Waterloo Primary School

Waterloo Primary School Worthington Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, OL7 9NA

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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 Requires improvement

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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 Requires improvement

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This is a school that requires improvement

 Although new senior leaders are working tirelessly to raise achievement, they have not been in position long enough to ensure good achievement for all pupils. Currently, progress remains variable and standards are not high enough.  By the end of the early years, too many children are not ready for Year 1 work and by the end of Year 2, not enough are ready for the work in Year 3. At the end of Year 6, too few pupils are well prepared for secondary school.  The quality of teaching has improved but it is not yet consistently good across the school.  Leaders have not ensured sufficient improvement to the provision for pupils who have special educational needs or disability.  Although behaviour is improving, it is not yet good. Incidents of derogatory behaviour continue and are not being eradicated quickly enough.  While pupils are aware of British values, their understanding is sketchy.  Communication with parents is not as strong as it

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The school has the following strengths

 The headteacher and deputy are leading an unremitting drive to move this school to ‘good’. Staff are on board, morale is high and improvements are evident.  There has been significant improvement to governance. Governors know much more about the school’s work and challenge school leaders well about the school’s performance.  School leaders’ rigorous checks on teaching and learning and increased staff training have resulted in improvements to the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils’ presentation of work is much better. Their writing and spelling skills are showing good improvement and key reading skills are being taught effectively from the early years upwards.  Pupils have more opportunities to solve problems in mathematics and deepen their learning.  More thorough checks on pupils’ work by school leaders and teachers are enabling them to intervene swiftly to improve pupils’ learning.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils at an early stage of learning to speak English make good progress.  Safeguarding is effective and attendance has improved.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further improve the quality of teaching, including from teaching assistants, so that it is at least consistently good across the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Continue to accelerate pupils’ progress and raise their attainment in reading, writing and mathematics so that by the end of Reception, Year 2 and Year 6, pupils are ready for the next stage of their education.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare, by:  further reducing low-level disruption and incidents of more serious misbehaviour in lessons and eradicating prejudice-based behaviour and language  regularly seeking pupils’ views of behaviour and acting on these  ensuring that across the school, pupils develop a deeper understanding of British values.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further improve leadership and management, by:  addressing weaknesses in the way the provision for pupils with special educational needs is led and managed, including the processes for analysing assessment information about pupils’ achievements and the procedures for involving and communicating with parents  enhancing home/school partnerships so that leaders are more informed of parents’ views, actively promote parental involvement in their children’s learning and provide practical support for this  ensuring more appropriate recording of leaders’ responses to parental concerns or complaints.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

 There have been some significant changes in leadership practice over the last two terms. Early, but marked, signs of success are evident in many aspects of the school’s work. However, there has not been sufficient time for the improvements to ensure good achievement or consistently good teaching. This is one of the main reasons why leadership and management requires improvement.  Leadership of the provision for pupils who have special educational needs or disability is not as effective as it should be. The response to the recommendation a year ago to ensure that this group of pupils made much better progress has not been rigorous enough. Progress continues to be variable and parental involvement is not well established, particularly in the initial identification of children’s needs and the agreement of targets and action to help them improve.  Although behaviour has improved, many pupils do not consider that behaviour is good. Inspectors did not

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

observe significant inappropriate behaviour, but it is clear from school records and pupil accounts that prejudice-based behaviour and language still occurs. There are processes for teachers to deal with this type of behaviour, but senior leaders are not sufficiently involved to add impetus to eliminating it.  Parents recognise the improvements that are occurring, but remain dissatisfied with the level of communication from school. In discussion, some parents felt that the process for expressing concerns was too lengthy and designed to dissuade them from doing so. While the response to the online questionnaire, Parent View, was small, dissatisfaction with communication was evident, with just under a quarter of parents responding that they were unaware of how the school deals with bullying. Leaders and governors have taken some action to survey parents’ views but this has been limited.  An improved aspect of communication has been the increased involvement of parents in discussions about

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

their children’s behaviour and attendance. This is very necessary, but it has given some parents an unbalanced and negative view of communication.  The school’s website includes year-group specific letters to parents from staff and some from the headteacher. Other aspects of how parental involvement is being developed are coffee afternoons, parent assemblies and social networking. Plans to increase parental involvement and provide more practical help to enable parents to support their children’s learning are evolving. The website includes links to useful websites that offer guidance to parents on how to support their children’s learning and welfare. Policies and leaflets, such as that for e-safety, do the same. However, much of the information is not personalised to the school and leaders recognise that many parents may not access information in this way.  The new leadership team of the headteacher and deputy headteacher has made very clear their high

