Holly Hill Methodist CofE Infant School

Holly Hill Methodist CofE Aided Infant and Nursery School New Street, Rubery, Rednal, Birmingham, B45 0EU

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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 Good 2

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

 The attainment of pupils in reading and writing declined in 2014 and is below average.  Disadvantaged pupils do not achieve as well as other pupils in the school in reading, writing and mathematics. Teaching is not sufficiently focused on their needs and staff do not check the impact of the additional support provided sufficiently.  The targets set for improvements in pupils’ progress are not demanding enough because leaders and teachers do not base these on information showing the progress that pupils have already made.  Self-evaluation is not detailed enough. Leaders do not identify the precise milestones and criteria leaders will use to judge whether their plans are ‘on track’ to bring about desired improvements.  Leaders do not check carefully enough that teaching fully meets the needs of different groups of pupils in the school, especially those who are disadvantaged.  Leaders do not give teachers clear advice about

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

how well their teaching is improving achievement.  The pupil premium has not been used effectively; it has been used to address the needs of all pupils, not just those who are eligible for it.  Governors do not receive sufficiently detailed information about the school’s strengths and areas for improvement and do not know how well the school is performing.

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The school has the following strengths

 The headteacher and deputy headteachers are fully committed to providing the best care and support for pupils and their families.  Leaders have improved the rate of attendance of pupils since the last inspection.  Pupils behave well in school. Their personal development is catered for very well and they are kept safe.  The school makes good provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and is effective at helping pupils to understand British values.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are supported well and most make good progress.  The youngest children get off to a good start in the early years. Inspection report: Holly Hill Methodist CofE Aided Infant and Nursery School, 21–22 April 2015 2 of 10

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching in 12 lessons, six of which were observed jointly with members of the senior leadership team. Shorter visits were also made to classrooms to check on aspects of the school’s work, and inspectors looked at how pupils behave around the school and at break times.  Discussions were held with senior leaders, teachers, representatives of the governing body, the local authority and the Methodist education service.  Inspectors reviewed a range of school documentation, including safeguarding information, behaviour records, information about the progress that pupils make, the school’s self-evaluation statement and improvement plan and records of the work of the governing body.  Inspectors spoke to groups of pupils about their work, heard them read and looked in detail at their books and other examples of work.  Inspectors took account of 18 responses from parents to the Ofsted online questionnaire Parent View,

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Information about this inspection

surveys of parents’ opinions that the school had undertaken and also spoke with parents informally at the start of the school day.  Questionnaires returned from 28 members of staff were taken into consideration.

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Inspection team

Mitchell Moore, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

David Westall Additional Inspector Inspection report: Holly Hill Methodist CofE Aided Infant and Nursery School, 21–22 April 2015 3 of 10

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Information about this school

 Holly Hill Methodist CofE Voluntary Aided Infant and Nursery School is slightly smaller than the average sized primary school.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium (additional funding for particular groups, which in this school applies to pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals) is much higher than the national average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is higher than the national average.  Fewer than 20% of pupils are from minority ethnic groups and far fewer pupils speak English as an additional language than is found nationally.  Children attend the Nursery class part-time, becoming full-time when they enter the Reception class.  The school shares its site with a children’s centre which is inspected by Ofsted separately.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the achievement of disadvantaged pupils in reading, writing and mathematics so that the gap between them and other pupils in the school closes by strengthening teaching to ensure that all teachers:  use the information they hold about disadvantaged pupils’ progress to focus teaching directly on their needs and ensure the additional support they provide is effective in bringing about the improvements anticipated  make sure that pupils understand the key points they are learning before moving them on to other work  set pupils challenging targets that properly reflect the progress they have already made, and regularly review the progress they subsequently make towards them.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of leadership by;  ensuring that leaders’ evaluations of teachers’ performance is directly related to their impact on pupils’ achievement  ensuring the pupil premium is only used to support those pupils for whom it is intended  including precise and measurable success criteria in school improvement plans, along with interim milestones, so that the school’s self-evaluation is detailed and accurate and leaders and governors can monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the actions being taken  strengthening the systems for analysing information about how well pupils are achieving so that senior and middle leaders have an accurate and clear profile of the performance of different groups of pupils across the school, especially disadvantaged pupils  providing better information to governors, and improving their skills in using this information, so that they have an accurate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. Inspection report: Holly Hill Methodist CofE Aided Infant and Nursery School, 21–22 April 2015 4 of 10

