Fossebrook Primary School

Fossebrook Primary School Holmfield Avenue West, Leicester Forest East, Leicester, Leicestershire LE3 3FF

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher is a very effective leader. With the support of the trust, she has successfully secured good teaching and learning in this recently opened school.  Parents and carers are positive about all aspects of the school. They love having a local school and praise the quality of teaching and care their children receive.  Children in early years make outstanding progress. Leadership and teaching in the Reception Year are highly effective. An above- average proportion of children exceed the early learning goals expected by the end of Reception.  Pupils in Years 1 and 2 are making good progress. They show good skills when reading, writing or completing work in mathematics lessons.  Pupils in Years 3 and 4 are also making good progress. However, their writing skills are lower than they should be for their ages. Errors in their spelling, grammar and punctuation detract from the overall quality of their work.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Effective training and support are improving the quality of mathematics teaching. However, in some lessons, lower attainers do not fully understand the tasks they are set. Pupils’ reasoning skills are not as strong as they should be.  The curriculum is well planned. It ensures that pupils develop knowledge, skills and interest effectively in a broad range of subjects as they move through the school.  The recently appointed leaders of English and mathematics are quickly growing into their roles as subject leaders. They are now ready to drive improvement in these areas and be held accountable for the impact of their work.  Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make good progress because they receive effective teaching in lessons and helpful additional support.  Pupils’ personal development is outstanding. They embody the school’s aim that pupils will be ‘happy, inquisitive children, who love

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

learning’.  Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding. They are friendly and kind to one another. They are proud of their school and their behaviour reflects this.  Pupils, parents and staff all agree that the school is a safe place to learn and play.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise attainment in writing in Years 3 and 4 by improving spelling, grammar and punctuation skills.  Raise attainment in mathematics by ensuring that: – pupils have a firm understanding of the mathematical concepts being taught – pupils can effectively apply their reasoning skills to solve problems and explain their ideas in mathematics.  Improve the quality of leadership and management by ensuring that middle leaders: – have the skills to lead English and mathematics without relying on external support – are held accountable for the impact of their work on raising standards.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The headteacher is an extremely effective leader. She has high expectations and a clear vision for the school. Within three years, she has established a successful school that is at the heart of its community.  Pupils, parents, staff and members of the local advisory board are proud of their school. Parents who spoke to inspectors and those who completed Ofsted’s online survey Parent View have overwhelmingly positive views of the school.  The assistant headteacher has established an effective system for checking the progress and attainment of pupils in each year group. The information gathered accurately captures what pupils know and can do. Leaders welcome an external view, such as that provided by other trust schools, to moderate and validate their judgements.  Three middle leaders were appointed at the start of this school year. They are already having a positive impact upon their areas of responsibility. During this year, they have

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

benefited from support from senior leaders and the trust. They are now well placed to work independently and be held to account for the impact of their leadership role.  Checks carried out on the quality of teaching are systematic and effective. Leaders and officers of the trust work closely with staff to evaluate where teaching can be improved. Feedback to staff is precise and helpful. As a result, the quality of teaching is improving.  Staff speak positively about the school. They respect the leaders of the school and they feel well supported. Staff particularly value the range of training opportunities that have enabled them to improve their leadership and teaching skills. Support for newly qualified teachers is very effective and appreciated.  The curriculum is carefully structured to ensure that pupils gain subject-specific knowledge and skills as they move through the school. In addition, the curriculum is

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

enriched by carefully selected educational visits, such as the residential visit to York that deepens the pupils’ understanding of the Vikings. Pupils also enjoy a wide range of after-school clubs, including a ‘Fit and Fun’ club for children in the Reception Year.  Many opportunities are provided to promote strong spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding. Pupils learn about the world’s major religions and the importance of respecting faiths and views different to their own. The school’s involvement in projects such as ‘Ten Pieces’, which introduces pupils to classical music, demonstrates its commitment to broadening the pupils’ horizons.  Parents are overwhelmingly positive about all aspects of the school. They comment that their children are happy and well supported and that positive relationships exist between staff and children. As the school grows in size, some parents have concerns

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

about access to the school site. The trust has plans in place to deal with this matter.  Leaders have identified the barriers to learning for disadvantaged pupils. Additional funding is used to ensure that these pupils are included in all aspects of school life and that, where appropriate, they are provided with extra support with their learning. However, plans to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils are not always written in a way that makes it easy for members of the advisory board to evaluate the impact of the actions being taken to support disadvantaged pupils.  Leaders make good use of the primary school physical education and sport premium. The use of a sports coach has increased the confidence and skills of pupils. Effective use of the funds enables pupils to engage in a range of sporting activities outside the normal school day.  Support for pupils with SEND is effective. The leader for this area has a positive impact

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

on the quality of provision for this group of pupils. She has ensured that a suitable structure is in place for the identification, support and review of pupils with SEND. Pupils’ needs are carefully assessed. Additional funding is used to provide appropriate support. Pupils’ progress is tracked thoroughly, and the leader monitors the impact of the support carefully.

