Low Ash Primary School

Low Ash Primary School Inspection report

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107272 Unique Reference Number Bradford Local Authority 309360 Inspection number 23 °24 January 2008 Inspection dates Ronald Cohen 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 469 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Alan Sinfield Chair Mrs Sarah Thornton Headteacher 9 February 2004 Date of previous school inspection Wrose Road School address Wrose Shipley West Yorkshire BD18 1AA 01274 582927 Telephone number 01274 586503 Fax number

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3-11 Age group 23 °24 January 2008 Inspection dates 309360 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 three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This two form entry school is much larger than average. It serves the communities of Wrose, a suburban district of Shipley on the outskirts of Bradford, with average levels of social and economic disadvantage. The number of pupils entitled to free school meals and the proportion with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are both average. Most pupils are of White British heritage and nearly all speak English as their home language.

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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: Low Ash Primary School, 23 °24 January 2008

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Grade: 3

Low Ash Primary School provides a satisfactory level of education. Some aspects of its work are good. These include the leadership of the headteacher, the commitment of her staff and the support of the governing body. All adults involved with the school have helped to improve the quality of education a great deal in the last 18 months. As a result, the standards are improving and back to being in line with national expectations. Children enter the school with skills and knowledge in line with those expected for their age. Standards by the time they leave at the end of Year 6 are average, but they are higher now than in recent years. In 2006, standards, at both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, fell markedly to below average. In 2006, mathematics was identified as an area for improvement throughout the school and science in Key Stage 2. In 2007, writing was an area identified as needing improvement throughout the school and because of the school's focus on these areas standards

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Grade: 3

improved to average. Current work and school data indicates these standards are being strongly maintained, demonstrating the success of the school's work since 2006. Nevertheless, the school acknowledges that there is still more to be done to raise standards and accelerate achievement even further, particularly for pupils of higher ability, who do not always attain their highest possible levels. Pupils' progress is satisfactory overall. However, it varies because of inconsistencies in teaching and learning. For example, progress accelerates when teaching ensures tasks enable pupils to develop as independent learners. But progress slows when pupils are not encouraged to think more logically and independently, as a result they are sometimes too dependent upon their teachers and do not show enough initiative. This impacts on their personal development, which is satisfactory. However, some aspects of the pupils' personal development are good, such as

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Grade: 3

their adopting a healthy lifestyle. The curriculum is satisfactory. There are some good activities to extend learning in and beyond lessons and there has been a successful focus on improving provision for writing. There are also additional curriculum programmes for individuals and groups of pupils needing extra support. This has had considerable success for pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities: as a result their progress is good. However, pupils of higher ability do not always reach the higher levels of which they are capable. Satisfactory care, guidance and support are given to pupils and these aspects have improved considerably recently. For example, the learning mentor programme is encouraging those pupils who are in danger of suffering disaffection, to re-engage with their learning. A good feature is the pastoral care which pupils receive. But academic guidance for pupils lags behind and is

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Grade: 3

satisfactory. Pupils are not always aware what to do in order to improve their work. Attendance is now close to the national average. The school is increasing its links with parents to strengthen support for pupils. Pupils feel safe and talk positively about how to keep healthy. The headteacher's vision and determination is now seeing success. The school is making clear strides forward. The support from the governing body and from senior leaders throughout the school is playing an important role in this and there is good capacity for the school to improve further. Parents recognise the strengthening picture and overwhelmingly support the school. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Low Ash Primary School, 23 °24 January 2008

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Grade: 3

Children enter the Foundation Stage with skills that are typical for their age. They cope well with the transition from home and learn to respond well to simple rules. They are happy, settled and play well on their own and with others. Relationships between children and staff are strong and arrangements are well established to ensure the health and safety of children. Children make satisfactory progress, but this is uneven due to the variable quality of teaching. Progress speeds up considerably towards the end of this stage of learning. By the end of the Reception year, standards remain in line with national expectations for children of this age. Children demonstrate growing levels of independence by taking responsibility, for example, for registers, fruit and milk, and they enjoy such opportunities. Where teaching is good, activities are varied, well structured and clearly planned. Here learning is good and children make good

