Harper Bell Seventh-day Adventist School

Harper Bell Seventh-day Adventist School 29 Ravenhurst Street, Camp Hill, Birmingham, B12 0EJ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected This inspection: Inadequate 4 Achievement of pupils Inadequate 4 Quality of teaching Inadequate 4 Behaviour and safety of pupils Inadequate 4 Leadership and management Inadequate 4

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires special measures.  Pupils are not making enough progress because teachers do not check their work accurately or give them tasks that are well matched to their abilities.  The pace of learning in lessons is often slow and marking does not help pupils to improve their work.  The school is not keeping pupils safe at all times. Pupils and parents raise concerns about bullying and other aspects of safety.  Behaviour is often inadequate in lessons because teachers do not consistently use a clear system of rewards and sanctions.  Children in the Reception and Nursery classes are not helped to learn through play.  School leaders are not providing enough support for pupils who find learning difficult.  School leaders do not have the necessary skills to identify weaknesses in teaching in order to raise standards of attainment or improve pupils’ progress.  Governors are not holding the headteacher and

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

other senior staff and school leaders accountable for the performance of the school.  School leaders do not check information about pupils’ progress in enough detail to provide an accurate picture of where weaknesses in performance lie.  Not enough time is spent teaching pupils about science, history, geography and information and communication technology (ICT).  Pupils are not given enough opportunities to use their mathematical skills in other subjects.

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The school has the following strengths

 Most pupils are polite and well mannered when they meet visitors.  Staff are keen to bring about the necessary improvements in the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 19 lessons. The headteacher and deputy headteacher joined inspectors for several of these observations. Many examples of pupils’ work were looked at in exercise books.  Discussions were held with the headteacher and other leaders, governors and a representative of the local authority.  The views of parents were noted from the 15 responses on Parent View and also by talking to parents who were bringing their sons and daughters to the school.  Inspectors listened to pupils reading and met with them to talk about their views of the school.  A range of documents was looked at, including examples of lesson observations, action plans, school performance information, minutes of governing body meetings, behaviour logs and performance management statements.

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Inspection team

Robin Taverner, Lead inspector Additional Inspector David Driscoll Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. Newly qualified teachers should not be appointed.

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Information about this school

 Harper Bell Seventh-day Adventist School became a maintained school in September 2011. It was formerly an independent school.  The school is slightly smaller than the average-sized primary school.  All pupils come from minority ethnic groups, and a few speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support through the pupil premium, which is additional funding for looked-after children, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and with a parent in the armed forces, is slightly above the national average. However, the school did not receive any such funding in the financial year ending in 2012.  A high proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are supported through school action. The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standard, which sets the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for pupils’ attainment and progress by end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and speed up pupils’ progress by:  making sure lessons help pupils learn at an appropriately brisk pace  making sure that teachers know how well pupils are doing and plan lessons that help pupils to learn more  giving children in the Reception and Nursery classes more choice to learn through a range of activities  providing more opportunities for pupils to study science, history and geography and acquire ICT skills  increasing the amount of work pupils do to use and practise their mathematical skills  giving pupils clearer guidance on how to improve their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make sure that the school meets safeguarding requirements by:  carrying out fire drills at the start of each term  ensuring that staff know the whereabouts of all children at all times.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve behaviour by implementing a system for tackling disobedience and bullying, involving sanctions and rewards, which is used consistently by all staff.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leaders, managers and governors by:  providing training, support and resources to teachers in charge of subjects to improve teaching and raise standards in their subjects across the school  implementing a rigorous programme to check and improve the quality of teaching  making sure that the teacher responsible for coordinating provision for special educational needs receives the full backing of senior leaders and the scope to take steps to improve the progress of pupils who find learning difficult  training governors to check the school’s work and giving them accurate information so that they are able to hold senior leaders to account  improving leaders methods for checking on pupils’ progress and using this information to improve the quality of teaching  undertaking an external review of governance to assess how this aspect of leadership may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 The standards achieved by pupils in 2012 at the end of Year 2 were low in writing and mathematics. Year 6 pupils achieved average standards in reading and mathematics but below- average standards in writing. There were large differences in the standards achieved by different groups. Girls’ attainment was above average, but boys’ attainment was low. Some boys do not learn as much as girls in lessons because they misbehave and do not pay attention to their teachers.  Too few pupils made the progress expected of them in Years 3 to 6 in 2012. The projections provided by the school show that the current Year 6 pupils are still not making enough progress from the end of Year 2.  Progress for the pupils in Years 1 and 2 is not yet being measured accurately because the assessment of what pupils have learned when they join Year 1 is not accurate. Assessments made at the end of the Reception Year for pupils who are currently in Year 1 suggest that

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

almost all pupils have high achievement. Observations of Year 1 pupils in lessons and an analysis of their work when they started Year 1 showed that these assessments are inaccurate.  The observations of children in lessons in the Nursery and Reception classes and in Years 1 and 2, together with the work in their books, show that current progress is inadequate.  The achievement of pupils in writing in Years 1 and 2 is of particular concern as few pupils are reaching the higher levels they could be expected to at the end of Year 2.  Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals were more than two terms ahead of the others in English, but were nearly four terms behind their classmates in mathematics in 2012. Pupil premium funding this year has been allocated to providing more support for older pupils in reading, writing and mathematics. The impact of this funding has yet to be evaluated.  The standards achieved by disabled pupils and those who have special education needs at the

