Priory CofE Primary School

Priory CofE Primary School Jubilee Road, Trentham, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST4 8EF

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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’ achievement in writing and mathematics is inadequate. By the end of Year 6, pupils’ attainment is significantly below the national average and this, given their broadly average starting points, is too low.  Teaching, over time, particularly between Years 3 and 4, is inadequate. Teachers do not provide pupils with work that is well matched to their varying needs and abilities. In lessons, pupils are given too little time to produce work of a good enough standard.  The curriculum is inadequate because it fails to ensure pupils develop important writing and mathematical skills.  Pupils’ behaviour and safety are inadequate. Pupils have little confidence in the ability of staff to deal with bullying successfully, and therefore do not always report incidents.  Leadership and management are inadequate because the school’s leaders are not demonstrating the ability to improve the school

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

quickly enough.  Subject and senior leaders do not have the necessary skills to interpret assessments accurately or effectively to check how well pupils are learning. They know too little about their subject’s performance or the quality of teaching and learning, and do not have precise enough improvement plans.  Leaders do not take effective steps to improve the quality of teaching and raise pupils’ achievement; both of which have deteriorated since the previous inspection.  Governors do not have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities and are not effective in holding the school to account and driving improvement.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils make good progress in reading.  Most pupils are polite to adults and to each other around the school.  The school has good partnerships with parents.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team observed parts of 17 lessons; three of the observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher.  Inspectors observed two assemblies, listened to pupils reading and observed the before- and after-school club (Link Club).  Inspectors looked at many school documents, including the minutes of governing body meetings, records of pupils’ attainment and progress, attendance figures, records relating to behaviour and information about keeping pupils safe.  Inspectors took account of 60 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View), written responses from parents and responses from informal discussions with parents at the start of the school day.  Discussions were held with staff, pupils, a representative from the local authority and members of the governing body.  Inspectors also considered views expressed in a questionnaire completed by staff.

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Inspection team

Sharona Semlali, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Sheila O’Keeffe Additional Inspector Rebecca Lawton Additonal 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.

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Information about this school

 This school is a much larger than average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported through school action is below average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also below average.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives additional funding through the pupil premium funding is below average. The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and those children who are looked after by the local authority.  A new headteacher was appointed in January 2013. Since the previous inspection, there have been a few staff changes and staff absences.  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.  The Link Club provides before- and after-school provision and is managed by the governing body.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is good or better, particularly in Years 3 and 4, by ensuring that:  teachers provide work that closely matches pupils’ different needs and abilities so that pupils are effectively challenged and supported in lessons  pupils are actively involved in their learning during lessons  children in the Early Years Foundation Stage have more frequent access to the outdoor area and that it is well planned for and is as stimulating as the indoor classrooms  teaching assistants are fully involved in all parts of lessons to support pupils’ learning  teachers’ marking helps pupils to improve their work and pupils are provided with the time they need to respond to their teacher’s comments  teachers have the opportunity to observe good and better teaching within and beyond the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Accelerate progress, particularly in Years 3 and 4 and raise standards in writing and mathematics, so that an above-average proportion of pupils reaches the expected levels of attainment by the end of Year 6 by:  providing more purposeful opportunities for pupils to practise their writing and write at length in different subjects  ensuring that pupils have a secure understanding of basic mathematical skills before going onto more advanced concepts.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of staff in preventing and dealing with bullying so that pupils’ confidence in reporting incidents of bullying grows.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the impact and effectiveness of leadership and management, including governance, by:  developing the skills of all subject and senior leaders so they use data to assess pupils’ performance accurately; and use this information to inform their action plans, in order to improve the quality of teaching and raise pupils’ achievement in their subjects  ensuring that all members of the governing body have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities so they can effectively drive the school forward and hold leaders to account.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

