Cramlington Shanklea Primary School

Cramlington Shanklea Primary School Nairn Road, Parkside Chase, Cramlington, Northumberland, NE23 1RQ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 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’ progress has rapidly improved over the last two years. This upward trend is continuing because the work pupils are given to do, and the care they receive from staff is very well matched to their individual needs.  Teaching is good and improving because of the very positive impact of the recent training for teachers to move good teaching to outstanding. Teaching staff provide lessons that pupils enjoy and which ensure they make good progress.  Pupils behave very well. All pupils at this very welcoming and caring school become confident and motivated learners. They get along exceptionally well together and show very high levels of respect to adults and each other. They feel very safe in school.  The headteacher is very focused; she and her very dedicated team of staff and governors meet the needs of all pupils exceptionally well and are determined to make the school even better. As a result, the school is improving

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 There is not sufficient outstanding teaching.  Pupils, particularly the more-able, are not given sufficient opportunities to make their own choices about how to solve problems or carry out research.  Marking in mathematics is not as helpful as it is in other subjects.  Subject leaders are monitoring their area of responsibility but are not yet fully evaluating the impact of their work.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 12 lessons and made a number of short visits to other lessons. They heard pupils read and looked at the work in their books.  Meetings were held with different groups of people involved in the school. These included: pupils; parents; members of the governing body; the headteacher; teaching and administrative staff and the local authority.  Inspectors took into account the 42 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View).  Inspectors looked at the work of the school and a number of documents which included: the school’s data on pupils’ current progress; documents relating to planning for improvement and procedures for checking the quality of teaching; documents relating to safeguarding and records relating to behaviour and attendance.  During this inspection, inspectors asked additional questions to ascertain the school’s view of the impact and effectiveness of local authority services to support school improvement. This

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Information about this inspection

information will contribute to work being carried out by Ofsted to assess the use, quality and impact of those services.

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Inspection team

Barbara Hudson, Lead inspector Additional Inspector John Pattinson Additional Inspector Jim Hall Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This school is larger than the average sized primary school.  Most pupils are from White British backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action is average. The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement for special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium is below average. Pupil premium is additional funding for those who are known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and those pupils in local authority care.  The school meets the government’s current minimum floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.  The school has a nursery, which is funded through a private voluntary institution. The nursery was not part of this inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the level of teaching from good to outstanding to further improve pupils’ achievements by  providing more opportunities for pupils, particularly the more-able, to make choices in how to solve problems, carry out research in a given topic and present their findings  ensuring that marking in mathematics gives pupils enough time to reflect on their learning and improve their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Provide opportunities for subject leaders to further develop their role by evaluating the impact of their area of responsibility on pupils’ knowledge and skills.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Since the previous inspection, the progress pupils make in lessons has improved rapidly. This is because teaching has improved and senior leaders are making a more robust analysis of pupils’ progress. This analysis of pupils’ progress is used very effectively to hold teaching staff to account for the progress individual pupils make in their class.  Pupils thrive in a caring and nurturing school which helps them to learn well. Most pupils become confident and highly motivated learners.  Children in the Reception Year get a good start to their school experience. Children enter with skills and knowledge that are below those typical for their age and well below those typical for their age in writing and calculation. From these starting points, all groups of pupils make good progress. At the end of the Reception Year, most children are meeting the expected levels of development in most areas. In the Reception Year, children make good progress in reading

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The achievement of pupils is good

because of their good knowledge of letters and sounds to help them read unfamiliar words. Children make good progress in writing and calculation but they leave having not yet reached the expected levels.  In Years 1 and 2, pupils build upon the good start that they have had in the Reception Year. They make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Progress has accelerated over the last two years and this is now having a positive impact on the standards that they are achieving. Standards at the end of Year 2 are above average in reading and average in writing and mathematics.  In Years 3 to 6, nearly all pupils make expected progress and many make better than expected progress. The acceleration in pupils’ progress is helping pupils to attain and, many to exceed the expected level for their age. This is beginning to be reflected in the end of Year 6 test results. Currently, standards are average though they have improved quickly from being significantly

