Ambleside Primary School

Ambleside Primary School Minver Crescent, Aspley, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG8 5PN

p.1

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

p.1

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

p.1

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

p.1

Early years provision Requires improvement

p.1

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders have not acted with enough urgency to bring about the necessary improvements to raise pupils’ outcomes.  The school’s self-evaluation is overgenerous. Leaders do not accurately identify the school’s weaknesses and so do not address them sufficiently.  Governors too readily accept what leaders have told them. Due to this, they do not have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses.  Over time, standards have been too low in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2.  From their individual starting points, too many pupils fail to make enough progress due to inadequate teaching over time.  Disadvantaged pupils are not receiving sufficient support to make the gains needed to reach the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics.  Expectations of what the most able pupils should achieve are too low. As a result, not enough pupils attain higher levels in reading,

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

writing and mathematics.  There are inconsistencies in the quality of teaching across the school. Assessment is weak and, as a result, some pupils carry out work that is too easy or too difficult.  Pupils do not have the necessary skills in reading to allow them to access other areas of the curriculum successfully, or to prepare them well for secondary school.  Pupils have not been given enough opportunities to reason and explain their answers in mathematics.

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Provision in the early years has improved since the last inspection.  The school provides well for pupils’ welfare. They are looked after very well.  Pupils have positive attitudes to school. They are courteous, kind and confident.  Improvements in the teaching of phonics since the last inspection has led to better outcomes in the Year 1 phonics screening check.

p.1

Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

p.2

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the impact leaders, managers and governors have on pupils’ learning by ensuring that: – there are robust self-evaluation processes in place that will give leaders an accurate picture of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, and how well it is performing compared with other schools nationally – governors increase their understanding of how well pupils are achieving so that they are able to challenge leaders more effectively and hold the school to account for pupils’ outcomes – the actions that leaders take are focused on the key priorities identified through self-evaluation – leaders take a more strategic role in overseeing improvements.  Improve teaching in order to accelerate the progress that pupils make and raise their attainment, especially in reading and mathematics, by: – ensuring that the work that teachers set for pupils is more challenging, especially for the most able pupils – making better use of the pupil premium funding to support disadvantaged pupils in

p.2

What does the school need to do to improve further?

their learning – making sure that teachers’ assessment of pupils’ progress is accurate and is used more effectively by teachers to check what pupils know and what they need to learn next – providing opportunities for pupils to use and explain their reasoning behind how they solve mathematical problems – ensuring that children take note of written guidance provided by the teacher through their marking.

p.2

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Senior leaders have been overgenerous in their evaluation of how the school is performing. Therefore, they have not been able to identify accurately the school’s weaknesses, particularly in the quality of teaching over time. Because of this, senior leaders have not taken the necessary action to improve the quality of teaching, to secure an improvement in pupils’ outcomes.  The sponsor of the trust, Old Basford Primary School, has not supported the school well enough. Since the previous inspection, the sponsor has withdrawn the intensive support that it had initially provided for the school. The withdrawal of this support has resulted in pupils’ outcomes remaining too low.  Since leaving the local authority, the school has become increasingly isolated in terms of external scrutiny. The school does source training from a variety of providers and has benefited from working in a group of six local primary schools. Being part of this

p.3

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

group has allowed subject leaders to work together to update their curriculum knowledge. However, the school has not received the necessary external challenge to make leaders aware that pupils’ outcomes are too low, and to provide support to help them improve.  Senior leaders do not accurately compare the school’s performance against that of other schools nationally. Because of this, senior leaders do not know what to focus on as a priority to improve the quality of the school’s provision. Their strategies to improve the school’s provision have had little impact because none of it is focused or specific enough to tackle the school’s inadequacies.  Senior leaders do not use the additional pupil premium funding with sufficient precision to ensure that those who need it make the necessary gains to catch up quickly enough in their learning.  The leaders of the provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or

p.3

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

disabilities do not have enough knowledge of pupils’ previous and current achievement, or of their attendance. Consequently, they are unable to map out the best provision to help these pupils make good progress. Neither do leaders monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of actions they have taken.  Leaders have created a warm and caring environment where pupils feel safe. Leaders have invested much time, effort and resource into ensuring that the school is a haven for those whose lives are turbulent outside school. For example, the school has a ‘place2be facility’ where pupils can go and talk to qualified and specifically trained adults who will help them with difficulties, such as worries, anxiety or behaviour.  The leadership team has recently been restructured. Senior leaders now oversee specific year groups as well as having responsibility for English and mathematics throughout the school. This has created clearer lines of accountability. Furthermore,