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

expectations for teaching and achievement. Importantly, they have done this in such a way that all staff have ‘signed up’ to the vision and are enthusiastic and committed to ensuring that the school improves.  Leaders have established a culture of openness and honesty in their rigorous checks and evaluations of teaching and learning. They provide precise and useful feedback to staff and this is appreciated. Quick, practical support is given to improve aspects of teaching that are not promoting good learning and leaders lose no time in checking whether this is working. Where improvements have been insufficient or too slow, robust action has been taken.  The impact of leaders’ work can already be seen. There is no doubt that the momentum for improvement has gained pace. While past underachievement has not yet been eliminated, pupils’ writing and mathematics work shows clear improvements and younger pupils’ phonics skills are improving well. Although not all

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

teaching is yet consistently good, much more than previously is now of this standard. In-school coaching and a comprehensive programme of staff training that is targeted to the school’s priorities and individuals’ needs are underpinning the upturn in teaching. Teaching staff are also benefitting from opportunities to observe good and outstanding practice in other schools.  The other leaders in the school say that they feel empowered by the opportunities they have been given to make a difference. They are relishing their new roles and responsibility and rising to the senior leaders’ high expectations. They check pupils’ work regularly and their findings are compared to those of the senior leaders to ensure consistency of expectations.  Teachers and teaching assistants are also more aware of their accountability for improving pupils’ achievement. To this end, they are set clear performance targets that are considered prior to awarding pay

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

increases.  The school’s curriculum ensures a strong focus on developing the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils’ knowledge and skills in other subjects, such as science, geography, history and art are developed through a range of cross-curricular topics and themes, which are planned to capture and motivate their interest and develop a love of learning. Pupils’ positive views about their work reflect that this is successful. Literacy and numeracy skills are reinforced in other subjects and pupils’ topic work shows that the high expectations of presentation, spelling, punctuation and grammar are increasingly evident.  Topics and the programme for religious education provide good opportunities to develop pupils’ understanding of spiritual, moral, social and cultural issues, as do Spanish lessons. The provision for physical education and sport is strong and makes a valuable contribution to pupils’ health and well-being. Plans are in

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

place to improve the range of extra-curricular activities. Currently, these are mainly limited to sport, with few available for younger pupils.  Leaders have carefully considered how the planned and incidental day-to-day curriculum promotes British values. Pupils have had some first-hand experience of these values, such as democracy, when electing school councillors, responsibility, when raising money for charities, and tolerance, when learning about different beliefs and religions. Each month, one specific British value is reinforced, for example in assemblies. However, despite this, pupils’ understanding of British values is not well embedded and governors recognise that more work needs to be done on this aspect of the school’s provision.  Historically, the school’s use of the pupil premium funding has not consistently ensured that all disadvantaged pupils have progressed as well as other pupils nationally or non-disadvantaged pupils in the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

school. Currently, however, this funding is being utilised effectively. More regular and robust assessments and checks on pupils’ work are enabling leaders to target necessary support more precisely to close progress and attainment gaps. The funding is also used to fund activities that support pupils’ emotional development and well-being.  The additional funding that the school receives to promote physical education and sport is used very well. Skilled and enthusiastic coaches motivate pupils and ensure good learning. This is also seen in the school’s success in competitive sport events; for example, the girls’ football team is the best in Tameside. As the school’s own staff work alongside the specialist coaches, in-house subject expertise is also being enhanced.  The governance of the school  Governors have benefitted immensely from the support and challenge of the interim support group and the comprehensive training that they have undertaken to better fulfil their roles.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

 Governors’ unmistakable commitment to improving pupils’ education is now underpinned by a deeper understanding of what makes a good school and sharper skills in checking the school’s work. Their improved understanding of performance information is enabling governors to ask searching questions of school leaders about pupils’ achievement and the quality of teaching. Governors also regularly ask questions about the difference that additional funding is making, for example to disadvantaged pupils’ achievement.  Governors are appropriately involved in decisions about staff pay awards and make use of the support available to set ambitious targets for the headteacher.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Staff receive regular training and know what to do if they are concerned about a pupil’s welfare and safety, including spotting any pupil at risk of radicalisation or extremism. Where necessary, designated leaders take appropriate action, in consultation with other

