Fosse Primary School

Inspection of Fosse Primary School Balfour Street, Leicester, Leicestershire LE3 5EA

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Good Leadership and management Inadequate Early years provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good 13–14 November 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well mannered and courteous. They enjoy coming to school and appreciate the friendly atmosphere. Most behave well. A few pupils struggle to manage their behaviour. When this happens, staff help them. However, leaders have not recorded incidents of poor behaviour, including any bullying, carefully. They have not analysed the type or frequency of incidents.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders want all pupils to achieve well. In some subjects, such as mathematics and science, what pupils learn builds on what they already know. This helps them to remember new learning. However, the school’s approach to teaching pupils to read does not work well for all pupils. The curriculum in some subjects is not planned to develop pupils’ knowledge year on year.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders do not ensure that all pupils are safeguarded against potential risks because they are sometimes slow to act and follow up concerns. Procedures for checking staff’s suitability to work with children do not meet requirements.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff take time and care to support pupils’ personal development. Pupils learn about different cultures, faiths and lifestyles. One pupil said, ‘We are unique, but we all swim together.’

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better?

Leaders and governors have not acted with urgency to tackle the school’s weaknesses. They have not focused enough on making sure that all pupils are kept safe and achieve well.

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better?

In some subjects, it is not always clear how pupils will develop their subject knowledge as they go through the school. What pupils learn does not always build on what they have learned in the past. In some year groups, pupils spend much of the time learning English and mathematics. They have fewer opportunities to learn in other subjects.

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better?

The order in which pupils learn sounds helps them to read words and sentences, yet some pupils do not understand what some of the words they read mean. Pupils are not developing their vocabulary well enough. This makes it difficult for them to make meaning out of the printed words. Teachers do not support pupils well when they begin to fall behind. Teachers do not check often enough which sounds pupils have remembered. They do not put support in place quickly enough to help these pupils to catch up. The support these pupils receive is sometimes not good enough to help them improve. The books chosen for weaker readers are sometimes too hard for them.

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better?

Some pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive extra teaching. Leaders do not know whether these sessions are helping pupils to remember more. Sometimes the staff who run these sessions do not have the 13–14 November 2019

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subject knowledge needed to help pupils. Staff who give pupils one-to-one support in class help them to take part in whole-class learning.

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In early years, children are well behaved, and staff take care of their welfare needs well. Leaders plan to build children’s knowledge to prepare them for Year 1. However, some staff do not expect enough of children. What teachers ask children to do is sometimes not demanding enough for them to achieve well. Children are sometimes busy with activities that do not help to develop their knowledge. Teachers do not ensure that children make a strong start in developing their understanding of phonics.

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Mathematics, science and personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education are well planned. In mathematics, teachers use ‘flash-back Friday’ to check what pupils have remembered. They then build on what pupils already know.

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Most pupils behave well. However, when incidents of poor behaviour do happen, leaders do not record them accurately. Some incidents are not recorded at all. They have not always recorded what they have done as a response to poor behaviour. They have not analysed records to spot patterns of poor behaviour.

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Staff prepare pupils well for life in modern Britain. They have made sure pupils know and understand British values. Pupils respect each other’s similarities and differences. They take part in debate and are open to hearing the opinions of others.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and governors have not made sure that procedures for safeguarding pupils meet requirements. They have not made thorough checks on all staff before they begin working at the school. The school’s records for staff and governors are not kept up to date.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have not kept accurate records of the concerns raised about pupils’ welfare. They have not always responded quickly enough to potentially serious concerns. They have not put appropriate risk assessments in place. Leaders have not analysed records carefully to spot signs of abuse.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have not checked that staff understand their responsibilities for keeping children safe. Leaders have not made sure that staff know the most up-to-date information about the dangers to pupils. Not all staff are clear about the procedures for passing on concerns. 13–14 November 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have not ensured that there is a consistent approach to passing on safeguarding concerns. They have not ensured that all staff know and understand their statutory duties. Leaders must ensure that staff have had sufficient training to know the dangers that pupils may face, and how to pass on concerns about pupils.  Leaders have not made the necessary checks on staff prior to them beginning employment. Leaders must ensure that procedures for staff recruitment meet statutory requirements, and that they make all the necessary checks before staff or governors begin work at the school.  Leaders have not kept accurate safeguarding records. They do not take swift action when concerns are raised. They do not check safeguarding records for patterns. Leaders need to ensure that records are accurate and thoroughly analysed, and take swift action when concerns are identified, involving parents and carers and external agencies as appropriate.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s programme for teaching phonics and early reading does not enable the weakest readers to achieve well. Assessment of what pupils have remembered is too infrequent to quickly spot pupils who fall behind. The books staff give some pupils to read do not match their ability. Leaders must ensure that the school’s approach to early reading enables weaker readers to catch up quickly and teaches pupils the meaning of words.  Some pupils with SEND do not achieve well. It is not always clear how the support these pupils receive is helping them. Leaders should check the quality and impact of the support they provide for pupils, ensuring these help pupils to remember more.  In some subjects, what leaders want pupils to learn is not well planned. Pupils in some year groups have fewer opportunities to learn in all subjects. Leaders must ensure that the curriculum in all subjects develops pupils’ subject knowledge to

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

build on what they have learned before. Leaders must make sure pupils in all year groups have the same opportunities to learn across the whole curriculum.  In early years, leaders have not made sure teachers deliver the school’s curriculum consistently. Some staff do not expect enough of children. Teachers do not ensure that children make a strong start in their understanding of phonics. Leaders must ensure that staff have sufficient training to enable them to know what children should be able to achieve, and that the tasks they set for children are demanding enough.  Leaders do not have an effective approach to recording or analysing incidents of poor behaviour. Leaders must ensure that the school’s logs are an accurate record of the incidents of poor behaviour and are analysed to spot patterns. 13–14 November 2019

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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 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. 13–14 November 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10129699 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Caroline Danvers

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School details

Date of previous inspection 4–5 October 2016

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Information about this school

 There have been no significant changes since the last inspection.

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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. In accordance with section 44(2) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than it might in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to perform.

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Information about this inspection

 In order to judge the quality of education, we focused the inspection on specific subjects of the curriculum. We did deep dives in reading, mathematics, science, and PSHE. This involved meeting with senior and subject leaders, scrutinising curriculum planning, and visiting lessons where pupils were learning these subjects. We met pupils from the lessons we visited, and looked at their work in these and other subjects. 13–14 November 2019

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 We met with representatives of the governing body and the coordinator for pupils with SEND, as well as teaching assistants. We read a wide variety of school documents, including the school development plan.  In order to judge the effectiveness of safeguarding, we read the school’s relevant policies, scrutinised the single central record, checked the school’s procedures for the safe recruitment of staff and interviewed the designated lead for safeguarding. We also spoke with staff to check details of their safeguarding knowledge and training, that they understood the importance of their responsibility to report any safeguarding concerns without delay, and if they knew the procedure to do this. We checked samples of safeguarding records, and spoke with parents about their child’s safety at the school.

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Inspection team

Helen Williams, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Paul Lowther 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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