St. Oswald's CofE Primary School

Inspection Report St Oswald's Church of England Junior School

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108008 Unique Reference Number Leeds LEA 277881 Inspection number 5 July 2006 to 6 July 2006 Inspection dates Mr Peter Howard 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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The Green School address Primary Type of school Guiseley Voluntary aided School category Leeds, West Yorkshire LS20 9BT 7 to 11 Age range of pupils

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01943 873570 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01943 870798 Fax number 255 Number on roll Mr R Stevenson Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs M Woodall Headteacher 16 October 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 277881 5 July 2006 - 7 to 11 6 July 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 three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

St Oswald's Church of England Voluntary Aided School is sited in the town of Guiselely on the edge of the Leeds conurbation. The school serves an area of mixed housing and pupils come from a wide range of social and economic backgrounds. The school is bigger than the national average for primary schools but as a result of population change in the local area, the number of pupils in attendance has been falling. A small proportion of pupils are from minority ethnic groups and a very small number are at the early stage of learning English. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is well below average. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is broadly average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: St Oswald's Church of England Junior School, 5 July 2006 to 6 July 2006

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Grade: 2

The school judges its overall effectiveness to be good and inspection findings agree. It has successfully addressed issues raised by a period of falling standards that are now rising. Pupils now make good progress throughout school to attain standards that are above average in mathematics and well above average in English and science by the end of Year 6. This has been achieved as a result of improvements to teaching and the curriculum, which are both good. Teachers work well together to improve their teaching and raise standards. However, they do not yet make consistently effective use of the full range of assessment strategies to help pupils improve their work. More able pupils achieve well; however, in mathematics the work set is sometimes too easy to ensure that they always achieve as well as they might. The good curriculum offers pupils a wide range of learning experiences and there are many opportunities for

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Grade: 2

enrichment. The school is successful at promoting pupils' personal development and well-being, which is good. Pupils are helped to develop into mature and confident individuals: their behaviour is outstanding. This is a caring school which helps pupils achieve their potential. Leadership and management employ rigorous self-evaluation followed by an effective programme of staff and curriculum development to secure improvement. Managers at all levels contribute to this process but the school is right to regard subject leaders' understanding of their role as an area for development. Improvement since the last inspection and the school's capacity to improve further are good. The school gives good value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Apply assessment strategies more consistently across classes and subjects. • Give more challenge to higher attainers to increase their progress in mathematics. • Develop the skills of subject leaders so that they can be more effective at raising standards.

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Grade: 2

Although the overall attainment of pupils joining school in Year 3 has fallen in recent years, it remains broadly above average. Standards attained by pupils in national tests at the end of Year 6 in 2005 were securely above average in mathematics and science. In English, standards were exceptionally high and pupils of higher ability did particularly well. The attainment of this group of pupils reflects recent and significant improvements to teaching and the curriculum. In achieving these standards, the school brought to an end a decline in standards in English and mathematics that had lasted for several years and reached a low point in 2004. In 2006, standards have been maintained in English and mathematics and improved upon in science, despite this group of pupils having low attainment on entry in Year 3. The school is therefore maintaining the momentum of recent improvement. Pupils make good progress throughout school,

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Grade: 2

particularly in English, and are achieving challenging targets. More able pupils achieve 2 Inspection Report: St Oswald's Church of England Junior School, 5 July 2006 to 6 July 2006 well in English and science and the school is working to improve further the progress of higher achieving pupils in mathematics. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are well supported and make good progress.

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Grade: 2

The school has a strong commitment in this area and as a result pupils' personal development and well-being are good. Their social, moral, spiritual and cultural development are also good. The school's strong Christian ethos provides a firm foundation for developing pupils' spiritual awareness and understanding of right and wrong. Good relationships underpin pupils' social development: pupils get on well with each other, they are well mannered and their behaviour is exemplary. Pupils are developing an understanding of other faiths and cultures but the school is aware of a need to further develop this area. The school has a strong commitment to helping pupils enjoy a healthy diet and take exercise. As a result, pupils are developing an understanding of the importance of practising a healthy lifestyle. Pupils have a good understanding of how to behave in order to be safe. They enjoy school and have positive attitudes to learning, which are reflected in their good attendance. Pupils

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Grade: 2

take pride in the many opportunities offered by school to exercise responsibility. The school council is effective, both as a voice for the pupils and in such tasks as running the healthy food tuck shop at breaks. The school's high expectations in regard to behaviour and responsibility prepare pupils well for the world of work.

