 were well below those expected for pupils’ age, and in science they were below. However, compared to similar schools, standards in English and mathematics are above those of similar schools and in line in science. The combined totals of the eligibility of pupils for free school meals and the take-up of the clothing grant of 65 per cent is used as an indicator of social disadvantage to make the comparison with similar schools. This puts Headfield School into the highest category of social disadvantage nationally.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

2. Standards have improved year on year over the last three years. This year there was a significant improvement in the higher Level 5 scores in all subjects which have risen from 15 to 22 per cent in English, from 15 to 24 per cent in mathematics and from 15 to 50 per cent in science from 1999 to 2000. Three pupils achieved the very high Level 6 in mathematics. The inspection findings confirm that pupils’ standards are well below the national average, while pupils who speak English as an additional language still have weak communication skills. Once they have gained functional English, then their standards are similar or sometimes above those expected. This is particularly noticeable in subjects which are set, that is where pupils are split into groups according to ability in English, mathematics and science. In these groups it is clear that of the five sets, those pupils in the top two sets achieve at a standard similar to those expected for their age or above. In

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

the remaining three sets, in which linguistic skills are low, or pupils have special educational needs, standards are well below those expected for pupils’ age.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

3. The inspection found that in all other subjects standards are in line with those expected for pupils’ age, except for design and technology, physical education and music which are above average, art which is well above average, and information and communication technology which is below. Given the high level of social disadvantage and the high percentage of pupils who speak English as an additional language, pupils achieve well and make good progress. The school is conscious of the difference in performance between boys and girls, boys exceeding the standard of girls generally, and is addressing this in its planning. The school exceeded its targets approved by the local education authority both in 1999 and 2000. In English, mathematics and science improvement is broadly in line with the national trend, but with a sharp improvement in 2000.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

4. Standards of speaking depend entirely on the level of language development of the pupils who have English as an additional language because this is almost all the school. Pupils’ standards in language skills vary enormously from no English at all to a functional standard. Pupils make very good progress due to the very good provision for pupils who have English as an additional language, a few of whom speak fluently and contribute well in lessons. However, this is the minority of pupils. When pupils have few English skills, they fully participate in lessons, and respond well but use very limited vocabulary and have difficulty responding to open-ended questions. Most pupils fall into this category. It is particularly noticeable how much improvement is made from Years 3 to 6 in speaking skills. However, overcoming the hurdle of speaking English as an additional language inevitably impacts adversely on pupils’ standards. Pupils listen well, try very hard and make

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

significant improvement over time. They contribute to lessons positively and show good awareness of the needs of the listener. Headfield CE VC Junior School 5. Pupils whose language skills are well developed respond clearly and audibly to questions in a range of situations. By the end of the key stage, reading standards overall are below the national average. Pupils are restricted by their weak communication skills, but strong improvement is evident during their time at school. Younger pupils make good progress in reading through shared and guided reading sessions, although many are still, as yet, unable to achieve the standard expected for their age. Less able pupils sound out words and use the context of the story to help them read new words. Reading progress for pupils with special educational needs is satisfactory. Although attainment in writing is below the national average, progress is satisfactory and standards are improving. Additional writing

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

sessions have recently been introduced in addition to the literacy hour to improve standards and enable pupils to experience a wider range of writing; this is a very effective initiative. Pupils write for a wide variety of purposes in English and across the curriculum and although the standard is low compared to national expectations, it is improving rapidly.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

6. In the 2000 National Curriculum tests at eleven, standards in mathematics overall were below the national average by the end of the key stage, although above those for similar schools. There has been satisfactory improvement in standards since the last inspection. The inspection findings confirm this and found, as in English, mathematics is dependent on the level of pupils‘ communication skills, but to a lesser extent. There has been sound improvement since the last inspection in October 1996. Mathematics has followed the trend for improvement nationally, although always at a lower level. Improvement in mathematics over the past three years is due to the effective introduction of the National Numeracy Strategy and the school’s identification of the need to improve numeracy even before this. It is the concentration on the basic skills and mental agility associated with numeracy that has continued to improve pupils’ standards in mathematics. In a Year 3

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

class, pupils in the third set of five learn to count money and give and receive change in a practical lesson in which the teacher creates a pretend shop. Pupils count out change to 20 pence. In a Year 5 second set, pupils develop their skills in group work with decimal fractions to two places. In mental calculation at the beginning of the lesson, one pupil says that, ‘100 minus 30 can be quickly worked out by taking 3 from 10 and multiplying the total by 10’ .

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

7. Standards in the National Curriculum tests at eleven in science are well below those expected nationally but in line with similar schools. Inspection findings confirm this. Weak linguistic development is the major cause of these low standards. However, measures taken by the school to improve science since the last inspection have added considerably to pupils’ learning. The successful strategies are: • the full national curriculum is being taught; • there is a greater emphasis on investigative science; • greater expectations for pupils to use specific vocabulary, although this remains dependent on pupils language skills; • analysis of results is used to inform teachers’ planning and to ensure that work is correctly pitched to the needs of all pupils • improvements in the effectiveness of teaching science.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

The more able pupils in Year 6 are beginning to ask their own deductive questions, ‘if I do this will…?’ and are become more accomplished at working on their own. In Year 6 pupils discuss a habitats observation, involving such terms as ‘prediction’, ‘fair test’ and ‘constant’ .

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

8. Progress for pupils with special educational needs, where the special need relates to numeracy or literacy, is good overall. Their rate of progress is similar to their age group, but if there is a social development target in their individual education plan, this is rarely well planned. The result is slower progress towards achieving their target. In a good Year 3 science investigation, one pupil had effective opportunities to take turns and speak as part of a group activity. This fulfilled the individual need well and the pupil made good Headfield CE VC Junior School progress during that lesson. In a Year 6 lesson where there was no support assistant, sensitive consideration by the class teacher enabled a pupil with a physical disadvantage to make good progress by being independent and participating fully with the class. In the same lesson, there was no clear strategy for developing another pupil, who had recently

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

been identified as needing help to socialise with his class more effectively. The school has identified the weakness in communications between teachers, assistants and the special educational needs co-ordinator, and the need to provide special work and materials as areas for development in the plans for special educational needs.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

9. For pupils for whom English is an additional language, levels of achievement are good in relation to their ages and abilities. Pupils enthusiastically learn the language and make very good progress. This is due to the number and quality of staff, both teaching and non- teaching, who support these pupils and the rigorous and regular use of assessment to identify specific areas of weakness, inform planning, and help monitor progress. It is also due to the secure relationships forged, and the positive attitudes of pupils themselves, who are keen to learn.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

10. There some gifted and talented pupils identified in the school. For example three pupils obtained the very high Level 6 in the National Curriculum tests in mathematics this year. However, on occasion, especially in English, mathematics and science which are set, there are few opportunities available for these pupils to extend their work.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

11. At the time of the last inspection, this aspect of the school’s provision was good and this achievement has been sustained.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

12. Pupils’ attitudes are good, they enjoy coming to school, arrive promptly and play well together before the start of the school day. In the questionnaire 95 per cent of parents say their children like school.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

13. Throughout the school pupils have good attitudes to their work. This has a significant impact on their learning. They show interest in their work when the content of the lesson is stimulating and the teaching is effective. Pupils sit quietly and respond well to good teaching. Their ability to sustain concentration is good and they work well without supervision in literacy and numeracy. Pupils co-operate well in design and technology, art and physical education lessons and where opportunities arise in English, mathematics and science lessons, demonstrating good levels of awareness of, and respect for, the views of others.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

14. Pupils’ behaviour is good. The school is an orderly community where pupils move around the large site in a very sensible, unhurried and purposeful manner. Pupils are polite and cheerful. Occasional inappropriate behaviour in lessons is swiftly and sensitively addressed without detracting from the lesson. The ethos of the school, where pupils are encouraged to consider the impact of their actions on others, has a positive effect on behaviour and attitudes. The very well established initiatives in the school to counter any form of oppressive behaviour are well known and used by the pupils and are very effective. Although racially diverse, there is no tension and the school is harmonious.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

15. Relationships throughout the school are good. Pupils are well aware of the expectations of the school and willingly participate in daily routines, like tidying up classrooms at the conclusion of a lesson. However, there are limited opportunities for pupils to use initiative or contribute to the daily life of the school. The school has several activities which involve pupils supporting each other, for example ‘befrienders’, paired reading and the early morning reading club. These opportunities to take responsibility enable pupils to make some progress in this aspect of their personal development. However, as at the time of the Headfield CE VC Junior School last inspection, pupils have too few opportunities to show initiative in their learning. They are not as involved in the planning and evaluation of their own work as they could be.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

16. Most pupils for whom English is an additional language demonstrate very good attitudes to learning. They are keen to learn, listen carefully to adults, and behave very well. They are often given tasks which require them to talk in small groups to improve self-esteem. However, they show little initiative and require much support and encouragement to enable them to demonstrate responsibility because some pupils, especially in Year 3, lack confidence. Pupils with special educational needs make appropriate progress and have good attitudes to school and are well behaved.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

17. Attendance is unsatisfactory. At 93.6 per cent it is below the national average and unauthorised absence is high at 1.2 per cent. Much of the authorised absence is caused by families from minority ethnic groups travelling to their country of origin on extended leave. Unauthorised absence is restricted to a few pupils who are monitored closely by the school. The school is very aware of the importance of attendance and has good procedures in place to address this issue. The majority of pupils arrive at school on time and registration is completed swiftly in a polite and pleasant manner.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

18. The quality of teaching across the school is good. However, it varies from excellent to unsatisfactory. At the last inspection teaching was unsatisfactory in 15 per cent of lessons; during this inspection it was unsatisfactory in four per cent of lessons (four lessons) - a significant reduction. There was a lack of subject knowledge in art, design and technology and physical education, all of which have been addressed by the school. Teaching is now satisfactory or better in 96 per cent of lessons, and good or better in 67 per cent. It is very good or better in 26 per cent of lessons, and three lessons were judged excellent. The proportion of good teaching has risen. At the last inspection teaching was good in 40 per cent of lessons; it is now good in almost 70 per cent of lessons. The improved quality of teaching is having a positive effect on the progress pupils are making. However, the

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

improvement is a result of changes in staffing and improved curriculum planning rather than of rigorous monitoring of teaching.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

