Sharrow Nursery, Infant and Junior School

Sharrow Primary School Sitwell Road, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S7 1BE

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Teaching across the school is not yet good enough to promote good progress and it still has a few weaknesses.  The teaching of writing does not produce work of a high enough quality. The most able pupils are not given work that is challenging enough to stretch their thinking.  Teachers do not fully develop pupils’ early reading skills well enough so they become independent fluent readers with good comprehension skills.  In English, pupils’ achievement is hindered by pupils lacking a secure and firm foundation in early reading and writing skills.  Some leaders with particular responsibilities and some governors are new to their role and are not fully involved in driving the school forward.  Senior leaders including governors are not holding staff to account well enough about pupils’ achievement.

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The school has the following strengths

 The new headteacher and senior leaders provide a caring and harmonious environment for learning where pupils behave well.  Parents are happy and very supportive of the school’s work.  Pupils’ achievement has improved over time, particularly in mathematics.  Pupils at the early stages of learning English are given good support and make good progress.  Some of the school staff who can speak different languages communicate well with pupils and their families who are not fluent in speaking English.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 21 lessons taught by 15 teachers. Six of these lessons were joint observations with the headteacher or with the two deputy headteachers. Inspectors visited lessons involving small groups of pupils. Samples of pupils’ written work were analysed and inspectors listened to pupils read in Years 1, 2 and 6.  Meetings were held with two groups of pupils, members of the governing body, school leaders and teachers, parents and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 24 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View), three written responses by parents and 26 questionnaires completed by staff.  Inspectors looked at a range of documentation which included the school’s self-evaluation, school development plan, school’s own data on pupils’ attainment and current progress, safeguarding policies, and information about behaviour and attendance.

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Inspection team

Sharona Semlali, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Peter Allen Additional Inspector Susan Twaits Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Sharrow Primary is twice the size of the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is above average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and those who speak English as an additional language is above average. The largest ethnic group is of Pakistani heritage.  The proportion of pupils who are supported by school action is below the national average. The proportion of pupils who are supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school operates a breakfast club which is managed by the governing body.  A new headteacher was appointed in September 2012. There have been a few changes to the teaching staff and members of the governing body since the last inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching to at least good or better by ensuring that:  teachers use information from checks on pupils’ progress to inform planning so that work is well matched to pupils’ learning needs, particularly for the more-able pupils  teachers clearly convey to pupils what they want them to learn  teachers talk less in lessons so pupils are more active in their learning, have more time to develop their oral skills and produce more neatly presented written work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise achievement in English by:  establishing pupils’ early reading skills and their ability to spell correctly through extending the school’s systems for supporting those who are new to English  improving pupils’ understanding of how to use punctuation and grammar correctly

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management including governance by:  ensuring that all staff are more accountable for their pupils’ achievement  strengthening the role of the leaders with particular responsibilities so they can more fully contribute to the process of driving the school forward  ensuring all governors are clear about their role in holding the school to account for improving pupil outcomes and the quality of teaching.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children enter the school with skills that are well below those expected for their age particularly in communication, language and literacy and in personal and social development. The school is working closely with external agencies in developing the children’s vocabulary. Time is well spent meeting children’s different needs and adults are good role models in developing their language skills. By the time children leave Reception, their attainment is below average with most making the expected progress. Those with very little understanding of English make good progress.  Attainment at the end of Year 2 is below average in reading, writing and mathematics but it is steadily improving, especially in mathematics. Pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 6 is broadly average but attainment is lower in writing. Some work in pupils’ books shows that pupils do not always use the correct grammar and punctuation and spell incorrectly commonly used words.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

Written work is not always neatly presented.  Pupils make most progress in reading. Pupils are strongly encouraged to take books home. Inspectors listened to pupils read and found that the older pupils were more positive about reading. Some of the younger ones do not have the necessary early reading skills to tackle unfamiliar and tricky words. The school’s system of teaching early reading does not yet fully meet the needs of all pupils.  Newly arrived pupils and those who are at an early stage of learning English make good progress from their starting points. This is partly due to the different actions taken such the ‘vocabulary improvement programme’ which supports the development of children’s vocabulary in the Early Years Foundation Stage and the ‘narrative improvement programme’ which develops their ability to form sentences when they enter Year 1.  Attainment gaps between the different minority ethnic groups are closing, particularly for those

