Copeland Road Primary School

Copeland Road Primary School West Auckland, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, DL14 9JJ

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Early years provision is good. The proportion of children in the early years who reached a good level of development in 2014 increased significantly from their below typical starting points.  Teaching pupils about the sounds that letters make (phonics) is extremely well organised and successful. The results in last year’s screening test were well above the national average.  Achievement is good. Pupils’ progress across the school, and particularly in Key Stage 2, is improving strongly in reading, mathematics and writing.  Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ work and behaviour. Teaching assistants play an important and valuable part in pupils’ improving achievement.  Pupils’ behaviour is good and is often outstanding, because of their positive attitude to their work.  Pupils say they feel safe in school. Parents and inspection evidence confirm this.  The headteacher, deputy headteacher and governors provide good leadership, which has a

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

good impact on teaching and achievement. As a result, the school continues to improve.  The leaders of key subjects, including the leader of the early years, provide very effective support to improve pupils’ progress.  The governing body supports and challenges the school effectively.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 In some lessons, work is not well adapted to the different ability levels of all the pupils, including the most able.  Pupils are not always encouraged to follow up teachers’ suggestions on how their work might be improved.  Teachers do not routinely monitor how different groups of pupils are doing, when tracking pupils’ progress.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector visited 12 lessons or parts of lessons taught by six different teachers. One was a joint observation with the headteacher.  The inspector listened to pupils read and talked to them about how much they read, as well as looking at their work in class.  Pupils’ workbooks were scrutinised by the inspector.  Discussions took place with members of the governing body, staff, groups of pupils and a representative of the local authority.  Documents were examined, including those relating to safeguarding, the school’s improvement plan, records of the school’s checks on teaching and learning, as well as its own assessment data.  The views of 12 parents, who responded to the online questionnaire (Parent View), were also taken into account as well as the school’s own questionnaire, which surveyed nearly 100 parents.  The inspector spoke to four parents before the start of school to find out their perception of the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Fifteen members of staff completed inspection questionnaires about their view of the school.

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Inspection team

Frank Cain, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Copeland Road is a smaller than average-sized primary school.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils (those eligible for the pupil premium) is broadly average. The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those children who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is well-above average.  Almost all pupils are from White British communities.  Early years provision is full time.  The school has received a silver award for the participation of pupils in school games. Eight pupils have recently received an anti-bullying award named in memory of Princess Diana.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and so raise achievement by:  giving pupils opportunities to respond to their teachers’ written feedback in their work books  making sure that school work always challenges all pupils, including the most able  ensuring that teachers, when assessing pupils, also track the progress of different groups of pupils as they move up through school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and the deputy headteacher have a clear and determined approach to school improvement. Their vision is shared by other staff as well as the governing body. The senior leadership has secured improvements in the achievement of pupils, better attendance and very good behaviour.  The leadership of teaching is good. The headteacher has moved staff to different classes to maximise their strengths in dealing with pupils. This is drawing the most from them in their literacy and numeracy work.  All pupils are given effective one-to-one mentoring with their teachers. This allows pupils to see exactly how much progress they are making and to look carefully at other aspects which have an impact on this, such as attendance and attitudes to work.  The leaders of key subjects make sure that high standards are maintained. They observe other teachers in their classrooms and conduct regular checking of pupils’ work.

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The leadership and management are good

 Teachers know their pupils well and their tracking shows how much progress each individual is making. They do not, however, track groups of pupils, such as disadvantaged pupils, in the same detailed way.  The pupil premium funding has been used to fund both smaller classes and group work, which is having a positive impact on the pupils affected.  The primary sports funding has been used extremely well to establish new sports such as golf and judo. During the inspection, all Key Stage 2 pupils were sampling archery, which they found engaging. The school closely monitors pupils’ responses to new events and is aware that more pupils now engage in sports. The school has also successfully entered some inter-school competitions recently.  Parent support is a strength of the school. Parents value the fact that staff go out of their way to give them information about their children’s progress.  The curriculum revolves effectively around themes such as the Victorians but it also incorporates local

