Glebelands Primary Academy

Inspection of a good school: Glebelands Primary Academy Farriers Gate, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire PE16 6EZ

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Outcome

Glebelands Primary Academy continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Warm relationships between staff and pupils play a big part in helping pupils to learn. Pupils say they enjoy coming to school and find it easy to make friends. They find the work interesting. They told the inspector, ‘There’s always something to do and talk about.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations for all pupils, especially in reading. They encourage pupils to read for pleasure. Leaders provide books that are invitingly displayed to encourage pupils to choose, share and discuss their reading. Pupils broaden their vocabulary effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite and courteous. They behave well in lessons and are interested and enthused by activities that teachers organise for them. Pupils listen attentively and try their best to respond to adults’ advice. They enjoy working together when the opportunity is provided, especially in physical education lessons.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are adamant that bullying is extremely rare. They say that, occasionally, pupils can be mean to each other but have confidence in staff to help them sort it out. Pupils have an extensive understanding of how to keep safe online. They know not to share personal details, chat to or play games with strangers.

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

Leaders, including governors, are ambitious for pupils to become confident individuals. They want all pupils to have high aspirations and be well prepared for the next stage in their education. The curriculum is planned sequentially, which enables pupils to develop their knowledge and skills.

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

Staff place great importance on increasing pupils’ vocabulary, providing appropriate and technical vocabulary that is specific to subjects. Consequently, pupils understand and use more words; they can read and explore new ideas in depth.

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

Work in pupils’ books is of good quality and their achievement, including in national 13–14 November 2019

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examinations, is improving. Disadvantaged pupils, and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. Adults break down learning into small, achievable steps and give these pupils extra help. As a result, vulnerable pupils achieve well.

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Reading is of high priority. Children learn phonics as soon as they start school. Teachers show children how to put sounds together to read words and how to break sounds apart to help with spelling. Pupils practise these skills every day. Those who are in danger of falling behind get extra support to catch up.

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In key stages 1 and 2, teachers enable pupils to understand different texts and discuss what they mean. Pupils can search for the evidence to explain their answers. Adults read to pupils often. They plan appealing activities designed to spark pupils’ interest.

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Leaders plan mathematics so that pupils’ knowledge and understanding are developed year on year. For example, children in the early years enjoy putting bears of different sizes in order and can describe why. They use phrases like ‘bigger than’ and ‘smaller than’ to justify their choices. Older pupils then demonstrate their knowledge further. They can solve increasingly complex problems and explain their answers.

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Similarly, teachers have organised the order in which pupils learn history effectively. They inspire pupils’ historical inquiry and enjoyment of the subject. For example, Year 4 pupils visited Tutankhamun’s tomb (created in the classroom) and studied its hidden treasures. Year 6 pupils considered the gruesome crimes committed by the Anglo-Saxons and the resulting punishment.

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Teachers check pupils’ reading, writing and mathematics skills well and use this information to plan future learning. Leaders have, rightly, identified that their checks of pupils’ progression in knowledge and skills in history, and other foundation subjects, are not as effective. They do not provide the information teachers need to help them understand how deeply pupils have learned what they have been taught, so they do not assist well in teachers’ planning of what to teach next.

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Typically, pupils behave well. They take great pride in the presentation of their work. Pupils have plenty of opportunities to get involved in activities that promote their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils reflect on their own and others’ lives through using well-chosen and good-quality texts. They are inquisitive and fascinated by people’s behaviour in the past and the lives people lived.

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Staff are proud to be members of the school community. The trust has taken its responsibility to reduce teachers’ workload seriously. Trustees have worked with senior leaders to remove needless tasks. Staff appreciate this and say it is having a positive effect on their work-life balance.

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Most parents and carers who responded to Ofsted’s online survey are pleased with all aspects of the school’s work. A few shared their concerns about how leaders help and support pupils with SEND and how behaviour is managed. 13–14 November 2019

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders train staff well. Staff know and understand the school’s systems for noticing and raising concerns about pupils’ safety and well-being. Issues are followed up in a timely manner. Leaders keep a very close eye on pupils who may need extra help. Pupils receive the support they need and are ready to learn.

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Safeguarding

Leaders carry out appropriate checks to ensure that adults who work with children are suitable. The records they hold are well kept and in line with current statutory guidelines.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers do not use information about pupils’ achievement in subjects other than English and mathematics well. Assessment in these subjects does not focus precisely enough on what pupils have learned in depth to inform what they should learn next. Leaders should ensure that assessment is more accurate and informs what they teach next in the foundation subjects.  Although the vast majority of parents are happy with all aspects of the school’s work, a few are not. Some parents disagree that the school gives pupils with SEND the help and support that is needed. A few expressed concerns about the school’s systems to manage pupils’ behaviour. Leaders should secure improvements to the way in which they communicate with parents to explain more fully aspects of the school’s work, including their work to support pupils with SEND and the way they promote pupils’ good behaviour.

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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.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since the school converted to be an academy. When its predecessor school, Glebelands Primary School, was last inspected under section 5 in June 2014, the school was judged to be good.

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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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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. 13–14 November 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10112155 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Glebelands Primary Academy is much larger than the average-sized primary school. It consists of two classes in every year group.  The school is a member of the Diamond Learning Partnership Trust (DLPT). Trustees are responsible for holding the school’s leadership to account. They delegate responsibilities to a local governing board.

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Information about this inspection

 I held meetings with the headteacher, senior leaders and other staff. I met with the chair of the trust, the chair of the local governing board and the chief executive officer of the trust, as well as speaking with the special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator (SENDCo) and staff responsible for safeguarding.  I spoke with a representative of the local authority and with the education leader of the trust on the telephone.  I did deep dives in reading, mathematics and history. I met with staff responsible for leading these subjects and visited lessons in different year groups to see how well pupils are learning. I spoke with pupils, looked at work in their books and spoke with their teachers. 13–14 November 2019

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 I took account of the 56 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and 27 free-text responses from parents. I considered the 29 responses to Ofsted’s survey of staff’s views and the 85 responses to the survey of pupils’ views.

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Inspection team

Sarah Warboys, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 13–14 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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