Olympic Primary School

Olympic Primary School Olympic Way, Off Queensway, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire NN8 3QA

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Senior leaders have not communicated priorities with sufficient clarity. Therefore, actions for improvement are not sharply focused enough to secure rapid improvement.  Until very recently, the academy trust had provided limited guidance and support, and not ensured that the advisory board had governors in place who were able to challenge and support school leaders.   Although leaders are taking appropriate actions to improve teaching, it is not yet consistently good across the school. Teachers in all year groups do not consistently ensure sufficient year on year progress to improve attainment.  Teachers do not use assessment with adequate precision to identify the next steps in learning that will move pupils rapidly forward.  Teachers are not providing consistent challenge, especially in reading, for pupils to deepen their understanding in order to achieve higher standards.  Teachers across the school do not have

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

consistently high expectations of pupils’ independence, focus, self-checking and presentation.  Outcomes are not good enough, especially in key stage 2, to ensure that pupils are ready for their next stage of education.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher and other leaders have established a calm and purposeful ethos, which means that pupils are ready to learn.  Leaders and staff are strong role models for key values of caring and respect. Hence, pupils behave well across the school day, and show understanding and courtesy to each other.  There are examples of good teaching and phonics is well taught.  Pupils enjoy their learning, because topics interest and engage them.  The early years leader ensures consistently good teaching, so children make a good start to school and are well prepared for Year 1.  Safeguarding of pupils is effective. Pupils say they feel safe. Parents have a high level of confidence that their children are safe and well looked after.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and learning further by ensuring that: – all teachers have equally high expectations of what pupils are capable of, including maintaining focus, developing habits of self-checking, and presentation of learning – teachers consistently plan tasks that challenge pupils in reading, especially for the most able, to develop comprehension skills that deepen understanding – teachers across all year groups have a consistent understanding of what pupils need to be able to do to secure cumulative good progress and readiness for pupils’ next stage of education.  Further accelerate progress and improve outcomes for pupils by ensuring that: – assessment is used more effectively to identify precise next steps to move learning forward more rapidly.  Improve leadership and management in the school further by ensuring that: – key priorities for improvement are clearly defined to inform sharply focused actions

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

for improvement – school leaders, governors and academy sponsors are clear on their roles and responsibilities to secure rapid and sustainable progress against planned actions for improvement.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Senior leaders have not communicated key priorities with sufficient clarity. They have a detailed personal understanding of the school, but have not been effective in refining this into sharp and precise actions for improvement that are understood across the school. This means that, although appropriate areas for improvement and actions have been identified and acted upon, especially in relation to writing and mathematics, these have not been effective in bringing about consistent rapid improvement.  Senior and other leaders are not sufficiently clear about the impact of the actions they are taking in an effort to improve outcomes and the consistency of teaching and learning across year groups. Leaders have identified and provided effective staff training, resources and guidance on appropriate areas. For example, approaches to writing have strengthened over the past two years and recent training on mastery in

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

mathematics is starting to have a positive impact. However, the wide range of internal information and data about pupils and their progress is not being effectively analysed and summarised to inform next steps with sufficient clarity and timeliness to bring about consistently rapid improvement.  School leaders have not monitored and evaluated the quality of teaching and learning with sufficient focus on progress to communicate with clarity, precision and urgency what teachers need to do to rapidly impact where progress or teaching is weaker.  School leaders have not received effective support from The Education Fellowship Trust (TEFT) to help them to improve the clarity, consistency and rigour of improvement planning and actions. The trust’s school improvement adviser, appointed late in 2016, has effectively worked with the headteacher and school leaders to establish greater accuracy and clarity. However, his time availability to build on this

