Giffard Park Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Giffard Park Primary School Broadway Avenue, Giffard Park, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK14 5PY

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Outcome

Giffard Park Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to this happy and calm school. They say that teachers and support staff want them to be safe and to do well. Pupils behave well in lessons and when moving around the school. They like the new rules for behaviour. Pupils work hard in lessons and do not disturb others when learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils really like the after-school clubs, such as bushcraft, cooking, computing, singing, dancing and yoga. They enjoy trips to community parks, music concerts, museums, local farms, art galleries and areas of historical importance. They say these visits ‘bring learning to life’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is successful in its aim to develop well-rounded individuals. Teachers expect pupils to achieve well. Teachers encourage pupils to read lots of good-quality books. Pupils are keen and confident to talk about what they are learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe in school and know how to stay safe when they use the internet. They told me that bullying is rare but, when it happens, staff deal with it quickly and fairly. Leaders take great care to support pupils’ emotional well-being.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The headteacher has an accurate understanding of the quality of education in the school. Leaders make sure that teachers help pupils to learn well. Leaders are aware that changes to the wider curriculum are in their early days. There is still a need to further refine planning in some subjects. This will make sure that teachers have a clear idea of the important knowledge pupils should learn and remember over time.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders consider reading to be important. Pupils enjoy hearing their teachers read. The teaching of early reading begins as soon as children start school. Pupils learn phonics in a sequence which helps them learn to read confidently. This means that when they take the Year 1 phonics screening check, most pupils do well. Although pupils learn how to read 15–16 October 2019

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well, they do not always use their reading skills to help them learn well in all subjects. Teachers do not always make sure that pupils use their reading comprehension skills to develop a thorough understanding of the concepts taught.

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Teachers adapt learning to meet the needs of all pupils. This includes disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Teachers and teaching assistants provide extra help when needed. This means that these pupils do well in their learning.

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Children in the early years are happy and kept safe in an exciting environment. Teachers make sure that children make a prompt start to their early reading and mathematics. The inspector observed children counting and arranging animals in order from the shortest to the tallest. They used their knowledge of number value to help them arrange and measure different sizes of animals. Children develop a good understanding of the world around them. They make good progress across the curriculum. They are nurtured and well prepared for their learning in Year 1. Communication with parents and carers is good. Parents appreciate the workshops provided by the school. These help them with their child’s learning at home. The curriculum is well planned to meet children’s needs.

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Most pupils behave very well and work hard in their classrooms. A few pupils find it more difficult to stick to the rules. These pupils get good support to help them to improve their behaviour. This means that pupils’ learning is rarely disturbed by others.

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Leaders and staff ensure that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. Staff plan visits to places of worship to learn about different religions and cultures. Pupils told the inspector: ‘We treat everyone as an equal. We may look different on the outside, but we are all the same inside.’

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Staff are well supported to be successful in their roles. They appreciate the training that leaders provide. Teachers told the inspector that leaders are very considerate of their well-being and workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The headteacher and governors ensure that pupils’ safety is an absolute priority. Leaders act quickly to deal with any concerns and school records show that they get help from experts outside the school where needed. Leaders also make all of the needed checks to ensure that all adults are safe to work with children.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn how they can keep themselves safe and what to do if they have any worries. Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe online. Parents who responded to the Parent View survey agree. 15–16 October 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s curriculum is not yet coherently planned and well sequenced in some subjects. However, it is clear that leaders are in the process of addressing this, since they have already taken steps to refine the school’s curriculum and train staff. Leaders need to make sure that all teachers have clear oversight of all subjects in the wider curriculum. This will help them to be sure that pupils do more, know more and remember more in all their work.  In some subjects, at times, pupils have difficulty understanding the meaning of ideas when reading texts. This hinders their understanding of the topics they are taught. Leaders should ensure that teachers provide pupils with opportunities to use and apply their reading comprehension skills in all subjects. This will help pupils deepen their understanding of the concepts taught.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non- exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 9–10 March 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 15–16 October 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. 15–16 October 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10111335 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.giffardpark.milton-keynes.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 9–10 March 2016

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Information about this school

 The school joined the Milton Keynes Sapphire Federation in February 2019.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector held meetings with the headteacher, senior leaders and curriculum leaders. The inspector also met with a range of teaching and support staff.  The inspector did deep dives in the following subjects: reading, mathematics and history. The inspector discussed curriculum plans with leaders, carried out lesson visits, scrutinised pupils’ work and spoke to pupils and teachers from the lessons visited about the curriculum.  The inspector evaluated the effectiveness of safeguarding. The school’s single central record was reviewed. The inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead and spoke to pupils, governors, staff and parents.  The inspector met with four governors, including the chair of governors.  The inspector spoke with the executive headteacher from the federation and two representatives of the local authority.  The inspector considered the views of 35 members of staff who responded to Ofsted’s

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online staff survey.  The inspector took account of the 25 responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey and the 12 free-text responses. The inspector met with parents at the beginning of the first day of the inspection.  The inspector met with pupils to discuss their views about the school and talked to pupils informally about the school. 20 pupils responded to Ofsted’s online pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Shazia Akram, lead inspector Her Majesty’s 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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