Parkland Primary School South Wigston

Parkland Primary School South Wigston St Thomas Road, , Wigston, LE18 4TA

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected 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

 Last year, pupils in Years 3 and 4 made poor progress in writing and mathematics, and most other pupils made no better than expected progress in those subjects.  The standards pupils reach in writing and mathematics are not as high as they should be.  Standards in mathematics are lower than standards in English.  Teaching in the past has been inadequate in some classes and is not yet consistently good throughout the school.  The teaching of mathematics is weaker than the teaching of English.  The new senior leader team and subject leaders do not yet all use the data which tracks pupils’ progress well enough to accurately identify how pupils can improve.  Not all senior and subject leaders are fully involved in checking the quality of teaching throughout the school.  The governing body does not check how well the school is doing thoroughly enough to be clear about how it is improving.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils make good progress in reading.  Pupils in all year groups have made good progress in reading, writing and mathematics since September.  Teaching is good and outstanding in some classes in the school.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress.  Pupils who are supported by additional funding, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress.  The headteacher has tackled difficult issues to ensure that there is no longer inadequate teaching in the school.  Leaders clearly understand what the school needs to do to improve and the impact of this is already being seen in better progress this year in writing and mathematics.  Pupils are polite, behave well and can talk confidently about how they can keep themselves safe.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 25 lessons or parts of lessons, of which three were joint observations with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with three groups of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body, school staff, including senior and subject leaders, and the director of Discovery School Trust academy. Informal discussions were held with parents.  The inspectors took account of the 17 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), 47 staff questionnaires and a recent parent questionnaire carried out by the school.  The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at: information from the school’s checks on its performance, school improvement plans, analysis and tracking of pupils’ progress, leaders’ records of classroom observations and safeguarding arrangements. They also sampled pupils’ work, listened to pupils read and checked information on pupils’ attendance.

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Inspection team

Susan Hughes, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Elizabeth Needham Additional Inspector Michael Onyon Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is a larger-than-average primary school and has been an academy within the Discovery Schools Trust since 1 July 2012.  Prior to becoming an academy the school, also named Parkland Primary School, was inspected on 27–28 September 2010 and judged to be a satisfactory school.  The school has been through turbulent times over the last two years with a high turnover of staff. As many as 85% of the teaching staff have joined the school in the last two years.  The senior leadership team with its current membership has been in place since September 2012.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional funding to help particular pupils) is above average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups and of those who speak English as an additional language is both lower than average.  The proportion of pupils who are supported through school action is above average, and the

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Information about this school

