Girton Glebe Primary School

Girton Glebe Primary School Cambridge Road, Girton, Cambridge, CB3 0PN

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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 Requires improvement 3

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

 Until recently leaders and managers at all levels, including governors, have not rectified inconsistencies in teaching or evaluated pupils’ progress rigorously enough.  Teaching is not good enough and over time does not assure that all pupils make good progress.  In all mixed-age classes younger pupils make less progress than older ones.  Where teaching requires improvement, the most able pupils do not make the progress of which they are capable, because work is not sufficiently demanding.  Pupils who are disabled, have special educational needs, are disadvantaged or whose first language is not English make less than expected progress because they do not receive support quickly enough.  Teachers do not consistently assess pupils’ learning accurately and plan carefully what they should learn next.  Adults do not intervene skilfully to extend the learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  Communication with a significant minority of

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

parents and carers has been unsatisfactory until recently.  Governors have not held school leaders sufficiently to account for the evaluation of the deployment of funds to disadvantaged pupils or of sports funding for all pupils.

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The school has the following strengths

 The recently appointed headteacher has had a significant impact on the school’s culture and pupils’ learning.  She has rapidly identified the school’s weaknesses and has given immediate attention to raising teaching quality, to good effect.  Pupils’ behaviour is good, they feel safe and enjoy school. They are confident that adults will help them.  Reading is a strength of the school.  Attainment in reading, writing and mathematics was above average in the Year 6 national tests. A number of pupils achieved the highest Level 6 in mathematics.  Governors support the headteacher well and increasingly know how to challenge the school on the quality of pupils’ learning.  The curriculum and extra-curricular activities enhance pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and their physical and emotional well- being.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 12 lessons of which two were seen jointly with the headteacher and an assistant headteacher.  Inspectors toured the site and observed pupils’ behaviour and attitudes during and between lessons. They attended a school assembly.  Inspectors looked at a range of evidence about pupils’ progress, attainment, behaviour and attendance. They studied improvement plans, the school’s own assessment of its performance, the system to track pupils’ progress, checks on the quality of teaching, documentation relating to the safeguarding of pupils, local authority evaluations and a range of pupils’ work in all classes from this term and learning journals from last year in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  Inspectors held discussions with the headteacher, senior leaders and governors. They met with the school’s inspector from the local authority. They visited the breakfast club and saw after-school activities.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors took account of the 77 responses to the Parent View online questionnaire and the 20 responses to the staff questionnaire.  Inspectors met with pupils to discuss their progress and gain their views on behaviour and safety.  They listened to pupils reading.

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Inspection team

June Woolhouse, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Inspection team

Mark Carter-Tufnell Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized primary school which has slightly more boys than girls. It is organized into seven mixed-age classes and two parallel Reception classes in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  The proportion of pupils of White British heritage is close to the national average.  English is believed not to be the first language of approximately one in six children, comparable with national averages.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported by school action is approximately one in 30 children, below the national average.  The proportion of pupils supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is one in 20 children, below the national average.  The proportion of pupils supported through the pupil premium, around one in fourteen, is below the national average. This additional funding is for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those

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Information about this school