p.3

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

senior leaders now spend more time monitoring, evaluating and improving the quality of teaching and learning within their subject and their year groups. There are early signs of improvement resulting from their analysis and action. However, there are still significant variations in the effectiveness of teaching across all subjects and key stages.  The school leaders work well with the local community. During the inspection, a local councillor met with inspectors and spoke very positively about the mutual support between the school and the community. A parent commented on how the school had helped her access college courses. In addition, staff from outside agencies spent two hours on the second day of the inspection talking to Year 5 and Year 6 pupils about domestic violence. These are just a few of the many examples inspectors saw of the good work that the school does to support pupils, parents and the wider community.

p.3

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 The school provides a wide and varied curriculum. Learning is supported with visits, both short and residential, and visitors coming into school. The school use creative ways to support learning, knowledge and understanding, such as the use of taxidermy animals. This is done to familiarise pupils with subject matter and bring context and meaning to their learning. Pupils have a good understanding of British values and the school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Pupils relish the opportunities they receive to involve themselves in the wider life of the school. Such opportunities include sitting on the school council or working with other pupils to raise awareness of the negative effects of racism. Pupils reported that it makes them proud to know that they can make a difference.  The primary school sports funding has been used effectively. Pupils receive teaching

p.4

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

from a professional sports coach, have opportunities to play a multitude of sports and have had success at competition level. There are excellent on-site facilities from which pupils benefit.  It is recommended that the school should not appoint newly qualified teachers.

p.4

Governance of the school

 Governance is inadequate.  The local governing body, which has sponsor representation on it, has presided over inadequate outcomes for over three years and has not demonstrated the capacity to secure improvements.  Governors have too readily accepted leaders’ overgenerous view of the school and have not challenged the school’s poor performance. Minutes of meetings of the governing body show little evidence that governors have robustly questioned school leaders about the lack of improvement.  Governors have not ensured that the spending of the pupil premium has been used effectively to diminish the differences in the performance between disadvantaged pupils in school and that of other pupils nationally.

p.4

Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective and meet statutory requirements.  Safeguarding is high on the school’s agenda. Governors have, with school leaders and staff, created a ‘safeguarding culture’ within school where all members of the school community know how to keep pupils as safe as possible. As a result, pupils feel safe in classrooms and around school.  Training in child protection is up to date for all staff and governors. Procedures are in place to check on pupils’ well-being and any concerns are recorded and followed up. Patterns in absence and lateness are monitored to identify pupils who might be at risk, and action is taken to make sure that they are safe.  Leaders and governors are aware of the safeguarding issues in the local community and work very hard to educate pupils about these. The school’s website signposts the school community to a whole host of support agencies.

p.4

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Teaching over time has been inadequate and pupils’ outcomes over the three years since the school opened as an academy have been poor.  There are pockets of stronger teaching in school, for example in Year 6 and in the early years. However, the effectiveness of teaching across the school is variable and has not brought about any acceleration of pupils’ progress nor noticeably raised their attainment.  Teachers are still not fully conversant with the new national curriculum and, as such, their assessment of pupils’ achievements is inaccurate. During the inspection, inspectors saw work that had been assessed as age appropriate for that particular year group, when in fact it was age appropriate for the year below. In most cases, pupils’ performance in external tests was well below that of teachers’ own assessments of pupils’ attainment.  Weak assessment procedures mean that sometimes the work set by teachers can be

p.5

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

too difficult for some pupils, causing them to opt out or become easily distracted. Equally, it can be too easy for other pupils, especially the most able, and these pupils do not progress quickly enough and attain the levels of which they are capable.  Some pupils do not have sufficient reading skills to access some areas of the curriculum. For example, during group work, the least able pupils struggled to read questions about Vikings in a history lesson. In some groups, the most able pupils read the questions to them, but in other groups the least able pupils lost interest. At the end of key stage 2 in 2016, outcomes were lower than expected partly because pupils took too long to understand and answer what was being asked in the test papers.  More recent approaches are placing a greater emphasis on trying to familiarise pupils with the language and context of a topic before embarking on a particular text. This is

