Bardsey Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Bardsey Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 1 December 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in February 2013. This school continues to be good.

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have developed a happy and nurturing environment in which everyone is welcome and everyone is included. Pupils and parents alike say that it is 'like a family'.

The school sits very much at the heart of the community, investing heavil...y in experiences to enrich pupils' learning. For example, pupils appreciate opportunities such as building a life-size replica of an Iron Age roundhouse in the school grounds and investigating priest holes in old buildings in the village. Pupils confirm that they enjoy coming to school, that lessons are interesting and that they learn a great deal from these additional experiences.

The vast majority of parents and carers are full of praise for the dedication of you and your team in providing this diverse and exciting curriculum. The school responded effectively to the points for improvement from the previous inspection. You have maintained the good quality of teaching and you have greatly improved the way in which mathematics is taught in the school.

Through the new leadership of mathematics and comprehensive training, you have ensured that a new scheme has been embedded rapidly. This has led to improvements in pupils' skills in arithmetic, as well as developing their ability to express their reasoning both orally and in writing. However, at times, the most able pupils are not given enough opportunities to challenge themselves further and work at greater depth.

Governors are effective in their role. They are knowledgeable about school priorities and progress made towards them. Your school improvement plan accurately identifies aspects of teaching and learning that can be improved.

Teachers are actively engaged in implementing the actions identified in the plan, and these improvements are raising pupils' achievement across the school. However, the school recognises that there is still work to be done in raising the achievement of the most able pupils. Safeguarding is effective.

The leadership team ensures that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that records are detailed and of high quality. The record of checks on staff meets statutory requirements and is fully compliant. You and your staff recognise when pupils and their families need extra support.

You keep detailed and useful records of your work in this area, showing your timely responses. You provide a channel of communication for families and signpost support from external agencies when necessary. Pupils told me that they feel safe at school.

They are aware of different types of bullying and know how to stay safe online. Furthermore, pupils and parents believe that bullying is rare, but if it does happen, staff act quickly to sort it out. Inspection findings ? Children get off to a strong start.

Activities in the early years are varied and exciting so that they encourage children's independence and challenge their thinking. During the inspection, pupils were enthralled in investigating large footprints and crumbs which had been left in their classroom. Pupils could confidently articulate what was happening and justify their ideas about where the footprints had come from.

The proportion of children achieving a good level of development by the end of the early years has improved over the last three years and has remained above the national average. However, the number of children exceeding the early learning goals remains low. ? The proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check has improved since the previous inspection and has been above the national average for the last two years.

• By the end of key stage 1, pupils' outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics at the expected standard remain above or close to the national average. However, the proportion of pupils achieving beyond the expected standard is below the national average. By the end of key stage 2, pupils' outcomes in reading and mathematics are improving; however, the proportion of pupils achieving the higher standard is, again, low.

• Visits to lessons and scrutiny of work in pupils' books demonstrate that a wide range of exciting writing opportunities are available across the curriculum. Leaders have explored different ways to motivate pupils to write, and this has resulted in pupils saying that they enjoy writing activities because 'we write about all sorts of interesting things'. You and your English leader are fully aware that progress in writing is weaker than in other subjects.

You have already taken action to address this issue. For example, you work closely with the Wharfe Valley Learning Partnership to share good practice and assess pupils' writing. However, you recognise that pupils' workbooks show that there are few opportunities for pupils to write at length and develop their writing style and stamina.

• I was also keen to explore with you and your leaders the work that has been done to develop the wider curriculum. New subject teams have been established within the school. Together, the subject team leaders display energy and confidence in carrying out their roles.

They provide valuable support in helping you monitor the quality of teaching and outcomes but recognise that more work is to be done in supporting teachers in assessing subjects other than English and mathematics, including science. They enthusiastically endorse the collaborative processes you have introduced to share and enhance good practice through the work with other local schools. Middle leaders make an effective contribution to the school's capacity to improve.

Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? the proportion of pupils working beyond the expected standard increases, particularly in writing, at the end of each key stage ? pupils are given more opportunities to write at length and to attempt more challenging mathematics ? the quality of teaching and learning in subjects other than English and mathematics is checked and evaluated more thoroughly I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Leeds. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Ella Besharati Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I held meetings with you and other members of the leadership team, including the deputy headteacher, the leader of learning and subject leaders for English, mathematics, science and physical education.

I met with a member of the governing body. I met with a group of key stage 2 pupils and spoke to other pupils during the day. I examined the strategies introduced by the school to raise the achievement of most-able pupils in reading, writing and mathematics.

I observed teaching and learning in all classes. I looked at a range of pupils' books, some together with you and your deputy headteacher. I met with staff responsible for attendance and with the school's learning mentor.

I took into account the views of 102 parents who responded to Parent View, Ofsted's online questionnaire, as well as 14 responses to Ofsted's staff survey and 14 responses to Ofsted's pupil survey. I checked the school's single central record of recruitment and I looked at a range of other documents related to safeguarding. I took into account school documentation, assessment information, policies and information posted on the school's website.

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