Pegasus School

Inspection of a good school: Pegasus School Field Avenue, Blackbird Leys, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX4 6RQ

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Outcome

Pegasus School continues to be a good school. However, inspectors have some concerns that standards may be declining, as set out below.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Following the previous inspection, the quality of education and pupils’ behaviour declined. Since September 2019, the new interim headteacher and executive principal have begun to get the school back on course. They have introduced many changes to strengthen the school’s work. Leaders are honest and open. They know that there is still much to do.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations for pupils at Pegasus. They aspire to educate the whole child and for pupils to work hard, enjoy school and achieve well. Leaders recognise that teaching and pupils’ achievement are not as good as they used to be, and that teachers’ expectations are not always high enough. They also know that some changes, including to staffing and leadership, have been unsettling for the school community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school and get on well with their teachers. They describe the school as a friendly place to be. In lessons, most pupils behave well, but during playtimes some pupils play too roughly. Pupils generally feel safe. Nevertheless, some pupils feel a bit worried because of the challenging behaviour of a small number of pupils. Pupils say that bullying does sometimes happen, but their teachers are good at sorting this out.

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

The school is in a period of transition and everyone is adjusting to a new way of working. Leaders have made a start on the school’s journey of improvement and recovery. However, many changes are recent and yet to be fully embedded.

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

The curriculum is not well planned. In subjects such as science and religious education, pupils’ work in books is sparse and their learning is disjointed. This makes it difficult for pupils to know and remember more. It is a similar picture in history. Teachers’ expectations, unlike those of leaders, are typically too low. 26–27 November 2019

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In lessons, additional staff provide good support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Nevertheless, teachers sometimes do not adapt tasks well enough for pupils with SEND and so some pupils struggle to tackle their work.

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Phonics is taught well and teachers are knowledgeable about early reading. Children get off to a good start in learning to read. Teachers recap learning regularly and quickly spot if pupils need extra support.

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Books for the youngest children are matched well to their reading skills. However, some reading books for pupils in key stage 1 include too many words that pupils cannot read. This means that some pupils find it hard to keep going and make sense of what they are reading. Storytimes are special times of the day when pupils and teachers share and enjoy books. Leaders have prioritised reading and made changes to the way comprehension skills are taught. However, this is not yet planned with enough precision to develop pupils’ skills well.

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Pupils now do some writing every day. However, skills such as those in grammar and punctuation are not taught systematically enough. This has resulted in gaps in pupils’ learning and weaknesses in their writing. New mathematics plans ensure that skills, concepts and knowledge are taught in a logical order. Reasoning skills are also developed appropriately, and the work set for pupils is suitably challenging.

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Children in early years get off to a good start and do well. Adults are warm and nurturing and provide positive role models. This helps children to quickly feel ‘at home’ and develop strong relationships.

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A new behaviour policy is establishing more consistent expectations. Leaders are taking a firmer stance with pupils’ behaviour. Incidents of poor behaviour have reduced, although these remain too high. Leaders are continuing to keep behaviour under close review.

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The school provides regular times for pupils to reflect on values such as kindness and respect. Forest school days provide rich experiences for pupils to learn in different surroundings. This helps to build a sense of teamwork and develop pupils’ social skills. Pupils enjoy these visits. As one pupil commented, ‘Forest school is amazing.’ Various trips help pupils to gain a wider view of the world. The Year 6 visit to Wales and ascent of Snowdon is a highlight of the school’s calendar. Currently, the school’s wider curriculum does not provide enough scope for pupils to learn about other faiths and cultures.

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Leaders and the trust are providing training to strengthen teaching. Teachers appreciate this and feel that leaders also consider their workload. However, some teachers feel that they are not supported well enough in managing pupils’ behaviour. This is particularly so for teachers who have pupils with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs in their classes.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 26–27 November 2019

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A whole team of safeguarding leaders work together to help keep pupils safe. Leaders work effectively with many different agencies and community groups to support pupils and families who need help. Leaders are knowledgeable about the risks to pupils and are alert to any concerns. The trust has stepped up its support and oversight of safeguarding and has taken action to improve site security.

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While overall pupils feel safe, they sometimes feel uneasy because of the challenging behaviour of a small number of their peers. Some pupils have a very limited understanding about how to keep safe, including when online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school has some pupils with SEMH needs. Sometimes, these pupils’ behaviour disturbs pupils’ learning and makes other pupils feel a bit worried. Although reducing, there are still too many incidents of unacceptable behaviour. During breaktimes, there is sometimes some rough play. Leaders need to make sure that the challenging behaviour of a small number of pupils does not disturb other pupils’ learning. They need to improve behaviour, eliminate rough play and ensure that incidents of poor behaviour continue to reduce.  Not all staff feel supported well enough in managing the behaviour of pupils with SEMH. Leaders need to make sure that staff receive further guidance and training in managing pupils’ behaviour. They need to ensure that the right support is in place for teachers as well as these vulnerable pupils.  Some pupils do not have a strong enough understanding of how to keep safe, including

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

when online. Leaders need to refine their plans for pupils’ personal, social and health education to address this.  The curriculum for many subjects, including for reading and writing, is not planned well enough. Leaders need to develop their plans so that pupils’ learning is coherently developed and sequenced in all subjects. Leaders need to check how well the curriculum is helping pupils to know and remember more.  Teaching is inconsistent across the school and some teachers’ expectations are not high enough. Some teachers do not have strong enough subject knowledge. Leaders need to continue their programme of training so that teachers quickly acquire the skills and knowledge they need to design and implement the school’s intended curriculum.  Reading books for pupils in key stage 1 are not matched well enough to pupils’ reading skills. As a result, some pupils struggle to read with fluency, particularly low-attaining

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

pupils and pupils with SEND. Leaders need to make sure that early reading books are better matched to pupils’ developing reading skills.  The curriculum does not include enough opportunities for pupils to learn about other beliefs, cultures and religions. As a result, pupils have a limited understanding of other cultures and faiths. Leaders need to develop this aspect of the school’s curriculum so that pupils are better prepared for life in modern Britain. 26–27 November 2019

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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 second section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Pegasus Primary School, to be good in June 2013.

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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. 26–27 November 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10111295 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection 27–28 June 2013

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Information about this school

 Pegasus School is one of 72 schools in the United Learning Trust. The school was formerly part of the Blackbird Academy Trust. The school joined the United Learning Trust in September 2018.  The school has provision for two- and three-year-olds.  The previous headteacher left the school in April 2019. During the summer term, the deputy headteacher became the acting headteacher until she went on maternity leave in September 2019. The interim headteacher and executive principal took up post in September 2019.  The school runs a breakfast club for pupils every morning.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector held meetings with the interim headteacher, the executive principal and other leaders. She also met with the chair of governors and the regional director from the trust. The inspector held a telephone discussion with a member of the board of trustees.  During this inspection, the inspector did deep dives in these subjects: reading, writing 26–27 November 2019

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and history. The inspector met with subject leaders, visited lessons, talked with pupils and teachers, and looked at pupils’ work in books.  The inspector reviewed a wide range of safeguarding information including records, referrals to the local authority and the school’s register of recruitment checks for staff.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour at different times of the day, including during lessons and at breaktimes. Records of incidents of poor behaviour including bullying were reviewed.  The 14 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, were considered, along with parents’ free-text comments. The inspector met parents at the beginning and end of the second day of the inspection.  The inspector met with staff to consider their views. She also took into account their views through the 20 responses to Ofsted’s confidential staff survey. There were no responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.

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 The inspector visited classes in all year groups and the school’s provision for two- and three-year-olds.

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Inspection team

Sue Cox, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 26–27 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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