Lift Percy Shurmer

Inspection of a good school: Percy Shurmer Academy Longmore Street, Balsall Heath, Birmingham, West Midlands B12 9ED

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Outcome

Percy Shurmer Academy continues to be a good school. There is enough evidence of improved performance to suggest that the school could be judged outstanding if we were to carry out a section 5 inspection now.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of their happy and friendly school. They enjoy their learning and respect their teachers. Pupils live the school ‘Percy’ values. They say, ‘Everyone cares about each other. We’re like a big team.’ Relationships are very positive. Pupils’ behaviour in classrooms and around the school is excellent. They are positive, polite and respectful.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff expect the best of all pupils. Pupils achieve very well across the curriculum. Teachers make lessons interesting and explain things well. Pupils are very positive about reading and really like the interesting and exciting books they can choose from.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils like the responsible roles they can have. These include the reading ‘gladiators’ and ambassadors, junior leaders and sports leaders. They are enthusiastic about the school clubs, such as cooking, yoga, British sign language and table tennis. Pupils enjoy recording their learning in the ‘Percy TV’ studio.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say they feel safe and bullying is very rare. They say if there are ever any problems, they know staff will do their best to sort them out. Staff make sure playtimes are fun. They enthusiastically join in with the wide range of activities pupils can choose from. Pupils play happily together.

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

Leaders and all staff are ambitious for the pupils. They help pupils to be aspirational for themselves. Many aspects of the school’s work are exceptional. Staff give pupils rich experiences to help prepare them for their lives in modern Britain.

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

The school’s curriculum is planned and taught well. Leaders and staff have identified the most important knowledge they want pupils to learn in different subjects. Staff expect all 10–11 March 2020

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pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to achieve well. Provision for pupils with hearing difficulties is excellent.

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Staff ensure routines are very well established in the early years. Children listen carefully and concentrate. Leaders and staff ensure indoor and outdoor classrooms and stimulating activities are very well planned and organised. Reading and other areas of learning are taught well from when children join Nursery.

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Leaders and staff make reading an extremely high priority in the school. The teaching of phonics in the early years and key stage 1 is very well planned and organised. Staff are skilled. They check pupils’ learning carefully and give extra support when this is needed. Leaders have put in place a rigorous approach to teaching comprehension skills. Staff have organised the books in the class and school libraries really well. ‘Social reading areas’ are very attractive. Older pupil ‘tutors’ help younger pupils with their reading. Parents are very positive about the reading workshops the school offers. Published results in key stage 2 do not reflect the impact of this work. However, current pupils achieve very well in reading across the school.

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Leaders ensure the approach to the teaching and learning of mathematics is structured well. Staff skilfully use visual images and apparatus to help pupils understand different concepts. They plan learning that builds on what pupils already know. For example, pupils were learning about percentages by building on their knowledge of fractions. Staff promote pupils’ reasoning skills well across the school. In some classes, pupils can explain their reasoning well in different ways.

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Pupils have excellent opportunities for their artistic and cultural development. They learn about the styles of important artists and create their own work. They enjoy working with the school resident artist in the school’s ‘Percy Gallery’. The school choir sang at the Birmingham Symphony Hall. The Shakespeare club recently won a competition to perform at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

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Pupils are taught the importance of being healthy. They speak enthusiastically about their school gardening. They told me how they prepared a ‘feast’ of the food they had grown which was shared with parents. School trips, such as to the University of Birmingham for a science project, enrich the curriculum. Visits from the police and fire service help pupils learn how to keep safe.

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Staff manage pupils’ behaviour consistently well. Pupils learn why it is important to respect others who may have different backgrounds to themselves. They learn about different religions. They say this is so, ‘We can understand how to connect with each other, care and know more about each other.’ Staff help pupils to share their ideas, develop their thinking skills and learn new vocabulary. They help pupils to grow in confidence. This is more effective in some classes and subjects than others.

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Staff say leaders take account of their workload and well-being. They value the support and training they receive. This includes from the multi-academy trust as well as joint working with other schools. 10–11 March 2020

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong culture of safeguarding. Staff receive regular training on how to keep pupils safe. This includes the government’s ‘Prevent’ duty, online safety and county lines. They know the signs that might indicate a concern about a pupil. Leaders follow up any concerns raised. They record carefully the actions they take, including the involvement of other agencies when this is needed.

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Safeguarding

Leaders carry out and record all the required checks for adults working with pupils in the school. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including when online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In the past, pupils have not achieved well in reading by the end of key stage 2. Current pupils are achieving well. Nonetheless, leaders should ensure their actions to improve pupils’ inference and deduction skills are embedded consistently well by all staff. Leaders and staff should make certain that all pupils build successfully on their early reading skills to achieve all they are capable of.  On occasions, staff are not as effective as they could be in encouraging pupils to communicate their thinking in different ways. When this happens, pupils are not as confident as they could be. They do not fully deepen their understanding, including pupils’ understanding of important vocabulary. Staff should ensure they develop further pupils’ communication skills in all subjects.

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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 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 first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 10–11 May 2016. 10–11 March 2020

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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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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. 10–11 March 2020

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School details

Website percyshurmeracademy.org Date of previous inspection 10–11 May 2016, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Academies Enterprise Trust.  The school has a breakfast club.  The proportions of pupils who are disadvantaged and of those who speak English as an additional language are above those seen nationally.  The school does not make use of any alternative provision. The school does have on- site provision which caters for pupils with hearing difficulties.

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Information about this inspection

 I met with the executive principal, head of school, other senior leaders, curriculum leaders, a representative of the board of trustees, who is the chair of the local governing body, and spoke with a representative of the chief executive officer of the Academies Enterprise Trust.  I looked in detail at reading, mathematics and art to consider the quality of education. I talked with subject leaders, staff and pupils, visited lessons and looked at pupils’ work. 10–11 March 2020

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 I met with other staff and pupils, both formally and informally.  I reviewed the arrangements for safeguarding by scrutinising safeguarding records and speaking to leaders, staff and pupils. I looked at plans for improvement, as well as leaders’ evaluation of the school’s performance. I considered the information on the school’s website.  I considered the views of parents, staff and pupils. I spoke with parents and took account of the six free-text responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. There were no responses to the staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

John Lawson, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 10–11 March 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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