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Grade: 3

gains in the development of communication and number skills and knowledge. However, where teaching is less focused, structured activities are fewer and learning slows. Leadership and management are satisfactory.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Raise standards in writing throughout the school and in science at Key Stage 2, and ensure that the more able pupils are challenged to reach the levels which they are capable of. ■ Improve the quality of teaching and learning so that it is at least good in all classes.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve academic guidance for pupils so that they clearly know what to do to improve their work A small proportion of schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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Grade: 3

Achievement is satisfactory. In 2006, standards in both Key Stages 1 and 2 declined significantly to below average. The school's hard work has led to significant improvements in pupils' standards and progress. In 2007, results rose to average levels in both key stages. However, too few pupils reached the higher levels at the end of both key stages because some of their teaching was not sufficiently challenging. Writing remained the weakest area at Key Stage 1 and is still in need of development at Key stage 2. Raising standards in science in Key Stage 2 also remains an area for development. Currently, school data and pupils' work show that pupils are continuing to maintain average standards and make satisfactory progress. Statutory targets set for 2008 are challenging, but the tracking of pupils' work show that they are realistic. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make good progress, because

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Grade: 3

in-class and targeted support for them is effective. However, the more able pupils are not challenged sufficiently in lessons and their progress is more uneven.

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Grade: 3

Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is satisfactory. Pupils feel safe in school and there is a well established system of rewards and sanctions with which most pupils engage. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Low Ash Primary School, 23 °24 January 2008 Older pupils show pride in their responsibilities as 'playground buddies' and as peer mediators helping to look after pupils. Pupils feel able to voice their opinions and influence school life through the school council. Pupils take the opportunities to make choices about a healthy lifestyle including their engagement in physical activity and a good understanding of a healthy diet. They engage in a wide range of well organised activities such as additional sports, Spanish and booster classes. The school provides opportunities for older pupils to participate in residential visits, for example, to outdoor activity centres and most recently to the Tutenkhamun

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Grade: 3

exhibition in London, which have a direct impact on increasing pupils' confidence and self-esteem. Attendance is average. Behaviour is satisfactory, because a small minority of pupils do not behave as well as they could. This is often related to the quality of challenge and stimulation of activities in lessons. The development of pupils' skills for future economic well-being is satisfactory.

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Grade: 3

Teaching and learning is satisfactory, some teaching is outstanding. However, the quality of teaching varies throughout the school and, as a result, pupils' learning is uneven. In the best lessons, teaching ensures pupils are fully engaged in activities. They are given opportunities for collaboration, cooperation and independent work: there is a variety of tasks to enable all pupils to succeed. In these lessons teaching encourages pupils to be independent learners and to think logically. As a result, there is a genuine buzz from pupils who exude enthusiasm for learning: their good behaviour reflects this. In a large proportion of lessons, however, teaching is too directed and learning does not feature sufficiently at the centre of the activities. Tasks have a tendency to be more worksheet driven, with little challenge or work tailored to pupils' individual learning needs. As a result, the pace of learning slows.

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Grade: 3

Although the school has a good marking policy in place it is not consistently implemented. Day-to-day marking does not always indicate to pupils what is needed for their work to improve.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum meets statutory requirements. The emphasis on literacy and numeracy over the last year is helping pupils' progress in these subjects. Staff are now looking towards providing more opportunities for pupils to write at length across other subjects. It is too soon to see the impact of this in pupils' standards. The curriculum is developing to provide greater links between the learning in different subjects. There is some good practice in this respect but this is not yet firmly established in the school. The teaching of computer skills has improved since the last inspection. The curriculum leader for information and communication technology (ICT) has good subject knowledge and is piloting an initiative aimed at using ICT to support learning. The programme for developing pupils' ICT skills across the curriculum is satisfactory. The Arts Week Project provided opportunities for all learners to engage in creative work based around

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Grade: 3

rainforest studies. Another good example of an enriched curriculum is the use of outside visitors who enhance the pupils' learning. The school provides a good range of extra-curricular activities which are well attended. In particular, there is a wide variety of sports clubs, enhancing the provision for physical education. There are a number of pupils playing musical instruments and 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Low Ash Primary School, 23 °24 January 2008 pupils are given opportunities to perform in their annual musicals. This supports their enjoyment of school and their widening cultural and social development.

