Huntingtree Primary School

Huntingtree Primary School Bournes Hill, Hasbury Estate, Halesowen, B63 4DZ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Require improvement 3

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement.  Too few pupils currently in the school are making good enough progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  Not all teachers set work that is challenging enough for pupils of different abilities. Some pupils spend time in lessons repeating tasks they can already do because the teacher has not spotted they are ready to move on to harder work.  Some activities limit the extent to which pupils can use their writing and mathematics skills.  Senior leaders and subject leaders do not use information about pupils’ achievement to check how well different groups of pupils are doing in comparison to each other. This means that plans for improving teaching are not sharply focused on closing gaps in the achievement of different groups.  Governors do not have enough information about the achievement of different groups of pupils, so do not have an accurate picture of the school’s effectiveness. This means that,

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

although they ask some challenging questions, governors are not able to probe sufficiently about how well pupils are learning.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils have good attitudes to learning and behave well. They try hard in lessons, respond quickly to instructions and work well on their own, with others or with an adult.  The school ensures pupils are safe and well cared for.  The school supports pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well through lessons that help pupils develop tolerance and respect and a wide range of music, drama, art and other creative and expressive experiences.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching in 21 lessons throughout the school. Five of these were observed jointly with the headteacher or one of the deputy headteachers. Additional classroom visits were carried out to look at aspects of the school’s work.  Inspectors looked at work in pupils’ books with the headteacher and one of the deputy headteachers, heard some pupils read and watched an assembly.  Inspectors met with groups of pupils and talked to pupils in lessons, in the playground and as they moved around school.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, other senior staff, the Chair and Vice Chair of the Governing Body and the school’s improvement adviser from the local authority. Inspectors spoke informally with other members of staff.  There were insufficient responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) to enable inspectors to use this information. Inspectors spoke informally to parents as they brought their children to

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Information about this inspection

school at the start of the day and collected them after school.  Inspectors looked at a range of documentation which included: the school’s checks on how well it is doing and plans for improvement; evidence about how teachers are set targets to improve pupils’ progress and records of observations of the quality of teaching; minutes of meetings of the governing body; the school’s information about pupils’ progress over time; and records relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Sandra Hayes, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Shahin Fazil-Aslam Additional Inspector Sarah Noble Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is much larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils supported through pupil premium funding is slightly above that in most schools. The pupil premium is additional funding from the government to support the achievement of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years, are looked after by the local authority or have a parent in the armed forces.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is similar to the national average for primary schools. Most of these pupils are of Yemeni origin. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above average.  The proportion of disabled pupils or those who have special educational needs supported through school action is slightly above average. The proportion supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also slightly above average.

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Information about this school

 The school is a provider for the School Direct programme of initial training for teachers through its partnership with Perry Beeches the Academy.  Other local schools have visited Huntingtree Primary School since the previous inspection in May 2012 to look at how teachers mark pupils’ work.  The school currently meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that all groups of pupils make consistently good progress in reading, writing and mathematics in all classes by:  making sure work is challenging enough for pupils of different abilities  selecting activities that allow pupils to fully apply their reading, writing and mathematics skills  ensuring teachers check how well pupils are learning in lessons and move them on to harder work as soon as they are ready.  Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management at all levels by making sure leaders:  check the progress made by different groups of pupils, including those of different abilities  use information about the achievement of different groups of pupils to guide whole-school improvement plans and subject action plans.  ensure action plans show clearly what steps will be taken to close gaps in achievement, when these actions will happen and how the impact of actions will be measured