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The achievement of pupils is good

below average two years ago. Nearly all pupils achieve the expected level in reading, writing and mathematics and around a third of pupils are achieving better than the national expectations. Pupils’ progress in mathematics, although it is good it is not as strong as in reading and writing.  Across the whole school, more than half the pupils in reading and writing, and a third of the pupils in mathematics are making more than expected progress.  The progress of pupils supported at school action is good. For pupils supported at school action plus, progress is outstanding. This is because the school is very proactive in getting the best advice that they can from support services, such as educational psychologists, and they use this to carefully tailor support for individual pupils.  Pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium throughout the school make slightly more progress than the other pupils. This is because they respond particularly well to the very good support

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The achievement of pupils is good

mechanisms provided for all pupils in school. Each year, the progress they make helps to get closer to and sometimes exceed the expected standards for their age. In 2012, such pupils in Year 6 were a term ahead of their classmates in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Good quality teaching has led to the significant improvements in the progress pupils make. Teachers are very receptive to ideas about how they can improve their skills and expertise. This is very evident from the recent training on improving good teaching to outstanding which is beginning to have a positive impact. As a result, some outstanding teaching was observed during the inspection.  The strength in all teaching is the very positive relationships between staff and pupils and the fact that teachers work hard to make lessons interesting for example by using video clips and the pupils’ experiences following an educational visit. Pupils are eager to do their best because they want to please their teachers and want to feel good about themselves.  In the best lessons, the pace of learning, the frequent recap of what pupils had learnt and the challenging activities that pupils were expected to complete, ensured pupils’ progress was

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The quality of teaching is good

excellent. This was very evident in a Year 5 English lesson where pupils were writing parts of a poem entitled ‘The spider and the fly.’  In most lessons, the high quality questioning ensures teachers are constantly assessing pupils understand what they are learning. Pupils’ tasks are well structured and matched to their ability. However, in a few lessons tasks are too well structured so that they are not always sufficiently challenging. Time is usually very well used to ensure pupils learn a lot in a lesson. However, when some pupils are asked to complete tasks by themselves, a tiny minority sometimes do not apply themselves as well as they could. Opportunities for pupils, particularly the more-able pupils to develop their own way to resolve problems or to decide what they want to investigate in a topic or how to present their work, are not available.  Teachers mark pupils work regularly. All teachers make positive remarks which helps to build

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The quality of teaching is good

pupils’ self-esteem. When marking pupils writing, teachers frequently provide them with challenges and the time to complete these. This is not evident in their mathematics work where marking only tells pupils what is correct and what is wrong rather than supporting them to improve their work.  Parents very much appreciate the good quality teaching their children receive.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are motivated and have very positive attitudes to work. They are very thoughtful and show great consideration and respect for each other and adults. When talking to the inspectors, the pride pupils have for their school and their achievements shone through.  The staff’s high expectations and consistent approaches help pupils behave well in lessons, the playground and in the hall at lunchtime.  Adults provide high quality support and care for all pupils. They are very good at praising pupils so that they feel good about themselves. They are also particularly good at listening to pupils concerns and helping them to resolve their problems. Pupils are also very confident that if they have a problem they can ask a member of staff for help who will do their best to help them.  In lessons, pupils are eager to learn and the vast majority apply themselves diligently to the tasks they have to complete. Occasionally, a few pupils lose concentration when the tasks don’t

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

fully engage them.  Pupils very much enjoy coming to school. Their attendance is consistently above average. Punctuality is also very good.  Pupils have a good understanding of the various forms of bullying. They say that when bullying does occur they feel that they can talk to an adult and they will help them to sort the problem out.  Pupils say they feel very safe in school. They have a good understanding of how to keep safe in school, the community and on the internet. Staff and the governing body are very vigilant about ensuring the school is a safe place to be.  Parents, who had responded to the school’s surveys and those spoken to by inspectors, were very positive about pupils’ behaviour. They indicated that their children felt safe in school and they were very appreciative of the care and support their children receive.

