Yeadon Westfield Junior School

Inspection Report Yeadon Westfield Junior School

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107840 Unique Reference Number Leeds Local Authority 287926 Inspection number 27 February 2007 Inspection date Heather Richardson HMI 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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New Road School address Primary Type of school Yeadon, Leeds Community School category West Yorkshire LS19 7HW 7 °11 Age range of pupils 0113 2146504 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 0113 2146504 Fax number 236 Number on roll (school) Mr John Wilby Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Andrea Eddison Headteacher 2 July 2001 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection date Age group 287926 27 February 2007 7 °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 of Her Majesty's Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Yeadon Westfield Junior School is a large junior school with as many children as an average sized primary school. It is situated in a residential village to the north west of Leeds and most children live locally. Almost all children transfer to this school from the local infant school and very few join or leave the school other than at the normal times. When children join the school, they have reached standards which are slightly above the national averages. Very few children have a minority ethnic heritage and none of these children are learning English as an additional language. The proportion of children entitled to free school meals is about half the national average and is falling. The proportion of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is below the national average, but a similar proportion has statements of special educational needs. The school has been successful in gaining several national awards, including

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Description of the school

the Advanced Healthy Schools Award, Sports Activemark and Investors in People. It has recently gained the local authority's Inclusion Chartermark. The school is also a Teacher's Development Agency Partnership Development School. All members of the senior leadership team were new in post in January 2007, although not new to the school. The headteacher had previously been the school's 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: Yeadon Westfield Junior School, 27 February 2007

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Grade: 2

Yeadon Westfield Junior School is a good school, with some outstanding features. It is highly regarded by parents. Pupils thrive on the experiences which the school provides for them. As a result they make good progress in their learning and their personal development is outstanding. By the time they leave the school they have reached standards in the national tests which are higher than the national averages. This represents good achievement considering their starting points. The standards in English and mathematics reached by the more able children have risen significantly. This is because teachers are more aware of their needs and have better resources. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities achieve as well as other children as a result of the high quality, well informed support they receive. All children achieve well because they are well taught and eager to learn, and because the school provides outstanding care, support and guidance. This builds their confidence

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Grade: 2

and helps them to succeed. Children's excellent behaviour and very good attendance also contribute to their success. They are increasingly self-confident, feel safe and have a good understanding of what they have to do to be healthy. The skills and qualities children develop, including their ability to work with and show courtesy to others, equip them well for their future. The quality of children's personal development reflects the school's commitment to ensuring that every child matters. Teachers plan interesting lessons which are well-matched to children's abilities and interests. Children brim with enthusiasm when describing the lessons, clubs and the special events which they enjoy. The curriculum is well-planned to meet children's needs and the exciting special events promote their achievement in a range of subjects. Children know they have targets for improvement. However, some opportunities to

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Grade: 2

help them to understand their achievements by, for example, involving them in assessing how well they have met their targets, are missed. Children's progress is monitored well by individual teachers, but the school does not yet have a robust system by which it can use data to track their progress. The recent changes in the school's leadership, and in the responsibilities of other staff, have been well managed. As a result the school retains a clear focus on continued improvement as new leaders establish their priorities. Because the new leadership team is made up from long-serving members of staff, it has a good understanding of how well the school is doing, as the self-evaluation produced for this inspection demonstrated. Members of the leadership team, notably the headteacher, have played a significant part in the improvements the school has made since the previous inspection. Given this, the school has good capacity for further improvement. It provides

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What the school should do to improve further

• Build more opportunities to involve children in assessing how well they are doing. • Extend the scope and use of the new system to track children's progress. 2 Inspection Report: Yeadon Westfield Junior School, 27 February 2007

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Grade: 2

Children join the school with standards which are slightly above average. They make good progress and, by the time they leave, they reach standards in the national tests which are above average. Standards in science dipped in the 2006 tests, but remained similar to the national averages. The proportion of children who reach the higher levels in English and mathematics has increased and is now significantly better than the national averages. Children's achievement in English is significantly better than that of children in similar schools, whereas their achievement in mathematics is broadly similar. There is no significant difference in the achievement of boys and girls overall, but lower ability boys achieve relatively well. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities achieve as well as their peers, often above expectations.

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Grade: 1

Children enjoy school and attend well. They are attentive and well behaved in lessons and take pride in their work. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. For example, they are sensitive to others, listening carefully to the views of other children and responding thoughtfully when asked to give their opinions. They recognise and value different cultures, as in their study of the Aborigine art work. They collaborate well on classroom activities and in the playground, where they enjoy the additional facilities and can explain how they help them to keep healthy. They are eager to choose healthy food and the salad bar is particularly popular at lunchtime. Children feel safe. They know who to turn to for help and recognise various ways in which the school helps them to stay safe. They are increasingly self-confident and take on responsibilities willingly, helping others in school and in the wider community.

