Salisbury Primary School

Salisbury Primary School Salisbury Street, Wednesbury, WS10 8BQ

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Overall effectiveness

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

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

 Links between the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 are under developed.  Teaching is not consistently good enough to ensure pupils achieve well.  Teachers, especially in Key Stage 1, do not always plan lessons in ways which ensure time is well used and pupils learn quickly.  Sometimes teachers do not use questions well enough to enable pupils to review their learning, develop their understanding and extend their speaking skills.  The quality of teachers' marking of pupils' work is variable and does not ensure that pupils consistently take responsibility for improving their work.  There are weaknesses in the teaching of mathematics. Opportunities are missed to reinforce and extend pupils’ numeracy skills in other subjects.  Although attendance is improving, it remains below average and the taking of unauthorised extended holidays in term time slows the progress of some pupils.  Long-term plans, leadership structures and

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

roles and the actions leaders take are not sufficiently developed or sharply focused to drive improvement quickly.  Members of the governing body do not have a sufficiently detailed understanding of pupils’ achievement or the quality of teaching to enable them to hold school leaders sharply to account.

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The school has the following strengths

 The way senior leaders and staff have improved Key Stage 2 pupils’ attainment in English since the previous inspection shows they are able to raise standards.  Some outstanding teaching in Year 6 enables all groups of pupils in this year group to make accelerated progress in their final year at this school.  Leaders have made sure that major changes in staffing have not disrupted pupils’ education. Parents and carers are satisfied with their children’s schooling.  Pupils have positive attitudes to learning. They get on well with each other and with adults. They play happily together, behave well and know how to stay safe.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching in 20 lessons taught by 12 teachers. Two of these lessons were observed together with the executive headteacher or the associate headteacher.  Samples of pupils’ work in English and mathematics were analysed. Inspectors listened to some Year 2 and Year 6 pupils reading.  Meetings were held with school staff, a group of pupils, governors and a school improvement adviser working on behalf of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 34 questionnaires completed by staff. There were insufficient responses from parents and carers for these to be recorded on the on-line questionnaire (Parent View). Parents’ and pupils’ responses to the school’s own recent surveys were considered. An inspector also spoke informally to a few parents at the beginning of the school day.  Inspectors looked at a range of evidence including: the work in pupils’ books; monitoring records; school improvement plans, the school’s own data on pupils’ progress; minutes of

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Information about this inspection

governing body meetings; and policies, procedures and records relating to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance.

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Inspection team

Derek Aitken, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Cliff Mainey Additional Inspector Huw Evans Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is larger than most other primary schools.  Most pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds, principally Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is high and many pupils are at an early stage of learning English.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium (extra government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, children who are looked after by the local authority and the children of service families) is well above average. Currently, there are no children of service families attending the school.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is high. The proportion of these pupils supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is low.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage are taught in two Nursery classes and two

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Information about this school

Reception classes.  The headteacher is executive headteacher of this school and also of a neighbouring school, Kings Hill Primary. The executive headteacher took up his post in January 2012. The two schools will shortly be federated.  There have been major changes to staffing at all levels in the last 18 months. Several staff were new to teaching when they took up their appointments.  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 teaching to good or better, especially in Key Stage 1, by ensuring all teachers:  plan lessons in ways which ensure time is well used and pupils learn quickly  make good use of questioning to enable pupils to review their learning, develop their understanding and extend their speaking skills  make effective use of marking to enable pupils to take more responsibility for improving their work.  Raise pupils’ achievement in Key Stage 1 by:  strengthening assessment and planning links with the Early Years Foundation Stage to improve continuity in pupils’ learning.  Improve pupils’ achievement in mathematics by:  ensuring teachers use mathematical language and resources consistently well to help pupils understand new ideas  providing more opportunities for pupils to practise their numeracy skills in other subjects.  Further improve attendance by:  finding new ways to work with parents who take their children on extended holidays in term