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

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

 When children start in the Early Years Foundation Stage, their skills, knowledge and understanding are similar to that found typically for their age. By the end of Year 6, pupils leave with standards of attainment in English and mathematics that are below average. In 2012, standards of attainment declined and were significantly below average. Pupils’ current standards show little sign of improvement.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage and in Years 1 and 2 make expected progress. However, between Years 3 and 6, pupils’ progress is too slow, particularly in Years 3 and 4.  Pupils make inadequate progress in mathematics. The proportion of pupils in Year 6 in 2012 who made or exceeded the progress that is expected in mathematics across Key Stage 2 was significantly below that seen nationally. Pupils are often expected to learn how to solve more advanced mathematical problems before they have a secure understanding of the basic concepts

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

needed for them to be successful. For example, in a Year 4 lesson, pupils attempted to convert improper fractions to mixed numbers but some found it too difficult because they did not fully understand what is meant by a fraction.  Raising pupils’ attainment in writing was highlighted as an area for improvement at the previous inspection. This has not happened and pupils’ progress in writing is now inadequate. In 2012, too few pupils in Year 6, particularly boys, reached the nationally expected Level 4. Pupils are not given enough purposeful opportunities to develop and extend their writing skills in a range of subjects.  Pupils achieve well in reading. Younger pupils use their knowledge of letters and the sounds they make well to help them to read unfamiliar words. Pupils who did not meet the expected standard in the Year 1 reading check in 2012 have made accelerated progress this year in Year 2, and their attainment is now closer to that of other pupils. Older pupils read fluently and

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

confidently and enjoy reading for pleasure.  Overall, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs underachieve. Although their achievement is adequately monitored, the school’s assessment data and inspection evidence show that these pupils are not meeting their targets and are making inadequate progress. This is because the planned work and support given to them does not meet their needs. However, there are a few pupils with disabilities whose needs are well catered for. The school integrates them well into school life, adapting the learning environment as needed.  Although pupils for whom the school receives additional funding through the pupil premium are often taught in small groups and have extra adult support, this group of pupils also underachieves. The gap in attainment between these pupils and other pupils in the school has widened. In 2012, for example, in English, the attainment of those pupils in Year 6 known to be

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The achievement of pupils is inadequate

eligible for free school meals was almost five terms behind that of other pupils. In mathematics, it was almost three terms behind. This gap is also much wider than seen nationally. This shows that the school’s efforts to promote equality of opportunity are ineffective.

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

 Too much teaching requires improvement or is inadequate, particularly in Years 3 and 4. As a result, teaching is not good enough to accelerate pupils’ learning and has been inadequate over time.  Teachers do not plan work that matches the varying needs and abilities of pupils. Too often, more-able pupils are not appropriately challenged and less-able pupils find their work too difficult. Where this is the case, some pupils lose interest and concentration and as a result, produce too little work of a good enough standard.  Pupils spend too much time listening passively to adults rather than being actively involved in their learning, leaving too little time to successfully complete their tasks  Teaching assistants are not always deployed well enough to support pupils’ learning, particularly during sessions where the whole class is listening to the teacher.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage, teachers ensure that children are settled and cared for

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

well. Staff provide a good range of stimulating resources within the classrooms that help to develop children’s imaginative play and to make good progress in developing early reading skills. However, overall children’s achievement in this part of the school requires improvement because children do not have enough opportunities to learn outdoors. Activities outdoors are not planned well enough and this limits children’s chances to use their imagination and does not foster their physical development.  Work in pupils’ books show that teachers’ marking does not always help pupils to improve their work or tell them what they need to do to reach the next level in their learning. Pupils are not given the time they need to reflect upon, respond to and act on any advice given through the marking.  There is some good and outstanding teaching, but teachers do not have enough opportunities to observe and learn from such practice, either within the school or in other schools. Where

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The quality of teaching is inadequate

teaching is good or better, teachers ensure that they plan lessons and provide work that precisely and accurately matches pupils’ varying abilities. This makes pupils think hard and encourages them to discuss their learning and ideas.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

 Behaviour and safety are inadequate because pupils have little confidence in the school’s ability to tackle bullying successfully. Pupils say that, in the past, staff have not dealt well enough with incidents and so bullying persists. They say that this includes homophobic name-calling. Older pupils say that pupils are reluctant to report incidents. As a result, there are few recorded incidents in the school’s behaviour log.  Older pupils have a better understanding about the different types of bullying than younger ones. Many pupils have an appropriate understanding of what is right and wrong and the importance of respect for others. However, the continued incidence of unreported bullying demonstrates that the school’s promotion of pupils’ social and moral development is not effective enough.  Pupils say that the security around the building helps them to feel safe.  Most pupils are polite and conduct themselves well around the school and when moving

