Baildon Glen Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Baildon Glen Primary School has recently gone through a period of rapid improvement.

The trust and leadership team have made many positive changes to the school. This includes increasing curriculum ambition and raising expectations of pupils' behaviour. The curriculum is now broad, ambitious and well designed.

However, some other changes are new, and leaders recognise there is more to do. These positive curriculum changes have not had enough time for their impact to be realised in pupils' published outcomes.

Pupils are happy and safe at school.

Many pupils are respectful, kind and considerate of others. Pupils know their teachers care about them. The...y say that bullying is rare, but that when it happens, teachers sort it out.

Recent changes to the way staff deal with behaviour is reducing the frequency of incidents. However, too many pupils continue to disrupt the learning of others and make inappropriate language choices. When this happens, some pupils find this upsetting and worrying.

The recent introduction of the school's 'six ways to grow' recognises pupils' perseverance and effort with their learning. Through the behaviour points and stickers that they can earn, pupils are increasingly proud of their achievements. This is also reflected in the progress pupils are making with their learning.

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

Leaders have taken decisive action to improve the school. Those responsible for governance have an accurate picture of the school's performance. Specialist advice is provided by the trust to support the school in achieving its ambitious goals.

The success of this work is evident in the recent improvements to the early years and the support that the school provides for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Pupils' needs are quickly identified, and the school ensures that they get the help and support they need to learn with their peers.

The school has made positive changes to the curriculum.

For example, in history, the order in which pupils learn new ideas has been carefully sequenced so that it builds on what they have been taught before. However, the checks that the school makes on how well pupils have understood what they have been taught are not fully effective. Consequently, the gaps pupils have in their knowledge are not addressed, and this hinders what they can remember.

Sometimes, the expectations that the school has of pupils' written work are too low. Inconsistencies in handwriting are not addressed well enough, and this impacts on the accuracy of pupils' spelling.

Reading is prioritised.

Pupils are benefitting from marked improvements in the reading curriculum and its teaching that are not reflected in published outcomes. Staff are highly trained and teach phonics well. This has led to improved achievement in phonics.

Pupils who struggle with their reading get the extra help they need to catch up. Pupils apply their phonics knowledge to their writing with increased accuracy. However, some pupils are asked to complete complex writing tasks before they have secured basic punctuation.

As a result, this hinders pupils' learning and the quality of their writing.An enjoyment of stories starts in the early years, where learning opportunities build on books that staff have shared with children. Children in the early years learn in an exciting and engaging environment that is awash with books, rhymes and songs.

The curriculum is rich in words and language. High-quality interactions with adults help children to grow their vocabulary. Adults motivate children to learn through the tasks they set them and the questions they ask.

Traditional stories provide meaningful contexts for children's early writing. For example, children apply their phonics knowledge to create missing 'Gingerbread Man' posters.

The school monitors attendance closely.

It takes swift and appropriate action when pupils' attendance declines. Working closely with parents and carers, the school helps to remove the barriers to attendance that families face. However, although attendance is improving, persistent absence remains too high for some groups of pupils.

This means that they do not fully benefit from the improved curriculum and wider opportunities the school offers.

The personal, social and health education curriculum is enhanced and adapted so that pupils learn how to stay safe. Visits from the police have educated pupils on the dangers they may face in the local area.

Visiting speakers during the recent themed week on 'possibilities' have helped to raise pupils' aspirations and ambitions for their future. Older pupils have an age-appropriate understanding of healthy and unhealthy relationships. This includes an understanding of consent.

Staff are supported well in their work. They are pleased with the many improvements that leaders have made and appreciate being consulted on these changes before they are implemented. Staff morale is high in this rapidly improving school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school's checks on pupils' learning in some wider curriculum subjects are not fully in place. As a result, the school does not have a clear picture of how well pupils have learned and remembered the intended curriculum.

This also means that gaps in pupils' knowledge are not identified or addressed well enough. The school needs to refine its assessment approaches and ensure that teaching routinely and systematically identifies and addresses gaps in pupils' knowledge. ? The writing tasks that the school sets pupils sometimes require them to apply skills and knowledge, such as sentence construction, that they have not secured.

This hampers the quality of pupils' writing. The school should ensure that the school gives sufficient focus to sentence construction and the foundational knowledge pupils need to be able to write with greater fluency and accuracy. Expectations of pupils' written work are not consistently high enough.

As a result, there are some inconsistencies in the quality of pupils' written work and handwriting. The school should ensure that its high expectations of pupils' written work are consistently understood and applied by all staff, in all curriculum areas. ? The behaviour of pupils during lessons and at breaktimes is not consistently well addressed.

When this happens, pupils' learning is disrupted, and some pupils can be worried during social times. The school should ensure that all staff are supported to implement its revised approach to managing pupils' behaviour consistently well so that learning is not disrupted. ? The school's attendance strategies are not reaching some pupils as well as others.

For example, persistent absence for some disadvantaged pupils is too high. This means that some pupils miss out on important learning. Leaders must refine and focus their approaches to working with parents to reduce persistent absence rapidly for disadvantaged pupils so that they can benefit fully from the curriculum improvements that the school has made.