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The leadership and management are good

studies extremely well. As the village is on a flood plain, in geography pupils study flooding. In history, they look at how their small village won the original World Cup for football twice, in 1909 and 1911, when they beat Juventus.  The school cultivates international links by having contact with a school in Tanzania. It also stresses British values with excellent displays of pupils’ handmade poppies, in celebration of Remembrance Day. The school tackles discrimination through assemblies and, in lessons, pupils learn to treat the views of others with respect.  The school makes sure that all pupils have an equal opportunity to do well and that any pupil who falls behind receives extra support to help them to catch up. The school is very inclusive.  The school’s arrangements for safeguarding meet current requirements. The local authority has provided effective support to monitor the school’s performance and to verify its

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The leadership and management are good

self-assessment.  The governance of the school:  Governance is good. Governors understand the strengths of the teaching and make sure that teachers’ performance, as measured by their success in the classroom, allows them to gain appropriate rewards. They understand in general terms, through performance data, how well pupils are doing but are less clear on the specific details.  Governors know that the school is improving. They were instrumental in opting for the new phonics scheme, which has had such a positive impact on pupils’ achievement. They understand that pupil premium and sports funding money is improving the school’s performance.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils behave extremely well in lessons and waste little time in getting down to their work, showing excellent attitudes. They sit patiently on the carpet with their partners, listening to their teachers and they clearly enjoy school.  Pupils respond to their teachers very quickly when they need to listen to instruction, though some older pupils said that this was not always quite as positive for some temporary, visiting teachers.  School records show exclusions are infrequent and there are decreasing incidents of poor behaviour over time.  There are valued roles of responsibility taken by pupils. Some are ‘buddies’ at break times to help fellow pupils who are upset. A number of pupils are ‘information and communication technology (ICT) technicians’, helping the staff by switching on computers.  Pupils take pride in their school. The premises are looked after well and pupils’ school work is generally

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Behaviour

well presented.  The vast majority of pupils, staff and parents believe that behaviour is good.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good.  Pupils say there is no bullying in school although they did acknowledge that sometimes people fall out. They are confident that they always have adults around them who they can turn to if they have a problem.  Pupils are exceptionally well versed in e-safety. They understand fully that they should not input into the computer personal details which might identify themselves or where they live.  All pupils spoken to say they feel safe, because there are always lots of teachers and other adults around to turn to. They think that the cameras around the school are good to monitor the school buildings and grounds for any unwanted strangers.  They understand what to do in case of fire and how to keep themselves safe. In physical education, the children in Reception Year were very careful when moving around in the hall.  Pupils’ attendance is broadly average and is improving. Few pupils arrive late to school.

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Safety

 The school keeps excellent records to make sure that pupils most in need of support are monitored well.  All parents believe that their children are safe and sound and are looked after well.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers have high expectations of the pupils and remind them frequently of what is expected in terms of behaviour and work.  Pupils say ‘teaching is good’ and this was confirmed when the inspector looked at their written work over the past three years, because of the clear improvements seen in their books in grammar, presentation and vocabulary.  Teaching assistants are key staff in helping pupils to achieve good progress. They are deployed well in class and when taking small groups for specialised extra work. This was evident when pupils were observed in a phonics session. All adults are well trained and exceptionally skilful in getting the best from their groups.  Teachers use good questioning to make pupils think harder. In literacy lessons, pupils regularly consider ‘big questions’ to challenge their thinking, such as ‘Are consequences always bad?’ Pupils, especially the most able, argue their opinions with their partner in class.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Both teachers and teaching assistants ask questions such as ‘Can you explain to me?’ to develop good verbal communication skills among pupils.  In a Year 2 phonics lesson, one group had successfully learnt lots of words which had a letter that was not pronounced, such as the ‘k’ in ‘knot’ and ‘knead’. This is having a very positive effect on pupils' ability to read well.  The teaching of mathematics is good. For example, in a Year 5 class, pupils learned how they could check that they were right by reversing the sum. In another class, pupils were encouraged to find patterns in their number work in order to take a short cut to the answer. There were some examples in mathematics, however, where pupils of all abilities were given lots of similar questions; these did not always challenge all pupils, including the most able.  In the vast majority of lessons, teachers generally make sure that learning in lessons is adapted well to

