Crow Lane Primary and Foundation Stage School

Crow Lane Primary and Foundation Stage School Inspection report

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107623 Unique Reference Number Kirklees Local Authority 287875 Inspection number 9 May 2007 Inspection date Philip Cole 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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Primary Type of school Community School category 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 250 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Mr J Cuss Chair Mr Christopher Lees Headteacher 30 September 2002 Date of previous school inspection Crow Lane School address Milnsbridge Huddersfield West Yorkshire HD3 4QT

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01484 222224 Telephone number 01484 222162 Fax number

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3 °11 Age group 9 May 2007 Inspection date 287875 Inspection number .

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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 average size school serves a village on the edge of Huddersfield with a mixture of owner-occupied and rented housing. Almost all the pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is above average, as is the proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 10 Inspection Report: Crow Lane Primary and Foundation Stage School, 9 May 2007

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Grade: 2

This is a good school that has maintained the strong improvement noted in its last inspection report. Parents are very supportive of the school. They appreciate the approachability of staff and are very pleased with the progress their children make. Pupils clearly enjoy school, are eager to talk about their interesting lessons and educational visits and are keen to take on responsibilities. Their personal development is good in all respects and together with their secure knowledge of basic skills enables them to face the future with confidence. Standards are broadly average by the end of Year 6 and pupils' achievement is good. Children come into the Foundation Stage with skills that are below average, particularly in their language and mathematical development. Effective provision enables them to make good progress and to reach the levels expected of children of their age by the end of Reception. In Years 1 to 6,

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Grade: 2

progress is most rapid in Key Stage 2, where the introduction of targets for pupils to work towards in literacy has made a strong impact on their learning. Standards are above average in science and average in mathematics. A strong focus has been placed on improving writing, which has been a relative weakness in English. This has led to accelerated progress in English, and standards are now close to nationally expected levels. Teaching and learning are good. Lessons are well planned and their purpose is clearly explained to pupils so that they understand what they are doing and why. A particular strength is the level of support given to pupils to enable them to develop their writing skills. Teachers mark pupils' work regularly but do not provide enough day-to-day guidance as to how pupils can improve their work. The curriculum is good and meets the needs of all groups well. Themed events and visits, including residential visits, and a good range of clubs add to pupils' enjoyment

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Grade: 2

and stimulate their interest in learning. Care, guidance and support are good. The school works very effectively to promote pupils' understanding of healthy living and has achieved Healthy School Gold status. Procedures are in place to safeguard all pupils. Pupils' progress is checked regularly; this underpins the effective provision made for those whose performance may dip or those who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The individual targets in English provide effective guidance to pupils as to the next stage of their learning but such targets are not provided in mathematics or science. Pupils do not find the year group learning targets in mathematics and science as helpful. The school is well led and managed. Long-standing weaknesses, including underperformance and the school's previously poor accommodation, have been steadily and effectively tackled. The headteacher has successfully involved staff, governors, parents and pupils in evaluating

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Grade: 2

how well the school is doing, planning what needs to be done to make things better and implementing changes. Senior managers and teachers with responsibilities are confident and competent leaders. Governors work closely with subject leaders, have a good understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses and make an effective contribution to bringing about improvements. The school has made good progress since its last inspection and is well placed to continue to improve. It provides good value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure that teachers' marking gives pupils effective guidance on what they need to do to make their work better. • Provide more helpful and relevant targets so that pupils know the next steps in their learning in mathematics and science. 4 of 10 Inspection Report: Crow Lane Primary and Foundation Stage School, 9 May 2007

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Grade: 2

Pupils enter the school with attainment below average and leave at the end of Year 6 with standards that are broadly average. This has been the case since 2002. Results in national tests are generally lower in English than in mathematics and science. This trend is beginning to be successfully reversed with pupils now typically making better progress in English, especially in writing. Overall, achievement is good by the end of Year 6. Pupils in Key Stage 1 make steady and sustained progress. Standards by the end of Year 2 have risen since 2002. Much has been done to improve provision in the Foundation Stage, including new accommodation. Children here now make good progress in all the areas of learning and most reach the levels expected by the end of the Reception year. Both test results and the school's own assessment data show that all pupils make similar rates of progress. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities

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Grade: 2

make good progress towards their specific, individual targets.

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Grade: 2

Pupils behave well and enjoy school. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. They empathise well with others when considering issues and show genuine concern, for example asking if they could pray in assembly for someone in the news who was in trouble. Pupils get on well together and naturally help each other in lessons. They want to help and enjoy the responsibilities they are given, such as involvement in the school council, running the healthy tuck shop, and being play leaders and 'buddies' during break times. They contribute well to the local community with, for example with 'Crow Lane Kids n Co' making and selling items to support charities. They have a good understanding of what they need to do to keep both fit and healthy and out of harm's way. Attendance has improved markedly in the last two years from clearly below average to just above average.