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Grade: 1

The school council works very effectively and its members take their responsibilities seriously, for example in greeting visitors very courteously. Children understand how the council represents their views and even the youngest children can identify improvements which the school council has helped to introduce, including the healthy tuck shop. The personal qualities which children develop and the high standards they reach in basic skills stand them in good stead for the future.

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Grade: 2

Children are eager to learn and they respond well to the interesting activities which teachers prepare for them. Teachers are knowledgeable and help to ensure, for example, that children understand and use technical language well. Teachers have high expectations to which children respond well. Children's work is marked regularly and some comments identify clearly what has been achieved. There is increasingly effective 3 Inspection Report: Yeadon Westfield Junior School, 27 February 2007 use of individual targets to help children to improve. However, children do not always get sufficient opportunities to assess their own progress against their targets and develop as independent learners.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is well designed. It is adapted appropriately to enable children of all abilities to succeed in their learning, as well as equipping them with the skills they need for the future. Good attention is paid to developing children's awareness of keeping healthy and staying safe. The school plans special events to enrich children's learning. Children and parents spoke with great enthusiasm about the recent creative learning event in the school hall. This resulted in high quality work in several subjects, as well as much enjoyment. There is a wide range of popular extra-curricular activities which children enjoy and which give them good opportunities to gain confidence and develop new skills. These include much improved opportunities for sport through links with a local specialist school and after-school clubs.

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Grade: 1

Outstanding care, guidance and support spring from the school's ethos and from the commitment of all staff and the governors to the well-being of the children. It is evident in lessons, around the school and in the school's systems and procedures. For example, the school has taken great care to ensure that child protection and risk assessment procedures are secure and that staff are fully trained. There is very good support for vulnerable children and for those who need additional support from time to time. Good care is taken to identify their needs, to plan their learning and monitor their progress. The school's training and use of support staff, including learning mentors, makes a significant contribution to the progress and well-being of these children. The school was recently awarded the local authority's Inclusion Chartermark, an achievement to which parents, children, governors and all staff contributed. The

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Grade: 1

school is using this well as a basis for further improvement and its revised behaviour code is showing early benefits for children. The school has good systems to ensure that children settle quickly when they transfer from the infant school and are well prepared for their move to secondary school. Children's academic progress is monitored well by their class teachers.

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Grade: 2

The school has recently undergone significant changes with the retirement of the long-serving headteacher. The senior leadership team is very new in post, although all members, especially the new headteacher, know the school well. Other teachers also have new responsibilities. There is a very clear focus on continued improvement, with challenging targets and a determination to build on the school's past successes. 4 Inspection Report: Yeadon Westfield Junior School, 27 February 2007 With this in mind, senior staff and others with responsibilities are identifying appropriate priorities and establishing clear action plans. Some new procedures, such as the revised behaviour code, are already being implemented. The school runs well on a daily basis. The school has some effective systems to review its work, including robust procedures for monitoring teaching and learning. It analyses well the outcomes of tests which children take and acts accordingly. For example, the higher standards

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Grade: 2

achieved in English are the result of a planned programme to improve the quality of children's writing. However, the school does not yet use data sufficiently to monitor children's progress at whole school level because its system is at a very early stage of development. Governors know the school well and provide appropriate challenge and support. The school continues to enjoy strong support from parents, including the work of the Parent Teacher Association. 5 Inspection Report: Yeadon Westfield Junior School, 27 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: Yeadon Westfield Junior School, 27 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 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 1 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: Yeadon Westfield Junior School, 27 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: Yeadon Westfield Junior School, 27 February 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for being so helpful when I visited your school recently. I enjoyed meeting you and hearing all you had to say about your school. I enjoyed visiting all your classrooms and finding out about your lessons. Your school council representatives were very polite in welcoming me to each class. I also enjoyed your assembly, which included some of my favourite songs. Your school prayer was very thoughtful. You go to a good school and there are some things about it which are even better than good. Inspectors like me describe them as 'outstanding'. These are some of the best things about your school. • You make good progress in each class and so reach high standards in the tests at the end of Year 6. • Your personal development is outstanding. This includes your behaviour, how well you work and the way in which you help others. • You know a lot about keeping healthy and staying safe. • You have a good school council and you all help by making suggestions about what could

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

be improved. • You enjoy your lessons because your teachers provide lots of interesting things for you to do. Sometimes your teachers arrange special activities which are exciting, such as the recent activities in the hall with the 'magic carpet'. • Your teachers, and all the adults in school, look after you very well. The care they provide for you is outstanding. • Your headteacher and the other teachers are working hard because they want the school to get even better than it is. I have asked your teachers to work on two things to help you to achieve even more. The first is that I have asked them to involve you more in deciding how well you are meeting your targets. I am sure you will rise to the challenge and enjoy this. The second thing is about how teachers check your progress term by term. Your class teachers do this well, but the school needs to have a better system to help teachers to track your progress throughout the school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I hope you continue to enjoy your time at Yeadon Westfield Junior School and I wish you every success in the future. 9 Inspection Report: Yeadon Westfield Junior School, 27 February 2007

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