in care.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school runs its own breakfast club and after-school club and these were included in the inspection.  The school has recently encountered staffing difficulties due to long-term absence and recruitment problems.  The substantive headteacher was appointed in June 2014, and took up her post in September. A new leadership team was formed. There have been several changes of staff during the past two academic years.  New accommodation was finished in the first half of this term, which has enhanced the learning environment but caused disruption in a number of classes.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching and promote good achievement for all groups in every lesson by ensuring that teachers:  have high expectations and provide appropriate learning tasks, support and challenge, especially for the younger pupils in each class  understand the skills, knowledge and understanding pupils need to learn in all subjects  intervene quickly when pupils show they do not understand and modify what they are being taught  mark work with precise commentary on how to correct and improve learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the leadership and management of the school at all levels by ensuring that:  all leaders understand their responsibilities and have time to discharge them  senior leaders and governors increase the regularity and rigour in checking that pupils’ learning and progress are good enough, and act immediately if this is not the case  all teachers improve the accuracy of assessing what pupils know and understand and all are included in evaluating pupils’ rates of progress  leaders communicate with parents and carers more regularly to address their concerns and involve them more in supporting their children’s learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage by:  establishing accurate assessments and systematic recording across all areas of learning  ensure that all adults understand how to develop children’s enquiries and interests through timely interventions, probing questions and encouraging the use of good vocabulary  improving the teaching of literacy and mathematics.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 School leaders have not been accurate enough in assessing pupils’ achievement. They believe the school is better than it is. In part this has arisen because pupils have attained well in the end-of-year national tests in Years 6 and 2. These results have masked a number of weaknesses elsewhere.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Systems for checking how well teachers are planning, teaching and assessing pupils’ achievements are not fully embedded. The school uses a progress tracking system, but data from termly assessments of progress in English and mathematics have not yet been analysed to identify any trends in performance that can inform action by the leadership team. Close scrutiny of these data clearly show inconsistencies across subjects and classes.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school has a well-focused termly plan for lesson observation by senior leaders, but this has not been fully implemented to evaluate teaching and the progress pupils are expected to make. Until recently the capacity of senior leaders, and other teachers with responsibilities, to contribute to improvements was limited.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The leadership team is at an early stage in developing a systematic way to evaluate the quality of pupils’ work. Pupils’ learning targets are not regularly recorded and they cannot check their own progress over time or follow up at home. Although homework is set and there is evidence that parents are keen to be involved, this is not yet consistently happening.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher has quickly established her authority on the school community and identified what must be improved if all pupils are going to make the best possible progress. She has galvanised the staff and raised their expectations to a much higher level than was previously the case. Typically, one staff questionnaire commented that ‘since the headteacher arrived there has been a great improvement in behaviour and a smooth transition’.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The special educational needs leader has identified the disabled pupils and those with special education needs, pupils who are disadvantaged and those whose first language is not English. The proposed intervention work for each group is clearly documented for all year groups. However, it is not recorded systematically in all classes and the progress these groups make varies across the school. Many do not achieve as well as they should.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The revised curriculum is broad and balanced but is not yet tailored to the needs of the school. The planning does not identify the knowledge and skills that pupils will learn in each subject in each year group. Subjects are combined into topics such as ‘Water World’ or ‘The Great, The Bold and The Brave’, which are interesting but have insufficiently clearly defined objectives. The present assessment system is still being used to record termly progress for English and mathematics. It has not been extended to allow a rigorous evaluation of how well pupils are learning in all subjects.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Pupil premium funding provides a range of extra support for eligible pupils, but the impact on their learning and whether they have caught up with their classmates has not been evaluated rigorously.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The primary physical education and sport funding has been used to improve provision. Pupils have benefited from the appointment of a specialist teacher for games, dance and gymnastics. They attend a wide range of clubs and eat healthy lunches in school. The impact on their well-being and physical development has not been evaluated rigorously, but pupils comment favourably on these experiences.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 There is an inclusive culture in the school. School values of tolerance and respect are promoted regularly by the headteacher. Improved behaviour is a significant outcome and has contributed well to a much better learning atmosphere. Pupils are treated equally and enjoy the same opportunities for learning. They are well-prepared for life in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The majority of parents and carers who used Parent View gave reasoned and informed opinions on what they wished to see improved. A significant minority was critical of the quality of communication, a lack of information on their children’s progress and weaknesses in provision for the most-able pupils. Some parents are concerned about issues including the extent of staffing changes and class sizes. The majority responded with favourable comments about their children’s enjoyment, feeling cared-for and the quality of the curriculum and after-school clubs. There is an active Parent and Friends group that supports the school well.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Safeguarding procedures fully meet requirements and assure that all pupils are safe at school.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governors bring a wealth of relevant expertise to the school.  They are increasingly aware of what performance data mean but, as yet, the evaluation of impact of extra funding for disadvantaged pupils and for the development of sport has not been completed.  Governors are fully supportive of the headteacher but understand that they must challenge staff to assure themselves that pupils make the progress expected of them.  Teachers’ performance is managed according to the regulations but only recently have increases in salary been aligned with teaching quality or how well pupils achieve.  The governors monitor the budget well and have improved the school’s capacity to manage its resources.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are courteous and show respect towards each other and adults.

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Behaviour

 Pupils demonstrate enthusiasm in lessons, sometimes in spite of mediocre teaching. They are keen to learn and when teaching is at least good they make good or better progress.

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Behaviour

 Pupils behave well when they move around the school, in the dining room and outside at play. They understand the sanctions that teachers apply when behaviour is not good enough.

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Behaviour

 Pupils are learning how to resolve conflicts that sometimes occur. Pupils explained that they now understand that being tolerant and compassionate towards other people is a better way to solve a problem.

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Behaviour

 Pupils understand different forms of bullying, including via the internet. They are confident that any incidents will be resolved quickly by staff.

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Behaviour

 Pupils accept responsibilities and are given a variety of roles through which they demonstrate their contributions to the school community. There is still scope for improvements in the way they dress and look after their property.

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Behaviour

 Attendance has improved due to the effective support for families. It is above average overall but persistent absence has yet to be eradicated completely.

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Behaviour

 A small number of parents expressed their concerns through Parent View about bullying and unacceptable behaviour and the negative impact it could have on pupils’ learning. Inspectors observed good behaviour management and low-level disruption was very rare. This was confirmed by school leaders.