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

professionals, agencies and parents to protect pupils from harm.  The quality of the school’s record keeping procedures for safeguarding and child protection is of a high order. However, the same high standard is not evident in the records kept about parental concerns.  Leaders provide strong and clear messages to staff and pupils about the culture of safety they expect in the school and are achieving their aim. Despite pupils’ view that behaviour is not yet good, pupils are much more positive about the extent to which they feel safe in school and the vast majority of parents who responded to the online parental questionnaire felt the same.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 The quality of teaching has improved under the leadership of the new headteacher and deputy headteacher. Inadequate teaching has been eradicated and an increasing proportion of teaching over time is of good quality. Nevertheless, although there are no marked variations in teaching between different subjects, teaching in every class does not match that of the best. There is still variability in the extent to which teaching is enabling all pupils to make at least good progress and, for some, the rapid progress needed to catch up quickly from earlier underachievement and reach the standards expected for their age.  Less effective teaching was characterised by work that was not sufficiently well adapted to meet the range of pupils’ needs, particularly the most able, although this was not widespread. At other times, limitations in subject knowledge, for example in computing, led to tasks not being sufficiently challenging.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 Phase leaders provide a good role model for colleagues and offer welcome ongoing support. The books of pupils in these classes, in particular, reflect teachers’ high expectations and effective use of assessment. Pupils are regularly set new targets to keep them on their toes and move their learning on. In response, they produce a good amount of work and are keen to meet their targets.  Marking and feedback is much improved and now includes clear pointers to tell pupils how to do better. Spelling errors, particularly of key words, are regularly picked up by teachers and pupils are expected to correct and learn these. In the same way, slips in grammar and punctuation do not go unchecked.  Strengths in teachers’ subject knowledge and use of assessment to match work to pupils’ needs were notable factors in effective teaching. This was evident in mathematics lessons about angles and symmetry. Teachers’ clear explanations and demonstrations helped pupils to understand the increasing degrees of turn

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

in a circle and apply this to solve problems. Similarly, pupils moved from identifying simple patterns of symmetry to exploring whether they could find more than one line of symmetry in different shapes.  Reading is being taught increasingly well in guided reading sessions where pupils use information books to answer questions, think about characters in their books and write sentences to describe them. The impact of the training that has recently occurred for all staff who teach phonics (the sounds that letters make) is also evident. For example, Year 1 pupils’ improved skills in blending sounds enabled them to accurately read nonsense and real words and recognise that words with the same sound, such as might, tie and bite, can have different spellings.  The impact of teaching assistants in supporting teaching and learning, while still variable at times, is clearly improving. These staff are constantly involved in supporting small groups of pupils, including pupils with

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

special educational needs and who are learning English as an additional language, with their reading, writing and mathematics. Most of the support staff are clear about the learning intentions of tasks and are increasingly providing just the right amount of support and challenge to help pupils improve.  The additional, specialist, support for pupils who are learning to speak English helps them to make good progress in learning key vocabulary and increasingly enables them to tackle the same tasks as other pupils. At times, when specialist support is not on hand, these pupils struggle to understand some of the subject- specific vocabulary, for example the language used to order numbers and the meaning of vertices. As a result, they become confused and disengaged, which slows learning. However, in the instances noted, some of these pupils were later given individual support to improve their understanding.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 During the inspection, teachers were seen to adhere well to the school’s behaviour policy and little disruption to learning was noted in lessons, although in some classes, teachers had to remind pupils about expected behaviour for learning more frequently than in others.  Homework to support the development of basic skills is given regularly and pupils enjoy the more open- ended homework tasks that enable them to research a topic of interest.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  There are two issues that prevent pupils’ personal development from being good. Pupils’ understanding of British values is superficial. Secondly, although pupils know that derogatory language is wrong, there is an almost implicit acceptance that it is part of the norm, although it clearly upsets some pupils, even when this language is not specifically directed at them.  The school gives strong messages about the unacceptability of prejudice-based language and behaviour, but more clearly needs to be done to eliminate this.  Pupils know about different types of bullying and are well informed about the things they can do if it happens to them or they see it happening to someone else. The majority felt that bullying was rare and that when it does occur it is dealt with. Most pupils said that they felt safe in school.

