Park Way Primary School

Park Way Primary School Park Way, Maidstone, Kent, ME15 7AH

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Inspection dates 28 February–1 March 2013

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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 Good 2

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

 Achievement is not good enough over time, particularly in English, despite some recent improvements to rates of progress in Key Stage 2.  Teaching is not yet consistently good in all year groups because the pace of lessons and the setting of work that stretches more-able pupils are not consistently strong in all classes.  Work is very carefully marked but pupils are not always given the time to follow advice and improve their work.  The great majority of pupils last year did not meet expected national standards for six-year- olds in reading by recognising individual sounds (phonics).  The teaching of reading has been weak in the past and current efforts to improve the skills of Key Stage 1 pupils are not completely effective because all the adults involved are not yet using phonics consistently.  Some children do not read outside school and this limits their progress.

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The school has the following strengths

 Disabled pupils, those with special educational needs and those for whom English is an additional language make progress that is as good as, or better than, their classmates because good specialist support is provided for them.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage, children make good progress across all areas of learning as a result of good teaching.  The pupil premium grant is used very effectively to improve outcomes for the target pupils.  Behaviour is good and has improved in recent years. Pupils, known and valued as individuals, enjoy school, and their families are confident that they are happy and feel safe.  School leaders and members of the governing body have successfully taken steps to tackle the weaknesses identified at the last inspection. They plan effectively for improved teaching and pupil attainment. Checks on the quality of teaching are now systematic, extensive and linked to precise support for

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors spent a total of eight hours observing 19 lessons or parts of lessons taught by 11 teachers. Additional activities included observations at breakfast club, and during a coffee morning for parents and carers.  One lesson was observed jointly with the headteacher. The acting deputy headteacher joined an inspector in visits to a series of parts of lessons to observe how pupils were working independently.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, representatives of the governing body, school leaders and subject leaders. A meeting was also held with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 12 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) as well as views communicated during informal discussions with parents and carers. They also took account of the views of the staff through meetings and 23 staff questionnaires.  Inspectors listened to pupils read and examined the work in pupils’ books.

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Information about this inspection

 The school’s own attainment records for the current as well as previous academic years were scrutinised in addition to published information on pupil achievement. Inspectors examined planning and documents checking on the school’s effectiveness, records relating to pupil safety and welfare, including the school’s single central record of checks on staff, the behaviour logs and attendance records.

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Inspection team

Patricia MacLachlan, Lead inspector Additional inspector David Mankelow Additional inspector Susan Senior Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 Park Way is an average-sized primary school. The Early Years Foundation Stage is provided in two Reception classes.  The proportion of pupils eligible for support from the pupil premium (extra money provided by the government for pupils including those eligible for free school meals) is higher than the national average.  A large majority of pupils are of White British heritage with the next largest group coming from Other White backgrounds. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is growing and is now above the national average with 19% of pupils believed to speak a different language at home.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported at school action is above the national average but the proportion of pupils supported through a statement of special educational needs or school action plus is in line with the national average.

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Information about this school

 The proportion of pupils who spend all their primary school years in this school is lower than the national average with 28% of pupils joining the school during Key Stage 1 or 2 and at times other than the start of the school year.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school runs a breakfast club.  The school has, since the last inspection, experienced some turnover in senior staff with an acting deputy headteacher currently covering for a deputy headteacher on maternity leave and new appointments this year to literacy and numeracy leadership roles.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 To consolidate the improvements in teaching so that all is at least good and some outstanding by:  devising tasks and asking questions that challenge learners, particularly those who are capable of making more rapid progress than their peers, to develop a deeper understanding of subjects by explaining their answers in more detail  building on the pupils’ good attitudes by increasing the pace of lessons and encouraging pupils, particularly the more able, to take responsibility for more open tasks that fully stretch them  allowing enough time for pupils to respond to teachers’ marking and record revisions in their books.  Improve achievement in reading and writing by:  making sure that all adults involved in teaching reading have the expertise to teach reading by sounding out letters (phonics) consistently  focusing on the difference between spoken and written English, making formal English and the

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

use of language for different purposes clearer for all pupils  equipping pupils to plot their own next steps by making sure that they fully understand their own targets for improvement  arranging more opportunities for pupils to read often and widely for pleasure.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement is not good because it is inconsistent across different year groups. Attainment in Year 6 has been significantly below the national average in English for some time and fewer 11- year-old pupils attain the higher levels in this subject than in schools nationally. Attainment in mathematics, on the other hand, is now broadly in line with national averages.  Attainment in reading at the early stages of Key Stage 1 requires improvement because systematic routines for blending together the sounds in longer words have not been effectively taught in the past. Few pupils could sound out longer new words. Leaders recognised this weakness, recruited new teachers and provided training for the teaching of phonics but this is not yet applied consistently well by all the adults involved.  Some pupils who find reading difficult are not getting enough practice because they do not read at home and this hinders the progress they make.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Systems have been strengthened for checking teacher assessments. Progress information on the current Year 6 suggests that they are now making better progress in reading and writing than 11-year-olds at the same time last year. Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 has improved recently and is now in line with national averages in reading, writing and mathematics because teachers have worked together to check the accuracy of their assessments.  In other Key Stage 2 year groups, progress is generally improving in reading, writing and mathematics for those who have been in the school since Key Stage 1. This is because teachers increasingly follow their progress carefully and give extra support for any who are falling behind. However, while benefiting from similar support, pupils who joined the school at a later stage are not yet making the same good progress as their peers because they have had less time for the

