Setting

Mrs C Hopkins and Mrs T Empson Headteacher and Associate Headteacher Anglesey Primary Academy Clarence Street Burton-on-Trent DE14 3LG

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Anglesey Primary Academy

Following my visit with Tim Sherriff, Additional Inspector to your academy on 25–26 November 2014, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions which have been taken since the academy’s previous monitoring inspection.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Anglesey Primary Academy

The inspection was the third monitoring inspection since the academy became subject to special measures following the inspection which took place in December 2013. The full list of the areas for improvement which were identified during that inspection is set out in the annex to this letter. The monitoring inspection report is attached.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Anglesey Primary Academy

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Anglesey Primary Academy

The academy is making reasonable progress towards the removal of special measures

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Anglesey Primary Academy

Having considered all the evidence I strongly recommend that the academy does not seek to appoint NQTs.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Anglesey Primary Academy

This letter and monitoring inspection report will be published on the Ofsted website. I am copying this letter and the monitoring inspection report to the Secretary of State, the DfE Academies Advisers Unit, the Chair of the Management Board and the Director of Children’s Services for Staffordshire. Serco Inspections Colmore Plaza 20 Colmore Circus Queensway Birmingham B4 6AT T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0121 679 9169 Direct email :mathew.mitchell@serco.com Yours sincerely

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection which took

  Improve teaching so that is it good or outstanding throughout the academy by making sure that teachers: - use their knowledge of pupils to plan work at the right level of difficulty so that all pupils can make good or better progress  - improve the quality of marking and give pupils time to respond to it and improve their work, so that they are helped to make better progress  - ensure that judgements about pupils’ achievement in writing, reading and mathematics are accurate.     Raise achievement in reading, writing and mathematics by:  - increasing the opportunities pupils have to read to adults - using information about pupils’ reading abilities to plan more effective teaching sessions - providing more opportunities for pupils to read in all subjects including English - ensuring that pupils are taught the basic skills of spelling, punctuation and grammar - using practical resources well to improve pupils’ basic mathematical

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection which took

understanding.    Improve the impact of leadership and management by ensuring that: - senior leaders and governors frequently check that agreed actions are having the required impact on the achievement of different groups of pupils - the academy’s behaviour management policies and practices have a strong impact on improving pupils’ behaviour - rates of attendance continue to improve so that they are at least average - governors extend their training to equip themselves with essential skills to challenge academy leaders effectively and hold the academy to account. 

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Evidence

Inspectors observed the academy’s work, scrutinised documents and met with the headteacher, associate headteacher and deputy headteacher. They also met with subject leaders for English and mathematics and spoke with the leader of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Inspectors listened to some pupils read and looked at the work in pupils’ books. Informal discussions took place with pupils, staff and parents. Inspectors also met with the Chair of the Management Board, who is a Director of Education for the Academies Enterprise Trust.

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Context

Since the last monitoring inspection, a temporary associate headteacher has been appointed to work with the substantive headteacher. Six teachers and four teaching assistants have left the academy and six new teachers have joined the staff team.

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Achievement of pupils at the academy

Although attainment remains well below average, an increasing proportion of pupils in most year groups are working at the standard expected for their age in reading, writing and mathematics. However, this is not consistent across the academy for all groups of pupils. For example, boys’ attainment is generally below that of girls and pupils who speak English as an additional language do not achieve as well as other pupils. Too few pupils are working above the expected standards for their age.

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Achievement of pupils at the academy

Inaccuracies in teachers’ assessments in the past mean that some information collected by the academy about pupils’ attainment and progress is unreliable. The work in pupils’ books and evidence from lesson observations shows that pupils’ rates of progress are improving overall but vary considerably; some pupils are making rapid progress while others are making slow progress. This is due to continuing variations in the quality of teaching.

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Achievement of pupils at the academy

The work in pupils’ books shows that teachers are now placing more importance on good presentation and correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. Some improvements can be seen in pupils’ writing. However, there is a lot of ground to be caught up and standards overall remain below average.

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Achievement of pupils at the academy

Because of more effective teaching, younger pupils are becoming confident and successful in using their phonic knowledge (the sounds that letters make) to work out unknown words. They enjoy reading and talk with enthusiasm about books they have read or that their teacher has read to them in class. For example, some pupils in Year 1 talked with good recall and great expression about the Three Billy Goats Gruff and about ‘naughty Goldilocks’ who had ‘eaten Baby Bear’s porridge and broken his chair.’

