Grange Primary School

Grange Primary School Cambridge Road, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, DN34 5TA

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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 Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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

 Teaching is not consistently good enough to quicken pupils’ progress because work is sometimes too hard and more often too easy. As a result, too few more-able pupils make better than expected progress.  Pupils achieve less well in mathematics because teachers use different methods to teach the subject and this confuses pupils.  Pupils, especially in mathematics lessons, do not have enough time to practise what they have just learnt or to use their skills in solving problems.  Not all pupils behave well in lessons or around the school and the behaviour policy is not always used to remind them what is expected of them.  The information about how well pupils are doing does not focus enough on the main facts about their progress and is not presented clearly to staff.  Subject leaders do not have enough responsibility or accountability for checking teaching and pupils’ progress in their subjects and for acting on what they find.

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

 Governors do not ask sufficient questions about how well the school’s work is helping pupils to learn better. They do not find out enough for themselves about its performance.

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The school has the following strengths

 Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage achieve well.  Standards continue to rise and are average by the end of Year 6.  A growing proportion of teaching is good.  Pupils know how to stay safe in a variety of situations.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 21 lessons, of which six were joint observations with the headteacher or deputy headteacher.  Meetings were held with two groups of pupils, with senior and middle leaders, the Chair of the Governing Body and a representative of the local authority.  The inspectors took into account the six responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) in planning and carrying out the inspection.  They observed the school’s work and looked at a wide range of documentation, including information about the achievement of individual pupils through each year group, the school’s improvement planning, records about safeguarding, behaviour and attendance and governing body minutes.

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Inspection team

Lynne Blackelock, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Edward Price Additional Inspector Susan Twaits Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than average size primary school.  Most pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, including those for whom the school receives additional funding (the pupil premium) is well above average.  The proportion of pupils supported by school action and school action plus, or by a statement of special educational needs, is well above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  A breakfast club is provided each day during term time.  The senior leadership team was restructured in May 2012.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is at least consistently good, through making sure that:  all teachers have high expectations of pupils’ work  pupils have plenty of time in lessons to practise for themselves what they have learnt  all tasks are at exactly the right level for pupils of all abilities to achieve the best that they can.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise achievement in mathematics, including for more-able pupils, by making sure that:  teachers teach the subject in the same way throughout the school  tasks enable pupils to use their numeracy skills to solve a variety of problems and to make them really think about what they are doing and why they are doing it.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that all pupils behave well in lessons and around the school through:  all staff having high expectations of their behaviour  applying the behaviour policy consistently.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the impact of school leaders by ensuring that:  information about pupils’ achievement is sharply focused on the most important information and is presented clearly  subject leaders are accountable for checking regularly the quality of teaching and focus sharply on the achievement of different groups of pupils  the governing body asks more sharply focused questions about the performance of the school and finds out more about its work in order to be able to better check on its impact.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 While standards are average by the end of Year 6, and the gap between the school’s standards and those in most schools is narrowing, pupils’ achievement needs to improve. Through Key Stages 1 and 2, it is as expected, but teaching is not consistently good enough to accelerate pupils’ progress. Too few pupils reach higher standards at the end of both key stages particularly in mathematics because tasks are not planned carefully enough to enable more-able pupils to extend and deepen their learning.  In reading, however, standards have risen sharply in both key stages for the last two years and this year were above average because good teaching of letters and sounds (phonics) gives pupils a secure foundation for reading and for writing. Less-able pupils are developing good skills in working out the sounds made by letters because support staff give them lots of practice.  The gap in mathematics standards between the school and nationally is narrowing more slowly

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

due to a legacy of weaker quality of teaching, which is being addressed. In particular, the methods of teaching mathematics varies from class to class and confuses pupils.  Achievement throughout the Early Years Foundation Stage is good from children’s well below expected levels of skills when they join the Nursery because teaching is good. By the end of Reception, standards have risen to below average. Children learn quickly to share and negotiate and make good progress in their personal and social development. The focus on speaking and listening supports children’s improving pronunciation of words and continues through the school.  Pupils read each day but books for more-able pupils are sometimes too easy for them and not chosen carefully enough to reflect their interests, especially those of boys.  Throughout Key Stage 2, progress is variable because the quality of teaching is inconsistent. However, in Year 6, teaching is regularly good, enabling pupils of all abilities for example to

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

make quick progress in working out a problem linked to area and perimeter.  Disabled Pupils and those with special educational needs achieve similarly to other groups. Their progress is quickening because checks on their learning are very regular. They show more confidence in writing and punctuating sentences and in adding single and double digit numbers.  The school has identified the need to raise standards in specific aspects of reading, writing and counting and is providing pupil premium funding for daily lunchtime support groups, including for pupils who can reach higher levels. In Year 2, most pupils exceeded expectations in the progress they made in pronouncing groups of letters and understanding texts. The school’s data show that the progress of many pupils is quickening. Pupil premium money has also been used successfully for after-school clubs and family learning opportunities.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Although there are pockets of good practice throughout the school and more teaching is good, too much needs improvement.  Teachers’ expectations of pupils’ work, including its presentation, are not consistently high. Pupils are not always fully clear about what they are trying to learn. In some lessons, especially in mathematics, pupils do not have sufficient time to practise their skills in solving problems and thinking more about their learning.  Work is not always planned so that it is at exactly the right level to help pupils of different abilities make quick progress. More often it is too easy for more-able pupils who do not have enough chances to broaden their knowledge and understanding. It shows in the below average proportion reaching higher levels at the end of Years 2 and 6.  In good lessons there is a very brisk pace of learning, clear goals to achieve and work that is at just the right level. As a result, pupils’ progress accelerates and they work with great