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school is not closing the gap between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in the school quickly enough. This is because the use of the pupil premium grant is not targeted with sufficient accuracy at meeting the needs of disadvantaged pupils. Too often the grant has been used to improve provision for all pupils rather than the specific pupils that it is intended for. School leaders do not evaluate the success of the actions undertaken using the pupil premium grant rigorously enough to know whether they are having the desired impact.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Along with the deputy headteachers, the headteacher monitors the quality of teaching regularly. The feedback that teachers get from this monitoring is not always focused sufficiently on the impact that teaching is having on improving the progress that pupils are making. As a result, teachers are not always clear about how to adapt their work to ensure that all groups of pupils progress well.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school improvement plan identifies the general priorities for the school but these are not sufficiently focused. This is because self-evaluation is not detailed enough. The plans do not make clear what impact the actions taken will have at key points in the year. As a consequence leaders, including governors, are not able to tell whether the plan is being fully effective.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher has ensured that pupils’ personal development is very well catered for. Good systems to keep pupils safe and to promote good behaviour have been securely established. Consequently, pupils behave well and feel well cared for.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Middle leaders are developing an understanding of the priorities in their areas of responsibility through undertaking a range of monitoring activities. The analysis of the information that middle leaders gain through monitoring is not always sufficiently sharp, particularly in English, to identify the precise aspects of the subjects that need to be improved.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school has made effective use of the primary physical education and sports grant. A sports coach has provided training for teachers and specialist lessons for all pupils in the school. A play leader provides a range of physical activities at lunchtimes and there are regular after-school clubs, which are attended by a large number of pupils.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders have created an ethos in which pupils are respectful of each other. Their strong emphasis on personal development in the curriculum helps pupils to learn key values such as kindness, respect and tolerance. On the rare occasions where pupils do not show respect for each other this is dealt with promptly and effectively by staff. Discrimination is not tolerated in any form. However, weaknesses in the monitoring of outcomes for pupils mean that not all groups make equally good progress.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The curriculum makes good provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The curriculum themes are well chosen to engage pupils’ interests and to widen their experiences. Pupils have the opportunity to learn about a wide range of faiths and cultures and to engage in interesting artistic and other cultural experiences. This supports pupils in preparing them for life in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has been providing a programme of support for the school since the start of the spring term. The local authority officer has developed an accurate understanding of the strengths and areas for further improvement in the school and is working with senior leaders to address these issues. This support has not been in place long enough for it to have impacted on the outcomes that pupils achieve.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governors share the school leaders’ strong commitment to the welfare of pupils and their families. However they do not have enough detailed knowledge about how well the school is performing in order to fulfil their role in holding leaders to account.  Governors are developing their first-hand knowledge of the school through governor visits. They are Inspection report: Holly Hill Methodist CofE Aided Infant and Nursery School, 21–22 April 2015 5 of 10

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The leadership and management requires improvement

developing some understanding of how well pupils are taught and the progress they make. However, governors rely heavily on leaders to inform them about this as their understanding of assessment data is limited.  Governors are kept informed of the arrangements to manage the performance of teachers. The targets set for improvement do not focus sufficiently on the progress that pupils need to make and therefore the link between pupil performance and teachers’ pay is not strong enough.  Along with senior leaders, governors have ensured that the arrangements for keeping children safe meet, and go beyond, what is required.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils enjoy coming to school and generally behave well in lessons, responding to the high expectations that teachers have of them.

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Behaviour

 Leaders have developed a consistent approach to promoting positive behaviour in school. Pupils understand how good behaviour is rewarded and the consequences of inappropriate behaviour. Leaders monitor behaviour effectively and use this information to make adjustments to provision. Very occasionally some pupils become distracted when they have to listen in extended class discussions for long periods.

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Behaviour

 There are rigorous processes in place to monitor the attendance of pupils and to encourage parents to ensure that their children attend school regularly. As a result of these, attendance rates have risen and are now close to the national average. Pupils are punctual in arriving at school and come well equipped for the day ahead.

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Behaviour

 Pupils and parents tell inspectors that incidents of bullying are rare and are always dealt with swiftly and effectively by school staff. The school’s records confirm this. Pupils have an appropriate level of awareness of different types of bullying including cyber-bullying and racism, and have been taught well what actions to take if they are encounter them.

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Safety

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

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Safety

 Leaders have ensured that all statutory requirements for safeguarding are met and have developed effective partnerships with a range of external agencies to ensure that the there is good support for pupils and families whose circumstances make them vulnerable. Leaders are tenacious in following up referrals to other agencies if there is any delay in responses. Consequently these pupils receive timely and effective support.

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Safety

 Pupils appreciate the confidential self-referral system that allows them to let school staff know if they have any concerns or worries. Pupils told inspectors that they know that if they have a concern ‘someone will sort it out for you’.

