Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0300 123 1231 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mr J Dunford Headteacher Deighton Gates Primary School Deighton Road Wetherby West Yorkshire LS22 7XL

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Ofsted 2009-10 subject survey inspection programme: mathematics

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of the staff and pupils, during my visit on 24 March 2010 to look at work in mathematics.

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Ofsted 2009-10 subject survey inspection programme: mathematics

As outlined in our initial letter, as well as looking at key areas of the subject, the visit had a particular focus on how well the curriculum secures progression in mathematical understanding for every pupil.

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Ofsted 2009-10 subject survey inspection programme: mathematics

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text.

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Ofsted 2009-10 subject survey inspection programme: mathematics

The evidence used to inform the judgements included interviews with staff and pupils, scrutiny of relevant documentation, analysis of pupils’ work and observation of two lessons and three part-lessons.

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Ofsted 2009-10 subject survey inspection programme: mathematics

The overall effectiveness of mathematics is satisfactory.

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Achievement in mathematics

Achievement in mathematics is satisfactory.

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Achievement in mathematics

 Children are currently entering Reception with knowledge and skills that are typical for their age. By the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, attainment is above average. Children make good progress, particularly in calculations and in their understanding of shape, space and measures.  Pupils’ learning and progress are satisfactory in Key Stages 1 and 2 and their attainment by the end of Years 2 and 6 is usually above average. Currently, Year 2 pupils are working at average levels and Year 6 pupils are working at above average levels.  In the past, girls have outperformed boys. Improvements in teaching and the curriculum are now enabling boys to perform as well as girls.  The learning and progress of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are improving as a result of good support and carefully tailored activities. More able pupils make satisfactory progress overall but not all of

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Achievement in mathematics

them fulfil their potential.  Pupils’ understanding develops equally alongside their knowledge and skills. However, they are not as proficient in using and applying their knowledge and skills to solve mathematical problems.  Pupils have good attitudes to learning and behave well in lessons. They work well independently and cooperatively and understand that making mistakes is part of the learning process.

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Quality of teaching of mathematics

The quality of teaching of mathematics is satisfactory.

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Quality of teaching of mathematics

 Teachers make effective use of mathematical equipment and practical activities, which help to promote pupils’ conceptual understanding.  Teachers make frequent checks on pupils’ learning in lessons to ensure that misconceptions are identified and remedied. Where teaching is most successful, pupils experiencing similar difficulties are brought together for more intensive teaching, which helps to clarify their understanding.  The learning of more able pupils is sometimes held back by having to complete less demanding textbook examples before moving on to more challenging activities.  Errors in pupils’ work are usually identified and corrected but the next steps towards improvement are sometimes missed when pupils’ work is marked. Limited use is made of individual targets. This makes it harder for pupils to know what they need to do to improve.

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Quality of the mathematics curriculum

The quality of the mathematics curriculum is satisfactory.

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Quality of the mathematics curriculum

 The renewed framework has been introduced successfully. Teachers make effective use of guidance on how to introduce new topics meaningfully and develop pupils’ calculation skills effectively.  The curriculum is more effectively adapted to cater to the needs of pupils who find learning difficult than it is to extend the learning of able and gifted pupils.  Pupils do not have enough opportunities to use and apply their knowledge and skills to solve mathematical problems. The school is at an early stage of developing mathematics across the curriculum.  The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum provides rich opportunities for children to develop their understanding of number and shape. Using computers, working outdoors and explaining their ideas to others are helping to improve their reasoning and problem-solving skills.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management of mathematics

The effectiveness of the leadership and management of mathematics is satisfactory.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management of mathematics

 Leaders complete honest self-evaluation, are aware of the strengths and weaknesses and are committed to improvement.  Your involvement, as headteacher, in analysing data and checking the quality of teaching, makes an important contribution to improvement.  Checking the work in pupils’ books is not done sufficiently thoroughly to evaluate the impact of using textbooks and eliminate inconsistencies in marking, levels of challenge and the degree of problem-solving undertaken.  Monitoring pupils’ progress, identifying those whose learning has faltered and providing additional support and tuition, are helping to raise achievement.

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mathematical understanding for every pupil

 Good curriculum provision and planning enable children to make a smooth transition from the Early Years Foundation Stage to Year 1.  Leaders are helping to increase the rate of pupils’ progress in the autumn term by encouraging teachers to use assessments of pupils’ earlier learning rather than spending unnecessary time on revision.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 ensuring that sufficient opportunities are provided in all classes for pupils to improve their capacity to use and apply their knowledge and skills to solve mathematical problems  giving more able pupils access to demanding tasks from the outset to accelerate their learning  making greater use of individual targets and marking to help pupils to know what they need to do to improve  strengthening the checking of work in pupils’ books to eliminate inconsistencies in teaching and learning.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop mathematics in the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

As we explained previously, a copy of this letter will be sent to your local authority and will be published on the Ofsted website. It will also be available to the team for your next institutional inspection. Yours sincerely

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