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Personal development and welfare

 In discussions, pupils had lots of positive things to say about their teachers and how they help them learn. They said that they get extra help if they do not understand something and the most-able pupils explained that the work was usually at the right level of difficulty and that they do not repeat work. Pupils in Year 6 felt that it was useful to have booster groups to help them prepare for the end of year tests and expressed appreciation about the extra learning time gained from the removal of the afternoon break.  Discussions with pupils showed that they enjoy a wide range of subjects, with both boys and girls identifying literacy and numeracy as some of their favourite lessons, although a number said that they were finding mathematics hard. Pupils are keen to acquire their pen licence and work hard at improving their handwriting and presentation of work to this end.  Pupils were polite to inspectors and confident in discussions. In lessons, most pupils were attentive and

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Personal development and welfare

ready to learn. When required, they discussed their work with each other and many were confident to answer questions or explain their strategies for working out problems. Overall, they applied themselves well to the tasks set.  The school’s guidance to pupils on e-safety has been effective. In discussion, pupils were able to provide a number of things they could do to keep themselves safe when using technology and were acutely aware of the need to keep information about themselves private when using the internet.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Leaders are working hard and with some considerable success to improve behaviour, but pupils are still not satisfied that behaviour is good.  Inappropriate behaviour, such as shouting out in lessons still troubles some pupils. They report that this can vary from class to class, but in some classes they say it happens daily, and while teachers usually sort things out it can sometimes go too far and pupils wish it would stop. In general, most pupils felt that behaviour at lunchtime is worse than in lessons. Some parents felt that not enough adults were available to supervise pupils at lunchtimes.  At playtimes, including lunchtime, behaviour was boisterous but mostly good-natured. The number of adults supervising pupils was adequate. Lunchtime supervisors get on well with the pupils and pupils say that they listen to and act on any concerns they share with them.

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Behaviour

 During the inspection, behaviour in lessons was generally good, with only occasional instances of low-level disruption. In assemblies, pupils behaved exceptionally well. They listened respectfully and with great interest and empathy as the local reverend told a story about resilience.  Pupils were well supervised and most behaved appropriately as they moved around the school. Pupils understand the school’s behaviour system of rewards and sanctions and adhere to this. Record keeping processes for behaviour incidents are clear and generally up to date. Exclusion is used only when necessary and rigorous procedures are followed.  Attendance has improved and is in line with the national average. The monitoring of attendance is thorough and well organised. Attendance is analysed by pupil group and there are no significant variations between groups. Some persistent absence has been reduced this year. Parents are kept fully informed of any

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Behaviour

attendance concerns and, where necessary, the school challenges parents with the support of outside agencies.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 Until relatively recently, improvements to pupils’ achievement following the school’s last inspection were slow and, at times, ineffectual. The published performance data for pupils at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 in 2015 reflected this. By the end of Year 6, most pupils had made insufficient progress from their earlier attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 and standards at the end of both key stages had fallen to a point where they were significantly below pupils of the same age nationally in reading, writing and mathematics; many pupils were not well prepared for the next stage of their education.  School leaders and governors are aware of the need to close the gap between the attainment and progress of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally and in the school. In 2015, the gaps in progress between disadvantaged pupils and others nationally at the end of Year 6 widened in reading, writing and

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

mathematics, particularly for pupils who had previously attained at an average level at the end of Year 2. In reading, the gaps also widened for disadvantaged pupils whose prior attainment was below average at the end of Year 2.  In the 2015 national tests, disadvantaged pupils’ attainment was around 20 months behind pupils of this age nationally in mathematics and writing, while in reading, spelling, punctuation and grammar it was around 18 months behind. There were narrower in-school gaps of between eight and 12 months across these subjects because non-disadvantaged pupils’ attainment was up to a year behind pupils nationally.  Although there is still much work to be done to improve outcomes, the radical and effective action that has been taken by the headteacher and deputy headteacher since they took up their roles in September 2015 is already beginning to bear fruit.  The historically lower than average attainment of all groups of pupils in the Year 1 phonics check and Year 2

