Chase Terrace Primary School

School report Chase Terrace Primary School Rugeley Road, Chase Terrace, Burntwood, WS7 1AH

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 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

 The headteacher, governors and staff have successfully rectified the issues identified at the last inspection. This means teaching and achievement have greatly improved and are now good throughout school.  The checking of teaching is effective and pupils who are at risk of falling behind in their work are swiftly given extra support.  As a result of good teaching, pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics, and attainment is rising in all year groups.  Support staff are skilled in supporting the learning of individuals and groups of pupils. They make a good contribution to pupils’ progress.  Children in the early years achieve well due to good teaching and activities that help them to learn effectively.  There is a calm and orderly atmosphere in school as a result of pupils’ good behaviour and good attitudes towards learning.  The school’s procedures to ensure pupils are kept safe and secure are good. Pupils say they feel safe

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

and relationships throughout school are good.  The wide range of activities, clubs, trips, visitors and chances for pupils to take responsibility contribute well to pupils’ good personal development.  Since the previous inspection, governance has improved. Governors are supportive and ask challenging questions to make sure that leaders are improving the school.  Detailed action plans show that senior leaders and governors have a good understanding what needs to be done to improve further.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils do not regularly check and redraft their writing and this reduces the quality of their written work, especially of the most able.  Pupils make spelling errors that are not corrected and so these errors persist in their work.  The outdoor environment, including resources, for the early years children does not effectively complement the indoor environment.  Pupils do not have enough opportunities to learn about people from different faiths and cultures living in Britain today.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in 18 lessons, two of which were seen jointly with the headteacher and two with the deputy headteacher.  A number of documents were examined, including assessment information about pupils’ progress, the school’s self-evaluation document and its improvement plan. Other documents included those related to the monitoring of teaching, safeguarding, behaviour and attendance.  Discussions were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, two governors, leaders of subjects, staff and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors heard pupils read, and talked to them formally and informally at break and lunchtime. Pupils’ written work in English, mathematics and their topic work was also analysed.  Account was taken of the 14 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and the 190 returns to the school’s own questionnaire administered in October 2014. Inspectors had conversations with parents

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Information about this inspection

at the start of the school day, and considered the 32 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Lois Furness, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 In this larger-than-average sized primary school, most pupils are White British.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are supported by the pupil premium is above average. This is additional government funding to support pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those that are looked after.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below average.  Early years provision is provided in a part-time Nursery class and two full-time Reception classes.  In 2014, the school met the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  The school shares its site with Little Owls, which provides pre-school education and childcare. This setting is not managed by the school and receives its own inspection report, which is published on the Ofsted

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Information about this school

website.  There have been a number of staffing changes since the last inspection and two recently qualified teachers started at the school in September 2014.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the already good teaching so more pupils make rapid progress by:  ensuring pupils, especially the most able, have regular opportunities to check and redraft and improve their writing  teachers supporting pupils in improving their spelling skills  improving the outdoor environment including resources for children in the early years.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Extend the opportunities for pupils to learn about people of different faiths and cultures living in Britain.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher, working closely with other leaders has improved the quality of teaching and learning and has ensured that all staff keep clearly focused on providing a good education for all pupils. There has been good improvement in the areas for development identified at the last inspection and the school is well placed to improve further.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s checks on its performance are thorough and accurate. The school’s actions are clearly set out in a long-term plan and this is evaluated termly to ensure that actions are on track and improvements have been made.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership of teaching is strong and the school has effective systems for managing the performance of teachers. Senior leaders monitor teachers’ work systematically and identify what they are doing well and how they could improve. Less experienced teachers are given good support. All staff have good opportunities to improve their effectiveness through training. The success of teachers in meeting their agreed targets determines whether they receive increases in pay, or promotion.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership arrangements for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs ensures that these pupils make good progress. Assessment information is used carefully to accelerate these pupils’ progress for example, by identifying when additional work should be set.

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The leadership and management are good

 Middle leaders make a strong contribution to the quality of education in the school. These leaders provide good support and advice to colleagues, and monitor teaching and pupils’ achievement effectively in their areas of responsibility. Leadership and management of the early years are good as shown by improving outcomes. The leader has plans to improve the outdoor environment including resources.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school tackles discrimination and fosters good relationships, which promotes equality of opportunity for all groups of pupils, so that they all achieve well. The additional funding received through the pupil premium is used effectively to provide additional staffing and resources to support the pupils for whom it is intended. As a result, disadvantaged pupils are making good progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 The curriculum is well planned and has been appropriately focused on the development of literacy and numeracy skills. Two new curriculum leaders have been instrumental in developing a curriculum that meets statutory requirements, is relevant to pupils and tailored to the local and wider community of Burntwood. It contributes well to pupils’ personal development including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The school’s own values of respect, determination, honesty, pride and enthusiasm ensures pupils are prepared appropriately for life in modern Britain. However, leaders recognise that more could be done to provide pupils with more opportunities to learn about people from different faiths and cultures living within Britain today.

