Carlton Junior and Infant School

Inspection Report Carlton Junior and Infant School

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107600 Unique Reference Number Kirklees LEA 277786 Inspection number 9 November 2005 to 10 November 2005 Inspection dates Mr Paul Bamber CfBT Lead Inspector Reporting inspector

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

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off Upper Road School address Primary Type of school Batley Carr Community School category Dewsbury, West Yorkshire WF13 2DQ 4 to 11 Age range of pupils

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01924 325265 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01924 325266 Fax number 214 Number on roll Mr A Afzal Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs L Mortimer Headteacher 24 January 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 277786 9 November 2005 - 4 to 11 10 November 2005 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 two additional inspectors over two days.

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Description of the school

This urban community school has 202 children on roll, 98% of whom come from minority ethnic backgrounds. Around two thirds are of Pakistani heritage. The area in which the school lies and where most of the children live is one of high social deprivation. All but four children are supported through specific funding for minority ethnic learners. Sixty per cent of children are at an early stage of learning English, most of whom are in the Foundation Stage and Years 1 and 2. Children's attainment on entry is very low, particularly in language and number skills. The number of children entering or leaving the school at times other than the normal is relatively low. The school has been very active over the last few years in forging closer links with parents through informative, well focused meetings and workshops. In this it is trying to overcome major barriers to children's learning, for example, high social deprivation,

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Description of the school

poor health standards and children's and parents' difficulties with English.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Carlton Junior and Infant School, 9 November 2005 to 10 November 2005

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Grade: 3

The school feels that its overall effectiveness is satisfactory and inspectors agree. It is most successful in ensuring children's personal development and well-being, providing them with a good curriculum and caring for and supporting them well. The quality of provision in the Foundation Stage is good. The school is not as effective, however, in ensuring that children in Years 1 and 2 make enough good progress to enable them to overcome the very significant barriers that hinder their learning. Children behave well in and around the school and enjoy the interesting experiences provided within the curriculum. Relationships are good and children respect the feelings and needs of others. The close partnerships with other schools, colleges and outside agencies enhance the quality of teaching and learning, the curriculum and the effective provision for nurturing the children's health, safety and personal well-being. Academic standards

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Grade: 3

are low, but children achieve satisfactorily. Indeed, given the very low level of skills with which children enter the school, their achievements by Year 6 are often good. The children's poor knowledge of English has proved a considerable barrier to them achieving higher standards. Much work is being done to try to improve children's language skills, with some success. However, the school has identified more needs to be done especially in Years 1 and 2 and in equipping all children with technical mathematical and scientific language. Teaching is satisfactory, but not always strong enough to help children overcome their significant barriers to learning in Years 1 and 2. Leadership and management are satisfactory, with a strong sense of purpose provided by the recently appointed headteacher and deputy headteacher. The many initiatives the school is implementing are not yet being evaluated sufficiently. Progress since the

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Grade: 3

last inspection is satisfactory. Because of the quality of the new leadership team, the school's capacity to improve is good. Value for money is satisfactory.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve the quality of teaching and learning to raise standards in speaking, reading, writing and mathematics in Key Stage 1. • Help children to acquire the technical language necessary for them to achieve better in mathematics and science. • Evaluate rigorously the impact on the children's achievement of the many different initiatives introduced recently in the school and take effective action from this to help raise standards.

