Greenbank Primary School

Greenbank Primary School Mossley Avenue, Liverpool, Merseyside, L18 1JB

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher provides an ambitious vision for the school that is successfully communicated to all members of staff and the governing body.  Achievement and teaching have improved since the last inspection and school leaders have the capacity to sustain this trend.  Children make good progress in the early years. They join Year 1 well prepared to build on these foundations.  Pupils of all abilities make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics and in other subjects. They are well motivated and keen to learn.  Teaching is good. Teachers have high expectations and plan stimulating lessons.  Behaviour and the school’s work to keep pupils safe are good. Pupils enjoy their lessons and are well cared for in a supportive environment that encourages them to try their best.  The curriculum is broad and well planned and successfully fosters pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Extra sporting and

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

cultural activities give pupils valuable opportunities in which they are enthusiastic to take part.  The governing body supports and challenges the school’s performance robustly.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The highest levels of challenge are not always offered to pupils, including the most able.  Pupils do not consistently write well when tasks are more demanding and require writing of greater length and depth.  Middle leaders do not yet make full use of all the available information about pupils’ performance to plan and monitor teaching in their subject areas.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching across the school. This included observing small groups or one-to-one sessions designed to give a specific boost to learning. Several observations were conducted jointly with senior leaders. Inspectors also looked at pupils’ work in books, folders, school displays and photographic records. They also listened to pupils reading.  Inspectors met with senior and middle leaders, including the special educational needs coordinator and those leading the teaching for different subjects.  There were meetings with six governors, including the Chair and vice-chair of the Governing Body and governors with specific areas of responsibility. There was a meeting with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors met groups of pupils, talked to members of the school’s pupil council and took other opportunities to speak informally with pupils.  Inspectors took account of the 45 responses made to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey of parental

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Information about this inspection

opinion, as well as the school’s own surveys. Inspectors spoke informally to a number of parents. They also considered the views of members of staff who completed the Ofsted questionnaire.  Inspectors examined a wide range of documents and records covering the work of the school. These included information about pupils’ progress and attainment, plans for improvement, records relating to pupil safety and documents summarising the quality of teaching.

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Inspection team

Paul Copping, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a much larger than average primary school.  The proportion of disabled pupils or those with special educational needs is average.  The proportion of disadvantaged, those pupils for whom the pupil premium provides support, is much greater than the national average. The pupil premium is additional government funding to support pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is much greater than the national average.  The proportion of pupils whose first language is not believed to be English is much larger than the national average.  The school provides part-time places in its Nursery class and full-time places in its Reception class.  The local authority uses the school’s practice in the early years as a model in supporting other schools.  In 2014, the school met the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  The school occasionally makes use of the Primary Education Centre run by the local authority to provide short-term and long-term placements for pupils with exceptional behavioural needs.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 To raise pupils’ achievement further by continuing to improve the quality of teaching through:  further developing the sharing of the best practice in the school amongst all teachers  promoting pupils’ confidence to write at length and in depth  enhancing the role of middle leaders, so that they have full command of the information about progress that they need to be effective in monitoring the quality of teaching in their subjects  ensuring that high levels of challenge are consistently available to pupils, including the most able.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher’s high expectations and clear and effective planning for continued improvement are shared by other senior leaders and governors and this motivates members of staff at all levels. In this increasingly popular school, parents express great confidence in the leaders.  School leaders have implemented a comprehensive programme of training to improve teaching. Teachers are coached effectively, both to improve their own practice and to share it with their colleagues. Several have been given high level, university-linked training to allow them to become specialists in subject areas, including mathematics and science. Teachers new to teaching receive a meticulously-planned induction that provides a secure foundation for their professional development. Teaching assistants receive training that is well matched to their roles. School leaders have set the bar high in what they expect from all

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The leadership and management are good

members of staff.  Middle leaders are enthusiastic and growing in their abilities to manage their areas of responsibility. They have a firm grasp of the needs of individual pupils but do not yet have command of the over-arching data about pupils’ progress that will give them full authority in driving improvement in their subject areas.  School leaders have an accurate view of the strengths and weaknesses in the school because it is securely based on the evidence of how well all pupils are progressing in their learning. They took rapid and decisive action to rectify the dip in performance in the 2014 national tests and they continue to implement innovative programmes further to improve pupils’ progress.  Leaders make full use of external advice to check that they are accurate in their assessment of how well pupils are learning, including that from their local authority adviser, who knows the school well. The local