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Achievement of pupils at the academy

Evidence from pupils’ reading diaries and from informal discussions with parents and pupils indicates that the academy is being successful in encouraging pupils to read more regularly at home. This is helping them to make better progress.

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The quality of teaching

Some teachers are now becoming skilled in assessing what pupils already know, understand and can do. They are then using this information, along with their secure knowledge of the curriculum, to plan lessons which logically and sequentially take pupils through the next steps in their learning. However, this is not consistent across the academy and, in some classes, time is wasted because some pupils, especially the most able, sit through explanations which they already understand or are asked to complete work which does not allow then to deepen, broaden or apply their understanding.

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The quality of teaching

Since the last monitoring inspection, most teachers have becoming more effective in the ways they explain and demonstrate the knowledge or skills that they want pupils to learn or apply. These teachers are using resources well to illustrate new concepts or methods. For example, in a mathematics lesson the teacher used a number line to show pupils in Year 6 how they should round numbers to the nearest hundred. The examples given were well chosen and clearly recorded so that pupils could see how to set out their work. The visual image of the number line helped pupils to understand what to do so that they could successfully complete some further examples independently. However, in other classes teachers’ explanations are not clear and the examples shared with pupils are not helpful. Resources are not always appropriate. For example, in one class in Key Stage 1 the teacher showed pupils an example of writing on a piece of paper with print that was too small for pupils to

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The quality of teaching

Weaknesses remain in the teaching of mathematics in Key Stage 1. Teaching does not place enough emphasis on ensuring that pupils can quickly recall basic addition and subtraction facts. There is too little work in some pupils’ books. In some classes the activities chosen by the teacher do not hold pupils’ attention or help pupils to make rapid progress.

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The quality of teaching

Teaching assistants are generally being deployed well. The additional training they have received is helping them to be more effective in questioning pupils to check understanding and in explaining new learning or correcting misconceptions. Sometimes the impact of teaching assistants is restricted by the nature of the task set by the teacher, which can be tedious or involve pupils waiting too long for their turn. The teaching of reading has continued to improve. Phonics is taught daily to younger pupils in a systematic and well-structured way. Teachers and teaching assistants have benefited from additional training since the last inspection and their subject knowledge is now more secure. However, pupils are not always given enough opportunities in phonics lessons to practise writing letters correctly or to use them in simple words or sentences.

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The quality of teaching

All pupils have daily reading lessons. Teachers now ensure that these are much more focused on the particular reading skills that pupils need to develop. For example, in one class the teacher asked pupils in Year 4 to find evidence in the text to support their views about a character’s motivation.

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The quality of teaching

Additional resources and training are beginning to help teachers become more confident and effective in teaching spelling, punctuation and grammar. For example a teacher had identified through her marking that pupils in Year 4 were confusing ‘of’ and ‘off’. She used well-chosen examples and clear explanation to clarify the different meanings and most pupils were then able to use the two words correctly in a range of sentences.

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The quality of teaching

All work is now marked and the quality of marking has continued to improve. Most teachers give pupils clear feedback about what they have done well and what they need to do to improve their work. Marking in Year 6 is particularly effective. For example, in mathematics teachers quickly pick up any misconceptions, and ask questions to clarify understanding or provide a correctly worked example for pupils to follow. Marking is also used well in mathematics to extend learning when teachers set an additional challenge or ask pupils to convince them that a particular method or rule will always apply. Pupils in Year 6 say they enjoy these challenges and are regularly given time to tackle them or to make corrections.

