Trumpington Meadows Primary School

Trumpington Meadows Primary School Kestrel Rise, Trumpington, Cambridge CB2 9AY

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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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 Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Inadequate

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This is a school that requires improvement

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is not consistently good. Pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 is low in reading, writing and mathematics.  Behaviour in a few lessons is less than good. Some pupils find it hard to concentrate in lessons, while others are easily distracted. These pupils do not make the best possible progress.  In lessons teachers do not always use information about what pupils know and can do to ensure that all pupils move on fast enough.  Not all teachers follow the school’s marking and feedback policy consistently to help pupils make further progress.  A few teachers have weak behavioural management skills and do not follow the school’s behavioural management strategies consistently to help them to improve pupils’ behaviour.  Effective practice is not shared widely enough across the school.  Recent strategies put in place by the senior leadership team have not had time to improve the

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This is a school that requires improvement

quality of teaching, learning and assessment, pupils’ outcomes and their behaviour over time.

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The school has the following strengths

 This is an improving school. The dedicated headteacher and leaders are making changes that are improving the quality of teaching. This is enabling all groups of pupils to make better progress.  Provision in the early years is good. Children make good progress from their different starting points. They are well prepared for Year 1.  Governors support and challenge the leadership team effectively.  Governors and staff are building a positive community within the school and in the locality.  The results at the end of the Reception Year and the Year 1 phonics screening check rose significantly in 2015.  Disadvantaged pupils, pupils who have English as an additional language, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are supported effectively. They achieve well from their various starting points.

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Full report

In accordance with section 13 (5) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires significant improvement.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in reading, writing and mathematics so that it is consistently good to raise pupils’ achievement in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 by:  ensuring that all teachers use assessment information during lessons to enable all pupils to be sufficiently challenged  ensuring all teachers use the school’s marking and feedback policy consistently to help pupils make even faster progress  sharing the federation’s effective teaching and learning strategies more widely so that teachers can improve their own practice quickly.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve behaviour by:  ensuring that all teachers follow the school’s behavioural management strategies to support them to improve pupils behaviour  raising pupils’ awareness of the part they play in fostering the positive ethos of the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by embedding the systems and procedures recently implemented to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, pupils’ outcomes and pupils’ behaviour.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The dedicated headteacher and senior leaders are creating a positive learning climate. The implementation of new strategies are improving pupils’ progress, behaviour and the quality of teaching, learning and assessment but these improvements are in their early stages. All staff and governors share the commitment to provide the best education possible for all pupils. They are building a cohesive ethos within the school and the developing community despite the rapid increase in the number of pupils on roll, the recent changes in staff and the restructuring of classes.  The headteacher has strengthened the leadership and management skills of senior and middle leaders. Governors and leaders have the capacity to further improve the school.  The quality of teaching varies due to the continuous changes in staff. It currently requires improvement. Staff already work closely with those from the other school in the federation. The sharing of effective

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

teaching and learning strategies is developing the skills of the school’s new staff and those who have changed year groups. Teachers welcome and act upon any advice given, which is already improving their practice.  Effective systems are in place to assess the performance of teachers and leaders. This ensures that they are held to account for the progress of the pupils for whom they are responsible. Professional development is well planned for all staff. Targets for improvement are followed through and link to progression along the pay scales. Where additional support is required, it is provided by a member of the senior leadership team.  Senior leaders accurately identify what makes teaching effective and what needs to be improved. Feedback to staff is thoughtful and well considered. This provides a firm foundation for future improvement to teaching and learning.  The school is a fully inclusive school. The inclusion team, the specialist teacher for those pupils who have

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

English as an additional language and the special educational needs leader work closely together. This ensures that the current pupils for whom they are responsible have effective targeted support so that they make the best possible progress from their various starting points.  The promotion of equal opportunities is good. The school offers all pupils good-quality support and equal access to a stimulating creative curriculum which is based on first-hand experiences. The curriculum has a positive impact on spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, and prepares the pupils well for life in modern Britain. Discrimination is not tolerated and as a result pupils show tolerance and respect for all the ethnic minority groups within the school. Racism is addressed effectively through assemblies and ‘Kick racism out of football’ days.  Leaders and governors ensure that the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is used effectively