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The leadership and management are good

 The funding to provide more sport for pupils is used well to extend the range of opportunities that the school offers. A broader range of sports clubs is now available for pupils and more opportunities to be involved in competitive matches with other schools. A sports coach works alongside teachers to develop their knowledge as well as the pupils’ physical skills...

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders’ work to ensure pupils attend the school, behave well and are safe is good. As a result of the school’s work with parents, pupils’ attendance is improving. Safeguarding procedures are implemented well and meet requirements. Parents have positive opinions of the school’s work in looking after their children.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has an accurate view of the school and has appropriately reduced its support this year as it has confidence in the leadership skills of the senior leadership team and of governors.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors are rigorous in their approach to monitoring leaders’ work and challenging them to do better. They know the school well and know the strengths and weaknesses in provision. They make good use of assessment data and of the information they have from their regular visits to the school and the headteacher’s comprehensive reports. They know the school is improving and standards overall were above those found nationally in 2014.  Governors contribute effectively to school improvement planning and to school self-evaluation. They use their expertise well to check on different aspects of the school’s work, for example the use of pupil premium and the provision for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs.  Governors are knowledgeable about the quality of teaching and how teachers’ performance is managed. They are clear that they only award salary increases when targets have been met.

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The leadership and management are good

 Governors regularly check safeguarding arrangements to make sure that they meet statutory requirements. They regard safeguarding as a priority, and have received regular and comprehensive training.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. As a result of the consistent way, teachers apply school rules and make clear their expectations, pupils behave well and get on well with each other whatever their background. In nearly all lessons pupils’ concentrate well, showing positive attitudes and a readiness to learn. They listen carefully to their teachers and this co-operation contributes to their good progress. Very occasionally, when teaching does not engage them, they lose attention and their concentration slips.

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Behaviour

 A small number of pupils join the school demonstrating challenging behaviour. The nurture groups and the afternoon study group for older pupils helps these pupils to settle so that their behaviour improves as they move through the school.

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Behaviour

 Pupils show courtesy to each other, to staff and to visitors. On the playground pupils enjoy each other’s company and play well together. They wear their uniforms smartly and are proud of their school. Pupils are keen to take on responsibilities as play leaders, librarians and house captains, for example. Movement around school is calm and orderly and pupils’ books are neat and well kept. Their topic books in particular, show how hard pupils try to present their best work.

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Behaviour

 Children in the early years gain good social skills because staff place great importance on developing these skills right from the start.

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Behaviour

 Attendance is broadly average and punctuality is improving because of the firm actions taken by leaders.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Checks to make sure that adults are able to work with children are carried out thoroughly. Staffs have completed up-to-date safeguarding training and all have signed to say they have read the Department for Education document, ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’.

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Safety

 Pupils say that they feel safe in school and almost all of the parents who responded to the Parent View questionnaire and the school’s own questionnaire agreed that their child feels safe at school.

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Safety

 Pupils say that bullying and name-calling are rare, and this is confirmed by the school’s log of incidents of bullying. Pupils know about the different forms that bullying can take and what they should do if they are worried or concerned by the actions of other pupils. They have lessons to remind them what to do to remain safe on the internet and the steps to take should they experience cyber bullying. ‘Children’s champions’ have been established to be on the lookout for any bullying behaviour during the school day.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good in reading, writing and mathematics and, as a result, pupils’ achievement has improved in the last two years. The staff have benefited from robust checks on their performance, which has developed their skills very effectively.  Throughout the school, there is a happy, calm learning environment. Teachers and support staff have strong working relationships with pupils. Praise is used well to raise pupils’ self-esteem and this means that pupils are not afraid to ‘have a go’, or make mistakes as they know adults will help them to improve. Teachers make particularly good use of probing questions to check pupils’ understanding, to correct errors and to take pupils’ learning further. This was seen in mathematics as the teacher effectively directed pupils towards using their previous knowledge of the area of shapes to find the area of a parallelogram.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants are briefed well. They make a good contribution to pupils’ learning by working very closely with teachers to ensure groups of pupils, including the most-able, engage successfully in lessons. Teaching assistants work effectively with disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs on improving particular weaknesses in their learning. They help these pupils to be fully integrated in lessons so that they can achieve as well as their classmates.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Good teaching is leading to rising attainment and good progress in reading. Regular phonics (letters and the sounds they represent) sessions have improved pupils’ early reading skills and younger pupils tackle unfamiliar words with confidence. Improved phonics skills mean pupils attempt to spell words that they need in their written work and they are often successful. However, there is no system across the school to support pupils to spell accurately. Teachers do not always correct pupils’ simple mistakes for example, ‘angel’ instead of ‘angle’ or ‘couler’ instead of ‘colour’. Consequently these errors continue.