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Grade: 3

Achievement is satisfactory overall, although standards are low. Children start school with extremely low standards, especially in communication and language skills. All those in the Foundation Stage and in Years 1 and 2 are at or working through the early stages of learning English. Good provision in the Foundation Stage results in children making good progress, although by the time they enter Year 1 only around 2 Inspection Report: Carlton Junior and Infant School, 9 November 2005 to 10 November 2005 half reach the expected standards in communication, language and literacy and in number. Creative development, of boys especially, is also limited. In Years 1 and 2, children's steady progress observed in lessons, in children's books and as indicated by the school's rigorous tracking systems, is rarely reflected in national test results in Year 2. Standards remain stubbornly low with little improvement over

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Grade: 3

time. The school has identified that low standards are frequently caused by children misreading and misunderstanding questions in English and mathematics. It is beginning to take effective action to improve this weakness. In Years 3 to 6, children achieve satisfactorily overall. Year 6 national tests results have fluctuated over the last 3 years, according to the capabilities of individual cohorts, but are generally below average, especially in writing. However, in some years children's achievement is higher. The very challenging targets set by the school for improvements in national test results are not always met. Children of white heritage, those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and those identified as being gifted or talented, achieve as well as other groups. Recent, effective strategies have been put into place at Key Stage 2 to improve weaknesses in children's understanding of place value and

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Grade: 3

boys' knowledge of shape. More needs to be done to promote their understanding of technical language in mathematics and science. Children are now making good improvements in their speaking skills in literacy lessons as a result of a effective programme implemented throughout school.

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Grade: 2

The personal development of all children, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, is good. The behaviour and attitudes to learning of most children are good and the school has effective strategies to help the small minority who have poor levels of concentration or who are easily distracted. There have been no exclusions and levels of attendance are close to the national average, as a result of effective procedures to promote regular attendance. The school has had some success in encouraging parents not to make visits overseas during term time because of the adverse impact these have on children's education. The children's enjoyment of lessons is satisfactory and they particularly enjoy the special events in which the school participates, for instance, in science and music. Children learn how to share and co-operate well. They have a good awareness of personal safety and the importance

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Grade: 2

of healthy eating and taking exercise. Children assume responsibilities as monitors and members of the school council, and their involvement in events in the community is satisfactory. Visits out of school help the children to understand the world of work satisfactorily. 3 Inspection Report: Carlton Junior and Infant School, 9 November 2005 to 10 November 2005

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Grade: 3

The school judged this aspect of its work to be good. However, inspectors judge teaching and learning to be satisfactory overall. The reasons for the difference in these judgements are that there is not enough good teaching, especially in Years 1 and 2, to help all children overcome the significant barriers to their learning. There is more challenge in Years 3 to 6, where children make more progress as a result of acquiring better language skills. In the best lessons, good use of resources, high expectations and well matched tasks, together with a relentless focus on promoting children's speaking skills promote good quality learning. These characteristics were observed most frequently in Years 4 and 6. In Years 1 and 2, where teaching is satisfactory but not as strong as in Years 3 to 6, expectations are sometimes not high enough and children are not involved enough in their own learning. A strength in teaching is the

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Grade: 3

specialist provision in Years 3 to 6. Here teachers with particular expertise engage children well in the arts, physical education, religious education and in personal, social and health education and citizenship (PSHCE). A weakness throughout the school is that teachers are not providing children with sufficient mathematical and scientific vocabulary in order to help them cope with problem solving in these subjects. The school has recognised this and is beginning to deal with the weakness. This impedes children's progress and the standards they attain. The quality of teaching and learning of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is satisfactory overall and they receive effective support from dedicated teaching assistants. Children enjoy learning and talk enthusiastically and knowledgeably about their targets for improvement in literacy and mathematics. Overall, teachers use assessment

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Grade: 3

satisfactorily to help children improve their standards, but it is only in some classes that children are actively encouraged, individually or in pairs, to assess their own progress.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good overall and meets all requirements. Literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology (ICT) feature prominently. Recently, a greater emphasis has been given to a programme of spoken English to help raise standards in speaking, reading and writing. This is beginning to improve the achievement of children at the early stages of learning English as an additional language. The curriculum in the Foundation Stage is good. It is planned well and provides good opportunities for children to learn both indoors and outside. Children in Year 1 also have access to the Foundation Stage curriculum to help their language and creative development. There is a good programme of PSHCE, including education in relationships, which is agreed with members of the local Moslem community. Good emphasis on safety and 4 Inspection Report: Carlton Junior and Infant School, 9 November 2005 to 10 November 2005

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Grade: 2

a healthy lifestyle helps the children's personal development. In Years 3 to 6, the school has introduced a good programme of activities to enrich the curriculum, which includes thinking and physical skills and draws upon teachers' specialist interests. It contains a good variety of events in the arts and science. As one child commented 'They (these activities) make learning important and fun.' There is a residential experience for older children and a good number of activities in lunchtimes, including playground games.

