New Oscott Primary School

New Oscott Primary School Markham Road, Sutton Coldfield, B73 6QR

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  The school has improved markedly since the last inspection, particularly in the quality of teaching, which has risen to be good and some is outstanding.  Teaching in Nursery and Reception classes is good and helps children to make a good start in their learning.  Every pupil is helped to do well, and all make good progress in English and mathematics through the whole school.  Good systems are in place to track the progress of all groups of pupils and no pupil is allowed to fall behind.  Pupils who learn slowly make good progress and reach standards close to those of most other pupils because the staff understand how to help them to be successful learners and each pupil is individually helped to achieve well.  Pupils eligible for free school meals (for whom extra funding is made available in the pupil premium) are making good progress and reaching similar standards to those achieved

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

by other pupils.  Pupils are keen to learn, and they read a wide range of books for pleasure.  Relationships between staff and pupils are good. Pupils behave well and feel safe.  The range of knowledge in the subjects taught and out-of-school learning activities greatly inspire pupils’ interest and enthusiasm for learning.  School leaders aim to do the very best they can to help pupils to learn and, also, to behave sensibly and responsibly. Leaders have systematically improved the quality of teaching so that all pupils make good progress.  Governors know the school well and effectively hold the leaders to account for what it does.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Although teaching is almost always at least good, in a few lessons, teachers do not make sure pupils always have the opportunity to learn things for themselves.  Occasionally, teachers’ questions call for short, simple answers and do not make the pupils justify their views and opinions.  Some leaders have not yet had sufficient opportunity to share their own excellent teaching skills with their colleagues to make teaching and learning even better across the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching in all classes. Each class was observed at least once. In all, 29 lessons were observed.  Inspectors had discussions with the Chair of the Governing Body, a representative from the local authority, the headteacher and deputy headteacher, other members of the school’s leadership team, all teachers, some teaching assistants and groups of pupils.  Inspectors looked at a range of documentary evidence including: the school’s tracking of pupils’ progress, documents relating to safeguarding and special educational needs, and the school’s self-evaluation.  A wide range of pupils’ written work was scrutinised.  Inspectors took into account the views of 62 parents as recorded on Ofsted’s Parent View online survey.

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Inspection team

Roisin Chambers, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Derek Gardiner Additional Inspector Kerin Jones Additional Inspector Kathryn Skan Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is a larger-than-average primary school.  The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and for whom the school is receiving additional income (the pupil premium) is below average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action, school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The majority of pupils are White British, but the proportion from a range of minority ethnic groups is above the national average.  The school’s partnership with a local, outstanding school has contributed to the improvement in the quality of its teaching and learning.  Three senior leaders hold responsibility for combined year groups: Nursery, Reception and Year 1; Years 2, 3, 4; Years 5 and 6.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make more of the teaching outstanding so that pupils achieve even better by:  developing teachers’ questioning skills so that pupils are required to give more detailed answers, justify their opinions and develop their own ideas to a greater extent  ensuring that teachers plan more opportunities in lessons for pupils to learn independently, and in small groups with others, without close direction from teachers.  Use the teaching skills of leaders and others whose teaching is also outstanding to improve the skills of all other staff by:  creating further opportunities for them to share their excellent classroom practice with their colleagues across the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Although there are some variations from year to year, pupils join the Nursery with skills, knowledge and abilities that are broadly in line with age-related expectations. During their time in the Nursery and Reception classes, pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics and are well prepared for their start in Year 1.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Standards throughout the school have improved since the last inspection. At the end of Key Stage 1, standards have risen from broadly average to above average and they rise to well- above average by the end of Key Stage 2.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Almost all pupils reach, and increasing numbers exceed, the nationally expected standard in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6, including pupils from all minority ethnic groups. Achievement in reading and mathematics is particularly strong and achievement in writing, although a little behind the other skills, is improving rapidly.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in almost all lessons. They are curious about the world, good readers, keen to practise new skills and they enjoy learning that demands a lot of thinking and effort.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In a few lessons, pupils are not given enough opportunities to use their own initiative. In these lessons there are not enough activities that require pupils to work independently or together with other pupils in small groups, where they can use their own ideas to help each other to learn.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs achieve as well as other pupils because teaching is consistently good and teaching assistants are particularly skilful in providing just the right amount of support.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The progress of pupils for whom the school receives additional funding (through the pupil premium) has improved rapidly. The combination of the school’s good progress-tracking system, regular reviews by staff of these pupils’ progress and extra help from staff when needed enables these pupils to reach the standards of others in the school.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching has improved since the last inspection and the vast majority is good or better, with just a very small amount that still requires improvement. Staff are ambitious for pupils to be successful learners and are keen to make their teaching even better.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the Early Years Foundation Stage, learning is fun. There are numerous indoor and outdoor activities that encourage pupils to practise their reading, writing and numbers or to explore and be creative – for example, making a collage by cutting and sticking real autumn leaves onto paper.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Reading is taught well. For younger and some older pupils, there is an appropriate emphasis on teaching the sounds that letters make and this has enabled the vast majority of pupils to read fluently.

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The quality of teaching is good

 By the time pupils are in Years 5 and 6, reading has become a pleasure and many are keen to discuss their latest book review. One Year 6 pupil proudly declared, ‘We always win the Birmingham Schools Book Quiz!’

