Featherstone Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Featherstone Primary School Glenville Drive, Birmingham, West Midlands B23 6PR

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Outcome

Featherstone Primary School continues to be a good school. There is enough evidence of improved performance to suggest that the school could be judged outstanding if we were to carry out a section 5 inspection now.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are right when they say Featherstone is a great place to learn, have fun and make friends. ‘Aspire, believe, succeed’ is what greets everyone as they arrive. This motto, emblazoned everywhere and on pupils’ uniforms, reflects the high ambitions of leaders, staff and governors.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is a vibrant and positive learning community. Pupils feel, and are, very safe. There is hardly any bullying or unkind behaviour and leaders deal very well with any that does occur. Pupils are exceptionally well behaved, respectful, polite and courteous. ‘We know everyone really cares about us,’ they say. Overwhelmingly, parents agree.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff are committed to pupils’ emotional well-being. There is strong pastoral support, reflected in the school’s ‘healthy mind, healthy body’ programme. Working with a national charitable organisation based at the school, a focus on pupils’ mental, emotional and physical well-being provides highly effective support for pupils and their families.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The staff value pupils’ efforts and have created a can-do culture that inspires pupils to succeed. Inspirational messages from world leaders and pupils’ high-quality work adorn every wall and corridor. The school is inclusive and embraces diversity. This is clearly portrayed, capturing this ambition, on a superb collage created by pupils titled ‘One race, many cultures, one place.’

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

Highly effective leadership has improved the school since its previous inspection. Everyone shares the same values and high aspirations of leaders.

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

Pupils and their families are treated with dignity and respect. Featherstone has received national awards for promoting equal opportunities and supporting disadvantaged families. 19–20 November 2019

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One vulnerable pupil won a national award, ‘child champion’, last year. His speech was shared on local and national media. This is one of many examples of the enormous contribution the staff make to transforming the lives of vulnerable families.

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There are strong links with other schools, both locally and internationally. This enables pupils to celebrate racial, cultural and religious diversity. Some pupils’ recorded work is of high quality. This is displayed alongside positive quotes from historical figures on every wall and corridor. Pupils achieve exceptionally well in art. As part of work on British values, ‘Magna Carta’ headlines a sculpture alongside pupils’ work on democracy and human rights.

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The ‘Featherstone Championship Award’ is part of a curriculum enrichment programme. It is child-centred and offers pupils great opportunities to improve their personal development. The activities include life skills, photography, performing arts, gardening, charity work and more.

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Early reading and phonics are well organised. Leaders have adapted the way phonics is taught, with early signs of improved outcomes. Children in the early years are very well supported and make good progress in language and literacy. There is potential for more pupils to reach higher standards in the early years and key stage 1.

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Mathematics is very well led and organised. Pupils achieve well and apply their knowledge of arithmetic concepts to solve challenging problems. In all subjects, the staff use progression charts as ‘route maps’ to help pupils build on what they have learned before. Standards in mathematics are improving, but there is potential for more pupils to reach higher standards in key stage 1.

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English is very well led. Pupils achieve well. The ‘100-book challenge’ is a great initiative. It promotes a love of reading with rich opportunities to read modern and classic stories. In the outdoor area, ‘dreamy hollow’, pupils and staff read to each other. Next to this is a replication of Tolkien’s mythical creation, a ‘hobbit home’ for pupils to enjoy.

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Pupils learning English as an additional language do very well. This includes those who have experienced trauma as refugees from war-torn countries. These pupils and those experiencing other disadvantages achieve well in language and literacy.

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Acting as ‘values ambassadors’, pupils organise activities with staff. These have a very positive effect on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils become well-rounded, respectful, polite and caring individuals. Pupils share ideas about values such as honesty and friendship. They say that it is easy to make and keep lasting friendships.

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Provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is very well managed. The pupils achieve very well because they are given the right support at the right time.

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Pupils benefit enormously from the many opportunities they have to take part in the creative and performing arts and music. The school’s choir and musical ensembles are 19–20 November 2019

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The information technology (IT) curriculum is very well managed. Pupils achieve very well in programming and control technology. From programming robotic devices in key stage 1, pupils move on to more complex work in key stage 2, learning HTML coding to create websites.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Safeguarding and child protection arrangements at Featherstone are first class. Leaders and staff are very committed to pupils’ welfare, safety and care. The staff teach pupils to keep themselves safe when using computers. Pupils know who to speak to if they are worried. They also use the school’s confidential counselling service by recording and posting any concerns. Pupils told the inspector that this is great way of looking out for each other.

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Safeguarding

Well-devised and regular training ensures that the staff know how to keep pupils safe. Leaders and staff are vigilant and know which services to contact if they need to do so. Staff vetting arrangements and site security are robust and help to ensure that pupils are protected.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 There is still potential for more children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 to do better in their reading, writing and mathematics. The school should build on the good start children are now making learning to read, write and count. The school should now focus on identifying sooner children who have the skills and abilities to reach a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year. Leaders should also continue to focus on raising standards even more in English and mathematics across the school.

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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 to confirm that the school remains good. 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. 19–20 November 2019

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This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 19 November 2015.

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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.

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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. 19–20 November 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10111757 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Irene Kasapi Phillips

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School details

Website www.featherstoneprimaryschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 18–19 November 2015

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Information about this school

 The school serves an area of Birmingham that has significant deprivation. Many pupils join and leave the school at different times in all classes. Many pupils joining the school are in the early stages of learning to speak and communicate in English. A significant number of pupils who join belong to families that have refugee status.  The early years comprises two Reception classes for four- and five-year-olds.  There have been significant staff changes since the previous inspection. Just under half of staff were not at the school at the time of that inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 I held discussions with the two governors, including the chair of the governing body; the headteacher; deputy headteacher; and teachers who manage different subjects. A meeting was held with the teacher responsible for managing SEND provision.  I spoke with an administrator to check staff vetting and safeguarding records. A meeting was held with the headteacher and SEND leader, who are two of the designated safeguarding leaders, to consider the effectiveness of child protection and safeguarding procedures.  I spoke with some parents to seek their views about the school and analysed 19–20 November 2019

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responses to the online survey, Parent View. I spoke with some staff and considered responses from staff to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire.  I focused on reading and the teaching of phonics, as well as in-depth investigations into mathematics and IT. I also met with a member of staff and the deputy headteacher to discuss the school’s creative and performing arts curriculum.  I visited parts of lessons in all classes. Visits were made jointly with the English and mathematics leaders. I looked at samples of pupils’ work and heard four groups of pupils read. I also met with a group of pupils to discuss their computer and IT work.  I spoke to pupils during lessons and breaktimes. Meetings with pupils were carried out to discuss their views about the school, their behaviour and how safe they feel in school.  I considered a range of documentation, including leaders’ evaluations of the school’s effectiveness, the school’s development plan and the latest governing body minutes,

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together with some of the headteacher’s reports to governors.

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Inspection team

Charalambos Loizou, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 19–20 November 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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