Park Lane Primary School

Park Lane Primary School Park Lane, Nuneaton, CV10 8NL

p.1

Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected as an academy 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

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Good leadership of the executive headteacher and the acting headteacher, together with rigorous challenge from the trustees and governors, is bringing about marked improvements in the quality of teaching.  Attainment is rising throughout the school.  Pupils, throughout the school, are making good progress. They make particularly good progress in writing and in speaking and listening.  Disadvantaged and disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs receive good support from staff and achieve well.  Pupils behave well in lessons and at all other times during the school day. They are thoughtful, kind to one another and have good attitudes to learning.  Children get a good start to their education, make good progress and reach good levels of development overall in the early years.  The school is a safe community where all pupils are valued. Parents are delighted with the recent improvements and say that their children are proud

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

to belong to this school.  Pupils are well prepared for secondary school because they have secure skills in reading, writing and mathematics.  The school offers its pupils an outstanding range of after-school activities.  Governors and trustees of the Griffin Schools Trust know the school well. They play an important role in ensuring that all pupils achieve well and that improvement is sustainable.

p.1

It is not yet an outstanding school because

 On occasion, some activities in guided reading and mathematics are not sufficiently challenging for the most-able pupils.  In Key Stage 1, spelling is not as good as other aspects of pupils’ writing.  Attendance is below the national average.  Newly appointed subject leaders do not yet have secure skills in monitoring teaching and learning.  In the early years, adults do not place enough emphasis on showing pupils how to form letters correctly.

p.1

Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in 29 lessons covering all year groups. Some of these were undertaken jointly with the executive headteacher and acting headteacher.  Inspectors talked to pupils about their learning and heard several pupils read.  Inspectors held meetings with groups of pupils, senior leaders, the Chair of Governors and trustees of the Griffin Schools’ Trust.  Inspectors examined a questionnaire completed by 17 staff and examined the responses of 15 parents who completed Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. Inspectors also held informal discussions with parents.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documents including minutes of meetings of the governing body, the school’s self-evaluation, school improvement plans, behaviour records and documentation relating to safeguarding. Documents relating to the monitoring of teaching and subsequent staff performance management were also examined.

p.2

Information about this inspection

 The school’s child protection and safeguarding procedures were scrutinised.

p.2

Inspection team

Bogusia Matusiak-Varley, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

p.2

Information about this school

 The school is a larger than average primary school.  The majority of pupils come from White British backgrounds. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is broadly average.  Children in the Nursery attend part-time and those in the Reception classes attend full time.  The school operates a free breakfast club for pupils every morning.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium funding is above average. The pupil premium provides additional funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals or who are looked after by the local authority.  The school converted to an academy sponsored by the Griffin Schools Trust in November 2013. The school is led by an executive headteacher and an acting headteacher.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards for primary schools, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching and achievement by ensuring that:  all activities in lessons are consistently challenging, especially for the most-able pupils, in reading and mathematics  in guided reading, pupils have more opportunities develop their skills of interpreting texts and understanding why authors use particular words for effect  in mathematics, pupils have more opportunities to apply what they know to real-life problems  in Years 1 and 2, teachers place more emphasis on the correct spelling of words  in the early years, teachers provide more opportunities for children to develop correct letter formation.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Continue to work with families whose children do not attend school regularly in order to improve their attendance.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Develop the role of subject leaders by providing more training opportunities for those who are newly appointed, so that they understand how to monitor teaching and learning effectively, and how to gauge the subsequent impact on the progress of different groups of pupils.