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

recent support has been very limited and, therefore, impact has also been limited.  Leaders are using additional pupil premium funding and funding for those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities on appropriate areas. Leaders have invested in effective pastoral and behavioural provision, which is improving the support of vulnerable pupils and their readiness to learn. However, this is not being sharply linked to learning. This is slowing improvements in outcomes for these groups of pupils.  The headteacher and her team show a strong sense of care and responsibility towards the pupils and the community. The school’s values and behaviour code have been developed and embedded over time, and all pupils respond well to these. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated in the school. Pupils’ good behaviour and attitudes reflect this positive aspect of leadership.   The school’s curriculum is broad and balanced. Senior leaders have a clear vision of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

what they want pupils to experience and of the explicit development of attitudes to learning and life. Learning is planned through cross-curricular topics, which pupils enjoy. Enrichment activities have also been developed well to help pupils broaden their experiences, including trips, residential visits and events such as ‘Aspirations Week’. Pupils benefit from lessons that help them understand and respect people’s differences. They learn about different faiths and cultures, and this prepares them well for life in modern Britain.  Leaders use the additional funding from the physical education (PE) and sport premium to very good effect. Deployment of a PE specialist has particularly impacted positively on raised levels of daily activity for pupils across the school, through a range of clubs and regular fitness sessions that reinforce other learning; for example, pupils were asked to form groups of ‘factors’ of given numbers. Teachers have worked alongside

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

expert coaches and received effective training to improve their teaching and coaching skills. Pupils have had many opportunities to take part in a range of sports, including activities to support less confident children.  Leaders have been effective in improving communication with parents since the last inspection, for example through newsletters and the website, and parents comment positively on the approachability of staff and the use of texts and social media as being particularly helpful. However, a few responses to Parent View showed that there are a number of parents with concerns and, although not well founded, the school needs to be mindful of this. The inclusion team has been particularly effective in building relationships and securing support for vulnerable families.

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Governance of the school

 Governance has strengthened considerably recently, with a clear commitment to the school and its community. Members share the ambition of school leaders to provide high-quality education for all pupils.  Governors have a secure understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development, particularly the urgent need to improve progress and attainment across the school. Minutes of meetings since the recruitment of a number of new governors, including a new chair of governors in December 2016, show challenging questions being asked. However, the lack of clarity in analysis of school information means that governors are not clear on the impact of actions for improvement.  The academy advisory board has now successfully recruited members with a range of skills and expertise, to add to the leadership capacity of the school. They scrutinise the wide range of information they receive and have skills and insight to hold leaders to

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Governance of the school

account.  Governors are aware of performance data and immediately challenge leaders about the achievement of pupils. Governors know their responsibilities in relation to the use of the pupil premium funding and the PE and sport premium.  Governors have a clear understanding of safeguarding issues and undertake their duties well in ensuring that safeguarding is effective.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. There are clear and rigorous systems and procedures in place, which are understood by all staff. Leaders keep precise records to ensure effective and timely work with external agencies. Staff and governors receive relevant training and updates, including on radicalisation and extremism.  The culture of safeguarding in the school is evident in children feeling safe and parents’ confidence in this. Learning about how to keep safe is woven into pupils’ learning across the school curriculum, including Year 6 training in first aid. Pupils could explain how to keep themselves safe online.  Case studies and records show that vulnerable children and their families are well supported. The governing body and leaders have made considerable investments in welfare provision, recognising the high level of need in the community. Although there have been continuing incidents of exclusion, this is stringently logged and appropriate

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Safeguarding

support is given to minimise the impact of challenging behaviour on other pupils, while working tenaciously to secure appropriate support for the complex needs of excluded pupils. Leaders are quick to follow up on any concerns.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 The quality of teaching and learning is not consistently good. Although appropriate actions are in place to improve pupils’ progress towards achieving age-appropriate expectations, these are relatively recent, especially in mathematics and reading. This means that, although teaching has clearly improved since the last inspection, actions are not yet impacting sufficiently to secure consistent and rapid progress for pupils.  Teachers do not use assessment well enough to precisely plan the next steps in learning for pupils. The current school tracking system is not consistently understood by teachers. This is evident in the variability of how progress is interpreted in progress meetings and in pupils’ books, where their progress from year to year is inconsistent.  Teachers are not consistently clear in modelling skills and emphasising pertinent examples for pupils to understand what they are learning and how they can improve,