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The leadership and management are good

authority also offers governors valuable training options and provides effective support and challenge to school leaders.  The quality of teaching is closely monitored. Good performance management means that teachers’ advancement on the salary scale is rigorously checked and determined by the progress being made by their pupils.  The school is a culturally and ethnically diverse community. Drawing actively on the rich resource that this represents, equal opportunities are promoted vigorously and successfully, with all faiths accorded equal value. The school’s programme of assemblies encourages an appreciation of different ways of life. Any discrimination is combated effectively. Parents confirm that the school is a highly inclusive community.  Statutory safeguarding requirements are met. Procedures are highly effective, comprehensive and meticulously maintained with enhanced features to take account of the additional needs of a few pupils

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The leadership and management are good

who have exceptional needs in managing their behaviour. Members of staff are trained to a very high standard.  Pupil premium funding is directed efficiently to provide additional resources that help disadvantaged pupils to catch up. One-to-one teaching by skilled staff and other interventions are effective in closing gaps between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and that of non-disadvantaged pupils. School leaders and governors monitor provision well to ensure that pupils benefit fully from the extra investment.  The curriculum is broad and balanced. Reading, writing and mathematics are central to it and promoted across many subjects. When writing about the Second World War, Year 6 pupils produce work showing empathy for the subject matter. The curriculum has been extended by the use of specialist members of staff and visiting teachers. The teaching of German prepared the present Year 6 pupils well for their

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The leadership and management are good

residential visit to the country. Children are now taught Spanish and this begins early in the school. A whole-school project in which all pupils and their families were required to respond to a rocket that had ‘landed’ in the playground, advanced learning across many areas.  The school is very purposeful and focused in preparing pupils for life in modern Britain and promotes their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Adults in the school model high standards of behaviour and civilised relationships; pupils emulate this. Those pupils who are elected by their classmates to membership of the school council take their responsibilities very seriously because they know their suggestions for changes in the school are fully considered and sometimes implemented. The school maintains a significant investment in instrumental tuition, offering high value, individual lessons for a wide range of instruments. This is subsidised to ensure equality of opportunity for disadvantaged pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 The additional funding for sports and physical education is = used well. The school draws on expertise across the Liverpool Schools’ Sports Partnership, of which it is a member, to assist in its planning. The proportion of pupils participating in after-school clubs is high and this make a strong contribution to their health and well-being. Other clubs are available to pupils, include one for chess.  The achievement and attendance of any pupils who attend the Primary Education Centre are carefully checked. Their behaviour and safety is good and monitored via regular and frequent liaison between the school and the centre. The school plans well with other agencies to ensure that the best outcomes are achieved for pupils.  The governance of the school:  School governors know their school well and are ambitious for its continued improvement. They undertake regular training, including that to improve their ability to interpret the data about pupils’

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The leadership and management are good

performance. Minutes of the governing body meetings show that governors are well informed about how well all groups of pupils are learning and ask searching questions of school leaders, fully holding them to account. They utilise this good knowledge of pupils’ achievement to maintain a careful overview of teachers’ performance and exactly how teachers are rewarded by progression on the pay scale.  Governors maintain a close watch on all aspects of school finance and their clear grasp of the school’s priorities allows them to check that school spending is appropriately directed. Governors scrutinise the pupil premium spending to check that it has the intended impact in reducing under-performance by disadvantaged pupils.  The governing body has audited the skills of its members and has achieved a broad and balanced mix that brings wide experience to bear on school plans. They review policies regularly and check they are

