Tiptoe Primary School

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

p.1

Mrs Jacqui Persson Headteacher Tiptoe Primary School Wootton Road Tiptoe Lymington Hampshire SO41 6FU

p.1

Short inspection of Tiptoe Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 15 June 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.

p.1

Short inspection of Tiptoe Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your team have ensured that every pupil makes good progress and is well cared for. Parents trust you and have every confidence that their children are in safe hands.

p.1

Short inspection of Tiptoe Primary School

Pupils enjoy school and get on extremely well together. The care and support they show to one another was clear in the sporting events on the day of my visit. Pupils and parents describe this as a family atmosphere, where all pupils are welcomed and supported to succeed. Parents value that you and your staff go out of your way to ensure that all children feel included and feel successful.

p.1

Short inspection of Tiptoe Primary School

Teaching over time remains strong. Leaders and staff have a detailed understanding of each child. Together, you quickly identify areas of underachievement and take effective steps to make sure pupils catch up. Parents recognise and appreciate these actions.

p.1

Short inspection of Tiptoe Primary School

You, with other leaders, have taken effective action to maintain and build on the strengths identified in the last inspection. You have addressed the recommendations to develop the curriculum and strengthen governors’ visits to the school. A good example of this is your work to develop the curriculum to engage boys more effectively in their work, particularly in their writing. Teachers spoke positively about the training they had received and pupils discussed this work with enthusiasm. Your very effective self-evaluation has rightly identified the need to accelerate rates of progress in mathematics. The progress pupils make in mathematics is not as strong as their progress in English. You have started to improve the quality of teaching of mathematics and this is already leading to improved outcomes for pupils.

p.1

Short inspection of Tiptoe Primary School

Governors have a thorough understanding of the school’s current performance. However, they do not yet have all the information they need to hold senior leaders to account for the effective deployment of staff and resources. The small number of pupils in each year group and the relatively high proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, both in the resource provisions and in the mainstream school, create many variations within each year group. Governors do not have a sufficiently thorough understanding of the different expectations and targets for each group to plan effectively for the future.

p.2

Short inspection of Tiptoe Primary School

Since the last inspection, pupils’ safety and well-being have remained paramount at all times. This has ensured that the school is a very safe and supportive place to be. Leaders have made sure that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. Governors rigorously monitor all safeguarding practice, carrying out very effective spot checks during the year.

p.2

Short inspection of Tiptoe Primary School

Parents and staff are confident that children are safe, and pupils agree. The curriculum effectively teaches pupils about keeping themselves safe. For example, pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe online. Parents also appreciated the opportunities they received to understand how to keep their children safe on the internet.

p.2

Inspection findings

 At the start of the inspection, we agreed to look in particular at the following aspects of the school’s work: – the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements – how well leaders have addressed the recommendations of the previous inspection – how well pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported, both in the mainstream school and in the two specialist classrooms – how effectively the school promotes good attendance for vulnerable pupil groups – how effectively the school supports pupils at risk of exclusion.  Pupils join the mainstream school with skills and knowledge that are broadly typical for their age. As a result of the number of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, starting points vary in each year group. All pupils make at least good progress from their starting points. Pupils in the mainstream school make strong progress as they move through the school. This

p.2

Inspection findings

allows them to reach standards that are higher than the national average in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6. Most-able pupils make better progress in reading and writing than in mathematics. As a result, more pupils achieve the higher standards in English than in mathematics.  Since the last inspection, leaders have quickly identified and successfully tackled aspects of the school that needed to improve. When it recently became clear that one group of pupils had fallen behind in their learning, the whole school team worked together to address the problems. As a result, pupils made rapid progress and the gaps in pupils’ learning have been addressed.  Governors listen carefully to the views of parents and use this information well to improve aspects of the school. A good example of this is the improvements introduced to improve communication with parents of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

p.2

Inspection findings

 Leaders use a variety of sources of information to identify accurately areas of the school that need further improvement. Lesson observations, consideration of pupils’ work in books and direct conversations with pupils have contributed to the accurate identification of mathematics as an area for development. You have skilfully identified the crux of the problem and are developing a new approach for the next academic year.  Provision for pupils with additional and complex needs is a strength of the school. The provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, particularly in the two resource provisions in the school, demonstrates the school’s commitment to providing the best for these pupils. Parents value the quality of support their children receive. Provision is tailored to meet the individual needs of each pupil. The learning and development of individual pupils is closely tracked. Intervention programmes are meticulously monitored and

p.3

Inspection findings

assessed. Consequently, approaches are increasingly effective and pupils make strong progress.  Rates of attendance are currently higher than the national average. Attendance has been lower than the national average at times since the last inspection. The attendance of some groups of pupils appears lower than average. This is because, in these small groups, some pupils have significant circumstances resulting in low attendance.  The approach to behaviour management is positive and appropriate. It is effectively differentiated for pupils with different needs. Exclusion is used appropriately as part of a graduated response to more complex behaviour.

p.3

Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

p.3

Next steps for the school

 pupils, particularly the most able, make better than expected progress in mathematics  governors more systematically hold senior leaders to account for the effective deployment of staff and resources, so that all pupils achieve excellent outcomes. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Hampshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.3

Information about the inspection

During this inspection I held meetings with you and members of your leadership team to discuss a range of issues including safeguarding, pupils’ progress and attendance. Together, you and I looked at pupils’ work in mathematics in the mainstream classrooms. I spoke to parents throughout the day to gather their views of the school. I met a group of pupils and looked at their work. I reviewed school documentation, including the school’s policies and procedures for safeguarding. I took account of 19 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including 17 written comments. I also considered nine responses to the pupil questionnaire and 10 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.

p.4