Gloucester Road Primary School

Gloucester Road Primary School Gloucester Road, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL51 8PB

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 This school is typified by a deeply inclusive culture that welcomes all through its doors and ensures that all succeed.  The headteacher has a deep commitment to the best interests of the pupils and has extremely high aspirations for their success. These aspirations are shared by all staff and governors.  There is a strong culture of safeguarding throughout the school. Leaders and staff are vigilant and tenacious in ensuring that pupils are kept safe.  Governors are highly effective. They have a strong strategic vision and high ambition for the school. They rigorously monitor school development plans and manage finances well.  Leaders throughout the school are knowledgeable and committed. They have a very accurate understanding of the strengths of the school and act quickly to address any areas for development.  Training and development have been made a priority and this has created a skilled and enthusiastic staff body.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Teachers plan interesting and exciting activities that enable pupils to succeed. They assess pupils’ learning carefully and adapt activities to ensure further success.  Pupils learn exceptionally well. The progress that they make in English and mathematics is well above that of similar pupils nationally. Attainment is rising across the board. All groups of pupils achieve well.  The curriculum is highly engaging and meets the needs of pupils extremely well. Pupils’ experiences are enriched through a wide range of clubs and visits.  Behaviour is exemplary. Pupils love coming to school and are excited and enthused by the lessons. They are polite, full of respect and look after each other well. Bullying is extremely rare and dealt with effectively and quickly if it occurs.  Pupils’ welfare is promoted strongly. They have helped to improve school nutrition and eagerly participate in sporting activities. Pupils are

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

taught how to keep safe.  The school has recently taken over the Nursery and has acted quickly to make improvements. Provision is now better planned so that learning and development continue well from the Nursery. Further challenge to reach the highest standard is now being introduced. As a result, children receive a very strong foundation to their learning in the Nursery and Reception.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that teachers build on newly raised outcomes from the Nursery to provide further stretch and challenge for children in Reception.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

 The inspirational leadership of the headteacher has brought about rapid improvements in the school since her appointment. She has enabled leaders at all levels to develop the very best practice in their areas. Staff have strongly welcomed this approach and feel empowered to bring about exceptional outcomes for the pupils.  The headteacher’s vision of a strongly inclusive school where every pupil ‘can do it’ and all will be their ‘BEST’ has been embraced by pupils and staff. This has led to an excellent, caring school in which all pupils, regardless of need or starting point, feel safe and achieve outstanding results. Progress of all pupils is high in English and in mathematics, and outcomes for disadvantaged pupils are above those of other pupils nationally.  The leadership team has a very strong understanding of the strengths of the school and acts extremely quickly to address any potential weaknesses. They monitor the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

quality of teaching carefully and set targets for improvement if needed. Subject leaders have an extensive knowledge of effective teaching approaches in their areas and have supported all staff to develop and improve their practice.  A strong feature of the school is the investment in the training of teaching assistants, known as teaching partners, and the emphasis on focused and very regular discussion about learning. As a result, teaching partners are very effective in both conducting interventions with groups of pupils and supporting in class.  Leaders track the progress of all pupils, working together very effectively with teachers and teaching partners to adjust the support and teaching. The support for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is woven seamlessly into the classroom provision. Leaders target the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils extremely effectively, as part of a comprehensive plan to meet the needs of all pupils

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

who face a barrier to learning. As a result of these very effective approaches, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, disadvantaged pupils, those who speak English as an additional language and those who have recently arrived at the school all achieve well.  Pupils benefit from a very broad curriculum that is based around providing real experiences and is enhanced by a wide range of trips and visits. By rooting learning in exciting and relevant experiences, pupils are able to understand better and produce higher-quality work. The current theme of ‘walls and bridges’ has enabled pupils to consider how we build societies and what happens when we create barriers. The visit of a graffiti artist has led to the creation of playground graffiti and raised the question ‘When is wall art a crime?’ This is a good example of the work that goes on to develop pupils’ moral education and consider the role of law in society. Provision for pupils’

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is excellent.  The curriculum is further enhanced by an extremely wide range of clubs, societies and sports, including construction, coding, Mini-Marines, observational drawing, dance and a host of others. The physical education and sport premium has been used well to develop teachers’ skills and provide additional resources to improve provision and clubs. Pupils act as pupil governors, attendance ambassadors and play leaders. They bring knowledge and experience from a wide range of cultures, religions and countries, and this is all celebrated within school. Together with the large range of opportunities for pupils to participate and vote, pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.  Leaders ensure that there is no discrimination at the school. All groups achieve well and there are no racist incidents. As such, the school meets the equality duty.

