Perry Wood Primary and Nursery School

Perry Wood Primary and Nursery School St Albans Close, Worcester, WR5 1PP

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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

 Pupils do not make consistently good progress in Years 1 to 6 in reading, writing and mathematics. Consequently their achievement requires improvement.  Teachers do not use assessment well enough to ensure that work is consistently at the correct level for pupils of different abilities.  Marking does not always tell pupils how to improve their work and not enough time is given for pupils to act upon it.  Pupils do not have enough opportunities to practise and extend their speaking and listening skills.  Information about the progress and attainment of different groups of pupils is not used well enough to drive improvement.  The management of behaviour by senior staff is not always rigorous enough to ensure that it is consistently good.  Many of the middle leaders, such as leaders of particular key stages, are relatively new to their roles and have not yet had the opportunity to receive training and support to

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

enable them to make a difference.  School leaders, including the governing body, and staff, do not yet have a shared vision for the direction of the school and so some parents are unclear about what the school is trying to achieve.  The governing body does not ensure that all safety checks are rigorously recorded.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils’ attainment is beginning to rise across the school.  Children settle well into school and make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  There are positive relationships between staff and pupils and pupils work well together in lessons.  The school provides a wide range of extra activities to enrich pupils’ education.  School leaders are accurate in their self- evaluation of the school’s effectiveness and have identified the right areas to improve teaching. This is beginning to have a positive impact in some classes.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 18 lessons taught by 16 different teachers, and held meetings with governors, staff, groups of pupils and a representative of the academy trust. Six joint lesson observations were conducted with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the acting deputy headteacher and the assistant headteacher.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at planning documents, monitoring records, assessment data and pupils’ work.  Inspectors took account of 20 responses to Parent View (the online questionnaire) and one letter from an individual parent and 41 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

David Shears, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Mary Maybank Additional Inspector Suha Ahmad Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Perry Wood Primary and Nursery School converted to become an academy school in December 2012. When its predecessor school, under the same name, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be satisfactory.  The school is larger than average.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium, which is extra government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and looked-after children, is above average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is broadly average. The proportion of pupils who are supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is well-above average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is above average. This is equally true for pupils who speak English as an additional language, although a minority of these are at the early stages of learning English.

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Information about this school