19. The best teaching continues to be marked by secure subject knowledge and enthusiasm for the subject, especially in literacy and numeracy where the National Strategies have been effectively introduced. Where teaching is good teachers explain clearly what they expect their pupils to do and to achieve. Good demonstration and the use of open-ended questioning are other features of good teaching. For example, in a very good science lesson the teacher explained and demonstrated filtering, evaporation and condensation clearly and precisely, and in a mathematics lesson the teacher explained and demonstrated equivalent fractions so well that all pupils in the class understood how it worked by the end of the lesson. Another teacher provided very good writing models for pupils who were beginning to learn how to join their writing. These pupils have learnt this skill within five weeks of joining the school.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

20. Subject knowledge was less secure at the time of the last inspection in design and technology, music, art and physical education. It has improved considerably and teacher knowledge is now good and sometimes very good in these subjects with skills and techniques now demonstrated and evaluated very well. Teachers are now teaching more to their strengths, and visiting professionals, such as the artist in residence are used very well to develop pupils’ skills and techniques, in observational drawing for example.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

21. Where teaching is less effective, teachers’ lessons are not well prepared. In one Year 4 history lesson, for example the video machine was not prepared and did not work, there was no sense of urgency in the lesson and time was wasted. During discussion the Headfield CE VC Junior School teacher did not check pupils’ understanding of one topic before moving on to the next. In a religious education lesson the teacher was using planning based on a lesson of another teacher and this revealed that the lesson was not properly prepared and did not ensure that pupils followed the task set. There was no extension work prepared for higher attaining who finished the task early.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

22. Teachers’ planning has improved and is now good. The best planning is very detailed, has clear learning objectives and outlines the development of learning of pupils of differing abilities very well. The best teaching makes the objectives very clear at the start of the lessons and the very best provides targets for pupils’ self assessment during and at the end of lessons. These teachers are ensuring that pupils are very aware of how they are progressing and what they have to do to improve. An example of this is in one writing lesson where the teacher provided 5 ‘star targets’ for writing a dialogue and then, through good support and guidance in the lesson, ensured pupils improved against these targets. Just occasionally, the objectives were less well defined, and this led to pupils not being aware of what they had to learn. The quality of day-to-day marking was found to be highly variable in the analysis of work by the inspection team, but assessment is satisfactory

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

overall. Not all teachers use their assessment to work out exactly what they want their pupils to achieve by the end of a lesson. This results in some pupils attempting work that is too difficult for them and others not being fully stretched.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

23. Very good behaviour management and good relationships between staff and between pupils also remain strong factors in the best teaching. Effective team teaching, in the literacy and numeracy sets for example, benefits all pupils and is a strength of the school. Many pupils benefit from the one-to-one attention which team teaching gives them and this has a positive effect on standards. Teachers consistently apply the behaviour policy and school rules and this ensures pupils have good attitudes to their work and behave well in class. In only one lesson was more challenging behaviour not managed well. However, not all teachers provide sufficient opportunities for pupils to use their initiative and take responsibility for their own learning.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

24. The teaching of literacy skills in other subjects is good overall. Teachers are aware of how to teach literacy skills effectively, although not all individual education plans that relate to special educational needs in literacy are linked to teachers’ planning for other subjects. Where pupils are well supported for these needs, and pupils are given alternative methods of recording what they know, understand and can do, they make the best progress. This is planned better, and therefore more effectively, in team teaching situations. The teaching of the basic skills in information and communication technology is less well planned for and taught than in other subjects . Numeracy is also well taught: teachers have good subject knowledge and the majority have benefited from numeracy training. The strong structure of numeracy lessons enables pupils who have special educational needs to progress appropriately.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

25. The quality of teaching overall for pupils with special educational needs is satisfactory. However, current arrangements for co-ordinating special educational needs provision do not give the co-ordinator sufficient opportunity to liaise directly with teachers about individual pupils. This lack of supervision and professional input adversely effects the provision for pupils’ social development and the quality of individual education plans. Where teachers plan work effectively for pupils with special educational needs, and support assistants are given clear direction, pupils benefit considerably and make good gains in their learning. This was well demonstrated in a Year 5 geography lesson and many of the literacy lessons. Where the teacher is unsure of their role in the classroom when they have pupils with special educational needs in their class or group teaching is less effective and pupils’ progress unsatisfactory.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

Headfield CE VC Junior School 26. On the whole, teachers use time well and most lessons featured a brisk pace that led to pupils having to listen and being productive. However, in the less effective lessons the pace of teaching and learning was a key reason why the lessons were unsatisfactory. Resources are used well to enhance teaching but opportunities for the development of enquiry skills are less well provided for. There is still an over-reliance on work sheets in many lessons and the use of information and communication technology as a tool by teachers, across the curriculum, is variable. Homework is sensitively and effectively set. The school is aware that many pupils attend the mosque after school and therefore makes allowance for this.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

27. Pupils for whom English is an additional language are taught well, enabling them to make good, and sometimes very good, gains in learning. Adults in school establish warm, caring and friendly relationships with them. This provides a good atmosphere for learning, where pupils’ contributions, however small in the early stages of their English language acquisition, are clearly valued to help raise their self-esteem and build their confidence. The work is especially well matched to their needs which help them to make substantial progress over time. These positive features were seen at the Beginners Club , which provides these pupils with a very good start to their school life.

p.16

PUPILS?

28. The school provides a broad and balanced curriculum, that is very relevant to the needs of all pupils, particularly those for whom English is an additional language. The curriculum meets statutory requirements for all subjects, except for religious education, which does not fully cover the requirements of the Kirklees Agreed Syllabus. Concerns in the last report about coverage of the art and design and technology curriculum have been fully rectified and standards in both subjects have risen considerably. Although much work has been done to improve provision in information and communication technology, there is still some way to go. Provision for the control and modelling aspect of information and communication technology is still weak.

p.16

PUPILS?

29. However at the time of the last inspection the length of the school day was below the recommended minimum and not enough time was spent on teaching English, mathematics science and some aspects of the art, design and information and communication technology curriculum. Previous inspectors found that approaches to planning were inconsistent in practice. However, the school offered a wide range of extra-curricular activities and promoted equal opportunities for its pupils well. There has been much improvement. The school day has been extended and time allocations for all curriculum areas have been reorganised more effectively. Subjects such as history and geography have benefited from being taught as subjects in their own right rather than as part of a year-group topic. Most schemes of work follow guidelines provided by the government’s Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

p.16

PUPILS?

30. The quality of teachers’ planning has improved and most of the inconsistencies identified in the last inspection have been eliminated. Monitoring procedures have been introduced for teaching and learning. Where such monitoring has been used well to identify areas for further development, such as the use of questioning in literacy lessons, results have been very effective. However, in other subjects such as mathematics, where monitoring is not sufficiently focused or rigorous, there has not been as significant an impact on standards.

p.16

PUPILS?

31. Extra-curricular provision is impressive. Parents are rightly appreciative of the excellent range of academic, sporting and musical opportunities offered to their children. Soccer, rugby and basketball coaching is available and the school cricket team reaches high standards in competitive sport. Pupils have taken part in concerts locally and at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London. The Web Club is helping pupils to design a school web page. Headfield CE VC Junior School Many other innovative and carefully thought through activities, targeted at specific groups, provide very rewarding experiences for all pupils who participate.

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PUPILS?

32. The school’s strategies for teaching English are very good. The National Literacy Strategy has been very successfully implemented and the heavy emphasis on this subject is justifiably regarded as essential to increase pupils’ language skills. Support staff targeted to work with pupils for whom English is a second language are particularly effective and make a very strong contribution to the rise in standards in this subject. Several initiatives, such as beginner classes and classes teaching high achieving pupils to extend their literacy knowledge. These are used effectively to supplement class or group work. Ability groupings in literacy and numeracy have gone some way towards raising levels of attainment in both subjects, although best progress is not always made by the more able pupils in each group. When groupings are large, the same work is allocated to all pupils and some do not make as much progress as they could, because work does not match

p.17

PUPILS?

33. There is a policy for special educational needs and a governor with responsibility for its oversight. All pupils with special educational needs have access to the curriculum and religious education. However, there are some weaknesses in provision due to arrangements for co-ordination which do not allow the co-ordinator sufficient hands on time with teachers or pupils. Support staff are allocated appropriately and teachers have copies of individual education plans for reference when they are planning their lessons. There are inconsistencies in the use made of the targets when they do not concern numeracy or literacy. Inspection evidence shows good practice in science investigations. The use of groups enables pupils to share and contribute effectively in these lessons. Equally good practice was observed when a pupil who was more secure in a basic skill, such as reading, was paired with a weaker pupil to provide a good role model. On both occasions, these

p.17

PUPILS?

were planned actions to build pupils’ confidence and self-esteem and achieved success. There is no widespread use of information and communication technology to enable pupils with special educational needs to achieve finished work more quickly.

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PUPILS?

34. Curriculum provision is sound. It is carefully designed to include appropriate material for pupils from all backgrounds and enables those for whom English is an additional language to quickly receive their full entitlement to the statutory curriculum. The school’s curriculum provision acknowledges the diverse needs of all pupils. For example, during Ramadan, the curriculum is modified so as not to exhaust fasting pupils. The curriculum provides Muslim pupils with access to a wider community. The curriculum successfully enables pupils for whom English is an additional language to eventually achieve a command of English, which is equal to their English speaking peers, while acknowledging the benefits of being bilingual. All involved adults plan and teach a broad curriculum which provides a firm platform for pupils to learn English.

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PUPILS?

35. The school makes good provision for the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of its pupils and has maintained the quality of its provision from the time of the last inspection. The school provides a good environment where pupils are able to grow in confidence as they gain maturity.

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PUPILS?

