Dimple Well Infant School and Nursery

Ossett Dimple Well Infant School Inspection report

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108171 Unique Reference Number Wakefield Local Authority 324718 Inspection number 26–27 January 2009 Inspection dates Derek Pattinson 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 Foundation School category 3–7 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 164 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 Brian Fozard Chair Mrs Helen Williams Headteacher 8 May 2006 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection Healey Road School address Ossett West Yorkshire WF5 8LB 01924 303035 Telephone number 01924 303035 Fax number

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3–7 Age group 26–27 January 2009 Inspection dates 324718 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. 2 of 11 Inspection Report: Ossett Dimple Well Infant School, 26–27 January 2009

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This is a smaller than average infant school. It serves an area of broadly typical social and economic circumstances. Most children are White British and live in the immediate area. The proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals and from minority ethnic groups are much lower than found nationally. The proportions of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and who are learning English as an additional language are well below average. The Early Years Foundation Stage consists of a Nursery and Reception class. Awards achieved by the school include the Basic Skills Quality Mark, the Activemark, and the Healthy Schools Award. The school has recently become part of Ossett Education Community Trust and is an Investor in People. New staff, including the headteacher and deputy headteacher, have been appointed since the last inspection.

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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: Ossett Dimple Well Infant School, 26–27 January 2009

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Grade: 1

Dimple Well Infants is an outstanding school which gives its pupils an excellent all-round education. Parents think highly of the school and appreciate all that it provides. One parent accurately writes, 'Dimple Well is a wonderful school which provides excellent learning opportunities in a child-centred environment.' Children undoubtedly thrive in its safe, and very kind, caring and inclusive atmosphere. The school excels in successfully enabling children to achieve very well academically and personally. Staff, governors, parents and pupils rightly feel proud of this impressive school. The outstanding leadership and management are extremely well organised. The headteacher sets the highest possible aspirations for the school and its children. Skilled leadership ensures a strong team spirit and a very clear focus on school improvement. As a result, the school has very effectively built on the successes of the last inspection, despite staff changes and financial

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Grade: 1

constraint. This highly effective school provides excellent value for money and demonstrates an outstanding capacity for improvement. The headteacher is increasing levels of accountability and responsibility among staff. Excellent induction and training ensures that new staff quickly become very effective so that pupils' outstanding attainment and achievement is maintained. Subject leaders are improving their skills and abilities to monitor all aspects of their subject. A start has been made in applying their knowledge, although there is more to be done to ensure that they have precise information about strengths and weaknesses. Pupils' achievement is outstanding. Children start school with skills, knowledge and understanding that are broadly average. By the time they leave at Year 2, standards are well above average and have been so for the last five years. They are high in mathematics and reading, and especially so in writing. The school's rigorous tracking reveals that standards are

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Grade: 1

likely to rise further this year. The 'strong emphasis on fun and enjoyment in learning in the nursery', as one parent writes, provides children with an impressive start to their school life. This exceptional start is built on very well in Years 1 and 2. Children of all abilities make remarkable progress because teaching is of a high quality and accurate assessment enables teachers to match work very well to children's precise needs. The quality of care, guidance and support is outstanding. All groups, including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, those who have English as an additional language and those with special talents, are very well supported. As a result, children excel in their personal development and well-being. Relationships are excellent at all levels. Children are extremely confident, polite, friendly and very keen to do their best. Provision for spiritual, moral, social

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Grade: 1

and cultural development is very good indeed and lies at the heart of the school's work. Children know very well the importance of a healthy and safe lifestyle. They thoroughly enjoy their lessons, which help to explain the well above average attendance. Children make an important contribution to school life, such as, by serving on the school council. There are very good arrangements for guiding children on their academic performance. The school is a very cohesive community, and reflects one parent's comment that 'it is like one big happy family'. The good curriculum as reflected in a host of external awards is enriched with clubs, visits and visitors, which contributes to children's learning and enjoyment. However, the use of first-hand experiences through investigative and practical work is not as strong as other aspects of learning so that the curriculum does not always excite pupils' imagination and interest.

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Grade: 1

4 of 11 Inspection Report: Ossett Dimple Well Infant School, 26–27 January 2009 The school makes very effective use of its resources including the many different skills of its workforce. It seeks and values the many people and agencies who contribute to children's well-being. The recently appointed deputy headteacher is improving further the high quality teaching and learning. The governing body is rapidly developing skills to help it become even more effective.