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The quality of teaching is good

pupils’ ability. This was especially seen in the phonics lessons, which were divided so that the most able as well as other pupils were given work to allow them to make good progress. However, in some lessons, this adaptation of work was not as well managed.  Pupils’ books are marked frequently and they receive a lot of good advice on how their work might improve. They do not always have the opportunity to respond by making corrections and amending their work to allow them to learn more effectively.  Teachers help to develop pupils’ good social development through partner and group work. School assemblies contribute to the pupils’ spiritual and cultural development.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The achievement of pupils across the school is good and is improving in both literacy and mathematics.  The majority of children enter the school in Reception with weak skills across most areas of learning, especially in mathematics and literacy. Their personal development is closer to what is typical expected for their age.  A recently introduced phonics scheme has made a big impact on pupils’ performance in literacy in Key Stage 1, and last year they performed substantially higher than national figures in the 2014 screening check.  Key Stage 1 attainment has been inconsistent, but this was due to the different characteristics and abilities of successive year groups. Despite the differences in attainment, these year groups made good progress from their respective starting points.  The attainment of pupils in Key Stage 2 is improving strongly year on year. The most recent published data show pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is still below average but improving. In

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The achievement of pupils is good

2014, the overall proportion of pupils making expected and better-than-expected progress was close to the national figure from below-average starting points.  The published data show that the gap in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils both in school and nationally increased to over three terms in reading, writing and mathematics in 2014. School data revealed that the particular needs and abilities of this group was a factor in their attainment. Nevertheless, these pupils still made good progress from their starting points in comparison with other pupils in school and nationally. Furthermore, comparisons made by the inspector between the work in books of disadvantaged and other pupils showed no noticeable differences in achievement. Lesson observations and discussions with pupils confirmed the judgement of good progress for both groups.  School data show disadvantaged pupils are on target to almost eradicate the gap in attainment between

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The achievement of pupils is good

themselves and other pupils in school and nationally in reading and mathematics, and to reduce it substantially in writing.  Detailed tracking of disabled pupils or those with special educational needs shows they are making very good progress, particularly because of the impact of short-term support sessions they receive in mathematics and reading and the support of teaching assistants.  The overall achievement in the school is rising so that more pupils now fall into the category of the most able, especially in Key Stage 2 in mathematics and reading. Overall, these pupils achieve well.  Pupils read well and even weaker readers in Year 2 are able to take words apart and sound them out successfully. By Year 6, they are confident readers and say that phonics ‘really helps us’.

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The early years provision is good

 Children’s achievement from starting points below those typical for their age is good. In 2014, the proportion of children who reached a good level of development was well above the national figure. Children are prepared well for learning in Year 1.  The new leader of early years is respected by parents and runs the unit extremely efficiently. She has plans for improving the provision further.  Parents are fully involved in the initial assessment of their children. They feel welcome in school and appreciate that their children are making good progress. They can see this when they look at their children’s ‘learning journals’, which capture in pictures and text what they are learning in school.  The children are well behaved and polite because the staff in the classroom insist on high standards. They ask the children to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and encourage them to behave well.  Staff make sure that children are kept safe by daily checks on equipment and all areas are assessed for

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The early years provision is good

possible risks to children.  There are good opportunities for children to learn how to write. Their literacy books show good progress from the time they enter, when they struggle to write single words. In less than a term, they are capable of accurately copying short sentences.  The small, but well equipped, outside area provides further opportunities for writing and number work and is used for exploring. The children pretend to be Polar explorers as part of the topic on a popular children’s film.  Teaching is good. In a lesson involving number work, the teacher and teaching assistant both skilfully used drum beats to get the children to count to 10 and above. When making pizzas, they carefully count out slices of pepper and tomatoes.  The children are clearly very happy in school and learn well.

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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 114187 Local authority Durham Inspection number 456115

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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 142 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair A Bruce Headteacher R Nodding Date of previous school inspection 21 March 2012 Telephone number 01388 832576 Fax number 01388 835463 Email address copelandroad@durhamlearning.net 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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