Chad Vale Primary School

Chad Vale Primary School Nursery Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 3JU

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 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

 The headteacher, strongly supported by the deputy headteacher, provides a clear focus on improvement and as a result achievement is rising. They have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement.  Leaders have created a cohesive and purposeful learning community where all pupils feel safe and valued as individuals and can thrive in their learning.  Behaviour is good. Pupils have positive attitudes, enjoy coming to school, work hard and have good relationships with each other and with adults.  Teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and they plan interesting activities that engage pupils in their learning.  Carefully tailored support for disabled pupils, those who have special educational needs and disadvantaged pupils enables these pupils to make good progress and participate fully in activities.  By the end of Year 6, attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is above average. Pupils’ progress

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

from their various starting points is good.  Teachers work well with parents who feel welcome in the school.  Governors know the school well and contribute to formulating the school’s values and aims. They challenge the school about its performance.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well through the broad and balanced range of subjects taught. Pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain.  Children get off to a good start in the Early Years Foundation Stage and make good progress because the staff get to know them well and help them to settle to school life well.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 At times, the work provided for more able younger pupils is too easy so they do not always achieve their full potential.  Pupils are not always given enough guidance about how to improve their work and, when advice is given, teachers do not check that pupils have acted upon it.  Outside learning opportunities are not planned well enough to help children in the Reception class develop their knowledge, skills and understanding.  Subject leaders are not yet fully effective in improving the quality of teaching in their subjects.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team observed teaching and learning in 21 lessons, of which three were observed jointly with senior leaders. In addition, the inspectors made a number of shorter visits to lessons and attended two class assemblies.  Inspectors talked to pupils in all classes, held a formal meeting with the school council and met informally with other pupils in the playground. They held discussions with the headteacher and deputy headteacher, senior and middle managers and other staff. They met with governors and had a telephone conversation with the school’s external consultant and a representative of the local authority.  Samples of pupils’ work were examined. Some pupils read books with the inspectors.  Inspectors looked at a variety of documents, including the school’s own evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses, the school development plan, checks on pupils’ attainment and progress, behaviour records,

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Information about this inspection

attendance data, details of the monitoring of teachers’ performance, and policies aimed at keeping pupils safe.  The views of 56 parents and carers were analysed through the ‘Parent View’ website. In addition, inspectors held a meeting with one parent and spoke informally to others at the beginning and end of the school day.  The views expressed by the 31 staff who responded to the staff questionnaire were also considered.

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Inspection team

Frances Le Pla, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, the school has changed from being a one-form entry school to a two-form entry school. The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  Children begin the Early Years Foundation Stage in the Reception class.  Approximately eight out of ten pupils are from minority ethnic heritages, mainly Indian and Pakistani. Over a third of pupils speak English as an additional language, although only a few are at the early stages of learning to speak English.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by pupil premium funding is similar to the national average. This funding is provided for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, or are in local authority care.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for

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Information about this school

pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  The headteacher is retiring in December 2014. The deputy headteacher at the school has been appointed as headteacher from January 2015.  The school holds several awards including Artsmark, ICT Mark and Quality Mark 4.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching by:  ensuring that tasks for more able younger pupils are always set at the right level to challenge them to achieve the best they can  making sure pupils are always given precise guidance about how to improve their work and that teachers check that pupils respond to the advice or further challenge that they are given  increase the opportunities for children in the Reception class to extend their learning through a greater range of well-planned outside activities.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop the role of subject leaders by ensuring they are fully involved in improving the quality of learning and teaching in their subjects.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides strong and effective leadership of the school. He is ably supported by the deputy headteacher who has been appointed to the headship of the school in January. Working closely together, the headteacher and his deputy have ensured that there has been a strong focus on improving standards and, as a result, achievement at the end of Key Stage 2 improved in 2014.

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The leadership and management are good

 School leaders have successfully established a friendly and purposeful atmosphere in the school where everyone is valued. As one member of staff put it: ‘It’s a friendly, enthusiastic school; pupils love learning here, staff love teaching here. It’s a supportive family.’ The school works closely with parents and actively encourages them to be involved in the school’s work through, for instance, coming into school at the beginning of the day and visiting the classrooms with their children to see the work they are doing.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. As a result, the school improvement plan is well focused on the most important areas for improvement, and progress towards achieving objectives is regularly checked.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school collects and uses a good range of information to check and track the progress made by individuals and groups of pupils and identify where anyone is in danger of under-performing. Good-quality support is then provided, including for those for whom the school receives the pupil premium, those who are at an early stage of learning English and for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders check the quality of teaching regularly using a range of evidence including lesson observations, teachers’ planning and pupils’ work. Teachers are set meaningful targets linked to the national Teachers’ Standards to improve pupils’ progress, and this is making a positive contribution to the improvements in achievement.

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The leadership and management are good

 Staff with teaching and learning responsibilities conduct lesson observations and are involved in the school improvement planning procedures. They are becoming more involved in analysing whole-school data to identify specific strengths and weaknesses in key areas such as reading, writing and mathematics and take the lead in improving pupils' achievement in these subjects, but are not yet fully effective in improving teaching.

