Lift Caldicotes

Inspection of a good school: Caldicotes Primary Academy Spencerfield Crescent, Middlesbrough TS3 9HD

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Outcome

Caldicotes Primary Academy continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff have developed a school which serves its pupils and wider community extremely well. Pupils achieve highly in many subjects and families look to the school for guidance, support and friendship. Staff do not disappoint in this regard.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have introduced innovations such as the ‘Caldi Coach’ to help pupils read more and a clothes and essentials store for the community to use. This demonstrates the lengths school staff go to in ensuring that no stone is left unturned in helping pupils to do their best.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy their time at ‘Caldi’ and feel safe. They say teachers really care for them. Behaviour in and around the school is generally calm and purposeful. Some pupils think behaviour could be even better. Pupils say bullying is rare and quickly resolved when it occurs. The school’s own information confirms this.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn a lot in school because their teachers constantly push and encourage them to do well. Pupils are ready to meet the demands of secondary school when the time comes. Some pupils’ absence from school affects their learning. These pupils do not catch up as well as they could. Leaders work closely with pupils and their families to improve these pupils’ attendance.

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

The school is effectively led and managed. The curriculum is carefully thought through in subjects such as reading, writing and mathematics, including in the early years. In these subjects pupils do well across the school. Teachers ensure that pupils are given regular opportunities to recap previous learning. When pupils are asked to solve a mathematical problem in a different way to what they are used to, they do this with confidence and success.

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

Leaders have recently introduced a new phonics scheme and closely linked reading books 7–8 January 2020

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for pupils to use. Children in Nursery and Reception get off to a quick start. Reading and writing happen often in the early years. As a result, more than three quarters of children achieve a good level of development by the end of Reception. Teachers and teaching assistants receive effective and innovative training to help them become more effective teachers of reading. This is having a positive impact on pupils’ reading. For example, nearly 90% of Year 1 pupils reached the standard expected of them in their phonics screening check last year. Pupils who need help to catch up receive effective support to improve their reading. Most pupils can read confidently before they begin key stage 2.

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Leaders know that the curriculum in the foundation subjects such as geography is not planned effectively at present. There is work to do to ensure that staff identify the most important subject content and sequence it accordingly. Currently, in geography pupils’ understanding of their place in the world is muddled. Pupils spoken to across the school could not explain the difference between the United Kingdom and England. Nor could pupils describe similarities between two different countries.

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Opportunities to improve pupils’ wider skills and interests are varied. Pupils develop leadership and speaking skills when electing house captains. Most pupils take part in residential visits to Caythorpe and London. Pupils can become ‘community champions’ and also learn new life skills during forest and beach school activities. Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is covered in detail. Teachers seek to include a wide range of current affairs into these lessons such as the Australian bush fires and the general election. However, some pupils need help and support to remember well some aspects of the PSHE curriculum from lessons gone by. This includes lessons and activities linked to democracy and drugs awareness.

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Staff enjoy coming to work. They say leaders embrace technology to help reduce their workload. Staff appreciate the way in which they can share resources and planning. Staff say leaders, and their colleagues, help each other when it comes to managing pupils’ behaviour. Staff particularly welcome leaders ‘checking-in’ on them from time to time.

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Rates of absence and persistent absence have been above average over time. This is starting to improve this academic year. Furthermore, leaders are working closely with some families to improve pupils’ punctuality to school. The multi-academy trust is providing more support this year to help staff improve pupils’ attendance. Leaders know that there is still much work to do to ensure that more pupils attend school regularly and arrive on time.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified quickly. Staff successfully plan to meet pupils’ needs in class. Teaching assistants develop effective working relationships with pupils who need support. Pupils with SEND play an active part in school life and make strong progress from their different starting points.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff demonstrate an appropriate awareness of safeguarding issues that may affect pupils 7–8 January 2020

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in school and at home. This is because staff training is effective and regular. Induction for new staff is thorough.

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Analysis of safeguarding documentation highlights that leaders understand the importance of making swift referrals to the local authority should they be needed. Leaders reflect on, and amend, safeguarding procedures should the need arise. Pupils say they feel safe. They appreciate the many staff who are out and about during social times watching over them.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s curriculum is not yet sufficiently coherently planned and sequenced in some subjects. However, it is clear from the actions that leaders have already taken to plan next year’s curriculum and train staff in how to deliver it that they are in the process of bringing this about. Leaders must ensure that curriculum plans in the foundation subjects are carefully considered, well-sequenced and have a positive effect on pupils’ understanding over a longer period of time. Similarly, leaders should consider the way by which they can ensure that pupils retain more information linked to the PSHE curriculum such as democracy and drug awareness.  Although improving this year, rates of absence and persistent absence have been above average over time. Too many pupils are late for school also. Leaders must continue to work with pupils and their families, in partnership with the multi-academy trust and the

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

local authority, to help parents and carers understand the detrimental impact which prolonged periods of absence or lateness are having on their children’s learning. Leaders should also review systems and procedures to help pupils who have been absent from school catch up swiftly on work that has been missed.

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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, Caldicotes Primary School, to be good on 18–19 June 2012.

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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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If you are the school and you are 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 years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 7–8 January 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10110805 Type of school Primary

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provision

Website www.caldicotesprimaryacademy.org

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provision

Date of previous inspection 10 March 2016

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Children attend part-time early years provision in the Nursery.  The school has recently started offering education for two-year-old children within the Nursery.  The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged and receive support from the pupil premium is much higher than the national average.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is above average.  Most pupils attending the school are White British.  The school is part of the Academies Enterprise Trust, a multi-academy trust. The trust contains 32 primary schools, 17 secondary schools and five special schools. Responsibility for the school rests with trustees. 7–8 January 2020

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Information about this inspection

 I undertook deep dives into mathematics, reading and geography. This involved a meeting with subject leaders, visits to a sample of lessons in these subjects and listening to pupils read. The deep dives also included scrutiny of pupils’ books and other kinds of work produced by pupils who were part of the classes I visited. In addition, I had discussions with teachers and a group of pupils from the lessons observed.  Meetings were held with senior and subject leaders, teachers, administrative and support staff.  I spoke on the telephone with two representatives from the trust.  I scrutinised pupils’ work during lessons and with subject leaders.  I held informal and formal discussions with many pupils and observed interactions during social times.  I observed the work of the school and scrutinised a wide range of evidence, including the school’s planning documents, behaviour and attendance records, safeguarding files

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Information about this inspection

and records, recruitment checks and pupils’ reading records.  I took into account the three responses from parents and carers who completed Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire. Twenty-one members of staff completed Ofsted’s online staff surveys. There were 130 responses from pupils to the pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Lee Elliott, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 7–8 January 2020

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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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