Perryfields Primary School

Perryfields Primary School Apsley Road, Oldbury, B68 0QY

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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.  Perryfields is a growing school that provides a good quality of education, care and support for all pupils. As a result, pupils achieve well, particularly in reading and in mathematics.  Most children begin school with skills below that typical for their age, but leave at the end of Year 6 with standards above the national average.  The quality of teaching is good, enabling pupils to make good progress from their starting points. Teachers build on pupils’ previous learning really well to deliver the next stages of learning.  Pupils' work is marked well to ensure they know how to improve their work and they are given time to do so in lessons.  The school's work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Safeguarding is clearly at the top of the agenda at Perryfields. Parents say that their children are cared for well and pupils say they feel very safe.  The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils enjoy

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

coming to school and take part in a variety of school activities. Attendance is consistently above the national average. Staff and pupils have a positive rapport, resulting in pupils feeling very proud of their school.  Senior leaders monitor the quality of teaching frequently. The checking of pupils' progress using school data is extremely efficient. Subject leaders work well as a team and provide good support to newer teachers.  Governors are very knowledgeable about their school, have a wide range of skills and provide good challenge for the school.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching is not yet outstanding. Teachers do not always have high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve.  The achievement of pupils is not yet outstanding, especially in writing where the most able pupils do not do as well as they do in reading and in mathematics.  The progress of pupils who are disabled or who have special educational needs is not as good as that of other pupils in the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 14 lessons or parts of lessons, two of which were observed jointly with senior leaders.  Inspectors listened to pupils read and looked at the work in their books.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy head teacher and different groups of people involved with the school. These included pupils, parents, members of the governing body, members of the teaching staff and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took into account the results of the school’s recent parental surveys, the 29 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), letters from parents and 14 staff questionnaires.  Inspectors looked at a range of documents, including plans for improvement, records of the school’s checks on pupils’ and teachers’ performance, safeguarding and attendance documents, minutes of meetings of the governing body and school policies.

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Inspection team

Faheem Chishti, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Michael Onyon Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is an average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups and who speak English as an additional language is average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is average. The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is below average. The pupil premium is additional funding 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 meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.  There have been several changes to staffing recently, including the appointment of three newly

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching to outstanding, and thereby increase progress that all pupils make by ensuring all teachers:  increase their expectations of what all pupils are capable of achieving in lessons  share the good and outstanding practice in the school so that all staff learn from each other

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ achievement in writing by ensuring that:  pupils are better aware of what excellent writing looks like  the teaching of spelling, grammar and punctuation is more consistent across the whole school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that the progress of pupils with special educational needs matches or exceeds that of other pupils in the school by planning and delivering more effective support.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Very few children start in Reception with skills and knowledge expected of their age. They make good progress so that, by the time they join Year 1, they are well prepared for their future learning and achieve standards which are typical for their age.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils continue to make good progress in Key Stage 1 with a greater proportion of pupils attaining expected levels than they did at the end of Reception. This pattern of improvement continues into Key Stage 2 so that by the end of their time in school, pupils' attainment is above the national average in reading and mathematics, and broadly average in writing.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Reading skills are taught effectively using phonics (learning letters and the sounds they make). The Year 1 screening check shows pupils’ reading is comparable with the national average. Older pupils enjoy reading and read with confidence. Attainment levels at the end of Year 6 are now above the national average in reading which demonstrates an improvement in pupils’ progress given that, in 2011, their attainment in reading was below average.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The progress of pupils in mathematics is also good. As with reading, standards are above the national average, with an above average proportion of pupils reaching the higher levels.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The pupils who benefit from the pupil premium funding make similar progress to other pupils in the school. Last year, the performance of these pupils in mathematics lagged behind others in the school by about three terms; however, this is not reflective of their performance in mathematics over time. Currently, these pupils perform very similarly to others across the school. Similarly, the performance of these pupils in reading and writing also lagged behind by about two terms. The performance of pupils who benefit from pupil premium funding is catching up with other pupils in the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The progress made by pupils in reading and mathematics is not matched in writing. Although the proportion of pupils reaching expected levels is good, not enough pupils are pushing on with their writing to achieve the higher levels. Also teachers are not consistent in the way they teach spelling, grammar and punctuation

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The progress of pupils who are disabled and those who have special educational needs is not as good as that of other pupils in the school because the support they receive is not always planned as effectively as it could be.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Although the most able pupils achieve well, they make better progress in reading and mathematics than they do in writing

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The quality of teaching is good