p.5

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

as a direct response to some pupils not being able to identify or understand certain vocabulary or indeed the subject matter in the end of key stage 2 reading test.  Teachers have good subject knowledge of phonics and pitch their teaching more accurately than in other areas of the curriculum. Consequently, the teaching of phonics has improved and more pupils now reach the required standard in the end of Year 1 phonics screening check. Older pupils who have not benefited from this expertise struggle more to decode unfamiliar words.  There has been insufficient focus on reasoning skills in mathematics and pupils struggle to explain and justify their answers. Work in books is largely focused on calculation with very little historic work on reasoning. The mathematics leader has identified this and had begun work to address it. However, it is too soon to see any impact from this work.  The quality of teachers’ marking is variable because not all teachers follow the school’s

p.5

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

marking policy. The number of pupils across the school who take note of teachers’ feedback and marking is uneven and, therefore, marking does not have the impact the school intended. Sometimes, this is partly because of pupils’ weak reading skills.  Pupils’ engagement with homework is variable. The school does not provide enough opportunities for those pupils, particularly the disadvantaged, who do not have the support or may not have the ideal home environment necessary to complete their homework successfully. Opportunities in the past have been provided for pupils to do their homework in school, but this does not currently happen.

p.6

Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  Pupils generally have positive attitudes to learning. However, in some lessons, teachers do not set work that is sufficiently stimulating. On these occasions, pupils’ attitudes to learning diminish and the progress they make in their understanding slows.  Pupils feel the school cares for them and supports them well. Parents agree. Pupils all have adults in school they can go to if they have a problem and they appreciate services, such as the ‘place2be’ to which the school ensures pupils have access.  Pupils feel safe in school. They told inspectors that there is some bullying, but when it does occur the school deals with it effectively. The school actively encourages pupils in dealing with behavioural or racist issues. For example, the pupils who promote an anti- racism message to their peers have a good understanding of what racism is and were

p.6

Personal development and welfare

planning an assembly to educate other pupils against racism.  Pupils are knowledgeable about how to stay safe online. They can articulate the dangers, how best to avoid them and what to do if they feel that they are at risk. They expressed confidence in the school’s filter systems and could explain how the use of the internet was monitored.  The school promotes British values well. For example, members of the school council actively work on issues around behaviour and making pupils’ journey to school safer. They link up with councillors from other schools from across the city as part of a ‘pupil parliament’ to discuss similar issues they may all face.  Pupils’ health and fitness are promoted well. Pupils understand the importance of exercise and they wax lyrical about the number of sports on offer within the school throughout the year. They also understand what constitutes a healthy diet.  Pupils enjoy singing and appreciate the time to reflect and pray. They enjoy learning

p.6

Personal development and welfare

about other religions and are proud of the different languages prevalent in their school.

p.7

Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Overall attendance has been below national averages for the last three years. The school is active in trying to deal with pupils who are absent, particularly those who are absent because of their domestic circumstances. Systems and procedures are in place to try to raise the school’s attendance figures. However, attendance figures have remained stubbornly below national averages over the last three years.  Pupils behave well in lessons. However, where learning is not pitched appropriately, pupils become easily distracted and their learning slows.  Pupils behave well around school. They are polite and courteous to each other and work collaboratively in lessons.

p.7

Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Pupils are not sufficiently prepared for the next stage in their education when they leave school in Year 6. This is because they have made slow progress from their individual starting points. Therefore, the standards pupils reach at the end of key stage 2 are well below those seen nationally.  Progress that Year 6 pupils had made since the end of key stage 1 in reading, writing and mathematics was significantly below the national level in 2014 and 2015. In 2016, the overall progress Year 6 pupils, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, had made since key stage 1 in reading and mathematics was in the bottom 10% of schools nationally. The progress these pupils made in writing was broadly in line with that seen nationally, but had not been sufficient to make the gains needed to raise their attainment to age-related expectations. Consequently, the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and

p.7

Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

mathematics in 2016 was well below the national average.  The school’s own performance information shows a more positive picture in relation to the achievement of current pupils in key stage 2. However, the wide range of books inspectors looked at did not confirm this to be the case. The work in pupils’ books indicated that too few pupils in key stage 2 are making the progress they need to in order to reach the standards expected for their age.  Disadvantaged pupils do not make sufficient gains in their learning from Year 3 to Year 6 to diminish the differences between their attainment and that of other pupils nationally. The standards they reach by the end of key stage 2 are well below those reached by other pupils nationally.  Attainment at the end of key stage 1 has been significantly below national for the last three years in reading. In 2016, national published data indicates that, once again,

