Springwood Heath Primary School

Springwood Heath Primary School Danefield Road, Liverpool, Merseyside, L19 4TL

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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 Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Achievement is good. Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage. This good progress continues as they make their journey through the school.  Outstanding progress is made by pupils who access specialist provision for their specific needs or disability. The support is extremely well matched to their precise need by very skilled and highly trained adults who support their personal development, well-being and learning needs exceptionally well.  The quality of teaching is good and has improved since the last inspection as a result of effective leadership. The teaching observed during the inspection was good and some outstanding.  Teachers’ expectations of the standards of pupils’ work are high. Pupils are challenged to achieve their very best across subject areas.  Information and communication technology provision is an outstanding resource for many pupils with a special educational need or

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

disability.  Behaviour and safety are outstanding because there are excellent systems in place to support this. The pupils have superb adult role models to help with any issues that they may have.  This school prides itself on being a unique, inclusive, caring family community. Everybody is made to feel very welcome and fully included and has equality of opportunity regardless of background or ability.  The effective headteacher ensures that the spiritual, moral, social and cultural aspects of learning are paramount. He has a crystal clear view of how successful the school can be.  Phase and middle leaders help to ensure the quality of the teaching and pupils’ achievement have improved since the last inspection.  Governance is a strength of the school because the governing body provides relentless support and challenge in the quest for improvement for all the pupils.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils’ achievement in their writing could be even better.  Leaders do not always use all the school’s information on pupils’ progress fully effectively, especially to help improve their writing.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 18 lessons. They also made a number of short visits to lessons and listened to pupils read in Years 1, 2, and 3. There were observations of the teaching of letters and sounds they make (phonics) in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Year 1 and Year 2.  Separate meetings were held with members of the governing body, staff, groups of pupils and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors reviewed information from 10 responses to the online parent questionnaire (Parent View).  They took account of the views of staff from 48 questionnaires.  The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a wide range of documentation including national assessment data, the school’s assessments, the school’s view of its own performance, local authority reports, curriculum information, pupils’ work and safeguarding documents.

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Inspection team

Jean Tarry, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Clarice Nelson-Rowe Additional Inspector Maria Mc Garry Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Springwood Heath Primary School is an average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils who are supported by pupil premium funding is above the national average. The pupil premium is additional government funding provided for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and those children who are looked after by the local authority.  The school provides enhanced resourced provision for pupils with complex physical and medical needs. Forty-eight pupils have been allocated a place by Children’s Services. These pupils are taught in classes with other pupils in the school.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported through school action is above the average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is much higher than average.  The pupils are mainly of White British heritage.

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Information about this school

 The school does not meet the government’s current floor standards that set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.  The school runs a breakfast club for a small charge and many after-school clubs.  The associate headteacher is involved in leading and supporting the South Liverpool Special Needs Primary Consortium.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 To raise attainment and accelerate the rate of progress in pupils’ writing by:  improving assessment and marking in order to make it very clear what pupils can do and what the next step is to make their work even better  ensuring the linking of letters and sounds makes a greater impact on pupils’ work  ensuring grammar, punctuation, spelling and handwriting have a higher priority in lessons in order to improve pupils’ writing.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 To improve the quality of the leadership and management by ensuring all the school’s information and data are used precisely by all leaders to further accelerate pupils’ progress, especially in writing.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The children start school with skills that are very low compared with those expected for their age, especially in literacy and social skills. They make good progress overall in the Early Years Foundation Stage and achieve well. For children who have very complex needs, well-tailored provision results in rapid progress for those in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  As pupils travel through the school, they make good progress from the start of Key Stage 1 to the end of Key Stage 2. They are well prepared to transfer to the next stage of their education.  Pupils’ attainment is significantly below average at the end of Key Stage 1 and 2, but has improved in 2013. Attainment has improved since the last inspection, particularly in reading and mathematics. School data, confirmed by inspection evidence, show that the improving trend is set to continue. National test data has to be viewed with a degree of caution because it does not

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The achievement of pupils is good

take into account the complex learning difficulties of a significant proportion of the pupils included. Despite low overall attainment by the end of Year 6, this represents at least good progress from pupils’ starting points.  Inspection evidence, classroom observations, scrutiny of the pupils’ work and the school’s tracking systems show that pupils who do not have special educational needs make good progress and reach average attainment by the end of Year 6.  Last year some pupils exceeded the expected progress in reading and mathematics in the national tests at the end of Key Stage 2. However, although the proportion of pupils attaining the higher levels is increasing, this is not as evident for writing. Nevertheless, the overall progress of the most able pupils is good, especially in reading. Many are fluent readers and appreciate the wide range of books in the library.  Disabled pupils and those pupils who have special educational needs or more complex learning

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The achievement of pupils is good

needs, including those who receive enhanced resourced provision, make outstanding progress due to the targeted support for medical and learning needs from highly experienced teaching and support staff.  Reading takes a high priority, with initiatives such as daily readers or badges for readers at Springwood Heath. Attainment is rising in reading, especially at the end of Year 6. However, the progress pupils make with the linking of letters and sounds is not always as rapid as it could be lower down the school.  Pupil premium funding ensures that the pupils in receipt of such funding, including those known to be eligible for free school meals, are making progress similar to other pupils in English and mathematics. This group makes at least good progress and gap between these pupils’ attainment and others in the school is closing.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good over time and results in pupils making at least good progress. This is confirmed by the work in pupils’ books. Teachers generally have an accurate understanding of what pupils are able to do and plan work that enables them to learn well, although this is not done as well in some classes, especially with writing tasks. When this happens, teachers’ marking does not always challenge pupils enough to improve their handwriting, grammar, spelling and punctuation.  The outstanding teaching in Years 5 and 6 in English and mathematics ensures that pupils make rapid progress. Often there is a high level of engagement in lessons and a very good pace to the pupils’ new learning. Pupils are totally involved and thoroughly motivated to learn more. In an outstanding mathematics lesson in Year 5, pupils were determined to sort out a solution to find fractions of a particular number or a shape in their problem-solving activities. The teacher

