Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Joanne Tomlins Headteacher South View Community Primary School Postland Road Crowland Peterborough Lincolnshire PE6 0JA

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Community Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 15 June 2021, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the monitoring inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Community Primary School

The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and has taken place because the school has received two successive judgements of requires improvement at its previous section 5 inspections.

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Community Primary School

This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic began. I discussed the impact of the pandemic with you and have taken that into account in my evaluation.

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Community Primary School

Having considered the evidence, I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Leaders and those responsible for governance are taking effective action

in order for the school to become a good school. The school should take further action to:

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Leaders and those responsible for governance are taking effective action

 implement a manageable system to assess and record sufficient of what pupils know and remember within all foundation subjects, use it to adjust the curriculum where needed, and then check this system for its effectiveness  ensure that all weak readers are consistently given reading books that are suitable for their ability in order to build pupils’ fluency, confidence and enjoyment of reading.

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Context

During the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders were unable to monitor the delivery of the curriculum as effectively as they wished. They could not see, for example, how teachers were delivering lessons within the classroom to whole classes. This hampered leaders’ ability to support staff. Also, staff could not meet face to face. This meant that a significant amount of discussion, in pairs or teams, about improving the curriculum needed to be delayed.

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Context

Some curriculum content was not delivered at the point originally intended, before lockdown. Teachers kept clear records of this content. Also, not all pupils remembered what they had learned previously. Teachers have used this knowledge to judge the most important things pupils will need to know, before introducing new things. They are currently ensuring this is happening, so that pupils can catch up. In addition, teachers have attended to the deterioration in presentation of work they noted from many pupils. Pupils are now completing their work with neatness again.

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Context

Pupils’ attendance remained relatively high during lockdown. There was good engagement from most pupils who were receiving remote education. Since the school has reopened to all pupils, attendance has been broadly at the national average.

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Context

Leaders have identified what work needs to be done for the school to improve. There is an effective plan to bring this about. Leaders know that the quality of education is not yet good enough. They are working at speed to improve weaknesses. Nevertheless, they are mindful of the extra work staff have put in during the pandemic. Staff recognise that leaders take account of everyone’s workload. They strongly support leaders’ work to make South View a good school.

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Main findings

Leaders are determined to make South View a place where every pupil can flourish as a highly successful learner. Parents are very appreciative of staff’s work during the pandemic to give their children the best education possible. A typical view, expressed through Ofsted Parent View, explained that ‘The school went above and beyond to ensure they could provide the support my son needs.’ Leaders have made sure that the pandemic’s impact on the pace of improvement has also been as contained as possible. Now the school is open to all pupils once again, this pace is accelerating.

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Main findings

Leaders have kept their focus on tackling the school’s most important weaknesses. The mathematics curriculum now makes clear the knowledge that pupils need to know and remember in each lesson. This is helping teachers throughout the school to build up pupils’ knowledge over time. Pupils in Year 2 are learning to find different amounts to make £6.12, while those in Year 5 are understanding why multiplication is ‘commutative’. Leaders are attending to any remaining instances where planning does not show teachers the sequence that they need to teach things in. There are still occasions when the things pupils must learn in each foundation subject lesson are not explicit.

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Main findings

Teachers also use the school’s assessment system in mathematics effectively, to find out what pupils do not know. Teachers then use this information to adjust what they teach next. For example, pupils in Year 3 did not remember enough of what they had learned previously about fractions. Teachers are now teaching this again, before going on to introduce more difficult work. Leaders are now ready to decide on a new system of assessment for subjects beyond reading or mathematics.

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Main findings

Leaders have also worked to improve the expertise of teachers. Throughout and since the pandemic, they are giving most help to those whose subject knowledge, confidence or skill is less secure. Teachers are benefiting from this support. They are able to deliver the curriculum more effectively. They notice and correct pupils’ misunderstandings. They introduce, and expect pupils to use, appropriate subject- specific vocabulary in lessons.

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Main findings

Phonics teaching in class has remained strong. Children in the early years are very keen to learn what a diagraph and trigraph are. Teachers in different year groups all notice when a child does not understand a sound. They give them help quickly so they can learn it. Leaders have also put in place support to help any pupils in Years 3 and 4 to improve their reading. Pupils say they ‘love it’ and can talk about how it has helped them. However, not all weaker readers in the school receive books that help them to become fluent, confident readers. Some of them contain too many words that these pupils struggle to read. This risks these pupils becoming disenchanted with reading.

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Main findings

The governing body is continuing to ensure that leaders’ work is having the impact needed. Members meet regularly with leaders and receive accurate information about the school. This helps them to ask valuable questions, such as the impact of teaching a specific subject, such as mathematics, during the pandemic.

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Additional support

The local authority has provided a range of support to the school. It has made regular visits to school to check that leaders’ work focuses on the right priorities. It has helped both senior and subject leaders understand the features of a good quality of education. It has given advice to leaders about the importance of having clarity on what pupils need to learn at each point. It has supported leaders in their work to ensure that teachers deliver lessons in a logical order. The local authority has also facilitated support to the school from the local English Hub. This is helping leaders at South View to choose an effective replacement scheme for teaching phonics.

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Evidence

During the inspection, I held meetings with: the headteacher; the deputy headteacher, who is also the coordinator for mathematics; subject leaders for geography and for personal, social, health and economic education; the coordinator for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities; the leader of phonics; staff involved in delivering reading support to pupils; a representative of the local authority; and the chair of the governing body to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection.

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Evidence

The inspection also took into account: visits to see lessons taking place in the early years and in key stage 1 and 2; discussions with pupils about the support they were receiving with reading; hearing a sample of pupils from Years 1, 2 and 3 reading books to staff; scrutinising samples of pupils’ work; a scrutiny of a variety of school documentation, records and policies; examination of records of leaders’ work to support staff and the impact of this support; checking of the school’s single central register; and meeting staff to see that they had been appropriately trained in safeguarding and understood the school’s procedure to report any concerns. The inspection also took into account: the views of parents through Ofsted’s Parent View website; all free-text comments; one email addressed to me from a parent; and analysis of the views of staff responding to the Ofsted staff questionnaire.

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Evidence

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Lincolnshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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