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Grade: 2

Provision for the care, guidance and support of the children is good. Relationships between staff and pupils are good and for those pupils who are particularly vulnerable the levels of support and care are impressive. Members of staff, such as the coordinator for ethnic minority achievement, the coordinator for those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, the learning mentor and behaviour improvement worker, make an effective contribution to this. Teaching assistants, some of whom are bi-lingual, provide much good quality support for children who are at the early stages of learning English as an additional language and for those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Effective behaviour management strategies promote the personal development of children well. Child protection procedures are clear and fully known and implemented. Risk assessment procedures are good. Staff know the children well and keep a good

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Grade: 2

check on their personal progress. Individual education and behaviour plans for children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are good and reviewed regularly helping them to achieve as well as other children. There are rigorous systems to track children's academic and personal progress which are used well to determine whether children need extra support.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory with some good features. This judgement differs from that of the school because the impact of the new leadership team has yet to take full effect. The recently appointed headteacher and very recently appointed deputy headteacher form a strong team and provide the school with a clear vision and capacity for further improvement. Self-evaluation is satisfactory; the school was mostly accurate in its view of itself in preparation for the inspection. The school analyses test results thoroughly in order to identify areas in which children need to improve most. As a result, it provides a very inclusive curriculum. The lengths to which senior managers go to tailor the curriculum to the special requirements and needs of the children and the community are impressive. However, recent initiatives, such as mentoring learning to raise the attainment of children with English as an additional language and to

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Grade: 3

improve behaviour, need rigorous evaluation. A better partnership with parents is proving to be particularly helpful in supporting the schools aims, parents understanding of the curriculum and the help they can give at home to their children's work. Curriculum coordinators are competent but are not given sufficient time to evaluate provision through classroom observations. Governance is satisfactory. There is strength 5 Inspection Report: Carlton Junior and Infant School, 9 November 2005 to 10 November 2005 in governors' work with the local community to help parents understand how to help their children's learning. However, as they acknowledge, governors need to be in school more to acquaint themselves better with what is going on in classrooms. 6 Inspection Report: Carlton Junior and Infant School, 9 November 2005 to 10 November 2005 .

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

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 Inspection Report: Carlton Junior and Infant School, 9 November 2005 to 10 November 2005

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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 2 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 3 How well do learners achieve? NA 4 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 3 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 3 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 3 The attendance of learners NA 3 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 3 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 3 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 3 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 3 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 3 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

Thank you for making us so welcome, chatting to us in such a friendly way and letting us know so many interesting things about your school. We would like to let you know the things we thought were good about the school and those things we felt it could do a bit better. What we liked most about your school: - that you behave sensibly, get on well together and enjoy school - that you are well looked after and helped to stay fit and healthy - the different activities you enjoy, especially the 'carousel' in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 and the clubs on offer - that the school is encouraging your parents to help you more with your work - that your headteacher and new deputy headteacher know how to help the school to improve. We have asked the school to do the following things to help you improve: - to make sure that you do better in English, mathematics and science, especially those of you in Years 1 and 2 - to help you develop a wider vocabulary in mathematics and science so that you can cope with

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

tests more easily - that there should be more done to find out whether the new things introduced to help your learning are succeeding. Thank you for helping us with the inspection of your school. We hope that you continue to enjoy school and do well with your work and carry on trying really hard to improve.

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