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

through well-targeted and skilled support. The discussions between the disadvantaged pupils and the Pupil Premium Champion about their learning is of the highest quality. These pupils are progressing as well as, and sometimes better than, others in the school.  The early years provision is good. Children work and play happily together. They make good progress from their various starting points.  The primary sport funding is used well to engage pupils in sporting activities to promote their well-being. The specialist physical education teacher ensures that both pupils’ learning and teachers’ skills are enhanced, as seen during a Year 4 gymnastics lesson to improve their balancing skills.  The majority of parents are supportive of the school and would recommend it to other parents. The school’s recent early years questionnaire for parents was very positive.  The local authority knows the school well and has offered high-quality support to the school since the last

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

inspection. The local authority has produced an effective ‘High level’ plan to support the continuous improvement of the school.  The governance of the school  Governance is effective and a review has taken place since the last inspection to develop governors’ skills. Governors offer support to the school and ask challenging questions about the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, as well as pupils’ outcomes. Their work has been enhanced by the newly formed Governors Challenge Group. Governors receive good quality information from the headteacher. They make sure additional funds, such as the pupil premium and the primary school sport funding, are spent effectively to promote pupils’ progress. Governors ensure that teachers’ performance is related to pay awards and that underperformance is tackled effectively. The governors see that all legal requirements are met, especially those relating to safeguarding. Governors have been

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

proactive in building up the community cohesion between the new school and the rapidly growing local community.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Safeguarding procedures are carefully monitored. Staff work well with outside agencies, as seen during the inspection.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 Teaching, learning and assessment overall has improved to requires improvement and some is now good. As a result most pupils make expected or better progress from their starting points. There are some inconsistencies across the school, but this is not in one subject or for a particular year group or for any one group of pupils.  Lessons are generally planned well to interest all groups of pupils. However, a few teachers do not assess pupils’ learning during a lesson to ensure pupils move onto the next task fast enough. Pupils then drift off task and become less focused in their learning.  The majority of pupils show a positive attitude to learning, listen well to teachers’ explanations and want to complete their activities. However, a few pupils lose concentration quickly or are easily distracted, which gives rise to low level disruption which slows down pupils’ learning.  Most teachers follow the school’s marking and feedback policy well. They mark pupils’ work regularly and

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

conscientiously and they often give sound advice on how to improve it. However, a few teachers do not consistently follow the school’s policy and pupils say they do not always know how to improve their work. This results in variable progress as observed in pupils’ books.  The school now gives effective support to all ability groups of pupils. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, ethnic minority pupils and those who speak English as an additional language have effective targeted support. Disadvantaged pupils have high-quality teaching from the Pupil Premium Champion who works with all abilities including the lower attainers and the most able.  Teachers usually have secure subject knowledge and many use questioning well to extend pupils’ learning. In such cases teachers have high expectations of pupils’ work and challenge the most-able pupils sufficiently. Pupils enjoy their learning and make good progress. Year 6 pupils calculated the mean,

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

mode, median and range of sets of numbers with confidence while choosing appropriately the correct challenging work for their ability.  Teaching assistants usually support pupils’ learning effectively when they are working with individuals and small groups. However, a few are less effective during whole-class teaching sessions.  The teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) improved rapidly last year and teachers and senior leaders are working together to ensure that this improvement is sustainable. Pupils enjoy choosing and reading books from the school library. Some pupils use their knowledge of phonics to help them read and spell unfamiliar words. Year 6 pupils read fluently and with expression. They discuss the text they have read competently.  Some teachers are supporting pupils’ writing skills well, enabling them to use these skills across the curriculum. The Year 5 pupils enjoyed describing the scenery of North Wales during a geography lesson,

