Stoke Primary School

School report Stoke Primary School Briton Road, Coventry, CV2 4LF

p.1

Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Early years provision Good 2

p.1

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

 Pupils’ achievement requires improvement. Progress is not always good in every year group, particularly in writing.  Teachers do not always demand enough of their pupils, particularly in Key Stage 2.  The most-able pupils do not reach as high a level as they could because, too often, they are set work that is too easy for them.  Teachers do not always use marking to show pupils what they need to do to make better progress. This results in pupils making less progress than they are capable of.  School leaders have not set for teachers demanding enough targets for the progress their pupils should be making.  Leaders do not review the progress of pupils regularly enough. This prevents them taking action more quickly when progress is not at least good.

p.1

The school has the following strengths

 The school is improving. School leaders are better held to account by governors who now have clearly identified roles and responsibilities and a good understanding of these.  The school provides a rich curriculum for all pupils. It promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well because of the many varied ways in which it challenges them to think about their dealings with others.  Behaviour is good. Pupils behave well at all times of the school day. Pupils say they feel safe, and indeed are safe.  Children make good progress through the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are well prepared for their move into Year 1 because the school ensures that they have well-developed key skills, particularly in reading.

p.1

Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed lessons in every year group, jointly observed lessons with senior leaders and visited lessons looking in detail at pupils’ books.  Inspectors talked to pupils about their reading and listened to them read.  Meetings were held with pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and a parent governor, staff and a local authority adviser.  Inspectors took account of the 18 responses to the online Parent View questionnaire and referred to recent parent survey information from the school. They also spoke with parents and carers.  Views expressed in questionnaires returned by 43 members of the school staff were considered.  Inspectors observed the work of the school, looking at a range of documentation. This included an examination of pupils’ books from last year.  The school’s child protection and safeguarding procedures were also scrutinised.

p.2

Inspection team

Jeremy Bird, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

p.2

Information about this school

 Stoke is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The Early Years Foundation Stage is made up of part-time Nursery and full time Reception classes.  Pupils come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds. The largest proportion (around two-fifths) are White British, with one-fifth of Indian heritage. Almost half of the pupils speak English as an additional language.  An above-average percentage of pupils join and leave the school partway through their primary education, including a high proportion of new arrivals who are at an early stage of learning English.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including those supported with a statement of special educational needs or the new education, health and care plan, is higher than the national average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils, that is, those eligible for the pupil premium, is above the national

p.3

Information about this school

average. The pupil premium is additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those in local authority care.  Recent staff changes include the appointment of three newly qualified teachers.  The school manages a breakfast childcare facility.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and accelerate pupils’ progress, particularly in Key Stage 2, by ensuring that:  teachers use information about how well pupils are expected to perform to ensure they set work for all pupils, including the most able, to make better progress  marking, particularly of pupils’ writing, helps pupils to understand how to improve their work, with teachers then checking that pupils follow the advice they are given.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that:  all leaders support and challenge teachers by setting clear targets for them based on accurate assessments of their pupils’ attainment and progress  all teachers understand what progress their pupils need to make, and by when  leaders’ reviews of teachers’ performance focus on the progress their pupils are making.

p.3

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Until recently, school leaders have not had an accurate picture of pupils’ attainment. This, in turn, has led to uncertainty among leaders and staff about the progress pupils have made. For example, in Year 4, previous performance data appeared to show a high proportion of pupils not achieving as well as they should. Close scrutiny of pupils’ work shows they are in fact making at least expected progress.

p.4

The leadership and management requires improvement

 The way the school tracked how well pupils were progressing was not always accurate. This has improved with school leaders being more accurate in their analysis of pupils’ performance. The school did not set challenging targets for each pupil based on what was known about their current levels and achievement. The leadership team has now acted to put these into place.

p.4

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders do not check on the progress pupils are making frequently enough during the school year. This means that pupils can make less than good progress for too long before this is identified and addressed.

p.4

The leadership and management requires improvement

 The management of teachers’ performance has improved over the past year, and teachers say they value the support and challenge this provides. While regular pupil progress meetings enable school leaders to better hold teachers to account, teachers are not routinely expected to show the rates of progress pupils are currently making. The lack of challenging targets previously meant that some pupils did not achieve all that they were capable of.

p.4

The leadership and management requires improvement

 There is a strong relationship with the local authority. The representative visits the school regularly. During these visits, pupils’ work is scrutinised and lessons are observed. Where weak teaching has been identified, effective action has been taken, resulting in improved performance. The headteacher and local authority representative agree that, while pupils now make better progress, this remains too inconsistent.

p.4

The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school has used the pupil premium funding to appoint learning mentors, learning assistants and tutors. Such appointments have helped disadvantaged pupils to make similar progress to other pupils in the school.