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The leadership and management are good

of a sufficient standard. The school’s safeguarding policy, for example, is a model of comprehensiveness and clarity.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They are keen to come to school and they enjoy their lessons. When what they are learning requires them to cooperate even more than usual, in drama or in physical education, they do so enthusiastically. They encourage and support and give each other the confidence to try exciting new things.  Pupils apply themselves well and take pride in their work. Even the youngest pupils try hard to present their work neatly. All pupils are keen to show their work to visitors. They are proud of their school uniforms and pleased to take on responsibilities, such as membership of the school council or acting as ‘buddies’ to other pupils in the playground.  Conduct around the school is of a high standard. Pupils are courteous beyond their years, holding doors open for each other and visitors and meticulously expressing thanks. Breaktimes and lunchtimes are orderly and civilised. In the playground, pupils enjoy boisterous play, but such things as turn-taking are

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Behaviour

carefully respected.  The school’s work to improve the behaviour of the few pupils who are distracted or persistently inattentive is highly successful. The skilful support of teaching assistants has contributed strongly to this. The school’s records for the small number of incidents of poor behaviour show that they are responded to fully and in a way calculated to minimise the chance of any repetition

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Senior leaders and governors are meticulous in their monitoring of safety in their school. Policies and procedures are of the highest standard and fully take account of the specialised needs of a few pupils.  Appropriate to their ages, pupils appreciate potential risks in everyday life. They have an understanding of the different types of bullying and the care necessary when using the internet. Pupils are clear about the harmonious character of their own school community. Year 6 pupils said that its culturally diverse character was one of the reasons that they like it. Pupils confirm that incidents of bullying are very rare. They have total confidence that, should they witness any bullying, it would be swiftly dealt with by the adults around them, whom they find very approachable.  Attendance has been too low in the past but has improved and is now average. Punctuality is good. The

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Safety

school works closely with pupils’ families to tackle any non-attendance and makes effective use of support and advice from other agencies. Case studies provided by the school amply confirmed the determination with which the school supports and challenges families to achieve the highest possible attendance for their children.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve. They create a friendly and purposeful atmosphere in their classrooms. They successfully encourage pupils to work hard and to take pride in what they do.  Teachers have good knowledge of their pupils. Typically, they use this knowledge to plan stimulating lessons. In a few instances, teachers do not ensure that tasks set are sufficiently challenging for all pupils. For example, the most able pupils occasionally finish tasks quickly without having the immediate requirement to move on to something else that requires them to think more deeply and make even better progress.  A very large majority of lessons are stimulating and engaging for pupils. Teachers ensure that key skills are practised in many contexts. When studying science, pupils are required to move briskly from highly practical activities, from manipulating materials when creating a river system from sand, to producing e-

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The quality of teaching is good

books to record their discoveries, practising their writing and information and communication technology skills.  The pupil premium funding for disadvantaged students provides additional, small-group and individual teaching that is accurately targeted at pupils’ areas of weakness and carefully reviewed to check that their progress is being accelerated.  The teaching of literacy is good. Pupils are given a thorough grounding in phonics (letters and the sounds that they make) from the early years onwards and teachers maintain scrupulous attention to how pupils use these skills throughout the school. The school’s relentless drive to embed both reading skills and a love of reading means that pupils of all abilities become enthusiastic readers.  From the early years, children learn to handle a pen and pencil in the most efficient way and handwriting develops from secure foundations. Older pupils increasingly write in styles appropriate to different topics

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The quality of teaching is good

and audiences. Year 5 pupils, for example, write in an exactly-judged diary style. Writing skills are given additional priority across the curriculum and are supported by intensive planning because school leaders accurately identified this as an area of relative weakness for pupils.  Mathematics is well taught. In Year 2, for example, pupils used accurate technical language when solving division problems expressed in words. In Year 5, the most able pupils are confident in using the lowest common multiple to order fractions and are able to explain their methodology clearly to each other.  Teaching assistants are well directed by teachers and fully integrated into lesson planning. They are an additional authoritative voice in the classroom, demonstrating good subject knowledge. They are skilled in their work with the few pupils who show the most challenging behaviour and play a significant role in