36. Provision for pupils’ spiritual development is satisfactory. The school has a strong and positive ethos which places high value on human rights and the worth of every individual. In occasional lessons there are good examples where the teachers’ approach fosters the development of spiritual awareness; for example, pupils enjoyed the wonder of discovery of purifying water by means of evaporation and cooling, or responded well in a lesson on poetry. Such examples are not common and some lessons miss opportunities to enhance spiritual development. Headfield CE VC Junior School 37. The provision for pupils’ moral and social development is good. Throughout the school, pupils respond well to the teachers’ high expectations of their behaviour and are encouraged to take responsibility for their own actions with regard to incidents of inappropriate behaviour. Personal and social education is timetabled for all pupils in the

p.17

PUPILS?

school each week. This ensures that time is regularly set aside for discussion and reflection on issues and provides effective opportunities for social development and for consideration of moral questions at a level appropriate to the age and experiences of the pupils. Through the personal, social and health education programme, pupils are encouraged to think about the differences between right and wrong and the importance of considering others. Teachers and assistants make good role models promoting the school values of honesty and fairness. The various reading initiatives in the school, where pupils are paired, or older pupils help younger pupils, support the social development of all who take part. Through the excellent quality and range of extra-curricular activities, including competitive sports, pupils learn how to respond to each other in different settings. However, the school does not include a residential visit as part of its provision. The school

p.18

PUPILS?

fosters a sense of citizenship by supporting a range of charities.

p.18

PUPILS?

38. The provision for cultural development is satisfactory. One strength of this provision is the very high quality of the artwork in the school. Pupils’ experiences have been enhanced by working with a professional textile artist and an artist in residence, and the work they produced is displayed in school. The school acknowledges and supports the two major faiths represented in the school. The curriculum supports other areas of cultural development, for example history, by allowing pupils to gain insights into life in times gone by and geography by insights into other lands and lifestyles. However, opportunities for pupils to acquire knowledge of the broader range of cultures represented in British society today and the cultural history of the locality are limited.

p.18

PUPILS?

39. Provision for pupils’ personal, social and health education is good. The school offers a very good drugs awareness programme for all its pupils and governors organise an evening for parents on drugs education. In addition to the time specifically set aside for the discussion of social and moral issues, heavy emphasis is placed on the balanced development of pupils both socially and academically. However, the school does not place enough emphasis on encouraging pupils to be responsible for organising their own work, to develop independent learning skills sufficiently or to take initiative.

p.18

PUPILS?

40. Good links have been forged with the local community. Bilingual support staff play a particularly important role in contacting parents about problems and in celebrating individual pupil’s achievements. They form a very valuable link between the school and the community as a whole. Numerous links have been formed to enhance pupils’ learning, such as sports coaching by the local rugby and football teams.

p.18

PUPILS?

41. The school has constructive links with many partner institutions. Its links with Thurstonland Primary School are rightly regarded as mutually beneficial. Both schools recently took part in a joint music project, culminating in a concert at Dewsbury Town Hall. Effective links have also been established with local secondary schools. Liaison with secondary art and science departments are particularly effective when pupils are allowed access to a good range of facilities not available within their own school.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

42. The steps taken by the school to ensure the welfare, health and safety of its pupils are satisfactory as they were at the time of the last inspection. All statutory checks are undertaken. Safety is given a high priority in lessons and the general welfare of pupils is well catered for in the daily life of the school. However, the quality of the school site is a cause for concern, especially because there is a great deal of pupil movement around the site during the day. The concrete is deteriorating on some of the paths around the school, Headfield CE VC Junior School some of the steps are uneven and not all steps have clear edge markings. The concern expressed in the last report over the safety of pupils at the beginning and the end of the school day, as parents use the roundabout within the school’s grounds, has been well addressed by installing a gate.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

43. Child protection procedures are in place and are good.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

44. The effectiveness of the school’s assessment and monitoring of pupils’ academic performance is good. There are very good assessment practices and procedures for pupils for whom English is an additional language. Rigorous and regular assessments, beginning when pupils first enter the school, enable staff to identify what pupils know and understand so that they can build effectively on previous learning. However, less effective is the use made by all staff of day to day assessment in the planning of lessons. There are regular assessments as pupils move through the school to enable staff to evaluate the rate at which pupils are progressing, set or modify targets for improvement. Teachers track the progress of these pupils very well.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

45. The effectiveness of educational and personal support and guidance in raising pupils’ achievements is good. Attendance is very well monitored although it remains below the national average and unauthorised absences are high at 1.2 per cent. The school is very conscious of this and has made considerable efforts to improve attendance through rigorous monitoring. The school has very good procedures for monitoring and promoting good behaviour. The development of ‘befrienders’ in the school and the ‘bully box’ in each year base are valued by the pupils and are seen as the way in which behavioural issues can be resolved. They work well. There are no formal procedures in the school to monitor and support pupils’ personal development. However, due to the organisation of the school, all pupils are taught by several teachers and have classroom contact with a number of support staff. All these adults know the pupils well and contribute to the informal

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

monitoring of their personal development at year group meetings.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

46. The school has good assessment procedures and makes effective use of the information gained to organise the curriculum. As a result of action taken since the last inspection, pupils’ attainment in National Curriculum tests has improved and is moving closer towards the national expectations for pupils aged eleven in English, mathematics and science. Senior teachers evaluate information from the annual tests and use it effectively when deploying staff. A good example of this in practice is when small groups of pupils are set targets intended to raise them to the higher level of attainment expected for their age. Test results have also been used effectively to highlight weaknesses in curriculum provision. Science is now taught as a subject and all aspects of the science National Curriculum are in place. In mathematics and English, the creation of ability sets has begun to improve pupils’ attainment. Where teachers plan their lessons based on what pupils already can

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

do, or focus on what pupils need, the rate of learning improves; but this aspect of the use of assessment is underdeveloped, and so is the use of continuous assessment during lessons. In a Year 6 science lesson, pupils made good progress working in groups because a challenging task was set, and in a literacy lesson a plan was revised during the lesson because the teacher assessed that pupils needed more practice in a basic skill. Such instances are rare. Pupils in different ability groups do not always receive work which is matched appropriately to their needs and their rate of progress in some instances is not as great as it could be.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

47. There are satisfactory procedures for assessing pupils with special educational needs. When they enter the school pupils are put into groups based on National Curriculum test results and the school’s own tests which includes a non-verbal test. The need for such ability groups or sets to improve attainment in mathematics and language is balanced against the need for pupils to form social and friendship groups in a new school. This gives teachers a chance to fulfil the social needs of pupils with special educational needs. This Headfield CE VC Junior School new development will need careful monitoring to assess its value to the school. Assessment is very effective for pupils with English as an additional language, both in recognising the need in the first instance and in the action taken to meet it.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

48. Marking is improving in English, where pupils are not only praised for their efforts, but are shown how to improve their work. Targets are displayed on the inside of their books and this is having a positive effect on their understanding of the purpose of their work and knowledge of their own learning. However, this good practice is not used consistently in other subjects. Though it is done conscientiously, most marking simply praises effort rather than evaluating what has been completed. Some of the subject policies prepared for the new 2000 curriculum initiative for foundation subjects, that is in subjects other than English, mathematics and science, show an intention to assess pupils’ work at the end of each year using national levels. However, assessment is under-used as a method of checking pupils’ progress during the year. Despite good systems, some teachers are not aware enough of

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

how assessment can influence learning and involve pupils in understanding how much progress they are making. In subjects where a file of assessed work exists, this helps teachers to understand what is expected for each level of attainment. However, many of these are out of date and need reviewing.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

49. The school has identified in its school development plan the need to extend staff expertise in lesson planning to include what pupils already know and what they have to do to improve their attainment. Money has been set side to achieve this and the first phase of the system for tracking pupils’ progress is in place. However, a judgement on its effectiveness is not possible at this stage.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

50. The effectiveness of the partnership between the school and the parents of its pupils is very good and has a positive impact on standards across the school.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

51. Parents are very pleased with the school’s provision and achievements. The parents’ questionnaires completed for the inspection revealed that they are particularly pleased with the expectations that the school has of children. They showed that parents approve of the ways in which the school helps children to mature and become more responsible. Parents like the way in which the school handles questions or sorts out problems. A very small number of parents do not feel that the school works closely with parents or keeps them well informed about the progress that their children make. A few parents feel their children do not get the right amount of homework. The inspectors endorse parents’ positive viewpoints and judge homework and information about pupils’ progress to be good.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

52. The quality of information provided for parents is good. There is regular contact with parents via a variety of means including reading diaries, newsletters, half-termly curriculum information and an annual report on their child's progress. Although the annual reports on pupils’ progress are satisfactory, there are some shortcomings. The reporting on English and mathematics clearly describes what the pupil can do in these subjects, but this is not consistently the case in science. The better reports set the attainment of pupils in English and mathematics in context and indicate the next step for the pupil, but this is not the general practice across the school. In other subjects, it is frequently the case that pupils’ attitudes to the subject or the experiences that they are offered are reported rather than progress in learning. Twice yearly parent consultation evenings offer a very good

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

opportunity for parents to monitor the progress of their child. The school values this contact and makes significant efforts to meet the needs of the parents by arranging additional appointments for parents who do not attend on the designated evenings.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

53. The contribution of parents to children’s learning is good. There is a wide range of initiatives to involve parents in their children’s learning at home and these frequently Headfield CE VC Junior School incorporate the opportunity for dialogue between home and school. The range and quality of home based activities available to pupils and the information parents receive about the curriculum ensure that the contribution of parents to their children’s learning at home is very good. However, the number of parent helpers in the school is extremely low. The school is making efforts to engage parents in pupils’ learning in school, for example by inviting parents into the school to become involved in their child’s education, but this will take time before any significant improvement will be seen. The school intends to involve parents, who have children with special educational needs, in the creation of their

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

children’s individual education plans as a means of improving communication between home and school. Attendance at meetings to discuss special educational needs has improved and the school has good records to show this.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

54. The school is rigorous in its approaches to increasing levels of parental involvement to help ensure that the school’s very good provision is well supported from home. There is a wide range of initiatives to help develop the partnership between home and school, although not all initiatives are well supported. The school is constantly seeking new ways of involving parents to help support the school’s priority to provide the best possible start for pupils.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

55. The headteacher is an effective leader. She manages the school efficiently and works closely with all staff, particularly the new deputy headteacher and subject co-ordinators, to raise standards. This strategy has been successful and the school has improved year on year over the past three years. She has been particularly effective in targeting provision for English as an additional language as the key to raising standards in this school where more than four-fifths of pupils do not have English as their mother tongue. The close analysis of results and the use of new technology to analyse data means that the headteacher and her team are well informed about trends in attainment in the school. This enables them to develop strategies to target pupils’ needs, for example the initiative in shared and paired reading, strong readers helping weaker ones.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

56. The governing body provides sound support for the headteacher and holds the school to account. It has formed a number of committees to improve its effectiveness, including a performance management committee, under the new government initiative, to set targets for the headteacher’s performance. However, it is insufficiently involved in monitoring teaching and learning in the school.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

