Mountbatten Primary School

Mountbatten Primary School Wivern Road, Bilton Grange, East Yorkshire, HU9 4HR

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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 Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Pupils’ achievement requires improvement. This is because over recent years, progress, including for pupils with special educational needs and the most able, has been too slow and pupils have fallen behind in their learning.  Standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Years 2 and 6 are too low and have fallen since the last inspection.  Too little attention is given to spelling, punctuation and extending pupils’ vocabulary, and so pupils’ skills in English by the end of Year 6 are below average.  The quality of teaching has not been consistently good enough. Pupils’ learning is held back because some work pupils undertake is too easy or too hard, some learning time is wasted and pupils are not always clear about how well they are doing.  The roles of some leaders, including subject leaders, are at an early stage of development. As a result, they, and all teachers, are not yet fully involved in checking how well pupils learn.

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

The governing body is not yet holding the school to account rigorously enough.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils behave well in lessons, in the playground and around the school.  Teaching is now improving across the school and, as a result, pupils’ progress is beginning to accelerate.  Pupils feel safe and like school.  Relationships are good.  A reinvigorated and strengthened leadership team sets high expectations, is tackling weaker performance successfully and is providing the school with clear direction. Following a decline in its overall effectiveness the school is now improving.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage benefit from teaching and provision which is continuing to rapidly improve.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors visited 16 lessons taught by eight teachers; four were joint observations with the headteacher and deputy headteacher.  They held meetings with governors, staff and pupils and talked to a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors listened to three pupils in Years 1, 2 and 6 read.  They observed pupils’ work in all classes, especially focusing on Years 2 and 6.  Inspectors studied a range of documents including: the school’s own evaluation documents; plans for the school’s future development; outcomes of leaders’ monitoring of lessons and monitoring records; a review of the school carried out by a school improvement officer from the local authority; safeguarding policies and records; the school’s analysis of data on pupils’ progress; and attendance information.  There were too few responses on the online questionnaire (Parent View) to enable inspectors to draw conclusions about parents’ views. However, inspectors spoke to a small number of parents

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Information about this inspection

during the inspection. They also studied the analysis of a recent questionnaire sent out to parents from the school and questionnaires completed by staff.

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Inspection team

Derek Pattinson, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Tony Price Additional Inspector David Matthews Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is above average. The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those children who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action is well-below average.  The proportion of pupils who are supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The school did not meet the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  There have been many changes of staff since the previous inspection, including the appointment of four newly qualified teachers. Most middle managers are new to their roles.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good or better to accelerate pupils’ progress and raise their attainment in reading, writing and mathematics by:  making certain that all teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve  ensuring that all teachers know what outstanding teaching looks like  making sure that no learning time is wasted and activities are always challenging  checking that pupils are clear about what they have to learn and how well they are doing  giving more attention to improving pupils’ spelling, punctuation, and extending their vocabulary  checking that pupils always respond to points for development in teachers’ marking  making sure that teachers build carefully on what pupils already know.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the effectiveness of leadership and management in order to increase the pace of school improvement by:  developing the role of middle leaders so that they make an effective contribution to driving improvement and more effectively hold teachers to account for pupils’ achievement  sharpening the focus in managing teachers’ performance so that they are held to greater account for pupils’ progress and improving their teaching  ensuring that governors act on the recommendations contained in the recent external review of their work to more rigorously question and challenge the school’s performance  analysing and using performance data more effectively so that teachers can set rigorous targets for their pupils to help promote rapid progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because too few pupils make good progress. As a result, standards by the end of Years 2 and 6, given pupils’ previous starting points, are below average. However, the progress of most pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2, especially in Years 5 and 6, and including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, is now accelerating. This is because teaching, some of which had been inadequate, has improved substantially and pupils’ progress is now checked more rigorously. However, some pupils, especially in Years 3 and 4, are still catching up on some previous underachievement.  Children start school with skills that are typically well below those expected for their age, especially in language, communication and social skills. The warm, caring, supportive approach of adults in the Early Years Foundation Stage, combined with sound and sometimes good teaching and provision, which is continuing to improve, ensures that children make expected and

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

sometimes better than expected progress in developing the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to learn well in Key Stage 1.  In the Key Stage 1 and 2 national tests and assessments in 2013, standards in reading, writing and mathematics fell sharply compared to 2012, with most groups performing far less well than the same groups nationally. Indeed the progress of many was too slow, with pupils falling behind. The rapid decline was the result of a high turnover of teachers over a limited period, which had a considerable impact on leaders’ ability to secure further improvement.  A now much more stable staffing structure, combined with a rigorous approach to checking pupils’ progress by a strengthened and extended leadership team, is helping pupils to catch up rapidly. Indeed projections for the current Year 6 indicate that the proportion making expected and better than expected progress will be average, a considerable improvement on the previous

