Heath Primary School, Kesgrave

Heath Primary School, Kesgrave Bell Lane, Kesgrave, Ipswich, IP5 1JG

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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

 Actions taken by leaders are not yet bringing about good rates of progress for pupils over a long enough period of time.  The quality of leadership and teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage requires improvement and children’s progress in these years is not rapid enough.  Too much teaching at Key Stage 1 requires improvement and there has been a slight decline in how well pupils learn.  Some teaching is good but it varies too much between different key stages. As a result pupils’ learning is not speeding up as quickly as it should be.  Achievement varies too much over time and between subjects. It is better in mathematics and weaker in writing.  Although pupils across the school generally reach average standards, too few move from higher levels at Key Stage 1 to the higher levels at Key Stage 2.

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The school has the following strengths

 Leaders at all levels, including members of the governing body, know the school well and carefully plan actions which are starting to improve pupils’ learning.  Leaders use teachers’ performance targets to tackle weak teaching. This has resulted in fewer poor lessons being taught.  Pupils at Key Stage 2 have made good progress over the last year with some making rapid improvement.  Careful and accurate checks are made of pupils’ learning. The information from these is used to monitor teaching and plan actions for improvement.  Pupils are polite and well-mannered to each other and to adults. This is true in lessons and around the school.  Relationships are good and there is a friendly, positive atmosphere throughout the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 23 lessons, four of which were joint observations with senior leaders.  Inspectors looked at pupils’ work including the quality of marking and listened to pupils from Years 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 reading.  Meetings were held with pupils, members of the governing body, and school staff, including senior and middle leaders. A telephone discussion also took place with a representative from the local authority.  Safeguarding paperwork was looked at, as well as incident logs, information on pupils’ progress, minutes of meetings held by the governing body, and the school’s self-evaluation.  Inspectors took account of the views of 53 parents through the Parent View website and letters from parents during the inspection. The views of staff were looked at through the voluntary staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Peter Lacey-Hastings, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Gillian Bosschaert Additional Inspector Noureddin Khassal Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Heath Primary School is larger than the average-sized primary school. It has a 26 place morning Nursery class.  A very large majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs who are supported through school action and school action plus is lower than average. The proportion of pupils with a statement for special educational needs is higher than average.  The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for the pupil premium, the additional funding provided by the government, is also below average.  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?