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Governance of the school

 The governing body has a strong vision and has taken key strategic decisions to improve the school. Governors have very high aspirations for pupils’ achievements and are rigorous in holding school leaders to account for the welfare and outcomes of pupils.  Through yearly skills audits, the governing body identifies any training needs and gaps in the knowledge and experience of members in order to recruit additional governors and provide appropriate development. Because of this training, the governing body has all of the necessary skills and experience to be able to carry out its functions very effectively.  School performance is monitored rigorously by the governing body through regular meetings and visits to the school. Governors show a strong understanding of the strengths and areas for development of the school, and are particularly well aware of the progress of groups of pupils. Governors carry out safeguarding audits and

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Governance of the school

rigorously hold the headteacher to account to ensure that the pupil premium, funding for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and the sport premium are well used.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The headteacher has ensured that leaders and staff are well trained and have up-to- date knowledge so that they can ensure that pupils are kept safe. Leaders are extremely vigilant and tenacious in following up any concerns. They work extremely closely with external agencies to safeguard children and are not afraid to challenge if they have any concerns. The record of safeguarding checks is kept meticulously and updated on a very regular basis. It shows all of the necessary checks and is regularly audited by governors and the headteacher. The school has strong procedures to ensure that the recruitment of new staff is carried out rigorously, and then ensures that these new staff are carefully inducted in the policies and practice in the school.  All staff are very clear about potential risks in the local community. They are particularly vigilant about ensuring that no child or family is at risk of radicalisation or

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Safeguarding

extremism. Equally, they are alert to signs of neglect, deprivation and abuse.  Parents, staff and pupils are all confident that pupils are safe. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe and could give a range of examples of this. Parents have also been given clear guidance about how to keep their children safe, for example e-safety training.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

 Teachers and teaching partners have extremely high aspirations for pupils and expertly plan lessons that engage pupils’ interests and develop their skills. They ensure that pupils are fully involved in their own learning from the moment they enter the school. Consequently, pupils display excellent attitudes to learning. Pupils commented that ‘lessons are really well organised’ and that they ‘don’t get bored’, as ‘teachers set good challenges.’  Literacy is a very strong focus of the work of the school. In the younger classes, phonics knowledge is expertly taught and matched to pupils’ needs. For pupils whose language skills are low, teaching partners teach the key vocabulary for a topic before the main teaching starts. In all classes, pupils are required to explain their work orally and then in writing. This helps pupils to develop and explain their reasoning in all subjects, especially in mathematics. Topic work includes many opportunities for pupils

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

to apply their English and mathematical skills in a wide range of thought-provoking and ‘real’ learning activities. This contributes to the very strong progress that pupils make in foundation subjects.  Teachers and teaching partners have very strong subject knowledge due to the well- targeted and widespread professional development that they receive. They use this deep knowledge to precisely target questions that will develop pupils’ understanding and to use misconceptions and mistakes to further increase learning. Teachers use oral and written feedback to guide pupils’ learning. Pupils respond promptly to improve their work so that any gaps in understanding are addressed.  Pupils take responsibility for their own learning and love the challenges that they are set by the teachers. Homework, such as multiplication tables, phonics, spelling and topic work, is well used to consolidate learning. Parents receive useful and regular

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

information about how well their children are learning and are helped to support their children through parent briefing evenings and information packs.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.  The inclusive and caring culture of the school is evident from the moment one enters the door. All members of the school community place the highest aspirations for all pupils at the heart of their work every day. As a result, pupils are kept safe, have their welfare and health promoted strongly and develop care and respect for themselves and others.  Pupils are rightly proud of their school and they show this in their responses to questions and in their behaviour. Pupils take great care of each other. They are kind, polite and welcome new pupils and visitors to the school. One commented that ‘I love that everyone has discipline and respect, and that no one is rude.’

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.  Pupils’ conduct in lessons and around the school is exemplary. They take a very active part in their learning through well-embedded activities such as self- and peer assessment and presenting their work at parents’ evenings.  There are very few instances of low-level disruption because pupils are enthused by their learning. The number of serious behaviour incidents has fallen significantly over time and they are now very rare. There are virtually no instances of bullying. Pupils understand what bullying is, including hate-based bullying such as racism, and report that such behaviour does not happen in their school.  Attendance has been rising over the past few years to be in line with national figures. The attendance team, including pupil attendance ambassadors, are very effective in reducing absence, particularly for those pupils whose attendance was quite low in the

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Behaviour

past. No groups of pupils are affected by low attendance.

