Grappenhall Heys Community Primary School

Grappenhall Heys Community Primary School Stansfield Drive, Appleton, Grappenhall Heys, Warrington, Cheshire, WA4 3EA

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Outstanding 1 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Early years provision Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The recently appointed headteacher has successfully inspired governors and staff at every level to strive for improvement. She has high aspirations that have enabled the school to continue to achieve the best for its pupils. At the same time she is providing clarity of vision on how to improve still further.  The impact of all leaders on the quality of teaching and pupil achievement is outstanding. They make good use of information about progress in reading, writing and mathematics to ensure that all pupils achieve exceptionally well.  Outstanding teaching stimulates and engages pupils so they enjoy learning. They develop excellent personal skills and qualities.  Pupils make outstanding progress from their starting points. By the time they leave Year 6 they consistently attain significantly above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics.  Disadvantaged, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are extremely well

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

provided for and as a result, they achieve well.  The governing body is highly effective in supporting and challenging leaders. Governors make an outstanding contribution to the work of the school.  Skilful teaching assistants make an extremely strong contribution to pupils’ progress. They know exactly what pupils need to learn and support different groups of pupils highly effectively.  In the early years, most children make exceptional progress. They leave the Reception class well prepared for Year 1. Even so some boys in the early years and in Key Stage 1 do not always do as well as girls in reading and writing.  The exciting curriculum instils in pupils a love of learning and the curiosity to constantly find out about new things. Careful planning ensures that pupils have a range of exciting experiences both in and outside the classroom.  Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary in lessons and around the school. Pupils are polite and courteous

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

and have extremely positive attitudes to their learning.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is exemplary. Pupils report that they feel safe in school and have learnt how to keep themselves safe when out of school. Attendance is well above average.  Parents speak highly of the school. They are confident in the school’s ability to keep their children safe and happy.

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Information about this inspection

 Learning was observed in a range of lessons throughout the school. Two observations were made jointly, one with the headteacher and one with the deputy headteacher. In addition, inspectors listened to pupils read in Year 1 and Year 5.  Inspectors discussed the school’s work with members of staff, pupils, the governing body and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors observed the school at work and looked at a range of documentation, including that relating to the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures, information about pupils’ progress and attainment, the school’s judgement of its own performance and the school development plan.  Inspectors examined pupils’ work on display and in their exercise books.  Inspectors spoke to 18 parents at the start of the school day or after school. They took account of the 101 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and 154 responses to the school’s own survey of the

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Information about this inspection

views of parents. Inspectors also took account of the 30 responses to the staff questionnaire completed during the inspection.  The headteacher took up her post at the school in January 2015. Some staff have been at the school since it opened and some are new to the school within the last two years.

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Inspection team

Gillian Hunter, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is an average-sized primary school.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils, those supported by the pupil premium, is well below average. The pupil premium is additional government funding to provide support for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and for those looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is average.  The large majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  Pupils attend nursery on a part-time basis, either mornings or afternoons, with a small number who pay for additional hours and attend full time. Pupils attend the Reception class on a full-time basis.  The school met the government’s current floor standards in 2014, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  The school provides a breakfast club before school and an after-school club and activities for pupils during

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further accelerate the progress of boys in the early years and in Key Stage 1 so their attainment in reading and writing is more closely matched to that of girls.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The recently appointed headteacher is continuing to inspire governors and staff to improve this outstanding school even further. She has the highest aspirations for all pupils and every member of staff. She has a clear and strong vision of how to improve standards still further.  Leaders, governors, parents and staff expect the very best for every pupil. They promote a strong sense of teamwork where everyone is valued. Pupils are known as individuals and all staff make sure that discrimination is not tolerated and everyone is treated equally and fully involved in the life of the school.  Senior and middle leaders keep a very close check on the quality of teaching and pupils’ learning and welfare. The information they gather is used to agree precise areas for improvement and staff respond to changes quickly. As a result, pupils’ achievement continues to be exceptional in all subjects. However,