proportion of those supported at school action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The school provides for pupils from ages 4 to 10 years. They transfer to other schools for Year 6 of their education.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching, so that all pupils make consistently good progress, particularly in mathematics, through ensuring that:  work in class is well matched to pupils’ different abilities, especially for more able pupils  marking of pupils’ work and other guidance from teachers give pupils clear advice on how they can improve and also time to do the things that are pointed out to them  the questions teachers ask pupils not only check their understanding but help them to think more deeply about what they are learning  pupils take more responsibility for their learning by making choices and evaluating their own work and that of others.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the leadership and management by ensuring that:  all senior and subject leaders have the skills required to analyse and make good use of pupils’ progress data  all senior and subject leaders take an active role in checking the quality of teaching  the governing body develops clear systems to check how well the school is doing and measure the impact of spending such as the pupil premium.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Progress in some classes has been inadequate over recent years, particularly in mathematics. Pupils have made good progress in reading and expected progress in writing. However, progress since September is good in all year groups for reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Standards in writing and mathematics are below average in most year groups. More rapid progress since September means that the gap between pupils’ standards and the level at which they should be working is beginning to close. Considerably more pupils in Year 5 are on track to achieve or exceed expected standards in English and mathematics by the end of Key Stage 2 than in previous years.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils who are supported by the pupil premium make good progress. This is because the extra funding has been well spent on the teaching of specific learning programmes, such as ‘Every Child a Reader’, which give good support to pupils who are at risk of not doing well.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds and those who speak English as an additional language made good progress in Key Stage 1 last year. This is because they are well supported to practise speaking in class and role-play activities. Their progress was slower in Years 3 and 4, and those in Year 5 made expected progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Good support for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs means that they make good progress, particularly in reading and writing. Carefully planned work taught in small groups and sensitive support by other adults in lessons means that they made better progress than other pupils last year.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils start in the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills below those typical nationally. Although the level of skills on starting school changes from year group to year group, children make good progress and typically join Key Stage 1 with broadly average standards.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching over recent years has been weak in some classes. However, there is now no inadequate teaching in the school. Although some teaching is good, this is not yet consistent in all classes and a number of new, more inexperienced teachers have yet to fully develop their skills.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Mathematics teaching is weaker than the teaching of English. Where teaching is good, tasks are well matched to pupils’ abilities. However, this approach is not consistent across the school and, in some mathematics lessons, all pupils start with similar work, which means that more able pupils are not given work that is too easy.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers’ questioning does not always help pupils move on in their learning. For example, some teachers accept a simple answer from pupils instead of extending the question to encourage them to think harder and develop their answers further.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The pace of lessons is sometimes too slow. Teachers explain tasks in such detail that they talk for too long and pupils get used to sitting listening and expecting all the organisation to be done for them. In the best lessons, pupils are fully involved and have the opportunity to decide how to tackle a task. For example, in Year 5 more able pupils worked rapidly on their own, studying words that are pronounced the same but which have different meanings (homophones) while the teacher taught the rest of the class at a steadier pace.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The guidance that teachers provide through marking varies across the school. Some is very helpful. When a Year 1 pupil had shown that he could add two numbers, the teacher challenged him to work with three numbers. He was then given the opportunity to complete the challenge to demonstrate progress. In some books, however, guidance such as ‘be careful with your presentation’ is too general to be helpful and pupils are not always given time to respond to the guidance that they are given.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils’ assessment of their own work is inconsistently used. ‘Traffic lights’ to show levels of understanding are evident in some classes. However, this is not often developed into thoughtful comments about why pupils have made that judgement. There are few chances to assess each other’s work but, where this does happen, it helps pupils also reflect on their own learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The support for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is very well matched to their specific needs. There is a good balance between pupils working out of the classroom in small groups and additional adult support in class. Progress is carefully and regularly checked so that the work planned always builds on what pupils already know.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Homework is regularly provided and teachers have high expectations of it being completed. Pupils say they get the right amount, and the majority of parents surveyed by the school or who responded to Parent View agree with this.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Reading standards are improving rapidly because the teaching of the sounds letters make (phonics) is good. This is reflected in the good results of the national phonic screening check for Year 1. Pupils read with confidence and older pupils say they enjoy reading to the younger ones.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In all lessons, teachers show pupils good examples as mature and responsible people. They encourage pupils to be equally responsible and develop good social and moral skills and understanding. Pupils respond well and show consideration and respect for each other.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Children get a good start to school in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Good use is made of the outdoor learning areas to excite and engage the children. For example, during the inspection they enjoyed being ‘shape detectives’ going on a ‘shape hunt’ outside. They make good progress in developing their skills.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In all areas of the school, teachers work hard to draw on pupils’ interests and develop wonder in the world around them and a love for learning. For example, in a science lesson, pupils in Years 3 and 4 formed a human ‘electrical’ circuit, passing the ‘current’ on through a very slight squeeze of the hand. They were fully engrossed in what they were doing, learning how electricity travels and its impact on switches and lights.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Behaviour has improved considerably over the last year. This is because pupils feel they have been involved in discussing the behaviour policy, which is consistently used by all staff. They talk confidently about ‘ABC’ (Accept, Behave, Care) and feel that the behaviour ladders, which show how well they behave according to how their name moves up or down the ladder, work well.