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Grade: 3

The care, support and guidance provided are satisfactory. Procedures for child protection and other statutory documents are fully in place ensuring that matters of health and safety are well organised and managed. There is good provision of pastoral support. Adults in the school know the pupils well, listen to their worries and always have their best interests at heart. A typical comment from a parent pointed out that the school, 'has helped both me and my child through a very difficult year'. In particular, the learning mentor programme is having a positive effect on improving the behaviour and attitudes to learning of the small minority of pupils who sometimes find it difficult to conform in lessons. Arrangements for checking attainment and tracking of academic progress are satisfactory but not all staff use these consistently. As a result, their use is limited in guiding pupils' learning. The setting of learning targets for pupils

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Grade: 3

is in an embryonic stage and only a minority of books show that marking provides a genuine dialogue between teacher and pupil. As a result, this limits pupils understanding of how they might improve their work. Support for pupils with specific learning difficulties and/or disabilities is good and these pupils make good progress.

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Grade: 3

Although leadership and management are satisfactory overall, there are some good elements. The headteacher has successfully created a renewed sense of commitment and clarity of focus. There is a clear sense of urgency about the pace of change and this is complemented by an ambitious but realistic plan of action. She is well supported by the deputy headteacher and assistant headteacher and together they have created thorough systems to keep pupils' progress under scrutiny. The headteacher and senior leaders are very aware of how these recently refined tracking procedures can bring about earlier and more effective intervention, to pinpoint where individual pupils may not be achieving as well as they should. They are carefully monitoring the use of these and their effectiveness on raising achievement. Other leaders are responding enthusiastically to the increased opportunities to develop their leadership and management

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Grade: 3

skills. Self-evaluation involves middle as well as senior leaders and provides a good and accurate diagnosis of the school's strengths and weaknesses. The strategies to improve teaching and learning are showing some success, but have not yet had sufficient time to embed across the whole school. Nevertheless, the school is now well placed to build on its recent successes and raise standards even further. Governors are very supportive and are ambitious for the future of the school. They are very knowledgeable about the school and offer it strong but challenging support. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Low Ash Primary School, 23 °24 January 2008 .

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Low Ash Primary School, 23 °24 January 2008

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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? Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 3 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

3 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?

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

3 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: Low Ash Primary School, 23 °24 January 2008

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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 3 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 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: Low Ash Primary School, 23 °24 January 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you all very much for your friendliness and help when we visited your school recently. We enjoyed our visit very much and we appreciated the help we received from the school council. Your school provides you with a satisfactory education and is improving. You all receive good levels of care and support from your teachers and other adults and this helps you to enjoy school life and keeps you safe. We are pleased how well many of you behaved in class and around the school and how polite you were in opening doors for visitors and helping younger pupils in the playground. In some lessons, you are doing particularly well in your work and teachers and other adults are good at helping you learn. There are some good things about the teaching in other classes too. Some of you are doing well in your learning and making good progress. The progress that you are making and the standards you reach are satisfactory. However, there

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

are some things we think your school could improve. We have asked the school to continue to help you all to improve your writing, and, if you are in Years 3 to 6, to help with your science as well. For those of you who find learning easier than others, we have asked the school to make sure you have more challenging work. Of course, your school wants you to improve too. It will make sure that you are given work that helps you all learn more rapidly. We have asked all teachers to make lessons, 'fun, even though you are learning hard things', just like you told us, when you described your best lessons. At first, some things may be a little harder than before. But, we are sure that if you do all that the teachers ask, you will learn even more and achieve well in all that you do. All the people in the school such as the governors, the headteacher, the teachers and the classroom helpers are keen to help you all to do even better. They have got lots of information

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

about how you are doing. We have asked that all staff use this information to help you understand what you need to do to improve your work. We think they will do this very well. We wish you well for the future. 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Low Ash Primary School, 23 °24 January 2008

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