Collingwood Primary School

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

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Mrs Sharon Grant Acting Headteacher Collingwood Primary School Oswin Terrace North Shields Tyne and Wear NE29 7JQ

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Short inspection of Collingwood Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 29 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 May 2013.

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Short inspection of Collingwood Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have successfully steered the school through challenging circumstances created by changes in governorship and leadership, not taking your eye off the ball in continually making improvements to pupils’ learning. There is a tangible drive and sense of urgency to provide high-quality learning opportunities, which allow pupils to thrive. Leadership is the responsibility of all staff, and you have maintained and enhanced a skilful and highly effective school team in which morale remains high.

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Short inspection of Collingwood Primary School

Improvements in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment are accelerating quickly the rates of progress of current pupils across the school. The whole school team has diligently addressed issues raised at the last inspection, although the quality of some pupils’ handwriting remains variable. Pupils’ ability to apply their mathematical skills in order to solve word problems has improved significantly, as has the quality of teaching in school.

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Short inspection of Collingwood Primary School

Teachers routinely establish high expectations. They accept no excuses for failure and they work collaboratively to address issues that arise. You, governors and other school leaders keep a close eye on the quality of teaching, undertaking monitoring of teaching in lessons and analysing work in pupils’ books. You hold discussions with pupils about their learning and spend time visiting classes to check the learning environment. You acknowledge that pupils’ progress and attainment in reading in both key stages 1 and 2 are not as strong as those found in writing and mathematics. You have made this a key priority and already there are substantial improvements in pupils’ achievement in most year groups. Similarly, you acknowledge that differences remain between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally who have similar starting points. You have well thought-through plans to continue to support disadvantaged pupils across the

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Short inspection of Collingwood Primary School

school, which are already having a positive impact. Their progress and achievement now match or exceed those of their classmates.

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Short inspection of Collingwood Primary School

Pupils respond well to the high expectations of staff and this is seen in their excellent attitudes to learning in lessons. Pupils develop excellent citizenship skills, being keen to take on responsibilities through roles such members of the school council, a monitor in each class or members of the eco-council. Pupils take pride in the well-ordered and extremely tidy school environment, benefiting from high- quality displays in classes and shared areas. Pupils’ behaviour in class and around school remains exemplary.

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Short inspection of Collingwood Primary School

You have worked hard to develop a curriculum that meets the needs of your pupils and fires their interest through visits to important sites across the region linked to their topic work. For example, areas of study have resulted in visits Newcastle University and Alnwick Castle. Pupils are also gaining an appreciation of multi- cultural Britain and a deeper understanding of the wider world beyond their immediate locality, as well as of fundamental British values such as democracy and tolerance.

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Short inspection of Collingwood Primary School

The long-established culture of keeping pupils safe remains very evident in your school. Leaders ensure that a culture of safeguarding is embedded among all staff and they leave no stone unturned in their duty to keep pupils safe. The school has a tangible ethos that is positive and caring, putting the welfare and well-being of each pupil at the heart of all that it does. This is clearly seen in the friendly and confident manner of the pupils in school. The curriculum supports pupils well in maintaining their own safety, including keeping themselves safe online.

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Short inspection of Collingwood Primary School

Policies, procedures and records are of extremely high quality. Staff training is thorough and up to date, including training to ensure that pupils are kept safe from the risk of extremism and online dangers. Registers of staff training are completed diligently but are not yet collated to allow an overview of individuals’ training records. Staff have access to well-written policies and guidance and, as a result, have a very secure understanding of their individual responsibilities for safeguarding pupils.

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Inspection findings

 Children get off to a strong start in their learning. As they move through the early years, there are many interesting and varied opportunities to make marks and explore writing alongside adults. Children in Nursery work alongside adults to practise their writing skills. One boy successfully copied and wrote his own name, while another traced round the letter ‘d’ and discussed objects with the same initial letter with an adult. Adults are skilled at modelling and developing children’s speaking and listening skills. One teacher discussed with a child the reasons why a camera had ceased working and what he could do to try to get it to take pictures again. Partnership working with parents has been a key factor in accelerating the rates of progress that children in early years and pupils in Years 1 and 2 make in their learning. This is seen clearly in pupils’ books, in visits to classes and in accurate assessment and tracking data.