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are clear about different forms of bullying and talk about how bullying can hurt you physically or hurt your feelings. They say that there have been some incidents of name-calling in the past but that all incidents are taken seriously and dealt with well. Pupils talk confidently about what is meant by cyber-bullying and say it does not happen in their school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are very polite around school. They step aside and hold doors open for adults and for each other. The excitement of high winds and many fallen leaves during the inspection triggered good-humoured play which never became rough. Boys and girls play together well on the playground. For example, during the inspection, one boy was seen helping a girl learn how to head a sponge ball.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Lessons are rarely disrupted by poor behaviour. On occasions, when pupils need time to reflect on their behaviour, they are able to sit in the library with an adult who quietly and calmly talks with them. This has resulted in far fewer incidents this year compared with the same time last year. The large majority of parents agree that pupils are well behaved.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils talk confidently about how to keep themselves safe. They can recount advice from visits by the police and fire services and messages about not talking to strangers. Older pupils have a view of how to stay safe when using the internet and feel that they also have a duty to keep an eye out for younger pupils in the school.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher has faced challenging times ensuring that she has the right staff in school to raise standards. The new senior leadership team is using school data to track pupils’ progress but all members are not yet skilled enough to look more deeply into what the data is suggesting. This means that some are better than others in making accurate judgements about precise steps that the school needs to take to improve.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Self-evaluation by the senior leaders is accurate and is reflected in the school development plan. School improvement planning has been led mainly by the headteacher and the director of Discovery Schools Trust. Not all leaders and managers, including governors, are involved enough to ensure that they are clear about what they should be checking on a regular basis.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher and director have kept a close check on the quality of teaching. Senior leader involvement in lesson observations is beginning to develop. Subject leaders have had little opportunity to observe the teaching of their subjects. This means that they do not yet have a full picture of how to improve the teaching.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Parents have been unsettled by the turnover of staff in recent times. The senior leaders and managers have worked hard to reassure them about the quality of their children’s education, and discussion with parents during the inspection showed that most spoken to feel much more confident in the school now.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Some staff have been unsettled by recent staffing changes. A significant minority expressed their concerns through the staff questionnaires. The leaders and managers of the school are introducing regular checks on performance for all staff to ensure that they are well supported and able to raise standards for pupils.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Teachers’ performance is checked against how much progress their pupils make. Targets for teachers are used to measure whether promotion up the pay scale is justified by the results achieved. Good teaching is not yet consistent across all years, although there is, already, plenty of good practice as shown by pupils’ improved progress already this term.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school is starting to make the curriculum exciting and stimulating. For example, the recent ‘Creative Egg’ week centred on some mysterious giant ‘eggs’ that appeared on the school site. The excitement and enthusiasm that this generated meant that pupils were keen to investigate, record and write about their experiences that week. Literacy, numeracy and communication skills are being developed through other similar topics, but this in not yet happening consistently in all classes.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school has a very close partnership working through the Discovery Schools Trust. This has enabled them to share good practice and to bring new, experienced teachers into the school. The director of the trust has supported the headteacher through working with her to improve the use of data and improve teaching in the school. Joint committee meetings and governing body meetings are helping to develop the skills of governors so that they are less reliant on the headteacher’s guidance.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Partnerships with other local schools offer opportunities for staff to share expertise with colleagues from other schools. Sporting and musical activities, and those specifically planned for more able pupils, widen the learning experiences for pupils and develop their social skills through working with different groups of pupils.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Social development underpins all that the school does. Staff are good role models for pupils who then see themselves as role models for younger pupils. Through activities such as the harvest supper and the local community Christmas fair, pupils are given the opportunity to perform for and entertain different local residents. There are fewer opportunities for pupils to learn about other cultures and other ways of life. This means that they are not as well prepared as they should be for life in a multicultural society.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Strong links with the church support spiritual development in the school. Pupils are given opportunities to reflect on and discuss moral issues through a project to develop social and emotional aspects of learning. For example, Year 5 pupils were able to discuss and challenge stereotypical portrayal of people and professions while valuing individuality through the ‘adoption’ of a potato and noting its uniqueness.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  The governing body is very positive about the school and has supported the headteacher through recent turbulent times. Governors are clear about the main strength of the school and where it needs to improve. Minutes from meetings show that they are beginning to hold the headteacher and senior leaders to account by asking challenging questions. However, governors are still not clear about how well some of the strategies that the school are putting in place are working. For example, they are not all clear about how the pupil premium is being spent and the impact this is having on pupils. Governors visit the school regularly to check on progress in key areas such as literacy and numeracy. The visits are closely linked to the school development plan but the governors tend to rely on the headteacher to decide what the focus of each visit will be. The governing body fulfils its statutory duties and has ensured that

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The leadership and management requires improvement

safeguarding arrangements in school meet the required standard. Governors understand the need to make sure that teachers do not move up the pay scale unless they can show good teaching and good progress by 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 138348 Local authority N/A Inspection number 408513

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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 Academy converters School category Non-maintained Age range of pupils 4–10 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 430 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sally Marski Headteacher Jane Windsor Date of previous school inspection N/A Telephone number 0116 2782142 Fax number 0116 2783764 Email address head.teacher@parkland.leics.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

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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