Ivy Road Primary School

Ivy Road Primary School Ivy Road, Forest Hall, Newcastle upon Tyne NE12 9AP

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Early years provision Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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This is a school that requires improvement

 Leaders and governors have not used monitoring effectively to evaluate the impact of actions intended to improve pupils’ progress.  Checks on teaching have not correctly identified weaknesses because they have not been focused on improving learning and progress.  Leadership of the early years is not focused on the right priorities to improve progress and outcomes for all pupils.  The quality of teaching in the early years is inconsistent.  Teaching has not been consistently good over time to ensure that all pupils are making good progress.  Disadvantaged pupils and boys are not making the same progress as their peers. Actions to improve outcomes for these pupils have not been successful in the early years and Key Stage 1, and have had variable impact in Key Stage 2.  Most-able pupils are not being challenged consistently throughout the school, and pupils who require additional help are not being supported in their learning to ensure they can

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This is a school that requires improvement

make better progress.  Teachers do not use effective enough strategies to encourage pupils to think deeply to extend their learning. Teachers do not always use the correct technical vocabulary to ensure pupils learn well in English and mathematics.

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The school has the following strengths

 The headteacher has instilled a strong sense of teamwork among staff.  Very effective systems and procedures are in place to protect vulnerable pupils in challenging circumstances. Pupils are kept very safe and secure due to their emotional and pastoral needs being well met.  Leaders and staff at all levels have established strong relationships with parents, and communicate effectively with them.  The school has a welcoming and positive atmosphere where pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a real strength. Pupils live out the values of respect and courage which underpin the school’s ethos.  Pupils are polite, courteous and very well mannered. There are high expectations of pupil behaviour from all staff, and efficient systems in place to deal with inappropriate incidents.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management, by: ensuring that checks on teaching, along with the monitoring and evaluation of actions to improve, are firmly focused on pupils’ learning and progress strengthening the capacity of subject and other leaders to check teaching and learning in their areas effectively ensuring governors become more effective in holding leaders to account through relevant and timely training and coaching opportunities.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching for pupils across the school so pupils make more progress, by: making sure teachers consistently challenge the most-able pupils and provide learning opportunities which support those pupils who need additional help ensuring that teachers use effective strategies which encourage pupils to think deeply about their learning making sure that teachers use the correct technical language which will enable pupils to articulate and consolidate their learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve provision in the early years, by: ensuring that leadership is focused on improvement activities which will enhance outcomes for all children, including disadvantaged children and boys making sure that the quality of teaching becomes consistently good through coaching and the sharing of good practice across the Nursery and Reception classes.

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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 aspect 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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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement. Over time, senior leaders, including governors, have not been effective enough to ensure good teaching and progress.  Leaders and governors have not been rigorous in the past to improve the quality of teaching, therefore improving outcomes for pupils. This has resulted in groups of learners, in particular disadvantaged pupils, pupils who are disabled and have special educational needs, and boys, not making good enough progress.  School improvement planning is not focused enough on identifying how initiatives and developments will impact on the learning and progress of pupils. Leaders do not regularly analyse, monitor and evaluate the impact of their work, which is resulting in too many pupils not making better progress.  Progress in closing the gaps in attainment and progress between different groups of pupils is too variable. For example in Key Stage 1, the gaps between outcomes of disadvantaged pupils and boys, in comparison

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

to others in the school are wide in reading, writing and mathematics. In early years, children who are not disadvantaged are attaining considerably better than those children who are disadvantaged. The school uses pupil premium funding to provide extra support and resources. This support and these resources are not evaluated well enough to identify that they are not having the intended impact to ensure those pupils are making similar progress to others. Consequently, equality of opportunity also requires improvement.  Checks on teaching and learning are not focused on pupils’ learning and the amount of progress they are making. In addition to this, these checks do not focus on the impact of school improvement priorities. As a result of this, teachers are not clear about how to improve their practice.  Subject and other leaders, some of whom are relatively new to their roles, are working hard to implement

