Gladstone Primary Academy

Inspection of Gladstone Primary Academy Gladstone Street, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire PE1 2BZ

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected 15–16 October 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Gladstone Primary Academy is a welcoming and inclusive school. Pupils come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and speak many different languages. Pupils work and play well together. They show respect and understanding towards one another. Leaders promote a sense of belonging and prepare pupils well for life in modern Britain.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite and friendly to staff and visitors. In lessons, pupils want to learn. They listen well and try their best with their work. Pupils say that they learn interesting things. They enjoy activities led by specialist staff such as music and Spanish. Pupils say that they feel happy and safe in school and bullying is rare. Pupils know who to speak with if they have any concerns. They are confident that adults will listen and deal with issues swiftly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff know pupils well. They have positive relationships with all pupils, especially those who are most vulnerable. They ensure that pupils who enter the school throughout the year settle quickly and well. Leaders provide an effective introduction programme for new pupils who arrive with little or no English. Leaders also provide a variety of clubs such as mini-cadets that widen pupils’ life-skills.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and teachers are trying new ways to improve the school’s curriculum to meet the pupils’ academic needs. This is because too few pupils are making the progress that they should. Not enough pupils reach the national standards by the end of key stage 2.

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better?

The headteacher, governors and trust members have high ambitions for pupils. Leaders have significantly improved pupils’ behaviour and personal development. Leaders do not yet provide pupils with a consistent and good-quality curriculum. Pupils have good attitudes to learning. However, too many do not make the progress or reach the standards that they should. Older pupils still need to catch up on basic English and mathematical skills. Additionally, there are a number of new pupils who arrive during the school year. These pupils often speak little English and take longer to gain the skills they need to achieve well.

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better?

New leaders have changed the way some subjects are currently planned and taught. They have introduced new ways of teaching the curriculum in English and mathematics. Leaders now provide a curriculum that is better and more logically sequenced to help pupils learn. Pupils build on what they previously learned in a more systematic way. Teachers have only recently implemented these changes. The impact on raising pupils’ achievement has not yet been seen. Work in pupils’ books indicates that they are learning more in mathematics than in reading and writing. There is still more work to be done to improve pupils’ knowledge and skills in all three subjects. 15–16 October 2019

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The trust provides good support to school leaders. They have helped to improve subjects across the wider curriculum. The curriculum in science has been effectively designed. Teachers teach the meaning of carefully chosen scientific vocabulary. Pupils practise and deepen their understanding of important scientific language. They can discuss their learning well using appropriate technical vocabulary. For example, pupils explained clearly how animals change to live in different environments. Other pupils easily remembered how fossils are formed in sedimentary rocks. The curriculum in a few subjects, such as geography, is not so well designed. Teachers do not clearly identify what pupils need to know so that pupils learn the most important information in lessons.

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The teaching of phonics is becoming more consistent. Younger pupils are reading books which are carefully matched to their knowledge of phonics. Leaders have created well-resourced libraries and reading areas on both school sites. Leaders effectively promote pupils’ enjoyment of reading. However, not enough older pupils read fluently to understand texts that are considered appropriate for their age. Due to these weaker reading skills, some pupils find it difficult reading word problems in mathematics.

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Children get off to a good start in the new pre-school and Reception classes. Staff are kind and friendly with these young children. Adults have set clear routines so that children settle quickly. Staff are good at supporting children’s learning. They promote children’s speaking and listening skills well. This is particularly helpful to children who speak little English. Children learn happily together. They enjoy the exciting activities provided in the inside and outside learning areas. Children practise their phonic knowledge when playing ‘schools’ and football. Children quickly grow in confidence and independence.

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Leaders provide well for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff identify any barriers to learning and put appropriate support in place. Disadvantaged pupils are included in all aspects of the school. They enjoy additional educational visits, after-school clubs and music tuition from specialist teachers.

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Staff are proud to work in the school. They feel leaders consider their well-being and workload. Those who are new to teaching are appropriately supported so they continue to develop their skills.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders take pupils’ safety and well-being seriously. All staff fully understand the safeguarding procedures and apply them consistently. Any concerns are logged electronically and carefully investigated.

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Safeguarding

Staff have regular training to keep up to date with current child protection guidance. Leaders carry out appropriate checks on all adults who work in the school. 15–16 October 2019

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Leaders work well with external agencies and staff to support vulnerable pupils. Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe when using different technologies.

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The trust checks the safeguarding processes to ensure that all legal requirements are in place.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s curriculum is not planned and sequenced sufficiently well in all subjects. This is particularly the case in geography. Leaders have recently addressed these concerns in science. They now need to use the same expertise to design a curriculum in other subjects, so pupils can learn and achieve well.  Recently the school changed the planning and skills to be taught in English and mathematics. Staff have received appropriate training to deliver these new approaches. It is too soon to see the impact the changes are having on improving pupils’ progress and attainment over time. Leaders need to ensure that the quality of teaching is fully effective. They need to ensure that the planned curriculum is successfully implemented so that more pupils achieve the nationally expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2.  Teaching needs to develop pupils’ reading skills across the wider curriculum so

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

that pupils increase their fluency. This is so that pupils have further opportunity to practise their knowledge and skills to achieve even more.  Leaders need to ensure that pupils are able to demonstrate their subject-specific knowledge and understanding across more subjects as well as in science.

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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 15–16 October 2019

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years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 15–16 October 2019

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Gladstone Primary Academy was opened in February 2017, after the predecessor school was rated as inadequate in March 2016.  The school is part of the Thomas Deacon Education Trust.  The school is much larger than the average primary school and is based on two sites. One site accommodates the pre-school, early years and key stage 1 pupils. The other site accommodates the key stage 2 pupils.  Leaders provide a breakfast club on the key stage 2 site. Pupils who attend this club from the key stage 1 site are walked by staff to their classes in time for registration.  The trust has recently taken over the pre-school on the early years and key stage 1 site, so provides provision for two- and three-year-olds.  The proportion of pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds, or who speak English as an additional language, is well above the national average.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. 15–16 October 2019

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 As part of this inspection, inspectors met with the headteacher, senior leaders, the special educational needs coordinator, the early years leader, subject leaders and multi-academy trust representatives. They also met with groups of teachers and pupils. They met with trustees and governors.  Reading, writing, mathematics, science, geography and music were considered as part of this inspection. Inspectors spoke to subject leaders, visited lessons, undertook work scrutinies, and met with teachers and pupils to understand the quality of education.  Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of documents, including those related to curriculum planning and development, behaviour, attendance, exclusions, the school’s evaluation of its own performance, the school’s development plan and documents from the trust.  Inspectors took account of the 25 responses to Ofsted’s online staff questionnaire and met with staff new to teaching.

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 Inspectors considered the views of parents from both sites gathered at the beginning of the second day of the inspection. They also took account of the 22 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, and one parent letter. There were no comments on the free-text service.  Inspectors spoke to pupils about their experiences of school life and their learning to find out what it is like to be a pupil at Gladstone Primary Academy. Additionally, the six responses to the online questionnaire for pupils were considered. Inspectors also observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and during breaktime and lunchtime.  Inspectors considered a range of information to determine the effectiveness of safeguarding. They reviewed school policies; met with the designated safeguarding leader; spoke with pupils, parents, teachers and support staff. Inspectors reviewed the school records of safeguarding checks carried out of

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Inspection team

Julie Harrison, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Sebastian Gasse Ofsted Inspector 15–16 October 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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