p.4

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is at the heart of its work. In every year group, pupils show how they value differences. A Year 6 girl commented that the world is a different place to her school, emphasising how much she values her school. The school ensures that discrimination does not occur. Pupils from all backgrounds attend sporting clubs. The school has made effective use of primary school physical education and sport premium funding to provide a greater range of activities. The school has listened to parents’ views and, as a result, changed the timing of clubs to enable pupils to attend places of worship.

p.4

The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school’s safeguarding arrangements are adhered to by all staff and they meet statutory requirements.

p.4

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Subject leaders are leading the development of a new curriculum for their school. With the support of senior leaders, they have explored good practice in other schools and drawn up year group plans which have resulted in pupils being better engaged and motivated. The school is working appropriately towards full implementation of its preferred approach to assessment following the removal of National Curriculum levels.

p.4

The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  In the past, there has been insufficient rigor in governors’ interrogation of pupils’ progress information and the governing body did not have the information it needed to challenge leaders and staff. The effectiveness of the governing body has improved greatly, following a review of governance commissioned last year. Since the review, the governing body has been restructured. Governors now better understand their roles and they have begun to challenge more robustly the information presented to them, including information on pupils’ progress.  Governors now receive regular information on the school’s performance. Governors know how well teachers are performing. Inadequate teaching has been eradicated. Weaker teaching is now being addressed but this is sometimes not tackled as quickly as it could. Governors are beginning to use this knowledge of performance to make decisions about teachers’ pay progression, although the inaccurate

p.4

The leadership and management requires improvement

information on pupils’ attainment has meant that pay rises have not been tied to pupils’ progress.  The governing body engages with the school to ensure it uses funding effectively. An example is its clear strategy for use of pupil premium funding which has resulted in this group of pupils making at least similar rates of progress to other pupils in the school.  The governing body ensures that statutory duties are met, including those relating to pupils’ safeguarding.  Governors work with school leaders and staff to ensure that tolerance of and respect for people of all faiths (or those of no faith) is promoted. There is effective communication with parents, via regular governor newsletters and invitations to attend informal coffee mornings.

p.5

Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils work and play well together. They have a strong sense of right and wrong, and are happy to talk about issues involving making the right choices. Pupils’ positive attitudes contribute greatly to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

p.5

Behaviour

 Almost all parents agree that behaviour is good. A very few felt the school could manage pupils’ behaviour better, and this was explored in detail during the inspection. The school is effective in its day-to-day work with pupils managing their behaviour. Pupils know what to do if they experience or see poor behaviour.

p.5

Behaviour

 The school is rightly proud of its work to prevent bullying. Incidents are rare and pupils talk about feeling secure at all times of the school day, including the breakfast club. Documents detailing exclusions and incidents of bullying show how the school supports and challenges pupils with their behaviour.

p.5

Behaviour

 Best attitudes to learning are seen in lessons where the pupils are expected to rise to challenging work. Pupils thrive on such challenge and some say they wish the work was harder. There is not always sufficient time given to this degree of challenge in both writing and mathematical work.

p.5

Behaviour

 Attendance has improved over the last academic year and is now average. The appointment of learning mentors, whose role is to tackle poor attendance, has had good impact. They ensure that any absence is followed up immediately and, where more persistent absence occurs, home visits are made. Pupils are punctual and are ready to learn at the start of lessons.

p.5

Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Staff have the required training and checks are made by school leaders that school policies are implemented consistently. The school is rigorous in ensuring that all staff, including those working with pupils outside of the school day, are suitable.

p.5

Safety

 The school has worked with pupils to ensure that they can communicate with staff if they have concerns. One example is ‘worry boxes’, where pupils can jot their thoughts down. These boxes are monitored daily by learning mentors and swift action taken to support pupils if needed.

p.5

Safety

 The school values are promoted through displays, and they are reflected in pupils’ attitudes and the views they express. Pupils confirm that discriminatory or derogatory language is heard only on very rare occasions. Pupils talk about tolerance and understanding, and are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

p.5

Safety

 Pupils are very comfortable talking about how their school keeps them safe. A good example is how they listen to, and act on, advice given to keep them safe using the internet. They know how to take action when they have suspicions when online.

p.5

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Until recently, teachers did not receive clear guidance on how well pupils are expected to progress through the year. This lack of clarity around specific progress expectations resulted in pupils making insufficient progress. Pupils are now making at least the progress they should, with some examples of pupils making better progress than this; for example, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs.

p.5

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching does not always ensure that pupils, and especially the more able, move on to harder work quickly enough in lessons. This means they have less time to work on, and learn from, more challenging activities.

p.6

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils’ writing skills have improved in the Early Years Foundation Stage and in Key Stage 1 due to teachers having higher expectations of pupils’ capabilities. When they arrive in Key Stage 2, teachers do not always take sufficient account of these higher skills, so they set pupils work that is too easy and they do not move them on quickly enough to accelerate their progress. Pupils have insufficient time to practise their writing skills.

p.6

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of marking and feedback to pupils is inconsistent. This is particularly the case for pupils’ writing. Not all teachers provide clear advice to pupils on what they need to do to improve their work. Also, when such advice is given, teachers do not always insist that pupils follow it in subsequent work.