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The quality of teaching

Across the academy, teachers and pupils regularly refer to helpful displays on classroom walls which provide valuable reminders of recent learning and prompts to ensure that pupils check their work carefully.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

During the inspection pupils behaved well around the academy and outside at break times and lunchtimes. Pupils displayed good manners and respect for adults when moving around the building. In the playgrounds pupils were well supervised and a good range of activities kept them active and engaged. Pupils from different backgrounds played happily together. Pupils told inspectors that behaviour at break times is usually good and that adults look after them well. The great majority of parents who spoke to inspectors, and those who completed the academy’s own questionnaire, say that behaviour is well managed and any problems are sorted out quickly. At the time of the last monitoring inspection the number of exclusions had risen as a result of a new behaviour policy and a more robust approach to dealing with aggressive behaviour. This number has now begun to reduce, and the number of incidents of aggression has declined. These are early signs that the new policy is

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

being effective, although further analysis is required over a longer period of time.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

In lessons, most pupils listen well to adults and apply themselves well to their work. In some classes, levels of enthusiasm and effort were impressive. However, in some classes in Key Stage 1 pupils can be inattentive and restless, sometimes chatting when an adult is teaching and occasionally ignoring instructions. This generally occurs when teaching does not hold pupils’ interest, when activities are not explained well or when activities continue for too long and pupils’ attention waivers.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Attendance has continued to improve and is now only slightly below the average for primary schools nationally. Improved systems are now in place to check the impact of actions taken to follow up and tackle the persistent absence of a small group of pupils.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the academy

The senior leadership team has been strengthened by the temporary appointment of an associate headteacher who is working closely with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and year group and subject leaders. Senior leaders have redefined their roles so that the deputy headteacher leads on behaviour, attendance and pupil well- being while the headteacher and associate headteacher focus on raising achievement by improving the quality of teaching. The headteachers have a clear and accurate understanding of the strengths that are developing in teaching as well as the weaknesses which they must tackle.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the academy

Leaders have now ensured that teachers check the accuracy of their assessment judgements more thoroughly with colleagues in the academy and with colleagues from other academies. As a result, leaders and teachers have identified that some earlier assessments were inaccurate and were sometimes too generous. This means that the academy’s information about pupils’ attainment and progress is not robust. The headteacher and Chair of the Management Board acknowledge that these inaccuracies should have been identified and tackled sooner. However, they are now confident that the recorded information about current attainment in reading, writing and mathematics for individuals and groups of pupils is accurate. Senior leaders are now working with support from the Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) to ensure that teachers’ assessments continue to be accurate and that effective systems are in place to measure, analyse and present information about pupils’ progress.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the academy

‘Development days’ continue to take place every three weeks for the teaching teams in each year group. On these days the headteachers make visits to classrooms and look at the work in pupils’ books. They then meet with teachers to discuss the success of actions taken to bring about previously agreed improvements and to identify the next priorities for each teaching team. This process has identified a number of weaknesses in teaching which are now being effectively tackled. However, these meetings do not take enough account of information about pupils’ attainment or the amount of progress being made in different subjects and by different groups of pupils. As a result, the underachievement of different groups, such as boys or pupils who speak English as an additional language, is sometimes overlooked and so not identified as a priority to be addressed in teaching.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the academy

The leader of the Early Years Foundation Stage is knowledgeable about the needs of children in the Reception classes and is working with teachers to ensure that teaching and resources are tailored to meet these needs. However, she is not able to talk confidently about the progress of children from their different starting points or to evaluate children’s attainment and progress in comparison to typical attainment and progress in the Reception year nationally.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the academy

Subject leaders for English and mathematics meet regularly with teacher representatives for each year group in a ‘change team’. These meetings are being used well to identify concerns or common weaknesses in teaching and plan appropriate training or support for all teachers or for individuals. For example, the mathematics leader for Key Stage 1 and the leader for Key Stage 2 recently ran workshops for teachers which showed them how to use different resources to teach the academy’s agreed methods for calculation in a clear and consistent way. Evidence of the positive impact of this recent training was seen during the inspection when teachers used appropriate resources effectively to illustrate or ‘model’ methods of calculation.

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The quality of leadership in and management of the academy

The Chair of the Management Board is a regular visitor to the academy and has a very thorough and accurate understanding of strengths and weaknesses in teaching. She recognises the urgent need to improve the way that information about pupils’ attainment and progress is used to drive improvement. Minutes from meetings of the management board indicate that members ask questions and request additional information form leaders so that they are held to account for their work.

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External support

The Chair of the Management Board is a Director of Education for AET and works closely with the academy in both capacities. AET provide effective support to the academy. The headteacher says that she has had helpful support and guidance from AET’s human resources department when establishing staff contracts and when dealing with staff underperformance. AET have also organised helpful external support for teachers. For example, they have arranged help from another academy which has expertise in supporting pupils at the early stages of learning to speak English.

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