Dines Green Primary School

Dines Green Primary School Tudor Way, Worcester, Worcestershire WR2 5QH

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Safeguarding is inadequate. Too many staff have not received the necessary training to know how to keep pupils safe. Some staff do not understand the safeguarding policies and procedures. Processes to recruit suitable staff are not good enough. Pupils are not supervised properly at informal times.  Governors do not fulfil their statutory duties for safeguarding. Evaluations of the school’s safeguarding arrangements are not carried out well enough to ensure pupils are safe.   Teaching does not meet pupils’ needs. Expectations of what pupils can achieve are not high enough and teachers do not plan work which matches the abilities of all groups of pupils, especially the most able. Pupils therefore make poor progress in reading, writing, mathematics and the wider curriculum.  Pupils do not have the opportunity to apply their writing skills in other subjects. Basic errors in grammar, punctuation and spelling

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

are not addressed. Additionally, pupils are not given enough opportunities to develop their mathematical skills in problem solving and reasoning.  Additional funding received for disadvantaged pupils is not used effectively to help them make good progress. Leaders do not check how well the funding is being used. These pupils are falling further behind in reading, writing and mathematics.   Pupils have limited opportunities to learn about subjects other than reading, writing and mathematics.   The headteacher has not monitored or managed teachers’ performance effectively. As a result, weak teaching persists across the school.  Some pupils, especially those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, do not attend school regularly. Attendance rates are below national averages and are not improving.  Governors do not hold leaders to account for pupils’ poor progress. Governors do not know how to judge if school improvement actions are

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

successful.  School improvement plans lack precision and clarity. Too few checks are made to evaluate how well the actions are improving school performance.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils are polite, respectful and behave well around school and in the playground.  Teaching is good in the early years and children make good progress.

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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.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 As a matter of urgency, ensure that all aspects of safeguarding are effective by: – updating the safeguarding policy to ensure it reflects current government guidance and the school’s own context – ensuring that all staff read and understand the school’s safeguarding policy and procedures, and follow them closely – making sure all staff receive updated safeguarding training – identifying and training a member of staff to be the designated teacher for children who are looked after – ensuring that all procedures for recruiting staff follow government guidance, are robust and adhered to – making sure that statutory procedures for removing pupils from the school’s register are followed – providing appropriate supervision at breaktimes and lunchtimes to keep pupils safe – regularly reviewing that checks made on all people working in the school are accurate – ensuring that strategies to improve rates of attendance are effective, especially for

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Improve the quality of leadership and management by ensuring that: – improvement plans identify clearly the main priorities to improve the school’s performance and the outcomes which leaders expect to see following monitoring, evaluation and review – the impact of the use of the additional funding received to support disadvantaged pupils, including in the early years, is evaluated to check it is raising the attainment of these pupils – monitoring of teaching accurately identifies weaknesses and effective action is taken to improve the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics – performance appraisal processes are used robustly to ensure that teaching and learning are consistently good in reading, writing and mathematics – the curriculum is planned to provide pupils with opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge in a range of subjects

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– governors hold leaders stringently to account for the school’s performance, including the use of additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils – the school’s website meets all statutory requirements.  Improve the quality of teaching and learning by making sure teachers consistently: – have high expectations of what all pupils can achieve and how they should present their work – plan work to meet the needs of all groups of pupils, especially the most able and most able disadvantaged pupils, to enable them to make rapid progress in reading, writing and mathematics – provide opportunities for pupils to write at length, including across a range of subjects – plan opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical skills in problem solving and reasoning – address misconceptions in spelling, punctuation and grammar – check that pupils understand the feedback they receive – set homework in line with the school’s policy.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of the school’s use of the pupils premium funding should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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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.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 The headteacher does not have an accurate understanding of the school’s performance. Processes for keeping children safe have serious flaws that have not been noticed. The headteacher has not ensured leaders have focused sufficiently on the key areas of improvement from the last inspection, and as a result outcomes for pupils remain well below national averages.  The school’s evaluation of its own performance is overgenerous and is not based on accurate monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning. Consequently, school improvement plans do not focus sufficiently on the key actions needed to improve pupils’ achievement. Plans do not identify how leaders will know if actions are successful or by when actions need to be achieved.  The headteacher does not manage teachers’ performance effectively. Very limited monitoring of targets set for teachers has resulted in weak teaching continuing. Support for recently qualified teachers is not consistently provided.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders have identified the inadequate progress of disadvantaged pupils as a key issue. However, they do not use the additional funding received to support them effectively. Leaders do not check if the support in place is helping disadvantaged pupils to make progress. As a result, actions that are not helping disadvantaged pupils to catch up, continue.  Subject leaders for English and mathematics recognise the need to rapidly improve standards in their subjects. New initiatives have been introduced in these subjects and the leaders are beginning to monitor the subjects with more rigour. These leaders have provided support and training to teachers to improve teaching. However, improvements in pupils’ progress are yet to be seen.  The leader of the provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities has a detailed understanding of the needs of individual pupils and the support that is in place for them. Additional funding is used to provide one-to-one and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