p.3

The leadership and management are good

 The executive headteacher and acting headteacher have improved the quality of teaching and created an ethos of high expectations that successfully promotes good standards of learning and behaviour throughout the school. Together they ensure that each teacher is given effective support to ensure that pupils learn well. Teaching is now securely good and improving rapidly.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 All staff are very well supported to improve their practice. The acting headteacher has demonstrated to teachers how effective teaching accelerates pupils’ progress. Higher expectations are now the norm and pupils thrive in an environment where most of them are consistently challenged. Parents are delighted with the improvements that have been made to the school since it became an academy.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 The executive headteacher and the acting headteacher, in partnership with the governors and the trustees, have produced detailed action plans containing challenging targets and tight timescales. The effective action leaders have taken in implementing these plans, coupled with their rigorous management of teachers’ performance, has markedly improved teaching. Consequently, standards throughout the school have risen. The results of these actions clearly demonstrate leadership has the capacity to sustain these improvements.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 Regular six-weekly progress reports given to the governors and trustees ensure that any weaknesses are addressed quickly and effectively, and that all pupils have the opportunity to achieve well. Governors and senior leaders use the expertise of other schools in the Griffin Schools’ Trust to develop best practice and moderate teachers’ assessments. This is having a positive impact of developing teachers’ skills to accurately assess pupils’ attainment.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 The school celebrates the diversity of the lifestyles represented by the different groups in the school and there is no discrimination of any kind. Staff ensure that all pupils are included in all activities and the take- up rate of the wide range of extra-curricular activities by different groups of pupils is excellent. This contributes to their good attitudes to learning. Pupils know right from wrong and respect diversity; they collaborate well with each other in lessons and respect one another’s opinions.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 The school uses the additional funds for the pupil premium and for sport effectively and leaders check carefully that these are having the desired impact. They have made particularly good use of the funding to support disadvantaged pupils, which has ensured that gaps between the attainment of these pupils and other pupils is narrowing quickly.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 Leaders ensure that the sports funding is also used to good effect. Pupils now have a wide range of opportunities to take part in additional activities, such as golf and dance. The school now has football and netball teams that participate in inter-school games. The school pays careful attention to encouraging all pupils to build their self-esteem through sport. Pupils know the importance of healthy eating and a balanced diet.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well through an exciting curriculum and daily learning opportunities within the school. Teachers encourage pupils to develop good learning habits. They, in turn, respond well to the ‘learning wheel’, which promotes the school’s values of perseverance and co-operation, and encourages pupils not to give up when learning gets difficult.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 The promotion of British values is at the heart of the school’s curriculum. The school ensures that pupils understand and respect the views and culture of the many different groups in the school and local community. Pupils learn respect for the world’s major faiths through various acts of collective worship and through religious education lessons. In a topic pupils study relating to the Second World War, pupils learn about how people lost their lives so that we can live in a democratic country. They know about the process of elections and why laws are important in society. In all these ways, they are well prepared for life in British society.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 Safeguarding procedures, including those for child protection, are secure, effective and meet current government requirements. Staff receive appropriate training and are kept fully up-to-date with new legislation.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

 The early years co-ordinator is providing effective leadership. She ensures that all children receive support so they are well prepared for learning in Key Stage 1. Subject leaders are supportive of the aims of the school. Many of them are new to their roles and are still developing the skills needed to monitor teaching and learning and assess the impact that this has on the progress of different groups.

p.5

The leadership and management are good

 The school uses the expertise of the advisers from the Griffin School Trust well. This support has helped to improve teaching and the use of assessment to track the progress of different groups of pupils.

p.5

The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governance is good. The governing body knows what is working well and what needs improving. Governors have a good level of individual expertise, which collectively they use to support the school well. For example, they have been instrumental in developing systems of financial accountability and in ensuring that funds are spent wisely in order to have the desired impact. They are fully involved in monitoring the achievement of different groups of pupils and comparing the school’s performance with that of other schools.  Governors provide a good level of both support and challenge. They make regular checks on the school to ensure that that it continues to improve. They are equipped to challenge leaders because they understand information about the school’s performance and know how important good teaching is to further improvement. They know how well teachers are doing their job and only reward those who can

p.5

The leadership and management are good

demonstrate the progress that pupils have made over the year.  Governors are fully involved in planning for improvement and their decisions are well informed because they receive good quality of information from senior leaders.  Governors ensure that all statutory requirements are met, including those for safeguarding.

p.5

Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. From the moment children start school in the Nursery, they develop good attitudes to learning. They are naturally curious and develop good social skills, which they maintain throughout the school. Pupils are kind, considerate and feel proud to belong to their school. They know that staff will help them improve their learning. They enjoy all that the school has to offer, particularly the excellent range of clubs that that they can participate in after school.

p.5

Behaviour

 Parents say that children often do not want to come home after school because they are so interested in learning. They appreciate the way their hard work in class is celebrated and rewarded by the school. In ‘praise’ assemblies, for example, pupils who have done good work get to walk down the ‘red carpet’ and their work is displayed on the wall of success. This contributes well to their personal development and improves their self-esteem.

p.5

Behaviour

 The school is working hard to improve attendance but there are still a few parents who do not send their children to school every day. Consequently, attendance, although improving, is below the national average. The number of exclusions has decreased because systems to manage students who may present challenging behaviour are well thought out and rigorously applied.

p.5

Behaviour

 Pupils say that since the school became an academy behaviour has improved and that the behaviour policy of ‘it’s good to be green’ is consistently applied. Inspection evidence confirms pupils’ views.

