Aldermoor Farm Primary School

Inspection of Aldermoor Farm Primary School Acorn Street, Stoke Aldermoor, Coventry, West Midlands CV3 1DP

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good 11–12 September 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are very happy in this school. They really like and trust the staff and say that there is always someone who will help them. Staff really care about the pupils. They encourage pupils to believe in themselves and have confidence. When pupils find their work hard, they do not give up. They say, ‘I can’t do this yet!’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders want all pupils to do well, but they have not identified whether the teaching is helping pupils to learn. Too many pupils are not doing well enough, especially in reading, writing and mathematics. Sometimes the work pupils are given is too hard or too easy.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents appreciate the warm and welcoming atmosphere in the school. They also appreciate the wide range of activities pupils can take part in. For example, pupils loved the whole-school trip to the seaside. Pupils achieve many successes in sports competitions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave very well in their lessons and at playtimes and are very polite. They say that staff stop bullying quickly and keep them safe. Pupils told us enthusiastically about what they do in school. They are very proud of Aldermoor Farm.

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better?

Children in the Reception Year do not make enough progress. Staff’s expectations of what children can do are too low. Children do not spend enough time on learning activities. Children who struggle when they start Reception are not given enough support to help them catch up by the end of the year. Children in Nursery settle quickly. Staff are very skilled and help them to learn new things right from the start. All children in the early years are kept safe and are well cared for.

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better?

Pupils do not learn to read as well as they should. Leaders have not identified whether the teaching of phonics is good enough in Reception and Year 1. Some pupils start Year 1 already behind where they should be. Then they do not get enough time to learn phonics in Year 1. Some staff are not skilled enough or trained to teach phonics well. The books pupils read do not help them to practise their phonics. All these things mean that pupils do not catch up with their reading during key stage 1. Some pupils who cannot read fluently in key stage 2 also do not receive enough support to help them to improve. Disadvantaged pupils do not make as much progress as they should.

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better?

Pupils underachieve in mathematics and English. Some teachers do not plan work well enough to support pupils’ learning. They do not identify what pupils understand or where the gaps in their learning are. Pupils’ work is sometimes too hard or too easy. Leaders have recently introduced new ways of teaching these subjects to try to improve pupils’ outcomes. It is too early to see if this is working. 11–12 September 2019

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Pupils’ knowledge and skills in other subjects, such as history and geography, is improving, but there are still some gaps in their learning. Leaders ensure that pupils study all the subjects in the national curriculum through their topics. Leaders have planned what pupils study carefully and in a logical order but they have not ensured that teachers are following the plans well enough. Many subject leaders are very new. They have not had the chance to review teaching in their subjects yet.

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Some teachers do not have the skills they need to support the learning of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in their classes. These pupils struggle to learn. The special educational needs leaders know this and have plans to train all staff. Pupils with SEND in the resource base receive excellent support. Staff understand their additional needs very well. The support these pupils receive helps them to learn well.

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Pupils’ personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) is very effective. Pupils learn about how to keep themselves safe, including how to stay away from gang and knife crime. Pupils learn about respect and tolerance. All staff care for and look after pupils exceptionally well. Pupils see the school as a positive community. So do the parents. The school is preparing pupils well to be responsible citizens in modern Britain.

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In her first two years, the new head tackled poor behaviour. This has been very successful. Standards of behaviour are high. The headteacher and governors know that academic standards are not high enough. They consider the well-being of the staff when planning new ways of working. The headteacher and governors have the skills and the right plans in place to improve standards.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All staff make sure that keeping pupils safe is a top priority. Staff understand the dangers pupils may face both inside and outside school. If staff are worried about a pupil, they report it immediately to the designated safeguarding leaders. Leaders follow up the concerns quickly. Leaders make careful checks on all adults who work in the school to ensure that they do not pose any risks to pupils.

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Safeguarding

Staff teach pupils how to keep themselves safe inside and outside school. They regularly remind pupils about how to protect themselves. Pupils take this learning seriously and understand how important it is.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have not ensured that the teaching of reading and phonics across the school is effective. The phonics scheme is not sequenced carefully from Reception to Year 1. The quality of phonics teaching is not good enough. Some staff do not 11–12 September 2019

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have the skills to teach phonics well. In Year 1 pupils do not have enough time to learn and practise the phonics they need to help them become fluent readers. Books do not support the development of pupils’ reading. Pupils who have fallen behind in key stage 1 and 2 do not always receive the right help and support to help them catch up. Leaders need to review the teaching of reading and phonics across the school. A coordinated approach to the teaching of reading and phonics needs to be developed. Additional training should be provided to staff who do not have the necessary skills to teach reading and phonics. Leaders should check that the teaching of reading is consistent. They need to develop high-quality support for pupils in key stage 2 who are not fluent readers to help them catch up.  Leaders have carefully sequenced the curriculum in all subjects. Plans set out clearly how pupils’ knowledge and skills should be built upon from one year to the

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next, based on the expectations of the national curriculum. However, some leaders have not checked that teachers are delivering the curriculum well enough. Leaders need to monitor the teaching more closely. They should identify weaknesses quickly and provide the right support and training to improve the delivery of the curriculum. This is especially so in English and mathematics.  Some teachers do not plan effectively for pupils’ learning needs. They do not use what they know about what pupils can and cannot do to plan work that supports and develops their learning. Leaders need to ensure that teachers use their assessments precisely so that they provide pupils with work that is closely matched to their needs and builds on prior learning.  Some teachers do not have the necessary skills to support pupils with SEND well enough within their classes. Leaders should provide teachers with support and training to enable them to meet the needs of these pupils in their classes.

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 Staff’s expectations of what children in Reception can do are too low. The curriculum is not ambitious enough. Leaders need to review the provision in the Reception Year. They should consider the amount of time children are engaged in learning activities. Staff should raise their expectations of what children can do. The curriculum needs to be suitably designed and sequenced to enable children to make more rapid progress to achieve the standards they should by the end of the Reception Year.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted . 11–12 September 2019

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 11–12 September 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10088589 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website http://aldermoorfarm.eschools.co.uk/we bsite Date of previous inspection 3–4 June 2015

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Information about this school

 The school has a resource base provision for pupils with autistic spectrum disorder.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited lessons in all year groups. On the first day of the inspection they were accompanied by senior leaders.  The lead inspector listened to groups of pupils from Years 2, 4 and 6 read.  All inspectors met with groups of pupils, senior leaders, subject leaders and staff to talk about the quality of education and safeguarding at the school. The lead inspector met with the headteacher and the designated safeguarding leaders. Inspectors also met with the leaders of special educational needs, English, mathematics, science, history, early years, PE and the pupil premium.  Inspectors talked to pupils about their learning and activities at school. They looked at their work in a range of subjects to see how well the curriculum was 11–12 September 2019

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applied.  The lead inspector met with four members of the governing body. She also met with a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation provided by the school. They looked at the school’s website, school policies, curriculum documents, safeguarding information including the checks that leaders make on staff prior to employment, special educational needs records and published information about pupils’ performance.  Inspectors considered the 15 responses to Parent View and 15 free-text responses.  Inspectors considered the 55 responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire and 46 responses to the pupil questionnaire.  Inspectors focused on reading, mathematics, English and PE as part of this inspection. They also looked at science and history on the second day of the inspection.

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Inspection team

Ann Pritchard, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Susan Hughes Ofsted Inspector 11–12 September 2019

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regulates and inspects to 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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