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The leadership and management are good

 The range of subjects taught is broad and balanced, meets pupils’ needs and aspirations, and prepares them well for life in modern Britain. Recent staff training on the Prevent strategies has ensured that every opportunity is taken to guard against racism and promote respect and positive attitudes towards all in the school community. The curriculum is further enriched by art, dance, Spanish and theme-based ‘higher- order learning activities’ afternoons. Pupils learn about Christianity and other faiths in religious education and class assemblies. They also benefit from a programme which helps to build their self-esteem and value the qualities of their classmates. Together, these opportunities result in good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupil premium funding is used to good effect to support disadvantaged pupils and ensure that all pupils have an equal opportunity to succeed. As a result, disadvantaged pupils make good progress during their time at the school. Similarly, primary school sports funding is used well to improve the quality of teaching in physical education across the school. This has led to increased participation rates in after-school activities and sports competitions.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors have strong, positive relationships with senior leaders, built on mutual respect and trust. As a result, they are able, through open and honest challenge and support, to hold leaders very effectively to account. They have planned well for the induction of the new headteacher by asking him to begin to take the lead in improving aspects of the school this term, such as updating the school's self-evaluation. They have already set him performance management targets for the year.  The governing body has a good understanding of the school’s strengths and areas which need to be improved. They are fully involved in work to devise the new school development plan. They have a secure understanding of performance data and how to compare the school’s results with national data. They monitor the school’s finances well. They know how the pupil premium is spent and ask questions

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The leadership and management are good

to check the impact on the achievement of disadvantaged pupils.  Governors visit the school regularly and, as a result, they have a good overview of the quality of teaching, including strengths and areas for improvement. They understand the link between increases in pay and teachers’ achievement of annual targets.  Members of the governing body check to make sure that procedures to keep pupils safe are followed and the school meets the requirements for safeguarding.

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Behaviour

 Pupils enjoy coming to school and say they feel part of the ‘Chad Vale family’. They are courteous and considerate to each other and they work well together. This is because teachers are consistent in their expectations of how pupils should conduct themselves in school. Playtimes and lunchtimes are harmonious events because pupils get on well together. Staff, parents and pupils agree that standards of behaviour are good.

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Behaviour

 Pupils take responsibility very seriously and are proud of their contribution to the school, for example, as class monitors or school councillors. The school council enjoyed making decisions about the rewards that pupils would receive after they had collected a number of ‘golden signatures’ from teachers for good work and then contacted several companies to get the best price for their order.

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Behaviour

 Pupils come to lessons equipped and ready to work. They work sensibly and with enthusiasm. They have positive attitudes to learning which contribute to their good progress. They support each other well, for example, when working with a partner. Pupils listen carefully to others and respect each other’s views. This was evident in a lesson in Year 3 when they were paying compliments to one of their classmates as part of their personal and social education work. Very occasionally, some pupils become restless when the work they have been given is not hard enough.

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Behaviour

 Pupils who may have challenging behaviour or difficulty in working in a large group are supported very effectively by the team in the 'Nurture Room'. They are helped to control their emotions, make good choices and communicate with others. As a result, they are able to learn and make good progress alongside their classmates.

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Behaviour

 Absences are followed up promptly and, as a result attendance has improved. It is now above average.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good.