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

additional support to raise their achievement.  Achievement in both classes of the Early Years Foundation Stage is good. Children join the school with variable skills that are generally below age-related expectations but leave the Reception classes with levels of communication, language and literacy that are in line with the national average. This is because staff provide lots of opportunities for children to develop their vocabulary and speaking skills.  The extra money provided under the pupil premium initiative is used for a range of booster sessions for pupils in the target group. As a result, most pupils in this group now have the same or better average point scores as their peers in English and mathematics.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make the same progress as their classmates across all the year groups because additional support is carefully planned and evaluated.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils who speak English as an additional language make as good, or in many cases better, progress as their classmates because there is systematic and well coordinated support for their additional needs.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because it does not yet promote consistently good progress, especially in English, as a result of historic weakness in assessment and planning.  The school’s own evaluation of the quality of teaching shows that some in the past has had a negative impact on pupil performance. As a result of good leadership and management, teaching has now improved and much seen during the inspection was good, matching the school’s own view. This is improving pupils’ achievement, though they are not yet making good progress over time in all years and subjects.  When the pace is brisk, pupils are fully engaged. For example, in a Year 5/6 lesson, the teacher set some open questions for discussion about the uses of graphs with strict deadlines before distributing questions with different levels of difficulty to different groups. Pupils were focused because they knew that they would be asked to explain how they had worked out and checked

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

their answers. However, not all teachers maintain such a rigorous pace in group tasks and some pupils consequently do not make the progress of which they are capable.  In the best lessons, all adults insist on pupils answering in full sentences because they themselves model the use of formal English before the pupils begin to write. However, this does not always happen and, as a consequence, some written work is not high quality.  Pupils who find the work difficult have good, focused support in class and make progress. However, the pupils who are capable of making more-rapid progress are sometimes set tasks that are not hard enough and that do not challenge them to develop fuller answers, and this hinders their progress.  Marking is extremely thorough, with useful written advice on each piece of work about how to improve it. However, some pupils do not follow up these suggestions because they need more

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

time to revise their work properly. Other, quicker, pupils correct their work but are unclear about how to reach the next level.  Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good. Adults skilfully exploit the children’s interests in playing at ‘post office’, for example, by posing stimulating questions that extend the children’s thinking and use of vocabulary.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ attitudes to learning are good. This is because they want to live up to the school’s ‘three Rs’ of respect, resilience and responsibility, and value the recognition and rewards that come from a philosophy of ‘helping every child to shine’.  Behaviour is good rather than outstanding because, though much rarer than in the past and well handled by the school, there are still some infrequent incidents of poor behaviour.  Pupils feel well looked after by the adults around them both in school and in the breakfast club. Pupils who previously have displayed challenging behaviour speak of the very supportive ways in which they have been helped to improve because they have been taught to ‘stay out of trouble’. Well-mannered, courteous behaviour is typical.  Bullying is rare. Pupils understand what bullying means and speak highly of the effective way in which they can use ‘worry boxes’ both in school and online to ask for help from adults that is

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

speedily forthcoming.  Pupils have a good awareness of personal safety including cyber-safety because it is well covered in memorable lessons and assemblies.  Attendance is improving each year and is in line with national averages because effective strategies are persistently deployed to encourage good attendance.

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The leadership and management are good

 Good leadership and management have ensured that the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection have been successfully addressed. Lessons have clear aims that are shared with the pupils and include opportunities for independent learning. Attendance is now in line with the national average and subject leaders are now fully engaged in checking pupils’ progress with frequent reviews of books and lesson plans. The school’s evaluation of its own performance is accurate and systematic.  The headteacher has developed a very robust system for checking the quality of teaching. Feedback to teachers is frequent, helpful and followed by classroom checks to ensure rapid implementation. The management of staff performance makes sure that only those teachers who meet required standards move up the salary scale. The headteacher has not shied away from difficult conversations about teaching performance and her recruitment procedures now

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The leadership and management are good

focus on observing good teaching before a new appointment is made.  Subject leaders, some new to their roles, increasingly support colleagues to help them improve the quality of teaching and check that assessments of pupil attainment are accurate.  Encouragement of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is planned in the curriculum. Pupils express moral viewpoints in religious and social education lessons. Opportunities to visit places of historic interest and to perform for the local community are relished and widen pupils’ cultural horizons.  Management of the Early Years Foundation Stage shows a good understanding of progress information at this age and arrangements for transition from home to school are sensitively handled.  Safeguarding systems meet statutory requirements and policies are rigorously applied. Leaders promote equal opportunities and are assiduous in tackling any discrimination that may arise.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority provides support to the school by sharing lesson observations with the headteacher. Other support has included training for the governing body and teachers through the Kent Challenge partnership  The governance of the school: The governing body knows the standards of achievement and teaching in the school because the headteacher provides regular summary reports under these headings. Governors use these to ask challenging questions, expecting for example for reports on the cost-effectiveness of staff training in terms of its impact on pupil achievement. Governors check the improvement plan, based on an accurate understanding of how pupils are performing compared with national standards. Some have attended training where their school’s performance is compared with national figures, and are increasingly confident in interpreting progress of pupils in different parts of the school. Governors understand the link between teachers’ pay

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The leadership and management are good

progression and their pupils’ progress because they receive systematic summaries of teachers’ performance from the headteacher. Checks are made that the pupil premium funds are spent on the intended groups because the headteacher reports on the impact on attainment made by the funds. Oversight of safeguarding is effective.

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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 118302 Local authority Kent Inspection number 405760

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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 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 280 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ralph Edwards Headteacher Karen Dhanecha Date of previous school inspection 12–13 October 2010 Telephone number 01622 753651 Fax number 01622 682878 Email address office@park-way.kent.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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