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The leadership and management are good

 The inspirational headteacher, with the support of a very able senior leadership team, have worked tirelessly to create an effective team of staff and governors; they have the ambition, determination and the expertise to continue to improve this good school.  The rigorous analysis of pupils’ progress and the standards they achieve is very effective. Where weaknesses are found, the issue is tackled rigorously. An excellent example of this is the work the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 phase leaders have done with teachers to ensure teachers’ assessment of pupils’ work is accurate. Teachers have tested their judgements across their own school and with other schools to ensure the impact of their work is robust. This has led to significant impact on pupils’ progress across the whole school.  Actions to improve teaching have been very effective. The investment in high quality professional development and the willingness of staff to take on and implement new ideas is

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The leadership and management are good

ensuring that teaching is continually improving. This is also followed up with rigorous checks of the quality of teaching and effective feedback to help teaching staff to improve their work. This information is used very effectively in the management of teachers’ performance and is used appropriately by leaders to make appropriate decisions about teachers’ salary progression.  The senior leaders have a vast amount of information about the school’s performance. This is very well used by the senior staff.  Middle leaders who have responsibility for a subject or an aspect of the school’s work have recently developed the skills to monitor their responsibility. They, however, are not evaluating the impact of their work on improving what pupils know and can do.  The school’s curriculum is very well adapted to the needs of the pupils. Teachers use the interactive white boards well to provide pupils with interesting video clips so as to make their

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The leadership and management are good

learning more interesting. This was evident in a Year 6 lesson about children working down the mines in Victorian times. The very effective use of reading, writing and information, communication technology across the curriculum is also helping to drive up standards.  The curriculum provides many opportunities for pupils to develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. An excellent example of this was the outstanding assembly led by Year 6 pupils using the work they have done this term on Shakespeare’s plays. All the pupils, and the inspector, in the assembly were fully engaged and inspired.  Good financial management ensures the school provides good value for money. The management of the pupil premium element is rigorously evaluated to ensure that the staff and resources purchased are having a positive impact on pupils’ progress.  The extra funds for sport and physical education have been invested in the local schools

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The leadership and management are good

partnership. This enables a variety of coaches to come into school and work alongside the teachers in lessons so as to improve staff skills over the long term. Money is also being used to extend the wide range of sporting lunchtime and after-school clubs that already exist in the school.  The staff are vigilant to ensure pupils are and feel very safe. They are very careful to ensure that everyone is included and nobody is discriminated against. Pupils and staff get along very well together to create a very harmonious school.  The local authority provides good support and challenge. The support and challenge was most rigorous when the school needed to make improvements very quickly. Once the improvements had been made the intensive support was quickly withdrawn. The local authority education officer carries out rigorous checks on the achievement of pupils. The education officer proactively links schools together so that this school can share and learn from other schools. The

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The leadership and management are good

most effective support the education officer has provided is approving the accuracy of the school’s view of its own performance and ensuring leaders have identified and are focussing on the right areas for improvement. The staff and governors have benefitted from a range of training programmes that have helped them to develop their skills and expertise.  The staff and governors have very positive links with pupils, parents and families. The vast majority of parents are very supportive of the school.  The governance of the school:  The governing body have an excellent understanding of the school’s strengths and where further improvement is needed. Governors have the required skills and expertise to hold leaders to account. Through full governance meetings and committee meetings, governors have a secure understanding of issues related to provision, achievement, performance management and pay progression. They also carefully evaluate the impact of pupil premium

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The leadership and management are good

and school sport funding. The governing body is supportive yet challenging. The members of the governing body are highly effective in fulfilling their duties and responsibilities including ensuring that all safeguarding requirement are met.

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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 122194 Local authority Northumberland Inspection number 425843

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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 360 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Gareth Pearson Headteacher Helen Brown Date of previous school inspection 28 February 2012 Telephone number 01670 715205 Fax number 01670 590610 Email address admin@shanklea.northumberland.gov.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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