St Giles Church of England Primary School

Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 5–6 July 2012 Inspection number 377040 St Giles Church of England Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 104226 Local authority Walsall Inspection number 377040 Inspection dates 5–6 July 2012 Lead inspector Derek Aitken

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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 Voluntary Controlled Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 355 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andrew Welsby Headteacher Mark Dakin Date of previous school inspection 18–19 November 2008 School address Walsall Street Willenhall Wolverhampton WV13 2ER Telephone number 01902 368308 Fax number 01902 368308 Email address postbox@st-giles.walsall.sch.uk 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 school 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. Inspectors visited 19 lessons taught by 13 teachers. They scrutinised pupils’ written work in English and listened to individual pupils reading. Meetings were held with groups of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and staff. Inspectors observed the school’s work, and looked at a range of documents, including policies and procedures relating to the safeguarding of pupils, self-evaluation records and assessment information. The inspectors analysed responses to questionnaires from 78 parents and carers, 97 pupils and 23 staff.

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Information about the school

St Giles is larger than most primary schools. The majority of pupils are of White British heritage. Two in five pupils are of minority ethnic heritage, with Indian pupils comprising most of this group. One quarter of pupils speak English as an additional language, but very few pupils are at an early stage of language acquisition. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is slightly above average. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported by school action plus or a statement of special educational needs is below average. The school provides for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage through two part-time Nursery classes and two Reception classes. All other pupils are taught in mixed-age classes.

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Information about the school

There have been several changes at all levels of staff, including leadership, in the last 18 months.

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Information about the school

The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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Information about the school

The school has Healthy Schools status, Dyslexia Friendly status and holds the International Schools (Foundation level), Anti-Bullying (Bronze) and Eco-Schools (Silver) awards. 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

 This is a satisfactory school. Recent initiatives taken by senior leaders have had considerable impact in some areas of the school’s work and have arrested underachievement. The school is not yet good because attainment in Key Stage 1 and the achievement of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs and more-able pupils is not high enough. Teaching is not consistently good. The governing body has not yet fully developed its skills to fully inform strategic planning. Schools whose overall effectiveness is judged to be satisfactory may receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.  Pupils achieve satisfactorily and leave Year 6 with attainment that is broadly average. They make better progress in Key Stage 2 than Key Stage 1, where progress is slowed by some weaknesses in their basic skills, especially in literacy. These are redressed in Key Stage 2, although pupils’ progress remains

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Key findings

slightly better in mathematics than in English.  Teaching has several good features but these are more consistently found in the Early Years Foundation Stage and in Key Stage 2. Work is not always fully adapted to meet the needs of all pupils, especially the more able, and marking is not sharply linked to pupils’ success criteria to accelerate their progress.  Behaviour and safety are satisfactory. Pupils report that behaviour has improved this year. While most pupils behave well and are keen to learn, there is a small minority of boys whose behaviour is sometimes challenging. Staff manage pupils well and the school’s secure safeguarding arrangements ensure pupils’ safety. Attendance has improved substantially this year.  Leadership and management are satisfactory. Leaders manage teaching through performance management satisfactorily. However, the quality of feedback to teachers to improve their performance is not always sufficiently

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Key findings

well focused to improve classroom practice. 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?

 Accelerate pupils’ progress, especially in Key Stage 1, by:  ensuring that new systems and initiatives, especially those relating to literacy and pupils’ reading skills, together with more focused support for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, are fully embedded in the school’s work by December 2012.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the achievement of more-able pupils and meet the school’s target of 80% good or better teaching by:  ensuring that work is consistently adapted to meet the needs of all pupils, especially the more able  ensuring senior leaders improve the quality of their support to teachers through assessing the quality of pupils’ learning and progress in lessons more rigorously before providing feedback on their observations to staff.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of guidance pupils receive to help them improve by ensuring marking focuses on whether pupils have achieved their success criteria for the written work they produce.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that members of the governing body fully develop their skills to contribute more effectively to the strategic direction of the school and to holding senior leaders firmly to account.