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

year’s results. Evidence from leaders’ current tracking of progress shows that pupils in other year groups, who had fallen behind, are catching up quickly.  Despite clear signs of progress accelerating across the school, progress slows where there is weaker teaching. Furthermore, standards in spelling and punctuation are not good because they, and opportunities to extend pupils’ vocabulary, are given too little emphasis.  In 2013, no pupil in Years 2 and 6 achieved the higher Levels 3 and 5 in writing. However, the achievement of the most able is improving. Work is increasingly matched to their needs to enable them to make progress. Projections show that a few Year 6 pupils are likely to achieve the high Level 6 in mathematics this year and more are likely to achieve Level 5 in reading and writing.  The achievement of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs was below that of this group nationally in 2013. However, their progress is now accelerating because of the

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

targeted individual support they receive from good quality teaching assistants.  Pupils receiving support through the pupil premium, including those known to be eligible for free school meals, made similar progress to that of others in the school in mathematics and writing in 2013, with gaps in attainment much smaller than nationally. This provides clear evidence of impact in the way funds are carefully targeted to help boost learning for these pupils. These two examples also show that equality of opportunity is now promoted well.  In the most recent national checks at the end of Year 1 on pupils’ ability to link letters to the sounds they make (phonics), not enough pupils achieved the expected standard. However, useful training has led to phonics being taught increasingly well. Pupils often are heard reading and pupils’ books are at the appropriate level to help them improve. Nevertheless, pupils do not

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

use dictionaries or thesauruses enough to help extend their often limited vocabulary.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Some teaching over recent years has been inadequate but the overall quality is now improving rapidly. However, this is not yet good because it varies between classes. No outstanding or inadequate teaching was evident during the inspection.  Pupils do not always learn at a good rate. This is because some teachers’ expectations are not high enough and they set pupils’ work which is too easy. Sometimes teachers do not assess what pupils know and understand well enough so that they can effectively build on previous learning. Sometimes, pupils are not clear about what they have to learn or how well they are doing or are set tasks that are too difficult for them. Also, sometimes pupils do not learn as well as they should because they do not respond to teachers’ helpful marking. Occasionally, pupils do not make good progress because they are not given work which builds carefully enough on what they already know.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Successful provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage engages children in conversation, stimulates their curiosity, extends their knowledge, develops important skills and nurtures independence. For example, children make models of superheroes and paint ‘Wanted’ pictures displayed in the classroom police station. Adults maintain detailed records contained in children’s ‘Learning Journeys’. However, some of the most able children are not challenged well enough in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  Consistently good teaching was seen in upper Key Stage 2, where pupils often make better than expected progress. For example, in mathematics, pupils were finding factors of numbers, the class teacher’s subject knowledge was secure and confidently presented, no learning time was wasted, work was carefully matched to pupils’ needs and they had targets to help them learn. As a result, attitudes to learning were good with pupils both interested and involved.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The teaching of reading and writing is becoming more effective. Pupils are now provided with more opportunities to write for different purposes. For example, pupils in Year 4 learn to use formal and informal language, while those in Year 6 identify different character types in stories and the styles of different writers. However, too little attention still is given to improving pupils’ spelling, punctuation and extending their vocabulary. These weaknesses hamper pupils’ achievement in writing.  Strong relationships in most classes underpin learning and pupils experience much encouragement. This ensures that pupils are keen to learn and there is a good working atmosphere. Teaching assistants skilfully ensure that pupils with special educational needs now make progress which is at least similar to other pupils.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. It is underpinned by good relationships at all levels. This is confirmed by records, observations and discussions with pupils.  Pupils enter the hall for assemblies quietly, listen respectfully and answer politely. A Key Stage 1 assembly about ‘Looking after ourselves’ captured pupils’ attention, ensured high levels of participation by pupils and reinforced the importance of ‘doing the right thing’ and ‘staying safe’. The strong moral theme provided clear evidence of the importance the school gives to spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, which is at the heart of the school’s work.  Pupils’ good behaviour is making a significant contribution to their improving achievement. Most pupils have positive attitudes to learning, although a small number show limited concentration when they are not directly supervised. However, almost all classrooms are calm and orderly and

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

most pupils apply themselves well, for example, during guided reading sessions. When pupils are particularly motivated by the task, pupils’ attitudes to learning are especially positive. For example, Year 6 pupils were fully involved and enjoying their learning when learning about how animals and plants adapt to their environment.  Behaviour is almost always managed well. Occasionally a few pupils lose focus on their learning when given work which does not inspire them and is not matched to their needs. Very occasionally, pupils demonstrate inappropriate behaviour, but pupils say that it, ‘almost never interferes with their learning’. Most pupils are unreservedly positive about behaviour. Pupils like the systems in place to reward them for their efforts, such as, at the Friday celebration assembly, using a ‘traffic light system’ and through the ‘Star of the week’.  Most pupils say that they give the school at least nine marks out of 10 because, ‘teachers help