57. There has been satisfactory progress since the last inspection in the appointment and effective deployment of staff for pupils who have special educational needs. The special educational needs co-ordinator retains a part-time role as manager of the systems, but has no role in preparing individual education plans. Her expertise therefore does not directly influence work in the classroom. Where teaching is good, pupils with special educational needs make good progress. Inspection evidence shows that some teachers do not plan sufficiently for those pupils. Consequently their progress is slower and they achieve less over time. Management of the systems and links with outside agencies remain as effective as during the last inspection.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

58. All staff with management responsibilities have clear and documented roles and responsibilities, attend regular training to increase their expertise, feel valued, and work effectively as a team, meeting frequently. There is a shared commitment to improvement and a capacity to succeed. Communication with other school staff takes place weekly to help ensure pupils’ needs are being effectively met. Resources are well deployed and are effectively used. Provision for pupils for whom English is an additional language permeates all levels of the school’s organisation, ensuring that it is given a suitably high profile in school. There is a strong commitment to good relationships and equality of opportunity. Subject co-ordinators and other senior staff have sufficient non-contact time to Headfield CE VC Junior School monitor teaching and learning and whilst this has been effective at ensuring subject

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

coverage, it has not focused on improving teachers’ skills and subject knowledge.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

59. A full programme of staff development is linked well to the school development plan where the needs of the school and individual staff are effectively considered. Staff receive a good range of training opportunities relevant to recent curriculum and educational developments. These training opportunities further enhance the good range of expertise and qualifications staff have already achieved. There are at present nine staff who have advanced qualifications in higher education. The school effectively matches their qualifications to the roles they play in school, in particular as subject co-ordinators. Clear targets and time scales for training are set and achieved and include support staff. There are good guidelines on appraisal. These have been effectively used to target training needs. The school is considering performance management for teachers and is effectively planning the necessary procedures for this form of appraisal. Its present range of training priorities,

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

effectively support present day developments. After a good focus on literacy and numeracy, the school is now starting to address the requirements of the revised National Curriculum appropriately so that it will be in place by September 2001 and decide on relevant targets. Clear procedures are established for the induction of newly qualified staff and for staff who are new to the school, which involves mentoring by a senior member of staff. The headteacher, the in-service co-ordinator and the senior management team have developed very effective recorded systems for the training of all staff, which are beginning to improve the standards pupils achieve. This information is effectively shared with the governing body.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

60. The school makes best use of its accommodation, which varies from high quality to sub- standard. The nature of the scattered accommodation leads to the duplication of some resources with consequent impact on funding.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

61. Overall, resources are satisfactory. They are very good in art, especially the use made of Sparrow Wood and the artist in residence programme, and good in geography, design and technology, physical education and science. The main library is inaccessible to some pupils and the quality and range of books is unsatisfactory. In all other subjects resources are satisfactory.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

62. The school makes good use of the resources available to it. Funds are well managed by the headteacher, with good support from the finance committee of governors. Members of this group meet with the senior management team to plan the budget. As a result of having regular, up-to-date financial information, governors have a clear overview of the whole budget. Financial planning is sound and decisions for spending are closely linked to the educational priorities identified in the school development plan. This was an area for improvement at the last inspection and has been achieved successfully. There are good tendering arrangements and governors have embraced the principles of best value to good effect. Day-to-day business and financial transactions are well managed by the administrative officers. They have good information and communication technology skills and give an efficient and welcoming service to the school. In other respects the

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

introduction of new technology, such as the access to the Internet, is less well developed.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

63. Funding allocated for pupils with special educational needs is used appropriately to provide a good level of adult support staff. For example, the money from two special schemes has provided two bilingual support staff and special resources. Both initiatives are beginning to have a positive effect in the classroom. The part-time special educational needs co- ordinator provides a good level of management by keeping the register up to date, dealing with all reviews of statements of special educational need, individual education plans and liaison with outside agencies. Unusually, the role does not include any involvement in setting the targets in plans and statements. Individual education plans are instead created jointly by class teachers and teachers who take the literacy and numeracy groups, leading Headfield CE VC Junior School to confusion of responsibility and ineffectiveness in the classroom. The considerable

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

expertise in special educational needs amongst the senior staff is not brought to bear fully on this aspect of provision. In its development plan, the school has recognised the need to improve communications in this area. The reporting of special educational needs to parents does not comply with national guidelines.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

64. There has been good improvement since the last inspection in pupils’ attainment and the quality of teaching. In addition, there is good management and effective procedure for promoting and monitoring good behaviour. With the finance available to the school being slightly below the national average, the school remains good value for money.

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

65. The governing body, headteacher and staff should :

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• further develop strategies for improving attendance; (paragraphs:17 and 45)

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• arrange for subject co-ordinators to more effectively manage their responsibilities by providing sufficient time to monitor teaching and learning in their subject; (paragraphs: 55 and 58)

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• use the extensive assessment data to ensure that work is more closely matched to pupils’ needs; (paragraphs: 22, 44, 46, 48, 72, 86, 98, 100, 118, 124 and 129)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• ensure that personal and social skills are improved for pupils with special educational needs by identifying appropriate targets for development in their individual education plans; (paragraphs: 8, 24, 25, 47, 53, 57, 63, 83, 89, 97, 99, 105, 114, 124 and 136)

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• improve basic skills in information and communication technology by ensuring: - information and communication technology meets National Curriculum requirements; - its use in all subjects; - that controlling and modelling become an integral part of the information and communication technology curriculum; (paragraphs: 3, 24, 77 and 108)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• further develop pupils’ opportunities for enquiry skills and provide opportunities for pupils to show initiative and take responsibility; (paragraphs: 15-16, 23 and 74)

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• ensure that religious education complies with the Kirklees Agreed Syllabus; (paragraphs: 29, 34 and 132)

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Minor issues: • ensure that the Governors’ Annual Report to parents’ includes information on the success of the special educational needs policy; (paragraph: 63)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• provide opportunities for pupils to acquire a knowledge of the broader range of cultures represented in British society today and the cultural history of the locality (paragraph: 38)

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• review library facilities to improve access for pupils and provide a better quality and range of books (paragraphs: 38, 61, 68 and 74). Headfield CE VC Junior School PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 84

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very poor

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

3 23 41 29 4 0 0 The table gives the percentage of teaching observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 529

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Number of full-time pupils eligible for free school meals 183

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 84

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 20

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

English as an additional language No of pupils

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 445

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 51

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 52

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

National comparative data 5.4 National comparative data 0.5 Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Headfield CE VC Junior School Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 Year Boys Girls Total Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2000 65 56 121

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Boys 37 32 48 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 34 38 41

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Percentage of pupils School 59 (53) 58 (53) 74 (62) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (70) 72 (69) 85 (78)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Boys 38 36 43 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 38 39 40

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Percentage of pupils School 63 (53) 62 (53) 69 (62) at NC level 4 or above National 70 (68) 72 (69) 79 (75) Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Headfield CE VC Junior School Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Black – Caribbean heritage 0 Black – Caribbean heritage 0 0

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Black – African heritage 0 Black – African heritage 0 0

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Any other minority ethnic group 25 Other minority ethnic groups 0 0 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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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Teachers and classes Financial information

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 27.3 Financial year 1999/2000

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 18.9:1

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Education support staff: Y3 – Y6 Total expenditure 916,609

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Total number of education support staff 16 Expenditure per pupil 1,606

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Total aggregate hours worked per week 261 Balance brought forward from previous year -20,484

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

Balance carried forward to next year -5,276 Headfield CE VC Junior School

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Percentage of responses in each category

p.27

Results of the survey of parents and carers

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

p.27

Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child is making good progress in school. 39 47 5 3 6

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Behaviour in the school is good. 45 35 7 2 11

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 37 36 13 6 8

p.27

Results of the survey of parents and carers

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 33 42 14 6 5

p.27

Results of the survey of parents and carers

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 46 40 4 2 8

p.27

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 59 32 6 1 2

p.27

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school works closely with parents. 39 38 13 5 5

p.27

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is well led and managed. 44 39 5 1 11

p.27

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 39 45 6 2 8

p.27

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 41 35 9 1 14

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ENGLISH

66. In 2000 National curriculum tests in English, attainment was well below average in comparison with the national picture, but pupils achieved a level above that of similar schools. There has been a steady improvement in English over the past four years. In the most recent tests the percentage of pupils who achieved the higher Level 5 rose from 15 to 24 per cent, a significant improvement. Inspection findings confirm that overall standards in English are well below the national average by the time pupils leave the school at the age of eleven. This is largely because of the very high proportion of pupils who have weak literacy skills, because they do not speak English as their first language; more than four- fifths of pupils at this school have English as an additional language. The introduction of the National Literacy Strategy has strengthened the English curriculum and has improved the weaker aspects of the subject found by the previous inspection. Standards are

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ENGLISH

improving. Setting, that is grouping by ability in separate classes, has been particularly effective in raising standards. Targeting and monitoring specific groups like the new intake, or progress of boys, have made positive and valuable contributions.

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ENGLISH

67. Standards of speaking are well below average, but pupils listen well and make significant improvement over time. They contribute to lessons positively and show good awareness of the needs of the listener. Pupils with more advanced language skills respond clearly and audibly to questions in a range of situations. Pupils whose skills in language are less developed show increased confidence in reading texts and talk to visitors with easy confidence. Most pupils discuss preferences sensibly when talking about books and support their views by referring to the text. By the end of the key stage, pupils show an increasing ability to use appropriate vocabulary related to different subjects. They can discuss the plot of ‘Macbeth’ from different points of view, expressing their opinions and showing a growing awareness of meaning. Most pupils make good progress in speaking and listening during their time at school.

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ENGLISH

68. By the end of the key stage, reading standards are below the national average but improving. Younger pupils make good progress in reading through shared and guided reading sessions, although many are still unable to achieve the standard expected of their age. Less able pupils sound out words and use story context to help them read new words. Reading progress for pupils with special educational needs is satisfactory . More advanced readers in Year 6, read expressively from a variety of texts and refer to text when explaining books they have read. However, other pupils are less expressive in their reading. A variety of reading initiatives, including reading at home, higher order learning skills and ‘reading buddies’ have proved successful in raising individual attainment in reading. In some classes, pupils are encouraged to use dictionaries and thesaurus. Pupils enjoy reading and appreciate the value of books. However, the poor accessibility and low

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ENGLISH

calibre of the library does not promote enquiry skills. Pupils’ enthusiasm for reading has been stimulated by the introduction of the literacy hour and by a satisfactory supply of new reading resources.