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Safety

 Through the curriculum pupils are taught about safety and show a good awareness of how to keep themselves safe from risks.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because it has not had a strong enough impact on pupils’ learning and progress, particularly in reading and writing and for disadvantaged pupils. This is because teachers do not always plan the activities that pupils do with sufficient attention to their learning needs.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers do not consistently check with pupils during lessons how well they have understood what they are learning so that any misconceptions can be dealt with immediately. This is particularly the case in mathematics lessons. This can result in pupils failing to fully grasp basic concepts before moving on in Inspection report: Holly Hill Methodist CofE Aided Infant and Nursery School, 21–22 April 2015 6 of 10

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

their learning to more complex aspects of the subject.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Additional support provided for disadvantaged pupils whose achievement is falling behind other pupils in the school does not sufficiently focus on these pupils’ particular learning needs. Consequently the teaching that they receive does not always enable disadvantaged pupils to make the progress that they need to catch up with other pupils.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are taught well. Assessment information is used in a thorough way to identify the precise learning needs of the pupils and the activities that they are given enable them to make good progress. Teaching assistants provide good support to these pupils in lessons, ensuring that they are fully included in all activities while developing their independence skills.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils show positive attitudes to reading and there is a good range of resources to support the teaching of reading. Pupils enjoy phonics lessons and the lessons are planned systematically but not always with enough attention to the specific needs of all pupils to ensure that they all make good progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers all employ a consistent approach to marking across the school. The feedback that pupils receive from marking helps them to identify how to improve their work. In the best lessons pupils respond to the suggestions made by their teachers during activities at the start of the day and this leads to noticeable improvements.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In writing lessons in particular, teachers give pupils a clear picture of what is needed to improve their work. In a Year 2 lesson pupils produced detailed and exciting descriptions of the Minotaur and were fastidious in checking their work against the criteria that the teacher had developed with them.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In the statutory assessments of Year 2 pupils in 2014, attainment in reading and writing declined and was lower than the national average.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Overall achievement requires improvement because disadvantaged pupils do not achieve as well as other pupils in the school, or other pupils nationally. The achievement gap between these two groups of pupils increased in 2014, with disadvantaged pupils’ attainment being over two terms behind that of other pupils in the school in reading, writing and mathematics. The school’s own prediction for the current Year 2 pupils indicates that this gap will grow further in the 2015 assessments. This is because the targets set for these pupils are not reviewed and adapted rigorously enough to ensure that they do not fall behind other pupils in the school.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make good progress. Their learning needs are identified precisely and this information is used to design specific learning programmes. The progress that these pupils make in reading, writing and mathematics is tracked carefully.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The proportions of pupils achieving the higher Level 3 in end of Key Stage 1 assessments in reading, writing and mathematics are close to the national averages, and many of the most able pupils make good progress. However far fewer disadvantaged pupils achieve Level 3 than other pupils in the school with similar starting points.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In the phonics screening check that takes place for Year 1 pupils the proportion of pupils that achieved the expected standard was lower than the national average. Many of these pupils joined the school with very poorly developed early language skills; consequently this represents reasonable progress. However, only half of the disadvantaged pupils in the school achieved the expected standard compared to four fifths of other pupils.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement in lessons requires improvement because the work given to pupils is not planned carefully enough to enable them to make the progress they need to. This is particularly true for disadvantaged pupils in English lessons where they need more specifically targeted activities to help them catch up with other pupils. Inspection report: Holly Hill Methodist CofE Aided Infant and Nursery School, 21–22 April 2015 7 of 10

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The early years provision is good

 Children get off to a good start in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The teaching is lively and well planned to support good progress, based on what the children already know and can do. Children achieve well.

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The early years provision is good

 When they start in the Nursery class the majority of children have very limited communication skills, with some only speaking in single word utterances. Their social skills are poorly developed and they need much encouragement to sustain their interest in activities, and find it difficult to share and cooperate with each other.

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The early years provision is good

 Teaching is good. In both the Nursery and Reception classes, children are provided with well-planned learning opportunities to foster their basic skills and personal development. As a result children make good progress across all areas of learning.

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The early years provision is good

 Teachers’ assessments made at the end of Reception show that the proportion of children achieving a good level of development is not significantly lower than the national average. The gap seen between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils in the school in Key Stage 1 is not present at the end of the early years. Children leave the reception class ready well prepared to start Key Stage 1.

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The early years provision is good

 Children are kept safe as relationships between children and staff are warm and supportive. The good systems for safeguarding and personal development seen across the school are equally well applied in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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The early years provision is good

 The Early Years Foundation Stage leader provides effective leadership. She has ensured that the learning environment, both inside and outside, provides a wealth of opportunities for children to develop across the seven areas of learning in the early years. Effective links have been made with parents, who appreciate how well their children are introduced to school life and how quickly they settle. Inspection report: Holly Hill Methodist CofE Aided Infant and Nursery School, 21–22 April 2015 8 of 10

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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. Inspection report: Holly Hill Methodist CofE Aided Infant and Nursery School, 21–22 April 2015 9 of 10

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School details

Unique reference number 103479 Local authority Birmingham Inspection number 461967

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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 Infant School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 3–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 235 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Rev. Peter Bates Headteacher Christine Parker Date of previous school inspection 4 October 2011 Telephone number 0121 675 8700 Fax number 0121 675 8411 Email address enquiry@hollyhill.bham.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . 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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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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

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School details

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

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