West End Primary School

West End Primary School Inspection report

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107846 Unique Reference Number Leeds Local Authority 287928 Inspection number 1 May 2007 Inspection date Honoree Gordon 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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Primary Type of school Community School category 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 212 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs L Whitfield Chair Mrs L Wadkin Headteacher 4 March 2002 Date of previous school inspection West End Lane School address Horsforth Leeds West Yorkshire LS18 5JP

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0113 2582819 Telephone number 0113 2587323 Fax number

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3 °11 Age group 1 May 2007 Inspection date 287928 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 two of Her Majesty's inspectors.

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Description of the school

West End Primary School is a smaller than average sized primary situated in a relatively affluent suburb of Leeds. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is much lower than average. Almost all pupils are White British and very few speak English as an additional language. The percentage of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is below average. The attainment of children on entry to the school is typical for their age. There is a private nursery on site, but the school itself also offers 'wrap around' care with a before- and after-school facility used by over 30 children. The school has gained several awards, including ActiveMark Gold, the Healthy Schools award at national level, the Stephen Lawrence award, and is recognised as an Investor in People.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: West End Primary School, 1 May 2007

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Grade: 2

West End Primary School is a good school, with several outstanding aspects, particularly the high quality care, guidance and support the children receive and the excellent provision made for their personal development. Parents recognise this; questionnaire responses were overwhelmingly positive and comments were often glowing. One bears quoting at length because it sums up the views of many so aptly: 'West End School provides a structured and nurturing environment where all children feel that they belong. This provides a safe place for them to explore their strengths and develop their skills whilst developing a confidence in their social skills that is essential for their future well-being.' The children are keen, lively and attentive learners and their behaviour is excellent. This is because their lessons are good; the teachers and the assistants take great care to ensure that lessons are stimulating and that they

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Grade: 2

meet the needs of the children well. The curriculum is good, with lots to do and a very good range of extra-curricular activities. Subjects are linked together well to make sense to the children and to reinforce the core subjects such as literacy so, for example, little children commented to the inspectors that literacy and writing were some of their favourite subjects! This is in addition to the enthusiastic comments made by many of the children across the age range about the ease of making friends, feeling safe and cared for and having fun in lessons. The curriculum promotes the personal development of the children exceptionally well. There are lots of opportunities for children to follow interests, to take part in activities and to perform, even from a very early age. This helps them to develop their confidence rapidly and it fosters their great enjoyment of school. The recently introduced daily 'wake up and shake up' for the

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Grade: 2

children (and for the staff!) is a good example of how the school is innovative, looking at ways to promote the children's health and well-being as much as their academic progress. The Foundation Stage is good, ensuring a good beginning to the acquisition of basic skills and promoting social skills very well, right from the outset. The school has correctly assessed its own strengths and areas for development and has acted successfully to secure continued improvement. The focus on literacy is one such example, where writing has been given priority across the school. Reading has now been brought to the fore, beginning with the younger children, with a view to extending this focus across the whole school. Achievement is good and these actions are intended to improve this even further. Standards are usually above average, though there was a slight dip in 2005 in how the children fared in the English test at the end of Year 6. This was unexpected and did not accurately reflect

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Grade: 2

their abilities. The school recognises that it is desirable to ensure consistency over time in achievement, particularly in reading at Key Stage 1 and in English and science at Key Stage 2. There are robust and thorough systems for checking pupils' progress. These enable the school to intervene to support individuals who may be in danger of falling behind. The school does particularly well at supporting those children who may have personal difficulties in their lives, because the teachers know each child so well. The quality of the school's work is recognised through several awards, yet the school does not stand still; it is working now towards the Inclusion award and the Basic Skills Mark. Inspectors were impressed with the cohesive and able leadership team at the school and the way in which all the staff get involved in the school's planning and priorities. The school is well led and has demonstrated its excellent capacity to improve still further.

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Grade: 2

4 of 11 Inspection Report: West End Primary School, 1 May 2007

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What the school should do to improve further

• Further develop the current strategies for improvement in order to promote greater consistency of achievement in core subjects over time.

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Grade: 2

Achievements and standards are good. When children start in the Nursery most can do what is typical for children of their age. When they enter Reception, their attainment is above average. School assessment records show that pupils make good progress in the Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception). Pupils sustain this good progress as they move through the school. By the end of Year 2, standards are above average, particularly in writing and mathematics. In Year 6 pupils attain above average standards overall in the core subjects. The school responded well to the lower than expected standards reached in the national tests in English at the end of Year 6 in 2005, and in 2006 standards were again high. Girls tend to reach slightly higher standards than boys. Progress is good overall between Key Stages 1 and 2. There has been steady improvement in the progress pupils make in mathematics. In English and science progress is usually good, but

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Grade: 2

tends to be less consistent. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities achieve well. In this smaller than average school, published data on test results can sometimes be adversely affected by one or two pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, but the school is inclusive and it values the achievements of all its pupils. The school sets challenging targets and usually meets or exceeds them. It has become more adept at predicting children's achievement, based on a range of factors. Recent initiatives designed to improve achievement in reading and writing are proving to be successful.

