Parkend Primary School

Parkend Primary School Yorkley Road, Lydney, GL15 4HL

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Good improvement has been made since the previous inspection, resulting in all groups of pupils making outstanding progress in reading, achieving high standards by the time they leave the school.  Pupils’ achievement is now good in mathematics. Standards are rising at an accelerated rate in Years 3–6 and are now above national averages.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are exceptionally well provided for, and they make rapid gains in speaking and listening.  Teaching is good overall with examples of outstanding teaching in literacy in Years 3–6.  Pupils behave well around the school. They look one another and parents and carers are delighted with their children’s learning, safety and relationships.  The executive headteacher has worked well with the governing body and provided good strategic leadership, enabling the school to maintain its distinctive features while at the

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

same time improving the quality of teaching and managing the school effectively.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good gains in learning, especially in identifying letter sounds.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 In Years 1 and 2, pupils’ progress in writing is not as good as their progress in reading and mathematics. Occasional opportunities for writing at length in different subjects are missed and occasional there are instances in lessons where pupils’ exuberant behaviour slows down learning.  Too few opportunities are provided for pupils to develop their skills of independent learning and pupils who find learning easy are not always challenged enough in lessons,  In the Early Years Foundation Stage, children are not given enough opportunities to learn how to form their letters. especially in writing.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was carried out with one day’s notice and took place over two days.  The inspector observed 12 lessons taught by 2 tweachers ,2 higher level teaching assistants and a supply teacher .  Documentation was analysed, including that related to teachers’ planning, safeguarding, behaviour logs, attendance figures, the school’s systems for improving teaching and learning, and how the money allocated for pupil premium is spent.  The inspector took account of 10 responses to the online Parent View survey and interviewed two parents.  Questionnaires were analysed from two staff.  The inspector heard six pupils read and discussed their views of the school.  Discussions were held with the headteacher and his staff, a representative from the local authority, the Chair of the Governing Body, pupils, and parents and carers.

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Inspection team

Bogusia Matusiak-Varley, Lead inspector Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 The school entered into a formal collaborative partnership agreement of understanding with Lydbrook Primary School in February 2011. The school is led and managed by the executive headteacher of Lydbrook Primary School. Both schools have retained their separate governing bodies.  This is a smaller-than-average-sized primary school. Children are taught in two mixed-age classes. Class 1 is comprised of Early Years Foundation Stage children and pupils in Years 1 to 2; Class 2 is made up of pupils in Years 3 to 6. Almost all pupils are from a White British background and no pupils speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium (additional government funding) is below the national average. In 2012, there were no pupils in Year 6 eligible for free school meals.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported by school

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Information about this school

action is below the national average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is in line with the national average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ rates of progress in writing by: – ensuring that children in the Early Years Foundation Stage learn how to form their letters correctly through both play and formal learning activities – providing pupils in Class 1 with more opportunities to write at length in different subjects

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop pupils’ skills of independent learning by ensuring that pupils who find learning easy are given plenty of extension activities

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve learning behaviour in Class 1 by: – ensuring that pupils are aware of how their occasional boisterousness can waste time in lessons and prevent other pupils from concentrating.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 When children enter the school, they have skills and experiences below the levels expected for their age, especially in speaking and listening. Good-quality provision ensures that children make up ground and enter Year 1 attaining expectations for their age in all areas of learning other than writing. This is because in the Reception class not enough opportunities are provided for children to learn how to form their letters correctly in play activities.  In Year 1, pupils make outstanding progress in learning letters and sounds. Results of the national screening tests in 2012 were above the national average. This contributes to above-average standards in reading at the end of Year 2. By the end of Year 2, standards in writing and mathematics meet national averages and pupils’ achievements in relation to their starting points are good. However, in lessons, there were some missed opportunities for higher attainers to learn more rapidly due to limited extension activities.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 By the end of Year 6, standards are above average in English and mathematics. In reading, pupils’ achievements are outstanding; in writing, pupils make good progress. The school has narrowed the gap for those pupils who are eligible for pupil premium. They have extra help and support given to them through one-to-one tuition and access to residentials. This has ensured that they are on track to exceed national averages by one year in reading and writing, and two terms in mathematics.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are given good support in lessons and, while they make good progress overall, they make outstanding progress in speaking and listening due to the many opportunities provided for them to talk about their learning in lessons.  The appointment of a ‘mathematics specialist’ is having a positive impact on the rates of progress for all pupils, and good improvement has been made since the previous