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Grade: 1

The Early Years Foundation Stage is very successful in laying down secure foundations for learning. Children's skills and understanding are mostly at the expected level for their age when they start school, although often lower in reading, writing and listening. Children achieve very well, attaining levels that are higher, and sometimes much higher, than expected nationally when they enter Year 1. Most teaching is outstanding. Teachers and other adults forge excellent relationships with children and give them much encouragement and praise. The good leadership ensures that all have high expectations of children. Activities are very well organised and the promotion of children's independence is a high priority. All adults are very good role models. As a result of these strengths, children develop very good social skills, very positive attitudes, much independence and learn to listen well and speak clearly and confidently. Children behave

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Grade: 1

exceptionally well. All children, including new children who have settled very quickly into established routines, are happy to explore the interesting range of well planned activities on offer. Teachers skilfully ensure that there is a very good balance between activities organised by them and those chosen by children. Despite space limitations for Reception Year children, outside areas contribute very well to children's learning. The classroom environments, are good, however, in the Nursery they do not always provide a high enough level of stimulation to help inspire children, encourage them to talk more about their surroundings and enhance their self-esteem. Teamwork among staff is strong and all are involved in planning interesting activities. A wide range of challenging and stimulating tasks enable children to engage in creative play, for example, role play in the florists' shop where they consolidate basic skills.

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Grade: 1

Good systems are established to record the achievements of each child and to track their progress.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure subject leaders monitor their subjects rigorously and regularly to enable them to make informed judgements about what works well and what needs improving. ■ Provide more practical and 'real life' experiences within the curriculum to further increase children's levels of motivation and enjoyment.

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Grade: 1

Achievement for all groups of pupils, including those with gifts and talents, those learning English as an additional language and those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, is outstanding. Reliable and accurate assessments show that children make rapid progress throughout the school. By age seven, children's attainment is consistently high in mathematics and reading, and is particularly strong in writing. This has been the case for a number of years with the gap between school and national data slowly widening since 2006. Tracking information reveals that standards for the present Year 2 are also likely to be high. Challenging targets are 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Ossett Dimple Well Infant School, 26–27 January 2009 rigorously pursued and progress towards their achievement regularly evaluated, which contributes to the high standards attained.

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Grade: 1

Pupils' first-rate personal development is at the heart of the school's work and is evident in the excellent behaviour of the children and their sensible and remarkably mature attitudes to work that lead to high achievement. The provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent. Very effective assemblies for example, give children clear guidance on how to behave thoughtfully and how to appreciate the differences between people. The very well organised school council gives children an important say in how their school is run. Members take their duties very seriously and are proud of the things the council has initiated, such as raising funds to buy school equipment. Regular opportunities for children to discuss important issues enable them to develop social skills very well. Children undertake a wide range of jobs around school that gives them a sense of responsibility and helps to promote their

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Grade: 1

self-esteem and they support local and national charities. Children love coming to school and relish all that is on offer. They are confident that no one is bullied and know what to do if it should occur. Their awareness of how to stay safe and healthy is first-rate. Pupils' well above average skills ensure that they are very well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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Grade: 1

Excellent relationships, highly effective management strategies and regular use of praise and encouragement are consistent features of all lessons. As a result, teachers make an important contribution to children's outstanding learning and the high standards they attain. 'Staff are always approachable and helpful and have just the right amounts of discipline and compassion', is a typical parental comment. Classrooms are often lively and exciting places where children are well motivated and inspired to learn. Teachers share clearly what they want children to learn so that all groups know exactly what they must do to succeed. Teachers use questions very well to develop and check understanding, provoke thought and encourage children to evaluate the quality of their work. All children, particularly those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, benefit from the very good support provided by teaching assistants and

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Grade: 1

other adults. Very effective procedures to track children's progress underpin lesson planning and give staff the necessary information to match work carefully to pupils' abilities. For example, language sessions are well organised and briskly paced to enable all to make very good progress.

