Stanley Road Primary School

P R O T E C T – I N S P E C T I O N School report

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Stanley Road Primary School Stanley Road, Worcester, WR5 1BD

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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.  Children’s learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good because of the stimulating learning environment and good teaching.  Pupils’ progress in English and mathematics increased across Key Stages 1 and 2 in 2013 as a result of better teaching. Attainment is rising this year in all current year groups.  Those pupils for whom the pupil premium provides additional support achieve as well as other pupils in the school.  Pupils who join part way through the year achieve well. The school assesses their needs accurately and provides good support to help them learn quickly in lessons.  Teaching is good because teachers make sure lessons interest and inspire their pupils.  Behaviour is good. Pupils are proud of their school, look smart in their uniform and take care to keep their work neat and tidy. They look after one another and move purposefully around the school.  The school does a good job of keeping its

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

pupils safe. There is very little bullying and pupils are taught how to recognise risk and keep themselves and others safe.  The determined actions of the headteacher, her senior team and the governing body have ensured that teaching and pupils’ achievement have improved.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teachers do not always check that their suggestions to help pupils improve their work are carried out.  Some aspects of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) are not always taught accurately.  Attendance remains too low.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 23 lessons, four of which were seen together with senior leaders. In addition, they made other short visits to lessons and to learning areas in the course of their observations of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. They also listened to pupils read.  Inspectors observed senior leaders reporting back to teachers on the quality of their teaching.  Inspectors spoke informally to parents as they brought their children to and from school, but there were too few responses to Parent View to be considered.  Meetings were held with two groups of pupils, representatives from the local authority, members of the governing body, senior and subject leaders and teaching staff.  Inspectors observed the work of the school, and looked at pupils’ books and at a number of documents, including the school’s own data and monitoring of how well pupils are achieving. They also checked planning documents, records of checks on the quality of teaching, and

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Information about this inspection

records of behaviour, attendance and punctuality, as well as documents relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Simon Blackburn, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Roisin Chambers Additional Inspector Lynda Townsend Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than the average primary school.  The proportion of pupils eligible for support through the pupil premium is below the national average. This additional government funding is to help pupils what known to be eligible for free school meals, looked after by the local authority or from service families.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is below average, but the proportion supported at school action plus or through a statement of special educational needs is above average.  About two in three of the pupils come from minority ethnic backgrounds. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above the national average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make more teaching outstanding by:  applying the marking and feedback policy consistently, so pupils are shown clearly how to improve their work  making sure that pupils act on any guidance provided by subsequently improving their work  giving pupils clear sounds and the correct words to describe them in phonics sessions.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Help pupils to come to school more regularly, by giving parents all possible information about the impact of poor attendance on achievement.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Standards are rising for all groups of pupils because of better teaching and rigorous checking of their progress across the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Most children’s skills and knowledge are below those typical for their age when they join the Nursery. They make good progress during the Early Years Foundation Stage in all aspects of their learning, but enter Year 1 with skills and knowledge that are still below average.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 has historically been low, but it rose in 2013 and was in line with national averages in reading, writing and mathematics. The school’s own tracking data and work seen in pupils’ books show that pupils currently in Years 1 and 2 are making good progress and are on track to reach even higher standards at the end of this year.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Standards at the end of Year 6 have also been below average, but data show that pupils’ overall progress through Key Stage 2 has been improving for the last three years. The pupils who completed Year 6 in 2013 had made good progress in mathematics and writing, but slightly less progress in reading. Pupils currently working in Key Stage 2 classes are making better progress in all subjects because of better teaching that encourages pupils to think about how they learn as well what they learn.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 A greater proportion of the most able pupils are now reaching higher levels in all areas of their work. Teachers now have a greater awareness of what helps them to make good progress and generally ensure that work stretches them, although this is not always the case.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs achieve as well as other groups. Staff have a good awareness of their individual ability levels, and provide effective support to challenge each pupil without giving too much help. A similarly thorough approach helps to make sure pupils from minority ethnics groups and those who speak English as an additional language do well.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The pupil premium is used to provide effective additional support which enables pupils eligible for this to make good progress across all subjects. In 2013, the attainment of eligible pupils in Year 6 was slightly above that of other pupils in reading, writing and mathematics, and the school’s tracking data shows similar success in closing attainment gaps across the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The large number of pupils who join the school during the year receive good support from the learning mentor in addition to help with learning English, so they can join in with lessons quickly and make good progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in developing reading skills. Most pupils read widely at home and at school. Pupils in Year 2 are eager to read, and use their knowledge of letters and the sounds they make to read unfamiliar words, while older pupils read with confidence and fluency, and with a good understanding of what they are reading.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The ‘Forest School’ area is used well to develop pupils’ skills and knowledge in a different context and the primary school sports funding is used to increase the range of sports available so that more pupils take part in exercise.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good because lessons are planned to interest and inspire pupils with challenging tasks that make them think and work hard. Teachers ask questions which probe and deepen pupils’ understanding and feed their curiosity.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In the Early Years Foundation Stage, staff know the children well and intervene particularly effectively to support their speech and language development. The well-resourced learning areas ensure that children have a good range of activities and tasks both inside and outside. Staff use assessment software expertly to record children’s development. During the inspection children were learning about ice and how it changes as it warms up, and one said there was fake snow in the tray. When asked how she knew it was fake, she said, ‘It doesn’t melt when it gets warm.’

