Eagle Community Primary School

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

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Hayley Adams Headteacher Eagle Community Primary School Scarle Lane Eagle Lincoln Lincolnshire LN6 9EJ

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Short inspection of Eagle Community Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 21 February 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in July 2012.

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Short inspection of Eagle Community Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Eagle Community Primary School

You have worked effectively to build a strong ethos which places pupils at the heart of all of the school’s work. This means that pupils enjoy coming to school and value their learning. Lessons are calm and relationships between pupils and staff are very positive. Behaviour in lessons and around the corridors and the dining hall is very good and pupils are proud of their school.

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Short inspection of Eagle Community Primary School

Since the previous inspection, you have improved the way that you check on the quality of teaching. This has led to improvements in the quality of teaching. You make regular visits to lessons and provide teachers and teaching assistants with high-quality feedback. This ongoing dialogue between you and the teaching staff is supportive and challenging in equal measure. Teachers value the opportunity to discuss their work and are committed to making further improvements.

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Short inspection of Eagle Community Primary School

Teachers have raised their expectations of what pupils can achieve. This is most evident in pupils’ mathematics work. Standards in this subject are improving in all classes because of the focused work that you and the staff have undertaken. All of the pupils that I spoke to were very positive about mathematics – more than half of them said that it was their favourite part of the school day. Teachers are making this subject very accessible by using real-life examples to provide problems and questions. In addition, teachers’ use of questioning in mathematics is making a difference. Pupils are required to think carefully about how they are solving problems. This means that pupils are now more confident when they explain their work. Teachers are also providing pupils with work that is challenging them. Some of the work that the most able pupils are doing is well above that expected for their age.

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Short inspection of Eagle Community Primary School

Progress in writing is not as rapid as that in mathematics. You have recognised this and have started to make changes. Importantly, you have revised your approach to the teaching of handwriting. Almost all pupils in key stage 1 are now producing clear and legible handwriting because of the new approach. The quality of handwriting and presentation of pupils’ work in key stage 2 is more variable, although the majority of work is undertaken with care and pride.

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Short inspection of Eagle Community Primary School

The changes that you have made to the curriculum since the previous inspection have raised standards in several subjects. Pupils now have a much greater influence on the way that their ‘topic’ work evolves. This is helping to create and sustain some very positive attitudes to learning.

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Short inspection of Eagle Community Primary School

The development of the curriculum is not yet complete. At present, all subjects are not taught equally well. There are examples of very good learning in history, geography and design and technology. In science, however, too much time is spent on recording the processes involved in an investigation and too little is devoted to understanding what has actually been learned in terms of the science. This means that pupils’ work shows detailed accounts of what was done in an experiment, but there is very little evidence of what they found out. In art, pupils make and create some exciting and interesting work. Sketchbooks, however, are underused and teachers are not consistently using them to teach and develop basic artistic skills.

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Short inspection of Eagle Community Primary School

Governors know the school well and provide good support for its ongoing improvement. They are becoming more familiar with the revised national assessment arrangements and this is enabling them to effectively hold school leaders to account for pupils’ outcomes. Governors visit the school often, seeing its work and contributing to monitoring activities. School finances are carefully monitored.

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Short inspection of Eagle Community Primary School

Parents spoken to during the inspection were positive about the school. They value the ‘family’ ethos that you have created and say that they are well informed about their child’s progress. They also say that pupils feel safe in school (a view echoed by all of the pupils spoken to) and that they are well cared for.

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Short inspection of Eagle Community Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. Systems to check pre- employment information are well established. Governors are well informed about safeguarding. A safeguarding governor works alongside leaders to check that the school complies with requirements. The school is making good use of a self-audit tool to review its own work in this area.

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Short inspection of Eagle Community Primary School

Training in safeguarding has a high profile. New staff are quickly provided with training. As a result, teaching staff are confident with the school’s policies and procedures. Pupils are well known as individuals and those that are vulnerable receive good support. The ‘family’ culture, driven by the headteacher, means that pupils’ safety and well-being are a priority for all staff.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils’ attainment at the end of key stage 2 in 2016 was broadly in line with the national levels. Pupils made good progress in mathematics and made expected progress in reading and writing. Pupils currently in Year 6 are making similar progress and are on track to attain in line with last year’s national levels.  Standards in reading and mathematics in Year 2 in 2016 were above the national level. They were broadly in line with national figures in writing. The proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check has risen over the past three years and has been consistently above the national level. The proportion of pupils who achieve a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year has also been consistently above the national level for the past three years.  Attendance rates are high and are well above the primary school national average. This is reflective of how much pupils enjoy coming to school.

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Inspection findings

 Boys are making less progress than girls in some year groups. You are aware of this and have provided focused support for these pupils. This is having some impact, especially in key stage 1, where rapid improvements are evident in pupils’ work.  In the past, the most able and the least able pupils have made better progress than mid-ability pupils. Your assessment information and pupils’ work indicate that, while this is still the case in some year groups, there is no pattern to the data across the school.  A scrutiny of pupils’ topic work identified some very innovative and creative planning. Pupils are involved at the start of a topic and help to determine the direction of their work. This approach secures interest and commitment from pupils, many of whom are keen to develop independent learning skills in preparation for secondary school. The freedom that this provides to teachers means that leaders have to work hard to ensure that all of the skills and

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Inspection findings

knowledge required in the national curriculum are covered. Leaders have audited the curriculum but more work is needed to assure the quality of learning in all of the national curriculum subjects. Your own monitoring indicates that there are inconsistencies and you have already taken steps to tackle this.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 the effective strategies that are being used to promote rapid learning in mathematics are used to improve learning in writing  learning across the full range of the national curriculum subjects is of a consistently high quality.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Lincolnshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I made several visits to all classrooms, where I observed teaching, looked at pupils’ work and spoke with pupils. The headteacher accompanied me on almost all of these visits. I observed lunchtime and playtime and spoke with pupils about their experiences at the school. I met with the headteacher and all teachers to discuss the school’s performance and evaluate the quality of leadership. In addition, I met and had a discussion with two governors. I evaluated school documentation, including self-evaluation and development plans. I scrutinised systems and documentation associated with safeguarding.

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