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Inspection findings

 Parents of children in the early years regularly attend ‘Family Friday’ to work alongside their children, or complete a ‘Foundation Stage Snapshot’ to show what a child can do at home. Pupils’ targets in writing and mathematics clearly reflect high expectations in Years 1 and 2, including for the most able pupils. Stretch and challenge for the most able pupils was clearly seen in pupils’ books in Year 2. For example, pupils included commas and other punctuation in extended writing, completed complex word problems and described the properties of shapes in mathematics. You acknowledge that the proportion of pupils working at a greater depth at the end of key stage 1 is below that found nationally.  You have ensured that the school continues to work tirelessly to ensure that all pupils are safe and well cared for. The strong relationships in school and high levels of trust between adults and pupils ensure that pupils’ conduct in lessons

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Inspection findings

and around school is exemplary. Pupils are polite, caring, considerate and friendly to each other and to visitors. Playtimes are harmonious occasions when pupils play happily together, even on a wet day. Safeguarding is highly effective and the school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is excellent.  You acknowledge that pupils’ progress and the standards they reach in reading in key stage 2 have not been as strong as those in mathematics and writing. You have introduced a number of strategies to raise the profile and importance of pupils’ skills in reading, which has resulted in current pupils’ progress in reading accelerating quickly, including for disadvantaged pupils. There is still some variation across school: rates of progress in reading exceed that found in writing and mathematics in some year groups, but the reverse is the case in others. It is clear from work seen in books and detailed tracking data that as new approaches

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Inspection findings

to support current pupils’ progress in reading are embedded, progress is accelerating even more rapidly.  Staff and leaders at all levels share the same ambition to eradicate underperformance. They work tirelessly to solve problems and make continuous improvements; teamwork is the catalyst for change. Morale in the school community is buoyant. Leaders, staff and governors share the same drive that places the all-round development of each pupil at the heart of the school’s purpose, so that every pupil grows academically, socially and emotionally.  Leaders’ commitment to improve the quality of teaching across the school has ensured that expectations of pupils are high, relationships are strong and pupils’ attitudes to learning support the good progress they now make. Effective use of the pupil premium funding has ensured that support for disadvantaged pupils across the school is increasingly effective. The progress and achievement of

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Inspection findings

disadvantaged pupils now match or exceed those of their classmates in each year group. Even so, you acknowledge that differences remain between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally who have similar starting points at the end of key stage 2.  Activities planned to challenge and stretch current pupils’ thinking and understanding, including those of the most able pupils, is clearly seen in lessons and in work in books. This includes teachers’ expectations and targets for groups of pupils of differing abilities. The proportion of pupils working at a greater depth is below that found nationally in statutory assessment data, although increasing in different year groups in school.  Governors bring a range of appropriate professional skills and experience to the school that enhances their effectiveness and impact. Governors receive high- quality information from you. They are each linked to different key aspects of the

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Inspection findings

school, and are involved alongside leaders in monitoring activities. They have well thought-through plans to become even more effective in order to support and challenge the staff team further.

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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’ progress in reading in key stages 1 and 2 continues to improve so that it is as good as that in writing and mathematics  differences in the rates of progress made by disadvantaged pupils and other pupils who have the same starting points continue to diminish, including the most able disadvantaged pupils  an increased proportion of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, work at a greater depth in all subjects.

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Next steps for the school

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

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, the acting deputy headteacher and the office manager. You and I visited lessons in each key stage. I met with both the joint chairs of the governing body and the school’s local authority improvement partner. I spoke to pupils about their work and their views of the school. I listened to pupils read and looked in workbooks with you and when in lessons. A range of documents was considered relating to safeguarding and external evaluations of the school. I examined the school’s self-evaluation, the school improvement plan, the school’s monitoring of its own performance and its assessment and tracking of current pupils’ progress. I also scrutinised pupils’ recent achievement in the 2017 statutory assessments, responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents, Parent View, and the school’s website.

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