Shiney Row Primary School

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

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Mr Paul Ashton Headteacher Shiney Row Primary School Rear South View Shiney Row Houghton le Spring Tyne and Wear DH4 4QP

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Short inspection of Shiney Row Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 14 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 September 2012.

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Short inspection of Shiney Row Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Working alongside a supportive governing body, your determined leadership has brought about improvements to teaching and learning. You have rigorously addressed any issues of underperformance, and have brought together a skilled and enthusiastic teaching team. You have accurately identified the school’s strengths and current priorities. You detail further actions to address these priorities in the comprehensive school development plan.

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Short inspection of Shiney Row Primary School

You have effectively managed any instability that may have arisen from the recent move to a new school building, skilfully minimising any negative impact on pupils’ outcomes. You have brought an experienced and steady hand during the transition, maintaining and building upon the school’s existing strengths. You know the school community very well, and recognise the need to continually raise pupils’ aspirations and ambition. You have plans in place to ensure that pupils’ personal development and emotional resilience are further strengthened. You recognise that not all pupils tackle challenges and areas of uncertainty in their learning with confidence and persistence.

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Short inspection of Shiney Row Primary School

Improvement in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is now accelerating quickly the rates of progress of current pupils. You and other school leaders keep a close eye on the quality of teaching, and your feedback to teachers links directly into focused school improvement planning and teacher appraisal. You acknowledge that teachers do not always pitch work appropriately, and so some activities do not always fully challenge and stretch pupils.

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Short inspection of Shiney Row Primary School

The school has many strategies to encourage and celebrate pupils’ regular and punctual attendance. However, you recognise that these strategies currently have minimal impact on improving the attendance of a significant group of pupils, including many disadvantaged pupils. Too many pupils are regularly and persistently absent.

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Short inspection of Shiney Row Primary School

Pupils’ excellent attitudes to learning and good relationships with adults remain key strengths of your inclusive school. Pupils develop good citizenship skills, being keen to take on responsibilities through roles such as ‘class monitor’, the school council, greeting visitors or librarian. Pupils are proud to wear their ‘school ambassador’ badge, which recognises the excellent example they set for others.

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Short inspection of Shiney Row Primary School

You have successfully tackled the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. Because teaching is far more consistent, pupils’ progress and attainment have improved. Most pupils are making strong progress. Teachers use questioning well and the pace of learning secures pupils’ concentration in lessons. Pupils respond well to the additional tasks and challenges provided to consolidate their understanding. Teachers’ feedback deepens pupils’ understanding effectively. Most pupils in each year group are on track to reach standards expected for their age by the end of the academic year.

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Short inspection of Shiney Row Primary School

The role of the designated safeguarding lead is undertaken effectively by the assistant headteacher. Policies, procedures and records are of high quality and are up to date. Summary records of incidents of concern are meticulously kept. There are very few records of alleged bullying, and pupils categorically stated that no bullying happens at Shiney Row. All staff are appropriately trained and have a secure understanding of their responsibilities for safeguarding.

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Short inspection of Shiney Row Primary School

Pupils are very knowledgeable about bullying and e-safety. Pupils know how to stay safe and free from worries while in school. They understand how to avoid situations that may prove dangerous when not at school.

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Short inspection of Shiney Row Primary School

The culture of keeping pupils safe and putting them at the heart of the friendly school community is very evident. The work of the school counsellor supports pupils who are upset or worried and promotes pupils’ personal, social and emotional development and resilience very well. The school motto of ‘we inspire, we challenge, we care’ sums up Shiney Row well.

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Inspection findings

 You have taken determined and rigorous actions to strengthen the progress of current pupils in the light of the dip evident in the school’s results in the end of Year 2 assessments in 2016. You have been ably supported by the governing body. Work seen in books during the inspection and analysis of the school’s tracking data clearly demonstrate strong progress over the autumn term for most pupils in reading, writing and mathematics. This includes pupils in Year 3 who are rapidly catching up to reach levels expected for their age.  The leadership and management of the school are strong and there is a tangible drive to improve from all leaders, including governors. The newly strengthened leadership team is successfully taking ownership and responsibility for driving forward further improvements to ensure that all groups of pupils do well. The steps you have taken to tackle recent issues of underperformance in teaching

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Inspection findings

have been rapid and effective, and are now having a very positive effect.  Governors are skilled in their roles and know the school very well and the journey it has taken to reach this point. They are very well informed, take nothing at face value, and question and challenge very effectively. They are fully engaged in putting into place key actions to move the school forward even more rapidly.  Children are getting off to a fast start in their learning in the early years. The systematic and rigorous teaching of phonics starts in Nursery and moves into Reception. All adults are skilled in delivering phonics teaching, activities are targeted well to meet the needs of every pupil and work is well matched to pupils’ abilities. Pupils in Years 1 and 2 read well to the inspector and were able to build and blend unknown words.  Teachers’ ongoing assessments and monitoring of pupils’ successes or misunderstandings in their work allow planned activities to be amended or

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Inspection findings

changed. Ensuring that pupils are always sufficiently challenged is an area you are continuing to address.  Pupils are provided with many opportunities to use their developing English skills in extended writing activities, often linked to the topic or class novel they are studying. Pupils in Year 5 wrote thoughtfully using inference and deduction from a text to justify their opinion about playing in an orchestra. Pupils in Year 6 were challenged to answer at length and give reasons for their choice of adventurous vocabulary and description in retelling a scene from ‘The Hobbit’.  Work in pupils’ books is of a much-improved standard, extremely well presented, with neatly formed, legible joined handwriting. Occasionally, the desire for impeccable handwriting slows pupils down and restricts the amount of writing they complete in lessons.  Pupils’ enjoyment of mathematics is obvious. Some pupils informed the inspector

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Inspection findings

that this is their favourite subject. Pupils are becoming more proficient in their problem-solving skills. There are clear plans in place to develop pupils’ mathematical reasoning to consolidate their skills of calculation and fluency in number.

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Next steps for the school

 Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that they continue to improve outcomes for pupils by:  ensuring that teachers’ expectations of pupils’ progress and attainment remain consistently high, and that work set challenges and stretches pupils’ thinking and understanding  continuing to build and raise pupils’ aspirations and confidence in order to instil a positive approach to challenges in learning.  Leaders should ensure that the rates of attendance for pupils improve quickly, and reduce the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent, particularly disadvantaged pupils.

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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 Sunderland. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you and the deputy headteacher. You and I visited lessons in each key stage. I met with the chair, and other members, of the governing body. I spoke to pupils about their work and their views of the school, both in lessons and in meetings. I listened to some pupils read. I considered the views of parents from the Ofsted online survey, Parent View. You, the deputy headteacher and I scrutinised pupils’ work in books. A range of documents were considered relating to safeguarding, performance management, governors’ meetings and external evaluations of the school. I also considered the school’s development plan and self-evaluation, the curriculum and the tracking of current pupils’ progress. I also scrutinised pupils’ recent achievement in statutory assessments.

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