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

recheck is being stemmed. The phonics skills of pupils currently in Years 1 and 2 are reflecting much better achievement in this aspect of reading. Pupils currently in Year 3 who had weak phonics skills at the end of Year 2 are being supported effectively to enable them to catch up quickly. These pupils’ reading and writing skills are already showing that the support is having a positive impact.  In Year 6, pupils with lower prior attainment in reading use phonics first to read unfamiliar words and try hard to read with expression and respond to punctuation, but with variable success. Their attitudes to reading and their knowledge of different authors and types of books are limited.  Improvements in pupils’ writing is very evident. Standards of presentation are much better, reflecting pupils’ growing pride in their work and enjoyment of writing. Books show that pupils write for many different purposes and are developing more accurate skills in spelling, punctuation and grammar. This improvement is

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

also evident in pupils’ topic books, showing that pupils rise well to teachers’ high expectations of maintaining the same standards of writing and application across the curriculum.  Progress in mathematics is also improving, with work showing a broad range of mathematical ideas and experiences and increasing opportunities for pupils to solve problems to deepen understanding.  Within this improving picture there is still variability in standards and rates of progress between pupils and subjects because addressing previous underachievement is not an immediate fix. The school’s new system for assessing pupils’ attainment and tracking their progress is rigorous and providing much clearer information to leaders and teachers about pupils’ achievement. The system allows leaders to compare rates of progress between key groups, subjects, year groups and classes and is therefore enabling support to be targeted where it is needed most; for example, by identifying pupils for short-term support programmes to

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

boost achievement.  At this point, no particular group or groups of pupils are achieving notably better or worse than others and no one particular subject reflects achievement that is much better or worse than another. In some year groups and classes, disadvantaged pupils do better than non-disadvantaged pupils, while in others they do not; the same is true for the most-able pupils. Although the quality of teaching, historically and currently, is not the only factor affecting the variability in achievement, it is the main one.  The progress of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is similarly variable to that of other pupils. In relation to this group of pupils, year group progress information has limited use in identifying whether provision is effective because it will inevitably be affected, sometimes significantly, by pupils’ individual needs. Currently, the processes by which senior leaders and the special educational needs

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

coordinator analyse assessment information to determine the impact of provision on pupils’ progress is not sufficiently ‘joined up’.  The achievement of pupils who speak English as an additional language is similar to that of other pupils. However, pupils at an early stage of English language acquisition are making good progress in learning the language.

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Early years provision requires improvement

 Over time, the early years provision has not been effective enough in enabling all children to make at least good progress so that they were ready for work in Year 1. Last year, only just over half of the children attained the good level of development needed to be ready for Year 1 work. While this was an improvement on the previous year, the proportion of disadvantaged children attaining this standard fell to just over a third. The achievement of this group of pupils and boys was weakest in reading, writing and all aspects of mathematics.  However, the situation is improving. The early years staff have benefited from significant support and training. The strengths in the teaching and range of activities provided for children indoors and outside outweigh the weaknesses and the provision is now much closer to good.  On beginning in the Nursery, a large proportion of children have knowledge and skills that are below what is

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Early years provision requires improvement

typical for their age. Much focus is given to developing the children personally, socially and emotionally. The children happily engage in activities and enjoy playing and exploring. Their concentration is developing, although some children regularly flit from activity to activity.  Nursery children’s speaking and listening skills are being developed effectively and early reading and writing skills are now given a higher profile than previously; for example, phonics teaching has been introduced earlier. The children enjoy stories and looking at books and many are beginning to understand how to represent words in writing. Early mark-making is encouraged in a range of contexts and the children are learning to write their names and form letters correctly. Most Nursery children are learning to play with and alongside others and to share.  Most Nursery children transfer to the school’s Reception classes and many more join from a range of other

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Early years provision requires improvement

providers. On entry to Reception, the attainment of many children is still below what is typical for their age.  The learning environment for Reception children is now better organised, with the outdoor learning planned to be a continuous part of the provision. A clearer structure for learning, including through purposeful play and direct teaching, has been established and the impact of staff training in moving children’s learning on is becoming increasingly evident.  During the inspection, Reception children were making good progress in learning the names and properties of two- and three-dimensional shapes. Teachers encouraged the children to describe the number of sides, corners and faces of different shapes and to recognise these in everyday objects.  Reception children are becoming proficient in recognising letter sounds and blending these to read words. The children have good attitudes to reading and many children independently use the writing resources

