Setting

Mrs Bullous Tower View Primary School Vancouver Drive Winshill Burton-on-Trent DE15 0EZ

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Tower View Primary School

Following my visit with Sarah Noble Additional Inspector, to your school on 13–14 March 2012, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings.

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Tower View Primary School

The inspection was the first monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures following the inspection which took place on 7 November 2011. 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 and the main judgements are set out below.

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Tower View Primary School

Progress since being subject to special measures – inadequate.

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Tower View Primary School

Newly qualified teachers may not be appointed.

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Special measures: monitoring inspection of Tower View Primary School

This letter and monitoring inspection report will be posted 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 Director of Children’s Services for Staffordshire.

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Her Majesty’s Inspector

Serco Inspections Cedar House 21 William Street Edgbaston Birmingham B15 1LH T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Serco E tim.ogbourn@serco.com Direct T 0121 683 3888

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection which took

 Improve the quality of teaching and ensure that all groups make at least satisfactory progress by: – analysing the progress made by different groups and ensuring teachers use the results to match tasks accurately to pupils’ abilities and interests – providing additional support for groups where necessary, especially those known to be eligible for free school meals – drawing up curriculum plans for all subjects and year groups so that teachers are able to plan work that builds progressively on previous learning – providing teachers and teaching assistants with training appropriate to their needs.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection which took

 Improve the school’s leadership and management by:  establishing a stable senior leadership team with the skills necessary to drive the school forward  implementing rigorous and comprehensive monitoring and evaluation procedures  using the results of such procedures to identify key areas for improvement and implementing suitable plans to address them  taking steps to raise staff morale and improve the confidence of parents and carers in the school  securing a governing body equipped with the skills necessary to fulfill its responsibilities and meet all statutory requirements with respect to the curriculum, information for parents and carers, and equality of opportunity.

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Evidence

Inspectors observed the school’s work, scrutinised documents and pupils’ work, checked teachers’ planning, analysed performance data and met with the executive headteacher and her deputy, groups of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and a representative from the local authority.

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Context

Since the last inspection, the headteacher has left the school and the Chair and Vice Chair of the Governing Body have resigned.

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Achievement of pupils at the school

At the time of the last inspection, the system for monitoring the progress of pupils was incoherent and unreliable. A new tracking system has been quickly developed which provides good quality information about the overall progress pupils are now making as well as showing the relative progress of different groups of pupils in the school. Tracking shows older pupils are making much less progress than they should and, as a consequence, the oldest pupils in Year 6 are more than a year behind where they ought to be in English and mathematics. The school is predicting that the attainment of Year 6 pupils in the 2012 national tests will be very low and that the school’s performance will slip below the minimum nationally expected floor standard.

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Achievement of pupils at the school

Younger children, however, make better progress, partly because they are better taught but also because the school is now able to use the tracking information to help it target additional support more precisely to where it is needed. Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals for example, which represent around one third of all pupils at the school, are making better than expected progress in Years 1 to 4 although those in Years 5 and 6 are still underachieving.

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The quality of teaching

Achievement is inadequate because too many lessons are not good enough. During the inspection, teaching was good in one lesson, satisfactory in another four and inadequate in five lessons. The weaker teaching was generally seen in Years 4 to 6 with the younger children receiving the best teaching. In the one lesson where learning was good, pupils were motivated and enjoyed the practical task of investigating how changes in the gradient and degree of friction presented by different materials affected the velocity of a rolling marble. Most displayed good attitudes to learning during this task, collaborated well and were persistent in overcoming problems. However in around half of lessons, the work set is unchallenging and too easy for most, pupils work slowly and learning is frequently interrupted by poor behaviour. Pupils do not complete enough work in such lessons and they show little pride in their written work which is often untidy. Some teachers

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The quality of teaching

mark pupils’ work regularly and provide frequent written guidance on how they might improve. Other teachers do not check or correct pupils’ work nearly often enough.

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The quality of teaching

Progress since the last section 5 inspection on the area for improvement:

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The quality of teaching

 Improve the quality of teaching and ensure that all groups make at least satisfactory progress – inadequate progress.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

The use of fixed-term exclusion from school was around five times greater than the national average last year. During the inspection, the behaviour and conduct of pupils around the school and in a majority of lessons visited was inadequate. A minority of pupils treat others in the school in wholly unacceptable ways. Incidents were seen of pupils pushing others, running in the building, speaking abusively to adults and refusing to attend lessons. The school manages these serious incidents when they occur well with the establishment of an isolation room and the early involvement of parents and carers. Consequently, it has succeeded in markedly reducing the use of fixed-term exclusion as a sanction. Nevertheless, such incidents regularly disrupt the learning of others and generally poor attitudes to learning were commonplace in lessons with a majority of pupils fidgeting, engaging in off-task behaviour and not completing enough work. Even where learning is satisfactory,

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Attendance remains low but is improving due to the more rigorous procedures that have been introduced. These include regular letters to parents and carers praising good attendance or alerting them to low attendance. Local authority officers meet the parents and carers of pupils whose absence is too high. No prosecutions for poor attendance have been brought but the use of legal action for tackling absenteeism is under consideration.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

Following the last inspection, the governing body and the local authority put temporary arrangements in place while they considered how the school might be led and managed in the future. The executive headteacher of a federation of two other local schools agreed to be the named headteacher of this school and to be based at Tower View for three days a week. Initially, the governing body considered federating the school with the executive headteacher’s other schools but in the end decided against that option. This meant that the original plan to appoint a head of school to be directly managed by the executive headteacher was discarded and the decision was then made to appoint a substantive headteacher. However, the post has not yet been advertised and it is unlikely now that a permanent headteacher will be in place until September 2012. The deputy headteacher is also a temporary appointment because the governing body intends to advertise this post once a new

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

headteacher has been appointed. In the meantime, the executive headteacher has been asked to remain as the named headteacher and to support the new headteacher through the first year in post.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

The governing body was unable to proceed with resolving these matters until the previous headteacher’s resignation had been received. Consequently, delay and uncertainty about how the school would be governed, led and managed, mean insufficient progress has been made in establishing stable leadership and in improving the quality of teaching. The temporary leadership arrangements are short- term and do not by themselves have the capacity to bring about the swift and sustained improvement the school requires.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

Nevertheless, the executive headteacher and her deputy have energetically begun to tackle the many problems the school faces. Monitoring and evaluation procedures are now in place and inform strategic planning and the training provided to staff. There are some early signs of their impact, with monitoring of teachers’ planning showing that thought is now being given to providing work matched to the range of abilities in English and mathematics lessons. Training for lunchtime supervisors means that behaviour during break-times is improving. A weekly newsletter to keep parents and carers informed has been instigated and curriculum plans have been drawn up. A new Chair of the Governing Body has been elected and an appropriate committee structure established.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

Progress since the last section 5 inspection on the area for improvement:

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The quality of leadership in and management of the school

 Improve the school’s leadership and management – inadequate progress.

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External support

The local authority statement of action was judged to be ‘fit for purpose’ by Ofsted and satisfactory support has been provided to the school in its implementation. A ‘hands off’ approach was adopted initially to give the executive headteacher time to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the school and plan a course of action. The weaknesses identified are more serious and wider-ranging than was at first anticipated and the local authority is now discussing with the executive headteacher the additional support it will provide to the school to help it improve more rapidly. The Chair of the Governing Body feels he has been well supported by the local authority in learning how to carry out his new role. This inspection has raised serious concerns about pupils’ behaviour and a further priority for improvement has been added.

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External support

 Improve pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to learning.

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