Parkland Primary School South Wigston

Parkland Primary School South Wigston St Thomas Road, Wigston, LE18 4TA

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 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.  Decisive leadership and management, including governance, have improved achievement and teaching since the previous inspection.  Teaching is now good, and in some year groups it is outstanding.  Pupils of all abilities make good progress. As a result, standards in reading and mathematics are rising rapidly.  Children make a good start to their school lives in the Reception classes.  The progress of every pupil is carefully checked to ensure that nobody falls behind.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well. This contributes to the sense of community in the school.  Good use is made of the support available from teaching assistants. They contribute well to the development of pupils’ early reading skills.  Pupils enjoy coming to school and attendance has improved. Nearly all behave well in lessons and around the school.  Disabled pupils and those who have special

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

educational needs make good progress because of well-focused individual support.  Pupils feel safe in school and are confident that the adults will take good care of them.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Standards in writing, although rising, are not improving as rapidly as in reading and mathematics.  Just occasionally pupils’ progress slows because overexcited behaviour is not managed well enough by a few staff.  Not all staff who have leadership roles are sufficiently involved in checking the impact of teaching on pupils’ progress to contribute fully to the drive for improvement.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed teaching and learning in 28 lessons. Several lessons were observed jointly with the headteacher and assistant headteachers.  Inspectors made a number of short visits to classrooms and observed pupils at break and lunchtimes.  The inspectors held discussions with the headteacher, staff, pupils, two members of the governing body and the Director of the academy trust.  Groups of pupils of different ages were heard reading.  The inspectors met with some parents at the start of the day and 19 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, were considered.  Account was taken of 43 responses to the staff questionnaire.  The inspectors looked at the school’s policies, teachers’ planning of learning, samples of pupils’ work, school improvement planning and records on behaviour and safety. Information on individual pupils’ progress and teachers’ performance was also examined.

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Inspection team

Kenneth Thomas, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Deirdre Lyddy Additional Inspector Jennifer Cave Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is an above-average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are White British.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium is above average. This is additional government funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those in local authority care.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is well above average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is average. Many of the pupils are receiving additional support for behavioural, social and emotional difficulties.  Since September 2013 the school has catered for pupils aged 4 to 11 years. Pupils previously transferred to secondary schools at the age of 10.  The school has been an academy within the Discovery Schools Academy Trust since July 2012.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise achievement in writing by giving pupils:  more practice in extended writing to develop their basic skills  more opportunities to write for a range of purposes in subjects other than English.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that, where necessary, training and support are provided so that the small number of instances where overexcited behaviour slows progress are effectively managed.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen leadership and management by giving leaders more opportunities to carry out school-wide checks on the impact of teaching on pupils’ progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter Reception with skills and knowledge that are generally well below those expected for their age. Children make good progress in Reception, although on entry to Year 1, only a minority achieve the standards expected nationally for this stage.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Good progress continues as pupils move through Key Stage 1. Standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 2 are rising, having been below average over recent years. The vast majority of pupils presently in Year 2 are on track to exceed the levels of previous years.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Reviews of current pupils’ work and school assessment information show that pupils make good progress in Key Stage 2. As a result standards in reading and mathematics are rising rapidly. Standards in writing are also improving, but not as rapidly. Although most pupils are making the progress expected of them in writing, not enough are making the more rapid progress needed to raise standards quickly.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils achieve well in reading because the systematic teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) ensures that pupils acquire secure basic reading skills. This is seen in the results of the Year 1 phonics check, which are above those found nationally. By the time pupils reach Year 6 most are competent readers, able to read widely both for pleasure and purpose.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Achievement in writing is not quite as strong as in reading because pupils do not have enough opportunity to develop their extended writing skills as they move through the school, or to use their writing skills in different subjects.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The most able pupils exceed the nationally expected rate of progress because they are often given harder work in class and are keen to do as well as they can. A reasonable proportion of the current Year 6 pupils are on track to reach the higher Level 5 in reading and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress because their needs are well known and good support from teachers and teaching assistants enables them to achieve their individual learning targets.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The progress of pupils who are supported by the pupil premium is often better than that of their classmates. This is because of the effective way in which the funding has been used to provide the support necessary to meet their learning and personal needs. Because of their lower starting points, the attainment of eligible pupils presently in Year 6 is about one term behind their classmates in reading and two terms behind in writing and mathematics.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Staffing changes and specific support to help teachers improve their practice have had a marked impact on teaching. Standards are rising and pupils are making more rapid progress because teaching is now mostly good and occasionally outstanding, as school records show.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers generally plan work that is at the right level for pupils of different abilities, including the most able. In a Year 5 numeracy lesson, for example, pupils made rapid progress towards long multiplication and more complex calculations because the work was carefully planned to challenge all ability levels.  Most teachers explain new learning to pupils clearly, often making good use of the interactive whiteboards to do this. As a result, pupils understand what they are required to do and get on quickly with their work. Good-quality displays of pupils’ work provide examples of what all should aspire to and reminders of key learning points.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Good use is made of paired and small group work for pupils to talk with and learn from each other. This helps to promote their social development, as well as their speaking and listening skills.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Good classroom management, coupled with high expectations, ensures that most teaching takes place in a calm and purposeful learning atmosphere. This makes a significant contribution to pupils’ good progress. However, in a very few instances, progress slows because not all staff are equally effective in managing pupils who can become overexcited and lose their concentration.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers ask questions skilfully to check pupils’ understanding as learning proceeds. In Reception, good use is made of the indoor and outdoor areas to develop children’s skills. Adults take every opportunity to extend their language and numeracy skills by regularly asking them about the things they are doing.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The teaching of English and mathematics is generally good across the school. Reading is particularly well taught and successful phonics teaching gives children a good start. Daily sessions are challenging, and pupils make good progress in learning the sounds that letters and groups of letters make.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers and teaching assistants work well together to make sure that disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, and others who may need extra help, make good progress. Pupils have well-constructed individual support plans, which include their personal learning targets. Account is taken of these in teachers’ planning, and pupils’ progress is checked at regular intervals to make sure that support is effective and no one is falling behind.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Much has been done to improve the quality of marking. Teachers’ comments make clear to pupils how well they are doing and what they need to do next to improve their work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Most pupils display good attitudes to learning and behave well, both in lessons and around the school. This is an important contributor to their improving progress. The large majority of parents and carers, staff and pupils agree that behaviour is typically good.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The emphasis on good behaviour begins in Reception and is reinforced throughout the school. There are good procedures to support and reward good behaviour and make clear the consequences of any misbehaviour. Because most pupils conform to these expectations of behaviour, the school has a calm and purposeful learning environment.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school is generally successful in helping pupils who find it hard to comply with behavioural expectations to improve it and make good progress, because most teachers have the necessary skills. There have been no permanent exclusions for several years.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 All pupils spoken to said that they enjoy being at the school. This is evident from their rising attendance, which is now close to average, and a reduction in persistent absence.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils feel safe in the school and are confident that adults will look after them well if they have any concerns. The fact that bullying or harassment of any kind will not be tolerated is made very clear.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils understand about different kinds of bullying, including cyber bullying, physical bullying and persistent name-calling. Pupils say that while there have been instances of bullying in the past, they are not aware of any current issues. They are confident that any incidents would be quickly dealt with by adults.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils respond well to opportunities to take on responsibility. Through, for example, their roles as school councillors or through their citizenship activities, they develop self-confidence and make positive contributions to the school community.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and senior staff, working together as an effective team, have driven school improvement. Accurate checks of the strengths and weaknesses of the school provide the basis of a well-constructed school development plan that sets a clear agenda for improvement.