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

you if you get stuck’ and ‘make sure that you feel safe’. They clearly enjoy school; this helps to explain their improving attendance, which is now broadly average.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good.  Pupils feel safe and secure, citing the security doors and badges worn by all visitors as examples. They know about dangers posed by the internet and say that they have contributed to safety rules. They have a good understanding of different forms of bullying, including homophobic bullying, say that ‘it rarely happens’, but say that, when it does, all adults follow the behaviour code and apply sanctions consistently.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement. This is because, following a period of staffing turbulence when the drive to secure continued improvement stalled and standards declined, some improvements, such as to accelerate progress and improve the quality of teaching, have yet to see their full impact to help the school become good again.  Middle managers and subject leaders are not yet making a fully effective contribution to school improvement nor to holding teachers to account for pupils’ achievement well enough. This is because many are new to their roles. A renewed focus by senior leaders on checking the quality of the teaching of the school’s many new teachers has improved teaching. However, the quality of teaching is still too variable to secure pupils’ consistently good progress.  Senior leaders provide an effective steer for the school’s work and have already begun to raise standards. Leaders are well supported by all staff and increasingly challenged by governors.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

There is good team spirit, morale is high and all are committed to continued improvement. Priorities to secure further improvements are the right ones and are now being rigorously pursued. Leaders’ evaluations of how good the school is are accurate.  The local authority has worked effectively with the school and the governing body to help provide well-focused challenge and support. Indeed, a review early in the year left leaders in no doubt that there was much to do. However, they have worked tirelessly since to drive forward improvement.  The leadership of teaching requires improvement. Despite having to accommodate significant staffing changes since the previous inspection, leaders have addressed many of the weaknesses in pupils’ learning.  Though professional development, including for the school’s newly qualified teachers, is given much emphasis, changes in staffing have hampered efforts to ensure that all teaching is of

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The leadership and management requires improvement

consistently good quality. Nevertheless, arrangements to check the quality of teaching through regular checks of its quality are accurate and there is an increasing focus on how pupils learn rather than on how teachers teach. However, arrangements to manage teachers’ performance are not sharply focused enough so that they are held fully to account for pupils’ progress and improving their teaching. Opportunities for staff to learn from outstanding practice are limited.  Regular arrangements for assessing pupils’ skills from their start in school to when they leave provide leaders with much accurate information about how well pupils are doing. However, leaders do not always analyse and use performance data obtained from national tests and assessments effectively to help teachers set rigorous targets to help promote rapid progress.  Residential visits to London and Cumbria, local visits to the City Hall and the Maritime Museum

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The leadership and management requires improvement

provide evidence of a varied curriculum. However, there are missed opportunities to develop numeracy skills through other subjects and music in school is under-represented.  Good financial management ensures that the new primary sports funding has been used wisely. For example, a physical education teacher mentor has audited existing provision, equipment and resources in school, arranged competitions with neighbouring schools and has organised professional development for teachers. This has already led to better quality teaching, more competitive sport and an increase in teachers’ confidence.  Safeguarding and child-protection arrangements meet requirements. For example, arrangements to access the building are secure to ensure that pupils are safe.  An analysis of a questionnaire sent out to parents, and responses from parents during the inspection, show that those who responded are overwhelmingly supportive.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  The governing body, with a number of new governors, is steadily increasing its involvement in the work of the school. For example, a recent external review of its work has been undertaken to assess how this area of leadership and management can be improved. Recommendations from the review have been incorporated into an action plan and governors have made a good start towards meeting its priorities. However, governors acknowledge that they need to further implement the review’s recommendation that they should more rigorously challenge the school’s performance. Furthermore, the pupil premium funding is carefully targeted to ensure that pupils who receive support from this funding are well supported. For example, the school has increased the working hours of key support staff and has appointed additional teaching assistants. This has helped to accelerate progress and improve the punctuality and

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The leadership and management requires improvement

attendance of some pupils.  Governors have good knowledge of recent staffing issues and know where there are weaknesses in the quality of teaching. As a result of these initiatives, the governing body is rapidly developing its ability to hold the school to account effectively.

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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 117931 Local authority Kingston upon Hull City of Inspection number 439866

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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 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 251 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair E Evans Headteacher Lynne Trotter Date of previous school inspection 21 June 2010 Telephone number 01482 375224 Fax number 01482 707909 Email address admin@mountbatten.hull.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 and 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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