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The leadership and management are outstanding

some boys in the early years and in Key Stage 1 do not always do as well as girls in reading and writing.  Subject leaders make a highly effective contribution to the school’s ongoing development. They ensure that pupils experience a wide range of exciting and stimulating opportunities through the rich and well- balanced curriculum, which contributes extremely well to pupils’ learning. There are many opportunities to study across a wide range of subjects both in and out of the classroom.  There are excellent relationships and respect between pupils with differing needs and backgrounds. Pupils accept differing viewpoints and beliefs of people in the school and within society. They also understand about fairness and the rules needed to keep people safe. They are well prepared for life in modern Britain and make excellent progress in their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  All students have equality of opportunity to fulfil their academic and personal potential.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The pupil premium funding is used well for additional resources and staffing. The progress made by disadvantaged pupils is closely monitored and, as a result, they make the same outstanding progress as other pupils.  The leadership of the provision for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is a strength. Pupils’ needs are identified quickly and swift action is taken. Pupils whose circumstances might make them vulnerable are supported extremely well.  The primary sport funding is spent well to enrich and extend pupils’ learning and development in physical education lessons and also through the range of sporting activities available to pupils during and after school. A variety of resources are available for pupils who want to be active on the playground. Pupils enjoy opportunities to participate in a wide range of sporting clubs and activities including karate, multi- sports, gymnastics, tennis and many more.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. They feel well informed and fully involved in the life of the school.  The local authority recognises the many strengths in the school and provides appropriate ‘light touch’ support because it is confident the school will continue to provide an outstanding education for all.  The governance of the school:  Governors have an excellent understanding of the performance of the school and are ambitious to improve it even further. Members of the governing body, including the Chair of the Governing Body, have undergone a thorough audit of their skills. They are making sure that continued training and development are focused particularly on individual and group needs and interests. Governors offer strong support and rigorous challenge to the headteacher.  Governors visit the school frequently and know its strengths and areas for improvement. They have a

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The leadership and management are outstanding

very clear understanding of the quality of teaching and rigorously check how teachers’ performance is managed. They fully understand how to reward good teaching and tackle any underperformance.  Governors fully understand the school’s data on pupils’ progress and attainment. They use this information to check that funding is used well to achieve the best results for pupils. Governors check the impact of pupil premium funding and sport funding regularly to confirm that pupils are benefiting.  Governors work closely with parents and seek out their views on a regular basis.  All legal requirements for safeguarding are met. Governors make sure that procedures to safeguard pupils’ welfare are managed well and reviewed regularly to make certain that everyone is safe and secure.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. It is exemplary in classrooms and at other times including play times, lunchtimes and in before and after-school activities.  From an early age, pupils learn about the need for tolerance of different beliefs and cultures. This ensures that they develop positive relationships with their classmates and others in the school. School staff set an excellent example in promoting British values of tolerance, acceptance and fairness, which pupils follow readily. This leads to excellent relationships in this exciting school community.  Pupils consistently demonstrate outstanding attitudes to learning. They show great respect for each other, their teachers and other adults by always paying attention and listening in lessons. Pupils speak confidently to express their ideas or to ask questions to improve their understanding. Pupils work with enthusiasm and diligence and consistently strive to reach the high expectations by working hard.

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Behaviour

 Pupils have opportunities to contribute to the running of the school. They readily take on responsibilities such as school councillors, eco club leaders and safety officers.  Attendance is above average and records are very carefully monitored to ensure continual improvement. Pupils are punctual to school and to their classes.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding.  Excellent pastoral care ensures every pupil is well known to staff and so they are quick to spot any changes in behaviour or learning. Extremely effective systems are in place to respond to pupils’ changing needs. Adjustments are made rapidly to provision in order to meet the needs of each individual.  All pupils who were spoken with said that they felt safe and are confident that adults in school will look after them. They have a well-developed ability to assess risk and say that they have been taught about potentially unsafe situations including the dangers of the internet and social media. Pupils know how to respond to situations in order to stay safe.  Pupils have a very clear understanding of different types of bullying and are well aware of the issues associated with bullying including prejudice-based bullying. They say that there are no problems at the

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Safety

school and bullying is very rare; however, they would know who to go to if they had any concerns. The school has detailed plans in place to ensure that swift action is taken if any bullying occurs.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The headteacher and deputy headteacher continue to drive sustained improvement in the quality of teaching through rigorous monitoring and excellent support to develop the skills of teachers and other staff.  The quality of teaching is outstanding, because teachers have the highest expectations of what pupils can achieve. They provide work that is at just the right level of difficulty and this ensures that all pupils including the most able pupils make exceptional progress.  Teachers have excellent subject knowledge and skilfully question pupils to assess their learning and understanding throughout lessons. They carefully assess pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics and adapt their teaching to ensure that concepts and skills are fully understood.  Pupils learn and develop their skills rapidly because their teachers track progress regularly and accurately in lessons and move them quickly onto what they need to learn next. Pupils are encouraged to check their

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

own learning because they have clear targets that they fully understand and these are regularly reviewed.  The impact of teaching on pupils’ reading skills is strong. Pupils are regularly encouraged to read different types of books, which stimulates their interest. Many pupils become accurate and fluent readers from an early age. This is because they have been encouraged to develop a love of reading and talk about the books and authors that they have read at home and at school.  Teachers inspire pupils with exciting experiences and ensure that they have frequent opportunities to write. They also provide a stimulating range of resources to support learning and give pupils plenty of opportunities to share their ideas and to learn from each other.  There are exceptionally high expectations of what pupils can achieve in mathematics. For example, during the inspection, Year 6 pupils made great gains in solving very complex algebraic problems by responding