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Early years provision requires improvement

around them to write simple words and phrases. Their letter formation is developing well in response to careful support from staff.  Reception children have good opportunities to be creative and sustain concentration, both independently and when working with others. This was seen when a group of children worked together to build an emergency vehicle and one child was engrossed for a significant time in exploring how different toy cars travelled down a plastic chute.  Adults ensure that there are lots of positive interactions with children during their play and encourage children to explain their work and develop their vocabulary. This mostly works well, but not all adults are modelling correct language.  Staff have good relationships with the children and work hard in promoting good behaviour. Most children are learning how to consider others, take turns and share and most engage well in tasks. Disruptive

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Early years provision requires improvement

behaviour of a minority of children with difficulties in this area is dealt with effectively.  It is clear that the early years staff in Nursery and Reception classes are successful in providing an environment and activities that children enjoy and which foster good attitudes to learning.  Currently, the early years is being led effectively by a temporary leader with experience in this phase. School leaders recognise fully the need to improve children’s attainment by the time they leave the early years. Staff training is ongoing with this outcome firmly in view. The improvements that are evident indicate that attainment this year will be better than previously.  The needs of all groups of children are now being met more effectively though more accurate ongoing checks on their learning and the early years pupil premium funding is being used to this end. However, there is some lack of clarity about the number of children who qualify for this additional funding, which could be

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Early years provision requires improvement

improved through better links with parents.  Parental links are improving, but the early years leader recognises that more could be done, particularly in terms of practical information on how parents can support their children’s learning at home.  Safeguarding arrangements are effective. Risks are managed well and staff are vigilant. Statutory welfare requirements are met and specialist outside support is accessed where necessary to improve children’s early years experience and development.

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School details

Unique reference number 106211 Local authority Tameside Inspection number 10010149

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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 Maintained Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 438 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mrs Elizabeth Ashelby and Mrs Elly Mellor Headteacher Ms Andrea Clark Telephone number 0161 330 1280 Website www.waterloo.tameside.sch.uk Email address admin@waterloo.tameside.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 18–19 June 2014

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than the average-sized primary school  The majority of pupils are of White British heritage. Around a third of pupils are from minority ethnic groups and almost a quarter of pupils speak English as an additional language; a small minority of these pupils are at an early stage of learning to speak English.  The proportion of pupils for whom the pupil premium provides support is high. (The pupil premium is additional government funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and who are in the care of the local authority.)  The proportion of pupils receiving support for special educational needs is above average. The proportion with a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan is below average.  The proportion of pupils who join and leave the school other than at the usual admission and transfer times is above average.

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Information about this school

 The school’s early years provision consists of a 26-place Nursery, where children attend part time each morning, and two full-time Reception classes.  The school does not meet the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  A new headteacher and deputy headteacher have been in place since September 2015. Since the last inspection, a review of governance has occurred and the governing body has been reconstituted. From September 2015, the governing body has been led by two new co-chairs. In addition, an interim strategic group, with responsibility for the effectiveness of leadership and management and the quality of teaching, learning and assessment has also been in place.  A breakfast club and after-school service operates from the site, both of which are subject to a separate inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in each class. They checked pupils’ work, listened to pupils read and reviewed the school’s assessment information about their attainment and progress.  One joint observation was conducted with the headteacher and two joint analyses of pupils’ work were conducted with the deputy headteacher.  Inspectors held three formal discussions with pupils and spoke to others informally in lessons and at playtime and lunchtime.  Discussions were held with senior and middle leaders, governors, members of the interim strategic group, learning mentors and a representative from the local authority.  A range of documentation was reviewed, including the school’s evaluation of its work, safeguarding information, records of pupils’ behaviour and attendance, the school’s improvement plans and information about teachers’ performance.  Seventeen responses to the online parent questionnaire (Parent View) were reviewed. Inspectors also

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Information about this inspection

spoke to a number of parents as they brought or collected their children to and from school.  The views of four staff who responded to the online staff questionnaire were considered, as was a recent comprehensive school survey of staff views.

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Inspection team

Margot D’Arcy, Lead inspector Ofsted Inspector David Blackburne Ofsted Inspector John Daley 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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The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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

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