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 follow actions up quickly to ensure they are having the desired effect upon pupils’ achievement.  Improve the effectiveness of governors by:  providing governors with a clear overview of the relative achievement of different groups, so they can ask challenging questions about pupils’ achievement  ensuring governors check rigorously the impact of leaders’ actions on improving the achievement of different groups of pupils.  An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 From 2011 to 2012, pupils’ attainment in Key Stages 1 and 2 declined in reading, writing and mathematics. Standards recovered to some extent in 2013.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In 2013, pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 2 was in line with the national average, showing these pupils had not made good progress from their high starting points. Pupils in Year 1 did not do as well as pupils in the previous year in the national check on their phonics knowledge and skills (knowing about letters and the sounds they make). The quality of teaching has improved this year in Years 1 and 2 and, consequently, most pupils are now making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In Years 3 to 6, the picture is more mixed. Rates of progress vary in reading, writing and mathematics and are not consistently good. Occasionally, pupils make too little progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 National test results in 2013 showed the attainment of pupils in Year 6 in writing and mathematics had recovered. However, standards in reading declined further and were well below average. The decline has now been halted and pupils in the current Year 6 have made better progress so far than in previous years. Standards in reading are currently broadly average and a little above those in writing.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Assessments at the end of Key Stage 2 in 2013 showed variation in the standards reached by different groups of pupils. This is also the case in other years. While no particular pupils underachieve consistently, different groups achieve less well in each class.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils supported by pupil premium funding were two-and-a-half terms behind other pupils in reading in 2013. The difference in writing and mathematics was around one term. The school has used extra funding this year to provide additional support for these pupils and they are now catching up with their classmates, particularly in Years 3 and 4.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children enter the Nursery with skills that are below those normally expected for their age. When children start in the Reception class, their skills are more typical. They benefit from good teaching in the Nursery and Reception classes so, by the time they enter Year 1, they have made good progress and the quality of their work is above that expected for five-year-olds. They are well prepared to begin the National Curriculum.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement in reading has improved. Younger pupils use phonics more confidently to help read and spell new words. They read often at home as well as at school and are making good progress. However, in Years 3 to 6, many pupils do not read at home and teachers do not check this is happening. Pupils choose books with little guidance from teachers so they are not always reading at the right level.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school has identified pupils’ spelling as weak and is now teaching spelling in a more structured and systematic way. Many pupils do not have enough opportunities to produce longer pieces of writing, so they do not learn to apply their skills when writing in different styles.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school responded decisively to the downturn in mathematics in 2012 by introducing a sharper focus on teaching calculation skills and pupils applying their knowledge through solving problems. Standards have risen and are now at least average, with many pupils making good progress.  The achievement of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs largely mirrors that of other groups, in that it varies in line with the quality of teaching. This means the progress of these pupils is mostly good in Years 1 and 2, and is mixed in Years 3 to 6. This, too, is the picture for pupils who speak English as an additional language, including Yemeni pupils.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school has used the primary school sports funding wisely to employ a well-qualified coach to increase the range of sporting and physical activities on offer. More pupils now regularly participate in demanding physical activity both in and out of school. Parents and pupils appreciate this.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because it does not ensure pupils make consistently good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Teaching is mostly good in Years 1 and 2. It is more mixed in Years 3 to 6. As a consequence, rates of progress vary.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In some lessons, tasks are too easy for some pupils and too hard for others. This happens when teachers have not used information about what pupils can already do to plan work that moves their learning on quickly and do not check how well they are learning. Consequently, pupils in some lessons spend too long repeating what they can already do and do not move on to harder work quickly enough.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Sometimes the teacher’s choice of activity places a limit on the quality and quantity of work pupils can produce, or the amount of progress they can make within a lesson. In one lesson, for instance, a group of pupils worked for too long completing simple mathematics questions and did not have time to get on to the harder ones, which they could answer correctly when asked by an inspector. Pupils are often given short writing tasks to do within limited space. They fill the available space but many do not go beyond this, for example, stopping writing in the middle of a sentence because the space had been used up.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 When teachers mark pupils’ work they usually give clear information about what has been done well and how the work could be improved. Some recently appointed teachers are not as confident as their more experienced colleagues about how to do this effectively.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils enjoy learning and try very hard when they are given interesting and challenging work. Teachers create an atmosphere of respect and trust in lessons, so pupils are comfortable about offering ideas and talking about difficulties they are having. Pupils listen to each other with interest and are very supportive of one another. They sensitively and constructively give their opinions to other pupils about their work and how this might be improved.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Additional adults provide good support in lessons and help pupils learn well. They do this by asking questions that help pupils make sense of their learning and by providing helpful advice on how to tackle the task correctly. Teaching is particularly effective where teachers and teaching assistants check on the progress pupils are making during the lesson.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers in the Early Years Foundation Stage expertly use their understanding of how children learn to provide high-quality experiences which nurture personal development and build good early reading, writing, mathematics and communication skills. They help children from families where English is not the first language to settle well into school. As a result of this good teaching, children make good progress in these classes.