Setting

Mrs Rizvana Darr Headteacher Adderley Primary School Arden Road Saltley Birmingham B8 1DZ

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No formal designation monitoring inspection of Adderley Primary School

Following my visit with Jeremy Spencer, Her Majesty’s Inspector, to your school on 2–3 April 2014, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings.

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No formal designation monitoring inspection of Adderley Primary School

The inspection was a monitoring inspection carried out in accordance with no formal designation procedures and conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was carried out following a request from the Secretary of State.

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Evidence

Her Majesty’s Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation, including the single central record and other documents relating to safeguarding and child protection arrangements. They reviewed attendance and exclusion information, behaviour incident records and the school’s curriculum plans and implementation. Pupils’ work books were scrutinised, including those for science, religious, social and moral education, literacy and mathematics.

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Evidence

Her Majesty’s Inspectors held formal meetings with the headteacher, senior leaders and a number of teaching and non-teaching staff. Discussions were held also with a group of governors, including the Chair of the Governing Body. Telephone discussions were conducted with the school improvement partner and a representative from Birmingham council’s school improvement service. Her Majesty’s Inspectors spoke with parents at the start of the school day. They also spoke with pupils in lessons and on the school yard, as well as with two groups of pupils more formally.

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Evidence

Her Majesty’s Inspectors took account of the views of parents and carers who spoke to inspectors and the ten parents who responded to Ofsted’s on-line survey (Parent View). Senior leaders did not use the Ofsted Survey that was sent to the school at Serco Inspections Colmore Plaza 20 Colmore Circus Queensway Birmingham B4 6AT T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T: 0121 679 9146 Direct E: clare.benson@serco.com the start of the inspection as they had recently completed their own parent and staff surveys. However, Her Majesty’s Inspectors did not take these surveys into account because they could not verify that all returned surveys were included in the sets provided.

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Evidence

Having considered all the evidence, I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Evidence

The school's safeguarding arrangements meet requirements.

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Evidence

The quality of leadership and management requires improvement.

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Context

Adderley is an above average-sized primary school with 57% of pupils known to be entitled to free school meals, which is well above average. Nearly all pupils are from minority ethnic communities. The proportion of pupils with a disability or special educational need, who are supported at school action, is average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average. A higher-than-average number of pupils join the school at times other than at the start of the school year. There have been significant changes to staffing over the past four years although the headteacher has remained in post throughout this period.

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Context

A serious allegation made against the school by former members of staff is currently being investigated by the police.

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Context

Test results at the school have improved rapidly and pupils achieve well, irrespective of ethnic background.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Behaviour is good. Pupils behave well and adopt safe practices in lessons, as they move around the school and as they play in the school grounds. Pupils are polite, courteous and keen to learn in lessons. They are respectful of adults and visitors. Pupils from a range of cultures and faiths work and play together. Pupils speak confidently about how everyone is equally valued. The school’s behaviour policy is implemented consistently by staff. Any incidents of poor behaviour are recorded carefully and the actions taken by the school are reported clearly. The proportion of pupils temporarily excluded from school is below average.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Attendance rates have improved over the past three years and are now average. Senior staff make sure that pupils attend regularly. The school rejects any requests for a prolonged holiday abroad and decisive and appropriate action is taken when parents do not comply. Pupils say they feel safe in school and report that they are supported well by adults in times of need. They are particularly proud of their pupil leadership roles where they support other pupils or work with staff to develop aspects of the school, including the celebration of religious festivals such as Christmas and Diwali.

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The quality of leadership and management

The school’s safeguarding arrangements meet requirements. Staff and governors are trained in most aspects of safeguarding, child protection and safe recruitment. Training is refreshed in the timescales required.

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The quality of leadership and management

As part of recruitment procedures, a range of background checks are carried out which include those who have lived or worked overseas. Although it is evident from the individual staff files that checks are made, this information is not systematically recorded in one place.

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The quality of leadership and management

Staff and governors understand child protection procedures and records show that these are followed meticulously when concerns are identified. The school grounds are secure and pupils are supervised well at break and lunch times.

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The quality of leadership and management

Parents who spoke to Her Majesty’s Inspectors at the school gate were positive about their child’s safety and achievements in school. However, eight of the ten parents who responded to the Ofsted survey reported that they would not recommend the school to other parents.

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The quality of leadership and management

Staff spoke to Her Majesty’s inspectors about how they work to minimise risks to pupils and how they raise awareness to prevent any potential risks surrounding extremist behaviour. However, governors have not ensured that this work is included explicitly in the school’s safeguarding policies or as part of the school’s training programme for staff.

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The quality of leadership and management

At the time of the inspection, school leaders and governors had not been made aware of the local authority’s ‘Prevent’ strategy, a government funded initiative intended to prevent radicalisation and violent extremism.

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The quality of leadership and management

The school offers a broad and balanced curriculum. It is enriched by a wide range of after-school activities that all pupils can enjoy. Arts, music, technology and science are part of the curriculum and are offered to all year groups alongside literacy, numeracy and foreign languages, including Italian, French and conversational Arabic.

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External support

The school is not monitored by the local authority as it was judged to be good with outstanding features for leadership and management by Ofsted at the time of its last inspection. The local authority has not provided proper oversight of the school or ensured that the school is equipped to identify or minimise any potential risks associated with radicalisation and extremism. Since November 2013, there has been a significant breakdown in the relationship between the school and the local authority. The local authority should take steps to remedy this immediately.

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Priorities for further improvement

As a matter of urgency, the school should:

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Priorities for further improvement

 conduct an external review of governance  record systematically the outcome of additional checks for those staff who have trained or worked overseas in a central record  ensure that all staff are trained in identifying risks of extremism in school and are aware of the correct procedures to follow should such incidents occur  ensure that the school’s work to identify and tackle extremist behaviour is identified in key policies such as the child protection, race equality, anti-bullying and behaviour policies  ensure that school leaders and governors check that these policies are implemented consistently by all staff in the school  engage fully with the local authority in relation to the ‘Prevent’ programme.

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Priorities for further improvement

Her Majesty’s inspectors will continue to monitor the school and will consider this is in determining the timing of the next full inspection.

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Priorities for further improvement

I am copying this letter to the Director of Children’s Services for Birmingham, to the Secretary of State for Education and the Chair of the Governing Body. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. .

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