p.5

Behaviour

 In lessons, pupils demonstrate good attitudes to learning and behave well. By the end of Year 6 they have developed secure learning habits and are well prepared for secondary school.

p.5

Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Parents are confident that pupils are safe and well looked after. Pupils echo these views and say that there is no bullying and that everyone gets on well with one another.

p.5

Safety

 Pupils say that they can always get help if ever they are worried about anything, either in or out of school. They are aware of the many forms that bullying, including cyber-bullying, can take and know what to do should they be approached by any organisations with extremist views. There is no racist or homophobic behaviour within the school.

p.6

Safety

 Staff are knowledgeable about issues and systems relating to child protection. They are vigilant and know the correct procedures to follow if they believe that any child is at risk. Safeguarding training for staff and governors is up-to-date, and staff and pupils have received guidance from the local police service about any dangers that may arise in the community.

p.6

Safety

 Pupils are well cared for both in the well-attended breakfast club and after-school clubs. These have a positive impact on pupils’ health and nutrition, ability to socialise and have improved punctuality.

p.6

The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good. Training led by the acting headteacher on how to generate effective learning has resulted in much improved teaching in reading, writing and mathematics.

p.6

The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers have secure subject knowledge and manage pupils’ behaviour effectively. They check pupils’ understanding in lessons but there are times when they do not set challenging enough work for the most- able pupils in reading and mathematics. This is particularly the case in the teaching of guided reading where pupils who are not working directly with an adult are engaged in activities which keep them busy rather than make them think deeply. Consequently, they do not appreciate, as quickly as they should, how authors use words to convey meaning and deepen the reader’s engagement.

p.6

The quality of teaching is good

 Writing is taught well across the school. As a result, pupils develop a love of writing. The use of a ‘poet in residence’ has been particularly effective. It has ensured that pupils understand the drafting process and that they are keen to choose words that convey the correct meaning.

p.6

The quality of teaching is good

 Staff are skilled at teaching phonics (sounds that letters make) and this is shown by the number of pupils passing the phonics screening test in Year 1.

p.6

The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers’ questioning skills have improved due to the training that they have received. They now ask more questions that compel pupils to think deeply about their learning. This has had a positive impact on their speaking and listening skills throughout the school.

p.6

The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers take every opportunity to teach the correct use of grammar and improve the quality of writing of all groups of pupils.

p.6

The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers mark pupils’ work thoroughly and pupils say that this has helped them with their learning. Pupils use ‘purple pen’ both to do their corrections and to respond to the teachers’ comments.

p.6

The quality of teaching is good

 Occasionally, in mathematics lessons, the most-able pupils complete too many sums that they can do easily. Sometimes there are too few opportunities for them to apply what they have learnt to solving real- life mathematical problems.

p.6

The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils’ spelling in Years 1 and 2 is sometimes incorrect. Pupils love writing and are so busy putting words down on paper that they forget to check their spelling. On these occasions, teachers do not place sufficient emphasis on ensuring that pupils have the resources or the opportunity to check their spelling.

p.6

The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers now consistently set out for pupils what they intend them to learn and show them what they have to do in order to be successful. Support staff play an active role in ensuring that pupils know what is expected of them. They offer extra explanations in lessons and consistently check that pupils understand what it is that they need to do to make good progress.

p.6

The quality of teaching is good

 Disadvantaged pupils are given extra support and teachers keep a close eye on their progress. They make sure that these pupils have all the help that they need to make the same good progress as their peers.

p.7

The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers provide good support for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs so that they too make good progress. Both the special educational needs coordinator and the inclusion manager have ensured that these pupils get the help that they need from teachers and support agencies.

p.7

The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers assess pupils’ work accurately and their judgements are moderated by the Griffin Schools Trust.

p.7

The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers set interesting tasks for homework and ensure that homework makes a strong contribution to pupils’ learning. It is well thought out and gives pupils the opportunity to practise what they have learnt in school.

p.7

The achievement of pupils is good

 Improvements in the progress that children make in the early years means that in future children will be better prepared for Year 1. In the past, pupils’ starting points in Year 1 were much lower. Pupils throughout the school are making good progress and standards are rising. Improvements in pupils’ progress have ensured they are now reaching average standards by the time they leave Year 6.

p.7

The achievement of pupils is good

 The 2014 results at the end of Year 2 were disappointing. The school took swift action to improve pupils’ progress. Challenging targets were set for pupils and for teachers after rigorous monitoring of teachers’ practice. As a result, school records show, and inspection evidence confirms, that all groups of pupils are now making good progress.