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

time.  Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:  ensuring leadership roles are fully developed at all levels to enable all postholders to check up thoroughly on the school’s work  making sure all plans and actions are sharply focused on the aspects of teaching and pupils’ skills that are in most need of improvement  ensuring governors acquire detailed first-hand knowledge of the school to enable them to hold leaders firmly to account and to play a full role in shaping its direction.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children’s levels of skills and knowledge when children join Nursery are well below national expectations, largely because many children have a limited range of English vocabulary. Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage is firmly focused on developing children’s language and social skills, but by the end of the Reception Year one half of all children are still working well below expectations.  Provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage has recently been effectively restructured. Planning and assessment links between this stage and Key Stage 1 are under developed and this slows pupils’ development in Years 1 and 2. Opportunities are also missed in the teaching to speed up pupils’ progress in this key stage. At the end of Year 2 most pupils are working two terms behind their national counterparts in reading, writing and mathematics.  Although less-able pupils in Year 2 have a good understanding of phonics (the sounds made by

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

letters) and read accurately, they often do not grasp the meaning of the words they read.  In Key Stage 2, pupils gradually start to reduce the gaps between the levels they are working at and those expected nationally for their age, especially in reading. They make rapid progress in English in Year 6 and by the end of the year their attainment in this subject is exactly in line with national averages. An above-average proportion of pupils achieve the nationally expected Level 4 in reading. Pupils’ comprehension skills improve markedly over time.  The attainment of Year 6 pupils in mathematics is a little below average and fewer pupils make good progress in the subject. Less-able pupils sometimes struggle to understand mathematical ideas and vocabulary. A lack of planned opportunities to practise and apply their numeracy skills in other subjects holds back pupils’ progress.  Although there are differences between key stages in pupils’ achievements, and extended

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

holidays in their homelands slows progress for some pupils, by the end of Year 6 most groups of pupils achieve similarly. Nearly all disabled pupils and those pupils who have special educational needs make the progress expected of them.  The achievement of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding varies. In 2012, Year 6 pupils eligible for pupil premium funding achieved better than their classmates. Their attainment in both English and mathematics was just below all pupils nationally and above similar pupils across the country. Current data for Year 6 pupils show that this group’s levels of attainment are slightly below those of their classmates.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Over time, teaching has not been of sufficiently good quality to make sure that pupils achieve well across the school. In particular, teaching is not strong enough in Key Stage 1 to reduce gaps in pupils’ learning.  Teachers often do not select activities carefully enough to make sure pupils develop their skills at a brisk pace. This was observed in Key Stage 1 lessons where pupils often spent too long on undemanding tasks. The teachers sometimes did not present new ideas or rehearse these tasks well enough to help pupils build on prior learning or complete activities successfully.  Teachers do not question pupils often enough, or in sufficient detail, to check their understanding and to encourage them to explain their thinking and develop their speaking skills.  The quality of marking varies. Apart from in Year 6, teachers’ comments do not regularly provide pupils with detailed guidance or useful examples for pupils to follow. There is little evidence of

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

pupils acting on these comments to make corrections or to improve their work.  Teachers are making effective use of new phonics programmes, and Key Stage 1 pupils’ attainment in reading and writing is starting to rise. Year 6 pupils’ reading is carefully monitored and older pupils are actively involved in self-assessment and in close analysis of the books they read.  In a few lessons, mathematical language and resources are not used well enough to help pupils acquire a sound grasp of mathematical ideas and apply their knowledge correctly. Geography lessons provide Key Stage 2 pupils with interesting contexts to practise their literacy skills, but opportunities for pupils to apply their numeracy skills in other subjects are less well developed.  Staff are deployed well in Nursery and Reception to support children at an early stage of learning English. Teaching assistants and other adults usually support disabled pupils and those

