Hepworth Junior and Infant School

Inspection Report Hepworth Junior and Infant School

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107657 Unique Reference Number Kirklees LEA 277798 Inspection number 29 March 2006 to 30 March 2006 Inspection dates Mrs June Sharpe 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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Maingate School address Primary Type of school Hepworth Community School category Holmfirth, West Yorkshire HD9 1TJ 4 to 11 Age range of pupils

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01484 222472 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01484 222474 Fax number 108 Number on roll Mrs Celia Poole Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Miss Alison Shaw Headteacher 23 January 2001 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 277798 29 March 2006 - 4 to 11 30 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 additional inspector.

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Description of the school

This small primary school is situated on the outskirts of the expanding village of Hepworth. Most children are from privately owned homes in Hepworth and the surrounding villages, almost all are white British and none speak English as an additional language. A few children have learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LDD), and a very small proportion claim free school meals. Attainment on entry to Class 1, although variable, is above average overall. Since the previous inspection the Victorian building has been extended to provide an extra classroom, and there have been an unusual number of teaching staff changes, including a new headteacher and deputy headteacher.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Hepworth Junior and Infant School, 29 March 2006 to 30 March 2006

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Grade: 2

The inspection confirms that this is a good school providing good value for money. It is a friendly, welcoming and happy school that is thought of highly by children and their parents and carers. Since the previous inspection, the school has made good progress, considering the unusually high level of staff changes in recent years. It has maintained sufficiently high standards and kept up very well with the national pace of change. The extension of the building has improved the quality of children's education considerably. The good leadership of the headteacher, along with supportive and well-informed management by governors, ensure good capacity to improve in the future. Good quality teaching and learning enable children to achieve well, especially in personal development and well-being, with outstanding achievement in multi-cultural knowledge and understanding. The good quality curriculum, high standard of care,

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Grade: 2

attention to children's individual needs and good quality support ensure an enjoyable and purposeful ethos that promotes high standards. Quality and standards in the Foundation Stage (Reception age children) are good. Although standards overall are high, the school is, rightly, concentrating on improving standards in writing, and getting more children up to a level higher than expected for their ages. Success is evident, and children, especially in Year 2, are on track to do better this year than in 2005, when standards dipped. Staff and governors do not always make rigorous use of assessment data in order to match children's work to their specific needs, or to check that achievement and the performance of this small school are as good as they might be.

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What the school should do to improve further

Analyse and make robust use of assessment data in order to: • ensure that children's work always builds step by step on what they already know, understand and can do • pinpoint potential areas of underachievement early • demonstrate that children's achievement and the overall performance of the school is as good as it should be.

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Grade: 2

Children start Class 1 with above average attainment, although it is average in personal, social and emotional development. As a result of improving teaching and learning most children make good progress in all classes so that, by Year 6, standards are significantly above average in English, mathematics and science. This is reflected in the 2005 Year 6 national test and teacher assessment results, especially in science. Most children are on track to meet the challenging targets set for the 2006 results. This includes doing better than in 2005 in writing, particularly by the age of 7, and getting more children up to a level higher than expected for their age. In this small school, tracking achievement and trends of improvement against the national picture 2 Inspection Report: Hepworth Junior and Infant School, 29 March 2006 to 30 March 2006 is difficult. The school's records and recent analysis of assessments of children indicate

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Grade: 2

that they achieve well from their starting points and reach sufficiently high standards by the end of Year 6. Children with LDD and gifted and talented children achieve well because of good attention to their individual needs. Children's progress in some lessons is held back, however, when teachers give them work that is either too hard or too easy, and does not give them a chance to show how well they can do.

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Grade: 2

The school is right to say that children's personal development and well-being is a major strength of their achievements. It is good, however, rather than the school's evaluation of outstanding, because behaviour and attitudes are not always quite as good. Nevertheless, most children enjoy school, behave well and have good attitudes towards work and play, with no sign of bullying. Attendance is good. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good, with outstanding multi-cultural development. Everyone made visitors from an urban school feel very welcome. Children from differing ethnic heritages worked and played together in harmony, as part of a successful on-going project linking the two schools. Class 2 made and ate curry a 'friendship curry' and improved their reading and writing by focusing on a story about a chapatti. Children enjoy greeting one another and counting in European languages, and those

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Grade: 2

who attended the French club thoroughly enjoyed learning to sing a French song. Children have a good understanding of how to stay safe and healthy, including learning about the dangers of drugs and about bodily changes as they grow older. Good economic well-being is evident, for example, in eagerness to accept responsibilities, such as being members of the school council, getting along with others and an understanding of the uses of information and communication technology. Children are very aware of community life in Hepworth and are keen to get involved.