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Governance of the school

 The trust and the local advisory board share the ambition of school leaders that Fossebrook Primary will provide its pupils with a high-quality education and be a school the local community values highly.  The trust has provided very effective guidance and strategic direction to support the headteacher and her staff. School leaders have benefited from the wide range of expertise and experience provided through the trust.  Officers of the trust ensure that the school leaders meet their statutory duties. For example, they check that systems, such as those for the safer recruitment of staff, are followed appropriately.  Trust leaders and members of the local advisory board monitor teaching and pupils’ progress carefully. All members of the local advisory board recently spent a whole day in the school to deepen their understanding of its effectiveness.  The local advisory board plays a crucial role in representing the interests and views of

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Governance of the school

the Fossebrook community within the trust.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  There is a strong and effective culture of safeguarding in the school. Staff receive regular training and are aware of their responsibilities. They make prompt referrals of any concerns, using the school’s reporting system.  There are four designated safeguarding leaders. They know the local community well, and this enables them to ensure that families gain the support they need.  Pupils are confident and happy in the school because they know that they are valued and cared for well. Pupils who spoke with inspectors said that they feel safe in the school. They appreciate the ways in which their teachers have made it easy for them to share their worries or concerns.  Staff keep a close eye on their pupils and report promptly any concerns that arise. Careful records are kept of all referrals of concern made by staff.  Leaders conduct all of the required checks to ensure that staff and volunteers are

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Teaching across the school is of a consistently good standard. Teachers have good subject knowledge and work well together to plan lessons which will interest and motivate pupils to do their best. Across the curriculum, clear sequences of learning ensure that pupils develop their skills and knowledge effectively over time.  Right from the Reception Year, teachers use interesting starting points to spark pupils’ curiosity and interest in their lessons. Similarly, pupils throughout the school enjoy the many opportunities they have for collaborative working and problem solving. The excellent relationships between adults and pupils and subsequent outstanding behaviour have ensured that pupils are able to work successfully without close adult supervision.  Teachers have very successfully introduced drama into the curriculum to deepen the pupils’ responses to books and plays. Pupils’ written work provides plenty of evidence

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

that they enjoy writing and have a wide vocabulary. However, in Years 3 and 4, the effectiveness of their written work is diminished by errors in sentence structure, grammar and spelling. Although pupils regularly check their work, often their revised versions are marred by these weaknesses. This limits the proportion of pupils who are working at and above age-related expectations.  Teachers are successfully improving pupils’ reading skills and their enthusiasm for reading. Reading lessons, from the Reception class, focus on teaching pupils to read with understanding and grow in awareness of how writers create their effects. Pupils are reading more regularly. They love the assemblies where their teacher reads high- quality fiction to them.  Teachers plan topic work carefully, making clear the knowledge, skills and vocabulary pupils will learn. They take care to thread interesting experiences into each topic that

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

deepen pupils’ understanding of the areas being covered. As a result, pupils talk knowledgeably and enthusiastically about their work across the curriculum.  Training has helped staff to improve their mathematics teaching. Daily sessions are strengthening pupils’ fluency in aspects such as addition and multiplication. The approach to teaching has been revised, with the aims of deepening pupils’ understanding of mathematical concepts and promoting more effectively their reasoning skills. However, these revisions are relatively recent and so these remain priorities for improvement in mathematics.  Phonics teaching is very effective. Teachers use a range of different strategies to maintain pupils’ interest in phonic lessons. These ensue that pupils quickly develop the skills needed to become independent readers and writers.  Pupils enjoy the open-ended homework projects. Displays around the school show that

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

pupils tackle these with thought and imagination.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.  Pupils spoken to during the inspection talked about their learning with confidence and understanding.  Pupils recognise the value of healthy lifestyles. They are clear about the links between keeping fit, eating a balanced diet and being healthy. They understand too the importance of emotional well-being. The curriculum includes lessons to help pupils manage emotions and, for example, overcome anxieties.  During the inspection, some parents sought out the inspector in order to share how much they appreciate the support they and their children have received from staff. They emphasised the positive impact the expertise of staff has had on their children and their families.  Leaders ensure that equality is at the heart of the curriculum. As a result, pupils show outstanding levels of respect for the opinions of others, even when they are not the

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Personal development and welfare

same views as their own.  Pupils talk passionately about the need to care for the environment and to contribute positively to wider society. They can explain passionately the importance of charitable giving, kindness and concern for others. They gain much from the trust’s links with a charity supporting a community in Delhi.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding  In class and around the school, pupils conduct themselves exceptionally well. They are polite, respectful and kind to others. Pupils show excellent concentration in lessons. They listen carefully to their teachers and work conscientiously and enthusiastically, both when set individual tasks and when working with others.  Pupils are extremely polite and friendly. They are very welcoming to visitors. They talk with enthusiasm about their love for their school community and the things that they have enjoyed learning. Their attitudes to learning are first rate, and this is reflected in the care they take with their work.  Playground routines are safe. Leaders ensure that the grounds are used effectively to challenge and stimulate pupils’ play.  During the first two years following the school’s opening, the proportion of pupils missing school was above the national average. Leaders have very successfully secured