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

who have special educational needs well. On a few occasions they do not provide these pupils with enough scope to work through tasks on their own.  Where teaching is good or better, as in Year 6, it is marked by careful planning which ensures pupils work hard throughout the lesson. In these lessons teachers make expert use of questioning and ongoing assessment to check pupils’ learning, to address misunderstandings and to re-shape tasks.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Nearly all children in Nursery and Reception settle well in school. Indoor activities, such as the making of story boards, are carefully planned to encourage children to help each other. Over time, most children learn to play contentedly together, although limitations in their speaking skills restrict their conversations when they work together.  In all other year groups pupils of different backgrounds play happily together, for example in weaving their way across the playground like a crocodile or in other physical activities. Pupils behave well in public areas and in classrooms, and younger pupils maintain their concentration and listen attentively in lessons.  Older pupils take a keen interest in learning. They work well with each other on paired tasks and most pupils respond well to teachers’ questioning. Their growing maturity supports their faster progress in upper Key Stage 2.  Pupils respect and trust staff. They abide by the school’s code of conduct and respond well to

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

praise and encouragement. Parents and staff report very few concerns about pupils’ behaviour and safety in school. Staff apply procedures for managing pupils’ behaviour consistently. They work effectively with parents and outside agencies to support pupils with specific needs. There have been no exclusions in the last three years.  Pupils feel safe in school because they believe they are well cared for by staff. They are taught what they need to know to stay safe in different situations, for example whilst using social media, and find talks from the police on local issues helpful. They have a good understanding of different types of bullying and report that there are a few incidents of racist bullying. They say that staff deal with these incidents properly and promptly.  While pupils’ attendance has improved in the last few years, it remains below average and below the school’s target. Although fewer days are now being missed due to the observance of

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

religious festivals, some pupils miss school to spend extended periods of time in their homelands.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Senior leaders have a realistic understanding of the school’s effectiveness. Improvement plans show a sound awareness of the school’s main priorities. However, these plans and the actions leaders take are not focused sharply enough on the aspects of teaching and pupils’ skills that need to be improved in some year groups in order to raise achievement quickly.  The school’s leadership structure does not ensure that middle leaders are fully involved in checking pupils’ progress across the school or the impact teaching has on pupils’ learning. A few weaknesses in monitoring systems and significant changes to staffing at all levels in the last two years have held back the school’s capacity for steady, continuous improvement.  Leaders have tightened up the rigour of performance management arrangements and there is now a clear strategy to link salary progression to school development and pupils’ progress, but

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The leadership and management requires improvement

this new process is not yet firmly established in the school’s work.  Senior leaders have taken sensible decisions to ensure staff changes have not disrupted pupils’ education. They have prioritised the coaching and training of new, inexperienced teachers. This is proving successful in helping these teachers develop their expertise. Other training has also been useful in helping teachers with the teaching of phonics.  The school promotes equal opportunities and tackles discrimination adequately. Individual pupils, whose specific needs make them particularly vulnerable, have benefited from pupil premium funding. This funding has been used to provide extra one-to-one and small-group support for pupils, and phonics material for less-able readers, but the impact of this expenditure has not been analysed closely.  The curriculum is adapted to pupils’ needs better in Key Stage 2 than in Key Stage 1. Pupils’

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The leadership and management requires improvement

spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well in geography lessons, where the pupils learn to empathise with people whose lives are disrupted by natural disasters, such as floods and avalanches.  The local authority has provided the school with some useful support in building partnerships with neighbouring schools and in providing advice on federation arrangements.  Safeguarding arrangements meet all statutory requirements.  The governance of the school:  Governors have recently spent most of their time setting up the federated management structures for the two schools. Over time they have not kept a tight check on pupils’ progress or the impact of pupil premium expenditure. They have had very recent data training, but have not yet used it to analyse pupils’ achievement. They do not have enough first-hand knowledge of the school to form a sharp view of the quality of teaching or to inform their

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The leadership and management requires improvement

understanding of performance management and salary increases for teachers. Finances are managed competently and governors’ in-depth knowledge of the local community helps them to understand pupils’ circumstances and needs.

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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 104178 Local authority Walsall Inspection number 400692

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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 306 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Muhammad Rafiq Headteacher Malcolm Morrey Date of previous school inspection 19–20 May 2010 Telephone number 0121 568 6779 Fax number 0121 526 6504 Email address admin@salisbury.walsall.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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