Peatmoor Community Primary School

Peatmoor Community Primary School Pepperbox Hill, Peatmoor, Swindon, SN5 5DP

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected as an academy Select This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Early years provision Requires improvement 3

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

 Provision in the early years provision does not ensure all children make good progress.  Groups of pupils, including the disabled and those who have special educational needs, do not always make good enough progress.  Sometimes teachers do not provide pupils with work at the right level. Guided reading sessions are not always productive or effective.  Marking does not consistently guide pupils on how to improve; pupils do not routinely act on teachers’ comments. Pupils do not have a consistently clear idea about what they need to do to improve their work.  Governors do not question senior leaders deeply enough, particularly about pupils’ achievement.  Checks on pupils’ learning are not robust enough. They do not routinely include checks on the achievement of all groups of pupils.  Not all subject leaders are able to carry out their responsibilities as effectively as the best. Some are just starting to develop their skills.

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

 Although leaders have had some positive impact on the quality of teaching and achievement, this has not been effective enough.

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The school has the following strengths

 Year 6 pupils in 2014 made better progress than others nationally in reading and writing and much better progress than others in mathematics.  Pupils behave well, feel safe and are kept safe.  Leaders’ focus on writing has improved progress in writing for most pupils.  Pupils’ social, moral, cultural and spiritual development is promoted well.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning in all classes. They looked at books in lessons and as a separate activity. Learning in literacy, numeracy, physical education, religious education and personal and social education was included. Five of these activities were conducted jointly with senior leaders.  Inspectors met with senior leaders and subject leaders. They held meetings with leaders about the early years, assessment and about the curriculum. They also met with leaders who were responsible for special educational needs and child protection.  Meetings were also held with representatives from the Link Academy Collaborative Trust, including one of the Director and Vice Chair of the Trust’s board as well as governors.  Inspectors held formal and informal discussions with pupils. They listened to pupils reading and observed them at break, lunchtimes, in assembly time and during breakfast club.  The 27 responses to the online Parent View survey were considered, along with comments made to

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Information about this inspection

inspectors by parents during the inspection. Responses from 21 staff to a questionnaire were also analysed.  Inspectors looked at a range of documentation. This included records of pupils’ attainment and progress, information about checks on teaching and the management of staff performance, the school’s development plans, self-evaluation summary and minutes from staff and governing body meetings. They also scrutinised external evaluations of school performance by the Trust, the school’s website, behaviour logs, case studies, accident logs and safeguarding information.

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Inspection team

Najoud Ensaff, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Peatmoor Community Primary is smaller than average. There is one class in each year.  Provision in the early years is full-time and comprises one Reception class.  There is an independently run pre-school on the site but this is subject to a separate inspection.  The school converted to become an academy in November 2013. It is part of the Link Academy Collaborative Trust. When its predecessor school of the same name was last inspected by Ofsted in November 2011, it was judged to be satisfactory.  The current headteacher is acting as an interim headteacher, having taken up the role in April 2015. The deputy headteacher was also appointed in April 2015.  Most pupils are of White British heritage, with the remainder coming from a range of other ethnic backgrounds. There is a below average proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language, with very few at an early stage of learning English.

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Information about this school

 The proportion of disadvantaged pupils entitled to pupil premium funding is below average. This is additional government funding for those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after. Because of the small number of disadvantaged pupils in each year group it is difficult to specify the differences in attainment between them and others without identifying individual pupils.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is also below average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching in the school to be at least good by ensuring that:  teachers consistently set work for pupils which provides good levels of challenge and support  disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are enabled to become less reliant on adults and are supported effectively to know how to use additional resources  comments in marked work guide pupils well and pupils act on these comments to improve their work  guided reading sessions are more productive and effective for all groups of pupils.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that:  expectations that leaders set for pupils’ progress are consistently high, including in the early years  governors ask more searching questions of school leaders particularly in relation to pupils’ achievement  leaders carry out more robust checks on the learning of all groups of pupils and put in place effective actions to close gaps in learning, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs  middle leaders develop their skills further, where needed.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this area of leadership and management may be improved.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leaders have not set high enough expectations for the progress of all groups of pupils and, particularly, for children in the early years.  While leaders have promoted a culture where pupils enjoy school and their social, cultural, moral and physical development is well promoted, pupils’ academic development is not as strong. For example, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs do not always make enough progress and the gaps between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and others are not closing rapidly enough.  Leaders have developed a new assessment system in conjunction with leaders from other schools but this has not yet been fully implemented. Checks on learning are not always precise enough, especially in the early years.  Some middle leaders are not as effective in their roles as the best. Subject leaders do make some useful checks on pupils’ learning through their books and in lessons but the skills of some have not been

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The leadership and management require improvement

developed well enough.  Self-evaluation is not as focused as it needs to be on the achievement of pupils currently at the school. Too much emphasis is placed on published data without enough consideration given to the learning of current year groups. As a result, evaluations of performance by senior leaders are, on occasions, too generous.  While leaders have successfully focused their attention on improving writing, they have not been as rigorous in identifying or tackling weaknesses in the progress made by pupils in numeracy and reading in some year groups. Development plans focus on appropriate areas but targets do not include clear or measurable outcomes or timescales. There are appropriate systems in place to ensure that staff are held to account for pupils’ achievement and leaders have recently introduced more measurable targets for staff performance.  Leaders have systems in place to scrutinise the performance of groups of pupils, but these are not robust

