Tidbury Green School

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

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Mrs Yvonne McHale Headteacher Tidbury Green School Dickens Heath Road Tidbury Green Solihull West Midlands B90 1QW

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Short inspection of Tidbury Green School

Following my visit to the school on 1 November 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 February 2013.

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Short inspection of Tidbury Green School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Tidbury Green School

The school is a very friendly and hard-working community in which pupils from different backgrounds mix and achieve well. Many pupils join the school at a time other than at the start of the school year. These pupils are always helped to settle in quickly.

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Short inspection of Tidbury Green School

The pupils are taught well across the different subjects in the curriculum. They benefit from being taught in specialist classrooms, for example in the well-equipped science laboratory and food technology room, and enjoy a host of musical, artistic, sporting and cultural opportunities.

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Short inspection of Tidbury Green School

The school motto is ‘Never Give Up’. Leaders have made sure that this motto is reflected routinely in the attitudes of pupils and staff towards their day-to-day work. Equally important, they have created a supportive climate in the school where pupils and staff never give up on one another.

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Short inspection of Tidbury Green School

There is a strong sense of teamwork among the staff in the school. They are keen to share ideas, learn from each other and are ambitious to improve on their existing practice.

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Short inspection of Tidbury Green School

The school has a compassionate ethos and all staff pay careful attention to understanding pupils’ needs and how they can help with any difficulties.

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Short inspection of Tidbury Green School

Leaders and other staff have worked hard to provide a vibrant, attractive and welcoming learning environment. The school is increasing significantly in size and this is set to continue. New buildings have been completed very recently and older classrooms have been refurbished to a high standard. Senior leaders in the school face a number of logistical issues arising from the growth in school size.

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Short inspection of Tidbury Green School

The school has made good progress since the last inspection. The school has tackled the areas that needed improvement. In particular, more opportunities are now provided for pupils to learn about different cultures. Pupils speak with confidence about each other’s beliefs and backgrounds and are tolerant of each other.

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Short inspection of Tidbury Green School

The senior leaders and governors have a good understanding of the next steps needed to improve the school further. In particular, they are aware of the need to focus on the pace at which some pupils work in key stage 2, and the need to keep standards in the school improving, while dealing with the challenges caused by the growth in school size.

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Short inspection of Tidbury Green School

Pupils feel safe and happy at the school. They are very well cared for. Instances of unkindness are very rare and pupils know to whom to turn if they encounter any difficulty.

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Short inspection of Tidbury Green School

Supervision around the school, including at break and lunchtimes, is vigilant. Pupils mix and play with one another sensibly and safely. Their conduct in and around the school is almost always very good.

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Short inspection of Tidbury Green School

Senior leaders and governors have established strong systems for keeping pupils safe. Regular checks are made to ensure that everything necessary is being done to safeguard pupils. Senior leaders are very diligent in following up any concerns and work effectively with other agencies, such as social services, if required. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality.

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Short inspection of Tidbury Green School

All staff are trained in different aspects of safeguarding and understand what to do in particular circumstances. They are given regular reminders about the importance of safeguarding during regular briefing meetings.

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Short inspection of Tidbury Green School

Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe in lessons, including when using the internet or social media. In the Foundation Unit, pupils are shown what to do if they become lost, or feel anxious, and how to recognise a ‘safe’ stranger.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils make good progress from their starting points overall.  In the foundation unit, pupils are taught very well and helped to become secure, happy and confident learners. They are well prepared for key stage 1 and the transition for pupils is planned very carefully.  Pupils do well in the phonics screening check at the end of key stage 1. The proportion achieving the expected standard is higher than the national and local authority averages. Similarly, the proportions achieving the expected standard in reading and mathematics are higher than the national figure. Key stage 1 writing test results improved markedly in 2017.  At key stage 2, pupils are making good progress and an above-average proportion are working at or above the standards expected for their age in reading, writing and mathematics.  In the most recent key stage 2 tests, pupils achieved scores in line with the national figure for reading and mathematics. However, some of these pupils did not make as

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Inspection findings

much progress as they could have done because of a variety of serious medical and other difficulties, despite intensive support from the school and local authority.  Pupils are very well prepared for their next school when they leave Tidbury Green. The broad curriculum they experience, including a sound grounding in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science, makes them curious and confident learners.  Attendance and behaviour of the pupils are good. The pupils enjoy coming to school. They are as enthusiastic about their lessons as they are about the very many extra- curricular activities they do.  Teaching is usually good. Many lessons see pupils being physically active, which the school encourages, and teachers make sure that learning is well organised and lively.  Senior leaders and teachers know each pupil very well. The school makes regular and detailed checks on each pupil’s work and prompt action is taken if a pupil begins to

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Inspection findings

fall below the expected standard. Senior leaders are often involved in joint decisions about what to do next to help a particular pupil.  The school’s assessment system is well organised and helps teachers, parents and pupils know how well pupils are doing. It is being revised further this year to help give teachers even better oversight of the progress being made by pupils.  A striking feature of the teaching in the foundation unit is the careful development of pupils’ language. Teachers are very skilled at asking questions, and modelling answers, so that children are stimulated to become confident users of English. Close attention to detail is paid to developing teaching methods in the foundation unit, and this continues into key stage 1. In these areas of the school, leaders have cultivated a climate in which pupils listen outstandingly well to teachers and to each other.  At key stage 2, teachers plan lessons well, although in Year 3 and Year 4 they can

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Inspection findings

lack the precision that is evident in the earlier years. In Year 5 and Year 6, pupils are not always asked to work rapidly enough when tackling reading exercises and pupils can struggle to complete timed work.  Parents are very supportive of the school. They speak very highly of the senior leaders in the school and confirm that their children feel safe, are happy, and are experiencing success.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well and make good progress. The school makes good use of the additional funding it receives for these pupils.  Pupil premium and sport premium funding is used effectively. Disadvantaged pupils in the school usually make good progress.  Governance is effective. The governing body is hard-working, well organised and knowledgeable. It has a detailed understanding of the strengths and areas to develop in the school, including the need for senior leaders to maintain their focus on

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Inspection findings

standards as the school grows. A nominated safeguarding governor provides good oversight of safeguarding.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 pupils are given more opportunities to work at greater pace when doing key stage 2 reading tasks  senior leaders maintain a strong focus on improving standards further as the school grows in size.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Solihull. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I held meetings with you and other senior leaders, groups of pupils, groups of parents, members of staff, a local authority officer and representatives of the governing body. I observed teaching and learning across the school, including through joint visits to classrooms with members of the senior leadership team. I spoke to pupils about their progress, looked at samples of their work, particularly in English and mathematics, and observed pupils’ conduct in classrooms and around the school. I scrutinised a range of key documents, including your own data on the pupils’ progress and information about pupils’ attendance and safety. I took account of 42 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, and accompanying free-text comments.

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