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Safety

 Pupils feel safe and are confident that any poor behaviour is dealt with promptly and effectively. They are aware of the different forms of bullying, such as name-calling and cyber-bullying that can take place and know how to deal with it. Discrimination of any kind is successfully discouraged. Pupils from various cultures get on together well and show each other respect.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is typically good across the school. As a result, all groups of pupils are making good progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers and members of support staff form good relationships with all pupils and they know them well. They have high expectations for the pupils’ progress, effort and behaviour, and provide good role models. Consequently, lessons are calm and productive. Teachers are enthusiastic, and this encourages pupils to try hard and to succeed.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Success is celebrated well and praise is used effectively in most lessons to spur pupils on. For example, there is a board in the entrance hall displaying certificates earned by pupils for good work, and this shows the school’s high expectations.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers plan a range of interesting activities that engage pupils in their learning. In a lesson in Year 6 on ‘higher-order learning activities’, pupils enjoyed working in pairs using tablet computers to create video clips in a trailer to advertise the film Matilda. As a result, they used their information and communication technology skills very well and created some high-quality work.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers encourage pupils to learn from each other and continually think about ways to improve their work. For example, in Year 6, pupils were encouraged to listen to each other’s opening paragraphs on their biographies of famous people, and pick out ways in which the writing was effective. Afterwards, they then edited their own work so that it was improved.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers often use skilful questioning to make pupils think harder or give fuller explanations for their answers which extends their understanding. The teacher’s questions in a mathematics lesson in Year 3 enabled the pupils to think about the accuracy of their calculations and they made good progress in their subtraction skills.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers regularly review pupils' progress, and any in danger of falling behind are quickly identified and given additional support to help them catch up. Teaching assistants work well with class teachers and are effective in enabling pupils who have additional needs to make good progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In some cases, teachers do not make the most effective use of available time in lessons. Some activities are not very interesting or hard enough. As a result, some pupils become restless and lose concentration. More able pupils in Year 2, for example, did not make as much progress as they could in their reading activities because the questions they had to answer were too easy for them.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers' marking does not always give pupils clear enough advice on how they can improve their work. Even when advice is given, teachers do not do enough to make sure pupils have made corrections or acted on their advice to speed up learning.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Most children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage with skills and knowledge that are below those expected at their age. Children settle quickly and form good relationships with their classmates and adults. All children make good progress, so that almost three quarters of them achieve a good level of development by the end of the year so that they are well prepared for their learning in Year 1.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in using phonics (the sounds that letters make) to read. The proportion of pupils reaching the national standard in the 2014 phonics check at the end of Year 1 was average and all those pupils that took the test again in Year 2 met the expected standard.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Most pupils read accurately, although some of the least able lack fluency and expression. When confronted by an unfamiliar word, these pupils do not always have enough knowledge of letter sounds to successfully read the word.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 By the end of Year 2, the proportions of pupils reaching the expected standards for their age in reading, writing and mathematics are well above average. The school has identified that in Key Stage 1 some of the more able pupils could be making better progress and, in 2014, the proportion gaining the higher levels dropped to close to average. As pupils’ books show, the more able are not always challenged to reach their full potential and this affects their rates of progress.  Older pupils are prepared well for the next stage of their education. Despite a dip in results in 2013 where standards were only in line with the national average, school data indicate that standards have risen considerably in 2014 to above average. There has been a substantial increase in the proportion of pupils reaching the higher levels, especially in writing, mathematics, and grammar, punctuation and spelling. These results represent good progress for all groups of pupils including those from minority ethnic

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The achievement of pupils is good

heritages. The proportion of pupils exceeding expected progress between Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 is similar to the average.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The achievement of the most able pupils in Key Stage 2 has improved. In 2013, only a very few pupils achieved the higher Level 6 in mathematics, but in 2014 this number showed a big increase and, for the first time, the school had pupils reaching Level 6 in their writing. These improvements are a result of the very strong teaching of older pupils which continually challenges them to try harder work.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress because of the early identification of their learning needs and carefully planned wide-ranging support they receive from well- trained teaching assistants. The progress made by these pupils is regularly reviewed to ensure that any additional help given is having an impact on raising their achievement.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The school has been successful in reducing the gap between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils both in the school and nationally. In 2013, these pupils did better than their classmates and better than other pupils nationally in reading, as well as in mathematics and were only half a term behind in writing. The school’s information shows that this trend has continued in 2014.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils enjoy sport and are enthusiastic about physical education. The additional sports funding is used well to employ a specialist physical education teacher. Pupils reach good standards in the subject and their skills are further enhanced in after-school activities and clubs such as fencing. Pupils enjoy the many opportunities to take part in competitive team games in school and with other local schools. Pupils’ experiences in physical education and sport also contribute to the development of their social skills, health and well-being.

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The early years provision is good

 Children of all abilities and groups make good progress and achieve well in the Reception class as a result of the consistently good teaching they receive.

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The early years provision is good

 Children settle into the Reception class well because staff get to know them quickly and establish clear routines for learning. As a result, behaviour is good and children get on well together. For example, in the dining hall at lunch time they lined up very sensibly and showed good levels of cooperation with adults and other children.

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The early years provision is good

 Teachers organise a range of exciting activities that interest the children, make learning fun and help them develop their skills. In one session, for example, some children really enjoyed rolling out play dough and printing shapes while others made ‘cakes’ mixing cornflour and water and had a good discussion about how they would add decorations.

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The early years provision is good

 Links with parents are strong. Parents are encouraged to involve themselves in their children’s education and progress from the outset and are appreciative of the time and effort staff put in to help their children feel happy and secure. They enjoy coming into school in the mornings and helping them to choose a book to look at while the rest of the class arrives.

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The early years provision is good

 There is a good balance of well-planned adult-led and child-selected activities inside that helps children develop their social and communication skills and find out things for themselves. Children enjoy taking turns on the outside play equipment, but not enough use is made of the outside area to encourage them to explore their learning in depth and develop their writing and number skills.

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The early years provision is good

 The three Reception class teachers lead and manage the provision well. Adults work together effectively to ensure all children make good progress. They monitor individual progress closely on a daily basis and use this information effectively to plan next steps for children’s learning.

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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 103332 Local authority Birmingham Inspection number 444256

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Maintained Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 360 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sanjay Mistry Headteacher Robin Haselgrove Date of previous school inspection 12 July 2010 Telephone number 0121 4647329 Fax number 0121 4644441 Email address enquiry@chadvale.bham.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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