 The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school has been through a turbulent time since the previous inspection, resulting in a significant change in staff at all levels. The current headteacher started in September 2013 as deputy headteacher and has very recently been appointed as the substantive headteacher. Some other senior and middle leaders are relatively new to their posts.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and raise the achievement of pupils so that both are at least consistently good in reading, writing and mathematics, by ensuring that:  teachers use assessment more rigorously to ensure that pupils are provided with consistently challenging work that matches their different abilities  pupils are consistently told what they need to do to improve their work and are given enough time to act upon the guidance  pupils are given regular opportunities to develop their speaking and listening skills to explore their ideas and explain their thinking in more depth.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:  engaging the whole school community, including the governing body, in developing a shared vision for the school that is clearly communicated to parents and enables pupils to thrive and achieve well  rigorously checking the progress and attainment of all groups of pupils, using this information to drive improvement  establishing a clear leadership and management structure and ensure that less experienced members are given training and support so that they can be effective in bringing about school improvement  ensuring that the governing body closely monitors the full recording of all safety checks.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken, including a review of the school’s use of the pupil premium, in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The progress pupils make in Years 1 to 6 is inconsistent. It is too variable both within different subjects and between classes. This is also true for pupils of different abilities. Too often pupils are not challenged enough to think deeply or tackle harder work.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make similar progress to other pupils. While there are times when they are challenged well by teaching assistants, making them think hard, at other times the work they are given does not always extend them enough and this is why they do not make good progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The progress of pupils supported by the pupil premium varies between year groups. Current pupils in Year 6 have received good support which has meant that gaps in attainment are closing. However, this is not true for other year groups where the gap is still too wide. Information at the end of Year 6 in 2013 showed that this group of pupils was working five terms behind the others in the school in reading and mathematics and three terms behind in writing. The attainment gap for current pupils ranges from being in-line with other pupils in some areas to five terms behind.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils from different ethnic minority groups generally make similar progress to other pupils. However, White British boys generally make less progress than other groups.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children begin school in the Nursery with skills and knowledge that are well below those that are typical for their age. They settle quickly and make a good start in their learning. Many pupils have delayed speech and language development and so children are given many opportunities to begin developing their speaking and listening skills. This is particularly effective for children who speak English as an additional language, enabling them to make good gains in their language development. This good provision is continued in the Reception year. Although children enter Year 1 with below average skills and knowledge this represents good progress from their different starting points.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The progress of pupils in Years 1 to 6 varies too much. Consequently attainment at the end of Year 2 and again at the end of Year 6 has been below average. However, there is a trend of improving attainment and this is on track to continue this year.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The sports funding is being used to provide training for staff in particular areas such as gymnastics and tag rugby. There are more opportunities for pupils to play in a wider variety of sports in school and between schools.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Progress is inconsistent because the quality of teaching varies too much. This is because teachers do not always use assessment rigorously enough to ensure that pupils are given work that matches their ability. This means that for pupils of all abilities, work is sometimes too hard and at other times too easy. While there is sometimes a lack of challenge for pupils from all ability groups, this is particularly true for more-able pupils. The support that disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs receive also varies.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils in Years 1 to 6 do not consistently have enough opportunities to build on their earlier speaking and listening skills. This means that some find it difficult to communicate their ideas and explain their reasoning. For example, pupils in one lesson found it difficult to explain why one number was bigger than another. Sometimes pupils are allowed to give answers in single words or phrases rather than in sentences, which then does not help them to write in whole sentences.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Marking and feedback is consistently given to pupils, although it varies in quality. In some classes there are helpful questions or extra activities for pupils to work through to correct misunderstandings. Where this happens pupils respond well and this helps them to learn. However, more often comments are too vague and do not help pupils to understand what they need to do to improve. When this happens there is little or no evidence of pupils acting upon them.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In all classes there are positive relationships between staff and pupils. Pupils say that they enjoy learning. This is because teachers plan interesting activities both to engage pupils and to help them understand ideas through practical work. Classroom displays are very effective because they are well presented and pupils are able to use them to reinforce their learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils are encouraged to help each other in their learning. There are some effective examples of where pupils have looked at each other’s work to identify how well their partner has done.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. When aspects of teaching are less effective some pupils can lose concentration and this can occasionally result in low-level disruption. Teachers are effective in managing this behaviour in order to minimise the disruption to learning. Similarly, pupils say that there are occasionally incidents of poorer behaviour during break times.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Most of the time pupils behave well in lessons and are keen to learn. They are polite and courteous and both play and learn well together. Pupils have a clear understanding of bullying and say that it is a rare occurrence in school. They are confident that any bullying would be addressed.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The school has positive strategies to encourage pupils to attend regularly, including a weekly report for pupils and items in the newsletter so that parents are reminded about improving attendance. As a result, the overall attendance has risen and is now broadly average. However, the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent is above average, although this represents a small number of families.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure requires improvement. This is because records for recording instances of poorer behaviour are not used rigorously enough to ensure that the behaviour of these pupils improves quickly. Consequently the same few pupils are repeatedly recorded for too long.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Child protection training has been completed and the school ensures that new staff receive initial training. Pupils are secure in the knowledge that teachers manage behaviour well on a day-to- day basis and know that people are not allowed in the school without special badges. Consequently they feel safe. They are also taught about how to keep themselves safe, such as road safety, fire safety, stranger danger, bike-ability and keeping safe on the internet.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because there are not enough checks to ensure that all groups of pupils are making good progress. Consequently, while progress overall is improving this is uneven between different pupil groups. For example, the gaps between those in receipt of pupil premium funding and other pupils is still too wide in some year groups. This shows that the funding is not being used effectively enough to close these gaps.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 There has been a significant change in staff and this has meant that some of the leaders are new to their posts and lack experience. In particular, middle leaders, such as leaders of particular key stages, do not yet have the skills and knowledge to be able to lead school improvement.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school has been through a turbulent time which has resulted in some staff and parents having concerns. However, this is beginning to be addressed and relationships are improving. Nevertheless, while the new headteacher and senior leaders have a vision for the school, this has not yet been explored with the school community so that all have a shared understanding. Similarly, some parents are not clear about what the school is trying to achieve.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school has a clear understanding of its strengths and areas for development and is already working to improve. In particular, school leaders have rightly focused on the variable quality of teaching in the school. As a result of effective and rigorous checks on the quality of teaching, plans have been established to improve the weakest teaching and this is beginning to have a positive impact. Standards are beginning to rise and progress is improving.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage is good resulting in children making good progress. This is because assessments clearly indicate areas of need which provides staff with a clear focus for improvement. For example, good attention is given to language development.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Regular checks are made to see how well individual pupils are learning. Any who are at risk of underachieving are identified and given extra support to help them improve. The school checks to ensure that there is no discrimination. However, given the variability of the quality of teaching, not all pupils have equal opportunities to make good progress.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The range of subjects and topics is developing as the progress of pupils improves. There is a particular strength in the teaching of art. The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through assemblies and other activities. Pupils are able to talk about different cultures and faiths. There is a wide variety of clubs that are available at lunchtimes and after school for pupils, who say that that this is one of the reasons why they enjoy school.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The academy trust has given good support to the present headteacher, particularly in improving the quality of teaching. It provides appropriate training for senior leaders.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  The governing body has been through a turbulent time but is now improving. There is a positive relationship with senior leaders and both are working together to make whole school improvements. The governing body has a clear understanding of the strengths and areas for development and how well pupils are achieving compared to schools nationally. They are beginning to ask more searching questions about how well school leaders are ensuring improvements. It is well informed about the quality of teaching. Governors know how the pupil premium funding and the sports funding are being used and have some understanding of the impact of these. Relationships with parents are improving although the governing body recognises it needs to communicate with them more. While safeguarding arrangements are established the governing body does not ensure that all of these checks are rigorously

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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 139001 Local authority Worcestershire Inspection number 440133

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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 converter Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 423 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Linda Graham Headteacher Tracey Kelly-Freer Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 01905 354800 Fax number 01905 351478 Email address office@perrywood.worcs.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

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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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