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ENGLISH

69. Although attainment in writing is below the national average, progress in writing is satisfactory and improving. Extended writing sessions have recently been introduced in addition to the literacy hour, to improve standards and enable pupils to experience a wider range of writing. Pupils write for a wide variety of purposes in English and across the curriculum . In Year 3, for example, pupils write poems about autumn using an increasing range of descriptive vocabulary . More advanced pupils can recognise capital letters and speech marks. The very good use of classroom literacy displays means that pupils have a constant reference point and can learn new vocabulary by sight. Pupils in Years 4 and 5 develop their use of punctuation and improved spelling and handwriting skills, enhancing Headfield CE VC Junior School the fluency and clarity of their work. However the standard is below that expected for their

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ENGLISH

age and the quality of their work is dependent on pupils’ communication skills. Pupils write well-constructed poems about colour to reflect feelings and emotions and newspaper articles reflecting journalistic style. They learn to write instructions for others to follow, in recipes for example. They show an increasing awareness of sequencing and use of more complex vocabulary. Pupils understand what nouns and adjectives are and use this knowledge to identify them in sentences.

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ENGLISH

70. By the end of the key stage, pupils’ writing is varied and often imaginative and clear. More able pupils retell the story of ‘Macbeth’ in gangster style and write poems based on the play. They learn to analyse characters, the plot and setting relating them to their own experiences. Many pupils punctuate their work with speech and question marks and spell common words correctly. High attaining pupils use paragraphs and often have an understanding of the tenses and language structure. They write poetry, letters and chronological accounts in history, and take notes using the correct format with increasing expertise. They extend their knowledge of journalistic style, learning to be concise and eye-catching. Lower ability pupils in Year 6 learn to write a playscript with stage directions and take great delight in following them! Despite language difficulties, pupils choose words for effect when writing stories and poems. All pupils redraft their work sensibly, improving

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ENGLISH

both content and style, as well as correcting spellings and improving presentation. Handwriting and presentation are almost always of a high standard throughout the school.

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ENGLISH

71. Pupils’ attitudes to work and their behaviour are good. When teachers are enthusiastic, it is infectious and the pupils enjoy English. Most teachers are becoming adept at asking open-ended questions and pupils respond well to these. Relationships are good and generate a positive, stimulating atmosphere for learning. Teachers have high expectations and most pupils work hard, sustaining concentration for long periods, even when teachers talk too much.

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ENGLISH

72. The quality of teaching is never less than satisfactory and teaching was good or very good in over half of the lessons seen. Good teaching has a significant impact on pupils’ learning and standards. Teachers have a good subject knowledge, which has been greatly enhanced by literacy training and target setting, enabling them to plan suitable tasks for the literacy hour. They plan jointly across year groups, sharing knowledge and expertise with other staff. The best planning has clear objectives and appropriate activities well designed to meet the needs of individuals. However, this is not always the case, and at times the work provided is unimaginative and does not always take pupils’ different levels of attainment into account, even within set groups. Teachers’ expectations are appropriate and they manage their pupils well. Good use is made of structured open-ended questioning to motivate and as a check to understanding but there were few opportunities

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ENGLISH

to observe pupils giving extended reasoned answers. The best teaching has a very good balance between activities and pupils know exactly what they have to learn. The use of support staff is well targeted to assist specific groups and pupils with special educational needs. The final sessions are usually used well to celebrate work and to consolidate learning. Assessment in the subject is satisfactory. On a day-to-day basis teachers keep records of pupils’ achievements and statistical data is beginning to be analysed in order to identify problem areas. The marking of pupils’ work is inconsistent, at best it is constructive, showing pupils areas they need to consider to make improvements. It also informs day-to-day planning; however, at worst it consists of a series of ticks. The assessment of pupils’ developing skills, knowledge and understanding is not rigorous.

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ENGLISH

73. Pupils who speak English as an additional language, which is 83 per cent of the school, progress very well in English through the well focused and effective support they receive. This has a significant and positive impact upon their learning. There are also a high number of pupils with special educational needs; they progress well in English, because Headfield CE VC Junior School they are placed in specific classes with additional staff. This gives pupils more one-to one attention and the work is carefully pitched to their needs.

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ENGLISH

74. The co-ordinator makes a very good contribution to the development of this subject and provides very good leadership. He has a clear vision for the development of English and has recently reviewed planning with staff, the outcome of which has had a positive impact on teaching and learning. Monitoring and evaluation is well managed and makes a good contribution to both teaching and learning. Classroom resources are satisfactory and have been enhanced by the addition of books for the literacy hour. Most pupils in Year 3 use information and communication technology on a regular basis to help them learn in other subjects. Although project book boxes from the school library service also supports learning, the library, which could be a valuable resource for pupils’ development in terms of research and pupil responsibility, is poorly resourced and accessibility is limited.

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MATHEMATICS

75. By 11 pupils’ attainment in mathematics is below average. In the 2000 National Curriculum tests pupils’ results were below the national average. Compared to similar schools nationally, pupils’ standards are above average. Inspection findings confirm that standards in mathematics overall are below the national average because the communication skills of the majority of pupils are weak, affecting their understanding especially in problem solving. They also have difficulty interpreting spoken and written instructions. Standards are, however, rising and the number of pupils achieving the higher Level 5 has significantly improved from 15 per cent to 24 per cent, and three pupils gained the very high Level 6. Standards are above those of similar schools. Improvement over the past three years is due the effective introduction of the National Numeracy Strategy and the school’s identification of the need to improve numeracy before this. Pupils with special educational

p.30

MATHEMATICS

needs are appropriately supported and make progress in line with their peers, and the majority group in the school who speak English as an additional language are very well supported in this subject and progress well.

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MATHEMATICS

76. There has been sound improvement since the last inspection in October 1996. Mathematics has followed the trend for improvement nationally, although always at a lower level. In a Year 3 class, pupils in the third set of five learn to count money and give and receive change in a practical lesson in which the teacher creates a pretend shop. Pupils count out change to 20 pence. In a Year 4 class, in the fourth out of five sets, pupils successfully count on in tens up to 100. In the highest set one in Year 4, pupils learn how to record improper fractions and are working at a standard appropriate for their age. In a Year 5 second set, pupils develop their skills in group work with decimal fractions to two places. In mental calculation at the beginning of the lessons, one pupil says that, ‘a 100 minus 30 can be quickly worked out by taking 3 from 10 and multiplying the total by 10’ . The majority of pupils in this higher class set are working at a level appropriate for their age

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MATHEMATICS

77. It is particularly noticeable that the level of discussion and the quality of literacy skills are much higher in the upper sets and pupils much more readily take part in question and answer sessions. In the lower sets the pace is much slower; pupils frequently do not fully understand what the teacher is saying and the teacher spends a good deal of time on the question and answer session to develop pupils’ vocabulary and to ensure that they fully understand instructions. It is in these sets that the standards are well below average. However, the teachers in the lower sets are particularly good at developing pupils’ vocabulary and, together with the bilingual support staff, use effective and extensive questioning to ensure that pupils understand. This ensures that they achieve to the best of their ability. For example, in a Year 5 fourth set, the teacher effectively involves as many pupils as possible, when questioning, both to develop their language skills and to increase

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MATHEMATICS

the teacher’s knowledge of pupils’ skills. The support of pupils with English as an Headfield CE VC Junior School additional language is very effective and contributes to pupils’ development in mathematics. Most mathematics seen was numeracy and mathematical investigation, but data handling is not as well represented in the curriculum. Although numeracy is well represented in science it is less apparent in other subjects and mathematics is rarely linked to real life. Presentation is variable ranging from neat to untidy in the range of written work analysed. Homework usefully extends pupils’ learning. Information and communication technology is not sufficiently used in this subject.

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MATHEMATICS

78. The quality of teaching is good. Almost half the teaching seen was good, and occasionally very good. Only one unsatisfactory lesson was seen. Teachers have good subject knowledge and most have benefited from the numeracy training which has been available since the adoption of the National Numeracy Strategy. The strong structure of the numeracy lesson, with its introduction, reinforcement work and final session when the class joins together to check the rate of pupils’ learning, is most effective. Besides the effective questioning mentioned, teachers use a variety of stimuli in most lessons to keep the lesson interesting. Teachers have a variety of home-made number flash cards and worksheets which are carefully planned to develop pupils’ learning and some use the overhead projector in their lessons. In one very strong Year 6 third set lesson, the teacher gives pupils a series of shapes which they have to name. When the teacher realises that some

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MATHEMATICS

do not know all the shapes, he modifies the lesson to ensure they learn them before continuing with the lesson. In this very good lesson the teacher encouraged the children to explain their individual thinking to help to develop the reasoning of all. However, other teachers are less secure in their subject knowledge in mathematics and do not modify their teaching in the light of what pupils know, can do and understand. In a weaker lesson in Year 3 for example, the teacher, instead of dealing with difficulties as they arise by answering pupils’ questions, continued with the lesson counting odd numbers to 15 and onwards. Because of the lack of early explanation many pupils did not learn effectively.

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MATHEMATICS

79. Pupils have a good attitude to their work and are well behaved in most lessons. Only where teaching is less effective do pupils fall below this standard, becoming restless and less attentive. Whilst there is some evidence of pupils in Year 6 checking their own work and their own understanding of the lesson, there was little evidence in other classes.

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MATHEMATICS

80. The subject is well led by a knowledgeable and enthusiastic co-ordinator, who is also a good practitioner. He is given opportunities to monitor the subject, which has been effective in checking subject coverage. The monitoring of teaching and learning lacks focus. The setting arrangements for numeracy are usually successful, enabling work to be matched to pupils’ abilities. The targeting of specific pupils by raising the standards of pupils in the middle sets is proving effective. However, whilst there are some systems for assessing pupils attainment, this is not fully effective. It was evident during the inspection that above average pupils and pupils of average ability in some sets were not always challenged to ensure they made the best possible progress and there was too much consolidation of clearly understood work. For example, in one Year 6 numeracy lesson the majority of the session consisted of a mental test with some explanations which did not

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MATHEMATICS

81. Teachers’ assistants are used well, especially supporting pupils with special educational needs and those with English as an additional language in the lower sets. They are well briefed by the teacher so that they make a positive contribution to the lesson.

