Paganel Primary School

Age group 4–11 Inspection date(s) 13–14 March 2012 Inspection number 381663 Paganel Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 134281 Local authority Birmingham Inspection number 381663 Inspection dates 13–14 March 2012 Lead inspector Michael Merchant

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 231 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair David Payne Headteacher Martin Shufflebottom Date of previous school inspection 2 February 2009 School address Swinford Road Selly Oak Birmingham B29 5TG Telephone number 0121 464 5040 Fax number 0121 464 5039 Email address enquiry@paganelschool.net achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked

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after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and sch ool inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days’ notice. Sixteen lessons were observed and three of these were carried out jointly with senior staff, amounting to eight hours in total. All 13 classroom teachers were observed teaching. Meetings were held with groups of pupils, members of the governing body and staff. Inspectors took account of the responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school’s work, and looked at the plans for improvement, assessment information, lesson plans, the school’s monitoring information and a range of school policies. They also analysed questionnaires received from 63 parents and carers, 107 pupils and 18 staff.

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Information about the school

This is an average-sized primary school. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including those with a statement of special educational needs, is above average. The large majority of pupils are of White British heritage and the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is low. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is high. Large numbers of pupils join or leave the school part-way through their primary school education. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are taught in the nursery and a Reception class. The school meets the government’s current floor standards. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key findings

 Paganel Primary School is a good school. It has maintained and built upon the good outcomes seen at its last inspection. Pupils make good progress, thanks to consistently good teaching and their good attitudes to their learning. The school is not outstanding because there is not enough outstanding teaching or subject leadership to lift pupils’ attainment in English and mathematics to the next level.

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Key findings

 Pupils’ attainment by Year 6 is broadly average and rising. All groups achieve well. An effective focus on improving writing skills has ensured that most pupils become fluent and creative writers. In reading and mathematics, despite making good progress pupils have not developed a thirst for reading or fully developed their problem-solving skills, so not enough reach the higher National Curriculum levels in the Year 6 tests.

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Key findings

 Teaching is typically good, and sometimes outstanding. Teachers display very good subject knowledge, give clear explanations, and expect much of their pupils. However, in some literacy and numeracy lessons pupils are given insufficient time to work independently, and sometimes tasks do not provide maximum challenge for the more-able pupils to ensure they reach the higher levels in their work.

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Key findings

 Pupils have a strong understanding of right and wrong, behave well and feel safe. Pupils’ personal development is good because they are encouraged to see their potential and are given the self-confidence to work hard and aim high.

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Key findings

 School leaders have a very clear vision of high-quality provision. They manage performance rigorously and provide constructive advice and training to staff. As a result, the quality of teaching and learning, and consequently pupils’ achievement, is improving. The middle leaders are not fully accountable for pupils’ attainment and progress in their areas of responsibility. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise attainment so that most pupils reach above the expected levels nationally for their age in English and mathematics in Year 6, by:  ensuring that effective techniques to teach reading are employed consistently so all pupils become eager readers  developing pupils’ higher-level problem-solving skills in mathematics  giving pupils more responsibility for their own learning by encouraging them to be more active and inquisitive in class  making sure that teachers plan for and extend the learning of the more- able pupils at a consistently challenging pace throughout lessons.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the effectiveness of leadership and management by developing the role of subject leaders so that all become accountable for students’ attainment and progress in their respective areas.

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Achievement of pupils

Children join the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills and abilities that are well below the levels expected for their age. Effective liaison between the school, pre- school provision and home ensures that children settle into the Nursery class quickly. The well-organised learning environment provides children with exciting learning opportunities, allowing them to make choices and develop independence and they make good progress across all areas of learning.

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Achievement of pupils

As they pass through the school, all groups of pupils, including those known to be eligible for free school meals, make good progress and achieve well. By Year 6, most pupils are working at broadly the levels expected of them in English and mathematics. Pupils’ writing skills have improved markedly since the previous inspection. Plans to teach writing more effectively, such as through raising awareness of the differences between formal and informal language, are now well embedded in all classes. Number skills have also improved, although not all pupils are fully confident in solving number problems and this means that too few attain the higher level.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils make good gains in reading due to the clear emphasis placed on developing their reading skills across all subjects, and effective interventions for pupils who find learning difficult. The attainment of most pupils at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2 is close to that expected for their age in reading. But as yet, too few pupils are eager, enthusiastic readers and not enough are pushed to reach the higher level in national assessments in English at the end of Year 6. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Achievement of pupils

A very large majority of the parents and carers who returned questionnaires felt that their children were making good progress at the school, and that their needs were very well met. Inspectors found that the quality of learning in the great majority of lessons observed was good and often outstanding. Pupils are keen to do their best, work purposefully in lessons and greatly enjoy what they are doing. For instance, in an excellent Year 6 numeracy lesson, pupils learnt at a blistering pace because of the teacher’s exceptionally high expectations of what he wanted them to learn. All groups of pupils made excellent progress and really enjoyed working in groups to complete the challenging task of solving the problem of how the volume of three- dimensional objects could be calculated. However, this is not always the case and in some lessons and classes the more-able pupils are not consistently challenged.

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Achievement of pupils

There is very little difference in the progress made by different groups of pupils because the school is very conscious of their individual needs. The school works very effectively to support pupils who enter the school during the year and those with particularly low levels of attainment. Skilled teaching assistants provide effective support in classes for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. This, together with well-planned additional sessions in reading, writing and number, enables them to overcome many of the barriers in their lives and make progress at the same rate as their peers. Parents and carers are delighted with the support provided for their children. Their comments are reflected in the views of one who said: ’The understanding of my child’s needs has been exceptional and he has been helped immensely over the years.’