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

from a Pakistani background. Good use of visual prompts helps to support their learning. This was seen in a Year 3 lesson where the teacher’s good use of visual prompts enabled the pupils to be clear about what they were learning during the lesson.  Disabled pupils, those with special educational needs and pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium funding make similar progress to their peers as they receive good pastoral and targeted support.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 While there are examples of good teaching it is not good overall as there are still some weaknesses.  A strength in the teaching is that it is highly effective in promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. This was seen, for example, when pupils in the Year 3 base were working well together in small teams. They were learning how to use language comparisons using the words ‘similar’ and ‘differences’ between family life in Jamaica and in Britain.  Teachers use links between the different subjects to support pupils’ learning and use pupils’ interests as a way of trying to stimulate and develop their writing. In the Year 6 base teachers used popular television programmes and children’s authors to help them to ‘use powerful vocabulary to portray a strong point’.  In some lessons teachers do not use information from checks on pupils’ progress to inform their planning. As a result, the work set does not always match the wide range of pupils’

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

abilities and there is not enough challenge, particularly for the more-able pupils, to develop their thinking skills. A few teachers focus too much on the activity to be undertaken rather than making it clear to pupils what they want them to learn.  Positive relationships between staff and pupils help to create a calm and relaxed working atmosphere. However, in some of the lessons the pace was too slow with too much ‘teacher talk’ which limited the amount of work pupils could produce and reduces the amount of time they have to practise their oral skills. However, in the better lessons teachers ensured that time was used more effectively to gain more work from the pupils.  Pupils’ books show that there is some good quality and detailed marking but work is not always neatly presented.  Teaching assistants are skilled in supporting pupils who speak English as an additional language, along with their families, using their home languages. Other adults give targeted

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

support for those with special educational needs helping them to fully access the curriculum.  Reading activities are given as homework. However, a few parents wrote expressing their concern that they would like more homework and would like the school to further develop its website so that this can be used as a platform for this provision.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Responses from the online questionnaire ‘Parent View’ and conversations with parents indicate that the vast majority agree that the school keeps their children safe and that behaviour is good. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage feel safe. Pupils say they feel safe and have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe.  Pupils have a good understanding of what constitutes bullying and feel that it is rare in the school. Pupils are confident that adults will help them when needed. They value the ‘voice box’ where they can share any fears or concerns. The school council is another valued vehicle for raising any concerns and its members have leading roles in the school as well as being play leaders in helping to look after younger children.  Attendance is average and is improving showing that pupils enjoy coming to school.  Case studies show that those who arrive in the school with very little grasp of English and

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

those whose circumstances make them more vulnerable make good progress.  The breakfast club is well attended and provides a safe and welcoming start to the day. A good choice of food is provided followed by exciting skipping activities which are enjoyed by all pupils.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The new headteacher and senior leadership team are committed to ensuring that all pupils achieve their best and care passionately about the pupils’ well-being. They know the local community well.  Improvements in pupils’ achievement and teaching in mathematics and English are the result of senior leaders coaching and mentoring less experienced staff. Training for staff has involved looking at how to develop pupils’ language skills, particularly for those who are new to English. There is now a more consistent approach to the teaching of mathematics. The recruitment process in appointing new staff has improved.  A number of staff with particular leadership roles are relatively new to their posts and have not had time to fully contribute to school improvement or to the process of making checks on the quality of teaching and learning in their areas.  New plans and systems are in place to implement teachers’ performance management but this

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The leadership and management requires improvement

is not yet embedded in order to hold staff fully to account for pupil outcomes.  The school engages well with the parents. Family learning workshops are well attended by families which help to tackle any form of discrimination and promote equality of opportunity. A typical comment from a parent to the inspectors was, ‘This school is a real community school.’  Safeguarding procedures meet requirements and staff and governor training in relation to child protection is fully up to date.  The extra-curricular enrichments such as visits to museums and clubs for gardening, sport and music are strengths of the curriculum and provide a wide range of experiences for the pupils. The school is well resourced and effectively promotes the understanding of different cultures which helps to foster good relationships. The use of information and communication technology is underused throughout the school.  Pupil premium funding has been used well to employ a part-time teacher to support small

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The leadership and management requires improvement

group reading, to deliver specific actions such as the ‘vocabulary improvement programme’ one-to-one support for those pupils that need it and for summer and Easter vacation activities.  The local authority provides good support for the senior leaders. For example, it undertook a full review of the school, provided training opportunities for senior leaders and suggested a link with another school for gaining extra support.  The governance of the school:  Governors have been actively involved in deciding how pupil premium funding should be spent.  New governors are learning how to move the school forward by developing a clearer understanding of information on pupil progress and how to hold staff to account for pupils’ achievement.  They are asking more challenging questions of the school’s leadership.  Governors know the school’s strengths and are gaining a better grasp of the areas which need improving.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 They are increasingly determined to ensure that teaching in the school is good or better.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school

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Grade Judgement Description

is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 134302 Local authority Sheffield Inspection number 402602

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 492 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Colin Havard Headteacher Evelyn Abram Date of previous school inspection 26 January 2010 Telephone number 0114 2551704 Fax number 0114 2553649 Email address info@sharrow.sheffield.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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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School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

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School details

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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School details

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 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,

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School details

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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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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