Grenoside Community Primary School

Grenoside Community Primary School Norfok Hill, Grenoside, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S35 8QB

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Inadequate 4 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 Requires improvement 3

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders and managers have successfully tackled the inadequacies identified at the last full inspection. Led strongly by the headteacher, rapid improvement is being made to teaching and pupils’ achievement.  Teaching is consistently good and improving in Key Stage 1 and 2. This is because staff embrace leaders’ guidance and the good quality of training provided.  Attainment is above average and rising rapidly. From above average starting points pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. All groups of pupils achieve equally well.  Parents are very positive about the school. Pupils show pride in their school and appreciate the way staff teach them, keep them safe and happy.  The school provides well for pupils’ safety and promotes good behaviour, and good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Leaders monitor teaching and the progress pupils make through the robust use of tracking and

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

appraisal. Governors receive regular reports about the school’s performance from senior leaders, teachers and non-teaching staff.  The Interim Executive Board (IEB) holds the school to account well. Effective work with the headteacher results in significant and swift actions which improve the school.  Leaders have successfully begun the process of implementing new arrangements for the curriculum and assessment of pupils’ attainment and progress.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The early years provision requires improvement. Recent improvement has been achieved to leadership and teaching. This is due to the work of the external lead teacher and the commitment of staff. The impact of this on children’s outcomes is not yet good.  The new arrangements for the curriculum and assessment need further development and improvement.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed teaching in 17 lessons or parts of lessons. Some lessons were observed jointly with the headteacher.  Meetings and discussions took place with the headteacher, a representative from the local authority, all members of the IEB, proposed members of the shadow governing body, staff, pupils and parents.  Some pupils read to inspectors and pupils’ work was sampled.  Inspectors took account of the 62 responses to the on-line parent survey, Parent View. The inspectors talked to some parents outside school and considered the 102 parent responses to a recent school survey.  The inspectors looked at a range of documents including previous monitoring inspection letters, published data and school evaluations of its work, school data on pupils’ progress and attainment, reports to the IEB and minutes of their meetings and the action plans for improving the school’s performance.

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Inspection team

John Coleman, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with section 13 (4) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures.

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Information about this school

 Grenoside Community Primary School is larger than the average-sized primary school.  Governance of the school is provided through the IEB and since the last monitoring inspection a shadow governing body has been established. Proposed conversion to academy status is underway.  Most pupils are White British. There are very few pupils who speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is average.  A smaller than average proportion of pupils are disadvantaged and supported by the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  Children attend the early years provision in the Reception classes on a full-time basis.

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Information about this school

 External support for leadership in the early years is provided by an experienced teacher from High Hazels Academy.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop and fully establish the new arrangements for the curriculum and assessment.  Improve the leadership and management, teaching and children’s outcomes in the early years by:  securing the long-term leadership and management beyond the current temporary and part-time external support  establishing consistent high quality approaches to the teaching of children across the two Reception classes  providing professional development for staff to improve teaching  utilising the best practice available in local schools to enable staff to learn from this  embedding the recent improvements to assessment and tracking. Ensuring high expectations are in place for all children’s outcomes matched to the readiness needed when children enter Year 1 and the standards expected for pupils at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership and management are good. The headteacher, deputy headteacher and middle leaders have created a culture in which good teaching is the minimum expectation. Led strongly by the headteacher, the leadership team harnesses staff skills, develops and improves approaches to teaching and sets high expectations through its own good and occasionally outstanding teaching practice.  The deputy headteacher and middle leaders benefit from the way in which the headteacher nurtures their expertise and deploys them to maximise their impact on the school’s provision. For example, the deputy headteacher provides excellent teaching and she works alongside other teachers to support improvement and directly teach targeted groups of pupils. Also, the special educational needs leader is given dedicated time each week to work with teachers in classrooms, to identify and support individual pupils who may be

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The leadership and management are good

at risk of falling behind and to assist teachers in delivering the very best teaching.  Middle leaders for English and mathematics lead other teachers in planning lessons, monitoring pupils’ progress, guiding approaches to teaching and helpfully checking regularly on the success of teaching in order to report to the headteacher and the IEB.  Through effective monitoring at all levels of leadership, the school’s self-evaluation is accurate in identifying what needs to be done to further improve the school. Improvement planning contains appropriate priorities to build on the school’s current strengths and there is good capacity to improve the school further. For example, the school has identified that the early years requires improvement and plans are in place to do so. All staff share an ambition to continually improve the school.  Staff make good use of data to check on how well pupils make progress and ensure equality of

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The leadership and management are good

opportunity. Data are used to organise pupils into sets for some subjects and in class groups for others, so that teaching can focus on addressing any underachievement and challenging the most able pupils. In the early years the use of data is improving but is at a very early stage of development.  Leaders are ensuring that the school is well placed for the upcoming removal of National Curriculum levels. A new assessment system has been implemented and the early signs are that this is working well. More time is needed to fully embed this system.  The curriculum provides a broad and balanced range of opportunities for pupils. In particular, the provision for pupils to learn the essential skills in reading, writing and mathematics is very effective; standards are above average and rising. A new curriculum provision for the non-core subjects has been introduced and is well managed. It is too soon to evaluate the full impact on pupils’ learning and leaders