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Behaviour

regular attendance. The strategies to support families and encourage pupils to attend regularly have been highly effective. They reflect the extremely positive relationships between home and school.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Children make an excellent start to the school in the Reception Year. By the end of Reception, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development is above average. Children’s reading and writing standards are particularly high. From their various starting points, this represents outstanding progress.  The great majority of pupils currently in Years 1 and 2 have only attended Fossebrook. They are making good progress, and their skills in reading, writing and mathematics are at least in line with what is expected for pupils their age.  Phonics teaching is very effective. Pupils in Reception and in key stage 1 have good early reading skills. In 2018, the proportion of Year 1 pupils who attained the expected standard in the phonics screening check was above the national average.  In the two years following Fossebrook opening, many pupils joined the school at different times of the school year from other schools. In these years, attainment at the

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Outcomes for pupils Good

end of Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics was below average.  These pupils are now in Years 3 and 4. Their attainment is improving as a result of effective teaching. However, in writing, their attainment is below what is expected for their ages.  Pupils with SEND make good progress. Class teachers ensure that pupils with SEND encounter the same curriculum as their peers, adapted to take into account any specific needs. Additional support is carefully planned, and its impact regularly checked.  Disadvantaged pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. The school successfully ensures that disadvantaged pupils achieve just as well as other pupils.  Teaching effectively builds up pupils’ knowledge, skills and interest in subjects across the curriculum. Pupils’ knowledge in subjects such as science, history and religious education is strong. The skills pupils show through their art and design and design and

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Outcomes for pupils Good

technology work highlight the good quality of learning in these areas of the curriculum.

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Early years provision Outstanding

 Children at Fossebrook make an excellent start to their education. The early years leader has, in a short time, established outstanding early years provision. The proportion of children reaching a good level of development rose significantly in 2018, and current attainment across all learning areas is high.  Early years staff are expert in how young children learn and develop. This enables them to provide learning activities that are exciting, meet the children’s interest and ensure that children thrive. Adults miss no opportunities to develop the children’s speaking and listening skills. They pose carefully crafted questions to support children’s use of words and phrases.  Adults are always clear on the purpose of the activities the children are engaged in, whether they are working in the classroom, the creative area or outdoors. They know the ‘next steps’ for each child and so are able to consolidate or extend skills according

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Early years provision Outstanding

to the needs of the individual child.  Relationships between adults and children are exceptionally positive. Children are thoroughly familiar with classroom routines and rules and meet the high expectations staff have regarding behaviour.  Adults use questioning skilfully to find out more about what children have understood and to extend their learning. They challenge children sensitively to help them develop their ideas and thoughts. Consequently, children learn to be reflective and to ‘think creatively’ when they are working inside or outside the classroom.  Children develop their early literacy and numeracy skills exceptionally well. Through the excellent teaching they receive, children quickly gain skills such as how to form letters, spell simple words and count accurately. By the time they leave the Reception class, most children reach at least a good level of development in literacy and mathematics,

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Early years provision Outstanding

and many gain skills exceeding those expected.  Staff use assessment information effectively to plan and deliver teaching that is tailored to meet the learning needs of different groups of children.  Children in the Reception Year are very happy and safe. Safeguarding is effective and remains a high priority for staff at all times. Children demonstrate a clear awareness of their safety and the safety of others.  Parents are highly engaged with their children’s learning and contribute well to the online record of their children’s learning. Staff share messages and daily learning with parents through noticeboards and provide regular updates through newsletters.

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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 Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Fossebrook Primary opened in August 2016. The headteacher was appointed prior to the school’s opening.  When the school opened, there were 40 pupils on the school roll. The oldest pupils in the school are currently in Year 4.  The school is sponsored by the Discovery School’s Academic Trust. The trust delegates some of its responsibilities to the local advisory board, through its scheme of delegation.  The majority of pupils at the school are White British.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above the national average.  The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged is below the national average for primary schools.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is close to the national average for primary schools.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector, together with the headteacher, observed learning in all classes. Throughout the inspection, the inspector worked alongside the headteacher and the assistant head of school.  The inspector met with the leaders of English, mathematics and early years. He also met with the special educational needs coordinator.  The inspector looked at a range of workbooks, including on topic work.  The inspector met with the chief executive officer of the trust and with the chair of the local advisory board. He also met with the school improvement partner.  The inspector spoke with parents at the beginning of the school day and took into account the 38 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire Parent View. He also took account of 11 responses to the staff survey.  The inspector looked at a range of documents, including the school’s improvement plans. He examined information on pupils’ current progress and scrutinised the school’s

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Information about this inspection

safeguarding procedures.  The inspector listened to pupils read and spoke to groups of pupils about school life. He observed pupils in lessons and around the school.

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Inspection team

Anthony O’Malley, lead inspector 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

Parent View 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

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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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