p.7

The achievement of pupils is good

 There is a strong focus on checking how different groups of pupils are learning. This has ensured that the dip in standards in 2014 in Key Stage 1, when the achievement of disadvantaged children lagged behind that of other pupils nationally, has been tackled successfully. Disadvantaged pupils throughout the school are now making good progress and their attainment is rising.

p.7

The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2014, at the end of Year 6, the standards attained by disadvantaged pupils were two and a half terms behind other pupils nationally in mathematics, one and a half terms behind them in reading and half a term behind them in writing. In comparison with other pupils at the school, disadvantaged pupils were half a term behind in mathematics and two terms behind in reading. In writing there was no gap. The school’s records show that the gaps that existed are on track to narrow considerably for students currently in Year 6.

p.7

The achievement of pupils is good

 Last academic year, Year 6 pupils made better progress in writing and mathematics than they did in reading. In writing and mathematics the proportion of pupils making better than expected progress was above the national averages. In reading pupils performed slightly less well than national average. The executive headteacher and acting headteacher immediately placed greater emphasis on the teaching of the sounds that letters make and introduced regular opportunities for the structured teaching of reading in lessons. This has ensured that pupils are now making good progress in reading across the school. As a result, pupils’ achievement in reading, writing and mathematics is now good.

p.7

The achievement of pupils is good

 Teachers now ensure that the most-able pupils are challenged more effectively. However, these challenges are not always demanding enough to consistently stretch the most-able pupils. In mathematics, there are instances when pupils do not apply the skills they have learnt well enough to successfully solve problems. In reading, these pupils are not developing the skills that help them understand the impact that an authors’ words have on the reader. Nevertheless, data and inspection evidence show that more pupils are on track to attain the higher levels in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 in the past.

p.7

The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils consistently achieve well in writing. They write at length in a range of subjects. However, in Years 1 and 2 they sometimes misspell key words because they do not routinely check the accuracy of their spellings.

p.7

The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those pupils with special educational needs achieve well and receive well-targeted support from the special educational needs coordinator and the inclusion manager who ensure that there is a co-ordinated approach to their learning. These pupils make good progress in relation to their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics. Parents receive good quality information on their child’s involvement with support agencies.

p.8

The early years provision is good

 Effective leadership is bringing about marked improvements in the children’s progress. Last year only 8% of children attained a good level of development, whereas this year over 60% of children are on track to attain a good level of development.

p.8

The early years provision is good

 When children first enter the early years, their starting points are generally typical of those usually seen for their age in most areas of learning, with the exception of speaking, reading and writing which are comparatively weak. Children are confident learners who are naturally curious and know how to persevere in their work. Consequently, they achieve well and are well prepared for the work they will receive in Year 1.

p.8

The early years provision is good

 The quality of teaching is good. Adults are aware of what each child knows and plan activities that challenge and extend children’s learning, both indoors and outdoors. Reading and mathematics are taught well but there is too little emphasis on showing pupils how to form their letters correctly. Children develop a good command of number and learn how to count and subtract quickly and effectively.

p.8

The early years provision is good

 Children of different abilities achieve well. Disabled children and those who have special educational needs are well supported and included in all aspects of life in the early years.

p.8

The early years provision is good

 Adults are vigilant and ensure that children are safe and secure in both the indoors and outdoors settings. Well-established routines and consistent management of behaviour ensure that children flourish in an environment where they feel safe and where they can explore the exciting activities teachers provide. These include counting pebbles on ‘the beach’ to put into their ‘beach buckets’.

p.8

The early years provision is good

 Parents are very pleased with the information that they receive on the progress of their children and say that they are delighted with the good behaviour and attitudes to learning that their children demonstrate.

p.8

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

p.9

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.

p.9

School details

Unique reference number 140004 Local authority Warwickshire Inspection number 450130

p.10

School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

p.10

School details

Type of school Primary School category Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 307 Appropriate authority The Griffin Schools Trust Chair Kevin Lamb

p.10

Headteacher

David Harding (Executive Headteacher) Charlotte Watson-Nash (Acting Headteacher) Date of previous school inspection Not applicable Telephone number 02476 382924 Fax number 02476 382924 Email address Admin2636@welearn365.com 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 .

p.10

Headteacher

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.

p.11

Headteacher

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

p.11

Headteacher

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

p.11

Headteacher

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’.

p.11

Headteacher

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

p.11