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The leadership and management require improvement

enough. They have not ensured that all pupils achieve equally well. They do, however, ensure that discrimination, should it occur, is tackled effectively.  The school provides a range of subjects, some of which are built around interesting topics. Pupils have opportunities to apply literacy skills and, sometimes, numeracy skills across other subjects.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social, cultural and physical development is promoted well through lessons, whole- school assemblies and enrichment activities. Pupils enjoy extra-curricular activities involving sport, technology and music, as well as visits to educational sites. For example, pupils spoke enthusiastically about visits to the steam museum linked to Year 6 studies about First World War, while others made reference to the Roman museum and the residential visit to Pencelli.  Primary sports funding is used effectively to develop the skills of teachers, provide a range of sports clubs

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The leadership and management require improvement

and increase participation in competitive sports. As a result, teachers’ and pupils’ skill levels have improved and rates of participation in sport are good.  Pupil premium funding has been used to provide additional support outside of lessons for disadvantaged pupils in literacy, numeracy and social skills, as well as enabling pupils to take part in enrichment opportunities. Although this has had some positive impact, funding has not been used effectively to ensure that gaps in attainment between these pupils and others have closed rapidly enough.  Safeguarding arrangements meet statutory requirements. This ensures that pupils feel safe and are safe. All staff have received relevant up-to-date training in child protection. Any concerns are noted, with appropriate follow-up actions taken and relevant agencies involved, when necessary. When accidents occur, these are logged, appropriate actions are taken and, where relevant, procedures are reviewed. For

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The leadership and management require improvement

example, pupils’ access to parts of the school during adverse weather conditions has changed as a result of a review of procedures. Policies are regularly reviewed, including by governors.  Leadership and management of behaviour are good because pupils are clear about what the expectations are and know there are consequences to their actions. Absences are followed up effectively to ensure that pupils attend regularly.  Pupils are well prepared for a global world through international links with France and Gambia. By the time pupils leave the school, they are well prepared for life in modern Britain. They understand about different religions, show tolerance, know about democracy and respect rules. Participation in school council and pupils’ studies of a range of religions as well as international links prepare pupils for life in modern Britain.  A few parents indicated that they receive regular updates about what their children are learning and

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The leadership and management require improvement

information every term about their achievement. The school website provides useful information about the life of the school. Some parents were less positive about the way that the school deals with concerns. Responses to Parent View indicate that most parents would recommend the school. Governors recognise there is more work to be done in engaging strongly with parents.  As Peatmoor Community Primary School is an academy, the local authority does not supply any formal support.  The governance of the school:  Governors are informed about the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement by the headteacher. They have some idea about the quality of teaching but have not asked enough searching questions of leaders, particularly in relation to pupils’ achievement.  Governors ensure that staff are appropriately vetted and have systems in place to hold senior leaders to account for pupils’ achievement.  Governors ensure that teachers show the impact of their work on maintaining or raising standards

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The leadership and management require improvement

before they receive increases in salary. However, until recently, targets set for staff were not easy to measure. Where it has been appropriate, underperformance has been tackled.  Governors take pride in the school’s inclusive nature. They fulfil their statutory duties with regard to safeguarding.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils enjoy school and attend regularly. They are polite, courteous and friendly.  They have positive attitudes to learning, with several giving examples of work that they found fun or which they enjoyed.  Pupils report that most often, behaviour is good. They say that learning slows only occasionally when minor disagreements from the playground spill over into lessons or individual pupils become bored.  School logs of behaviour and parents’ responses to the Parent View survey indicate that the vast majority of pupils behave well in lessons and around the school.  When given the opportunity to work together, pupils cooperate well. They respond quickly to teachers’ instructions and settle to work without fuss.  Work in books is presented neatly and pupils take pride in their environment.  Observations at break time indicated that pupils play and integrate with one another well. Pupils said that

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Behaviour

some pupils help to befriend others so that everyone has someone to play with. Pupils’ attendance is above average.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good.  Pupils feel safe at school and know there are people to whom they can turn, if the need ever arises.  They understand how to keep safe in the event of a fire, when out and about and have a good understanding of how to stay safe when using the internet.  Pupils know what bullying is and have a good understanding of different forms of bullying, such as verbal, physical, racist and homophobic bullying. They say that bullying is rare, and that, typically, it is dealt with effectively.  Pupils report that if ever there are accidental bumps in the playground, the adults supervising ensure that any minor injuries are tended to carefully, so that they feel that the staff care for them very well.  Observations by inspectors supported the view that pupils are well supervised and kept safe at break times.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers do not provide work which is consistently at the right level for pupils. Sometimes they set work which is too easy or, occasionally, too hard for groups of pupils.  Pupils’ writing is celebrated through displays in corridors and classrooms. However, pupils do not always make effective use of the prompts to support learning which are available in some classes.  Teachers’ subject knowledge is secure. Additional adults support teachers by helping pupils with their learning but sometimes they do too much of the work for pupils, rather than using questions to guide them.  Working relationships between staff and pupils are good and the calm learning environment helps pupils to concentrate.  Teachers check pupils’ work regularly, in lessons and in their books. A highlighting system called ‘pink for perfect and green for growth’ was identified by pupils as useful. However, teachers do not always show