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The leadership and management are good

 Firm management action to tackle the weaknesses identified in the last inspection, including weaknesses in teaching, has led to a rise in standards. Good use is made of assessment information to check the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning and to check that any additional support is successful in accelerating progress. The careful checking of each pupil’s individual progress is contributing to the rise in achievement.

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The leadership and management are good

 Teachers’ performance is managed well and they are given clear targets for their work. These are linked to the progress of the pupils, as well as their particular responsibilities in the school. Records show that these are checked rigorously, and teachers are helped to improve their performance through appropriate extra training. Good support enables newly qualified teachers to make a positive start to their career.

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The leadership and management are good

 Good leadership of the Early Years Foundation Stage ensures that supportive links are established with parents and carers from the time that children first enter school. This has a positive impact on their academic progress and social development.

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The leadership and management are good

 Staff with subject and other leadership roles have well-defined areas of responsibility are provided with good levels of training and support to ensure that they are able to perform their roles effectively. While they make a good contribution to improvement in their own areas of responsibility, they are not sufficiently involved in the school-wide checking of teaching and learning, so they have only a partial view of the impact on pupils’ progress over time. This hampers the contribution they can make to whole-school improvement.

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The leadership and management are good

 The pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good and promoted well through most aspects of school life. The curriculum is enriched by a range of clubs and visits which assist pupils’ learning and their personal development. For example, residential experiences help to broaden pupils’ outlook, raise aspirations and develop their self-confidence.

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The leadership and management are good

 The additional primary school sports funding is being used well to employ specialist staff and widen the range of activities the school offers. The early indications are that this is having an impact on pupils’ participation in sporting activities.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has a powerful ethos of care and inclusion. There is a united determination to ensure equal opportunities, foster good relationships and eliminate discrimination. In particular, the school successfully maintains pupils with the most complex emotional and behavioural difficulties in full-time education, and works closely with outside agencies to achieve this.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school makes good use of the support and training opportunities available through the partner schools in the academy trust.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The school benefits from the support of an effective governing body. The Chair leads by example in attending training events and ensuring that he is up-to-date with all recent developments. Governors are now more thorough in evaluating the quality of their own work and the impact they have on the school’s performance. They understand how pupils’ attainment and progress compare with those of other schools and hold leaders to account for them. They set, and review dutifully, the headteacher’s targets for improving the school. Governors are well informed about the quality of teaching and have fully supported the headteacher in the action taken to improve teaching. They ensure that pay and promotion are justified by the impact of teaching on pupils’ progress and achievement. Financial management is secure and governors know how the income received through pupil premium

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The leadership and management are good

funding is spent and the impact on pupils’ progress. Governors ensure that all national requirements are met, including those relating to child protection and safeguarding.

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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 138348 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 441959

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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 Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 492 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Wayne Leah Headteacher Jane Windsor Date of previous school inspection 30 October 2012 Telephone number 0116 278 2142 Fax number 0116 278 3764 Email address jwindsor@parklandprimary.co.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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