Newfield Park Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Newfield Park Primary School Whittingham Road, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 3TP

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Outcome

Newfield Park Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Newfield Park is a caring and happy school. Adults build warm, supportive relationships to help pupils feel safe. The school’s values of nurture, respect, inspire and succeed underpin school life. Pupils model these values through their positive attitudes to learning and in their consideration of others. An example is fundraising for a school in The Gambia. Pupils are proud of their many achievements.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy being with their friends. They play and learn well together. Staff do not tolerate any bullying or unkind behaviour. Pupils know that adults will deal quickly with any issues that arise.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils value their positions of responsibility and leadership. These roles include being members of the school council, subject councillors or anti-bullying ambassadors. Leaders act on pupils’ ideas to make improvements in school, such as the purchase of new science equipment.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders know their pupils well. They put their interests at the heart of all decisions. Parents and carers speak very highly of the school. They praise how teachers make learning fun. Parents appreciate the many experiences on offer that enrich pupils’ personal development. Parents value the focus on pupils’ well-being, including during the pandemic.

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

The curriculum sets out what leaders want pupils to learn. Leaders access advice from subject experts to support subject planning. Plans identify the subject-specific vocabulary they want pupils to learn. Lesson sequences enable pupils to build knowledge and skills about the topics they study. Lessons also link knowledge between topics to build pupils’ understanding of skills and concepts. For example, Year 6 pupils make use of line graphs from mathematics to plot temperatures in different countries while studying the Amazon Basin in geography. 8 and 9 December 2021

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Most subject leaders have been able to see how well teachers deliver the curriculum. In a few subjects, leaders are new to their role. They have not yet had the opportunity to evaluate how well their plans are working. They do not know whether pupils are getting better at the subject.

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Pupils enjoy learning in all subjects. In some subjects, they are taught strategies to help them remember the key knowledge, such as learning the ‘key instant recall facts’ in mathematics. However, this is not the case in all subjects. In French, for example, pupils do not always remember what they have learned. This is because they do not get the chance to revisit what they have learned previously.

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The teaching of reading and phonics is a high priority in school. Leaders have developed a challenging reading curriculum. Reading is well established and taught consistently. Leaders ensure that all staff receive regular training to help them become reading experts. Phonics teaching begins in Nursery and continues through key stage 1. By the time pupils reach the end of Year 2, most are fluent in reading. Teachers provide extra support to any pupils at risk of falling behind. Staff match reading books to the sounds pupils know. This helps to develop their confidence and reading fluency.

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Pupils talk excitedly about reading. They have a wide range of books from which to choose. They can also ask leaders to buy a particular book for the library. They receive certificates for the amount of reading they do. Pupils know a range of authors.

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Pupils achieve well in mathematics. The curriculum sets out the knowledge they should acquire . Pupils’ revisit and review their learning regularly. In early years, children practise counting and understanding numbers. Older pupils relish thinking hard about demanding tasks in mathematics. They talk enthusiastically about the challenge of solving tricky calculations.

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Leaders and staff are ambitious for all pupils. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve well. Leaders know these pupils well and monitor their progress. They make sure that teachers have the resources they need to teach pupils with SEND.

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Pupils behave well. Lessons are calm and purposeful. Pupils’ conduct around the school is good. Systems for managing behaviour are used consistently by all staff.

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The wider curriculum engages pupils and supports their personal development. Leaders give pupils valuable experiences and bring learning to life. Pupils enjoy theatre visits, historical dress-up days and using their geography skills outside. They debate issues about the environment and study the beliefs of courageous people.

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Staff are very appreciative of the way leaders manage their workload and well-being. They feel valued because leaders trust them in carrying out their roles.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 8 and 9 December 2021

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Keeping children safe is a priority of the school. Staff receive regular and up-to-date safeguarding training. Leaders have put in place effective systems and processes to manage safeguarding concerns. Staff raise concerns using an online reporting system. These concerns are taken seriously and leaders take action to ensure that pupils are kept safe. Staff also work together with families to provide advice and to signpost them to sources of help when needed. Pupils have many opportunities to learn how to keep themselves safe, including how to stay safe online and through annual bicycle training.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some subject leaders do not check how effectively their curriculum plans are taught. This means that they are not yet able to evaluate fully how well pupils are progressing in their subject. Leaders should ensure that they check the implementation of the curriculum in all subjects to ensure that pupils know and remember more in the long term.  In some subjects, there are limited opportunities for pupils to revisit prior learning. Pupils therefore struggle to remember the key knowledge from topics and to make connections in their learning. Leaders should ensure that teachers routinely revisit the key knowledge that they want pupils to remember, so that pupils have a deeper understanding 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 outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, 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 deem the section 8 inspection 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 in November 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 8 and 9 December 2021

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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. 8 and 9 December 2021

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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Date of previous inspection

22 and 23 November 2016, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher started at the school in September 2019.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

This was the first routine inspection the school had received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders, and has taken that into account in her evaluation.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector met with the following leaders during the inspection: the headteacher, deputy headteacher, subject leaders, the special educational needs coordinator and representatives of the governing body. She also spoke on the telephone with the school improvement partner.  Deep dives were conducted in the following subjects: reading, mathematics and geography. To explore the effectiveness of these curriculum areas, the inspector: spoke to senior leaders to understand their aims and rationale for overall curriculum design; met with subject leaders to explore long- and medium-term thinking; visited lessons to see the curriculum in action and consider the activities chosen by teachers; considered 8 and 9 December 2021

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work in pupils’ books; and talked to teachers and pupils about their experience and understanding of the curriculum.  The inspector spoke with pupils about their experiences in school and observed their behaviour around the school. The inspector also met with a group of pupils to talk about the wider curriculum and their learning.  To evaluate the effectiveness of the safeguarding arrangements in the school, the inspector looked at the school’s safeguarding documentation. She also looked at the single central record. The inspector considered how well safeguarding leaders act on concerns about pupils’ welfare and safety. The inspector talked to staff and governors about the training they have received.  The inspector considered the views of staff and parents by talking to them and reviewing the responses to the staff questionnaire and to Ofsted Parent View.

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Inspection team

Lynda Townsend, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 8 and 9 December 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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