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The leadership and management are good

acknowledge more work is needed to develop some aspects.  Pupils are ready for secondary school by the end of Year 6. They reach above average standards in the skills needed when they move on. Pupils develop a good understanding of life in modern Britain and show knowledge of, and respect for, the views of people in other cultures and beliefs. Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good.  The local authority works well with the IEB and school leaders. Local authority support for the IEB, recruitment of the headteacher and recently the temporary early years leader has a positive effect on the school’s performance. Additionally, a local authority School Improvement Adviser makes regular contact with the school providing further support and challenge to school leaders.  Pupil premium funding is used well to help disadvantaged pupils take a full part in school life. The good

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The leadership and management are good

progress made by these pupils is evidence of the impact of the use of the funding.  Very good use is made of the extra funding available to promote participation in sport and physical education. Many pupils take part in a range of clubs and sporting activities. Specialist coaches are employed to teach sports skills and to work alongside school staff improving their practice. Pupils speak enthusiastically about the improvements in physical education lessons.  Leadership and management of the early years require improvement. The appointment of an external teacher to provide a temporary steer to leadership is working very well. Teaching is improving and children are achieving greater success.  The governance of the school:  The IEB provides good and effective strategic leadership for the school. Members bring expertise to their roles from experience in education or management. They are skilfully steering the school through

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The leadership and management are good

a period of transition in the school’s performance and status, including consideration of possible conversion to academy status. Succession planning is in place with the recruitment and establishment of a shadow governing body underway which includes retaining some existing IEB members to ensure progression and continuity.  All statutory requirements are met including the school’s arrangements for safeguarding. These arrangements are effective and pupils and parents show confidence and say they feel safe.  Governors’ financial management of the school’s budget shows careful consideration of the use of funds. Minutes of meetings and discussions with members demonstrate a clear understanding of the impact of their decisions. Additional funds, such as the pupil premium are targeted at support for disadvantaged pupils and the good achievement of these pupils is testimony to the good use of funds.  Governors have a clear understanding of the quality of teaching and the impact this has on pupils’

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The leadership and management are good

achievement. The IEB has ensured that all members understand the data on the school’s performance and in discussions it is clear how well they scrutinise this. Performance management arrangements make sure that clear links are made between pupils’ progress and the effectiveness of teaching. Underperformance is tackled effectively through staff training and robust monitoring to ensure improvement is made.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. This impacts positively on their learning and progress. In classrooms, and around the school, pupils behave well. Pupils are cooperative, caring and support each other. For example, in an assembly pupils were observed showing responsible attitudes as they listened attentively to a visiting sports coach. In such gatherings and around the corridors of the school, pupils often show exemplary behaviour.  School records show a few instances of less than good behaviour especially on the yard. Pupils say that such instances are much less than they were. Staff have received training, new lunch staff have been appointed and higher expectations, through a revised policy, are in place.  Pupils take on extra responsibilities such as membership of the school council and as one of many different types of monitors. Respect for the school environment is evident through the way in which pupils

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Behaviour

keep the school tidy. Pupils take their responsibilities seriously and are developing mature and thoughtful attitudes.  Pupils learn about and show respect for British values. These are strongly promoted through the personal, social and health education curriculum and in citizenship lessons.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Leaders give high priority to ensuring that the school’s policies, procedures and arrangements keep pupils safe.  Pupils say they feel safe. This is shown in the school’s survey and in discussions with pupils. The school’s work to promote this meets statutory requirements.  Pupils show a good understanding of the different types of bullying and are confident that staff deal with anything quickly and fairly. Pupils are taught about e-safety and demonstrate a clear understanding of the dangers of cyber-bullying.  The responses to Parent View record some parental dissatisfaction with elements of the school’s work regarding bullying and behaviour.  The school promotes pupils’ equality of opportunity well and pupils say there is no discrimination for any groups of pupils.  Attendance is currently above average and improving. Pupils are punctual to school and during the day to

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers and teaching assistants work well together and make an effective teaching team. Good teaching is resulting in pupils’ current good progress. In particular, the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics in Year 1 to 6 is having a significantly good impact on pupils’ achievement.  Staff plan lessons together. In English and mathematics this is led by the leaders for English, mathematics and special educational needs. This effective collaboration makes good use of leaders’ expertise and ensures teaching is well prepared and provides equality of opportunity across class and year groups. As a result, all groups of pupils achieve equally well.  Teachers regularly check that pupils are making good progress in lessons and over time. They use these checks to make adjustments to teaching so that pupils are challenged and stretched in their learning.  The teaching of disadvantaged pupils is delivered in a culture of expectation that the foremost opportunity