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SCIENCE

82. There has been significant improvement in attainment since the last inspection. More information is available now to make comparisons and although the 2000 National curriculum test results show that attainment was well below the national average when compared with schools with a similar intake of pupils, attainment is broadly in line with what Headfield CE VC Junior School is expected for pupils aged 11 years. Compared with the national average there has been a slight decline in the percentage of pupils achieving the national average or above. However, there has been a significant improvement in the number of pupils achieving the higher Level 5. Inspection findings confirm that standards are well below the national average. This affects their pace of learning and their ability to acquire knowledge and understand instructions. However, measures taken by the school to improve science since the last inspection have added considerably to pupils learning. The successful strategies

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SCIENCE

are: • the full national curriculum is being taught; • there is a greater emphasis on investigative science; • greater expectations for pupils to use specific vocabulary providing their English skills are sufficiently developed; • analysis of results is used to inform teachers’ planning and to ensure that work is correctly pitched to the needs of all pupils; • improvements in the effectiveness of teaching science.

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SCIENCE

83. Most pupils, including those with English as an additional language, make good progress, particularly where teachers build on previous learning. Pupils with special educational needs make similar progress where there is good support, but often their progress in their social and personal development needs is less effective. This is because some teachers are unsure of their role in planning for special needs when classroom support assistance is not available.

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SCIENCE

84. In a good Year 3 lesson, half the pupils understand the idea of fair testing and the importance of carefully and accurately recording findings. In a very good Year 5 lesson the emphasis on literacy skills ensured that pupils fully understood the instructions. Pupils speak precisely using scientific words such as evaporate and condense. Pupils develop their ideas about investigative processes very effectively in this lesson. In a mixed ability group of Year 6 pupils, with pictures to discuss, they are enthusiastic when talking about their observations of squirrels and birds in the school grounds. The more able pupils are beginning to ask their own deductive questions, ‘if I do this will…?’ and are become more accomplished at working on their own. The grouping of pupils by ability in Year 6 is having a good impact on the rate of progress of pupils in the higher sets. Where teachers have high expectations and opportunities are given for pupils to work in pairs or groups, this has

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SCIENCE

a positive effect on pupils’ social skills, with a high level of co-operation and sharing of ideas.

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SCIENCE

85. The subject is valued as a means of promoting literacy and numeracy skills. Planning of the better lessons clearly identifies where pupils will use their reading, writing and graph skills. Science is especially good for developing speaking and listening where pupils are given opportunities to answer questions and make suggestions in the lessons. Where teaching is good, lessons take account of pupils’ previous knowledge, skills and understanding and work is pitched to challenge pupils. Challenging work keeps pupils interested during lessons and consequently their rate of learning is good. Opportunities are well taken to promote the social and moral aspects of science such as pollution and environmental protection.

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SCIENCE

86. The quality of teaching overall is good and represents a significant improvement since the last inspection. It has made a positive impact on pupils’ standards. Year 5 teachers give very good practical demonstrations and explanations of condensation, evaporation and filtering. In Year 6 there is very good explanation of an observation of habitats, involving such terms as ‘prediction’, ‘fair test’ and ‘constant’. Pupils’ answers to the teacher’s questions and their vocabulary suggest a level of subject knowledge appropriate for their age. The high level of teachers’ knowledge motivates pupils effectively so that they make good progress in using specific vocabulary and in recording their observations. There are Headfield CE VC Junior School areas in need of improvement. Some teachers, for instance, have insecure subject knowledge in some aspects of the science curriculum, particularly practical science.

p.32

SCIENCE

Scrutiny of previous work shows that younger pupils have a high number of worksheet based activities which are not always suitable to their needs. The standard of marking is ineffective; although it is done conscientiously, it does not show pupils what they have to do to improve. An overall area of weakness is that pupils do not use information and communication technology in presenting data and word processing. There are good examples in Years 3, 5 and 6 of teachers using questioning to check pupils’ knowledge, but overall use of assessment and checking techniques during lessons is underdeveloped. The school has identified assessment and information and communication technology as areas for improvement in their science development plan for the next two years.

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SCIENCE

87. There are examples in Year 3 of good progress by pupils with special educational needs, because of good planning by their teacher. Three pupils with literacy targets had worksheets specifically designed to help them with their writing and were able to talk to a visitor effectively about their work when attempting a fair test in science. They knew exactly what they had to do and could talk confidently with a visitor. They made good progress during the lesson. Support for pupils with special educational needs is satisfactory, and it is good when pupils have the benefit of good support staff.

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SCIENCE

88. There is a good science development plan with clearly defined areas for improvement. The co-ordinator is capable of providing effective expertise, but does not have time to monitor developments in science across the school. Resources are good and easily accessible to staff. Having woodland nearby and an excellent pond and wildlife area enables teachers to promote wildlife studies well and to capture pupils’ interest effectively.

p.33

ART AND DESIGN

89. Standards are well above those expected for the pupils‘ ages across the school and have significantly improved since the last inspection when art was regarded as having weaknesses. The profile of the subject has been raised across the school with a particular emphasis on improving the quality of drawing. Pupils throughout the school, including those with special educational needs and those with English as an additional language, show good control of their pencils. Good pencil control has also benefited pupils’ handwriting skills. For example, in a Year 5 class pupils drew the objects they had found in the playground, such as conkers or leaves. This work is extended in this year group by the artist in residence , who works on the Sparrow Wood Project . Pupils learn to observe natural objects found in the wood and illustrate them in various ways, for example, by drawing, by making collages using beads, and by making tiles which are painted or inlaid.

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ART AND DESIGN

A feature of the work that is seen throughout the school is the precision and attention to detail that pupils show in their work. Year 6 pupils paint in the style of L. S. Lowry and his painting ‘Berwick on Tweed’ . The figure drawing and representation of industrial scenes show a high degree of detail and quality observation. Pupils have also produced some well-decorated ceramic plaques in the style of Lowry. Information and communication technology is also used in art, and pupils have produced work using graphics programs, but as with most of the curriculum it is not fully used. This is one subject in which most teachers make arrangements in their planning to accommodate pupils with special educational needs, there are good opportunities for pupils to work in groups and improve their self-confidence and self-esteem.

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ART AND DESIGN

90. Pupils in Year 4 use a variety of media effectively, such as large woven textiles, produced with the help of a professional weaver, and large-scale pictures of Monet’s ‘Water lilies’. These drawings in oil pastels capture the impressionistic style of the artist very sensitively. Pupils show precision in their work when studying the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, accurately reproducing illustrations of artefacts from door panels and a wardrobe both designed by him. Art is also used to reinforce other subjects. Year 5, for example, Headfield CE VC Junior School produced high quality reproductions of Ancient Greek amphorae decorated in the style of the period. Work is well presented around the school and contributes fully to pupils’ learning.

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ART AND DESIGN

91. The quality of teaching is good in most of the few lessons seen and never less than satisfactory. In the good lessons, the teachers showed pupils what was expected, drawing on a blackboard or flip chart, and using question and answer sessions well to develop pupils’ learning. In all lessons, teachers ensure that skills such as holding a pencil are correctly taught and appropriate language is used when discussing art topics. This develops pupils’ observational skills by ensuring pupils look carefully at the subject of the discussion, such as leaves and branches pupils have collected. These observational skills are apparent in all the work around the school which shows high levels of development. Teachers use a commercial scheme to enable them to plan their lessons and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority’s guidelines are being adopted initially by Years 3 and 4, together with the assessment procedures indicated. At present, assessment is

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ART AND DESIGN

based on progression in pupils’ sketchbooks and other outcomes which is reasonably effective. The subject is well led by an enthusiastic co-ordinator and the adoption of an artist in residence together with a very good level of resourcing provides extra support to the subject.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

92. By the age of eleven pupils' attainment is above expected levels and pupils make very good progress. The curriculum is broad and well balanced with designing, making and evaluating tasks all represented in the school's scheme of work and very well implemented in practise. This is a very good improvement on the last inspection where standards were below the national expectation; there was insufficient progress and the curriculum was under developed. Teachers now show confidence in teaching the subject. This is due to the very good efforts of the co-ordinator and senior staff of the school in monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of teaching. Arising from this, the co-ordinator has prepared a good range of supportive teaching materials, matched to the scheme of work, and resources have been improved. The semi-specialist teaching of the subject by a few teachers and support assistants is effective and they are developing their expertise and

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

increasing the resources in this subject. This, with the continued support by the co- ordinator, is having a significant impact on standards.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

93. There are high standards and very good progress in Year 3. Here, pupils effectively plan and evaluate how they might use pneumatics in models. In pairs, using their plans and knowledge of materials, they designed and made a working model. They successfully came up with a wide, relevant range of models, illustrating a very good, evaluated understanding of pneumatics. Standards were well supported by the very good evaluation sheets they completed, designed by the teachers and by the good range of resources they were using.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

94. In Year 4, similar high standards are seen. A group of pupils with the support assistants worked at a very good rate showing a high, relevant awareness of the use of a construction kit to build up models according to a given plan. They worked quickly with accuracy and with a good attention to finish. Standards are further supported because pupils are allowed with parents’ permission to take home a wide range of construction kits for well-evaluated and planned homework.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

95. High standards are also seen in other lessons and in displays around the school in Years 5 and 6. Year 5 pupils show good awareness and application of the functions and purposes of gears, and classify their ideas. Displays around the school produced good evidence of pupils working well with tools and materials. Samples of drawings and completed wheeled models produced good evidence that pupils are aware of how to conduct tests to bring Headfield CE VC Junior School about improvements. They show a good awareness of how materials may be combined, mixed and put together to produce strength and movement.

p.34

DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

96. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and for whom English is a second language show very good levels of interest, motivation and enthusiasm for design and technology. They persevere with their tasks, working at a very good rate, with good levels of applied understanding. They effectively use their literacy or numerical skills when writing up their perceived evaluation and making their measurements.

p.35

DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

97. The quality of teaching is very good overall. During the period of inspection, it never fell below good in any lessons seen. Teachers' subject knowledge is good and is very well enhanced with a very good range of support materials provided by the subject co-ordinator arising from a good application of the scheme of work. A very good contribution is made by the support assistants with expertise developed in conjunction with the teachers and the subject co-ordinator. However, most teachers do not make sufficient arrangements in their planning to accommodate pupils with special educational needs, particularly if one of the needs is the opportunity to work in groups and improve self-confidence or self-esteem. Assessment is starting to be developed where the co-ordinator has an assessment checklist in place. However, full assessment is not consistently used to inform termly and weekly curriculum planning.