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

pupils clearly how to improve their work. When pupils are given this guidance, they do not routinely act on teachers’ comments.  Reading is taught through specific phonics (letters and sounds) lessons, through story times and through guided reading lessons. More pupils than average in Year 1 reached the expected level in the phonics check in 2014.  Pupils said that they read a few times each week, although not all of them enjoyed it. Guided reading sessions are not always effective for all groups of pupils. This is because pupils are not always engaged in activities that extend their reading skills and the work set is not always interesting or at the right level.  The teaching of writing has improved. Skills are learnt both in literacy lessons and across other subjects. There are many examples of pupils’ writing on display which show the prominence given to it in the school. Pupils regularly receive spellings to learn for homework, and comments in marked work across

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

subjects sometimes focus on punctuation or spelling errors.  In mathematics lessons, pupils have opportunities to work with numbers and to apply their skills to problems, but work is not always set at the right level. For example, sometimes pupils are asked to work out division calculations when their prior learning of the process is not secure enough.  Although some teachers and additional adults support disabled pupils and those with special educational needs pupils well, this is not consistent. Sometimes, these pupils are not supported in knowing how to use resources or too much of the work in lessons is done by adults so these pupils are reliant on adult help.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The progress made by year groups in the school is not consistently good, particularly in numeracy and reading. While attainment in many year groups is above average, current Year 2 and Year 6 pupils are on track to leave with fewer having reached expected levels in these subjects than last year.  Current school data indicate that pupils from a range of backgrounds, including those from White British heritages, do not always make good progress.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs sometimes do not make good enough progress. Their achievement requires improvement. This is because, in lessons, they are not consistently well supported in knowing how to use the resources provided for them. They are sometimes too reliant on adult support so that their learning slows.  Although disadvantaged pupils usually make good progress, in some year groups they do not. In addition, their attainment lags behind that of others nationally and in the school. This year, gaps have widened in

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

reading and writing for these pupils. Because of the small number of pupils in each year group, it is difficult to specify the differences in attainment without identifying individual pupils.  In 2014, the proportions of Year 2 pupils who attained the expected level and the higher levels in reading, writing and mathematics were above average. Current school data for Year 2 pupils indicate that these proportions have fallen. Pupils, including the disabled and those who have special educational needs, do not always reach their full potential.  The proportion of Year 6 pupils who left having attained the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics in 2014 was above national levels. These pupils made good progress across Key Stage 2 in reading and writing and rapid progress in mathematics.  Year 6 pupils who speak English as an additional language made less progress than similar pupils nationally in 2014. Current school achievement information and evidence from books indicate that while

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

some pupils make good progress, others do not because the work set is not always at the right level.  The most able pupils in the school sometimes make good progress, but in a few year groups, including the early years, their progress is slow. This is because, in lessons, the challenge provided is not enough and work is not demanding for them.

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The early years provision requires improvement

 Children enter Reception with skills which are broadly typical for their age. While published data indicate that children leave Reception ready for Key Stage 1, school evidence suggests that there is more work to be done in developing children’s skills, particularly in writing and mathematics, so that they get off to a good start in Year 1. Currently not enough make consistently good progress, particularly most able children.  Work in their ‘learning journey’ folders and writing books shows that children have ample opportunities to learn a range of skills. However, the work seen does not consistently support the accuracy of the assessments made about children, particularly in mathematics, but also in writing.  Teaching requires improvement. Planned activities are not always at the right level for children. In addition, adults do not always seek to move children on in their learning so that most able children make

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The early years provision requires improvement

more rapid progress.  While some children with disabilities or special educational needs make good progress, others do not. This is because they are not always supported well in knowing how to use resources or they are given work which is too hard when their prior learning is not secure enough.  Children listen well and are attentive in lessons. Children are happy, chatty and feel safe. Pupils have good opportunities to make choices and to take part in independent activities linked to their topics such as of castles and dragons. They shared pictures of their coloured-in dragon and talked enthusiastically about how to keep safe when using water. Children play well together and behaviour is good.  Although a small number of parents raised concerns about how accidents are dealt with in this part of the school, inspectors found that accidents and on-going concerns are carefully logged by the class teacher

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The early years provision requires improvement

and followed up appropriately when necessary.  Leadership of the early years requires improvement because the expectations of children’s progress set by leaders are not always high enough. However, liaison with parents is productive, especially when children first join.

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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 140289 Local authority Swindon Inspection number 450326

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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 Academy alternative provision converter Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 196 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andrew Bourne Headteacher Donna Eaton Date of previous school inspection 9−10 November 2011 Telephone number 01793887473 Fax number 01793887184 Email address admin@peatmoor.swindon.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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