p.7

Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

standards in reading were well below national and the progress pupils had made since leaving the early years was below that seen nationally.  Attainment in mathematics at the end of key stage 1 was in line with the national average in 2016. The progress for some groups of pupils from their individual starting points was good. Attainment in writing was below that seen nationally. While some small groups of pupils made good progress from their starting points, disadvantaged pupils did not.  There has been an improving trend over the last three years in the proportion of pupils who achieve the required standard in the phonics screening check. The school attributes the success in the teaching of phonics to some of the improvements seen in writing. However, phonics outcomes at the end of Year 1 are not improving reading outcomes throughout the school. Those pupils who inspectors heard read demonstrated variable levels of success in decoding unfamiliar words. This is partly due

p.7

Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

to the weaker teaching they have received when in lower year groups.  The most able pupils do not make the progress that they should because they are insufficiently challenged by the work set.

p.8

Early years provision Requires improvement

 Outcomes at the end of the early years had risen from 2014 to 2015 but fell back to well below the expected level in 2016. Not enough children, including disadvantaged children, achieve a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year and therefore they are not prepared sufficiently well for learning in Year 1.  There are clear indications that provision and practice are improving in the early years, but this is not yet resulting in more children being well prepared for Year 1.  The outdoor area is underdeveloped and is not used effectively to promote children’s learning.  Staff model behaviour well and are clear about their expectations. Children are expected to tidy up and hang up their coats. Children understand the routines and manage themselves well. However, during child-initiated activities, the setting can sometimes become rather chaotic, with too many children trying to access one activity.

p.8

Early years provision Requires improvement

 The leadership has changed since the last inspection. Additional capacity has been secured by appointing separate leaders for the Nursery and Reception Years. Both leaders are committed and passionate about early years education. They are clear about the provision’s strengths and what needs to be improved, including maximising the learning time to promote the different areas of learning.  School is a place where the children love to be. Parents comment on how quickly their children settle. One parent said of their child, ‘He loves it. He can’t wait to come to school!’ Parents report that lines of communication between school and home are regular and clear, and add to the smooth transition into school and to keeping children safe.  The teaching of phonics has improved. Teachers have good subject knowledge and make the teaching of phonics fun. One child in the Nursery class confidently demonstrated to inspectors how they could blend words such as ‘cat’ and ‘pig’.

p.8

Early years provision Requires improvement

 Children start school with skills, knowledge and understanding below what is typical for their age, particularly in language. Adults immediately set about modelling language. They constantly question children and insist on eye contact when they respond.  Safeguarding in the early years is effective. All staff receive appropriate training so they know what to do if they have any concerns about a child.

p.9

School details

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

p.10

School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

p.10

School details

Website www.amblesideprimaryschool.co.uk

p.10

School details

Email address headteacher@ambleside.nottingham.sch.uk

p.10

School details

Date of previous inspection 27–28 January 2015

p.10

Information about this school

 The school meets the requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.  The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.  The school is much larger than the average-sized primary school.  The school converted to academy status in April 2013. It is a sponsor-led academy. Old Basford Primary School is the sponsor.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils in the school is well above that seen nationally.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is above that seen in most schools.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below average.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics for

p.10

Information about this inspection

 The inspectors spent time in lessons in all phases of the school. Some observations were carried out jointly with senior leaders.  Inspectors scrutinised a number of pupils’ books while in lessons and also looked at a sample collection in more detail.  Inspectors listened to pupils from across the school read.  The inspectors looked at a range of documents, including the school’s own self- evaluation, pupils’ performance information, school improvement planning, minutes of meetings of the governing body, external reviews, documents relating to safeguarding, the school’s own monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning, and attendance information.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy and assistant headteachers, mathematics and English leaders, inclusion and safeguarding leaders, and early years leaders.  Inspectors met with a number of governors, some of whom were sponsor governors.

p.12

Information about this inspection

 Inspectors met with pupils, talked to parents and met with a local councillor. They also considered correspondence any parents had sent to Ofsted. There had been no responses to the Ofsted online questionnaires.

p.12

Inspection team

Mark Mallender, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

p.12

Inspection team

Cheryl Lodge 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 .

p.12

Inspection team

In the report, 'disadvantaged pupils' refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

p.13

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.

p.13

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 .

p.13

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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

p.13

Inspection team

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 .

p.13

Inspection team

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

p.13

Inspection team

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

p.13

Inspection team

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

p.13