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GEOGRAPHY

98. There has been satisfactory improvement since the last inspection. Standards are broadly in line with those expected for pupils’ age, but vary considerably depending on pupils’ communication skills. Pupils with special educational needs achieve appropriately and make satisfactory progress. However, most teachers do not make sufficient arrangements in their planning to accommodate those pupils who need to improve self-confidence or self- esteem. Due to the concentration on literacy skills during geography lessons, pupils who have English as an additional language make very good progress. The efforts of the subject co-ordinator ensure that geography is more secure in the curriculum and is identifiable as having its own skills and knowledge. It has also been recognised how the subject can be effective in promoting literacy and numeracy skills. In Years 5 and 6, two observed lessons were well planned so that pupils had good opportunities to read, answer

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GEOGRAPHY

questions and interpret questions set by their teacher. This had a good effect on their progress in improving their understanding of areas beyond their immediate locality. Analysis of work from the previous year shows that many activities in Years 3 and 4 were routine and heavily based on simple work sheet activities, which were not geared to pupils’ needs. The standard of much of the work was below that expected for pupils’ age and their progress is weak. Due to the more varied work in Years 5 and 6, attainment by the end of Year 6 meets the expectation for pupils’ age. Particularly strong is the work on rivers, with pupils using the terms ‘meander’ and ‘ox-bow lakes’ correctly. They have knowledge of Yorkshire rivers and use graphs to make rainfall comparisons with other places.

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GEOGRAPHY

99. Only two geography lessons were seen, one of which was good, the other satisfactory. Where the teacher has good subject knowledge and explains the purpose of the lesson clearly, pupils are well motivated and make good progress. One Year 5 class moved along at a good pace because pupils had clear tasks based on their needs and good materials to complete them. The objective was to raise awareness of the work of international water agencies and this was achieved. It also promoted associated vocabulary. It was effective because the teacher set out the expectations of the lesson and brought the class together at the end to summarise what had been learned. Pupils generally like geography and have sufficient skills to complete their activities accurately and correctly. More opportunities to research and follow an interest would help them become more confident and independent. Pupils generally behave well in classes, as well as being keen and willing to answer

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GEOGRAPHY

questions. Standards of presentation in files and exercise books vary widely because Headfield CE VC Junior School individual teachers set their own standards, with limited direction about what is acceptable. A strong element in the curriculum provision is the international and social dimensions of geography. This has a good impact on pupils’ social and moral development by teaching the responsibility that a more developed country has to share its expertise with the less developed countries.

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GEOGRAPHY

100. There is a useful plan for developing geography. Some effective training for teachers has already been undertaken which has had a good impact on the promotion of vocabulary. Resources remain good in quality and quantity, which in the best lessons supports the pupils’ learning very well. Areas of weakness are the use of information and communication technology to research maps or information and the quality of the work samples used for assessment; this needs updating so that the level and context of the work are clear.

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HISTORY

101. Standards were judged to be broadly in line with the national average during the last inspection. Pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching were at least satisfactory but there were too few opportunities for pupils to contribute their own ideas or research information.

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HISTORY

102. Current standards meet expectations for pupils’ at age eleven. Pupils’ learning is satisfactory. In most lessons observed teaching is at least satisfactory, although there was one unsatisfactory lesson. However, the school has not made sufficient progress in the development of pupils’ independent learning and research skills. Information and communication technology, for example, does not form an integral part of the subject and history is not used well to promote the development of literacy skills.

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HISTORY

103. Pupils in Year 3 develop a secure understanding of the period they are studying. They are well informed about how the Vikings lived, their voyaging expeditions to and from Scandinavia and some are aware when important events occurred. Year 4 pupils also display good understanding about the Second World War. They explain evacuation and rationing well, are very clear about the types of foods that were eaten and one or two remember the names of aeroplanes such as the Lancaster and Spitfire. By the time pupils reach Year 6, they are familiar with time-lines and are reasonably secure about periods in history when specific events took place. Some pupils, who have an interest in the subject, are well informed because they research information at home but there is very little opportunity for pupils to develop research skills adequately in school. Computer programs are not used well to support learning and reference books are outdated and under-used.

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HISTORY

Topic boxes of reference materials are effectively organised to ensure adequate provision for each year group, but there are too few artefacts to promote further learning.

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HISTORY

104. The time allocation for history is used well to ensure that pupils receive a worthwhile experience of the subject and retain information effectively. The scheme is structured to ensure progression and pupils develop an increasing understanding of events and reasons for change. When looking at examples of previous work, it is apparent that pupils display a developing understanding of history vocabulary and occasionally their work is linked to other subjects. In older year groups, pupils demonstrate more depth of knowledge and attention to detail. Their work starts to include more mature information, such as comparisons with other lifestyles and the effects of change. A small amount of work is linked to the locality or to places such as Eden Camp.

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HISTORY

105. In four out of six lessons observed, the quality of teaching is good, in one lesson satisfactory, and in the other unsatisfactory. In both weak and strong lessons planning is good and effective use is made of teacher expertise to ensure best provision. In good lessons, teachers use vocabulary very well and support staff are totally involved in the lesson. For example, in an interesting Year 3 lesson, pupils are encouraged to use words Headfield CE VC Junior School such as ‘invade’ and ‘raid’ as they discuss the Vikings, and all pupils gain much information in a short space of time because of the high level and good quality of support. In an equally good Year 5 lesson, pupils of all abilities make swift progress because information about the Ancient Greeks is presented in an exciting way that gives pupils a real feel for the period. However, most teachers do not make sufficient arrangements in their planning to

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HISTORY

accommodate pupils with special educational needs, particularly if one of those needs is the opportunity to work in groups and improve self-confidence or self-esteem. Occasionally, although the introduction to some lessons is informative and interesting, by contrast, the follow-up activities for pupils are uninspiring and lack imagination. When teaching is unsatisfactory, the organisation of time and resources is ineffective and the pace of pupils’ learning is too slow.

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HISTORY

106. Pupils’ attitudes towards history are good. Year 3 pupils particularly enjoy the bloodthirsty lifestyle of the Vikings. Year 4 pupils provide some very informative answers about the Blitz, Year 5 become highly motivated by the Battle of Marathon, and Year 6 express a good level of interest in their Ancient Egypt topic. Throughout the school, interest is maintained. In discussion, pupils enthusiastically recall their visits to places such as Oakwell Hall and the Bagshaw Museum.

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HISTORY

107. The curriculum co-ordinator is well informed about the subject and provides good leadership. The policy has been recently updated and schemes of work have been adapted to meet new requirements. A small amount of monitoring takes place but there is currently no system for assessing what pupils know and understand. Consequently, there is no clear overview of the depth of understanding or the rate of progress in the development of skills.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

108. At the time of the last inspection standards were judged to be below average. Pupils’ skills were too inadequate for them to be confident and information and communication technology was not used widely enough across the curriculum. The rate of progress varied between year groups and the quality of teaching was inconsistent. However, the school made the best use of over-stretched resources.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

109. Standards at the end of the key stage remain below those expected for pupils’ aged 11, and information and communication technology is still not used widely enough across the curriculum. Although pupils’ word processing skills are of a similar standard to those found in other schools, their knowledge of control, modelling and monitoring has not been developed sufficiently and remains weak. Information and communication technology does not meet National Curriculum requirements.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

110. There are, however, many areas of improvement. The quality and quantity of resources have improved considerably and effective use is made of both new and old computers within year group areas and the school’s computer room. A part-time technician and additional voluntary help provide invaluable support, not just within lessons, but also when technical problems occur. In targeted areas for development, such as the use of information and communication technology in literacy lessons and timetabled use of the computer room, pupils have made good progress in a short period of time. Greater teacher confidence has been developed through effective training and good use of expertise. Further training is required and has been arranged to commence in January 2001. The co- ordinator provides helpful lesson plans to support staff who still lack confidence. Consequently, the support systems have led to good improvement in the quality of

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

111. When pupils enter the school they have weak basic skills. For example, in a Year 3 lesson, some very capable pupils are using the computer to research word meanings, but they do Headfield CE VC Junior School not make as much progress as they should because they spend most of the time trying to type instructions. In order to make things better the school has already started to target younger pupils for keyboard skills’ lessons. The initiative is recent and it is too early to assess its impact on standards of younger pupils. By the time pupils leave the school they have made adequate progress in the development of their keyboard skills. They are confident loading programs, printing, editing and saving their work. Year 5 pupils scroll up and down and highlight information confidently as they research famous poets. In discussion, Year 6 pupils talk about cutting and pasting and changing font size to improve

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

the visual quality of their work. However, although pupils have some knowledge of using and amending data, they have little experience of using CD-ROMs regularly to research information. In addition, although there are a few examples of information and communication technology being used well to support learning, there is little evidence that skills are being developed in any systematic way across the curriculum. The school has not been able to make effective use of its e-mail and Internet facility because of considerable technical difficulties. The current level of computer programs is inadequate to support pupils’ learning.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

112. Timetabled use of the computer room is effective in some year groups, but not in others. Some groups make full use of their time slot; others do not use their allocation at all. Regular lessons and structured planning by the co-ordinator have been designed to ensure skills are developed more progressively throughout each year group, but current provision does not ensure an adequate balance of activities covering the full information and communication technology curriculum. There is not enough opportunity for the systematic development of control skills and too little time is allocated to the use of computers as a regular part of schoolwork. Very few lessons in subjects such as mathematics, history, geography and science include any reference to the use of information and communication technology in their planning.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

113. Pupils’ progress in the small amount of lessons observed is good. The rate of learning is closely linked to the good quality of teaching. Teachers are well prepared and confident with the programs; they make good use of technical support and adapt well when problems arise. In a good Year 5 lesson, the teacher has already identified potential difficulties from the previous day’s work. Three different activities are graded well to match pupils’ needs and levels of competence. One group is using different fonts within the program. Some pupils need help to log on, whilst others move swiftly to framing their name and rotating it on screen. The teacher and support staff ensure pupils receive exactly the right level of support in order for all pupils to succeed.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

114. Through discussion with pupils, it is clear they really enjoy working with computers, particularly when they use the computer room. They display great excitement when they get the task right. They co-operate well with each other and support each other with difficulties. Pupils who speak English as an additional language are making similar progress to their peers, but information and communication technology is under-utilised as a tool to develop their language. Similarly, it is not effectively used to develop learning on a one-to-one basis for those pupils who have special educational needs. Most teachers do not make sufficient arrangements in their planning to accommodate pupils with special educational needs, particularly if one of those needs is the opportunity to work in groups and improve self-confidence or self-esteem.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

115. The school has moved forward in its provision and greatly improved teacher expertise since the last inspection but it has not ensured information and communication technology is used adequately within every subject. In addition, although the structured scheme of work encourages the systematic development of skills, insufficient attention is paid to recording and monitoring pupils’ breadth of knowledge and understanding. Consequently, no one has a clear view of what pupils can do. Headfield CE VC Junior School 116. Much remains to be done. However, the subject is effectively led by a co-ordinator who has accurately identified priorities for development. The school is well placed to raise standards and establish information and communication technology as an integral part of all subjects.