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

between classes. In lessons, the behaviour and attitudes to learning of most pupils is good. However, where teaching is weak, such as when pupils have to listen to teachers’ overly long introductions or when activities are too easy or too difficult, pupils lose concentration. Although in such instances pupils’ behaviour is seldom disruptive, their learning slows and they produce too little work as a result.  Evidence provided by the school shows that the few pupils who find it difficult to behave appropriately are managed well over time and so their behaviour improves.  Attendance is broadly average and improving. Procedures aimed at improving the attendance of pupils who are persistently absent from school are proving successful. Similarly, the proportion of pupils who arrive to school late is reducing. Exclusions are rare.  The school provides good quality care to those pupils attending the before- and after-school

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are inadequate

clubs. The clubs are well resourced and have plenty of outdoor space.

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The leadership and management are inadequate

 Leadership and management are inadequate because leaders and managers at all levels, including the governing body, are having too little impact on improving the school. They have not been effective in improving pupils’ achievement, teaching, or behaviour and safety, all of which have deteriorated since the previous inspection. Despite some recent changes by the headteacher that have led to better morale among the staff, the school still does not have the capacity to improve quickly enough without external support.  Some subject leaders and senior leaders have been responsible for their areas for a long time. Over time, they have received little training and so lack the necessary skills to lead their subjects and areas adequately. They do not have a good enough understanding of how to use the data about pupils’ attainment and progress to be able to judge accurately the quality of teaching and learning in their subjects. They have too little information on which to base any plans for

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The leadership and management are inadequate

improvement and, therefore, are not clear enough about what to do to bring about rapid improvement.  In the past, teachers were given a pay rise by leaders regardless of pupils’ achievement and the quality of their teaching. The newly appointed headteacher has improved systems for monitoring the quality of teaching and for rewarding teachers on the basis of their performance. The headteacher is working hard to improve teaching. However, there is still too much teaching that is not good enough.  The school may not appoint newly qualified teachers.  The curriculum does not ensure that pupils make adequate progress in writing and mathematics, particularly in Years 3 and 4. It does not meet the varying needs and abilities of all pupils. The promotion of music, sport and extra-curricular clubs adequately supports the development of pupils’ talents and interests.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted through, for example,

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The leadership and management are inadequate

assemblies that deepen pupils’ understanding of different cultures. However, there is too little done to make sure that pupils are free from bullying.  The school involves parents well. Many parents for example, attend celebration assemblies. Information on the school’s website, parent mail and text messaging all help parents to be well informed about what is happening in the school.  Since the previous inspection, the school received light-touch support from the local authority because it considered the school’s effectiveness to be good. Since September 2012, it has offered more intensive support because it no longer considers this to be the case. Even so, this new level of additional support has yet to have a significant impact on improving the quality of education.  Safeguarding policies and procedures meet statutory requirements.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is ineffective in holding leaders to account and in helping to drive

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The leadership and management are inadequate

improvement. Some governors do not have a clear enough understanding of their roles and responsibilities. They do not question information about pupils’ achievement and do not have a good enough understanding about pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching throughout the school. There is a lack of understanding of the how teachers’ performance is managed and the decisions made by school leaders about salary increases. Consequently, a good proportion of teachers were given pay rises without the necessary challenge from the governors. Until recently, governors were not involved in decisions about how to allocate the pupil premium funding. The impact of this spending on the achievement of the pupils for whom it was intended was not monitored. Although some governors have received different types of training, not all feel that it has been helpful.

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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 132240 Local authority Stoke-On-Trent Inspection number 411949

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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 controlled Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 415 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair John Humphreys Headteacher Pam Keen Date of previous school inspection 15 October 2009 Telephone number 01782 233585 Fax number 01782 235725 Email address priory@sgfl.org.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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