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

new initiatives. However, they have not had enough support to ensure that they focus on the correct priorities to improve outcomes and to be able to monitor and evaluate their effectiveness.  Pupils enjoy a wide range of subjects through the curriculum. Pupils benefit from curriculum days like the science and technology day held recently, and from being able to visit a wide variety of places to enhance their understanding. They also have access to a vast array of after-school clubs including sign language, gardening and cooking. However, currently most curriculum areas are being monitored through observing the learning environment, which is not focused on the learning and progress of pupils. Curriculum leaders are able to identify a list of displays around the school but do not look at the quality of the work.  The local authority has provided support and development opportunities for leaders and governors since the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

previous inspection. However, there has not been enough challenge to school leaders about the impact of school improvement activities on outcomes for groups of learners.  The strong focus on the school and personal beliefs linked to British values has a significantly positive impact on pupils’ spiritual, moral social and cultural development. For example, pupils are very clear and have a good understanding that other pupils have difficulty in managing their behaviour, resulting in pupils endeavouring to help others and show a good level of compassion. Through the curriculum and creative days, pupils also have a good understanding of different faiths and cultures.  The school makes good use of the primary physical education and sports premium. There is a clear focus on developing staff confidence and competence, enhancing pupils’ physical skills and healthy lifestyles. For example, teachers often work alongside specialist physical education teachers to develop their own

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

expertise, and pupils take part in regular tournaments and festivals with other local schools to practise their developing skills and abilities. They have been particularly successful in recent rugby, skipping and basketball events.  The dedicated headteacher has created an extremely positive and nurturing environment for both pupils and staff alike. There is a real commitment from all staff members and governors to work together to improve pupils’ lives at school. All staff collaborate well with each other and they are steadfast in their opinion that every child matters to them.  The school keeps parents well informed through regular correspondence, attendance at school assemblies, and through regular meetings, to report on pupils’ progress.  Leaders have ensured that staff receive very clear training on safeguarding pupils. Staff are trained to be very vigilant and to encourage open discussion with pupils.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school: Governance requires improvement. The governing body is fully involved in all aspects of the school’s work thorough its committees and work with staff. Although governors are very conscientious in their work, they have not been as effective as they could be in ensuring that improvements in the quality of teaching are leading to improved outcomes for all pupils. Governors do not have enough accurate information to challenge school leaders and hold them to account for the amount of progress pupils are making, particularly disadvantaged pupils and boys. They are unable to evaluate the impact of the spending of the pupil premium grant alongside planned actions for improvement because of this. Governors have successfully tackled weaknesses in teaching in the past, and they appraise the headteacher’s performance against agreed targets. They understand that teachers are subject to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

performance management and that teachers only receive financial reward if they meet their targets.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. There are strong, robust systems in place to track and monitor this.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement. It has not been good enough over time to ensure that pupils are making good progress.  Teachers do not always have high expectations about the quality of work and amount of progress pupils can make. Pupils make slow progress when too little is expected of them because work is not challenging them. In addition to this, other pupils who need help and support to develop their skills are not always accessing appropriate activities to support their learning.  Opportunities for teachers to question pupils in order to test deeper understanding are being missed. Teachers regularly ask questions which do not encourage pupils to think and are happy with one word answers. This is preventing pupils from consolidating deeper understanding and learning.  Teachers are not consistently teaching the technical vocabulary that will help pupils to learn well in English and mathematics. This means that pupils cannot articulate and reinforce their learning. In turn, this prevents

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

them from being confident learners. Pupils are developing the capacity to learn from their mistakes but they are not always confident in making contributions in lessons.  Increased activities and lessons to improve grammar, spelling and punctuation skills are not having an impact and standards by the end of Year 6 are below the national average. This is compounded by the limited opportunities for some pupils to apply these skills by writing at length in English and other lessons.  Teachers’ marking in English, mathematics and other subjects generally follows the school’s marking policy. It has the greatest impact in mathematics where pupils are making better progress. In writing and other subjects such as geography and history, marking does not move pupils’ learning forward quickly enough. For example, marking of writing repeatedly guides pupils to develop sentence punctuation over a number of pieces of work, with no evidence of improvement.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 Teachers evaluate the progress pupils are making during discussions with school leaders. They identify pupils who need additional support, but this is not always linked to the quality of teaching by leaders. Consequently, strategies to enable those pupils to catch up quickly are not effective. As a result, groups of pupils do not make good enough progress.  Effective systems are in place to assist pupils with homework. Parents receive information through curriculum leaflets and the school website. Daily homework clubs are in place to enable all pupils to complete homework activities. Pupils value homework, for example they speak enthusiastically about mathematics homework, and enjoy the challenges which are set.  Pupils make better progress in reading. Creative approaches to the teaching of reading, focused reading intervention and more opportunities for pupils to read, has ensured that pupils are making better progress.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