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Achievement of pupils

Parents and carers believe that pupils make good progress. This is true in Nursery and Reception but the inspection team found that pupils’ overall progress in lessons and over time is satisfactory rather than good.

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Achievement of pupils

Children’s skills on entry to the Early Years Foundation Stage are well below national expectations. They achieve well over the two years as work is closely matched to their different levels of ability and the curriculum promotes all areas of learning well. Boys’ progress has improved this year in literacy and this has contributed to a rise in children’s attainment by the end of the Reception year. This is enabling the gaps to be closed significantly by the time they move on to Year 1. In previous years pupils have entered Year 1 with well below levels of skills. Pupils’ attainment in Year 2, including in reading, was below average in 2011 and this remains the case this year with pupils working typically two terms behind their peers nationally. Their progress, while satisfactory, is on occasions too slow. For example, more-able pupils in Year 2 struggle to scan and understand key vocabulary and find it difficult to tackle word

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Achievement of pupils

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

problems in mathematics without adult assistance, which affects their self-confidence and reduces the pace of their learning. A renewed focus on letters and sounds (phonics) programmes and improvements to provision for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is increasing rates of progress for some targeted, vulnerable pupils. However, it is not yet sufficiently embedded to raise achievement for whole year groups. Lower and middle attaining pupils in Year 2 use appropriate strategies to work out the sounds of ‘tricky’ words in familiar texts but do not have a broad range of experiences in reading different books.

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Achievement of pupils

In Key Stage 2, pupils’ progress improves steadily and some achieve well as they become more resilient and develop a greater capacity to think critically, for example through testing out mathematical hypotheses. By Year 6, pupils’ attainment, including in reading, is average. Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals achieve satisfactorily. Girls in Year 6, who form the large majority of the current class, are achieving well. Indian pupils also achieve well at the nationally expected Level 4, but usually a below-average proportion of pupils achieve the higher Level 5 in English. Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make satisfactory and, on a few occasions, good progress, for example when they have the opportunity to word-process their ideas.

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Quality of teaching

The quality of teaching over time is satisfactory. Most pupils and their parents and carers believe that teaching is good. Some weaknesses in provision in Key Stage 1 and inconsistencies in practice prevent pupils from reaching their full potential. Nursery and Reception children benefit from consistently good teaching. Occasionally, though, marking is not effective in helping children develop basic sentence construction. Teachers manage younger pupils well and work successfully to enable them to sustain their attention during teacher-led sections of the lessons. These pupils are more actively engaged when they move on quickly to practical tasks, as was shown in a design and technology lesson where pupils collaborated well, sewing shapes to make a puppet.

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Quality of teaching

Reading skills are taught well in Key Stage 2, although opportunities are sometimes missed to probe the understanding of more-able pupils. Older pupils benefit from opportunities to enlarge their understanding of more sophisticated and unusual vocabulary through reading texts loosely based on Greek mythology. Teaching makes a positive contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, particularly in supporting them in working collaboratively and listening with respect to the contributions of others. Teachers question pupils well and ensure that pupils have sufficient opportunities to share findings during verbal feedback sessions. This enables them to develop their thinking, reflect on their learning and, where necessary, amend their ideas, for example during problem-solving activities. These opportunities for discussion promote pupils’ positive engagement and regular praise motivates them to try to succeed. Teaching assistants support disabled pupils

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Quality of teaching

and those who have special educational needs satisfactorily, but these pupils make better progress when resources are more stimulating and work is more closely 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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Quality of teaching

In a few lessons, the pace of learning is too variable. Although success criteria are routinely identified for different groups of pupils, these are not always precisely reflected in planning for pupils’ independent tasks, which reduces challenge, especially for more-able pupils. Pupils’ work is regularly marked, but marking is not sharply linked to the pupils’ individual success criteria, which reduces the effectiveness of the guidance provided.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Most pupils enjoy their education and are keen to do well. Some younger pupils are more reticent, lack confidence and require sympathetic encouragement from teachers to respond actively in lessons. As pupils mature, they become more self- reliant and demonstrate a willingness to reflect on their learning and wider experiences and, increasingly, take responsibility for their learning.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Although the proportion of parents and carers who completed a questionnaire was below average most considered behaviour to be good and almost all reported that their children felt safe in school. They said that there are a few bullying incidents, mainly involving name-calling, but these are usually well handled by staff. A large majority of pupils behave sensibly and show care and concern for each other. Pupils of different ethnic heritages mix well with each other at work and play and this is reflected in the very low incidence of racist incidents recorded. Inspectors found behaviour over time to be satisfactory, rather than good. Pupils report that the new behaviour policy has been successful in establishing firmer boundaries for pupils, that most pupils behave well, but not all pupils report minor incidents to staff. Leaders have implemented well-considered initiatives to make lunchtimes safer and more