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Grade: 1

The excellent care provided by the staff and the exciting opportunities offered by the curriculum promote the children's personal development exceptionally well. The provision for children's social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is excellent. The school promotes the children's health, including their emotional health, and their awareness of how to keep themselves safe, very well. The playground areas are excellent, providing plenty of space for healthy play and a good range of activities and games to encourage cooperation and the development of social skills. The children get actively involved in their community, in fundraising, in their school council and in the health forum. There are numerous opportunities for taking on responsibility in the upper classes. 'We older ones need to help the younger ones,' summed up one Year 6 child. The children are confident, bright and cheerful and they evidently enjoy learning.

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Grade: 1

Attendance is well above average. The school is looking at ways to encourage further the children's early awareness of economic well-being. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: West End Primary School, 1 May 2007

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Grade: 2

Teachers and learning assistants work very effectively together to foster the achievement of individual children and to track their progress closely. Lessons are challenging, lively and active and they meet the needs of the children very well. Teachers' skilful questioning techniques and the wide variety of tasks and activities which they plan appeal to a wide range of the children's learning styles and hold their interest well. Lessons proceed at a good pace and are often fun. Teachers use information and communication technologies (ICT) well to enhance learning. The children spoke with great enthusiasm of the Education City ICT initiative which allows them to access homework tasks and learning resources at home. The school encourages close links with parents to help support their children's education. A programme of continuing professional development underpins the teachers' good subject knowledge and ensures that

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Grade: 2

they are able to implement the school's priorities, such as promoting literacy.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum meets all statutory requirements and is enriched well by a very good range of extra activities especially in sport, drama and also in music, with for example a school orchestra. Pupils also have the opportunity to learn French. A range of visits to places of interest and visitors into school extend the curriculum well, allowing pupils to explore new ideas or to gain additional skills and knowledge. Subjects are integrated effectively through topics and through specially focused curriculum weeks, so that learning is interrelated and comes to life. The confidence pupils gain through the wide variety of opportunities they are given stands them in very good stead for transfer to secondary school. The emphasis on developing writing and reading skills is managed well and so does not overdominate a well balanced and broad curriculum.

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Grade: 1

The monitoring of the children's academic progress is excellent and is complemented by an equally effective system to assess their personal and social development. Teachers assess progress during lessons and give pupils and their parents detailed feedback through marking and reports. Children speak very positively about the learning mentor, who listens to their worries, and reassures and supports them through problems. Arrangements for safeguarding the children fully meet requirements. The children say that bullying very rarely happens. These are important factors in pupils' enjoyment of school life and their high attendance rate. Parents value the individual care that their children receive and they trust the teachers. The beginning of the day in the younger classes is cheerfully noisy as parents arrive in the classes and chat to their child and to the teacher, all of which helps settle the children in and gives openings for

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Grade: 1

regular communication with the teaching staff. Parents welcome the continuity in staffing through the school day, so that it is the same assistants and teachers who help in early and after-school care as in lessons and at lunchtimes. There is an excellent programme of personal, social and health education that helps the children to make good choices about diet, exercise and relationships and which also develops their awareness of risk, such as illegal substances. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: West End Primary School, 1 May 2007 Children with learning difficulties and gifted and talented children are well supported because of the personalised approach the school has adopted to meeting needs and fostering interests.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. Inspectors agree with the grades that the school gave itself in the documentation it provided for self-evaluation, and the priorities which it has set for future development are appropriate. The headteacher is ably supported by the deputy headteacher and the coordinators in securing sustained improvement and in continuing to achieve above average standards. Staff and resources are deployed very effectively to ensure excellent value for money. A strong sense of teamwork pervades all that the school does. Very good use is made of external agencies to help the school meet the full range of children's needs. Governors support and challenge the school well. The school is successfully driving forward its priorities and it is keen to develop and share further its good practice, both within school and through its links beyond with other providers. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: West End Primary School, 1 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. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: West End Primary School, 1 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 1 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. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: West End Primary School, 1 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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: West End Primary School, 1 May 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for all your help when we visited your school recently, especially to those of you who gave up your time to talk to us and to show us around school. It was very helpful to hear what you had to say. We were also able to read what your parents wrote and to talk to your teachers. We enjoyed coming into your lessons. This is what we think. • West End is a good school. Some things are really super! You are very lucky to be at such a good school, but we think you know that already! • You are making good progress in your lessons. Your test results are better than in lots of other schools. • There are a lot of interesting things for you to do and to learn. You told us you like lots of things at school, but most of all you told us about the playground, the sports, the trips out and the teachers. • You get good chances to say what you think and to get involved in activities. • You do lots to help yourselves keep healthy.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

• The lessons are good and they are often fun. Your teachers work very hard to make your lessons interesting. • Your behaviour is excellent. You try really hard to do your best. • All the adults at the school look after you really well. You told us that you feel safe at school and that you are happy there. • Mrs Wadkin is a good headteacher. She has good ideas. The other teachers and assistants listen to what she says and help too. We are pleased with your school, so we have not given Mrs Wadkin a long list of things to do next! Just to try to make sure that every year you have good test results in all your subjects. We know you are already working hard on your writing and your reading, so well done and keep this up! 11 of 11 Inspection Report: West End Primary School, 1 May 2007

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