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The quality of teaching is good

 Many of the adults in the school are bilingual and speak languages that children use at home. This ensures that their start in the school is smooth, that good relationships are established between home and school and that any misconceptions can be sorted out quickly, allowing pupils to make rapid progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers choose good stimulus material for lessons which captures pupils’ imagination and generates complex discussions between talk partners, particularly in Key Stage 2 lessons. In an outstandingly well-taught English lesson, the teacher used a set of pictures relating to the story pupils were studying. While some pupils sequenced and retold the story in their own words, another took the role of a character to deepen understanding of his part in the story.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers demonstrate good subject knowledge, and writing and other basic skills are taught well. However, the teaching of letters and the sounds they make is not consistently good. In some lessons, teachers do not say the sounds accurately enough and pupils are not encouraged to use the correct technical words to describe the sounds, for example ‘digraph’.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants are well deployed by the teachers. Where teaching is at its best, the teamwork is very strong and pupils, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, make rapid progress because staff anticipate their needs.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers know and manage their pupils extremely well. There are high levels of trust and respect. Pupils understand the link between good behaviour and good learning, and their social and moral development is promoted well in lessons.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils’ work is marked thoroughly and regularly, but the impact of marking does vary across the school. It often gives useful information about what pupils have done well and good suggestions for the next steps in learning, but this varies from lesson to lesson and class to class. Teachers do not always check that their suggestions are acted on, so this tool to advance pupils’ learning is not always used effectively.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils enjoy coming to school and its warm, welcoming environment. They wear their uniform smartly and with pride and take good care of their surroundings. No litter is dropped and the corridors are quiet and purposeful places as pupils move around the school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Teachers and pupils get on well, there are good routines established for working together, and pupils follow instructions without fuss. Pupils are well equipped for their lessons and settle very quickly to their work. Their books are neat and tidy and show a clear progression in the quality of their handwriting.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Parents and carers spoke to the inspection team as they brought their children to school, or picked them up at the end of the day. They were clear that they felt their children were happy at the school, and that behaviour was good and managed well by all teachers and staff. Parents feel that the school is a strong and positive influence in creating and maintaining community togetherness and point to the many events that the school organises.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 On the playground, pupils play well together and enjoy the chance to use excess energy. They are considerate and kind to one another as they play.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school has an excellent system of behaviour management and a history of success in helping pupils to learn to manage their own behaviour. The community liaison and learning mentor works well with parents to ensure that pupils can focus on their learning. One parent told inspectors that his son was now making good progress, having come to the school with some concentration problems.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Parents feel that their pupils are safe in the school and pupils agree, saying that they know who to speak to if they have any problems or do not feel safe. Pupils have a good awareness of all the different forms of bullying, including cyber-bullying and homophobic bullying, and have been taught how to keep themselves safe from these. There are very few incidents of bullying and pupils are confident in teachers’ ability to deal with any that do arise.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The curriculum includes many experiences that allow pupils to learn about risk and how to keep themselves safe.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school continues to make vigorous attempts to improve rates of attendance. In spite of all the measures taken, attendance is only improving slowly and is still too low. This is exacerbated by the large number of pupils who join or leave during the school year. The school is taking all reasonable steps to improve attendance, including prompt first-day calling of parents when a pupil is absent, incentives for good attendance and home visits where alarm clocks are given to families. It is aware of the ongoing need to stress how much absence from school can affect pupils’ achievement.

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The leadership and management are good

 The senior leadership team has a clear and ambitious vision to drive improvements in the school. Its members are strongly focused on improving the quality of teaching through high-quality training combined with staff working together to learn from their strengths. The headteacher, supported by the governing body, has taken determined action to eliminate weak teaching.

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The leadership and management are good

 The new tracking system is highly effective in keeping a close check on pupils’ progress, and senior leaders meet regularly with teachers to discuss how best to support and challenge any pupils who may be falling behind in their work. As a result, problems are identified early and extra help is provided quickly.

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The leadership and management are good

 Senior leaders have an accurate view of the strengths and weakness of the school, based on rigorous lesson observations, checks on pupils’ work and conversations with pupils and parents. They invite all members of the school community to comment on how well they think it is doing and what it should concentrate on next. The resulting well-structured plans are used to move the school forward.

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The leadership and management are good

 Teachers’ performance is managed well. Challenging targets are set for pupils’ progress and for the development of teaching skills. Subject leaders and senior teachers have targets designed to improve their leadership skills, supported by training and coaching from the deputy headteacher.

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The leadership and management are good

 The curriculum meets the needs and interests of all groups of pupils, and promotes their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very well. Pupils are enthusiastic about the topics and subjects they study and particularly enjoy science, art and physical education.

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The leadership and management are good

 Senior leaders work extremely well with parents, carers and leaders of the community to ensure equality of opportunity and to tackle possible extremism. They have established strong links with all the main faith communities and use these to the benefit of pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has provided the school with good support. For example, it has helped to improve the quality of governance and teaching in mathematics.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors are knowledgeable and understand how well pupils are doing across the school because they review performance data carefully. They are aware of the quality of teaching in different parts of the school and what the senior leaders are doing to improve teachers’ skills. They are acutely aware of the importance of performance management and ensure that any increases in salary are linked to teachers’ performance. Governors are able to challenge leaders because they visit regularly and gather first-hand evidence. In deciding on the strategic direction of the school, they join with staff to evaluate progress made on the previous year’s targets and to consider the kind of school that the pupils and community needs. The governors can show the substantial impact that pupil premium funding has had on the achievement of pupils who are eligible, and can clearly state the main contributing factors.

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The leadership and management are good

They are also clear about how the primary school sport funding is being spent, although as yet they are less clear about its impact in promoting pupils’ physical well-being and increasing participation in sport. Governors ensure that the school budget is well spent, and that the school’s arrangements for safeguarding meet current national requirements.

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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 116759 Local authority Worcestershire Inspection number 440420

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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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 346 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Norman Tomsett Headteacher Anne Potter Date of previous school inspection 1 December 2010 Telephone number 01905 355043 Fax number 01905 350784 Email address office@stanleyroad.worcs.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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