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers’ planning of learning is detailed and imaginative and provides pupils with opportunities to solve problems, research, experiment, dramatise an event or write creatively. In a few lessons there were insufficient opportunities for pupils to work independently or together with other pupils with minimal direction from the teacher. Consequently, they were not able to gain the skills and confidence expected of more mature learners, that they will need themselves as they proceed to the next stages of their education.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In almost all lessons questioning was good; it challenged pupils in their thinking and moved them onto the next level of learning. In a few lessons teachers’ questions did not require pupils to justify their views, or explain their reasoning sufficiently so they were not helped to think deeply enough about the subject to enhance their understanding of it.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Marking is good. Teachers regularly mark pupils’ work and provide them with good advice and guidance on how to improve. Teachers mark older pupils’ work by underlining: ‘green is for great’ and ‘pink is for think’; this good practice has helped pupils become more thoughtful about the quality of their work.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is good. Teaching assistants are skilful in their use of questions to help pupils understand and to check for misunderstanding. They are deployed effectively by teachers to provide support where it is needed. A very similar approach is also taken to ensure pupils for whom the school receives additional funding (the pupil premium) have the individual help required to ensure they achieve as well as others – as they do.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and are keen to succeed. They respond enthusiastically to their teachers and willingly help each other.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Almost all pupils know their targets and say they like having them because they ‘help you get better’. Older pupils use their targets well to assess their own work and to improve it.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. Their behaviour is exemplary in assemblies and whole-school events.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Bullying is extremely rare and, if it occurs, it is promptly dealt with by staff. Pupils understand the meaning of bullying and are well aware that bullying comes in many forms, including through the use of the internet. Parents agree that the school encourages good behaviour and deals well with bullying should it occur.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The extensive knowledge and understanding that pupils gain from the excellent range of subjects they study gives them opportunities to learn about the risks that lie beyond the school gate and how to keep themselves safe. These impressive learning opportunities help to promote the values of personal responsibility, tolerance and respect. Pupils show a willingness to cooperate and work together and are quick to follow school rules.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils enjoy coming to school and do so more regularly than pupils in most schools.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher, senior leaders and staff have successfully tackled weaknesses identified in the previous inspection and have considerably improved the school. Pupils’ progress has accelerated and there is minimal difference in the achievement of different groups.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders’ responsibilities are better shared out and all staff work well together as a strong team.

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The leadership and management are good

 The tracking of each pupil’s progress and careful scrutiny of this information in regular review meetings give leaders grounds to hold teachers to account for the progress of pupils in their classes – and they do so very well. The work of each member of staff, including the headteacher, is regularly evaluated and targets are set to help staff do better. Targets are also clearly linked to school priorities and to improving pupils’ progress. Leaders’ close scrutiny of the performance of staff determines the levels at which teachers and other staff are paid.

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The leadership and management are good

 Thorough self-evaluation gives senior leaders and governors a good understanding of what the school needs to do to improve and detailed action plans are completed by the assistant heads and phase leaders.

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The leadership and management are good

 Beneficial links with an outstanding partner school have helped the senior leaders to receive good training and share good practice.

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The leadership and management are good

 The responsibilities of the assistant heads have recently been changed to give them greater influence in managing the performance of other teachers and improving classroom practice. However, there are not yet sufficient opportunities for the phase leaders and other outstanding teachers to use their skills to further improve other colleagues’ teaching.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority is helpful in supporting the school’s improvement. As a result of improvements within the school, the local authority has moved it to the category of ‘good school’.

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The leadership and management are good

 The safeguarding of pupils meets requirements. The school carries out the necessary checks on staff to ensure that they are suitable to work with children and all staff have received the appropriate level of training. Staff are vigilant and provide a high level of care for the pupils. Parents are confident that the school keeps their children safe.

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The leadership and management are good

 Extra help for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is good. It is well managed and good links with agencies are maintained. Pupils’ needs and progress are reviewed regularly and the work of teaching assistants is well planned and coordinated.

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The leadership and management are good

 Additional funding allocated to the school (through the pupil premium) to improve the achievement of less-advantaged pupils has been used to good effect by providing individual tuition where necessary and, as a result, these pupils are achieving as well as other groups in the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school helps pupils to develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding. Instrumental in this are the varied and exciting opportunities within the outstanding range of subjects they study and extensive out-of-class activities available to them. These learning opportunities enable pupils to undertake community service, participate in creative or physical activities, take on leadership responsibilities, visit other places of worship or learn about other cultures. The numbers who get involved in these activities are extremely high and help to prepare pupils for the next stage of their education and life in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  is good. The governing body is well led and managed. It is highly committed to helping the school continue to improve. It gives good support and realistic challenge to school leaders to improve the school’s performance further. Governors have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They understand the data describing pupils’ progress and attainment and are well informed in discussions with the headteacher and other leaders so they can hold them to account for pupils’ performance. The governing body receives detailed reports on how the performance of staff is managed and reviews staff targets annually to ensure that they are challenging enough. All promotions and salary changes are scrutinised and have to be justified by staff performance. Governors are well informed of how additional funding for less-advantaged pupils (the pupil premium) is spent and the difference

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The leadership and management are good

this has made to the progress of these pupils.

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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 is

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Grade Judgement Description

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 134774 Local authority Birmingham Inspection number 402637

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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 657 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Nick Tyson Headteacher Alison Walklett Date of previous school inspection 16 November 2009 Telephone number 0121 6753658 Fax number 0121 6753010 Email address enquiry@newoscott.bham.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, please

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School details

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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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