Glebelands Primary School

Glebelands Primary School Chancel Road, Leicester, LE4 2WF

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils get a good start to school life in the early years Foundation classes. They make good progress because activites are well planned to develop their skills.  All groups of pupils continue to make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics throughout Key Stages 1 and 2.  Pupils start school with skills lower than those typical for their age, they reach above average standards by the end of Key Stage 2.  Teaching is good. Teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and make lessons lively and interesting.  Pupils behave well in and around school. They are polite and helpful to adults and each other. They readily share equipment and ideas, helping each other in lessons.  Pupils feel safe in school and know how to stay safe in different situations.  The school communicates well with parents and provides good guidance to help them support their children at home.  Leaders, including governors, make sure that

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

teaching is good so that all groups of pupils achieve well.  The headteacher and senior leaders rigorously check how well pupils are doing. Any in danger of falling behind are quickly helped to keep up.  Governors visit the school regularly to see for themselves how it is doing and offer appropriate support and as well as challenge to school leaders. Governors work closely with staff to make sure that plans to help the school improve are effectively implemented.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a particular strength of the school. The school’s own values underpin all it does and this is reflected in the support and respect pupils show each other.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Not all teachers give pupils helpful guidance as to how they can improve their work and make sure they act on the advice. Guidance in mathematics is much less helpful than that given in literacy.  Pupils’ work is not always well organised which means mistakes are made and books are untidy. Some pupils do not use the handwriting skills that they have developed.  While leaders check how well pupils are doing, they have not yet devised an assessment system to check progress against the recently introduced curriculum, which is based on new government guidance.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 22 lessons or parts of lessons, four of which were seen together with the headteacher or deputy headteacher.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, other staff, three groups of pupils, five governors, and a representative from the local authority.  Informal discussions were held with parents.  The inspectors took account of the 19 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, the school’s own parental questionnaires and the 23 completed staff questionnaires.  The inspectors observed the school’s work and reviewed a range of documentation, including the school’s checks on its performance, its analysis and tracking of pupils’ progress, records of behaviour and safety, school improvement plans, records relating to classroom observations and the management of staff performance, safeguarding arrangements and records of meetings of the governing body.  The inspectors also looked at pupils’ work, listened to pupils read and checked information on attendance.

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Inspection team

Susan Hughes, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Neil Parker Additional Inspector Mark Redmile Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than an average-sized primary school.  Some pupils start their early years in the Foundation 1 class at three years old while others join the school at four years old in Foundation 2  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils (those supported by the pupil premium, which is additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, or who are looked after by the local authority) is below average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is above average. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below average.  Five pupils are currently supported with a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching, so that more is outstanding and further accelerate pupils’ progress in all lessons, by:  making sure that pupils consistently receive clear guidance as to how they can improve their work, especially in mathematics, and check that they act on this advice  improving the presentation of pupils’ work.  Strengthen leadership and management by embedding a new assessment system to rigorously check the progress of individuals and groups of pupils in line with the new National Curriculum requirements.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school is well led by the headteacher and senior leaders who rigorously check how well pupils are doing. This means that they hold teachers accountable for making sure that all pupils make good progress. Through regular discussions and meetings, any pupils not making enough progress are quickly identified and helped to catch up.

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The leadership and management are good

 Subject leaders help teachers improve their knowledge and skills and check that the subjects are being taught well. They regularly review how well things are going and have introduced new ways of teaching their subjects which have helped pupils make even better progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 The appraisal system for checking teachers’ performance has contributed to the good teaching across the school. Individual targets are used by the headteacher and the governing body to judge whether pay rises and promotion are justified by results. The school promotes equality of opportunity well and makes sure that no groups of pupils achieve less well than others.

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The leadership and management are good

 The subjects pupils learn are lively and exciting. For example, during the inspection, pupils cooked different kinds of food in connection with learning about Asia. Recent government guidance prompted the school leaders to ask pupils and parents what they would like to be included in the revised curriculum. This helped the school make sure that pupils are interested and enthused by the topics they study.

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The leadership and management are good

 A new assessment system to check progress in these subjects has not yet been agreed. Good links with other schools has enabled the headteacher to discuss possibilities with colleagues in the area, but an effective system has yet to be implemented.