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

using their work on similes from a previous lesson to support their descriptions, which included ‘mountains as tall as giants’.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupil’s personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils are becoming more confident and feel more secure as the staff continually build up the community spirit within this rapidly growing new school. A recent pupil survey verifies that most pupils enjoy being at school, they feel safe and know how to stay safe and be healthy.  Safeguarding of pupils has a high focus within the school. Effective systems and procedures are in place and staff work well with outside agencies. A few pupils have extreme social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and the school provides a safe haven for these pupils. Safeguarding is effective because staff and governors complete regular safeguarding training. All safeguarding incidents are logged appropriately. The safeguarding leader, the inclusion team and all staff work well together and take rapid action if any pupil is deemed at risk.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils enjoy attending the school’s breakfast and after-school club, as well as the extra-curricular clubs on offer.  Governors, staff and the majority of parents feel that pupils are happy, feel safe and are looked after well in school.  Pupils are aware of various forms of bullying. They have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet. They also have a developing understanding of how to keep themselves healthy. The Nursery children talked about why they eat healthy fruit and vegetables at snack times.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. It is not good because in some lessons pupils become distracted, do not listen to others and lose concentration. This causes low-level disruption and slows their learning. Some staff and pupils do not consistently follow the school’s behavioural strategies which support improvement in behaviour.  Many pupils are polite and move around the school sensibly. They show positive attitudes to learning and are making better progress.  During the inspection pupils played collaboratively on the playground and on the large grass area. Both areas were well supervised. Pupils seen in the dining room also behaved well.  A few parents raised concerns about bullying and pupils’ behaviour. Inspection evidence showed that incidents were logged and dealt with effectively, following the school’s policy. A few pupils also mentioned concerns about bullying. However, in a recent school survey pupils stated that teachers

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Behaviour

usually deal with such incidents well.  The use of the large internal corridor ‘The Learning Street’ is being developed. It is used for pupils to work in and at breaktimes for pupils to discuss with an adult any concerns they may have.  The school systems and processes for late arrival and absence are beginning to improve attendance. Attendance for some persistent absentees has risen significantly, due to support from the inclusion team and family partnership workers. Exclusions for a very few pupils are logged appropriately and managed effectively.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 Outcomes for pupils have improved due to improving teaching, learning and assessment.  Pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 is low but the school’s data for pupils’ progress during 2014–2015 show a more positive picture, especially allowing for the length of time pupils have been in the school. The school has a high mobility, which affects pupils’ attainment and progress. For instance during 2014–2015 the Year 2 cohort of 28 pupils had 11 leavers and six new arrivals.  The school’s July 2014 – July 2015 progress data shows that most pupils and groups of pupils made expected and often better than expected progress from their various starting points. Though progress varied across the school in reading, writing and mathematics, no particular year group or subject or group of pupils stood out as doing less well. This progress is supporting pupils to be better prepared for the next stage in their education.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 In 2014 a very low proportion of pupils attained the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check. However, recent improvements in provision and in the teaching of phonics enabled the 2015 results to rise significantly from 32% to 78%, which is above national expectations. Staff are working to ensure this improvement is sustainable.  Any gaps between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils are narrowing. Disadvantaged pupils are now making improved progress from their various starting points due to well-targeted support within the classroom and from the effective teaching of the Pupil Premium Champion.  Most staff are ensuring that the most-able pupils are now being sufficiently challenged. Progress for these pupils is also being tracked more effectively, ensuring that these pupils now make the best possible progress.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, those who are learning to speak English

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

as an additional language and ethnic minority pupils do well because their needs are identified early and they are given the appropriate support. These pupils usually do well from their various starting points.

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Early years provision is good

 Many children start the Nursery and the Reception classes with skills that are below those typical for their age. This was verified by collecting evidence from the new Reception baseline introduced by the Department for Education from September 2015 and looking at learning journals. The children now make good progress from their various starting points across the early years.  The children settle very quickly into the stimulating Nursery. The adults are supportive and engage fully with the children. Staff are developing children’s speaking and listening skills well. The children were encouraged to discuss the colours of fruit and vegetables and why we eat them. Other children talked about where milk comes from during the morning snack time. The children already follow routines well. They sit quietly on the carpet while waiting their turn to go to the toilet and wash their hands. Staff are available to show the children how to wash their hands properly.

