Hillside Primary School

Inspection of Robinswood Primary Academy Underhill Road, Matson, Gloucester, Gloucestershire GL4 6HE

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Inadequate Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Inadequate Early years provision Inadequate Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected 17–18 December 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

The quality of education pupils receive is inadequate. The curriculum is not well thought out or applied, including in the early years. This limits what pupils can do and understand. Leaders’ and teachers’ expectations of pupils are too low, so pupils do not learn enough. They are not well prepared for their next stage of education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Too few pupils can communicate, read, write or apply mathematics well. This prevents pupils from achieving as well as they should. Pupils who struggle do not get the right support to catch up. Teachers do not plan carefully enough to help pupils learn.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour is not good. Teachers do not routinely remind pupils to follow the school policy. Pupils find it difficult to concentrate when teaching does not meet their needs.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ emotional, physical and mental health needs are everyone’s priority. Pupils enjoy the extensive opportunities for sport and clubs. They have a strong understanding of right and wrong. They accept each other’s differences.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe. Pupils say that adults support them when they have a worry. When bullying happens, pupils say that teachers deal with it.

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better?

The quality of education is inadequate, and standards are far too low. Trust leaders do not hold leaders to account for the education pupils receive. Systems intended to bring about improvement are not effective. The head of school has diagnosed the root causes of many weaknesses. However, insufficient action has been taken to sort them out.

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better?

Leaders at all levels do not provide teachers with enough training and guidance. Teachers do not have good knowledge of the subjects they teach. This hinders pupils’ learning in most subjects. Leaders do not provide teachers with enough guidance about what to teach and when.

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better?

There is not a joined-up approach to the planning and delivery of pupils’ education. The curriculum is weak . Key aspects of an English curriculum designed to develop pupils’ writing abilities are absent. This limits pupils’ ability to write well. Leaders are beginning to tackle weaknesses in other subjects like science, but it is early days.

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better?

Leaders do not ensure that the basic foundations for learning are secure in the early years. Adults do not identify the support that the youngest children need. They do not put a sharp enough focus on children’s speaking skills and physical development. These weaknesses are not being tackled well enough in Reception.

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better?

Leaders have identified the significant deficiencies in the school’s reading curriculum. 17–18 December 2019

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Very recently, the trust has appointed two leaders with strong reading knowledge. They are working hard to bring about school-wide improvements. They have devised well-targeted plans to address the school’s weaknesses head on, but it is too early to see any impact.

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The teaching of phonics is not effective. Far too many pupils are unable to read accurately and with understanding. Systems in place to help pupils to catch up are not working well enough, so gaps in pupils’ reading knowledge persist. This limits what pupils can learn and understand in many subjects.

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Teachers do not use all the information they have about what pupils can and cannot do. Teachers’ plans are not shaped to meet pupils’ needs well enough. For example, in mathematics teachers do not tackle pupils’ misconceptions, so pupils’ mathematical understanding is weak.

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The leadership of special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is weak. Leaders have not ensured that pupils’ needs are accurately assessed or met. These pupils do not get the right support in class. Therefore, they do not make the progress they should. Many pupils with SEND are falling further behind. The specialist help to support pupils’ emotional and mental health needs is effective in getting pupils ready to learn.

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Leaders are taking effective steps to improve pupils’ attendance, including that of disadvantaged pupils. Pupils’ behaviour is improving. However, their attitudes are not consistently positive, particularly when they do not get the help they need. Pupils do not keep going when they get stuck. They do respond to adults’ requests to moderate their behaviour quickly, for example when teachers remind pupils of how to behave out of class. However, some adults ignore pupils’ inappropriate behaviour. When this happens, pupils continue to misbehave.