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The quality of teaching is good

ensuring that they continue to participate as fully as possible in lessons.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils of all abilities and from all groups make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. From below-average starting points in Year 1, pupils achieve close to national standards by the end of Year 2. In Key Stage 2, pupils continue to make good progress. Results in the 2014 Year 6 national tests, showed pupils attaining just below the national average, a decline from the previous year. This followed a steady trend of improvement from 2011. The proportion of pupils achieving higher levels in their Year 6 tests is increasing: the number doing so in mathematics was above the national average in 2014. School records and inspectors’ scrutiny of pupils’ work indicate strong improvement this year.  Pupils respond to the school’s vigorous approach to encouraging reading. They express a lively interest in books. Phonics skills are second nature to pupils, including weaker readers, and they tackle unfamiliar

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The achievement of pupils is good

words with confidence. The proportion of pupils that meets the expected level in the Year 1 phonics check is higher than average. By Year 6, a large majority of pupils are fluent readers. The most able read with close attention to punctuation in all its nuances and match their style of reading individually to a text.  Pupils make good progress in their writing. They write imaginatively in different contexts. Year 1 pupils make use of carefully structured guidance to produce well-sequenced stories. The most able pupils make a good choice of adjectives. Year 3 pupils write vividly and imaginatively about space exploration, using similes and metaphorical language. Pupils begin to practise their grammar and punctuation early in the school and it is used to a good standard by older pupils to write formally. The ability to write at length and more deeply without the close support of teachers is being promoted strongly by the school but a few

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The achievement of pupils is good

pupils are not yet confident in doing this.  Pupils achieve well in mathematics. Younger pupils utilise key facts such as number bonds and multiplication tables efficiently in calculations. Year 6 pupils show good command of the principles of shape, measure and negative problems and are able to apply them to a range of problems.  In the 2014 national tests in mathematics, disadvantaged pupils were about two terms behind other pupils nationally and other pupils in the school. In reading, the difference was just under two terms behind other pupils nationally and other pupils in the school. In writing, the gap was just over two terms below other pupils nationally and others in the school. Gaps in achievement are continuing to close and inspectors saw improved progress in the work of disadvantaged students during the inspection.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress in reading, writing and

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The achievement of pupils is good

mathematics from what are often very low starting points. Frequent accurate checking of their needs and close support to their learning help them to improve at a good rate.  The most able pupils usually achieve well and the proportion attaining the highest grades is increasing. However, they could make even better progress if they were set harder tasks.

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The early years provision is good

 The early years provision is well led and managed. A well-organised, stimulating environment has been created that gives children the opportunity to discover many things for themselves and reinforces creative play and learning.  A very large majority of children enter the Nursery class with a level of development below that expected for their age. They make good progress in the early years and achieve well. Therefore most of them are well prepared for Year 1.  The early years staff quickly and accurately identify the gaps in children’s learning, following good induction procedures and thorough liaison with families. Most of the children have communication and language skills that are at an earlier stage of development than is typical for their age. Teachers tackle this gap skilfully in order to provide a secure foundation for the development of literacy. Disadvantaged children progress well. They make particularly good gains in acquiring language and communication skills.

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The early years provision is good

 Teaching is good. Basic phonic skills are carefully taught to encourage early reading. There is effective promotion of the physical skills that allow children to be comfortable in handling a pencil and a pen and this allows the acquisition of writing skills to accelerate.  Children’s behaviour is good and their safety is promoted well. They feel safe and their parents confirm this. Full account is taken of the very poor communication skills of a very small minority of children and members of staff are skilled in ensuring that their needs are understood. This allows any anxieties to be tackled even where children find it difficult to articulate them.  Reading and writing skills are well taught. The children’s ‘Learning Journey’ books record growing success in writing simple sentences. The most able children begin to attempt stories, well-equipped to do so because of the rich diet of stories and imaginative play they have experienced in the early years.

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The early years provision is good

 Mathematical skills are well taught. Children develop an increasingly secure knowledge of concepts, such as more than/less than. They practise number bonds indoors and out using different media and grow steadily in confidence.  The accuracy achieved by the school in assessing the progress children make in the early years is acknowledged locally and it fulfils a leading role in supporting other schools.

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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 133332 Local authority Liverpool Inspection number 461723

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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 470 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair M Bentovim Headteacher Debra Wrigley Date of previous school inspection 18 January 2012 Telephone number 0151 522 5748 Fax number 0151 522 5749 Email address greenbank-ao@greenbank.liverpool.sch.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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