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The quality of teaching is good

for this is in the main classroom, in harmony with all other groups of pupils. In this way, class teachers are responsible for ensuring the good progress of these pupils. Significantly, the special educational needs leader works in classrooms to help in the teaching of skills. She coordinates interventions and extra support where needed while maintaining the focus on classroom delivery. The result is that disadvantaged pupils make good and occasionally outstanding progress from their various starting points.  Pupils say that they enjoy learning. They show very good attitudes in lessons and are keen to learn, not only from the staff but also from each other. These positive attitudes make a strong contribution to the progress made by pupils. They get the most from what the school offers.  Teachers have responded well to recent changes in the curriculum and assessment. Lessons are planned to build on pupils’ interests and this means that pupils concentrate well. The themes which the new

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The quality of teaching is good

curriculum is structured around are beginning to help pupils make links between subjects and areas of knowledge.  Marking of pupils’ work in books is mostly good and provides useful feedback to help pupils know what to do next. However, there is some variation in the quality of marking across different classes and subjects.  In the early years the quality of teaching requires improvement. Recent improvements have been made to the layout of the classrooms, the use and accuracy of assessment and the expectations for children’s progress. Further improvement is needed to ensure that the approach to teaching is consistent across both Reception classes and the recent improvements are sustained over the longer term to ensure children’s achievement is good.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Attainment at the end of Year 6 has been consistently above the national average for many years. This is also true of attainment at the end of Year 2. Over time, pupils’ progress between these two points has improved. For example, at the time of the last full inspection in 2013, pupils’ overall progress was below the national average as shown in published data for reading, writing and mathematics. In 2014, the data show overall progress to be broadly similar to the national average and attainment rising. Inspection evidence, including school data, shows that current pupils are making sustained improvement and all groups are making good progress across Key Stage 1 and 2. This is because teaching has sharply improved and is ensuring the current good progress of pupils.  In 2014, the average points scores for pupils’ overall attainment and in mathematics were significantly above average. Also, they were above average for reading, writing, English grammar, punctuation and

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The achievement of pupils is good

spelling. The average points scores for disadvantaged pupils were broadly similar to other pupils in the school and other pupils nationally overall, in reading and writing. They were below other pupils in the school and nationally in English grammar, punctuation and spelling.  The progress made by disadvantaged pupils is good and occasionally outstanding. Over time, the gap between the average points scores of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils has narrowed from around half a year behind in 2012 to no gap in 2014. Inspection evidence confirms that current disadvantaged pupils are achieving as well as other pupils. This is due to the very good teaching and strong leadership for disadvantaged pupils.  The results of the Year 1 check on pupils’ skills in phonics (how sounds in words are shown by different letter combinations) are significantly higher than national figures in 2014. This is improved from 2013

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The achievement of pupils is good

when they were also above average. The results show good and improving progress from pupils’ various starting points.  Progress in reading and mathematics is good throughout Key Stage 1 and 2. Pupils with disabilities and those with special educational needs make equally good progress as their peers.  The most able pupils make good progress. Increasing proportions of pupils are achieving the highest standards at the end of Year 6, especially in mathematics. Pupils with prior attainment at the higher levels from assessments at the end of Year 2 make good progress to reach the higher standards at the end of Year 6.  In the early years the proportion of children reaching a good level of development was above the national figure in 2013 and 2014. The current children are on track to improve the school’s performance by this measure. Nevertheless over time, given children’s starting points, not all children achieved as well as they

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The achievement of pupils is good

should have. Currently, children are making improved progress due to better teaching.

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The early years provision requires improvement

 Children, including disabled children and those who have special educational needs, settle quickly to the daily routines; they enjoy school and are happy. They cooperate well with staff and each other showing good manners and courtesy. They are eager to learn. Children communicate well showing good skills in speaking and listening. In the classroom and around the school, children socialise and interact purposefully and with increasing maturity. The behaviour and safety of children are good.  The starting points of many children are that they are well placed to start school. In the main, at the end of the Reception Year most children are ready to start Year 1 with the necessary skills and knowledge. Above average numbers reach a good level of development. However, until recently not enough was expected of children and complacency was the norm. Teaching requires improvement. Many children reach a good level of development despite this.

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The early years provision requires improvement

 Recent improvements have been made to teaching combined with higher expectations and more accurate assessments at the beginning of Reception. This is leading to much better progress for children and an increase in the proportion of children on track to reach a good level of development. Driving this improvement is the leadership of the external lead teacher. He has radically sharpened teaching practice through leading training and modelling high quality teaching. This excellent work needs sustaining and securing for the long-term benefit of children.  Following the last full inspection, improvement to the early years was slow to begin. Other priorities were first to be targeted and consequently, the pace of improvement lags behind the significant improvement evidenced throughout Key Stages 1 and 2. During the current school year, actions to improve teaching, assessment and outcomes for the youngest children have picked up rapidly but need further development.

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The early years provision requires improvement

As a result, the early years provision requires improvement in order to be good.

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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 107051 Local authority Sheffield Inspection number 450784

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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 Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 347 Appropriate authority Interim executive board Chair Mark Coppel Headteacher Pamela Smith Date of previous school inspection 20 June 2013 Telephone number 0114 2467380 Fax number 0114 2577718 Email address headteacher@grenoside.sheffield.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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