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Grade: 2

The effective provision in the Foundation Stage is based on detailed planning and thorough assessment. There is a good balance of interesting activities for children to choose from and well chosen adult-led tasks. Elsewhere in school pupils work purposefully in lessons because teachers make clear to them what they will be learning and what they need to do. Teachers carefully ensure that pupils build on what they have been learning earlier. They are also good at using opportunities to consolidate and extend learning whenever these arise, for example reinforcing pupils' understanding of scientific ideas in a design and technology lesson. On many occasions teachers use information and communication technology, such as interactive whiteboards, effectively to support their explanations and to capture pupils' interest. The individual targets they now set in literacy are helping pupils to improve their writing. Teachers

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Grade: 2

regularly mark pupils' work in all subjects and sometimes make helpful comments. However, these are not made often enough to provide pupils with effective guidance on the small steps they need to take to improve their work and teachers do not ensure that pupils act on them. 5 of 10 Inspection Report: Crow Lane Primary and Foundation Stage School, 9 May 2007

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Grade: 2

The curriculum provides an enjoyable basis for pupils' learning and meets their differing needs well. It is kept under review and modified to tackle weaknesses in learning identified through assessments. This has led to successful initiatives to involve parents and volunteers in supporting reading and in broadening the reading opportunities for pupils. As a result, standards in reading have risen in the last few years. Provision for those who find learning difficult is effective and the school is working hard to tailor provision for those who are gifted or talented more closely to their particular needs. The programmes for personal, social, health and citizenship education successfully underpin pupils' strong personal and social development and understanding of what to do to keep themselves healthy and safe. The well attended clubs enjoyed by pupils include bird-watching, German, singing and 'bookworms' as well as a wide range of sporting

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Grade: 2

Pupils are well looked after by caring adults and the school works closely with external agencies and parents to tackle both pastoral and academic problems. For example, successful work with the Education Welfare Officer has transformed attendance rates. All the required steps to safeguard pupils are in place. There are good systems for tracking and monitoring pupils' progress. As a result, pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are identified early and successful programmes are put in place to support them. Similarly, the school identifies those who may be gifted or talented and is developing increasingly individualised approaches to extend them. Appropriate support is given to pupils whose performance shows signs of dipping. More general academic guidance is satisfactory. The individual targets that are working successfully in literacy have not been extended to other subjects, such as mathematics. Pupils

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Grade: 2

do not find the year group targets that are provided as helpful.

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Grade: 2

The headteacher is a thoughtful leader who has worked hard and successfully to broaden leadership and management in the school. He has encouraged teachers to take on responsibility for monitoring, evaluating and improving the effectiveness of their areas of responsibility. This has worked well and subject leaders have made impressive contributions, for example in literacy where reading has shown strong improvement and where weaknesses in pupils' writing are being tackled very effectively. Governors review the standards and provision of the core subjects of English, mathematics and science each term (and annually for other subjects) and report to the governing body on what they have found. As a result, governors have a very good understanding of how well the school is performing and they are able to contribute fully to the process of bringing about improvements. The school improvement plan, based on a thorough

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Grade: 2

knowledge of the school, gives good guidance for further improvement. The process of bringing about improvements is overseen by the School Improvement Team, which includes representatives of all staff, governors and parents and takes account of the pupils' views through the school council. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Crow Lane Primary and Foundation Stage School, 9 May 2007 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 of 10 Inspection Report: Crow Lane Primary and Foundation Stage School, 9 May 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? 3 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?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The behaviour of learners 3 The attendance of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 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?

2 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. 8 of 10 Inspection Report: Crow Lane Primary and Foundation Stage School, 9 May 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? 9 of 10 Inspection Report: Crow Lane Primary and Foundation Stage School, 9 May 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I really enjoyed my visit to your school. I think it is a good school and that it has improved since its last inspection. I know from what you told me that you enjoy your lessons and have lots of interesting things to do. Your behaviour is good, you get on well with each other and have a good understanding of what you need to do to keep out of harm's way. Your lessons are carefully planned and interesting and your teachers are careful to make sure that you understand what you are learning. This ensures you make good progress in learning new things. Although you have done well in science and mathematics you have not done as well in writing. I think that the targets you have in your literacy books and the support sheets you have to help you when you are working are helping you to write much better now. All the grownups in school, including the governors, work hard to make your school the best they can. For example, the school building is now much better than it was. You have a super

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

library and the children in the Foundation Stage have lovely spaces to work and play in. I know you want the playground to be better and the grownups are making sure this happens. There are two important things your school needs to do now. • Help you to understand more clearly what you can do to improve your work. Teachers can do this when they mark your work. • Help you take the next steps in your learning in mathematics and science by giving you targets similar to the ones you have in literacy. You can do your bit to help the teachers help you, by always taking on board the teachers' advice when they write comments in your books and by learning the spellings they have corrected in your work. I would like to thank you for being so friendly and welcoming. 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Crow Lane Primary and Foundation Stage School, 9 May 2007

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