Chase Terrace Primary School

Chase Terrace Primary School Rugeley Road, Chase Terrace, Burntwood, WS7 1AH

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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

 The quality of teaching is not yet good enough to make sure that all pupils achieve well in English and mathematics.  Teachers do not give all pupils enough opportunities to practise their mathematical skills in different subjects, or to respond to questions in lessons.  Pupils who are behind in their writing do not get enough opportunity to practise their skills in linking letters to the sounds they make.  Sometimes the work that teachers set in lessons is too hard for pupils who struggle with their learning.  Marking is not yet consistently good across the school, and is not helping pupils in Key Stage 1 to know exactly what they need to do to improve their work.  Leaders’ checks on teaching and plans for improving the school do not focus sharply on the impact of teaching on pupils’ achievement.  The governing body has a good awareness of the school’s performance, but does not check that the extra money available for pupils

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

known to be eligible for free school meals helps to raise their achievement.

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The school has the following strengths

 The actions taken by leaders to improve pupils’ education have had a clear impact on the quality of teaching and learning this year.  Staff are eager to improve their skills by taking advice and learning from each other.  In the Nursery class, good teaching makes sure that children get off to a good start in their schooling.  Pupils behave well, display consistently good manners and feel very safe in school.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 25 lessons. Some were joint observations with the headteacher. In addition, the inspectors listened to pupils reading and analysed the work in their books.  Meetings were held with pupils, governors, a representative of the local authority, and staff.  The inspectors took account of the 28 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and also met parents informally.  The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including the school’s own data on pupils’ current progress, the school’s planning documents, records relating to behaviour and bullying, and documents relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Sarah Bentley, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Stephen Howland Additional Inspector Julie Griffiths Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is much larger than most other primary schools.  Almost all of the pupils are White British.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is well below average. The proportion supported through school action plus or a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives additional income through the pupil premium is above average. In this school it usually applies only to pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school shares its site with Little Owls, which provides pre-school education and childcare. This facility is subject to a separate inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching and accelerate pupils’ achievement by making sure that:  all staff set work at the right level of difficulty for all pupils  all pupils fully contribute and respond actively to questions when asked  the marking policy is implemented consistently across the school in all subjects, and the feedback tells pupils in Key Stage 1 how well they have done and how they can improve their work  pupils have regular opportunities to practise the skills they learn in mathematics lessons in other subjects  pupils who have fallen behind have regular opportunities to practise the skills they learn in phonics lessons in their reading and writing.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the system for monitoring and evaluation by ensuring that:  judgements about teaching draw on a wide range of evidence about the impact of teaching on pupils’ progress  governors check the impact that the pupil premium is having on the achievement of pupils know to be eligible for free school meals  leaders’ action plans include clear measures of impact on pupils’ learning, and leaders check regularly to make sure that improvements have been made.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Attainment at the end of Year 2 has been broadly average for the last three years in reading, writing and mathematics. Given pupils’ generally average starting points in Year 1, their progress over Key Stage 1 requires improvement.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The 2012 Year 6 national test results were below average in English and mathematics, and the proportion of pupils making the progress expected from the end of Year 2 was below that found nationally in both subjects.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school’s current tracking data and the work seen during the inspection show that progress has improved this year. There are still not enough pupils making good progress throughout the school in English and mathematics, but leaders have succeeded in tackling past underachievement and making sure that no groups are now making inadequate progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make slower progress than their classmates. Their progress accelerates when they receive additional one-to-one support or specifically adapted work. Sometimes their progress slows because they are set activities that are too hard for them. That is also the case for other pupils who fall behind in their work.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In the 2012 Year 6 national tests, the pupils known to be eligible for free school meals were on average over four terms behind the others in both English and mathematics. School data show that this gap is closing this year because the funding has been used to help eligible pupils make better progress. For example, it has been used to train adults to support the needs of pupils who have emotional difficulties so that they are able to concentrate well in lessons, and to provide additional reading support.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children start school in the Nursery with skills and knowledge that are below the levels expected for their age in most areas of learning. Good teaching and carefully planned activities make sure that children make good progress in their first year. In 2012 they started in Year 1 with standards that were broadly average in most areas of learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers often plan work that is matched to pupils’ different abilities, but this is not consistently the case. There are too many occasions where, for example, pupils who are already behind fall back further because they are given work to do that is too hard for them.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils’ exercise books show that they take pride in their work, and most is well presented. In some classes, for example in Years 5 and 6, they show how pupils have built up their knowledge and skills progressively. In other year groups, the completed work shows that it has not always been adapted enough for the full range of abilities within the class.