Maidensbridge Primary School

Maidensbridge Primary School Beachcroft Road, Wall Heath, Kingswinford, DY6 0HX

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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.  Pupils, including those who have special educational needs and those eligible for the pupil premium, make good progress as they move through the school.  Pupils leave with standards that are just above the national average.  Pupils enjoy reading and their reading skills are well developed as a result of well- structured sessions which help them to use a range of approaches to read and understand unfamiliar words.  Teaching is consistently good. Teachers are skilled in questioning pupils to establish how well they have understood their learning.  Children in Reception learn well using the inside and outdoor areas. They especially enjoy the opportunities with the Forest School environment.  Teaching assistants and other adults are used well to support small-group tuition or provide individual help for pupils to develop their literacy and numeracy skills.  Pupils feel safe in school and their behaviour is

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

consistently good.  Pupils’ attendance is consistently above the national average.  School leaders and governors have an accurate awareness of the strengths of the school, including the quality of teaching, and use this information to ensure the school continues to improve.  Leaders monitor the quality of teaching closely, and, through carefully planned training, are constantly improving the quality of teaching.  Pupils study a wide range of topics and subjects which provide many opportunities for them to develop their literacy skills.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The quality of marking is inconsistent throughout the school, and does not always tell pupils how to improve their work.  There are too few opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical skills in a wide range of subjects and topics.  There are not enough opportunities for pupils to engage in problem-solving activities in lessons which would allow them to learn independently from the teacher.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 15 lessons, including two that were jointly observed with either the headteacher or deputy headteacher. In addition, inspectors made several other short visits to lessons.  Discussions were held with senior leaders, subject leaders, three governors, including the Chair and Vice Chair of the Governing Body, and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors spoke with pupils informally and had discussions with groups of pupils. They looked at a selection of their work.  Inspectors looked at a range of documentation about the school, including that relating to safeguarding and attendance, the school development plans and the school’s own data on the progress and attainment of pupils.  Inspectors took account of 51 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), the views of parents at the beginning and end of the school day, and 13 responses to the questionnaire that