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Quality of teaching

Parents and carers, and the pupils themselves, are right to be pleased with the quality of teaching. Typically, teaching is lively, tasks and concepts are clearly explained and activities are carefully designed to challenge the pupils to learn at a swift pace. High-quality teaching, such as that seen in a Year 4 literacy lesson where pupils were learning how to use adverbs to make their writing more lively, captivates and enthuses pupils and keeps them on their toes with provocative questioning and challenging tasks. Teachers mark books and set targets for improvement thoughtfully and carefully. The school has set up very thorough systems to check on pupils' progress. The resulting data are used well to ensure that no-one is in danger of falling behind, and to enable teachers to consistently set the next steps for each pupil’s learning. Learning and progress are sometimes held back because teachers

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Quality of teaching

talk too much and over-direct the tasks pupils undertake. This limits the time pupils are actively and independently learning and results in slower progress and less time for pupils to articulate what they have learnt.

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Quality of teaching

Recent curriculum reviews have ensured that learning is meaningful because the school carefully plans themes with strong links between subjects. Pupils value the diversity of their local and wider community because there is a strong and pervasive emphasis on celebrating social and cultural aspects in school and beyond. This makes a significant contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The behaviour of pupils in lessons and around the school is typically good. The school promotes pupils’ well-being effectively by helping them to develop their self- esteem and confidence, particularly those pupils whose circumstances might make them vulnerable. The school has worked hard with the small minority of families who find attendance and punctuality a problem, so that attendance is improving greatly and is now above average.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

All groups of pupils say that they felt safe in the school and behaviour is good. Nearly all pupils, parents and carers who responded to the questionnaire agreed. The school is rightly proud of its willingness and ability to work with pupils who exhibit challenging behaviour. There have been no exclusions in recent years. Pupils clearly understand that there are different types of bullying and are confident that any bullying would be dealt with effectively. The school’s records show, and pupils confirm, that incidents of racism or harassment are extremely rare and are dealt with effectively.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The caring ethos of the school is evident in all the school’s actions, and the interactions between staff and pupils. Pupils relish responsibility and eagerly take advantage of the many opportunities to participate in a wide range of after-school events. They are very well informed about other people’s needs.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher has a clear and unwavering vision for his school that is supported and implemented by all staff. Consequently, the good performance identified at the last inspection has been maintained and built upon. For instance, pupils’ writing skills have improved significantly and the innovative ‘Local Heroes’ project, in which pupils work with parents, carers and local archivists, has significantly strengthened community cohesion.

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Leadership and management

School leaders keep thorough checks on all aspects of school performance and manage the quality of teaching well. The senior team use their excellent coaching and mentoring skills to provide constructive advice and training. Particularly good use is made of their most effective teachers to extend and share good practice. In this way, the quality of teaching and learning is steadily improving. Staffing changes in recent years, beyond the control of the school, have meant that some subject leadership responsibilities have had to be borne by the senior leadership team. This has led to minor inconsistencies in the way middle managers monitor standards, learning and teaching.

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Leadership and management

At the time of the inspection, there was no evidence of any discrimination. Progress for all groups of pupils, whatever their different starting points, is broadly similar, indicating that the school’s commitment to equal opportunities is translated Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Leadership and management

effectively into practice. The governing body holds the school to account for its work well. Good practice in safeguarding and child protection is evident in all areas of the school’s work. For instance, checks on the suitability of adults to work with children are thorough and meet current requirements.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is broad and balanced and appeals to the pupils, meeting their individual needs and motivating them to learn. It is reviewed regularly, and the impact of this is seen particularly clearly in the improvements made in pupils’ writing. The promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils are taught to be thoughtful and reflective, and to consider the needs of others.

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Leadership and management

Even though the school has many good features, the senior leaders and the governing body are not complacent and want to lift pupils’ attainment even further. They know exactly what actions to take next as a result of thorough systems for self- evaluation. In view of the improvements made to provision and consolidation of pupils’ already good outcomes in the last three years, the school’s capacity to improve further is good.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ). The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils’ work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils’ punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school’s overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils’ attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils’ freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Paganel Primary School, Birmingham, B29 5TG

Thank you all for the warm welcome you gave us when we visited your school recently. What a lovely two days we had. We really enjoyed meeting you and talking with you. Thank you to those who completed questionnaires. You go to a good school and you are right to be proud of it. Here are some of the good things we found out about Paganel Primary School.

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Inspection of Paganel Primary School, Birmingham, B29 5TG

 You make good progress as you move through the school and you achieve well. By the time you leave at the end of Year 6, your attainment is similar to that of pupils in most other schools. This is because you work hard and due to the good teaching that you receive.  Your teachers and other adults take good care of you. You told us that they make sure that everyone feels completely safe and secure. We agree.  You behave well around the school and in your classes and you look after each other well. You relish working in groups and helping each other to learn and you readily help your classmates when they find things difficult.

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Inspection of Paganel Primary School, Birmingham, B29 5TG

Your headteacher, the governing body and all the other staff know in detail how to make sure that your school continues to improve. To help with this, we have asked them to do two things.

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Inspection of Paganel Primary School, Birmingham, B29 5TG

 Make sure that more of you exceed the expected levels of attainment in English and mathematics in the national assessments that you take at the end of Year 6.  Make sure that those teachers in charge of subjects check on how well you are taught and how well you are doing.

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Inspection of Paganel Primary School, Birmingham, B29 5TG

You can help them by always working hard and aiming really high.

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Inspection of Paganel Primary School, Birmingham, B29 5TG

Michael Merchant Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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