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

particularly in higher-level reading skills. An example of this was witnessed when pupils were highlighting key information to write a summary but, due to limited guidance, most pupils had randomly highlighted the majority of the text.  The tracking and monitoring of pupils’ progress have lacked focus, urgency and precision to impact sufficiently on accelerating progress and raising attainment. Leaders have begun to address this and staff are beginning to understand the importance of milestones in every year group.  Teachers generally use questioning well, and pupils are keen to talk about their learning and they are encouraged to think. However, leaders have not ensured that there is sufficient clarity for consistently high expectations of all teachers, including supply teachers. Hence, where teachers are less clear, there is variability in pupils’ attitudes, attention and presentation.  Teachers have good relationships with pupils and pupils are keen to learn. Teaching

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

assistants are generally well deployed and support pupils well. Positive and specific praise is a consistent feature across classes.  There are examples of stronger teaching. Leaders have not effectively shared and communicated what is impacting with sufficient precision, and this has been a barrier to more rapid and consistent improvements.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. The strong ethos of respect and care, to fulfil the stated school purpose for pupils ‘to develop a positive and respectful approach to learning’, is evident across the school.  The school places particular importance on mutual respect and care. This was evident in a lesson where pupils shared important artefacts and family experiences with confidence and showed great interest and sensitivity in questioning each other about these. Pupils who use the school breakfast club enjoy their time with their peers and are well prepared for the start of the school day.  Pupils work well together, listening respectfully to teachers and each other. This behaviour only wavers where teachers’ expectations are less clear. Peer discussion and sharing of ideas are consistent features in line with school policy. Where teachers have clear expectations, pupils respond well and take pride in their work.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe and feel very safe in school. They know who to speak to in school if they have any worries. They understand the different forms of bullying, including cyber bullying, and how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations. Pupils said that bullying is rare, but were clear on what to do if it did occur. Scrutiny of logged incidents and actions taken supported this view.  The majority of parents who spoke to inspectors and responded to Parent View were very positive about the support their children receive. They are rightly confident that their children are happy and safe.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils show courtesy and consideration towards each other and adults, including visitors in the school.  Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and enjoy coming to school. Pupils behave well in class and around the school and interruptions to learning are rare. Pupils enjoy receiving rewards, such as ticks to get their bronze, gold and silver badges and golden time, but understand the school sanctions. They take responsibility for their actions and choices, due to a strong ethos of respect and citizenship.  The school takes appropriate action to improve attendance and this is being particularly effective in reducing persistent absence for all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, leaders know they need to maintain stringent actions to at least sustain attendance close to the national average.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Over time, there are inconsistencies in the progress made by different groups of pupils and in different subject areas.  Outcomes for pupils in key stage 2 declined in 2015 and the school did not meet the floor standards, the government’s current minimum expectations for pupils’ progress and attainment. In 2016, pupils’ attainment at key stage 2 remained well below the national average, but met floor standards. While attainment in writing was closer to the national average, it was well below national averages for reading and mathematics.  At key stage 1, in 2016, pupils’ attainment was stronger and a similar number to that found nationally reached the expected standard for their age. However, disadvantaged pupils attained less well than other pupils. Also, fewer pupils than the national average attained the higher standards.  Attainment in the Year 1 phonics screening check rose in 2015 to be close to the

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

national average. The overall proportion who achieved this standard in 2016 rose to above the national average.  Current school performance data and inspection evidence point to some improvement during this academic year, although lack of clarity in the school’s system for tracking progress means it is difficult to establish the rate of progress. Such is the legacy of underachievement among pupils over time, particularly in key stage 2, that the proportion of Year 6 pupils currently on track to achieve the age-related expectations in the forthcoming national curriculum tests is still below the national average.  Pupils’ knowledge and understanding in other subjects demonstrate that leaders are ensuring that the curriculum is broad and develops age-appropriate knowledge and skills. However, opportunities to extend and develop pupils’ writing are not as well developed in other curriculum areas, and teachers’ expectations in wider curriculum

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

work are not as high as in English and mathematics.  Effective leadership ensures that additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is used effectively. Pupils in both of these groups are making more progress, but it is still not consistently good.  Scrutiny of pupils’ work shows that teachers across the school are ensuring that pupils are working more closely to age-related expectations. However, inconsistency in teachers’ understanding of what pupils need to be able to do to transfer confidently across year groups is slowing progress and limiting attainment, especially for pupils capable of higher standards.