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

determination and enjoyment.  Pupils have increasingly regular opportunities to practise their reading, writing and speaking and listening skills in several subjects. Pupils’ analysis of a Van Gogh painting produced some graphic descriptions from pupils of all abilities. A boy in Year 6 described one aspect of a painting as, ‘The stars are like light bulbs glistening in the night sky.’  Support for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is carefully planned with small steps to match their individual needs. Many are making quickening progress in developing, for example, interesting sentences through using adjectives and connecting words.  Questioning of pupils is often a strength, particularly in Reception. Together with interesting activities both in and outdoors, it encourages the children to consider how they can extend what they learn and say.  Marking has improved since the last inspection. Most tells pupils what they have done well.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

Excellent advice about what to do next is given in a smaller proportion of lessons. All pupils have targets, which are used to a variable extent in lessons to help support their progress.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils enjoy school and many show this in their good behaviour and their positive attitudes to learning and to each other. However, behaviour needs improving because not all pupils behave sensibly, either in lessons or around the school and staff expectations are not always high enough. In lessons which do not interest them, some pupils lose focus on their learning and become restless and quite noisy. The behaviour policy is not always used well to manage pupils’ behaviour.  Pupils say that they feel safe in school and the very few parents who responded to the on-line questionnaire agree. Pupils trust staff to help them if they are unhappy. The school’s records show that pupils have concerns about bullying, but the staff do not tolerate it and deal with it quickly.  Lessons and assemblies give pupils good knowledge about how to be safe and stay safe and support their good overall spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Their understanding

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

of different faiths and lifestyles progresses as they move through the school, so that older pupils, for example, understand the dangers caused by drugs and children in the Early Years Foundation Stage speak very confidently of why it is unwise to talk to strangers.  Pupils’ attendance is average and shows some improvement. The proportion regularly absent has fallen.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management need to improve because teaching is not consistently good. Subject leaders are not fully accountable for checking the quality of teaching and learning in their areas and do not have a big enough role in driving forward improvements.  Changes in senior leadership roles have resulted in a far greater focus on the pace of pupils’ progress. Information about pupils’ progress is collected more regularly and together with pupil progress meetings, provides a good basis for planning and checking pupils’ learning and the quality of support. However, data are not presented clearly and are not sharply enough focused on the achievement of different groups of pupils. Better checks have led to more effective support for pupils with specific needs. Phonics training has strengthened the teaching of reading and writing.  The quality of teaching is improving. In joint observations, senior leaders’ judgements of

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The leadership and management requires improvement

teaching matched exactly those of the inspectors. Staff yearly targets match very closely the improvements needed in teaching and leadership. Training is provided to help staff achieve their targets and pay rises are linked to how well they perform.  The school is acting to accelerate pupils’ progress in mathematics through stronger teaching and while this is showing good impact in the Early Years Foundation Stage, it has yet to work through the school. Nevertheless, improvements made and the year-on-year increase in standards overall confirm that the school has the capacity to improve.  The school’s main focus is on teaching literacy and numeracy, including guided reading. Reading and writing skills are practised increasingly in other lessons. Themes, such as ‘chocolate’, enable learning to be more creative and relevant. After-school clubs are very popular and pupils develop personal and creative skills from them. The full impact of the curriculum, however, is restricted

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The leadership and management requires improvement

by tasks that are either too easy or sometimes too hard to accelerate pupils’ progress.  The local authority supports the school effectively towards its goals, including in developing better teaching and leadership practices.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is appropriately trained to oversee the school’s work and ensures that safeguarding arrangements, including in the breakfast club, meet the statutory requirements. It spends money carefully and has a good handle on the budget. Governors question the headteacher and staff on school issues and are informed well by the headteacher. They are aware of the variable quality of teaching although they do not find this out for themselves. Governors’ knowledge of data is not comprehensive but they know the minimum expectations of pupils’ progress and how the school compares to others. They were involved in deciding how best to allocate pupil premium funding and acknowledge that they need to ask more

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The leadership and management requires improvement

about the impact of this spending on pupils’ achievement and well-being. The governors do not release money for pay rises for teachers unless there is substantial evidence that they have met targets set for them.

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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 131231 Local authority North East Lincolnshire Inspection number 406423

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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 295 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Len Brazier Headteacher Richard Oulton Date of previous school inspection 15 February 2011 Telephone number 01472 232033 Fax number 01472 232036 Email address office@grange.nelcmail.co.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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