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

end of Year 6 in 2012 were low in reading, writing and mathematics. There is no evidence that standards for these pupils currently in the school is set to improve. The planned extra support for them was suspended after a short time and teachers do not plan work which is well enough matched to their abilities.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Pupils are often expected to do the same work with no regard to their differing abilities or starting points. Therefore, some pupils do not understand what they have to do and others can do the work too easily and so are not provided with enough challenge.  The pace of learning is often too slow and, because of this, pupils lose interest and start to misbehave. This misbehaviour often goes unchecked and teachers do not use rewards and sanctions effectively.  Pupils often have to sit for long periods of time doing nothing while other pupils read out their work or write something on the board at the front of the classroom. Because of this, they get bored and lose their concentration.  Teachers are not quick enough to identify pupils who do not understand the work they have been asked to do. Therefore, some pupils can go through the entire lesson without achieving anything.  A system for giving pupils learning targets to show them how to achieve the next level in writing

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

has been adopted. However, there is no evidence that this system is being used or is having any impact.  Teachers are beginning to give advice to pupils in their exercise books to help them to improve their work. However, pupils are not responding to these suggestions to improve their work.  In the Nursery and Reception classes, teachers do not help children make decisions for themselves or encourage them to develop their communication and thinking through play. There are not enough resources inside or outside of the classrooms to encourage children to be active and learn through experience.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

 Too many incidents of minor disruptive behaviour interrupt lessons. Several more serious incidents were observed, such as a fight in a corridor and pupils leaving lessons without the permission of the teacher.  Parents, staff and pupils all expressed concerns about standards of behaviour.  Pupils say they are worried because of disruptive behaviour in lessons. Name-calling and ‘ganging up’ stops pupils from feeling safe at break times and pupils say they only feel safe when an adult is present. The responses on the Parent View website indicate that some parents do not feel the school deals effectively with bullying. The school leaders have surveyed pupils’ views but have not analysed the results. The inspectors’ analysis revealed the same concerns as those raised by pupils spoken to during the inspection.  Behaviour logs show that detention is used to deal with poor behaviour. However, this system is

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

ineffective because the same pupils’ names are logged repeatedly, showing that their behaviour is not being changed.  Incidents of poor behaviour are not dealt with in a consistent way across the school. Pupils are not given any rewards, recognition or incentives for behaving well.  Lateness is not logged accurately. A large number of pupils were observed entering assembly after it had started but few of these were registered as arriving late into school.  When encountered in the corridors outside of lesson time, most pupils were polite and well mannered. There is no evidence of racist or discriminatory language being used by pupils.  Attendance is average and there has been one permanent and one fixed-term exclusion during the previous 12 months.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 The school appointed additional leaders in September 2012 to lead teaching in English and mathematics and the lower and upper age groups. Although energetic and enthusiastic, these leaders do not yet have the necessary skills to bring about improvements in standards and teaching. Senior leaders have been slow to provide support and training to the new leaders and so they have not yet been able to make enough improvements across the school.  Leaders do not have an accurate view of how well individual pupils and groups of pupils are doing.  Senior leaders said that the school has experienced difficulties in its first year of its existence adapting to the needs of non fee-paying pupils after changing its status. Many of these difficulties have involved managing the disruptive behaviour of a significant number of pupils.  Since October 2012, the school has had links with a local authority school improvement adviser

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The leadership and management are inadequate

who has arranged support from a nearby successful primary school. This has raised leaders’ awareness of their responsibilities. The support is in its very early stages and there is little evidence of impact to date.  The well-qualified teacher responsible for coordinating provision for pupils with special education needs is clear about what needs to be done to improve the progress of these pupils. However, she has not had the full backing of senior leaders and so her initiatives have not lasted long enough to make a positive difference to pupils’ learning.  The school is failing to provide equal opportunities because disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs do not receive the help they need to make good progress.  There are weaknesses in social and moral education as pupils do not always treat each other well. Pupils have many opportunities to reflect upon the key messages of Bible stories but some

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The leadership and management are inadequate

pupils’ behaviour shows that they do not always put what they have learnt into practice. Pupils talk about other faiths and cultures but have little awareness of the variety of cultures in this country.  Senior leaders do not check teaching and learning by senior leaders well enough. Senior leaders have not had sufficient training in how to provide clear feedback to teachers that will help them to improve the teaching and learning in their classes.  Action plans have been written but they cover long periods of time and lack urgency.  The management of teachers’ performance has been introduced for the first time this year using a clear and effective format to record performance objectives. It is too early to judge its effectiveness in improving teaching.  There are weaknesses in health and safety and safeguarding practices. Fire drills are held late in the term so that, in the event of a fire, pupils may not know the procedure for vacating the

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The leadership and management are inadequate

building. Staff are often unaware when the very youngest children leave the classroom. There is a danger that a child could leave the school with nobody realising.  Work in exercise books indicates that pupils do not receive high-quality teaching in science, history and geography. Pupils do not practise their skills in English and mathematics in other subjects. Pupils have insufficient opportunities to develop their skills in ICT.

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The governance of the school:

 The governing body has experienced many changes of personnel over the last year but now has a full complement of governors. The minutes of meetings do not include any evidence that governors are challenging the senior leaders to improve the school. There is no track record of governors checking or evaluating the school’s performance, the quality of teaching or how teachers’ performance is managed. Governors do not know enough about the school’s failings and have not taken sufficient steps to tackle them. They have not held the school’s leaders sufficiently to account for the school’s poor performance or for the health and safety of pupils and staff.

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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 136440 Local authority Birmingham Inspection number 400302

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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 Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 220 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Clem Morgan Headteacher Solomon Sennessie Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 0121 6937742 Fax number 0121 6930752 Email address info@hbsda.bham.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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