 The majority of lessons observed by inspectors were of a good quality. A small proportion of teaching seen was outstanding. This largely matched the school's own view of teaching based on its extensive monitoring of teaching and also mirrors what inspectors found when they looked at pupils' workbooks.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers often give pupils short tasks or questions to assess what they already know before moving on to what they need to learn in lessons. An excellent example of this was in an outstanding lesson in Key Stage 2 where the teacher was quickly able to find out if anyone could perform a conversion task involving improper fractions. Pupils were able to clearly evaluate their own learning here as they could compare quite easily what they had learned from the start of the lesson.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of mathematics is done exceptionally well, particularly for the most able pupils. It is not uncommon to find younger pupils working alongside older pupils from different classes but of a similar ability. The sensitive and caring way that this is done ensures all pupils are stretched to the best of their abilities.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Modern technology is used very well at the school. For example, in a different Key Stage 2 class, pupils confidently and expertly used computer devices to record short videos to express descriptive language. This helped them improve the quality of their writing.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers’ feedback to pupils is done very well. Pupils are able to check and evaluate their own work quite regularly and make good use of the time given in lessons to reflect on comments made by their teachers on how to improve their work.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The vast majority of parents who responded to questionnaires or met with inspectors are very happy with the quality of teaching experienced by their children and feel that all children at Perryfields progress well through the school.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Although teachers' feedback to pupils in their marking is good, their expectations of what pupils can achieve in their writing are not high enough. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are not taught consistently well across the school. Examples of excellent writing, and the features required for such excellence, are not given a high enough profile in school.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is not yet consistently good. The support for individual pupils is not always sufficiently tailored to help them make the progress needed to bridge the gap with their classmates.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Most pupils say they are very happy at school and, as one pupil said, "Learning is fun at our school".

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are well-mannered and respectful. The regular timetabled 'circle time' in all classes ensures pupils take care to listen to each other and think deeply about the issues that affect them as children.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils take on a range of responsibilities around the school, including being members of the school council, helping at lunchtime and providing support for younger pupils. The work of Year 5 reading tutors to help younger pupils with their reading is excellent. This not only benefits the younger pupils’ reading, but also sharpens the literacy skills of the Year 5 pupils, as well as increasing their self-esteem and confidence.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ sense of pride in their achievements is nurtured expertly by the staff at Perryfields. This was exemplified in an outstanding 'Praise' assembly, well attended by parents, and featured class teachers praising their 'star of the week' directly in front of the whole school. The sense of pride shown by pupils was almost tangible.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school's work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Pupils have an excellent understanding of different forms of bullying, including bullying through the internet. Incidents are rare and dealt with very effectively by school staff.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school is in receipt of a national award in recognition of the excellent work it does with parents of pupils. Parents and other volunteers are often seen around the school working with individual pupils or assisting teachers in classrooms.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school has also often gone beyond the call of duty in helping both pupils and also some parents with care and well-being.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The views expressed by parents confirm that they feel the school is a happy, safe place and that it ensures pupils are well behaved. Parents who responded to the online questionnaire and those that met with inspectors expressed positive views about pupils’ behaviour and safety.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and deputy headteacher have had a positive impact on the school's work to maintain above-average standards in reading, mathematics. This is due to the rigorous and accurate monitoring of teaching which highlights key strengths and also key areas for development, such as the teaching of writing.

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The leadership and management are good

 Although there has been a high turnover of staff in recent years, subject leaders have maintained strong leadership, ensuring continuity in the curriculum and monitoring in key subjects. Subject leaders provide excellent support to newer members of staff and have an accurate understanding of their subjects.

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The leadership and management are good

 A varied and interesting curriculum, along with strong links with a country abroad, ensures pupils have a good understanding of their place in society and the world at large. An outdoor learning area on the school site ensures pupils have good opportunities to learn a wide range of skills in the outdoors. The school goes out of its way to participate in local and national events, and systematically explores a range of values and beliefs and how they affect pupils’ lives.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is excellent. They show high levels of pride in their work and the work of the school and have a keen desire to take part in activities that enhance the work of the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school is well thought of by the local authority which has a good working knowledge of the school and regularly checks how well it is doing.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school uses its sports funding allocation well to provide for the services of a sports coach who delivers joint P.E. lessons alongside teachers to develop them as better sports teachers. Funding also provides resources for after-school clubs, lunchtime pupil play leaders and the professional development of school staff.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body knows the strengths of the school and works effectively with leaders to address areas for improvement. It is made up of governors with a range of professional backgrounds and so has a very good range of skills, enabling the school to benefit from its members’ advice and support. Governors and other senior leaders ensure robust financial and legal management and that safeguarding arrangements are fully met. They are developing their role of challenging the school over the progress made by all pupils. They make appropriate use of information to plan the use of funding such as the pupil premium. They make sure that such funding is having a positive effect on eligible pupils’ learning by comparing their progress with that of other pupils. Governors have a sound knowledge of the quality of teaching in school and often visit the school. They ensure that the school’s

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The leadership and management are good

performance management systems are used to reward good teachers with pay increases and to tackle weaker teaching.

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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 103953 Local authority Sandwell Inspection number 431501

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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 242 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Carol Dagnan Headteacher Terry Jones Date of previous school inspection 20th and 21st May 2009 Telephone number 0121 422 2848 Fax number 0121 422 5262 Email address office.admin@perryfields-pri.sandwell.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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