St Andrew's CofE (VA) Junior School

Inspection Report St Andrew's CofE (Aided) Junior School

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107547 Unique Reference Number Calderdale LEA 277772 Inspection number 22 March 2006 to 23 March 2006 Inspection dates Mrs Elisabeth Linley HMI Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Waterloo Road School address Primary Type of school Brighouse Voluntary aided School category West Yorkshire HD6 2AN 7 to 11 Age range of pupils 01484 712895 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01484 381069 Fax number 249 Number on roll Mr Duncan Graham Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Peter O'Hare Headteacher 22 November 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 277772 22 March 2006 - 7 to 11 23 March 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report 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.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

St Andrew's is a Church of England Voluntary Aided Junior school serving an area to the north of Brighouse town, West Yorkshire. At the time of the inspection 249 pupils were on roll with a lower than average proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals. When pupils start school at 7 their skills and abilities cover a wide range but their overall attainment is broadly average. A larger than average proportion of pupils start school other than in Year 3 and when they start at St Andrew's they often have much to catch up in their learning. The vast majority of pupils are of white British background and none has English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is below average. A broadly average proportion of pupils, however, have statements of Special Educational Need.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: St Andrew's CofE (Aided) Junior School, 22 March 2006 to 23 March 2006

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Grade: 2

St Andrew's Church of England Junior School is a good school and pupils enjoy being there! This is because the good curriculum is enriched with an outstanding range of exciting activities. As a result, learning is fun. Most pupils achieve well and attain standards that are broadly in line with national averages. Until recently, pupils underachieved and standards were below the national average. The school recognises that boys still do not always achieve as well as they could in their writing. Also, that on starting in Year 3, those pupils who did not quite reach the level expected for their age in the national tests in Year 2, do not make good progress from the moment they start school and in subsequent years. As a result, there has been a strong focus to improve the use of different teaching styles. This is beginning to pay dividends; teaching and learning are now good. The school provides good quality care, support and guidance, which the vast majority

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Grade: 2

of parents appreciate. This is effective in ensuring that pupils' personal development is good. Pupils are well motivated. They take responsibility for their own learning and enjoy working hard. The headteacher provides good leadership and he is well supported by the deputy headteacher and other managers. Governance is effective and contributes to the overall good leadership and management. The school knows its strengths and areas for development and inspectors agree with its judgements. Self-evaluation is used well to plan for improvement. Progress since the last inspection is good and the school has good capacity to improve further. The school provides good value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure that all pupils, particularly boys, achieve as well as they can in their writing and so raise standards. • Use assessment information effectively to ensure that all pupils are challenged to achieve their best from the moment they start at St Andrew's and in subsequent years.

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Grade: 2

Pupils achieve well overall. When they start school, their standards of attainment are broadly average. Over recent years, pupils' progress during their time at St Andrew's was not as good as it should have been and this was reflected in the results of national tests taken by pupils in Year 6, and in standards which were below average. Another factor that kept results low was the high proportion of pupils who joined school after Year 3 and who did not attain well enough in the national tests. This picture of low achievement has now begun to change. In 2005, the results of the national tests improved and standards were broadly average overall. The school has analysed carefully where improvement is most needed; for example in boys' writing and in the work of 2 Inspection Report: St Andrew's CofE (Aided) Junior School, 22 March 2006 to 23 March 2006 some pupils who do not attain the standards expected in the Year 2 national tests.

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Grade: 2

Records of pupils' progress, carefully tracked since September 2005, show that most pupils are making above average progress. All pupils, including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, know that their targets in writing and mathematics are set to help them improve and they are working hard towards achieving them.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development and well-being are good. Pupils develop good spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness. They are keen to take on responsibilities which they take very seriously and in this way they make a positive contribution to the school community. Pupils run the school office over lunch time; they act as 'befrienders' and peer councillors to other pupils. Members of the school council are justifiably proud of their work and their fundraising activities towards a new adventure playground. Pupils' attendance is above the national average and the punctuality of most pupils is good. Pupils' attitudes and behaviour are mostly good in classrooms and around school. A few pupils sometimes misbehave, however, and there are occasional inconsistencies in the way that such incidents are dealt with by staff. Nonetheless, pupils like school and several described it during the inspection as 'excellent'. They

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Grade: 2

enjoy and make good use of the wide range of extra curricular activities and clubs. Sporting activities increase their understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles. Older pupils particularly enjoy their 'Business and Enterprise' lessons which add significantly to pupils' confidence and self esteem. Through such work, pupils develop effective skills that contribute to their future economic well-being.