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Grade: 2

The quality of teaching and learning is good and, as a result, pupils make good progress. Lesson planning is detailed and is enhanced by good cooperation between teachers. Teachers have good relationships with the pupils and this contributes to good class management. Teaching is well paced, there are high expectations of pupils and activities are well prepared and interesting. Teachers use a range of assessment strategies to help pupils improve their work. For example, they share learning intentions with pupils, tell them what they need to do to improve when they mark work, involve pupils in assessing their own work and set targets. By these means, teachers give pupils some responsibility for their own learning, help them to understand how well they are doing and how to improve over time. These strategies are having a significant impact on improving pupil progress. However, although there are many good strategies in use,

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Grade: 2

they are not consistently applied in all classes and subjects. The school recognises that the work planned for more able pupils in mathematics is not consistently challenging and this slows the progress made by those pupils. The needs of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are well met by teaching assistants and good methods of support. 3 Inspection Report: St Oswald's Church of England Junior School, 5 July 2006 to 6 July 2006

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Grade: 2

The school judges the quality of the curriculum and other activities to be satisfactory, but inspectors judge it to be good. The curriculum meets all statutory requirements and the needs of all groups of pupils. Recent improvements to the curriculum, particularly in English, have contributed to rising standards. Teachers rightly plan to extend their developing good practice in English by increasing opportunities for writing across the curriculum. The school is committed to a broad and rich curriculum, which is evident in the work in classrooms and the high quality displays throughout school. There is rich additional provision, with a wide range of sporting and cultural activities as well as close links with the church. There are regular visitors to school from specialists in drama, music and sport and pupils enjoy the Year 6 residential visit and the many visits to places of interest. Modern foreign languages have been introduced successfully

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Grade: 2

and good quality work in music and drama allows the school to perform high quality productions.

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Grade: 2

The school provides good care, support and guidance for pupils. The school's strong ethos, supportive environment and positive approach to behaviour management make the school a secure and orderly place where pupils feel safe. Pupils know that they can turn to adults for help and say that they are listened to and treated fairly. Appropriate arrangements for ensuring child protection and health and safety are in place. Robust procedures for dealing with any absence help ensure good attendance. The school makes effective use of data about pupil progress in English and mathematics to plan appropriate provision. Good partnerships with parents and the agencies which support learning help ensure that pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make good progress. Good relations with the feeder infant school and the local high school mean that pupils are well supported when they move between the schools.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. Under the very effective leadership of the headteacher, the school has successfully halted and reversed a decline in standards and raised pupils' achievement. At the same time, the school has sustained a strong focus on promoting pupils' personal development and well- being. This improvement has been achieved through a rigorous process of monitoring and evaluation, which successfully identified weaknesses in teaching and the curriculum. This was followed up by an effective programme of professional development and curriculum improvement. Leadership has made good use of partnerships with other schools and significant investment in hardware and training for information and communication technology (ICT) to stimulate and enrich this process of improvement. The school's self-evaluation continues to be thorough and accurate, though current procedures 4 Inspection Report: St Oswald's Church of England Junior School, 5 July 2006 to 6 July 2006

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Grade: 2

for planning improvement are not focused enough and have insufficiently specific criteria for determining how well objectives have been achieved. Leadership effectively involves all staff in the process of school improvement. However, the school recognises the need to further develop the skills of subject leaders so that they can be consistently effective at raising standards. Governance of the school is satisfactory. Governors are supportive and committed to the school and are effective in helping the school to move forward. A better understanding of school performance data on the part of governors is necessary to ensure they can play their part to the full. The school has strong support from parents, who are consulted about aspects of school life and feel that their views are listened to and acted upon. 5 Inspection Report: St Oswald's Church of England Junior School, 5 July 2006 to 6 July 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 Oswald's Church of England Junior School, 5 July 2006 to 6 July 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 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 1 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 3 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 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 very much for welcoming us to your school and being so polite and friendly. We enjoyed our visit and we would like to tell you what we thought about your school. What we liked most about your school: - how hard all the staff in school work, how well they look after you and keep you safe and how much they want you to do well in school - the conversations we had with you that showed us how grown up you are when you talk about school life - that you behave so well and work so hard - the way you get involved in school life and the good school council which helps the school run well - the good range of activities the school offers to make the work you do exciting and interesting. What we have asked your school to do now: - make sure that teachers make more use of explaining learning objectives, setting you targets and asking you to decide how well you are doing - help those of you who are good at maths to make even better progress

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

- help teachers who take the lead for different subjects to do so as well as possible. We enjoyed meeting you and seeing you in your lessons and we wish you all well for the future.

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