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Early years provision Good

 Children in the early years enter with skills and abilities below what is typical for their age. By the end of the Reception Year, the proportion of children attaining a good level of development is close to the national average. This represents at least good progress from the children’s starting points, so they are well prepared when they enter Year 1.  The early years leader sets high expectations across the whole teaching team. She models highly effective teaching. Through effective training, she has ensured that there is a clear and consistent push for progress by all early years staff. A particular strength is the consistent drive for strong reading, writing and number skills, which leaders have identified as an ongoing key priority for children due to pupils’ skills being particularly low when they start school.  Teachers use careful, ongoing assessment to plan targeted and structured opportunities to develop skills, particularly in phonics, pre-writing skills and number.

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Early years provision Good

Observations and assessments are used well to inform adults’ questioning and opportunities to involve children in thinking through problems, although the challenge is not great enough for the most able children.  Teachers undertook sharply focused baselines at the start of the school year to assess children’s skills and knowledge on entry and then put appropriate support immediately into place for those disadvantaged children and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, where required. This is securing rapid progress for these children. However, those who come into Reception at or above age-related expectations do not make as rapid progress, as opportunities to challenge and extend the most able children are not as well developed.  Children settle quickly into the welcoming environment because the adults working in the early years provide a variety of interesting, stimulating and well-organised

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Early years provision Good

activities. This means that children work purposefully and maintain concentration on tasks, with or without adult support. Adults have been particularly effective in establishing routines and independence.  The early years leader uses the available outdoor space and resources as well as possible to promote effective experiences and learning. However, improving the outdoor provision has not been as high a priority as the provision indoors, meaning that outdoor learning opportunities are not yet as well developed as indoor in contributing to children’s progress.  Adults encourage safe play and use of resources and all of the children learn how to keep themselves safe when using the internet. Children are kept safe at all times and are well looked after by caring staff. This ethos ensures that children play happily and fairly together.  Parents are rightly positive about the good start their children make in the Reception

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Early years provision Good

class. Parents value involvement in their children’s learning through home visits, electronic sharing of assessments that allows parental comment and contribution, and invitations to sharing assemblies. They are confident that their children are safe and well cared for in this environment.

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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

Date of previous inspection 19–20 March 2015

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Information about this school

 The school meets 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 larger than an average-sized primary school.  Most pupils attending the school come from the immediate area. About two thirds are from White British backgrounds with just over a third from various minority ethnic backgrounds. A fifth of the pupils, similar to the national average, speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well above the national average.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average.  In 2016, the school met the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of Year 6.  The school runs a breakfast club.  In September 2016, the regional schools commissioner wrote to the members and

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Information about this school

trustees of the academy’s sponsor, The Education Fellowship Trust (TEFT), due to its poor performance. In March 2017, the Department for Education agreed to a request from the trust to terminate their funding agreement for all 12 of their schools. As a result, all of them, including Olympic Primary School, will be re-brokered by the regional schools commissioner. At the time of the inspection, the new sponsor had not been confirmed and, therefore, TEFT remains in place as the sponsor until that matter is resolved.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning in 27 lessons, including eight jointly observed with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. Inspectors heard pupils read. The inspectors talked with pupils about their school and looked at pupils’ books while visiting lessons. The team scrutinised a large sample of pupils’ work jointly with the headteacher and leadership team, to gain a view of the impact of teaching over time.  Inspectors held discussions with the school’s senior and middle leaders, members of the academy advisory board and a representative of TEFT.  Inspectors spoke with parents informally at the start of the school day and considered 17 responses to Ofsted’s online parent questionnaire, Parent View, and parents’ responses to a recent questionnaire from the school. Inspectors considered 14 responses to the online survey of staff. There were no responses to the online survey of pupils.  Inspectors looked at a range of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation,

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Information about this inspection

improvement plans, records of checks on the quality of teaching, the most recent information on pupils’ attainment and progress, and information relating to safeguarding, behaviour, attendance and punctuality.  Inspectors considered the range and quality of information provided on the school’s website.

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Inspection team

Mandy Wilding, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Phil Harrison 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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