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Early years provision is good

 Teaching and learning in the early years is good. The quality of teaching has had a positive impact on outcomes for children. They are well prepared for Year 1. In 2015, according to school data there was a significant improvement in the proportion of pupils who achieved a good level of development which is the expected standard at the end of the Reception Year. Results improved from 38% in 2014, which was well below national expectations, to 71%, which is above national expectations.  The Reception children are happy in their welcoming, exciting environment. The children listen carefully, behave well and are keen to learn. The adults ask questions of the children, encouraging them to develop their learning through their responses. Different groups were excited to smell coffee, cinnamon, mint tea and cloves and describe the smells. This activity was adapted so that a child with English as an additional

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Early years provision is good

language could join in the activity. Other children played in the doctor’s role play area, writing on a notepad and filling in a form to develop their writing skills. Another child spoke about red, orange, yellow and brown as being autumn colours. This child proudly and carefully used her paint box, which will go through the school with her. Outside, children played safely on the slide, developing their physical skills. Adults develop pupils’ mathematical thinking. After some children had made four sandcastles they were asked how many there were and then how many more they would need to make seven.  The children from both Reception classes and the Nursery play outside together, with the older children guiding the younger ones.  The early years is well led and the early years provision is improving each year as more funding is made available for resources. The early years leader and all the staff work well together to improve the quality

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Early years provision is good

of teaching, learning and assessment, the learning environment and the outcomes for children. Regular assessments allow teachers to plan focused activities for the children. Additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is used very effectively through a well-targeted support programme. The early years action plan is an effective tool to improve provision for the Nursery and the Reception children.  Good relationships are built between parents and staff. This is verified from the feedback in the recent early years questionnaire for parents.  All staff ensure that children are safe. Policies and procedures are implemented consistently to ensure safeguarding is effective.

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School details

Unique reference number 136802 Local authority Cambridgeshire Inspection number 10001631

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School details

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

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Foundation Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 170 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Andrew Baxter Headteacher Judith Osler Telephone number 01223 840299 Website www.trumpingtonfederation.co.uk Email address office@trumpingtonmeadows.cambs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 30 April – 1 May 2014

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Information about this school

 Trumpington Meadows Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school. The number on roll is rapidly increasing.  There is a well above average proportion of pupils from a wide range of minority ethnic backgrounds.  There is an above-average proportion of pupils who are learning to speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is well above average.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium is above average. The pupil premium is additional funding for disadvantaged pupils known to be eligible for free school meals or who are looked after by the local authority.  Early years provision is full time for children in the Reception Year and part time for those in the Nursery.  The school has a rapidly increasing number of pupils. It is part of the Trumpington Meadows Federation.

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Information about this school

There have been many changes and additions to the teaching staff since the last inspection. Five new teachers started in September 2015.  The school has a breakfast and after-school club on site under the federation’s governance.  The school met the government’s floor standards in 2014, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6. According to school data, the school does not meet the government’s current floor standards in 2015.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in 14 lessons in all classes, including the Nursery. Two lesson observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher and an assistant headteacher.  The inspectors held meetings with governors, representatives of the local authority and school staff, including senior and middle leaders.  The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at documentation, including teachers’ planning, the school’s analysis of its strengths and weaknesses, information on pupils’ attainment and progress, records of behaviour and safety, the monitoring of teaching and management of teachers’ performance, minutes of governing body minutes and safeguarding documents.  A discussion was held with a group of pupils as well as informal conversations with them during lessons and at breaktimes. The inspectors listened to pupils read and talked to them about books they enjoy.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors took account of 23 responses to the online parental questionnaire (Parent View) and spoke with parents informally at the start of the school day. The questionnaires completed by 19 members of staff were also considered.

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Inspection team

Julie Harrison, lead inspector Ofsted inspector Shan Oswald Ofsted 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

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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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