group support. However, the effectiveness of this support is not sufficiently checked to ensure it is improving outcomes for these pupils. In addition to this, teachers do not adequately plan to meet the needs of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and, therefore, these pupils are not making good progress.  The curriculum does not meet pupils’ needs. Pupils’ development of skills and breadth of knowledge across a range of subjects is very limited. Topic work is not marked or checked and is of a poor quality. Topics are repeated in different year groups and do not extend pupils’ knowledge of the subject. There is no evidence of pupils working at a higher level in these subjects. Consequently, pupils make little or no progress in a wide range of subjects and are not adequately prepared for secondary school.  The school does not currently have a designated teacher for children who are looked

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

after.  Parents who spoke to inspectors expressed some very negative views of the school, specifically relating to the leadership. These views were echoed in the responses to the online questionnaire and their individual written responses. While staff are very supportive of some aspects of the school, some had reservations about the leadership of the school.  Pupils’ understanding of democracy is limited. For example, some pupils do not know if there is a school council to represent their views. Pupils have few creative and spiritual opportunities in the curriculum. As a result, pupils are not well prepared for life in modern Britain.  Pupils participate in a range of trips and visits. They speak with enthusiasm about these opportunities, such as the Year 5 residential visit to Devon and the Year 6 visit to the Wye Valley. Reception pupils spoke very excitedly about their visit to a pizza restaurant. These trips support some aspects of pupils’ personal development.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Additional sports funding is used to develop staff’s expertise in teaching physical education (PE). However, the leader for PE has not received sufficient support to fully evaluate how well the funding is used and, therefore, is unable to judge how effective it has been.  The local authority has, in the past, provided a range of support but this has not been acted upon to have had an impact. Officers recently carried out a review of the school. The report of this review has not been finalised and therefore it is not possible to say whether or not the review was effective.

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Governance of the school

 Governance is ineffective. Governors have failed to ensure that statutory safeguarding duties have been met. They have not ensured that there is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school.  Governors do not hold the headteacher to account for the poor performance of the school. They have not ensured that effective actions have been taken to address the areas for improvement from the last inspection. Governors do not know what the outcomes of school improvement actions are and, therefore, are unable to judge the impact of them.  Governors have not checked that systems to improve the performance of teachers are improving the quality of teaching and learning. They rely on information provided by the headteacher too readily and, consequently, weak teaching is not challenged.  Governors know disadvantaged pupils are making inadequate progress, but do not challenge the headteacher on how the additional funding received to support them is

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Governance of the school

being used. As a result, disadvantaged pupils currently in the school continue to make less progress than other groups and are falling further behind.  Governors have not ensured the school’s website complies with statutory requirements.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective. There is no culture of safeguarding in the school. Staff do not know enough about safeguarding to be vigilant. Governors have not checked the safeguarding policies and procedures and, therefore, a number of serious areas of weakness exist. Government guidelines to recruit staff safely are not followed. Safeguarding policies do not follow the current government guidance and do not reflect the school’s context. Some staff have not received the proper safeguarding training and do not know who the leader for safeguarding is. When pupils leave the school mid-year, appropriate checks on their whereabouts are not made.  Pupils are not routinely supervised to ensure they are safe, for example when they are using laptops during lunchtimes. The register of checks made on adults who work in the school is not reviewed regularly to ensure that it is accurate. Pupils’ safety is

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Safeguarding

compromised as a result of these deficiencies in school safeguarding procedures. However, the deputy headteacher has ensured that concerns raised by staff about pupils have been followed up. Cases which involve external agencies are well documented and support for those pupils is carefully tracked.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are too low. They do not plan work which takes into account what pupils already know and can do. This frequently results in work being too easy or too hard for many pupils. Consequently, pupils are making inadequate progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils of all abilities are regularly expected to complete the same work. The most able pupils are not provided with opportunities to extend their learning, or with work to help them achieve the highest standards. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities do not have the right support to help them achieve as well as they should. Support for disadvantaged pupils does not meet their specific needs. As a result, these pupils are not making the progress of which they are capable in reading, writing and mathematics.  In some lessons teachers make mistakes when teaching English and mathematics. This