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There is a lot of sport on offer. Pupils enjoy the ‘daily mile’. Pupils enjoy visits, curriculum enrichment activities and clubs. However, their appreciation and understanding of a range of cultures are too limited.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders complete the appropriate staff checks to ensure the suitability of staff to work with children. There is a strong and vigilant culture of safeguarding. Staff training is up to date and in line with requirements. Staff apply their training to keep pupils safe effectively. They take particular care to identify concerns quickly. Leaders responsible for safeguarding make swift referrals to ensure that they are doing all they can to minimise pupils’ risk of harm.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders, including the trust, have not acted quickly enough to secure the necessary improvements. Leadership capacity needs to be strengthened so that the school’s endemic weaknesses are urgently rectified.  Trust leaders do not hold leaders at all levels to account for the quality of education at the school. Trust leaders must ensure that leaders, including the local governing board, fulfil their responsibilities properly.  The planning and sequencing of the curriculum are weak. Leaders must ensure that the curriculum across all subjects is ambitious for its pupils and that it is coherently planned and sequenced. Leaders must ensure that pupils develop detailed knowledge and skills across all subjects so that they achieve well.  Teachers’ subject knowledge is not good enough. Leaders at all levels need to ensure that subject leaders have the necessary skills and knowledge. Leaders must design and implement a comprehensive package of staff training so that

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

staff can lead and teach all subjects well.  The teaching of early reading and phonics is not effective. There is not a systematic and consistent approach. Staff do not have the required subject knowledge. Leaders must ensure that there is a coherent approach to teaching phonics and that staff have the training they need to deliver it well. Leaders must ensure that pupils who struggle to read catch up swiftly.  Pupils underachieve because important aspects of the curriculum are absent. Pupils do not gain the knowledge and skills they need to read, write and apply their mathematics with accuracy and understanding. The trust needs to hold leaders to account for implementing reading, writing and mathematics curriculums that meet pupils’ needs. Leaders must ensure that pupils’ academic standards in reading, writing and mathematics are strong.  Pupils with SEND do not achieve well. The leadership of special educational needs

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

is weak. Leaders need to ensure that teaching addresses pupils’ learning well so that pupils’ academic needs are met.  The quality of education in the Nursery does not meet children’s needs. Leadership of the early years is weak. Leaders must ensure that there is a sharp focus on developing children’s early language skills and physical development.  Teachers do not use assessment of what pupils can do well enough, including in the early years. This hinders pupils’ ability to learn. Teachers do not deal with pupils’ misconceptions sufficiently. Leaders need to ensure that teaching eliminates pupils’ gaps in knowledge and that pupils’ attitudes to learning improve.  Pupils’ understanding and appreciation of a range of faiths and cultures are too limited. Leaders need to ensure that personal development in the school is good.  It is strongly recommended that newly qualified teachers (NQTs) are not appointed.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re 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. 17–18 December 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10086905 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

 Since the school has opened, the leadership structure has changed a number of times. There is currently an executive headteacher who is the accounting officer of the school. There is a full-time head of school who is the operational school leader. She joined the school in September 2018.  The school is part of Robinswood Primary Academy Trust. It is made up of five primary schools from the local area. As the trust has grown, trustees have devolved more responsibility to the local academy board.  When the school converted to an academy, its predecessor school was graded outstanding. This is the school’s first inspection since it has opened.  Assistant heads of school were appointed in September 2019. Many subject leaders have recently taken up their roles.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We deemed the inspection a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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Information about this inspection

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief 17–18 December 2019

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Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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 We met with the chair of trustees. We also held a meeting with two members of the local academy board and a trustee.  We had a telephone conversation with an external adviser. We held a meeting with the external adviser and executive headteacher.  We met with the executive headteacher, head of school, assistant heads of school and other members of the extended leadership team.  We met with the leaders of SEND. We met with one trustee and the chair of the local governing body.  We examined a range of documentation provided by the school, including leaders’ self-evaluation, improvement plans and documentation relating to the safeguarding, attendance and behaviour of pupils.  A significant proportion of the inspection focused on ensuring that pupils are safe. We scrutinised records, tested staff’s safeguarding knowledge and spoke with pupils. We met with designated safeguarding leaders.  There were no responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. We also met

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with parents at the start of the school day to gather their views of the school.  We took into consideration the 14 responses to the staff survey and 31 responses to the pupil survey. Throughout the inspection, we met with staff and pupils to gather their views.  We did deep dives in these subjects: reading, science, mathematics and physical education. This included visiting lessons, looking at pupils’ work, meeting with senior and subject leaders and discussions with teachers and pupils. We also looked further into the quality of education pupils receive in writing, geography and history.

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Inspection team

Julie Carrington, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Spence Allen Ofsted Inspector 17–18 December 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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