Cross Lane Primary and Nursery School

Cross Lane Primary and Nursery School Inspection report

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107533 Unique Reference Number Calderdale Local Authority 324586 Inspection number 16–17 March 2009 Inspection dates Terry McDermott Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare, managed by the governing body, was inspected under section 49 of the Childcare Act 2006.

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Primary Type of school Community School category 3–11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 334 School (total) 0 Government funded early education provision for children aged 3 to the end of the EYFS 0 Childcare provision for children aged 0 to 3 years The governing body Appropriate authority Mr A Woolard Chair Mr I Pilkington Headteacher 12 June 2006 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection Cross Lane School address Elland West Yorkshire HX5 0LP

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3–11 Age group 16–17 March 2009 Inspection dates 324586 Inspection number 01422 372614 Telephone number 01422 373847 Fax number

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3–11 Age group 16–17 March 2009 Inspection dates 324586 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. 3 of 12 Inspection Report: Cross Lane Primary and Nursery School, 16–17 March 2009

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This larger than average school serves a mixed area close to the centre of Elland. It has an integral Early Years Foundation Stage comprising Nursery and Reception classes. The proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals; from minority ethnic groups; who do not speak English at home; or with a statement of special educational needs, are all below average. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is above average. The school holds the Healthy Schools Award, Activemark, and the Investors in People Award.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 4 of 12 Inspection Report: Cross Lane Primary and Nursery School, 16–17 March 2009

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory and improving school. Its rate of progress in recent years has been significantly hindered by staff illnesses and the consequent disruptions to teaching. The headteacher has raised the morale of the staff team by encouraging them to try out new ways of working and has overseen the introduction of a new curriculum which is better suited to meeting the needs of pupils presently in the school. Pupils' good personal development and well-being are key factors in making the school a peaceful and happy place. The school pays close attention, through assemblies, active role-modelling, and regular personal, social and health education lessons, to ensuring that pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils develop their self-confidence well and are prepared to voice their thoughts and ideas, when given the opportunity, in and out of lessons. Young children settle into school well and quickly take on

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Grade: 3

board the spirit of tolerance and respect which runs through every aspect of the school's work. Pupils' achievement, while satisfactory overall, is not good enough to raise standards throughout the school. Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills that are broadly typical for their age. The personal and social skills of many are below expectations and some have difficulty working and playing together. These areas are usually successfully addressed, so that children's skills on entry to Year 1 are broadly as expected, and their personal relationships are good. Pupils make steady progress through the school and leave at the end of Year 6 reaching the level expected for their age. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. The best teaching encourages pupils to work independently and test out their own ideas. Short, precise targets for improvement are set both verbally and in writing, and these keep pupils on track. In such lessons, pupils gain a

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Grade: 3

clear picture of what they need to do to get better. They learn quickly and make good progress. In some other lessons pupils spend too much time listening to explanations of what they are going to do, rather than being encouraged to get on with things quickly and become actively involved. Time for learning is not used to best effect and progress inevitably slows. The curriculum is good. It is well planned to ensure that pupils in mixed-age classes do not repeat work needlessly. Pupils say they like the practical lessons and they are keen to develop their independent learning skills. The school is increasing this type of work as it links subjects together. This allows pupils to use their skills in different circumstances. Extra-curricular events and activities, such as the successful choir and cross-country running clubs, are well attended by many pupils. Good quality care, guidance and support means that staff know pupils well and are trusted by

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Grade: 3

them. Pupils' health and well-being are at the centre of the school's work. Good links with professional and other agencies are well developed and used when necessary. The school's reliable tracking system allows adults quickly to target support where it is most needed. Most parents strongly support the work of the school, though some report that the school does not take enough account of their views. Leadership and management are satisfactory. Leaders have worked hard to maintain the forward momentum of the school during recent difficult times. The school usually reaches its agreed statutory targets, but its self-evaluation is too optimistic because the school does not monitor with sufficient rigour the progress pupils are actually making. Nonetheless, because of the 5 of 12 Inspection Report: Cross Lane Primary and Nursery School, 16–17 March 2009 many successful developments made in recent years, carried through despite staffing and other

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Grade: 3

disruptions, the school has good capacity to make further improvements.