p.6

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils typically make better progress in mathematics than in other subjects. This is because teachers present tasks which are better suited to pupils’ different abilities.

p.6

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Many children come into the Early Years Foundation Stage with language skills well below those expected for their age. The school is quick to ensure they catch up by selecting and using effective language development programmes. Teaching of phonics is effective and pupils apply their skill in phonics in their reading. In all year groups, staff work with parents and carers to encourage pupils to read widely and often, including those pupils who speak English as an additional language.

p.6

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching has improved since the last inspection. There is no inadequate teaching and weaker teaching is being addressed by school leaders. Where the teaching is good, teachers are using their secure knowledge of different subjects to probe pupils’ understanding in lessons. This results in pupils being challenged more often, and as a result, make better progress.

p.6

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Adults who support disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are skilled in both the selection and use of learning activities. These activities are well targeted to address the specific learning needs of this group of pupils. As a result, these pupils make good progress.

p.6

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Parents and carers value working with the school to seek the best ways to support their children. They understand how homework supports their children’s learning.

p.6

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children join the school in Nursery with skills that are well below those expected for their age. They make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage, leaving Reception with skills broadly in line with national averages. Pupils make expected progress through Key Stage 1, although, in previous years, pupils entered Key Stage 2 with low standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Although pupils have made expected progress, this means that, when they leave Year 6, their attainment in all subjects is still low.

p.6

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils are beginning to make up time lost from weaker progress in previous years. They still have some way to go before they will have made good progress from their starting points on entry to the school.

p.6

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The 2014 national test results indicate that pupils attained higher standards at the end of Year 2 than in previous years. This was due to leaders ensuring good teaching specifically in Key Stage 1.

p.6

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 From the start of this year in Key Stage 2, pupils’ work shows more examples of good and better progress. However, these rates of progress are not consistent in every year group and every subject. Year 6 pupils are currently making better progress in their reading, with mathematics stronger in Years 4 and 5. Pupils from different cultural backgrounds make similar rates of progress to their peers.

p.6

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Progress in writing is inconsistent for different groups of pupils. For example, most-able pupils in Year 3 make good progress as a result of effective marking and regular challenge. In Year 4, this is not the case.

p.7

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In 2013, pupils made slightly better progress in mathematics than in other subjects. This rate of progress was maintained in 2014.

p.7

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In 2013, the Year 6 test results showed that disadvantaged pupils supported were a half a term behind their classmates in reading, one and a half terms behind in writing, and two terms behind in mathematics. When compared with other pupils nationally, the gap was typically three terms in all aspects of English and mathematics. Disadvantaged make similar progress to the other pupils in school, and the attainment gap has narrowed.

p.7

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Most-able pupils relish challenging work. They display excellent attitudes to learning where this challenge takes place. In Year 5, one group wanted to explore even harder questions in mathematics, and were keen to explore possible solutions to number pattern problems. However, too often, these pupils are not set challenging enough work and so they do not make the progress of which they are capable. There is inconsistency between classes in how often more-able pupils are set challenging work. This leads to this group making slower progress than they should.

p.7

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Current progress of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is good. The specific learning needs of individual pupils are quickly identified. Teachers and their support staff then draw up clear action plans. These are monitored by school leaders, and their evaluations are used to plan subsequent work.

p.7

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils enjoy reading and are now making at least expected progress through Key Stage 2 in this key skill. The school is more effective now in ensuring that pupils who speak English as an additional language read well. This includes pupils starting school during the course of Key Stage 2, who often have less experience of speaking English.

p.7

The early years provision is good

 In this well-run provision, leaders and staff accurately assess children’s skills when they arrive in Nursery so that they can organise activities which help them to make the most progress in their learning. As a result, progress in the Early Years is good. A strength of teaching is how well staff probe and question childrens’ understanding.

p.7

The early years provision is good

 All key areas of learning taught effectively and the children are well motivated. The best progress is seen in their personal, social and emotional development. On the occasions when progress is slower, it is because staff do not step in soon enough to extend children’s understanding by talking to them about what they are learning.

p.7

The early years provision is good

 All groups are well supported and challenged, including the most able and disabled children and those who have special educational needs. All groups make good progress in all aspects of their learning. Children now move into Year 1 with a level of development similar to the national average.

p.7

The early years provision is good

 There is effective provision for childrens’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Strong relationships between staff and children, and indeed between the school and the home, make an important contribution to this, and the good start that children have when they join the school.

p.7

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

p.8

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.

p.8

School details

Unique reference number 103679 Local authority Coventry Inspection number 448967

p.9

School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

p.9

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 459 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Steven Quarterman Headteacher Ann Marrs Date of previous school inspection 11 December 2012 Telephone number 024 7645 1724 Fax number 024 7643 1209 Email address office@stoke.coventry.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 .

p.9

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.

p.10

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

p.10

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

p.10

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’.

p.10

School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.10