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Inspection team

Clare Saunders, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Christopher Crouch Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is smaller than the average-sized primary school, where almost all pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs who are supported by school action, and the proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs, are below average.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium (additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, those in local authority care, and those who have a parent in the armed forces) is below the national average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum requirements for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of outstanding teaching so that all pupils learn to the best of their ability in all subjects throughout the school by:  making sure that teachers’ written comments are of a consistently high quality, so that as well as pupils knowing exactly what they need to do in order to improve their work, pupils routinely have an opportunity to respond to teachers’ comments  having more opportunities in lessons for pupils to apply their skills, knowledge and understanding to solve problems in new situations  providing more opportunities for pupils to apply their numeracy skills in subjects and topics outside of their mathematics lessons  sharing the outstanding practice that is in the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter Reception with skills, knowledge and understanding that are below those expected for their age. They make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage, and enter Year 1 with standards expected for their age. They make particularly good progress in their communication and literacy skills, and in their social interactions with each other.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils continue to make good progress through Key Stages 1 and 2, and leave the school with attainment that is just above the national average. School data indicate that pupils currently in the school are on track to achieve higher standards this year.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils enjoy reading. They apply their understanding of phonics (the sounds that letters make) to read unfamiliar words and have a good understanding of the books that they read. Pupils read regularly at home and in school. As a result, the progress and attainment of pupils in acquiring and using their reading skills throughout the school is especially strong. Pupils who have recently taken the phonics reading test in Year 1 have scored highly.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In the past, pupils have not achieved as highly in mathematics as in English. This gap has now closed, and pupils are making good progress in mathematics, as a result of the school reviewing how mathematics is taught.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled students and those who have special educational needs learn well throughout the school and make good progress in their reading, writing and mathematics. Their needs are quickly identified, and small-group and individual tuition enables them to develop their literacy and numeracy skills well.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The attainment of pupils eligible for the pupil premium was behind that of their classmates in 2012, where eligible pupils were just over a term behind in English and a year behind in mathematics. The school is using its pupil premium funding to provide additional resources and support in lessons, where teaching assistants work closely with eligible pupils. As a result, school data show that the progress and attainment of pupils currently in the school who are eligible for the pupil premium have improved and are comparable with other pupils in the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The school provides excellent care for its vulnerable pupils and tracks their academic progress and personal well-being. The good progress of all groups shows that the school is committed to equal opportunities for all pupils, and that there is no discrimination.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is consistently good across the school; some of the teaching is outstanding. Consequently, all pupils in the school are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In all lessons, teachers regularly question pupils to establish how much they understand about their learning. They set learning activities that encourage groups of pupils to learn well in a range of subjects, which are interesting and encourage pupils to work in small groups and individually.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Learning activities are planned to enthuse and engage pupils in their learning and to develop their literacy skills. For example, whole days where a class focuses on a topic such as the Victorians enable literacy skills to be practised repeatedly. However, there are not as many opportunities for pupils to apply their numeracy skills in a range of subjects or topics, and consequently chances for pupils to practise their numeracy outside of mathematics lessons are limited.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Children in Reception benefit from structured sessions which include a focus on literacy and numeracy skills. They especially enjoy the Forest School area, which provides plenty of opportunities in an outdoor environment for exploration, measuring, developing their vocabulary and engaging in exciting supervised activities, such as cooking on a fire.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants, and other adults such as parent volunteers, work well with small groups of pupils and on an individual basis to help them develop literacy and numeracy skills. For example, the ‘reading buddy’ scheme involves parents listening to targeted pupils read regularly over a number of weeks, resulting in these pupils developing their reading skills effectively. Small groups of pupils are taught by teaching assistants, both within the lessons and separately, to provide additional support and, as a result, groups of pupils make good progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 There are some examples of high-quality marking, where pupils are eager to respond to their teachers’ written comments to improve their work. In these instances, pupils know exactly what they need to do in order to improve, especially in developing their writing skills. However, this is not consistent across the school. Some written comments focus on whether the pupils have completed their work rather than on how much they have learned, and do not enable pupils to respond or demonstrate that they know how to improve their work.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the best lessons, pupils are encouraged to apply their knowledge and understanding to new situations. However, this approach to learning through solving problems and using their skills of analysis is not consistent through the school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are polite and confident when talking to each other and to adults. They show respect for each other’s opinions and needs by listening carefully to each other in lessons and behaving sensibly around the school and at playtimes.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 In lessons, pupils follow established routines to organise themselves ready for learning. Relationships between adults and pupils and their peers are good. There are high expectations of standards of behaviour. Pupils who need additional help with their behaviour receive it, and improvements in their behaviour are carefully tracked.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils feel safe in school. Incidents of bullying are rare, and are dealt with effectively by the school on the few occasions that they arise. Pupils are aware of the different types of bullying, such as cyber-bullying and are confident that there is always someone to talk to if needed.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils enjoy the positions of responsibilities that they have. For example, playground buddies and play monitors make sure that all pupils are included in playtime fun and that no pupil is on their own. The school council meets regularly and pupils see this as a valuable way to express their opinions on aspects of school life.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils enjoy coming to school, as shown by their consistently above-average attendance. The school ensures that pupils and parents understand the importance of good attendance.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school uses a range of rewards effectively to encourage the continued good behaviour of the pupils. For example, pupils enjoy the rewards that the school’s ‘good to be green’ programme offers which allows for individuals and classes to be praised for their good work and behaviour.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils, staff and parents have positive views of behaviour and safety.

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The leadership and management are good

 School leaders accurately evaluate the strengths of the school. The strong leadership of the headteacher is supported by highly effective subject and senior leaders. Leadership of the Early Years Foundation Stage is particularly good. Leaders and governors have correctly prioritised areas to develop. For example, recent initiatives have resulted in pupils’ achievement being good in mathematics.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders at all levels have a clear understanding of the quality of teaching through regular lesson observation, tracking of the progress that pupils make and the effective management of the performance of teachers. This information is used to plan training opportunities to continually develop teaching skills. For example, recent training on questioning had a positive impact on improving classroom practice. However, the outstanding practice in the school is not shared routinely enough to help all staff to develop an awareness of the features of outstanding teaching.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school offers a wide range of experiences for the pupils through the subjects and topics they study, and pupils enjoy the trips and visits they take part in. There are many opportunities for literacy skills to be developed, but the opportunities for pupils to apply their numeracy skills outside of mathematics lessons are limited.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority recognises pupils’ good achievement, the good leadership and the school’s continued capacity to improve, and provides effective light-touch support for this good school when appropriate.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors are active within the school, visiting regularly. They maintain their skills and knowledge so that they have a detailed knowledge of the school’s strengths and where to develop. They have the highest aspirations for the pupils, and ensure that the quality of teaching and management of teachers’ performance support the continuing improvement tin pupils’ achievement. They have a clear plan to support the headteacher in developing teaching so that more is outstanding, and ensure that all staff are held accountable in their roles and responsibilities. They reward teachers for their good performance, and underperformance is not tolerated.  They ensure the pupil premium is spent wisely and track the impact of where this is most successful. They ensure statutory requirements are met and manage the school’s finances well.

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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 103779 Local authority Dudley Inspection number 413091

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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 208 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Dave Tyler Headteacher Andy Hale Date of previous school inspection 27 June 2008 Telephone number 01384 818405 Fax number 01384 884105 Email address info@maidens.dudley.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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