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MUSIC

117. By the age of 11, standards meet expectations for pupils of this age. Pupils achieve at a satisfactory level. In lessons seen across the school, overall standards are in line with the national expectation, occasionally being above. However, due to the very good approach from the subject co-ordinator, supported by professional music teachers, standards seen in singing by the choir and by the instrumentalists playing in the school band, as an extra- curricular activity, were above, sometimes well above expectations for pupils’ ages. This is illustrated by the success the choir and school have in performing in the local community and further afield. Pupils have sung at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London and taken part in the National Festival for Youth. Since the last inspection, standards are now starting to rise. In the last inspection, attainment was broadly in line with the national expectations,

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MUSIC

but there was a narrow range of musical experiences. The range of experiences is starting to increase because the school is satisfactorily addressing the need for improvements in the school development plan which is supported by an evaluation of the teaching.

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MUSIC

118. The use of a small number of teachers with good musical skills has improved the provision for music. A new policy was put into place the week before the inspection and the school has started to adopt the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority scheme. However, there is still too much reliance on the use of an old commercial scheme. Teachers have not started to plan in all areas according to the newly adopted scheme and to use a more effective means of assessment to replace an out-of-date assessment checklist. The co- ordinator has started to develop a means of assessment that, when in place, will better inform short term curriculum planning.

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MUSIC

119. Satisfactory standards are seen in Year 3. Here, pupils singing mainly learnt songs, show a satisfactory sense of the melody's shape, maintaining the beat in simple accompaniments, singing expressively and satisfactorily in time.

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MUSIC

120. In Year 4, pupils achieve good standards when they improvise in rhythmic patterns, successfully developing ideas on the structure of music. Here, over half the pupils name the notes and their value. Most of the pupils, by clapping the rhythm and playing it on percussion instruments, show a good awareness of rhythmic patterns.

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MUSIC

121. By the time pupils reach Year 5 their understanding of standard notation and rhythmic patterns have developed satisfactorily. Pupils sing reasonably in time, performing rhythmically simple and more complex parts. They are successfully maintaining their own parts ‘by ear’, aware of how different parts fit together and the need to achieve an overall effect.

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MUSIC

122. In Year 6 pupils make music by playing together on a wide range of untuned and some tuned percussion instruments. They showed satisfactory skills in playing together and combining different sounds made with various instruments.

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MUSIC

123. Pupils across the school enjoy their music. They show good levels of enthusiasm. However, there are occasions when they allow their enthusiasm to overtake them and behaviour deteriorates. This is particularly the case when they sometimes showed a lack of control when playing percussion instruments, playing them at inappropriate times. Better lessons are seen when pupils are singing. Here, they attend very well with good levels of interest and motivation. Headfield CE VC Junior School 124. The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall. Where it is good, it is due to the teachers' confidence with the subject, the good use of relevant resources and the methods of teaching used to evaluate and progressively develop the pupils' skills across the lesson. Pupils with special educational needs and those with English as an additional language achieve at a similar level to their peers. The implementation of a recently adopted new

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MUSIC

scheme of work and the further development of assessment procedures will give more information about pupils’ progress.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

125. Lessons observed covered gymnastics and games skills. By the end of the key stage pupils, including those with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language, achieve standards which exceed expectations for their age. The overall very good teaching and management of the subject by the co-ordinator is the most significant factor for the pupils' very good progress. This is a big improvement from the last inspection, where ‘standards were inconsistent across the year groups and were broadly in line with the national expectation’ . During this inspection, lessons were seen in all years. Standards in all years were above the national expectation.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

126. In gymnastics, pupils move with increasing control whilst changing speed, shape and direction. Excellent attitudes were seen in a Year 3 lesson, where pupils were very effectively developing a range of symmetrical and extension shapes. In a Year 6 lesson, pupils working with excellent degrees of interest, motivation and concentration, achieved a range of body positions and balance activities very effectively.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

127. In games, pupils in Year 4 show good degrees of bat and ball control. They co-ordinate their actions well, develop skills and apply them accurately with increasing precision, control and fluency in performance. Pupils in Year 5 develop a good awareness of the skills used in a game of basketball. They accurately use a variety of passes, catch and intercept the ball well. They show a good awareness of teamwork. Pupils across the school participate with enjoyment and enthusiasm and behave well. They are suitably dressed for physical education lessons.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

128. The school provides a very good range of opportunities for pupils in Year 4 to take part in swimming. More than 50 per cent of pupils achieve their 25 metres certificate by the time they leave school. There are separate classes for girls and boys, as well as some mixed classes according to the wishes of parents. These are well staffed, and pupils comment very favourably on the range of opportunities they receive and their successes.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

129. The quality of teaching is very good overall and has considerably developed pupils’ physical skills. Teaching has much improved since last the inspection. Planning shows clearly what is to be taught and practised. There are always appropriate warming up and cooling down activities. Teachers have secure subject knowledge. There is due regard to safety. The very good relationships between teachers and pupils featured in all the lessons. Assessment to inform short term curriculum planning is just starting to be developed.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

130. The school has an excellent range of after-school sporting activities where staff, volunteers and professionals from local sporting clubs give freely of their time. They are very well attended. Pupils very much enjoy the very wide range of opportunities provided. During the week of inspection, girls' netball and mixed rugby were observed. A very good awareness of the game was shown and good standards attained. Pupils’ interest and talents are displayed in the large number of successes they have achieved in competitions with other schools. Headfield CE VC Junior School 131. The very good awareness and efforts of the subject co-ordinator, together with a very good teamwork of staff and volunteers, is providing the pupils of the school, both within lessons and after school, with an enriched range of physical education and sporting activities which fully meets curriculum requirements.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

132. Standards of attainment in religious education do not fully meet the requirements of the Kirklees Agreed Syllabus or the requirements of the National Curriculum. Pupils learn about the beliefs, people, practices and influences of Islam, Christianity and Sikhism, and acquire an appropriate vocabulary as they move through the school. However, the development of skills such as investigation, interpretation, evaluation, analysis and reflection is given too little emphasis. This is because not enough time is devoted to the subject to cover all requirements of the locally agreed syllabus and, as a result, learning is superficial.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

133. Pupils make satisfactory progress in acquiring knowledge and understanding of religion as they move through Key Stage 2. Year 3 pupils begin to understand symbols, as they learn about the rainbow, dove and olive branch in the story of Noah. Year 4 pupils appreciate the significance of the kangha, kara, kesh, kirpan, and kacha to Sikhs. They learn that not all Sikhs wear these special items of clothing, that only the most devout observe every requirement, and that practising Sikhs are expected to devote themselves to the lives of others. Year 5 pupils, in a study of how Islam began, learn about Muhammad, the messenger of God.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

134. By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils have gained knowledge and understanding of major world religions such as Islam, Sikhism, and Christianity. They know that a mosque is a sacred building and a very special place for Muslims. They learn about the importance of festivals such as Eid ul Fitr, the significance of pilgrimage and why community rules are important. In work on Sikhism, they learn, through stories, about the Amrit ceremony, the ten Gurus, and that the Guru Granth Sahib is a collection of writings. In work on Christianity they learn about important festivals for Christians, for example Christmas and Easter. They gain knowledge of how Jews celebrate New Year through prayer and by giving presents. They begin to appreciate the common elements of religions studied. However, time restrictions prevent pupils from progressing in religious education sufficiently well, particularly the extent to which religion influences and guides our daily lives, which is

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

a requirement of the locally agreed syllabus.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

135. The school fosters a culture of acceptance and tolerance and, as a result, pupils develop positive attitudes to religious education. Most pupils are keen to learn, listen carefully, and behave well.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

136. The teaching is satisfactory overall, although one lesson was judged as unsatisfactory. In one good lesson, work was matched to pupils’ different abilities to enable everyone to make appropriate gains in learning. There was good use of encouragement and praise to enhance self-esteem and the teacher’s knowledge was especially secure. Unsatisfactory features of teaching include insecure control strategies which meant that the lesson’s pace and the progress that pupils make slowed and the giving of work which is too easy for some pupils, but too difficult for others. For example, some pupils copy text which they cannot read or understand. The four teachers who are mainly involved in teaching the subject, each to a different year group, are especially sensitive to pupils’ different backgrounds and ensure that mutual understanding and tolerance are given considerable emphasis through their teaching. Pupils with English as an additional language progress at

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

a similar level to their peers, as do those pupils who have special educational needs. As in other subjects literacy plays and important and effective part. Headfield CE VC Junior School 137. The subject is soundly led and there are plans for its continued development, such as through the provision and use of CD-ROMs to further extend their knowledge of different religions and develop skills of information and communication technology. However, there are too few visits and visitors to bring the subject alive for pupils. The school has too few artefacts to improve levels of motivation and involvement to assist learning. There are no consistent approaches to assessing pupils’ progress in their development of knowledge, understanding, experience and attitudes as they move through the school. The monitoring of teaching and learning is not sufficiently regular or against agreed criteria for it to be

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

effective in leading to improving standards. Knowledge about different religions is acquired through discussion, written, and pictorial work. Learning through discussion makes a good contribution to the development of speaking and listening which benefits other subjects.

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