Warley Town School

107495 Unique Reference Number Calderdale Local Authority 287829 Inspection number 8 February 2007 Inspection date Roger Gill Reporting inspector

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

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Dark Lane School address Primary Type of school Warley, Halifax Community School category West Yorkshire HX2 7SD 4 °11 Age range of pupils 01422 831592 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01422 831592 Fax number 108 Number on roll (school) Mr Nigel Razzell Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs M Wilkinson Headteacher 9 July 2001 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection date Age group 287829 8 February 2007 4 °11 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 rural school admits children from a wide social spectrum in an area that contains some pockets of deprivation. All children are from White British families. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are broadly typical in number. Since the school's last inspection in 2001, its accommodation has been transformed providing additional space for teaching. The school was lodged temporarily in a local secondary school while building work was completed. Moreover, significant staff changes have occurred. The school possesses the Basic Skills Quality Mark, the Investors in People award and it was the first school to gain Calderdale's Healthy Schools' Award. The governors are in the process of appointing a new headteacher.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Warley Town School, 8 February 2007

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Grade: 2

'The school provides a warm, caring learning environment, perfect for young children' is a typical view held by many parents and their children. This is a good school with some outstanding features. The superb care provided for children has a powerful influence on their personal development, which is excellent. The school has experienced a major turnover in staffing in the past few years. As a result, pupils' progress slowed a little during this period of change. For example, there was a slight dip in achievement in reading, which prompted a substantial review in how children learnt. The school has, since then, revised its programme for teaching letters by their sound and the skills of comprehension. Achievement is now good again throughout the school. Standards by the end of Year 6 are above average. Children in Reception make good progress. They are soaking up and enjoying the new ways of teaching reading. Standards by the

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Grade: 2

end of Year 2 are above average, and have been for a long time. Having been successful at improving reading, the school is right to turn its attention to writing. Children generally make good progress with writing, but even the best writing sometimes lacks breadth of vocabulary and complexity in composition. The considerable improvements in accommodation have given the school a much needed computer room and improved facilities for its youngest children. As a result, standards in information and communication technology (ICT) have improved and provision in the Foundation Stage is good. The vision and drive of the headteacher are as great as they were at the time of the last inspection. Her excellent capacity to 'steer the ship' has meant that the new team of staff has been moulded into a successful unit. The quality of teaching is good and on occasions exemplary. In the best lessons, such as in Year 1/2 mathematics, children are riveted by teaching that expertly weaves

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Grade: 2

the content with a continual assessment of how well learning is taking place. A small number of otherwise good lessons lack the same 'buzz' in learning and depth in helping children to assess their own work. Children are less involved in these lessons and do not enjoy them as much. The climate throughout school is one of collaboration and support. Older children are wonderful at caring for younger ones. There is a community feel about everything that takes place. For example, children lift the roof when singing in assembly, showing a collective pride in how well they can do. As one child said, having absorbed the school's culture, 'It's not coming first that counts, it's how hard we all try.' Children say that they appreciate the care they receive: they feel safe, encouraged to lead a healthy life and enjoy lessons to the full. The school council agree that the school's success is its size. Everyone is treated as an important individual. Consequently, children

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Grade: 2

want to come to school as demonstrated by their above average, and sometimes very high, attendance. Leadership and management are good. The school has improved well since 2001 and has good capacity to make further improvements. Governors do everything expected of them. The school has a good appreciation of how well it is doing. It judges that its overall effectiveness and leadership and management are outstanding because it considers children's achievement to be excellent. This is a slightly optimistic view, at 2 Inspection Report: Warley Town School, 8 February 2007 the moment, because achievement in reading has only just returned to its previously good level and there is more to do in broadening and improving pupils' writing skills. However, the school is correct that there are outstanding aspects in: the curriculum; care, guidance and support; and personal development. Value for money is good.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Raise standards in writing, particularly at the higher levels, to match, or exceed, the improvements already made in reading. • Make teaching even more consistent so that children enjoy learning to the full and make better use of the opportunities for self-assessment.

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Grade: 2

Children achieve well. Pupils' achievements in reading were not as good as they should have been in the past. Rapid improvements have been made in reading lately, but this has exposed some relative weaknesses in writing. Children's standards are broadly typical for their age on entry and they make good progress to the end of Reception. This good progress is continued to the end of Year 2 although it is faster in reading than in writing by comparison. Children progress well from Years 3 to 6. Achievement has been more consistent in mathematics and science than in English, but the balance is being restored this year. Achievement is also good in ICT and physical education.

