Olive Hill Primary Academy

Inspection of a good school: Olive Hill Primary Academy Springfield Road, Halesowen, West Midlands B62 8JZ

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Inspection dates: 12 and 13 January 2022

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Outcome

Olive Hill Primary Academy continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils speak with enthusiasm and enjoyment about school life at Olive Hill. They like to discover new information. They get along well as they work. This reflects the school motto, ‘Learning together, achieving success’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff expect pupils to behave well, and they do. Pupils know they must always be ‘ready, respectful and safe’. There is a strong support network in place for those pupils who need help to manage their behaviour. Bullying is rare and dealt with effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are at the centre of leaders’ thinking in this inclusive school. Staff know the pupils well. They have an accurate view of pupils’ needs. Staff make sure that pupils are supported emotionally and that their pastoral needs are met. Leaders and staff want the best for pupils. They build caring relationships with them and their families.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils said that they feel safe and happy at school, and that they would recommend their school to anyone.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy all the special things the school has to offer, such as opportunities to develop leadership skills. Year 6 pupils volunteer to be ‘curriculum ambassadors’. They meet with the headteacher and suggest ways to make the curriculum more interesting and diverse.

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

Leaders have designed an ambitious and well-thought-out curriculum. A wide range of opportunities are available for the pupils. Curriculum topics for each term start with a key question, for example ‘What makes a good leader?’ The curriculum builds pupils’ learning in a logical way. It is clear what pupils need to learn in each year group, in each subject. Effective assessment procedures are in place for English and mathematics. Teachers adjust their teaching to make sure pupils do not have any gaps in knowledge. However, teachers do not check carefully that key knowledge taught in some subjects, including history and art, is remembered by pupils. 12 and 13 January 2022

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Staff have secure knowledge to teach most subjects. Useful training for teachers in delivering the curriculum is helping to ensure that subjects are taught well. However, leaders and staff have identified that they are still not as confident in delivering art, design and technology and music.

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Reading and phonics have a high profile in the school. Leaders have developed a challenging reading curriculum, which is implemented consistently well across the school. The phonics scheme is new. It is helping more pupils learn their sounds more quickly. Phonics teaching begins in Nursery and continues throughout key stage 1. Teachers prioritise filling gaps in pupils’ knowledge in phonics. Pupils use their phonics knowledge well to develop fluency in reading and to help them spell when writing. Teachers select books for pupils to read that match well to the sounds that they are learning.

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The stories teachers read to pupils daily help develop a love of reading. Book displays and quotes from stories around school provide inspiration for pupils. Teachers also choose books that help bring the curriculum to life. For example, while studying the Second World War, Year 6 pupils read ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’.

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Children experience a lively, well-planned mathematics curriculum in the early years. Teachers build upon this as pupils move through the school. Pupils do very well in mathematics. To secure pupils’ understanding, teachers revisit and review pupils’ learning. They help pupils to practise and apply their mathematical knowledge in different contexts.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. The leader for pupils with SEND knows these pupils well and monitors their progress. She makes sure teachers have the resources they need to teach pupils with SEND.

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The school offers a wide range of experiences for pupils. Pupils enjoy a variety of clubs, such as basketball and gardening. They talk enthusiastically about trips out of school, such as a recent visit to Bewdley Museum. All pupils have the opportunity to take part in a performance to show parents and carers what they have learned.

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Classrooms are calm environments where pupils can concentrate. They listen carefully and follow teachers’ instructions. Pupils respond well to staff’s high expectations of how they should behave in lessons.

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Staff are proud to work at this school and agree the school is well led and managed. Staff feel valued. This is because leaders, including governors and the trust, provide good support. Staff are very positive about the actions taken to reduce their workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and staff have prioritised building strong, trusting relationships with families. They know their families well. This helps them identify those pupils and families who may be in need of extra support. Leaders and staff work with parents. They make sure that pupils get the right support from external services when needed. Staff and governors 12 and 13 January 2022

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receive up-to-date safeguarding training. Staff are vigilant. They raise any concerns about pupils immediately and leaders act upon them. Pupils talk confidently about how to stay safe when they are online and not in school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some staff are not as confident as others in delivering the full curriculum. This can hinder the progress pupils make, in subjects including art and design, design and technology and music. Leaders need to continue to make sure that all staff are equipped with the skills and knowledge to teach every subject effectively so that pupils achieve well.  In some subjects, teachers do not check what pupils have learned effectively enough. This means that teachers are not aware of the gaps pupils may have in their knowledge in some subjects. Leaders should provide appropriate guidance and training for staff on how to check what pupils know and remember.

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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 as 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 January 2015.

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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.

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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 . 12 and 13 January 2022

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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. 12 and 13 January 2022

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Chair of local governing body

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school converted to an academy in September 2017.  The headteacher was appointed in September 2018.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the following leaders during the inspection: the headteacher, deputy headteacher, assistant headteacher, subject leaders, the special educational needs coordinator and representatives of the trustees and local governing body. She also spoke on the telephone with the executive leader for school improvement.  Deep dives were conducted in the following subjects: reading, mathematics and history. To explore the effectiveness of these curriculum areas, the inspector spoke to 12 and 13 January 2022

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senior leaders to understand their aims and rationale for overall curriculum design, met with subject leaders to explore long- and medium-term curriculum thinking, visited lessons to see the curriculum in action and consider the activities chosen by teachers, considered 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, 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. She talked to staff and governors about the training they

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have received.  The inspector considered the views of staff and parents by talking to them and by reviewing the staff questionnaire and Ofsted Parent View.

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Inspection team

Lynda Townsend, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 12 and 13 January 2022

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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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