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The achievement of pupils is good

inspection, resulting in pupils being very well prepared for secondary school.  Pupils’ good progress is attributable to the rigorous systems that the executive headteacher has introduced in tracking pupils’ progress to enable teachers to keep a watchful eye on any pupil who might be falling behind.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good with examples of outstanding teaching in Class 2. In two English lessons observed, all groups of pupils made outstanding progress in reading and writing due to the teacher’s excellent explanations, modelling of what she expected of them and consistent checking of understanding.  Teachers have excellent relationships with their pupils. Parents and carers say that teaching is good because they have seen a positive development in their children’s attitudes to learning. ’Our children can’t wait to get to school. They now talk about what they have learnt when they come home,’ said one parent.  Teachers are held to account for the progress that their pupils make and extra help is given to any pupils not understanding what has been taught in lessons. Teaching assistants make a very valuable contribution to learning. Pupils trust them and know that they will get the support that they need.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers have good subject knowledge and offer clear explanations. They use information and communication technology very well in lessons to keep pupils engaged in learning. They mark pupils’ work regularly. However, sometimes there are missed opportunities for pupils to develop their skills of independent learning by acting on teachers’ advice and undertaking corrections without being prompted.  The additional pupil premium funding is used well and has contributed significantly to the progress made by those pupils who are eligible for it. Extra help given to these pupils on an individual basis and the funding of a residential has resulted in them making accelerated progress and improving their confidence in learning.  Teaching is not yet outstanding because progress in writing is not as good as that in reading. In Class 1, there are not enough opportunities for pupils to write at length building

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The quality of teaching is good

on previous learning Not enough pupils in this class are getting the higher levels because, at times, they finish their work quickly and are not provided with more challenging work.  Learning in lessons is characterised by pupils persevering with their work, collaborating in teams and actively listening to one another’s suggestions to improve their work. However, too few opportunities are provided for pupils to undertake independent research and move their learning on based upon their personal interest levels.  Teachers plan many opportunities to develop pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness. In Class 1, pupils were able to recount the Rama and Sita story with great empathy, and showed very good awareness of the meaning behind the Diwali story and how good can overcome evil.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ behaviour is good in lessons and around the school but occasionally the younger pupils get quite boisterous and this distracts pupils from learning. All pupils get on well with one another and develop good relationships.  Older pupils take responsibility for the younger ones during playtime, ensuring that no child is left out. Peer mentors do their work very effectively, checking that all pupils are happy.  Pupils say there is no bullying. Staff are aware of the systems in place for dealing with any kind of bullying, and records show there have been very few cases and these have been dealt with effectively. Pupils are aware of different types of bullying, including cyber- bullying and name-calling, and understand the risks in using social networking sites.  Exemplary attitudes to learning were demonstrated in several literacy lessons in Class 2, where pupils were developing their writing and their recitation of poetry. The atmosphere

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

in lessons was electric as they continuously tried to improve their writing by looking at all the visual prompts around the walls and persevered in ensuring that visual expressions in reading poetry conveyed meaning to the audience.  Attendance is average. Pupils are now arriving to school on time and lateness has decreased.  Parents, carers, pupils and staff say that the school is a happy place where any child can access a teacher should they need any help.  Good opportunities for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development contribute to good behaviour and relationships as pupils work well in teams in the outside classroom and the allotments. Pupils have a good knowledge of a wide range of customs, traditions and festivals of different countries that constitute the make-up of multicultural Britain.

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The leadership and management are good

 The executive headteacher has managed the formal collaboration well and, as he is now fully aware of both schools’ strengths and areas for development, he is strategically maximising the potential of both schools to provide the best learning outcomes for all pupils. His good leadership of teaching has improved standards in mathematics. Secure systems and procedures are now in place to ensure rigorous self-evaluation and accountability.  Due to the size of the school, most of the leadership has come from the headteacher. Middle leadership is developing, and pay and promotion are now directly tied to teachers’ effectiveness and impact on learning. Leadership and management of special educational needs are good, as demonstrated by the good progress that these pupils make.  Self-evaluation is accurate, and this has led to improvements since the previous inspection, especially in mathematics. The whole school team, including the governors, are committed

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The leadership and management are good

to ensuring that all pupils get a good quality of education, and plans are now being developed to strategically identify how the collaboration can maximise resources for both schools in order to ensure cost-effectiveness of spending in such a small school.  Monitoring of teaching and learning, planning and marking has been undertaken by the headteacher with good pointers for improvement identified in staff performance management objectives.  The curriculum for mixed-age classes is well planned with clear outcomes defined for each year group. Good opportunities for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are identified, such as the importance of recycling, caring about the surrounding environment and being aware of the different types of lifestyles in Britain and across the world.  Procedures for safeguarding, ensuring safe recruitment, identification of children at risk and positive working relationships with professional agencies ensure the safety and

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The leadership and management are good

protection of all pupils.  The local authority has given strong support to governors during the set-up of the collaboration process and has been a positive partner in school improvement.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is taking its roles and responsibilities very seriously and has managed the first part of the collaboration process well. With good support from the headteacher and local authority, governors know about the strengths and areas for development of the school and are fully involved in school development planning. They ensure that performance management systems are in place and know about the quality of teaching, how good teachers are rewarded and how underperformance is tackled. They understand data and the progress made by different groups of pupils, ensuring that additional funding is targeted appropriately to support the learning of pupils who are eligible for it. Improved administrative systems are enabling them to monitor finances

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The leadership and management are good

but at present there are missed opportunities to capitalise on the expertise within the collaboration to use resources more effectively to ensure even better value for money.

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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 115553 Local authority Gloucestershire Inspection number 405588

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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 56 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andy Lord Headteacher Simon Lusted Date of previous school inspection 13–14 January 2011 Telephone number 01594 562407 Fax number 01594 562407 Email address admin@parkend.gloucs.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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