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13 June 2014

Ms Kate Davies
Headteacher
Hoyland Springwood Primary School
Cloughfields Road
Hoyland
Barnsley
South Yorkshire
S74 0ER

Dear Ms Davies


Special measures monitoring inspection of Hoyland Springwood Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 12 June 2014, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief
Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings.
Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available
to discuss the actions which have been taken since the school's previous monitoring
inspection.

The inspection was the third monitoring inspection since the school became subject to
special measures following the inspection which took place in July 2013. The full list of the
areas for improvement which were identified during that inspection is set out in the annex
to this letter. The monitoring inspection report is attached.

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time the school is making
reasonable progress towards the removal of special measures.

The school may appoint newly qualified teachers before the next monitoring inspection.

This letter and monitoring inspection report will be published on the Ofsted website. I am
copying this letter and the monitoring inspection report to the Secretary of State, the Chair
of the Governing Body and the Executive Director for Children, Young People and Families
for Barnsley.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Barbour

Additional Inspector



Annex

The areas for improvement identified during the inspection which took place in
July 2013

Improve the quality of teaching to at least good so that pupils make good or better
progress in lessons and over time and attainment rises, by ensuring that:
- teachers plan lessons to meet pupils needs, make clear the purpose of lessons,
and use success criteria consistently, so that pupils know what is expected of
them and how well they have achieved
- marking and feedback to pupils is regular, identifies the next steps pupils need to
take to improve their work and always identifies any misconceptions pupils have,
especially in mathematics.

Increase the effectiveness of leadership and governance to accelerate the rate at
which the school improves and to ensure that the schools work is evaluated in the
depth and detail required, by:
- ensuring that checks on the quality of teaching are sharply focused on the impact
teaching has on improving pupils learning and identifying specific points to help
teachers increase pupils progress in lessons
- making sure that leaders follow up on the points for improvement and show how
these are being tackled.

Leaders and governors must take immediate action to ensure pupils safety and
improve communication with parents, by:
- ensuring that the schools policies for child protection, behaviour and the use of
physical restraint are accurately and consistently implemented, that details of
incidents are fully recorded, actions are followed up and any resolution is clearly
documented
- ensuring that leaders more regularly and systematically analyse the schools
records of incidents and take account of pupils and parents views and concerns
when reviewing policies in order continually to improve the impact they have on
promoting good behaviour and securing the safety of all children
- ensuring that parents are always informed when physical restraint has been used
and, if their children have been injured as a result of behavioural incidents,
seeking every opportunity to inform and enable parents to participate with the
school in their childrens learning.




Report on the third monitoring inspection on 12 June 2014.

Evidence

I observed the school's work, scrutinised documents and met with the executive
headteacher, the acting headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the Chair of the Governing
Body, a group of parents and a representative of the local authority. I heard a group of
children read and observed six lessons. I observed five of these jointly with senior leaders.

Context

Since the last monitoring inspection, the headteacher has resigned. The executive
headteacher and the acting headteacher are leaving the school at the end of this term. The
governing body has entered into an agreement, brokered by Barnsley local authority, such
that the school will be linked with High View Primary School and Wombwell Park Street
Primary School. A new executive headteacher and acting headteacher have been appointed
for the autumn term. This collaborative group of schools has begun initial discussions with
the Department for Education towards becoming an academy trust.

Achievement of pupils at the school

The progress that pupils make continues to improve. The degree of improvement is hard to
quantify, as in previous years the assessment systems in the school were poor. Current
systems are robust and some key judgements have been moderated by the local authority.
Pupils work in books demonstrates steady improvement. Pupils are also taking more pride
in their written work. In lessons observed, pupils were enthusiastic and worked purposefully
on their own and in pairs. Progress is less evident with more-able pupils. In some classes
observed they were not challenged sufficiently. The schools assessment data also show that
pupils who qualify for the pupil premium (additional government funding) are not catching
up enough with other pupils in Years 3, 4 and 5. Disabled pupils and those with special
educational needs make increasing progress in the specialist resourced provision. However,
the progress of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs who are in the
main school in Years 3, 4 and 5 is not improving at the same rate as for other pupils. Pupils
enjoy reading and read regularly.





The quality of teaching

The quality of teaching continues to improve. In all lessons observed, the purpose of the
lesson was clear and pupils knew what was expected of them. In a Year 6 mathematics
lesson the most-able pupils worked on a hard multi-step problem which required them also
to apply their knowledge. In several other classes, however, there was too little challenge
for the most able.

The quality of marking has improved considerably. All books seen in classrooms had been
marked regularly. The feedback provided by the teachers was succinct and highlighted areas
of success and what the pupils needed to do to improve. In some very effective cases,
teachers gave pupils additional short tasks for pupils to demonstrate improvement and
pupils had responded.

Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils behaved well in classes observed and around the school. Behaviour records do not
show a totally improving picture, but this is in large measure due to a few pupils with
challenging behaviour who transferred from other schools during this year. These pupils are
managed well and good use is made of links with other agencies, including the pupil referral
unit. The appointment of a learning mentor to support pupils with difficult behaviour has
been beneficial.

All behaviour records continue to be scrutinised regularly by senior leaders and all
documentation is thorough. Parents expressed their appreciation for the high quality of
behaviour management and of the support that they have received in helpful advice as to
how they can support improved behaviour at home. All aspects of safeguarding of pupils are
handled well.

The attendance of pupils had improved in the monitoring inspection in January. It has
improved still further since then.





The quality of leadership in and management of the school

The executive headteacher and the acting headteacher have had a substantial impact in
leading the improvement in the school. Better systems are in place for assessment, for the
performance management of teachers and for managing the behaviour and safety of pupils.
Increasingly these are supporting further improvement. School leaders evaluation of the
school and their planning is much improved. The morale of staff at the school is high.

The governing body is working more effectively. Its members are more skilled in asking
questions and holding school leaders to account. A committee analyses progress with the
improvement plan on a monthly basis. Members of the governing body know the detail of
spending on special grants, such as the pupil premium. They have less clarity about the
impact of this spending. The governing body has selected its new primary partner schools
and the new executive and acting headteachers carefully, in partnership with the local
authority.

The performance management of teachers is improving, now that it is managed more
professionally. Teachers have better opportunities for their own professional development,
including small research projects. Action points from lesson observations and briefer visits to
lessons have enabled teachers to improve their practice.

Links with parents have improved. Teachers make good use of a weblog to celebrate the
successes of pupils. Parents are appreciative of the welcome they receive in school and the
way any concerns are dealt with quickly.

External support

Barnsley local authority continues to support the school well. It has funded the posts of the
current executive and acting headteachers. It has brokered new links and appointments to
start from September. The local authority is also providing other specialist support, such as
a consultant to help in the development of the Early Years Foundation Stage.