Potters Green Primary School

Inspection of Potters Green Primary School Ringwood Highway, Coventry, West Midlands CV2 2GF

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Inspection dates: 12 and 13 October 2021

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good 12 and 13 October 2021

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and staff want pupils to do well. Pupils’ positive behaviour and personal development reflect this ambition. However, children and pupils do not experience a consistently well-delivered curriculum. This means that some pupils struggle with new learning. Leaders know that there is still more work to be done to improve the curriculum.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are cheerful and proud of their school. They enjoy being with their friends. They say, ‘Teachers guide us and keep us safe.’ Older pupils understand the meaning of the school’s core values of ‘respect’, ‘resilience’ and ‘responsibility’. They talk articulately about how these values are part of everyday school life.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There is a calm atmosphere around the school. Behaviour in classrooms, corridors and on the playgrounds is mostly positive. The majority of pupils listen well in lessons and focus on their work. However, a few pupils become distracted or lose focus when the curriculum is not well delivered.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand and can talk about different types of bullying, including cyber- bullying. When bullying happens, staff deal with it immediately. Pupils and parents value this.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most parents speak positively about the school. They value how well their children are cared for and the improvements in behaviour.

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better?

Leaders have thought carefully about the knowledge and skills that pupils will learn. They have introduced new curriculum plans in a range of subjects, including English, history and computing. These plans help teachers to order lessons, so that pupils’ new learning builds on what they have learned before. However, in the early years, the order and organisation of the curriculum does not build on or reinforce what children already know.

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better?

The curriculum is not delivered consistently well in all year groups. When it is taught well, pupils understand and remember new knowledge and skills. However, when this is not the case, pupils struggle with new learning, and some pupils find the work either too difficult or too easy.

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better?

Teachers use subject-specific vocabulary well, especially in English, mathematics and computing lessons. Pupils are starting to mirror this when they explain their understanding of a concept.

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better?

Subject leaders, some of whom are new to the role, have not consistently checked that curriculum plans are well delivered. This is partly due to COVID-19 related restrictions. As a result, subject leaders are not always clear about what is done well 12 and 13 October 2021

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and what needs to improve. This limits their ability to support colleagues who may need help.

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Pupils say they enjoy reading. Younger pupils like it when their teacher reads books to them and when they share stories with each other. The order of phonics teaching is clearly mapped out across early years, key stage 1 and beyond, if needed. However, not all staff teach phonics well. As a result, some pupils fall behind with their reading and require extra help. This has a knock-on effect to their learning in other subjects.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are fully included in lessons and all aspects of school life. If required, staff provide extra resources and practical equipment to support pupils’ learning. Staff are quick to step in if pupils need extra help with their work. However, pupils with SEND struggle with their work when the curriculum is not well delivered. The ‘thrive’ provision helps pupils who find it difficult to manage their emotions to engage in learning.

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Pupils are very accepting of difference and say that everyone is welcome in their school. They have a clear understanding of the different relationships and types of families that exist in their local community. Pupils understand how to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and they have a growing understanding of mental health. Pupils are pleased that the after-school sporting clubs have restarted. They are looking forward to a full programme of visiting speakers and trips restarting, including Rough Close and Cadbury World.

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Senior leaders are working hard to improve the school. They know that there is more to do, but they are determined in their actions. Governors are supporting leaders to make these improvements. Governors are improving their understanding of the new curriculum so that they can question leaders more effectively.

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Staff are proud to work in the school. They support each other and work well as a team. A significant number of staff expressed concerns about their workload, but leaders have started to take action to address this.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and staff do everything they can to keep pupils safe. The safeguarding team organise regular, effective training for all staff. Staff know what to do if they have a concern about a pupil’s welfare. Leaders are quick to identify pupils and families who need help. Support is quickly put into place. Leaders and the pastoral team work closely with a range of external agencies when required. Staff help pupils to understand how to keep themselves safe, both in and out of school. Leaders are knowledgeable about local risks, such as gang culture. 12 and 13 October 2021

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum is not delivered consistently well in all year groups in a range of subjects, including English and mathematics. Consequently, pupils are not achieving as well as they could in these curriculum areas. Leaders need to make sure that staff are provided with the support they need so that they can deliver the curriculum in all subjects consistently well.  Subject leaders have not monitored their curriculum areas to check to see if staff deliver it well. This is partly due to COVID-19 related restrictions. Consequently, subject leaders do not have a clear understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement in their curriculum areas. Senior leaders need to make sure that subject leaders have the time, support and expertise to monitor their curriculum areas to address any areas for improvement.  There is too much variation in the quality of phonics teaching for children and pupils at the early stages of reading. Not all members of staff implement the

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

phonics curriculum effectively. As a result, pupils fall behind with their reading and require extra help. Leaders need to provide staff with the relevant support so they can deliver the phonics curriculum effectively.  In early years, curriculum plans do not clearly identify how knowledge and skills are ordered and connected. This means that children’s learning does not always build on what they already know. Leaders need to review the early years curriculum to make sure that it is well sequenced and that there are sufficient opportunities for children to practise, consolidate and apply what they already know so that new knowledge can be learned confidently.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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. 12 and 13 October 2021

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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. 12 and 13 October 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10199745 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.pottersgreen.coventry.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 29 September 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has a breakfast club and an after-school club operating on the site. This provision is managed by the school.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school has a nursery that admits three-year-olds.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken this into account in the evaluation.

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Information about this inspection

 The lead inspector held ongoing meetings with the headteacher. He met with three members of the governing body, including the chair. The lead inspector also met with a representative of the local authority. 12 and 13 October 2021

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 The inspectors held meetings with members of the safeguarding team, the early years leader, the inclusion leader and other leaders.  As part of the inspection, the inspectors focused mainly on early reading, English, mathematics, computing and history. They met with subject leaders and teachers to talk about the quality of education in these subjects.  The inspectors made visits to classrooms. Some of these visits were with subject leaders.  The lead inspector observed pupils reading to a familiar adult.  The inspectors spoke to pupils formally and informally about their learning and experiences at school. They looked at pupils’ work to see how well the curriculum is implemented.  Safeguarding documents were checked, including the checks that leaders make on staff’s suitability to work with children. The inspectors checked that staff implement safeguarding policies and procedures effectively across the school.

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 The inspectors talked to parents before and after school. Inspectors were unable to consider responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View, due to the small number of responses. The lead inspector considered the free-text responses received during the inspection.  The inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s survey for staff.  The inspectors looked at a range of documentation provided by the school. This included the school’s self-evaluation, learning improvement plan, school policies, curriculum documents, SEND records, behaviour records, published information about pupils’ performance and minutes of governing body meetings.  The inspectors looked at information published on the school’s website.

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Inspection team

Wayne Simner, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Stephanie Moran Her Majesty’s Inspector Karen O’Keefe Ofsted Inspector 12 and 13 October 2021

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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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