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

leads to pupils becoming confused. Basic mistakes in grammar, punctuation and spelling are not corrected and are, therefore, repeated on many occasions.  Pupils are rarely given opportunities to develop their writing and mathematical skills in subjects other than English and mathematics. Pupils have limited opportunities to write at length in order to build up their stamina in writing longer pieces. Where there are opportunities, for example writing about a science investigation, teachers do not expect pupils to produce work to the best of their ability. Work in books is not checked, with many basic mistakes not corrected. This results in poor-quality work which limits pupils’ progress. Pupils’ reasoning and problem-solving skills are also underdeveloped in mathematics.  Expectations of what pupils can achieve are particularly low in subjects other than reading, writing and mathematics. Therefore, pupils’ progress across the curriculum is

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

very limited.  Pupils’ work shows a lack of care and pride in the presentation. Books are poorly presented, with spelling mistakes on the covers. Some books are not checked by teachers and, as a result, some pupils’ work shows a decline in standard. For example, handwriting books show incorrect letter formation and joins, which are repeated. Consequently, pupils’ handwriting skills remain underdeveloped.  A marking policy has been introduced to provide pupils with feedback about how well they are doing and what they need to try next. However, this is not used effectively to support pupils’ learning. For example, a pupil did not understand what the feedback in a mathematics book meant, so ignored it. There are further examples of this across a range of books.  Homework is not used to support learning. Some pupils are unsure about what homework they are expected to complete and others say they do not regularly receive

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

it.  The teaching of phonics and reading is not enabling pupils to reach the standards expected of them across the school. Pupils’ knowledge of phonics is not secure. Consequently, pupils are not making the progress they should in reading. This is especially so for disadvantaged pupils.  Where teaching is stronger, work is well matched to the pupils’ abilities, probing questions are used to check understanding and pupils are challenged to think deeply. For example, pupils in Years 5 and 6 are developing their mathematical skills well and their books show that they are making good progress because of good teaching.  Since the last inspection, the quality of support provided by teaching assistants has improved. Some teaching assistants support pupils’ learning well by asking questions to help them achieve the tasks independently. However, this support is not consistent across the school and some pupils are given answers to questions too readily.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate.  Leaders have not ensured that procedures to keep pupils safe are in place and robustly adhered to.  During the inspection, breaktimes were inadequately supervised. Pupils also say that they are not supervised when using laptops during lunchtimes.  Pupils show little pride in their work. Teachers’ low expectations of what pupils can achieve do not encourage them to aim high and push themselves to produce the very best work of which they are capable.  Pupils have few opportunities to contribute to the development of the school or take responsibility. For example, there is no school council. Some pupils wrote to the governors about developing the playground. However, pupils say they do not know when they will be given the opportunity to plan the playground project, or respond to the governors’ letter.  Pupils have limited opportunities to develop their spiritual and cultural learning. The

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Personal development and welfare

limited curriculum does not provide enough opportunities to develop pupils’ learning in these areas. For example, there is very little evidence of pupils’ understanding of other faiths or exploring spirituality in religious education. Similarly, there are few opportunities for pupils to explore creativity through art or music.  The school provides a range of trips and visits which supports pupils’ personal development. There is a range of residential visits in Years 4, 5 and 6 which supports pupils’ independence and social skills.  Pupils say they feel safe in school and know there is someone they can speak to if they are worried about something. Pupils are aware of different types of bullying, including cyber bullying. Anti-bullying ambassadors are appointed to help pupils who feel they are being bullied. They learn about e-safety and how to keep themselves safe online.  Pupils talk with pride about the ‘CRISP’ awards. These awards are presented to pupils

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Personal development and welfare

who show consideration, responsibility, independence, success and perseverance. Pupils aspire to achieve ‘CRISP’ awards, and speak about the things they are doing in school to work towards this goal.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Attendance remains below national averages for vulnerable pupils, especially those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Actions taken to improve attendance are not monitored and, to date, have been ineffective.  In some lessons pupils do not work to the best of their ability. This is because teachers have low expectations of what they can achieve and do not encourage them to do so.  Nearly half of the staff who responded to the questionnaire do not believe behaviour is dealt with consistently by the headteacher.  Pupils are polite and courteous. They speak with confidence and enthusiasm, especially about the trips and visits which they participate in. Pupils show respect for one another and adults. They move around school sensibly and work and play together cooperatively during lessons and at breaktimes.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 At the end of key stage 2 in 2016, pupils’ progress in reading, writing and mathematics was inadequate. Disadvantaged pupils made significantly less progress than other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. The school’s own assessment information shows that this continues to be the case for current disadvantaged pupils. Work in books also shows that these pupils are making inadequate progress.  No pupils reached the higher level of performance in reading, writing or mathematics at the end of key stage 2 in 2016.  Standards at the end of key stage 1 in 2016 were below national averages in reading, writing and mathematics. Standards for disadvantaged pupils in writing were especially low. Current assessment information shows these pupils are not making the rapid progress needed in order to catch up. Indeed, many are falling further behind in all subjects.  Very few pupils reached the higher level of performance in reading and mathematics at