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Grade: 2

The quality of teaching and learning is good. Good progress is made by most pupils in most lessons. This is because of the positive impact of recent developments to make teaching more effective and so raise standards. The good use of interactive white boards, for example, enables lessons to move at a brisk pace whilst also capturing pupils' interest. Where outstanding teaching was seen, the range of strategies used to aid pupils' learning was excellent. In one lesson, pupils were involved particularly well in assessing each other's work. Their role as 'punctuation police' was enjoyed and this helped them to identify strengths in their work and to see where improvement could be made. Assessment is good overall. Planning to meet the needs of more able pupils is a particular feature of where good teaching aids their achievement. The school recognises, however, that assessment information is not used consistently well enough to challenge

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Grade: 2

the least able from the moment they start school. All pupils are supported, however, 3 Inspection Report: St Andrew's CofE (Aided) Junior School, 22 March 2006 to 23 March 2006 through effective discussion about their work and by good marking, particularly of their writing.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good. The strong emphasis on the development of pupils' skills in literacy and numeracy is aiding pupils' achievement. The provision of information and communication technology (ICT) has greatly improved since the last inspection and has impacted positively on pupils' learning. Good provision is also made for pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Pupils benefit from a rich and varied programme of activities during and after the school day, which provides outstanding opportunities for enrichment. Invited visitors share their expertise in areas such as personal health, drugs awareness, music, drama and art. An example of this was seen during the inspection when a Year 5 dance class was led by a professional dance instructor. The lesson fully captured the diversity of Brazil and the music inspired pupils as they shadowed their outstanding instructor. Other opportunities, such as the Year 6 residential visit to Robinwood Activity Centre

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Grade: 2

in Cumbria, provide valuable experience of outdoor pursuits. Such activities promote team work, safety awareness and an appreciation of the environment.

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Grade: 2

The quality of care, support and guidance for pupils is good. Effective child protection systems and procedures are in place. Health and safety procedures are also effective. The school maintains good partnerships with parents and with a range of organisations. The quality of these partnerships helps the school provide well for pupils' personal and academic needs. Guidance for pupils' academic development has been strengthened and is now good. Pupils' progress is tracked, recorded and analysed carefully. Targets set are now more challenging; this is helping to raise standards. Pupils know what their targets are and know how they can be helped to work towards them. Year 6 pupils in particular say that they feel they are guided and supported well towards external tests. They are crystal clear in their understanding of what they need to do to improve.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. The headteacher provides good leadership and is well supported by the deputy headteacher. The school monitors and evaluates its work effectively and knows how well it is doing. Plans for improvement are effective. The headteacher has rightly focused upon raising standards, particularly in writing. New and innovative approaches, such as those in the teaching of writing, are in place 4 Inspection Report: St Andrew's CofE (Aided) Junior School, 22 March 2006 to 23 March 2006 and aid pupils' achievement well. The tracking of pupils' progress is enabling the school to adjust its targets so that pupils are increasingly challenged to achieve their best. Governance is good. The chair is well informed and leads the governing body well to provide an effective level of challenge and support. Parents value the way their views are considered, for example, through the 'Parents Empowering Parents' group. Good

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Grade: 2

improvement in managing the school's resources has been made since the last inspection. The school has budgeted well, for example, to improve ICT equipment and provide good opportunities for pupils to use ICT as part of all subjects. As a result, pupils' achievement in ICT has improved significantly. The school has good capacity to improve further and provides good value for money. 5 Inspection Report: St Andrew's CofE (Aided) Junior School, 22 March 2006 to 23 March 2006 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: St Andrew's CofE (Aided) Junior School, 22 March 2006 to 23 March 2006

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA NA The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 3 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 2 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 2 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 2 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 2 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

As you know we visited your school recently and we were pleased to be able to talk to you and to find out about all the things you like. These are some of the good things we found out: - You enjoy school very much and really appreciate the many excellent and exciting activities that are available for you. - You try hard to do your best and the vast majority of you behave well. - Teachers work hard to make lessons interesting and enjoyable. - Everyone in school tries their best to keep you safe and to care for you and they make good links with other people to help them do this. There are two things we think could be better and we have asked everyone in school to work hard to make them happen: - Some of you, particularly the boys, do not achieve as well as you could in your writing and we are asking your teachers to make sure you always do the best you can. - For those of you who sometimes find work hard, we want your teachers to make sure you are

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

helped to do your best from the moment you start at St Andrew's. Thank you very much for making us so welcome when we visited you. We wish you all the best for the future.

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