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Grade: 3

Children enter the Nursery with skills and understanding broadly at the level expected for their age, though there can be wide variations from one year to the next. In response to the satisfactory provision they make satisfactory progress and normally leave Reception class with skills, knowledge and understanding that match national age-related expectations. Resources are good, particularly in the outdoor provision. Children find this area especially stimulating and this helps them learn to work and play together successfully outside the classroom. Children make good progress in their personal, social and emotional development because their well-being is a strong focus among all adults. This is shown by how well adults and children get on and by the contented way in which they interact. Most children talk with clarity and confidence, expressing a range of views about their likes, dislikes and preferences. Almost all children say

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Grade: 3

they enjoy coming to school. The progress children make in developing their other skills is variable because the quality of teaching is inconsistent. Staffing turbulence has impaired the effectiveness of the unit. Satisfactory leadership has ensured that the planning of work is shared and that children are grouped together thoughtfully. However, too much teaching lacks pace and challenge and leaders have not monitored the quality of teaching with sufficient rigour.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Raise standards and improve achievement throughout the school, particularly in the Early Years Foundation Stage and in Key Stage 1. ■ Improve the consistency of teaching and learning to involve pupils of all ages more quickly in active learning. ■ Ensure that leaders at all levels check more closely the learning taking place in lessons.

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What the school should do to improve further

A small proportion of the 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. Pupils enter Year 1 with broadly average skills and standards remain broadly average at the end of Year 2, because the quality of teaching is satisfactory. In the 2007 national tests at the end of Year 6, pupils reached broadly average standards and had made satisfactory progress. The provisional results for 2008 show that standards were a little higher than in the previous year and pupils had continued to make satisfactory progress when considering their starting points. Though achievement in many lessons for pupils in Years 4 to 6 is good, pupils are making only satisfactory progress overall and working at average standards because of a legacy of underachievement and the variable quality of learning has not been tackled. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make satisfactory progress towards their targets because of the dedicated individual support they receive.

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Grade: 3

6 of 12 Inspection Report: Cross Lane Primary and Nursery School, 16–17 March 2009

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Grade: 2

Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good because they respond well to the strong, consistent messages of trust, tolerance and respect set out by all adults. These messages are underpinned in reflective and inclusive assemblies in which pupils are active participants. Behaviour in lessons and around the school is good. Because of this, pupils say they feel safe in school and have every confidence in staff, 'to sort any situations out'. Pupils say they enjoy coming to school because, 'you know you are going to have a fun day and learn a lot'. They show particular enthusiasm for music, information and communication technology (ICT), sport and mathematics. Girls in their computer club enjoy demonstrating their research skills to put together, for example, an agony aunt column. Pupils are proud of their achievements in sport and in singing, where they have created a jingle for local radio. Attendance is broadly

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Grade: 2

average and has improved since the previous inspection. Pupils understand how to keep healthy. Many bring fruit for their break-times, and participation in the wide range of out of school sport is high, by both boys and girls. Pupils choose which charities they will generously support. They have a good understanding of how to contribute to their own community. The Simpsons Merit Scheme', devised by the pupils in conjunction with staff, allows pupils to gain merit points for, 'anything over and above the call of duty'. They leave Year 6 as sensible and mature pupils, satisfactorily prepared with their average basic skills for the next stage of their education.

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Grade: 3

All teachers and teaching assistants have good relationships with pupils and manage their behaviour well. In the best lessons teachers set clear learning objectives and make good use of learning resources, such as laptop computers, to enhance learning. They challenge pupils to think for themselves and trust them to work independently to develop their ideas. In these lessons pupils learn quickly and make good progress. This is because teachers set work that is well matched to the different ages and abilities of the pupils. This grabs pupils' interest, ensures their concentration is sustained and results in good progress. In too many lessons pupils sit listening for too long, waiting patiently as teachers explain what they will soon be learning. Valuable time is lost because pupils are not involved in learning quickly enough. In these lessons, the slow pace leads to learning that is satisfactory.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is carefully planned to ensure that pupils in mixed-age classes do not repeat the same areas of learning. Emphasis is placed on developing pupils' skills in English, mathematics and ICT, with a special focus on engaging boys' interest in writing. The daily focus on personal, social and emotional aspects of learning has had an effective impact on pupils' attitudes to work, their behaviour and supports their personal development well. Visitors provide an extra dimension and enjoyment to learning but the school still makes few visits to broaden pupils' experiences of different faiths and cultures. The school has begun to link subjects together, so that skills learned in one subject can be practised and developed in another. For example, the long established woodland within the school's grounds is already being used effectively to 7 of 12 Inspection Report: Cross Lane Primary and Nursery School, 16–17 March 2009

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Grade: 2

support work in literacy, science, art, and numeracy, through single cross-curricular topics. This development, although well established, has yet to show its full impact on standards.