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

enjoyable experiences for pupils. There remain, however, a small number of pupils who, despite the contribution of external agencies, find it hard to manage their behaviour and who are accountable for the above-average level of exclusions. Most pupils are very aware of different types of bullying and have a clear understanding of strategies for staying safe.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Over time attendance is broadly average. More rigorous systems for monitoring and enforcing regular attendance have sharply reduced the occurrence of persistent absence and have contributed to a very substantial rise in attendance to an above- average level this year.

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Leadership and management

The new leadership team has implemented well-considered initiatives to improve provision. Tight monitoring systems have been developed to track pupils’ performance and identify underachievement. More challenging targets have been set for staff to raise expectations for pupils’ annual rates of progress. Assessments for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are now more secure and provision has been restructured to match their needs more closely. Staff have 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

been redeployed thoughtfully to help targeted pupils improve their basic skills. Much has been accomplished in a short time, despite staffing discontinuity. Some major revisions to the curriculum are too recent to have yet had a significant impact on raising the attainment of year groups in Key Stage 1. Consequently, while the school provides a broad and balanced curriculum overall, it is not yet sufficiently refined to promote good achievement and good equal opportunities in learning for all groups of pupils.

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Leadership and management

School self-evaluation is largely accurate in its diagnosis of strengths and weaknesses and provides an appropriate template for school development. The performance of staff is managed satisfactorily and supported by professional development. Lesson observations, conducted by senior leaders, provide teachers with useful, general feedback but sometimes do not focus closely enough on the quality of pupils’ progress to identify sharply defined improvement points. The developing strength of provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage, combined with the accelerated pace of change and pupils’ improved attendance, indicates that the school has the capacity for further improvement. The curriculum fosters pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development satisfactorily. Pupils’ cultural awareness has been boosted through some thoughtfully planned work based on the Olympics theme. The governing body has made a useful contribution to leaders’

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Leadership and management

efforts to improve attendance and behaviour but has yet to develop the knowledge and understanding to make a full contribution to strategic development planning. Current requirements for safeguarding are met.

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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 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 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 to 31 December 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

Floor standards: the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures.

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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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2ER

I would like to thank you for your help when the inspection team visited your school and for sharing your views with us, including through the questionnaires some of you completed. Yours is a satisfactory school with some good features but also some areas to improve.

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2ER

 Children make good progress in Nursery and Reception.  You told us that you feel safe and that behaviour is improving. Our findings agreed with your views but, as you said, a small number of pupils sometimes behave less well and ‘let the side down’.  Your attendance has shown a big improvement this year.  Senior leaders are working hard to improve the school.

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2ER

You make satisfactory progress in your learning and by the end of Year 6 your levels of attainment are broadly average. You make better progress as you move up the school in Key Stage 2. We have asked the staff to do the following to help you achieve better and to help you become more confident learners in Key Stage 1.

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2ER

 Build the letters and sounds programme carefully into the school’s work to improve your reading skills. Develop further their work to support disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs.  Make all teaching at least good by making sure all lessons are carefully planned, especially to stretch those of you who learn more quickly. Make sure that marking is linked to your success criteria. Leaders to check very closely on your learning and progress during lesson observations before giving advice to staff.  Make sure governors play a bigger role in directing the school’s work.

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2ER

You can help by keeping up your improved attendance and by always trying hard to take a full part in lessons, even when you feel less sure about your answers.

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2ER

Derek Aitken 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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