 Ensure that more teaching is consistently good or better, especially in Key Stage 1 by: – raising the pace and expectations in lessons so that pupils’ positive attitudes are directed into improving their learning – matching work more closely to pupils’ abilities, especially for more-able pupils – allowing more time in lessons for pupils to use key skills, such as writing, by reducing the amount of time teachers spend introducing and explaining activities – giving pupils more time to make improvements in their work after it has been marked by teachers.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the progress children make in the Early Years Foundation Stage by : - using the outdoor area more effectively to develop children’s early writing and mathematical skills - ensuring that adults engage at key times in children’s learning so that progress is more rapid - use assessments more accurately to make sure that activities build on the children’s level of understanding - strengthen the leadership of the Early Years Foundation Stage in order to make more accurate assessments of the quality of teaching and use this information to speed up children’s progress in learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the effectiveness of leadership and governance at all levels by: – building on the existing links between staff performance targets, training and pay progression, so that recent improvements in pupil progress can carry on for a longer period of time – modelling and sharing good teaching so that more lessons are good or better – improving the accuracy with which teaching is monitored through better understanding and rigorous implementation of statutory guidance and national standards.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children’s achievement in the Early Years Foundation Stage requires improvement. Their skills levels when they enter school are generally in line with those expected for their age. They leave both the nursery and reception classes with average skills levels.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 There is some variation in the progress children make in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Their social development and their ability to link letters with sounds are better than other areas of learning. As a result, they develop reading skills more quickly than other skills. Overall, progress in other areas of learning is too slow.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils begin Key Stage 1 at expected levels given their starting points. In the past, they have attained levels above the national average but a gradual decline now means they have average attainment. Writing has been stronger than reading and mathematics at Key Stage 1, but now it is similar.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement at Key Stage 2 has varied over time between years and between subjects. Progress in mathematics has been good and rates of progress have been above average. Progress in English has been weaker in two of the last three years, particularly for more-able pupils and boys.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In 2012, pupils’ progress across Key Stage 2 speeded up. Pupils made outstanding progress in mathematics, good progress in reading and expected progress in writing. This represents a marked improvement from the previous two years. Last year, pupils in Years 4 and 5 also made good progress. This has prepared them well for their current year in school. Progress rates in Year 3 and in writing across Key Stage 2 were not as strong.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The achievement of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including those with statements of special educational needs, is the same as other pupils in the school. Pupils eligible for additional government funding through the pupil premium make similar progress to other pupils. This funding is used to support learning in lessons, such as by adult support and to help support pupils’ emotional needs.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Across the school, pupils use a wide range of reading skills. They enjoy reading, are able to understand what they are reading and can make reasonable attempts at unknown words. Younger pupils are able to link letters and sounds, especially the initial sounds of words but they are not always able to sound out letters at the end of words.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because there is too much variability between different key stages. Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage covers all areas of learning. However, assessment information is not used well enough to plan future activities that will extend children’s learning, although these assessments are based on accurate observations. Adults do not consistently engage with children in a way that makes the best use of some well-planned activities. As a result, learning is not always quick or lively enough.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 There are good examples of children learning important social skills, such as the use of ‘bike tickets’ and egg timers for turn taking. However, much of the learning outdoors is restricted to social and physical development activities. This means that when children are outside, other areas of learning such as writing and number are not developed as much.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 At Key Stage 1, there is some good teaching but much requires improvement. Pupils respond well to teachers and relationships are good. However, this positive climate for learning is not capitalised on. Work is not always matched closely enough to pupils’ abilities. On occasions, it is too difficult for most pupils and at other times more-able pupils are not challenged to extend their learning. This means that progress for different groups is limited. The slow pace of teaching and lower expectations of pupils also mean that they do not consistently focus on the task at hand for long enough periods of time.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The majority of teaching at Key Stage 2 is good and this is starting to bring about better achievement for pupils. Pupils across the school are generally engaged, motivated and interested to learn, but this is not always used enough to improve learning. In the best practice, the faster pace and quality of questioning mean that pupils are asked to work harder at their own level and make good progress. Teachers demand more from pupils so pupils apply themselves to their work and try harder to do their best.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Across the school, marking is used to let pupils know how well they are doing. Much of the marking is good, with clear statements to pupils about they can improve their work and time for them to assess their own work. However, pupils do not have enough time to respond to teachers’ marking in order to show how they have made progress as a direct result of teachers’ feedback.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils feel safe and understand different forms of bullying, although they are less aware of internet safety because the school does not provide them with sufficiently regular reminders and updates. Bullying is very rare and pupils say that whenever it happens, staff deal with incidents quickly. Pupils know they can talk to an adult if they feel unhappy but say that such occasions are few and far between.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils know the need for safety rules, such as keeping the right side of coned-off areas. They are aware of the need to be careful about talking to adults on the public pavement by the fence.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Behaviour around the school, including along corridors, in lessons and in the playground, is good. Pupils are typically polite to each other and to adults, such as saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and holding doors open.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Low-level disruption through the school is rare and in good lessons is quickly challenged so the pace of learning is quicker. Pupils respond well to guidance by teachers and other adults. As a result there is a positive atmosphere in the school which pupils help to create.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attendance is average and pupils say that coming to school is important because they realise that if they do not attend, they will not learn. Attendance rates for the current year are high.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders and managers at all levels, including members of the governing body, are ambitious for the school to do well. This is communicated to staff and recent improvements, especially at Key Stage 2, are a result of the rising expectations that leaders have of staff performance.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders have not responded quickly enough to changes in national education policy and procedures, particularly those aimed at improving the quality of teaching. The monitoring of teaching has previously lacked the necessary rigour to accelerate pupils’ progress. New procedures are beginning to work and the school’s leaders are now better aware of the schools’ strengths and weaknesses. While they are making more use of this information to plan for improvements, such practice is not yet embedded.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Staff performance targets and training opportunities are being used to tackle weaker teaching. This means that the poorest teaching has been addressed and the quality of teaching is now improving. However, not enough teaching is consistently good.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Performance targets are also linked to pupil progress and teachers’ pay progression. This shows that leaders are determined to make the school better and recent improvements in Key Stage 2 progress show that this is starting to work. However, leadership in the Early Years Foundation Stage requires improvement because it is not consistent, and is not resulting in good teaching or good rates of progress.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school’s curriculum supports learning and pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Themes are taught across different subjects and pupils have to think about who their work is aimed at when presenting it to others. Events, both in school and on visits, further support this. For example, Year 6 pupils attended the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games and gave a presentation to other pupils about their visit.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Safeguarding requirements are met. The school keeps accurate logs of incidents and accidents. However, these records are not always used to plan actions that will help reduce the number of incidents further.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has provided help in improving the achievement of pupils who have English as an additional language. It has also just started supporting the school through the Achievement for All programme, which targets less able-pupils.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Members of the governing body know the school well and receive accurate and regular information about how well the school is performing. They understand information on pupil progress and know which years and which subjects showed the best or least progress. However, they have not always reacted quickly enough to challenge the school when pupils’ learning has needed improvement. More recently, headteacher performance targets have been linked to pupil progress and the headteacher is supported in her use of performance targets to improve the quality of teaching.

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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 124593 Local authority Suffolk Inspection number 406255

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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 470 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Vicki Swansborough Headteacher Susan Bowditch Date of previous school inspection 25 November 2010 Telephone number 01473 622806 Fax number 01473 630009 Email address admin@heathkesgrave.suffolk.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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