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

to the teacher’s questions through discussion with a partner. Pupils were excited by the challenges and worked hard together to suggest solutions and ways of working. Their enthusiasm was high so they worked quickly and with good concentration to meet the high challenges set by their teacher.  Teachers give clear and timely feedback to pupils and also mark their work very carefully. They give pupils helpful guidance on how to improve their work. Pupils respond quickly to improve their work even further.  Teaching assistants are skilful and are used well to support pupils in their learning. They engage and challenge pupils to improve and make progress, including disabled pupils, those who have special educational needs and those who speak English as an additional language.  Positive relationships, together with attractive displays of pupils’ work in classrooms and corridors, contribute to a very stimulating atmosphere for learning across the whole school. These displays also

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

demonstrate the high levels of pupils’ achievements in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The performance of Year 6 pupils in English and mathematics was significantly above the national average in 2014, sustaining the school’s long record of high performance. Pupils currently in Year 6 are on course to reach similar standards. This represents sustained and outstanding progress from their significantly above average starting points at the end of Year 2.  The proportion of pupils making more than the progress expected of them was significantly above the national average in writing and mathematics. It was average in reading because fewer pupils reached the highest Level 6 in this subject. The school has taken rapid action to address this.  Pupils’ reading skills, including their knowledge of phonics (the sounds that letters make), are well developed from an early age. Those who do not reach the expected standard by the end of Year 1 are well supported to catch up by the end of Year 2. Reading skills develop rapidly, because pupils are

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

encouraged and expected to read widely at school and at home for information and for pleasure.  By the end of Year 2, pupils overall reach standards significantly above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. However, the achievement of boys lags behind that of girls in phonics, reading and writing in the early years and by the end of Key Stage 1.  The most able pupils achieve particularly well at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. A significantly higher proportion of pupils than nationally, achieve high levels in English and mathematics. In Year 6 in 2014, for example, three- quarters of pupils achieved the higher Level 5 in mathematics and reading and two-thirds of all pupils achieved Level 5 in writing. Outstanding teaching helps some pupils to achieve the highest Level 6 especially in mathematics and writing. Pupils receive exceptional teaching in specialist sessions. As a result, in 2014 nearly a quarter of pupils attained the highest Level 6 in mathematics and almost one-

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

fifth in writing. Some pupils are studying at Level 7. There are strong links with the local secondary school and good sharing of expertise across both schools.  Disadvantaged pupils also make outstanding progress. Pupil premium funding has been used well to close the gaps in attainment and progress between disadvantaged pupils and others in the school, and non- disadvantaged pupils nationally. Their attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is well above that of non-disadvantaged pupils nationally by almost a year ahead, and is about half a term ahead of their classmates in these subjects.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make excellent progress from their starting points. This is because the education provided by the school meets their needs exceptionally well.  Pupils achieve very well across a range of subjects, including in music, art, drama and sport.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Children join Nursery with skills that are just above those expected for their age. They make excellent progress from their starting points and this prepares them well for Year 1. The proportion of children who reach or exceed a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year is well above the national average. Some boys do not always do as well as girls in reading and writing by the time they enter Year 1.  In the Reception Year, a good proportion of children write long and descriptive sentences, which are punctuated correctly with capital letters and full stops.  Staff ensure that children learn in a fun and exciting environment. Activities are meticulously planned to ensure that children have the maximum chances to succeed. Teaching is outstanding and adults are skilled at asking questions and guiding children to develop the strategies to answer their own questions.  Children are confident learners. They take delight in their work and respond with enthusiasm to the range

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The early years provision is outstanding

of activities that are offered. Children’s behaviour is outstanding because they understand what is expected of them. Children have a clear understanding of how to keep themselves and others safe.  Parents are delighted with the progress their children are making and frequently share with staff their child’s learning at home. Parents are encouraged to come into class and demonstrate their talents, and this contributes to the rich curriculum on offer.  The leadership and management of the early years are excellent. The leader has created a culture where very effective learning can flourish. Her high expectations ensure that children derive the maximum benefit from each activity.

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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 132768 Local authority Warrington Inspection number 461591

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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 233 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mike Lawton Headteacher Kelly Jackson Date of previous school inspection 5 July 2007 Telephone number 01925 212540 Fax number 01925 212542 Email address grappenhallheys_primary_head@warrington.gov.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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