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers and their assistants listen to the pupils carefully and explain concepts well, but do not always ask probing questions to check that all pupils understand or to deepen their thinking. On occasions, lessons become a dialogue between the teacher and the minority of pupils who put up their hands to answer, with other pupils left as observers.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers mark pupils’ work frequently and accurately. Good work is praised, but not all comments help pupils to improve their work. This is the case for some pupils who need help to understand the comments, and particularly for younger pupils in Key Stage 1. Teachers’ corrections are clear, but they do not always give pupils time to read and respond to their comments, and so learn from their mistakes and improve their work.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Early reading skills are developing well as a result of the school’s approach to the teaching of phonics (the letters sounds make) but some pupils who are behind are not given enough opportunities to practise how to link together letters and the sounds they make to read and write more difficult words.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers and their assistants across the school manage behaviour well. They consistently reinforce the right way to behave and follow school policy.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Although there is further to go, teaching in most subjects, including English and mathematics, has clearly improved since the last inspection. These improvements are helping pupils currently in the school to make faster progress.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have consistently good attitudes to learning. They are particularly enthusiastic about the range of topic work, which links different subjects together in meaningful ways.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are polite and display good manners. They thoroughly enjoy and appreciate the school’s reward systems and the reward assemblies, and support each other’s contributions to the school community. They have a clear understanding of the school’s code of conduct and what is expected of everyone.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have a good understanding of the different types of bullying. They say there is no bullying and any disagreements are dealt with well by all the adults in the school. Pupils are taught from a young age to look after each other, and they know what to do to keep safe when using the internet.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils participate enthusiastically in learning in lessons and work well together. Disruption to learning is now rare, even when work is not set at the right level of difficulty. Pupils arrive punctually to lessons so no time is wasted.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils feel safe in school. The school keeps them safe, as the school’s written safety records confirm.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school helps pupils to deepen their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding. They learn to celebrate differences between peoples and faiths. Consequently, they become more mature and tolerant. Relationships are good throughout the school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are particularly proud of the school’s values, and this can be seen in many aspects of school life including the assemblies. In lessons, pupils are taught to take turns from an early age, show respect for each other, and are good at listening and taking turns. They are very thoughtful and caring.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school’s leaders have analysed data on pupils’ progress in order to identify the groups most in need of extra support and ensure that no pupil underachieves. However, they have not used the resulting information to check on the impact of the teaching. The checks on teaching rely too much on lesson observations to identify the key strengths and weaknesses. Other checks to make sure teaching is good enough over a period of time, such as examining outcomes in pupils’ books, checks on planning and discussions with pupils about their learning, are underused.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders’ action plans have helped to improve the school, but there are some weaknesses. It is not clear in the plans how achieving the priorities will help pupils to make better progress, or how far this has improved in agreed timescales. The plans do incorporate agreed milestones, against which leaders and the governing body can measure success.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school has effectively tackled some areas that were weak at the time of the previous inspection. These include the pace of lessons, spelling and punctuation for the older pupils and more regular opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical skills in problems and investigations. However, pupils still do not have enough opportunities to practise the skills they learn in mathematics lessons in other subjects.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has supported the school by helping it to tackle the key issues from the previous inspection.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governors have a clear understanding of the school’s performance. They are aware of the progress pupils make and where further work needs to be done. Their view of teaching is accurate because they take account of the data on pupils’ progress. Governors know what leaders are doing to improve teaching. They know about the performance of individual teachers and have supported the school in making decisions about salaries based on performance. They challenge leaders to explain how weaker levels of achievement are being improved, and keep a clear check on how the overall school budget is allocated. However, governors have not routinely checked on how well the pupil premium is being used to improve achievement and benefit eligible pupils. Governors undertake regular training and make sure that the school meets all national requirements, including those for safeguarding pupils.

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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 124207 Local authority Staffordshire Inspection number 406221

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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 362 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Diane Evans Headteacher Gordon McBurnie Date of previous school inspection 5 July 2011 Telephone number 01543 510500 Fax number 01544 510500 Email address office@chaseterrace-primary.staffs.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

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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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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