School leaders agree that teaching and learning in this area is a strength of the school.  Support and training have ensured that the teaching of mathematics is improving. Improved teaching and the implementation of initiatives for pupils to improve their mental mathematics development is leading to them making better progress throughout the school.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils at Ivy Road Primary School feel safe and secure, resulting in pupils displaying buoyant and happy attitudes. They enjoy being at school, and speak with enthusiasm about their experiences of school life. They are keen to talk to adults and can express themselves clearly about what they like and what they would like to see improved.  The school’s climate for learning is very positive and the learning environment both in and out of the classrooms is bright, very welcoming and celebrates pupils’ work in an encouraging way. This creates a productive atmosphere for both learning and behaviour. Pupils respect each other, as well as the school environment and are proud to attend the school.  All of the staff care about the pupils, and do their utmost to support their emotional well-being. Pupils are given time, listened to and receive opportunities both in the classroom and during other times to discuss

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Personal development and welfare

how they feel and to work out strategies to help them in the future.  Pupils feel safe and are taught about how to stay safe in a well-planned, structured way. Pupils speak confidently about lessons in which they are taught about how to stay safe online, stranger danger and eating healthily. As a result of this, pupils are making informed decisions about protecting themselves.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. All staff set high expectations of behaviour, which results in most pupils behaving well in lessons and around the school. There are appropriate systems in place to deal with incidents effectively, and pupils know that incidents of inappropriate behaviour are always dealt with swiftly.  Pupils are keen to help each other, both in lessons and during break and lunchtimes. Pupils are eager to collaborate on paired and group activities, offering support and encouragement to those pupils who need additional support. Year 6 pupils relish the role of becoming play leaders and actively encourage younger pupils to work as teams when playing games on the playground.  Pupils enjoy taking on additional responsibilities around the school. For example, school councillors listen to suggestions from their peers and organise suitable events, and eco-warriors actively promote protecting the

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Behaviour

environment among both pupils and staff.  Pupils attend school regularly and overall attendance is in line with the national average. There are robust systems in place to ensure attendance in school is celebrated and absence is challenged. The number of pupils who are persistently absent has reduced because the school works well to support families to help improve their child’s attendance.  Parents are mainly happy about pupils’ behaviour. A minority of parents expressed concerns about bullying; however effective and efficient systems are in place to deal with incidents swiftly. Pupils spoke about how these systems work and were confident that this protects them. Pupils feel strongly that their behaviour concerns are around incidents occurring during breakfast club and school leaders are beginning to tackle this.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 Outcomes for pupils require improvement because progress is too variable across all subjects and all year groups. Inconsistent expectations of pupils’ performance lead to erratic patterns of progress and attainment. This is because the quality of teaching has not been good enough over time.  By the end of Year 6, more pupils are making the progress expected of them over time in mathematics and reading, but not in writing. In addition, not enough pupils are making better than expected progress, in mathematics and reading.  Outcomes for pupils by the end of Year 2 are broadly average. However, few pupils attain the higher levels in reading, writing and mathematics. Furthermore, girls are attaining much better than boys, and disadvantaged pupils are not attaining as well as other pupils.  The progress of most-able pupils is variable across the school. In pupils’ books from this term, there are indicators that some most-able pupils have started to make better progress than others. Very focused and

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

precise intervention for most-able pupils in Year 6 is resulting in more pupils achieving higher levels in all areas.  Analysis of the school’s own information sources on outcomes for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, shows pupils are making better progress in upper Key Stage 2, and not enough progress across Key Stage 1 and lower Key Stage 2.  Pupils develop a good understanding of letters and the sounds they make (phonics). The proportion achieving the expected level in the Year 1 phonics check was above the national average in 2014 and a similar proportion achieved this level in 2015.