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The quality of teaching is good

 In reading and mathematics, teachers carefully plan activities for all the different groups of pupils, based on their abilities. This means that the progress of the most-able is accelerating across the school and is good. However, in writing, scrutinies of pupils’ work show that pupils are not always given enough opportunities to check and redraft their work to improve its quality and thereby achieve the higher levels.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of feedback and guidance given to pupils through marking is effective. Pupils say it helps them to improve and they respond well, especially in mathematics to challenges and requests made by their teachers to make corrections. The many opportunities pupils have to apply their mathematics skills are influential in ensuring their good progress. However, this effective practice does not always extend to correcting spellings.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Leaders have made sure that achievement has improved over the last two years and now all groups of pupils make equally good progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children join the Nursery class with skills and abilities that are typical for their age in most areas of learning but which are weaker in communication, language and literacy. Children, including those who need extra help, get off to a good start and, in 2014, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year was close to the national average.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2014, in the National Curriculum Year 6 assessments, attainment was high in mathematics and writing, and average in reading and the grammar, punctuation and spelling test. The proportion of pupils who had reached the levels expected of their age and so were ready for their secondary education was 93%, which is much higher than the national average. This attainment represents good progress in all subjects from the levels they achieved in Key Stage 1. Current assessment information show that progress across the school is good for all groups of pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 At the end of Year 2, there has been a rising trend in attainment over time, and attainment was average in reading, writing and mathematics in 2014. The proportion of pupils achieving the expected level in the Year 1 phonics screening check in 2014, was below average, and showed a decline from the previous year when it was above average. In 2015 however, phonics achievement is expected to improve and return to the level of 2013.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Current assessment information shows that most-able pupils are challenged appropriately and achieve well. However, fewer pupils attain the higher levels in writing compared with reading and mathematics. This year the proportion of pupils attaining Level 5 is expected to rise in both these subjects, making the gap with writing even wider. Although pupils are able to write at length in a range of different styles, the most-able pupils do not have enough opportunities to redraft their work to add quality and flair.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils are making good progress in mathematics. Reflecting the school’s recent emphasis on problem solving. Pupils are developing secure skills in this area of their mathematics. They clearly enjoy this subject and their books show that they have an equally good understanding of all aspects of mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 By the time they leave the school, most pupils read confidently and with understanding. They speak with enthusiasm about their reading and the range of authors that teachers have introduced to them.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs receive good targeted support from teachers and teaching assistants, both in lessons and in individual and small-group sessions. This support meets their needs well and ensures their good progress. Overall, their progress is similar to that of other groups of pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2014, the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 was behind that of their classmates by approximately three terms in reading and one and a half terms in writing and mathematics. In comparison to other pupils nationally, their attainment was approximately one term behind in mathematics, two terms in reading and half a term in writing. This information shows that the gap has narrowed in mathematics and writing since 2013, but has widened in reading. In comparison with other pupils nationally, disadvantaged pupils made similar rates of progress in reading and writing, but in mathematics, progress was higher than others nationally.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Data currently in school shows that disadvantaged pupils make the same good progress as their classmates in reading, writing and mathematics, and the gaps between their attainment and the others are narrowing in all subjects.

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The early years provision is good

 Leadership and management of the early years are good. The early years leader plans good opportunities for parents to contribute to their children’s learning and communication between home and school is good. During the inspection, a reading workshop was well attended and parents said how much they appreciated sessions such as this, which showed them how to help their children at home. Parents say their children are well cared for and safe in school

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The early years provision is good

 Children make good progress overall from their starting points on entry to Nursery. The good progress seen in Nursery continues into Reception. Assessment information and the work that children are doing shows that a higher proportion of children are on track to reach a good level of development in 2015, and children are well prepared to start Year 1.

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The early years provision is good

 Teaching is good and daily well-planned teaching sessions are building children’s skills in a systematic way. Most children count and recognise numbers to 20 and beyond, and most are using letter sounds in their early reading and writing activities. Adults ensure that there are good opportunities for children to answer questions and contribute to class discussions. As a result, children’s speaking skills are developing strongly. They speak confidently with adults and their friends.

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The early years provision is good

 The early years classrooms are attractive and resources are available to support all areas of learning. The rain forest areas are particularly inviting encouraging children to use cameras, magnifying glasses and binoculars when exploring the forest. However, the outdoor area is dull and uninspiring. Activities are often the same as those done in the indoor classroom, for example colouring in a picture, and do not extend children’s skills. The early years leader is aware of this and plans are in place to improve outdoor learning.

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The early years provision is good

 Children are clearly happy at school, as shown by their enthusiasm when ordering numbers to 20 on a washing line, explaining that this is a ‘real challenge’. They behave well, listen attentively and concentrate for a good length of time. They enjoy their learning. Children get on well together, play fairly, take turns and share. Children are taught in a safe environment and all welfare and safety regulations for the early years are fully met.

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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 124207 Local authority Staffordshire Inspection number 462557

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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 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 323 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Diane Evans Headteacher Gordon McBurnie Date of previous school inspection 27 June 2013 Telephone number 01543 510500 Fax number Not available Email address office@chaseterrace-primary.staffs.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

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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