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The leadership and management are good

 Much of the new primary sports funding has been used to develop sporting links with a local secondary school. Specialist teachers from the secondary school have worked alongside teachers at Glebelands Primary. This has helped the Glebelands staff develop their own teaching skills and techniques, especially in teaching gymnastics. The funding has also enabled the school to introduce a wider range of activities such as golf and hockey which has encouraged more pupils to participate in sports. Pupils were particularly successful in football and cricket competitions last year as they reached the final in a number of events. The funding has also supported lunchtime activity supervision.

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The leadership and management are good

 The curriculum promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development particularly well. Pupils are encouraged to take on responsibilities and be respectful of others’ views and beliefs. Older pupils learn how to help their peers resolve any differences and readily act as helpers for younger pupils both in class and at playtimes. Music and art play an important part in the life of the school and pupils take part in concerts and drama. Pupils from different cultural backgrounds are encouraged to share their experiences and the respect pupils show each other is good preparation for life in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school communicates very effectively with parents who say that they appreciate this. The school web site is very informative and parent workshops are held to assist parents in supporting their children’s learning at home. Parents are regularly invited into school to work alongside their children and find out how well they are doing.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has accurately judged the school as not requiring substantial support in most areas. However, the local authority has provided a good level of support for governors and senior leaders in making sure that robust plans to improve the school and manage the budget are in place.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors know the school’s strengths and how it can continue to improve. They work with staff to draw up plans for making the school even better and visit regularly to see how well it is doing. Governors have made sure that school values, such as respect, tolerance, kindness and resilience underpin all activites so that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.  Governors recently reorganised the way the school is staffed to make sure that the finances are buoyant. They check that additional funding is helping disadvantaged pupils do as well as their classmates and understand that the primary sports funding is providing more opportunities for pupils to take part in physical activities. Governors also appreciate how the appraisal system has contributed to the good teaching. They make sure that teachers’ pay rises are linked to the progress that pupils make

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The leadership and management are good

and that teachers have high quality training opportunities.  Governors carry out their statutory duties well. For example, they make sure that national requirements for safeguarding and child protection are met.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They are polite to adults and each other and told inspectors that most pupils in school behave well all the time. A few find behaving well difficult, but pupils said ‘it often isn’t their fault and we can help them’, showing mature sensitivity to the needs of others.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils understand what bullying is and the different forms it can take, including name calling and cyber- bullying. They said that there is very little bullying in the school and any incidents are always dealt with well by adults. Pupils learn ways of dealing with minor incidents themselves but felt there was always someone they could go to if they had a problem.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are enthusiastic about their lessons, especially when they involve art activites and working outdoors. They told inspectors about interesting trips, such as to the Sea Life Centre, which make their topics come to life. They also talked about inspirational visits by authors and Olympic athletes. As a result, pupils enjoy coming to school and attendance has improved. It is now above average.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils readily take on responsibility and older pupils see it as their role to look out for younger ones. Play buddies and the anti-bullying team take their roles very seriously. Pupils play well together and make appropriate use of the well-planned sensory garden to quietly talk, reflect and share ideas.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Leaders ensure that clear procedures are in place and staff are rigorously checked prior to appointment.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 All parents who responded to Parent View say their children feel safe in school, and pupils spoken to during the inspection agree. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe in different situations. Junior Road Safety Officers run competitions which promote safety on the roads and older pupils learn to ride their bicycles safely.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 During the inspection, pupils were keen to share their views and work with inspectors. They spoke proudly about their school. Work in books, however, does not always reflect this pride as it is often disorganised and untidy. Since September, the school has introduced a different way of using the books and pupils’ presentation of work is starting to improve.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and ask searching questions to probe understanding. This not only makes sure pupils have thoroughly understood what they are doing, but also develops their learning. For example, when pupils offer an answer, teachers ask for more information to encourage pupils to expand their ideas and learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers make sure that pupils’ learning successfully builds on what they already know. For example, Year 5 and 6 pupils discussed what they knew about the needs of plants before identifying independent and controlled variables. In Years 3 and 4 pupils were encouraged to explain how they had moved on in their mathematical knowledge during a lesson to understand how they could build on this next time.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Good relationships between adults and pupils in lessons encourage pupils to feel confident to contribute their ideas. For example, Polish speaking pupils recognised that grammar in a French lesson followed a similar pattern to their own language and shared this with the class.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are well supported. Additional adults in the classroom follow the good role models of the teachers to make sure that pupils who need additional help make good progress. Some pupils benefit from working in small groups outside the classroom or in quiet areas where their specific needs can be met. Pupil premium funding is also used to provide one to one or small group support as needed, so that disadvantaged pupils achieve at least as well as their peers.

