St Margaret's At Hasbury CofE Primary School

Inspection of St Margaret’s At Hasbury CofE Primary School and Nursery Hagley Road, Hasbury, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4QD

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good 17–18 September 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils enjoy school and are keen to learn. Adults are friendly and caring. They respond well to pupils’ needs, keeping them safe and supporting them in class.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have coped well with the many changes of staff and routines that have happened over the last year. Older pupils feel they are now more ready to learn. Most parents are positive about the changes made. The school is calm and welcoming.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils do not learn as much as they should. This is because not all adults expect enough of them. Leaders and teachers are improving the curriculum to help pupils learn more. Lots of pupils take part in the many clubs on offer.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils generally behave well. However, adults are not always consistent in what they expect, so sometimes pupils’ silly behaviour is not dealt with well. In some lessons, pupils lose interest because the work is too easy for them. They distract themselves and others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils and staff have made positive changes to lunchtime routines. Pupils now enjoy having a wide range of equipment to play with. Pupils say that they feel safe in school. Incidents of bullying have reduced. Pupils are clear that bullying hardly ever happens now.

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better?

The school has recently experienced a period of great change. This means that most of the leaders, teachers and governors are new to the school. Leaders and governors know that the education provided by the school is not good enough. Many pupils do not achieve as much as they could. Leaders are clear on what needs to be better. They are concentrating on the right things and some improvements have already happened. For example, changes to the timetable mean that all pupils have lessons in a wide range of subjects.

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better?

Some subjects are not well planned. Leaders and teachers do not understand well enough what needs to be taught in each topic. As a result, pupils may miss crucial bits of knowledge or may not make links with existing knowledge. Teachers are alert to this and to the need to address any gaps in understanding.

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better?

Leaders have concentrated on developing writing and mathematics. This includes training for teachers and new resources. The new approaches are starting to have a positive impact on the quality of pupils’ work. However, sometimes pupils are not clear about the purpose of activities, for example why they need to act out a story before writing about it.

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better?

The teaching of early reading is not good enough because too many pupils struggle to read with fluency. Pupils enjoy reading but staff do not listen to pupils read often 17–18 September 2019

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enough. The books pupils take home are not always well matched to their reading ability. This means that reading becomes a chore rather than a pleasure. Pupils in all classes enjoy their daily story-time session when an adult reads a book to them.

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Children in the early years are safe and happy. Early years staff are working together to develop more consistent systems and routines. Classrooms are well organised and welcoming. Children enjoy regular visits to the forest school area. Well-planned activities support children’s personal, social and emotional development. In the past, children have not made as much progress as they should have done, particularly in early reading and mathematics. The early years leader is developing the curriculum so that it is ambitious for all children. For example, in Nursery this includes a greater focus on phonics and opportunities for mark-making.

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Staff identify and cater for the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) increasingly well. Teachers and teaching assistants adapt lessons and resources to help these pupils access the same work as other pupils. Pupils with SEND explained to inspectors that this helps them to be successful in lessons.

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The school offers many opportunities to support pupils’ personal development, such as raising money for charity, being in a production or developing leadership skills. The school community is made up of many different cultures but pupils have few opportunities to learn about the backgrounds of fellow pupils.

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Staff know that there is a lot to do to make sure that all the recent developments help pupils to learn better. Most staff feel well supported and enjoy working in the school. However, leaders are aware that they are asking a lot. They understand that changes need to be introduced carefully so as not to overload staff.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All staff have regular training to help them keep pupils safe from harm. Leaders make sure that everyone knows what to do if they have any worries about a pupil’s welfare. Concerns are followed up quickly and with the right people. Pupils learn about how to keep themselves safe through the curriculum and assemblies. Leaders make sure that the right checks are made on staff before they start working at the school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 There have been many changes to the staff team. These have had an unsettling effect on the school. However, leaders have many plans to address this and bring about the necessary improvements. They need to implement these plans in a systematic and manageable way. New subject leaders need time and support to 17–18 September 2019

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develop their leadership skills so that they can lead their subject areas effectively.  Governance was weak. As a result, an interim executive board has replaced the governing body. Members of the interim executive board need to ensure that they fulfil their governance role effectively.  Many subjects are not coherently planned and sequenced. This means that pupils do not learn or remember as much as they should. Leaders need to make sure that teachers are clear about what they should be teaching and when, so that lessons build on what pupils know and can do.  The teaching of early reading is not of a consistently high standard. Not all staff have been suitably trained. Leaders need to ensure that there is a sharp focus on the systematic teaching of phonics so that pupils become confident and fluent readers. Pupils’ reading books need to be matched closely to their phonics skills.  Pupils at the school come from a wide range of backgrounds but they do not

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know enough about each other’s cultures. Leaders need to ensure that pupils have opportunities to develop an understanding and appreciation of the range of diverse cultures in school and further afield.  Behaviour has improved but adults do not always have high enough expectations for pupils’ conduct. Leaders need to take steps to ensure that all staff manage behaviour consistently across the school.

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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 .

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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. 17–18 September 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10122653 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority Interim executive board

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School details

Date of previous inspection 10 November 2015

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Information about this school

 Since the last inspection, the school has experienced a period of considerable change. Almost all leaders and teaching staff have joined the school in the last 12 months. The governing body was removed in July 2019 and replaced with an interim executive board.  The pre-school and Nursery classes became part of the school 12 months ago. Previously a private company ran the provision on the school site.  The school currently has a resource base for 12 key stage 1 pupils with communication, speech and language difficulties. At the end of September 2019, the pupils and staff are moving to be co-located with the key stage 2 provision on another site.

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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 focused on early reading, English, mathematics and physical education. Inspectors spoke to subject leaders about their plans for these subjects. They visited lessons when these subjects were taught. They looked at samples of pupils’ work. They talked to teachers and pupils about the lessons. 17–18 September 2019

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Inspectors also talked to the subject leaders of science and history.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, other leaders and members of staff. The lead inspector met with two representatives of the interim executive board, including the chair of the board. She also met with representatives of the local authority and the diocese. A meeting about safeguarding was held with the designated safeguarding leads. They are the headteacher, deputy headteacher and inclusion manager.  Inspectors observed and spoke to pupils at breaktime, lunchtime and around the school, as well as in lessons.  Inspectors looked at a wide range of documentation. This included the school’s records relating to safeguarding and published information about pupils’ outcomes.  Inspectors looked at 37 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. These included 26 free-text responses. Inspectors also spoke to some parents

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before school on the second day of the inspection.  Thirty-two responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire were considered as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

Catherine Crooks, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Justine Lomas Ofsted Inspector 17–18 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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