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Safety

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

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Safety

 Pupils’ safety in a range of circumstances is promoted by the school’s thorough policies. These include making risk assessments, keeping up-to-date with child protection training, improving the school premises, and teaching pupils about safe practices inside and outside school and on the internet.  All staff and the majority of parents and carers who responded on Parent View agree that pupils are safe in school.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching has been too variable over time to guarantee that all groups of pupils make good progress from their different starting points. It has improved following intensive local authority support, although the outstanding practice that can be found is not yet regularly shared amongst teachers.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers do not assess with enough accuracy what pupils have learned and understood. Therefore, subsequent planning does not assure good progress and increased understanding. Within mixed-age classes the lower attaining and younger pupils achieve less well than those in the older year group because activities are often the same for everyone.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers vary in their expectations of what pupils should know and understand. They are not always knowledgeable about what pupils should achieve in all the curriculum subjects by the time they leave primary school. The most able are not challenged to think more deeply during their lessons. These pupils comment on the repetitive nature of their learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The teaching of phonics, (the sounds letters make), is variable and this is reflected in the dip in the end of Year 1 national checks. Teachers do not deliver the school’s agreed programme with sufficient rigour and pace.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Some teachers have developed very good systems for assessing what pupils learn. This involves pupils checking what they have achieved for themselves so that they know which aspects must be followed up; and marking that makes clear what pupils must do next. This system is not followed by all teachers.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Very effective teaching stems from planning that is based on what pupils already understand. Activities are explained carefully to each ability group. For example, in a very effective literacy lesson the teacher demonstrated on the interactive white board the composition, punctuation and recording of a sentence. It was brought to life because it reflected what pupils were learning in their topic. Pupils of all abilities produced good or better writing and could read it back to an adult.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching assistants are deployed, in the main, to support individual pupils. They have had a significant impact on improving challenging behaviour so that the rest of the class is not disrupted. However, some classes have no dedicated support, as noted by parents. Currently the headteacher is reviewing the deployment of teaching support.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ achievement is not consistently good. Although attainment was above average in reading, writing and mathematics in the 2014 Year 6 national tests, this represented less than good progress given their above-average starting points.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In the 2014 Year 6 national tests, disadvantaged pupils were about a term-and-a-half behind other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics and about four terms behind their classmates. The 2014 gap was slightly wider than in 2013 compared with national values.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The most able pupils achieved well in reading and mathematics in the 2014 national tests. In mathematics, about a quarter of the pupils benefited from extra support and achieved the higher Level 6. School data show that the most able pupils achieve consistently well in reading but not in writing or mathematics in each year group. Learning is not always challenging enough to draw out their best work.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils in Year 2 achieved the expected levels in reading, writing and mathematics in the 2014 national tests. Pupils whose first language is not English made less than expected progress in reading. Extra support has been planned.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In the Year 1 national phonics check, fewer pupils reach the expected level than the national figure. Results were much lower than last year. This indicates inconsistency in teaching early reading skills, in part associated with staff changes.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make less progress than they should given their starting points. Previous shortcomings in identifying them and deploying adults efficiently have contributed to this lack of progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Throughout the school there has been a pattern of under-achievement for the youngest pupils in the class, those with special educational needs and the younger pupils whose first language is not English. This is particularly apparent in the last three year’s national assessments at the end of Year 2. Extra support has not been provided, starting in the Reception class.

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The early years provision requires improvement

 Leadership and management requires improvement. The organisation of children’s learning does not account sufficiently well for the needs of different groups. Although early assessment information exists, it has not been sufficiently well evaluated to identify where this extra support should be deployed.

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The early years provision requires improvement

 Children start the Reception Year with skills and knowledge typical for their age. In 2014 the school’s records show that the proportion overall who achieved a good level of development was above national expectations. Children who were disabled or had special educational needs and those whose first language was not English achieved less than can be expected.

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The early years provision requires improvement

 The good achievement indicated by school records is not reflected in the work in children’s learning journals. These show that progress of the Reception class in 2013-14 was patchy and the coverage of all seven learning areas was not equally addressed. Evidence of reading, writing and mathematics in the present Year 1 does not support the proportion of children judged to have achieved a good level of development.

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The early years provision requires improvement

 Literacy and mathematics teaching does not address the range of children’s starting points. Children do not make enough progress because their learning is not built on what they already know. Adults do not probe children’s understanding, especially the most able and in relation to the activities children choose themselves.

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The early years provision requires improvement

 Activities are varied and resourced appropriately inside and out-of-doors. The forest area is used well to encourage enquiry of the natural world, to develop physical skills and foster imaginative play. Children’s health, safety and well-being are well-promoted.

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The early years provision requires improvement

 Children behave well and they cooperate and play happily together. Good relationships and varied experiences contribute well to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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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 110610 Local authority Cambridgeshire Inspection number 448413

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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 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 259 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sophie Shellard Headteacher Helen Scrivner Date of previous school inspection 24 June 2010 Telephone number 01223 276484 Fax number 01223 276484 Email address office@girtonglebe.cambs.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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