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The quality of teaching is good

 More able pupils achieve well and make good progress. Teachers have high expectations of their more able pupils and want them to do as well as they possibly can in lessons and over-time. Teachers make sure that the work they have has taken into account their higher starting points and challenges them to make good progress. Pupils respond to these high expectations and typically try hard to rise to the challenges set for them.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers’ marking and feedback to pupils, although very effective in some classes, lacks consistency across the school. Some teachers give pupils clear guidance as to how they can improve, especially their literacy skills, but this is not consistently good in all classes. Guidance in mathematics is not so helpful and pupils do not always act on the advice.

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The quality of teaching is good

 While teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve, this is not reflected in the way pupils present their work. Teachers have not all encouraged pupils to use their cursive writing skills and set out their work ion a tidy, organised way. Changes since September are beginning to make a difference, but the books do not yet reflect pupils’ pride in their work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils typically start in Key Stage 1 with standards broadly average or just below in reading, writing and mathematics. They make good progress throughout the school and standards are rising year on year. In 2013 pupils attained above average standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Key Stage 1 in 2013. At the end of Key Stage 2 standards were above average in reading and mathematics but still average in writing. School data shows that writing standards improved in 2014.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The results of the most recent national screening check at the end of Year 1 on pupils’ knowledge of phonics (the sounds that letters represent in words) were above average. During the inspection, Year 1 pupils used their phonic knowledge well to read unfamiliar words such as ‘sharpened’ ‘helter-skelter’.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2013 disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 did not achieve as well as their peers. While they achieved higher than similar pupils nationally, they were nearly three terms behind their peers in mathematics, just over two terms behind in reading and nearly four terms behind in writing. School data, however, show that throughout the school, disadvantaged pupils currently make at least as much progress as their peers and some make even better progress. This means that the gap between their attainment and the attainment of other pupils is closing quickly and most are working no more than two terms behind their peers in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are equally well supported. They make good progress in all subjects throughout the school.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 More able pupils make good progress and achieve well. In 2014, more Year 6 pupils attained the highest levels in mathematics, grammar, punctuation and spelling than in previous years.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds make good progress. School data shows that those from Asian backgrounds made particularly good progress in reading writing and mathematics in 2014 and achieved well above the standard expected for their age. A new way of teaching writing, where pupils talk about their work before they start to write, has helped raise standards. It has been particularly helpful for pupils who speak English as an additional language giving them opportunities to practise using the correct vocabulary. These pupils achieve well in all subjects.

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The early years provision is good

 Children join the school, either in Foundation 1 or Foundation 2, at three or four years old. Although different year groups vary, children generally start with skills lower than those typical for their age. The good progress they make means that children leave with skills much closer to those expected for their age. In 2014, 34.8% achieved a good level of development which was a much higher proportion than in the previous year.

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The early years provision is good

 Teaching is good and staff create a calm, yet stimulating, environment for children to play and learn. They encourage children to talk about what they are doing to develop good language skills and during the inspection children were keen to tell inspectors what they were doing. They showed how they could count to ten and beyond and build recognisable buildings using bricks. All groups of pupils are well supported and work and play happily together.

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The early years provision is good

 A good balance of indoor and outdoor learning gives children opportunities to learn to co-operate and share. Children readily shared the cycles and helped each other choose costumes to dress up in. Others animatedly discussed why water only goes downhill and not up. As it is so early in the school year, more formal learning is not yet taking place.

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The early years provision is good

 The leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage are good. The provision is checked regularly to make sure children’s safety and well-being are assured. Staff are well trained and effectively communicate with parents who say their children have settled well.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 131513 Local authority Leicester Inspection number 448602

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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 299 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Chris Down Headteacher Michael Dix Date of previous school inspection 11 February 2010 Telephone number 0116 2340010 Fax number 0116 2357515 Email address office@glebelands.leicester.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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