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

the end of key stage 1 in 2016. No pupils reached the higher level in writing.  Current pupils do not have work which is challenging or matched to their needs across all subjects. Teachers do not accurately identify what pupils can do and what they need to do next to enable them to make rapid progress. Limited opportunities to apply writing and mathematical skills in other subjects further restricts progress in these areas. As a result, pupils are not on track to reach the standards of which they are capable and are making inadequate progress. This is especially so for disadvantaged pupils, those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and the most able.  The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the phonics check at the end of Year 1 has been below the national proportion for the last two years. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils achieving the required standard rose in 2016, but

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

remains below the figure for other pupils nationally.  There is no current information about pupils’ progress in subjects other than reading, writing and mathematics. However, books contain limited work in other subjects which is of a poor quality. Inadequate progress across the school is evident in the wider curriculum. Pupils say they repeat work when they move to the next year group. Leaders have not checked that learning is being built on from one year to the next.

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Early years provision Inadequate

 Safeguarding in the school is ineffective and, therefore, overall provision in the early years is inadequate. Leaders, including governors, do not ensure that adequate safeguarding procedures are in place, which compromises children’s safety.  Children start Nursery and Reception with skills and abilities which are typically below those expected for their age. Teachers quickly and accurately identify the learning needs of children and provide a rich and stimulating environment to meet those needs. As a result, children make good progress from their different starting points. However, the proportion of children reaching the expected standard at the end of the Reception Year remains below national averages.  Teaching across the early years is good. Teachers and teaching assistants work closely together. A weekly ‘gap analysis’ is held between all staff to identify the individual needs of each child, and plan learning activities to address those needs. Staff use what

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Early years provision Inadequate

they know about the children very effectively in their planning and, as a result, pupils make good progress.  Teachers ensure that there is a high focus on developing communication skills. Language is modelled well and children are provided with a range of imaginative activities to support language development. For example, high-quality learning activities were well prepared to support the trip Reception children made to a local pizza restaurant. The early years provision covers all aspects of children’s learning well.  The early years leader ensures that all staff receive effective professional development. Training needs are identified and support put in place to further develop the effectiveness of the provision. The leader has a good understanding of the assessment information in the early years and ensures this is used to support children to make good progress. However, the leader is not involved with the spending of the additional

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Early years provision Inadequate

funding received to support disadvantaged children. This curtails the impact on outcomes for this group.  Children are supported well when they start school. Effective induction activities enable children to settle quickly. Children are confident, happy and resilient learners, a direct result of the care and effective teaching they receive in the early years.

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Early years provision Inadequate

 Staff work closely with parents, who are actively encouraged to be part of their child’s learning. Weekly ‘book and biscuit’ sessions are held, with parents being invited into school to find out what their child has been learning about. Half-termly workshops are also held to inform parents of how to further support their child’s learning.

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School details

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

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Email address office@dinesgreen.worcs.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 25–26 February 2013

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Information about this school

 The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the curriculum and the school’s use of the pupil premium.  Dines Green Primary is an average-sized primary school.  A large majority of pupils are from a White British background.  The majority of pupils speak English as their first language.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is above average.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average.  There is a Nursery class, two classes in Reception and Years 1 and 2, and one class per year group in Years 3 to 6.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics for pupils by the end of Year 6.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes. Some of the observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher.  Inspectors met with pupils, heard a selection of pupils read and observed pupils at breaktimes and lunchtimes.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and senior leaders with subject responsibilities, and members of the governing body. They spoke to a representative of the local authority.  A range of pupils’ books from all year groups and a range of subjects were looked at.  A number of documents were considered including the school’s self-evaluation and development plans. Inspectors also considered information about pupils’ progress, behaviour, attendance and safety.  Inspectors took account of 55 responses on the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View. Inspectors spoke to a number of parents before school. There were no responses to the online pupil questionnaire.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors reviewed 21 responses to an inspection questionnaire returned by staff.

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Inspection team

Ann Pritchard, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Diana Pearce 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

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 .

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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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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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 .

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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 .

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Inspection team

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

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Inspection team

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

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