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Grade: 2

The headteacher's support of new and less experienced teachers has resulted in an improving picture of teaching and learning, especially in writing. The evaluation that good quality teaching and learning enable children to make good progress is correct. Well prepared and organised teachers work in close liaison with capable classroom assistants to ensure that children with LDD make good progress, and that all children have sufficient help. Good relationships ensure that teachers waste a minimum of time dealing with behavioural problems. Lessons have a clear purpose that children understand, and many children can explain how they need to improve, or point to where they can find out. This fairly new system of setting easily-understood targets for groups of children involves them well in their own learning. It results in work that is broadly tailored to the differing needs of the children. In these mixed-age classes,

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Grade: 2

however, teachers sometimes set work that is too difficult for the younger or less able 3 Inspection Report: Hepworth Junior and Infant School, 29 March 2006 to 30 March 2006 children and does not stretch the older or more able ones. This happens when teachers do not make best use of the National Curriculum data collected, to ensure that children work progressively towards targets that are geared to build on the levels they have already reached.

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Grade: 2

A good quality curriculum meets requirements and caters well for the needs of learners. It reflects the governors' aim to prepare children for their adult lives by broadening their experiences of the world beyond Hepworth. There are plenty of opportunities for children to learn about keeping themselves safe and healthy, to practise their speaking, listening and thinking skills, and to play an important part in the school community. Many children take part in enjoyable extracurricular activities, including a French club and two residential visits. Visitors to the school and many interesting events, such as 'arts week' and 'grounds week', make the curriculum interesting and exciting. The school's efforts to meet the particular needs of gifted and talented children outside the normal school day are outstanding. Although the day-to-day curriculum usually helps children of differing ages and abilities in each class to make

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Grade: 2

good progress, achievement is hindered on occasions when planning takes insufficient notice of what children already know, understand and can do.

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Grade: 2

Children are well cared for and there are good procedures for Child Protection and health and safety. Consequently the school is a safe and happy place, where children enjoy their learning and make good progress. Adults provide good support when needed, for example to enable children with LDD to meet the targets in their individual education plans. Gifted and talented children have outstanding support to pursue their interests, such as taking part in a mathematics master class and sports challenges. Good involvement of governors, and consultation with parents and outside agencies result in a united approach to supporting children. The marking of children's work helps them to know how to improve, although some marking sets a poor example of handwriting for the children. Although teachers were slow to spot that the standard of some children's writing was slipping back last year, prompt action this year is

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Grade: 2

improving matters. Nevertheless, this is why provision is good, rather than the school's evaluation of outstanding.

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Grade: 2

Good leadership, management and governance ensure that the school maintains sufficiently high academic standards and that children's personal development contributes significantly to their achievement. Parents have confidence in the school to educate their children well and to keep them happy and safe. Good leadership by 4 Inspection Report: Hepworth Junior and Infant School, 29 March 2006 to 30 March 2006 the headteacher and chair of governors has enabled the school to continue to provide a good quality of education, throughout a period when the high levels of staff changes have been challenging. There is now a fairly new deputy headteacher, and most other teachers have new responsibilities. Even so, the shared vision and high expectations of the headteacher and governors, good consultation with children and parents and clear direction give the school good capacity to improve. Smooth day-to-day routines,

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Grade: 2

skilled support and administrative staff and good relationships all combine to create a strong sense of purpose. The school's self-evaluation is largely accurate. Being a relatively small school, national performance data is, rightly, viewed cautiously and the school is collecting its own data. Staff and governors do not always make earliest and fullest use of the data, however, to demonstrate where standards could be higher or to plan for further improvements. A dip in standards in writing as a result of staff changes, for example, could have been prevented. Nevertheless, the weakness in the teaching of writing is now being addressed successfully. As a result of decisive action standards are now rising, sometimes rapidly, to match the higher standards in reading, mathematics and science. 5 Inspection Report: Hepworth Junior and Infant School, 29 March 2006 to 30 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: Hepworth Junior and Infant School, 29 March 2006 to 30 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 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 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 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 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 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

Thank you for being so friendly and for making me feel so welcome when I visited your school recently. I enjoyed talking to you and finding out about all the interesting things that you do at school. What I liked most about your school: - you like school and your parents like it too - your headteacher and the school governors work hard to make sure that your school keeps on getting better all the time - your lessons are usually good, and adults help you to reach your targets - your behaviour is good and you try hard to improve your work - you are safe and happy at school, and have a lot of interesting things to do - you learn a lot about the lives of people beyond Hepworth - you can take part in extra activities if you have special interests or talents. What I have asked the school to do now: - make sure that your work is never too hard or too easy for you - look more closely at all the information about the national curriculum levels you reach

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

in order to check that you are making the right amount of progress - be able to show and explain clearly why your school is as good as other similar schools. I hope that you will continue to be happy at school.

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