Setting

Andrew Moore-Stow Headteacher Al-Furqan Primary School Reddings Lane Tyseley Birmingham B11 3EY

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School

Following my visit to your school on 24 April 2015, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in November 2014. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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School

Senior leaders and members of the Interim Executive Board are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. The school should take further action to:

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School

 ensure teachers in Key Stage 2 provide pupils with sufficiently challenging activities, especially in mathematics and ‘guided reading’ sessions  strengthen the systems for checking the work of staff, particularly in Key Stage 2, so that weaknesses in teaching are identified quickly and swift action is taken to improve the practice of individual teachers.

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with you, the deputy headteacher, and the assistant headteachers to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. I also met with representatives from the Interim Executive Board (IEB), the executive headteacher of Bournville Junior Teaching School Alliance, who is also a National Leader in Education, and the headteacher of Perdiswell Primary School, who is also a 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 9153 Direct email : naik.sandhu@serco.com Local Leader in Education. A telephone discussion was held with a local authority representative. The school improvement plan was evaluated. A range of documentation was reviewed including the information about pupils’ achievement, feedback to teachers following lesson observations and reviews of pupils’ work. You,

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Evidence

the deputy headteacher and the headteacher of Perdiswell Primary School joined me on brief visits to some classes. We talked to pupils about their learning and looked at examples of pupils’ work.

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Context

The school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in November 2014. Since this inspection seven teachers have left and four new teachers have been appointed. You are in the process of reorganising the responsibilities of senior and middle leaders. Last term, the local authority arranged for staff and leaders from Bournville Junior Teaching School Alliance and Perdiswell Primary School to start supporting leaders and staff at Al-Furqan.

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Main findings

You and other senior leaders have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and priorities for improvement. Information about pupils’ achievement and work in pupils’ books confirm that rates of progress are accelerating in Reception and Key Stage 1. Pupils’ progress in Key Stage 2 is improving more steadily. It has been hampered by changes in class teachers. Staffing has now stabilised. Consequently, pupils in Years 3 to 6 are making faster progress than in the recent past. Nevertheless, you acknowledge that further work is required to ensure more rapid progress in Key Stage 2, and to ensure teachers help the most able pupils reach the standards of which they are capable.

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Main findings

The feedback that you and other senior leaders give to teachers following lesson observations and reviews of pupils’ work has improved. This feedback is helpful because it clearly identifies how teachers can help pupils make faster progress. However, the frequency with which senior leaders check teaching in Key Stage 2 is not enabling them to identify and respond to weaknesses in teaching quickly enough. Consequently, teaching although improving, remains inconsistent.

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Main findings

Actions taken to improve pupils’ writing are having a particularly beneficial impact. Pupils are writing regularly and increasingly using punctuation and grammar correctly. They are also enjoying writing about different themes. Pupils in Year 2 were keen to show me their writing about plants in the rainforest. Work in pupils’ books shows that teachers do not always ensure that mathematical and reading activities provide pupils in Key Stage 2 with enough challenge.

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Main findings

During our brief visits to lessons, we observed pupils enjoying their activities and behaving well. Pupils in Year 4 were particularly keen to tell me about their ‘Roman tuck-shop’. They explained that the ‘shop’ only contained food available during Roman times and that everything was priced using Roman numerals.

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Main findings

Teachers’ marking has improved. Pupils told me that they find the use of ‘green and yellow’ highlighters helpful because it helps them to see what they have done well and what could be improved. Teachers are getting better at providing pupils with the guidance needed to correct errors. Presentation of pupils’ work is improving, most noticeably in Reception and Years 1, 2 and 6.

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Main findings

You and other senior leaders are providing the IEB with pertinent information. This is enabling them to provide you and other senior leaders with an appropriate level of support and challenge. You are working well with members of the IEB to increase the involvement of parents in the work of the school and to establish a ‘Parents’ Forum’.

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Main findings

The school’s improvement plan is appropriately focused on raising pupils’ achievement and improving teaching. The plan includes measurable outcomes. This is helping members of the IEB to check the impact of actions on pupils’ learning and teaching. Although the plan makes clear who will check teaching, it does not make clear how often and when these checks will take place.

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Main findings

Ofsted may carry out further monitoring inspections and, where necessary, provide further support and challenge to the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The local authority has arranged for your school to receive a suitable level of support from Bournville Junior Teaching School Alliance and Perdiswell Primary. This support is contributing to improvements in leadership, teaching, and pupils’ progress. It is also giving teachers the chance to learn from successful practice. The IEB, in partnership with the school’s local authority adviser, is providing senior leaders with effective support in relation to the issues relating to the school’s finances and buildings.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Interim Executive Board, the Director of Children’s Services for Birmingham local authroity.

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