Horsforth Newlaithes Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Horsforth Newlaithes Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy to attend Horsforth Newlaithes Primary School.

They feel valued and listened to. One pupil explained, 'Your opinion matters and is taken into account.' Many parents and staff said the same.

Leaders and governors want all pupils to be happy, well informed and useful members of the community. They provide a broad and interesting curriculum. Pupils appreciate the many opportunities to be involved in school and community projects.

They take pride in their work and enjoy being able to make a difference.

Pupils are polite and welcoming to v...isitors. They are happy to talk about what they are learning and life at school.

They say the 'curriculum drivers' of 'diversity, environment, democracy and community' guide them. As a result, pupils are respectful and value diversity. They care about others and the world around them.

There is very little bullying in school. Leaders track behaviour carefully. When incidents do occur, they act quickly to sort them out.

Pupils are pleased to see the return of the enrichment activities that had to be put on hold during the pandemic. The whole school celebrated the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in great style. Everyone took part in the 'big picnic', games, dancing and singing in the beautiful school grounds.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have made sure that the curriculum is interesting and relevant for the pupils at this school. In most subjects, pupils build securely on what they already know. Leaders have recently changed the curriculum in geography, history, art and design and design technology.

This is to make sure that pupils are able to build as securely on prior learning as they do in other subjects. 'Oracy' is an important feature of learning in every subject. Pupils say this helps them to be better listeners and more confident speakers.

Pupils enjoy reading. They take advantage of the wide range of books in the well-stocked libraries and reading areas. The enthusiasm of the 'reading ambassadors' is infectious.

They help the reading leader to plan exciting events to get everyone reading. Most recently, pupils took part in the 'Platinum Challenge' to read a book from every decade of the Queen's reign. Teachers have provided a wealth of support and online resources to help parents get to grips with teaching phonics at home.

Younger children get off to a flying start. They begin to match letters to sounds as soon as they start school. Their reading books match the sounds they already know.

This helps them to enjoy reading with confidence. Teachers give children help to keep up when this is needed.Leaders have broken the curriculum for mathematics down into small steps.

This helps teachers to plan coherently sequenced lessons. They use a range of school strategies, such as the 'sticky page' and 'flashback 4', to help pupils remember more. Teachers plan activities that allow pupils to apply their knowledge in increasing depth.

This provides challenge for all pupils. Teachers make sure that children in the Reception Class are ready for mathematics in Year 1. For example, they used the book 'One Is a Snail, Ten Is a Crab' to great effect.

Children were having fun deciding which combinations of animals' feet would make each number up to ten.Geography learning starts with the younger children. For example, children in the Reception Class used an aerial photograph to find objects in the school grounds.

Teachers encouraged them to use positional and descriptive language. In Year 1, pupils enjoyed following Paddington's journey around the UK. Older pupils are able to talk about their current learning in detail.

Some Year 6 pupils proudly showed their beautiful homework projects. Some pupils were able to talk in detail about their current learning. They recalled interesting facts about a village in the Amazon rainforest and the city of Leeds.

However, they were less able to remember and make links with what they had learned before.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do very well. They are included in everything the school has to offer.

Leaders make adjustments, where necessary, to the curriculum and enrichment activities. This enables everyone to join in and be successful.

Leaders make sure that all pupils have the opportunity to be a leader at some point.

Pupils are pleased to be able to change things for the better in school and the community. For example, the green ambassadors are very proud of the wildlife meadow that the school has created for the community. Everyone was involved.

Pupils are thrilled that their seeds are growing and are looking forward to the flowers appearing.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and governors make sure that safeguarding is a high priority.

They check to make sure that all staff are suitable to work with children.

Staff receive regular training and updates. This means they have a good knowledge of the risks to pupils.

They are vigilant and report any concerns quickly. Leaders always follow up on concerns and take swift action to keep pupils safe. Leaders were vigilant during the national lockdowns.

They made frequent checks to ensure no pupils became invisible.

Pupils have regular lessons and reminders about keeping safe, including online. They learn about positive relationships at an age-appropriate level.

They know they can talk to an adult in school or use the 'worry box' if they need to.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Pupils are not able to build consistently on what they already know in all subjects. Leaders have already broken the curriculum down into smaller, coherently sequenced components.

However, the implementation of this curriculum is at an early stage in geography, history, art and design and design technology. Leaders should continue to implement their new plans in all four subjects.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in January 2013.

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