Gladstone Road Primary School

Inspection of Gladstone Road Primary School Wooler Street, Scarborough, North Yorkshire YO12 7DD

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement 10–11 December 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy school life at Gladstone Road Primary. Teachers encourage pupils to be ‘the best they can be’. Relationships between pupils and adults are strong. Pupils are proud of their school and they feel valued. They appreciate the ‘listening box’, where they can post any worries or concerns.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Some subjects, such as mathematics and science, are well planned. However, some other subjects are not planned effectively or taught well enough. Pupils do not achieve as well as they should. This is particularly the case in reading.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Generally, pupils behave well, but some older pupils are boisterous in the playground. Pupils show respect for each other. Pupils say they feel safe. Bullying happens occasionally and adults sort it out. However, a few pupils, parents and carers feel that bullying is not dealt with quickly enough.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the many leadership opportunities that are offered, including being peer mentors and reading ambassadors. They attend a wide variety of after-school clubs, such as sports and choir. Pupils are enthusiastic about their charity work. They spoke excitedly about recycling pens to raise money for a local charity.

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better?

There have been many changes in leadership and staffing since the previous inspection. Pupils’ achievement has fluctuated. Leaders have worked hard to improve some aspects of the school. However, many of their plans are very recent. Actions have not been fully implemented.

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better?

Leaders have improved some areas of the curriculum, including mathematics and science. They have ensured that well-sequenced plans are in place. Leaders are clear about what pupils should learn and by when. Staff have received high-quality training in mathematics and science. Teachers are confident in delivering these subjects. This means that pupils know and remember more in these curriculum areas.

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better?

In other subjects, leaders have not developed the curriculum well enough so that it is ambitious for all pupils. This is the case in art and modern foreign languages (MFL). Teachers do not cover as much of the curriculum as they should. Some curriculum leaders do not check the quality of learning in the subject they lead. Teachers do not check well enough what pupils have understood. Pupils do not develop secure knowledge in these subjects.

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better?

The school is committed to ensuring that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do as well as they can. The new ‘hub’ is helping pupils who need more support to access their learning. However, the plans that outline 10–11 December 2019

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how pupils should be supported are not consistently precise. This limits how well adults can meet pupils’ needs .

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Leaders have focused on developing early reading. The newly introduced phonics programme is well organised and planned effectively in the early years and key stage 1. Staff who teach phonics are becoming experts in this area, modelling sounds clearly and accurately. However, pupils are not given enough opportunities to build on these foundations in key stage 2. Leaders and teachers do not have a clear enough plan to teach the weakest readers to become fluent. Some staff who support struggling readers have not been trained in teaching reading. This means that pupils are not catching up quickly enough.

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In the early years, leaders have not planned the curriculum well enough. Activities are not well considered to ensure that children are developing successfully in all areas of learning. Children are not prepared as well as they should be for Year 1. Children are happy and safe. They cooperate and play well together. Parents value the support they receive to help their children with learning.

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Most of the time, pupils behave well and enjoy their learning. Those who display challenging behaviour are supported to improve. However, there is some boisterous play by older pupils in the playground during social times.

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Pupils’ attendance remained below average at the end of last year. Leaders monitor attendance closely. They have a range of plans to improve attendance, including working with families. This is an ongoing area for development.

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The personal development of pupils is a strength. Leaders and other staff are united to help pupils to develop as good citizens. Adults make sure that pupils have valuable experiences to prepare them well for their future lives. Pupils have many opportunities to engage in wider curriculum activities. Pupils spoke excitedly about their residential visits and learning to be independent. Pupils develop respect for other cultures and faiths. They are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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Governors and leaders care about staff workload and well-being. Staff feel supported by leaders and they appreciate the training they have received. Recent changes to the way that teachers assess learning have reduced staff workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and governors make sure that safeguarding is a high priority. The right checks are completed on staff before they start to work at the school. Staff receive regular safeguarding training and updates. They are knowledgeable about keeping pupils safe. Leaders and staff are vigilant. Safeguarding concerns are dealt with thoroughly. Staff with designated responsibility for safeguarding know pupils and their families well. They are tenacious in their work to get the right support for 10–11 December 2019

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vulnerable pupils and families. Pupils are taught and know how to keep themselves safe, including online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Weaknesses in pupils’ knowledge across the curriculum contribute to their low attainment at the end of key stage 2. The content of the wider curriculum is not as well organised as it needs to be in some subjects, such as art. Leaders should ensure that all subjects are coherently planned and sequenced, so that pupils can build on their existing knowledge and achieve well in key stage 2.  In key stage 2, some pupils do not learn to read with fluency and understanding. This hinders their access to the full curriculum. Plans are not robust enough to help the weakest readers to catch up. Some staff do not have the skills they need to support the lowest-attaining readers. Leaders should develop the reading curriculum in key stage 2 so that the weakest readers are well supported to catch up quickly. Leaders should ensure that all staff are well trained to teach pupils to read.  Some curriculum leaders do not use the opportunity to develop their areas of

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

responsibility. They do not have an accurate understanding of the strengths and areas for development in their subject areas. In those subjects, leaders do not have an agreed approach to check on how well pupils are acquiring knowledge and skills. Leaders should continue to ensure that curriculum leaders have the time and support they need to carry out their roles effectively.  Support plans are not specific enough to help staff to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. Consequently, these pupils do not achieve as well as they can. Leaders should ensure that support plans for pupils with SEND are precise, so that staff know what support to provide to enable pupils to achieve well.  Pupils’ attendance remains below national averages. Leaders should continue to address weak attendance, including working with parents so that they understand the importance of good attendance.

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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 . 10–11 December 2019

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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. 10–11 December 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10110574 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 5–6 July 2017

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Information about this school

 Gladstone Road Primary School is a much larger than average-sized primary school.  The acting headteacher was appointed in September 2019. There have been several changes to leadership and staffing since the previous inspection.  The proportion of pupils in receipt of pupil premium funding is above the national average.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is above the national average.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with the acting headteacher, acting deputy headteacher, curriculum leaders, local governing committee, substantive headteacher and a representative from the local authority.  The inspection included deep dives into reading, mathematics, science and art. This means that we met with curriculum leaders, visited lessons with school 10–11 December 2019

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leaders, looked at pupils’ work, listened to pupils read, spoke to pupils about their work and spoke to teachers.  We talked with parents and carers during the inspection and considered the 28 responses from parents who completed Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire. Responses to the staff survey were also reviewed.  We talked to pupils in lessons, around the school, at break and lunchtime.  We checked the school’s single central record of recruitment and considered the school’s safeguarding policy and practices. A sample of the school safeguarding files was checked to look at how the school identifies, manages and helps vulnerable pupils. We examined a range of documents relating to safeguarding. We spoke to numerous leaders, including the designated leader for safeguarding, staff, pupils and the chair of governors.

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Inspection team

Jean Watt, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Gill Wild Ofsted Inspector 10–11 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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