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Grade: 2

The good curriculum contributes well to the enjoyment of the children, their high achievement and outstanding personal development. This is because the development of important skills, such as, in English and mathematics, is given strong emphasis. For example, children are taught through role play to speak in a range of situations to establish confidence in tackling writing and children are encouraged to write in other subjects, such as in history. Teachers make effective links between subjects to add variety and interest. However, investigative and practical work based on first-hand experiences has too low a profile. A good range of well attended 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Ossett Dimple Well Infant School, 26–27 January 2009 after-school clubs, such as music, gymnastics and dance help extend learning. Information and communication technology (ICT) is a real strength and popular with children. Themed events,

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Grade: 2

such as a 'Cultural Awareness Week', visits and visitors help broaden children's horizons and contribute well to learning.

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Grade: 1

Outstanding pastoral care underpins the work of the school and ensures that children are very well cared for in a safe and happy environment. Child protection, health and safety procedures and systems for safeguarding pupils all meet current requirements. The exemplary provision for children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, children with English as an additional language and those with special talents ensures that any problems are identified quickly so that they can be rapidly overcome. Well qualified teaching assistants provide very good support to small groups, which contribute to the high standards. As a result, all children, whatever their ability or background, make very good progress. Guidance to children about their academic performance is very good and embedded in the school's work. All have targets in literacy and numeracy, which children discuss enthusiastically and explain how they tick off each one as it is achieved. Teachers' marking, incorporating

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Grade: 1

'yippee yellow' and 'growing green' comments, is of a consistently very good quality and informs children what they are doing well and how they can improve their work.

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Grade: 1

Leadership and management are outstanding and are key factors in the school's continued success. As a result, the significant strengths when the school was last inspected have been further consolidated. The momentum of school improvement has been successfully maintained, despite changes of staff and budget restrictions. The headteacher, with good support from staff, is the driving force in raising standards. Shared responsibility and accountability are steadily developing but have yet to ensure that subject leaders make maximum impact to help drive up standards. Data are analysed thoroughly and progress carefully tracked so that all children make the best progress possible. The school has an accurate view of its performance. Priorities for development are rigorously pursued and are well chosen to build on the school's successes. Lesson monitoring focuses clearly on learning as well as teaching so that it is of

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Grade: 1

maximum benefit to teachers. This is a school that shows no sense of complacency. Morale is high and teamwork is strong. For example, all staff play a developing role in monitoring the school's work and performance. The promotion of community cohesion is good. It has a high profile and underpins the work of the school. Leadership is further enhanced by the governors who are supportive yet increasingly challenging. Links with Ossett Education Community Trust are embryonic with the impact of this new venture yet to be realised. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Ossett Dimple Well Infant School, 26–27 January 2009 .

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Grade: 1

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Ossett Dimple Well Infant School, 26–27 January 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? 1 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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EYFS?

1 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? How good are the overall personal development and well-being of the children in the EYFS? 1 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 1 How effectively is the welfare of children in the EYFS promoted? 2 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed?

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Achievement and standards

1 How well do learners achieve? 1 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 1 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. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Ossett Dimple Well Infant School, 26–27 January 2009

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learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners enjoy their education 1 The attendance of learners 1 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? 1 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 1 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 1 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 1 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 2 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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Ossett Dimple Well Infant School, 26–27 January 2009

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Once upon a time, Monday and Tuesday to be exact, I inspected your school. I judge that you go to an outstanding school, which is much better than good! Your mums, dads and carers sent messages to tell me that you go to a wonderful school, and they are right! Here are some of the things that are outstanding about your school. I am using 'yippee yellow' and 'growing green' comments because you know what this means from your teacher's marking of your work. 'Yippee Yellow'

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You all make very good progress and reach high standards by the time you leave, especially with your writing. ■ You are very friendly and the staff take very good care of you so that you feel safe and happy. ■ You all work very hard, have good attitudes to school and behave very well.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You know very well how important it is to stay healthy and keep safe.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ All adults make sure that everyone is treated the same and is able to do their best.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your headteacher knows just what to do to make things even better for you.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

'Growing green' I have asked the school to:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ make sure that leaders of subjects like English, mathematics, science, and information and communication technology know what to do to make things better by checking often on how things are going so that you can reach even higher standards ■ make sure that your learning is even more exciting by organising more investigations and problems for you to solve so that you enjoy school even more than you do now! 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Ossett Dimple Well Infant School, 26–27 January 2009

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