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Early years provision requires improvement

 Early years provision requires improvement. Generally, pupils join Nursery with basic skills and knowledge which is below what is typical for their age. They get off to a good start in Nursery, but the level and pace of learning stalls in the Reception class where expectation and challenge is not as strong.  There is inconsistency in the quality of teaching and classroom support. Despite the high quality of care and support for the development of children’s social and emotional needs, there is not enough focus on systematically building upon children’s speaking, listening, early reading and writing, and number skills.  The provision indoors and outdoors provides a well organised learning environment and resources offering appropriate literacy and numeracy opportunities. However, staff do not always use this provision to maximise appropriate learning opportunities to meet the children’s learning needs. Activities do not always

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Early years provision requires improvement

provide sufficient challenge and at times opportunities for staff to address misconceptions are missed. This is resulting in children not making enough progress.  Leadership of the early years requires improvement. Identified areas for improvement are not matched to the greatest areas of concern. The monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of improvements are inaccurate. As a result, children are not making enough progress and not catching up quickly enough where they need to.  Disadvantaged pupils are not making the same progress as pupils who are not disadvantaged, and boys are not making the same progress as girls. Actions to rectify this have not had the impact needed to close the gaps. This has resulted in these children not being ready to enter Year 1.  Children enter the early years department happily and quickly, and are keen to get to work in the busy and friendly atmosphere. This includes children from a wide variety of backgrounds, some of whom are more

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Early years provision requires improvement

vulnerable than others. As a result of this, children are making good progress in their personal development. They are acquiring the essential skills to ensure they follow classroom routines, acquire independence and are able to work collaboratively alongside their friends.  Very supportive and constructive partnerships with parents make certain that they can be involved in their children’s learning in a positive way.  Good day-to-day management ensures that all children are well protected, safe and secure.

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School details

Unique reference number 108606 Local authority North Tyneside Inspection number 10001439 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

School category Maintained Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 139 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Nicola Chapman and Michelle Moss (Joint) Headteacher Susan Watts Telephone number 0191 2008346 Website www.ivyroadprimary.org.uk Email address ivyroad.primary@northtyneside.gov.uk Date of previous inspection 14–15 November 2011

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Information about this school

 Ivy Road Primary School is slightly smaller than average, with the majority of pupils coming from the immediate locality.  The school is part of the North Tyneside Learning Trust.  Children attend part-time in Nursery and full time in Reception. The early years comprises of one Nursery class and one Reception class.  Most pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for support from the pupil premium is higher than average. (The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals or who are looked after by the local authority.)  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is higher than average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of Year 6.  There have been a number of changes in staffing since the previous inspection.

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Information about this school

 The school runs its own breakfast club and offers a range of after-school activities.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning in a range of lessons and also made some short visits to classrooms. The headteacher jointly observed the quality of teaching in two lessons, with the lead inspector.  Inspectors listened to a range of pupils read and reviewed the work in pupils’ books alongside school leaders.  Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and during break and lunchtime was observed.  Inspectors talked informally to pupils in lessons and around the school and held a formal meeting with pupils from Key Stage 2.  Inspectors held discussions with the headteacher, other senior leaders, subject and other leaders, class teachers, governors, and representatives from the local authority.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation including the school’s evaluation of its own performance, school improvement planning, documents monitoring the effectiveness of teaching and learning, minutes of governing body meetings, the school’s own policies, local authority reports,

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Information about this inspection

documentation relating to safeguarding and attendance.  Inspectors took into account the views of parents during a formal meeting, in addition to 28 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View). Inspectors also spoke to parents at the start of the school day in the early years.

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Inspection team

Suzanne Lithgow, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Lesley Butcher Her Majesty’s Inspector Fiona Manuel Her Majesty’s Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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

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