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The quality of teaching is good

challenged and extended their numeracy thinking, knowledge, skills and understanding, resulting in rapid, sustained and accelerated progress.  Information and communication technology teaching is a huge strength, especially for pupils who have a special educational need. In an outstanding lesson in Year 6, all pupils in the class were making rapid progress as they learnt how to deduce and infer meaning from the poem, ‘What Makes Me Smile’. Highly skilled adults used the appropriate equipment then challenged individuals to succeed when they were asked to respond to the imagery of the poem. Teachers’ expectations of what pupils are capable of achieving are extremely high.  The quality of the teachers’ marking is not always as effective as it could be, although marking is regular and celebratory. Teachers’ comments in books do not always ensure that pupils know precisely what they need to do next to really improve their writing, and where they do, pupils

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils’ attitudes to learning are excellent and make a very positive contribution to their progress. They have an incredibly strong sense of what is good behaviour and pride themselves on knowing what is not acceptable. They have a superb sense of caring for their classmates who are disabled or who have learning difficulties. To see this from pupils of such a young age is inspirational and often overwhelming. They are well on the way to becoming valuable citizens and empathetic and caring individuals for the City of Liverpool.  In the classrooms and on the playground, pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. The older pupils develop a sense of responsibility as they organise activities for the younger ones. They act as excellent role models and help those in need to find friends or sort out issues.  The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. The pupils are friendly, polite and very considerate. Pupils really enjoy coming to school, they are excited by their learning and all try their very best

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

to succeed. All pupils are well mannered, respectful and extremely polite.  Attendance is below the national average. However, there are a number of pupils who have to attend medical appointments and are, therefore, absent for longer periods of time than is usual. When this information is taken into account, attendance is broadly in line with the national average. There are effective monitoring systems in place and links with parents are very strong to ensure learning does not stop and start at the school gate for some of these vulnerable pupils.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Parents and staff believe that pupils feel safe and happy in school. Pupils know about name-calling and physical bullying and say that it seldom occurs. However, they know who to talk to if this happens. They know how to keep themselves safe and talk sensibly about the dangers of inappropriate use of the internet.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has established a plan for raising standards. He drives forward the need to concentrate on the progress pupils are making from their starting points. Initiatives aimed at improving the school have been introduced effectively.  The monitoring of the quality of teaching by leaders and subject leaders at all levels is, in the main, carried out well. This has led to improvement, with examples of good and outstanding practice. Leaders hold staff to account for the progress of pupils, including the link between this and teachers’ movement up the pay scales.  The headteacher and teachers assess pupils’ knowledge and skills. This means that the school’s data that tracks pupils’ attainment and progress is mostly reliable. However, leaders are not always able to establish an accurate view of how well pupils are performing and ensure that achievement and teaching improve where theyneed to, especially in writing.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders regularly check how well additional funds are used. For example, the pupil premium funding is used to provide support from specialist reading teachers. The new primary school sports funding is used to improve pupils’ achievement, health and well-being through a wide range of high-quality sporting opportunities. The impact of this funding can be seen in outcomes for pupils which are good and how well pupils are prepared for their transition to high school.  The school has very effective partnerships with external agencies and this is helping to ensure disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make good and often outstanding progress. ’Tom’s Space’ is used to enter a magical multi-sensory environment, and music therapy adds to the interesting, lively provision which helps pupils to develop their communication skills.  The rich, diverse and vibrant curriculum is a huge strength of the school as it provides for and

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The leadership and management are good

meets the needs of all pupils effectively. There is a focus on reading in the very busy library. The leaders try to ensure that pupils’ basic skills are developed well. There is a positive impact on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural aspects of learning and their development.  The local authority has provided a range of support. The school leadership values this as a means of professional development and constant school improvement. This support and help have resulted in rapid and sustained improvement in teaching and pupils’ achievement over time.  The governance of the school:  Governors have the knowledge and skills needed to hold leaders and managers to account for the school’s performance. Governors have an accurate view of pupils’ achievement through analysing performance data, and of the quality of teaching. Governors have ensured that leaders have addressed identified weaknesses in teaching and checked that performance

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The leadership and management are good

management systems are implemented effectively. They ensure that the pupil premium funding is allocated to support the learning of those pupils for whom it is intended and have checked closely why this support has been effective in narrowing the gap in the attainment of these pupils compared with similar pupils nationally. Governors ensure that the school’s arrangements for safeguarding are in place. The safety and welfare of the pupils are a high priority. Statutory duties are fulfilled and meet requirements and discrimination is not tolerated.

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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 104545 Local authority Liverpool Inspection number 440701

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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 263 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andrew Campbell Headteacher Phil Daniels Date of previous school inspection 6 March 2013 Telephone number 0151 427 7759 Fax number 0151 494 3452 Email address springwood-ao@springwood.liverpool.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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