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Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

 Pupils make outstanding progress during their time at this school so that, at the end of key stage 2, attainment is well above national overall. Children in Reception often have lower starting points than is typical, and due to the outstanding teaching and care that they receive they catch up year-on-year.  Pupils in all year groups are making strong progress in English, mathematics and across a wide range of subjects. The work in pupils’ books shows how well they have developed their understanding. They demonstrate their learning clearly, often in well- presented extended writing, as part of the topic-based curriculum.  Last year boys did not attain well at the end of Reception Year. Inspectors examined the school’s assessment information for these boys and found that they had made good progress from low starting points. Further examination of their work this year showed that they are catching up. Attainment of all pupils at the end of the Reception

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Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

Year, including groups of pupils, is higher this year.  Adults support pupils’ reading development well by hearing pupils read regularly and through the good teaching of phonic skills to pupils in younger year groups. This has resulted in strong improvements over time in the proportion of pupils achieving well in the Year 1 phonics check.  Attainment at the end of key stage 1 has improved strongly over the past few years so that it is now broadly similar to national results.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make progress that is in line with that of their peers. Teachers and other staff ensure that these pupils are fully involved in learning and supported well so that they can achieve. Disadvantaged pupils achieve very well and often have outcomes that are above those of other pupils. By the end of key stage 2, these pupils achieve above other pupils nationally.  In recent years there have been few pupils with high starting points, but this is

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Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

increasing as standards have risen in the younger classes. These pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, achieve very high results. Pupils for whom English is an additional language, many of whom arrive at the school partway through the year, are supported well so that they acquire English skills quickly. These pupils generally go on to make very strong progress.

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Early years provision Outstanding

 Leaders are ambitious and have been quick to act to improve provision in the early years. They have taken high-level decisions, such as taking over the management of the Nursery, in order to transform the quality of education that children receive. As a result, outcomes at the end of the Reception Year have risen strongly over time.  Staff have very high expectations for what pupils can achieve. They carefully assess children’s strengths and the gaps in their knowledge and understanding to plan interesting and challenging learning activities. They meet twice a day to discuss the learning needs of each child and rapidly adjust plans to ensure that all children make strong progress.  When they arrive at the school, many of the children have starting points which are much lower than those typical for their age, and many have speech, language and communication issues, or are new to speaking English. Because of this, leaders have

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Early years provision Outstanding

provided a language-rich learning environment with a wide range of opportunities for children to develop their speaking, listening, reading and writing skills. As a result of this, and the excellent teaching of phonics, children’s oracy and literacy develop rapidly.  Children are excited by a range of engaging activities and so they persevere in their learning. They show curiosity and imagination, and this is further stimulated by skilful questioning by staff. Children are enabled to take control of their own learning through ‘choice and challenge’ time. Staff are now beginning to increase the level of challenge further for children, as they transfer from the Nursery with a higher degree of development than in previous years.  Parents know that their children are well looked after and kept safe. They are well informed about, and involved in, their children’s learning through a range of methods. These include a ‘New Starter Welcome Pack’ and very well-attended parents’ evenings.

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Early years provision Outstanding

Staff ensure that children’s welfare is well promoted and have the highest standards in safeguarding children.  Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are very well supported and so make excellent progress in their learning. This is also true for other groups, such as those who have English as an additional language, disadvantaged children and the most able. As a result, there are no gaps in the attainment of groups of children.

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.gloucesterroadprimary.co.uk/

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School details

Email address head@gloucesterroad.gloucs.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 5–6 June 2013

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Information about this school

 The school is a smaller than average-sized, local authority maintained school.  Two fifths of the pupils are known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which is well above average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is above average. A third of the pupils speak English as an additional language, which is well above average.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is well above average. The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is also well above the national average.  The proportion of children entering or leaving the school at other than the normal times is well above the national average.  The Nursery is now managed by the governing body.  The headteacher has joined the school since the last inspection.  The school met the government’s floor standards in 2016, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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Information about this school

 The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning jointly with school leaders in all classes across the two days of the inspection. They also conducted several learning walks. They looked carefully at a sample of pupils’ books as well as examining pupils’ work during lessons.  Meetings were held with staff, leaders, governors and a representative of the local authority. Staff views were also ascertained through the 22 responses to the staff questionnaire.  Inspectors listened to pupils read, observed them at playtime and discussed their learning with them in lessons. A group of pupils contributed their views of the school, and account was taken of the pupil questionnaire.  Parent opinions, including the additional comments, were considered through the 80 responses to Parent View.  Inspectors examined a range of documentation, including the school’s analysis of how well pupils are learning, self-evaluation reports and development plans, safeguarding

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Information about this inspection

records, the minutes of governing body meetings and school policies. The school’s website was also scrutinised.

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Inspection team

Tom Morrison, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Linda Rowley 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

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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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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