Gladstone Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mr Simon Martin Interim Headteacher Gladstone Primary School Gladstone Street Peterborough PE1 2BZ

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No formal designation monitoring inspection of Gladstone Primary School

Following my visit with Paul Lawrence, Ofsted Inspector, to your school on 20–21 September 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings.

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No formal designation monitoring inspection of Gladstone Primary School

This monitoring inspection was conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 and in accordance with Ofsted’s published procedures for inspecting schools with no formal designation. The inspection was carried out because Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector was concerned about the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements and the personal development, behaviour and welfare of pupils at the school.

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Evidence

Inspectors scrutinised the single central record and other documents relating to safeguarding and child protection arrangements. They met with you and other senior staff, groups of pupils, teachers and non-teaching staff, parents, representatives from the local authority and the chair and two other members of the interim executive board. Inspectors observed the pupils’ behaviour in lessons throughout the school and at playtimes. They also reviewed behaviour and attendance records. Inspectors took into consideration the views of 12 parents through discussions with them at the beginning and end of the school day.

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Evidence

Having considered the evidence, I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Evidence

Leaders and managers have taken effective action to remedy the inadequacies in safeguarding arrangements identified at the school’s previous inspection in March 2016.

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Context

Gladstone Primary School is larger than average of its type, with 543 pupils on roll. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding is above average. All of the pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds. Virtually all of the pupils speak English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is average as is the number of pupils supported by a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan. The level of pupil mobility in and out of the school is similar to that seen nationally.

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Safeguarding

Together with other leaders and members of the interim executive board, you have rapidly instilled a culture of safeguarding throughout the school. You have implemented robust safeguarding and child protection procedures that are fully understood and consistently implemented by all staff. Previously weak lines of communication caused misunderstandings. These inadequacies have been eliminated. Roles and responsibilities related to safeguarding and child protection are now clear and understood by all. Inspection evidence confirms that all staff know what to do and who to go to if they have a concern about a pupil in school.

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Safeguarding

Those senior leaders with specific responsibility for safeguarding and child protection make effective use of robust procedures to make sure that staff concerns are fully noted and acted upon. This is a significant improvement on the findings of the previous inspection. All teachers say that these new procedures ensure that their concerns are taken seriously to ensure that all pupils are kept safe from harm. Non- teaching staff feel well trained, updated, valued and fully encouraged to play an active role in the whole-school culture of safeguarding.

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Safeguarding

Procedures are appropriately informed by the latest government documentation, such as ‘Keeping children safe in education’. All the statutory policies related to safeguarding, child protection and behaviour are in place. However, some of these policies do not fully reflect the changes that have been made and therefore are in need of review and updating on the school website.

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Safeguarding

You have made sure that staff with specific responsibility for child protection are vigilant at following up referrals made to the local authority and other agencies. Written records are detailed and completed in a timely manner. Any specific concerns are raised quickly with social services and the local police. The needs of the most vulnerable pupils and those who are looked after are monitored very closely to ensure that they make good progress in their lessons, personal development and well-being. The family worker undertakes rigorous checks regarding any pupil missing from school to ensure that these pupils are safe.

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Safeguarding

At the time of your appointment, you ensured that all staff are familiar with important safeguarding policies and procedures and that they are used effectively to protect all pupils. Robust procedures are used to ensure the suitability of adults working with pupils in school. Checking procedures are thorough and records are kept fully up to date. At least two references are followed up when new staff are appointed. These records are overseen effectively by a member of the interim executive board with the responsibility for safeguarding and child protection. Interview procedures fully comply with the government’s requirements for the safe recruitment of suitable staff.

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Safeguarding

You ensure that all staff are kept up to date with the government’s latest guidance on safeguarding through specific training, for example about e-safety, child sexual exploitation and female genital mutilation. You have established clear lines of accountability to ensure that safeguarding is taken seriously. For instance, checklists are maintained to confirm that all staff and governors have read the latest guidance and completed ‘Prevent’ duty training related to radicalisation.

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Safeguarding

Regular risk assessments of the school sites are undertaken by the site manager. All staff participate fully in the daily risk assessment of the classrooms and working areas. All staff fully understand the guidance related to pupils’ medicines. Medical records and medicines are stored in secure places out of sight of pupils but readily available when needed. Non-teaching staff are fully aware of the new procedures to handle and manage medicines. Risk assessments of school trips are thorough.

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Safeguarding

Discussions with parents and carers during the inspection confirmed that they are pleased with the improvements being made to the management of the pupils’ safety, care, welfare and behaviour. Parents of pupils requiring extra support are kept fully informed about their child’s behaviour, personal development and progress.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

The changes you introduced to supervision at playtime and the staggering of lunchtimes for pupils in key stage 2 are reducing the incidents of anti-social behaviour. This is because there are now greater opportunities for pupils to actively engage in worthwhile activity in all play areas at both sites. The increased levels of staffing at these times ensure that any potential problems are minimised, as seen in the reduction in behaviour incidents and accidents recorded. The effective supervision of pupils in the ‘Game Zones’ who wish to play ball games is reducing the temptation of boys to engage in boisterous and unsafe activity. This is an improvement on the findings of the previous inspection.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

As a result of these changes, pupils say that they feel safe at this school and that they know who to turn to if they feel worried or if they are being bullied in any way by another pupil. Analysis of the school’s records related to bullying and behaviour and discussions with pupils confirm that the number of incidents of bullying and aggressive behaviour is reducing. When they do occur, pupils say that staff are quick to respond and deal with any anti-social behaviour and bullying. Incidents are recorded and followed up with the parents of pupils involved. Behaviour and racist incidents are effectively logged. This information is monitored regularly by school leaders to identify trends and patterns to support self-evaluation and further improvements. You quickly introduced a simplified set of rules to support the management of pupil behaviour throughout the school. These ‘Gladstone Rules’ have proved to be very

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

effective because they have brought consistency to the management of pupil behaviour by all staff. Pupils know the rules off by heart and refer to them daily. Rewards and sanctions are simple to understand. Older pupils say that, as a result, behaviour has improved considerably since the previous inspection. Pupils are proud of their achievements and motivated to work hard in class. Inspection evidence confirms that overall this is the case in many lessons. However, inspectors noticed that on some occasions some pupils lack the necessary personal skills to work independently and persevere with their tasks.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare

The whole-school personal, social, health and economic education programme further reinforces rules of expected behaviours. A programme of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development for pupils effectively promotes the core British values of tolerance and respect for others within this diverse school community.

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External support

Officers from the local authority work closely with school leaders to ensure that deficiencies in safeguarding arrangements meet statutory requirements. Progress on the safeguarding action plan is closely monitored by the local authority officer for safeguarding. Members of the interim executive board, which includes representation from the local authority and sponsoring academy, monitor the school’s actions closely in readiness for conversion to academy status at the end of this calendar year. The school has established a good working relationship with other local agencies, including social services and the police, to support the safeguarding of all pupils at this school.

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Priorities for further improvement

 Ensure that all policies related to safeguarding and the management of pupil behaviour are fully reviewed to represent current practice and published on the school’s website before the school becomes an academy.

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Priorities for further improvement

I am copying this letter to the chair of the interim executive board, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Peterborough City Council. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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