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Grade: 1

Children show the utmost respect and consideration towards each other and adults. Their enthusiasm often bubbles up. For example, in an assembly the news that they would be singing 'Shalom' sent a flutter of 'Yessss' round the hall. Behaviour is first-rate and very positive attitudes make everyone feel at home and included. One new child declared that, 'I feel like I have been here for years.' Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. This is partly because children are able to find out about global issues and what they can do to help. They have adopted a school in Uganda and are keen about raising funds to help their friends in Africa. Confidence grows admirably through helping out. Older children read with younger ones. Yellow Caps act magnificently as playground leaders. The school council members are proud to be involved, for example, in helping to choose a new headteacher.

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Grade: 1

3 Inspection Report: Warley Town School, 8 February 2007

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Grade: 2

Children say, 'Teachers are fair and learning is fun.' The quality of teaching and learning is good rather than outstanding because occasionally, some children mark time in lessons while in others they all race ahead. There are good systems throughout the school to assess work and involve children in thinking about how well they have done. In some lessons these systems are applied with flair and imagination as when Year 5/6 children were asked to pair up and judge each others presentation in the form of an advert for a chocolate bar. Children in the Reception/Year 1 class love the dinosaur tags attached to their books, which tell them what their targets are. Elsewhere, pupils are not involved as much as they could be. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are included very well. Their learning is considered most carefully and teachers' assistants help them succeed as well as the others.

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Grade: 1

The absorbing curriculum has a strong effect on children's academic learning and is marvellous for their personal development. The influence of the Basic Skills Quality Mark results in well-designed tasks in lessons. Children love the chance to learn French, Italian and Spanish. They are also enthusiastic about clubs and growing strawberries on the school's allotment. Physical education is a strong feature of the curriculum as is ICT. Confidence building goes hand in hand with the school's climbing wall and regular residential visits that include activities such as caving. The way in which children learn valuable lessons about health and safety and participate in running the school equips them splendidly for secondary education and the world of work. Learning is fun because elements of different subjects are woven together into interesting topics. Moreover, lessons are planned regularly to match the way children like to learn:

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Grade: 1

Children receive high quality support from all directions. The fact that all adults are trained first-aiders demonstrates the school's resolve to provide first-class care. Child protection arrangements and risk assessment procedures are in place and working well. Support for healthy living is very well established and recognised by the Healthy School Award. There are regular visits from health professionals and the accident and emergency services. Parents are involved very closely in children's learning and appreciate the additional help provided such as an extra class in mathematics before school. Additional help is utilised well for any child with a learning difficulty. Throughout the school children receive very good guidance about their targets, but 4 Inspection Report: Warley Town School, 8 February 2007 sometimes lack time to discuss in depth how well they are doing in them. This top quality aspect has a distinct and significant influence on children's development.

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Grade: 2

Parents sum up the influence of leadership by saying that children are encouraged to feel 'valued members of the school community'. High levels in pupils' personal development is the school's hallmark. Children talk with authority about what the school does for them and how they contribute in return. The headteacher's skill, in maintaining this effect despite the recent staff changes, is significant. The influence of teamwork is strong. Governors have an excellent appreciation of strengths and areas for development. They understand that the school is regaining its momentum and that some inconsistencies in pupils' achievement remain, particularly in writing. Children's achievements and their learning in lessons are checked up on well. This is how the school knows where the peaks and dips are and what to do about them. The next steps in school improvement are neatly expressed in plans for development that

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Grade: 2

contain all the appropriate issues. 5 Inspection Report: Warley Town School, 8 February 2007 .

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Grade: 2

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Warley Town School, 8 February 2007

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 2 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The behaviour of learners 2 The attendance of learners 1 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

1 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 7 Inspection Report: Warley Town School, 8 February 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 8 Inspection Report: Warley Town School, 8 February 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for your help when I inspected your school. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit because you all made me feel part of the school's family. You go to a good school with some excellent features. I know that you enjoy being there. These are some of the things that I found to be particularly good. I loved the friendly atmosphere around school and the way it makes you grow in confidence. Children at my lunch table were very chatty and told me some wonderful things about the school, which I found to be all true. The school council members are very proud of the work they do for you all and so they should be. The adults care for you splendidly: when you get upset they sort things out really well. Your headteacher is so energetic. She enjoys teaching lessons like French as well as running the school. I think you are very lucky to be able to learn three foreign languages. I know everyone wants to do even better and I have suggested a couple of things that will help.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Now that your reading has improved, it is time to make your writing as good as it can be. Try to make sure that you use different and varied words to describe things, make your sentences more complex and use harder punctuation as you get older. Also I would like even more of your lessons to 'buzz' with excitement and your teachers to help you think, more often, how well you are doing. You can all help by trying very hard with your writing and thinking carefully about how you are getting on with your targets. I know you can do it. 9 Inspection Report: Warley Town School, 8 February 2007

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