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Grade: 2

Child protection procedures and arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet current requirements. Reliable systems are in place to ensure pupils' safety, both in school and when they make visits. Adults know the pupils well and have a strong commitment to their pastoral care and well being. Good caring relationships have created an environment in which pupils flourish personally. A system to track pupils' pastoral progress is being developed to improve this strong provision even further. The school has well organised and effective systems to measure and check pupils' academic progress throughout school. Though the information generated is accurate and reliable, it is not always used to its best possible effect in all lessons. Individual and group targets in literacy and numeracy are understood by pupils, who know what it is they need to do to improve their work

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Grade: 3

The headteacher is well supported by middle leaders who, together, have high aspirations for future improvement. Although the rate of improvement has been hampered in the past by unavoidable staffing upheavals, several well-founded initiatives have recently been implemented to improve the rate at which pupils learn. These include: a common policy for marking pupils' work; the use of assessment procedures which reliably measure what pupils know and can do; and the setting of short-term targets for individual pupils. The effects of these improvements have yet to show in higher standards although the achievement of some pupils, particularly higher up the school, is beginning to strengthen. In this very inclusive and welcoming school, all adults tackle discrimination head on and ensure that every pupil has an equal opportunity to succeed. The school has made satisfactory provision for community cohesion. Its focus has

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Grade: 3

been on creating a good environment for learning internally, and through improving links with parents, and to the community it serves. Links throughout the United Kingdom and to the wider world are planned to start soon. Governance is satisfactory. Some members are well informed and actively support the school, willingly shouldering the significant governing body responsibilities. However, they have not challenged the school enough about the standards pupils reach, nor have leaders been rigorous enough when checking how well pupils are learning from day-to day. The school has addressed the issues raised at the last inspection. It has also: improved the learning environment for pupils; improved behaviour significantly; and ensured that attendance is now consistently around the national average. Capacity for further improvement is good. 8 of 12 Inspection Report: Cross Lane Primary and Nursery School, 16–17 March 2009

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 9 of 12 Inspection Report: Cross Lane Primary and Nursery School, 16–17 March 2009

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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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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? 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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EYFS?

3 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? How good are the overall personal development and well-being of the children in the EYFS? 3 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 2 How effectively is the welfare of children in the EYFS promoted? 3 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed?

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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 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make progress

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Achievement and standards

1 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. 10 of 12 Inspection Report: Cross Lane Primary and Nursery School, 16–17 March 2009

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learners?

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

How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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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 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 3 How well does the school contribute to community cohesion? 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? 11 of 12 Inspection Report: Cross Lane Primary and Nursery School, 16–17 March 2009

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for making the inspection team so welcome when we inspected your school recently. It was a pleasure to see so many smiling faces. I would like to thank you for talking to us about the work you do and for telling us what you think about your school. I was particularly impressed with the excellent singing of the choir at practice after school. We found that your school provides a satisfactory education for you. We know you enjoy coming to school because you told us so and because we could see it for ourselves in your smiling faces. We believe that everyone in school takes good care of you and makes sure that you are safe, happy and considerate of each other. You told us that there is always someone there to help when needed. We watched you all behave very well in lessons and around school, but we think that you could learn more than you do now. Indeed, some of you told us that you found some

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

lessons went too slowly. We found that the school could do some things better and I am therefore asking the teachers to:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ improve the levels you reach, and the speed at which you reach them, from when you join the Nursery to when you leave school at the end of Year 6 ■ get lessons off to a faster start and involve all of you more quickly in the learning activities

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ check more closely that you are learning well in more lessons than at present.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Please help your teachers to do this by continuing to be the polite and friendly children you already are. 12 of 12 Inspection Report: Cross Lane Primary and Nursery School, 16–17 March 2009

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