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They are polite to adults, considerate towards each other and behave sensibly in lessons.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils enjoy learning and try hard in lessons. This helps them achieve well. Pupils respond quickly to instructions so lessons get off to a prompt start and run smoothly. Even in less interesting lessons, pupils’ behaviour rarely causes disruption.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Policies for managing behaviour are successfully applied by all staff. School analyses show a decrease of incidents of unacceptable behaviour over the year. The school works effectively to support pupils who find school challenging to take a full part in school life.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say children usually behave well in school, although some are occasionally a little boisterous. They report a small amount of bullying exists, but state that adults sort it out. Pupils say playtimes have improved now there is more equipment to play with and more structured activities are available.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Some pupils do not take the same high degree of responsibility for their behaviour when they move around the school or are in the playground as they do in lessons. Occasionally, when they are not directly supervised, some become a little boisterous and run down the corridor or push each other in the playground.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’s actions to ensure pupils attend regularly and punctually are successful. As a result, attendance has continued the trend of improvement seen over recent years and is currently above the national average for primary schools.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils told inspectors they feel safe at school and talked about how the school helps them stay safe out of school and when using the internet.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders collect detailed information about individual pupils’ progress, but do not take enough account of the attainment or progress of different groups of pupils. This lack of strategic overview means that, while leaders have an accurate view of how well pupils are doing overall, they have not identified some weaknesses in achievement. So, while gaps are closing for pupils supported through the pupil premium, for other groups, such as boys in writing, they are not closing quickly enough because actions are not sufficiently targeted to help these pupils.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Senior leaders use a programme of frequent lesson observations to check the quality of teaching. They accurately judge what they see in lessons and in pupils’ work. They have a clear understanding of what this evidence tells them about the quality of teaching. They have missed some instances of weak teaching, however, because they do not systematically compare the progress of different groups of pupils.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders plan appropriate actions to raise achievement. However, improvement plans do not show when the actions will take place, how leaders will judge whether they have worked or when their impact will be checked. This is why improvements in mathematics and reading have been inconsistent.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Subject leaders and teachers in charge of different aspects of the school’s work check that teachers are following agreed policies and procedures. These checks do not focus enough on the impact of teaching upon pupils’ progress. These leaders do not follow up weaknesses soon enough to see if these have been rectified and, consequently, do not contribute sufficiently to improving the quality of teaching.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Salary increases for teachers are linked to pupils’ achievement. Each academic year, targets are set for how much progress pupils should make. Current targets reflect the fact that the underachievement of some groups of pupils has been missed.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Senior leaders work as a cohesive unit, making good use of their complementary skills. They have demonstrated the ambition and skills needed to drive improvement. The headteacher, ably supported by two deputy headteachers, took concerted and decisive action last year to eradicate the inadequate teaching that had contributed significantly to some low achievement last year. The decisions taken about how to use the pupil premium and primary school sports funding have raised achievement and increased rates of participation in physical activity.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The Early Years Foundation Stage is well led. Children’s progress is carefully checked and adjustments made to planned experiences so that they learn well.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Pupils’ positive view of learning results, in part, from the school’s interesting approach to linking subjects through themes. The creative use of texts, enhanced by opportunities to perform through dance, drama, music and art, gives pupils worthwhile and memorable experiences and helps them develop a secure understanding of different times, places, people and cultures.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Parents who spoke with inspectors believe the school is well led. They appreciate the many opportunities to participate in school life. They say they are happy to approach their child’s teacher if they have any concerns.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has given little support and challenge since the last inspection and its impact has been limited. The local authority was not aware of the extent of the decline in reading standards until results dropped to the very low levels reached in Year 6 in 2013.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governors are ambitious for the school to be successful and have, rightly, asked the headteacher for more information about pupils’ achievement to help them judge if this is so. They ask challenging questions about information received. However, because such information is not analysed effectively by senior leaders, governors do not have a full view of strengths and weaknesses in achievement and, therefore, about the quality of teaching. Consequently, there is limited evidence of the impact of governors’ challenge. Governors visit the school to see what is happening. These visits are not linked to action plans so they are not used effectively to check the impact of leaders’ actions. The governing body supported the headteacher well last year in tackling weak teaching and has shown it is prepared to withhold salary increases for any staff who underperform. It has ensured that pupil premium funding is

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The leadership and management requires improvement

wisely spent. Statutory duties are met and finances are managed well. Governors ensure that pupils are safe and well cared for.

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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 103802 Local authority Dudley Inspection number 440504

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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 441 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Stephen Bell Headteacher Stevie Parkes Date of previous school inspection 14 May 2012 Telephone number 01384 818650 Fax number 01384 818655 Email address sparkes@huntingtree.dudley.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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