South Street Community Primary School

Inspection of South Street Community Primary School Cramer Street, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE8 4BB

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Inspection dates: 15 and 16 February 2022

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 15 and 16 February 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils do not have the chance to achieve as well as they could. Leaders have not thought carefully enough about how to organise pupils’ learning. Not all staff have high enough expectations for pupils’ behaviour. At times, pupils’ learning is disrupted by other pupils’ behaviour.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school ethos for pupils to be ‘the very best they can be’ is not reflected in the opportunities pupils have to develop their personal life skills. Leaders have not thought carefully enough about the extra-curricular experiences that would benefit pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

However, pupils enjoy coming to school. They feel safe and happy. They like breaktimes with their friends as they said that people are kind and helpful. Pupils said that no one would be left to be lonely at breaktime, but that they would be invited to join in with a game. Pupils have been taught about bullying. They know there are different kinds of bullying and staff will always help if there is a problem.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils who find school more of a challenge receive individual nurture and support. There are dedicated areas, such as a sensory and a pastoral room. Staff have been trained to provide emotional support and give pupils strategies to overcome worries they may have.

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better?

The school has faced many challenges. COVID-19 and high staff absence have prevented leaders from making the improvements they hoped to. Nonetheless, leaders identified that mathematics and reading needed to improve. The curriculum in these subjects is now secure and helping pupils to make progress. In other subjects, however, leaders have been too slow to make the changes required. As a result, the curriculum is not sufficiently organised. It does not help pupils build the knowledge they should in all subjects. The curriculum for children in early years is not successfully organised. The knowledge and skills children should acquire in Nursery and Reception are not firmly in place.

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better?

Subject leaders have not been given the time or guidance to create a knowledge- rich, well-organised curriculum. Pupils cannot remember what they have been taught. They struggle to understand new concepts. They have not been taught the prior knowledge they need. This often results in pupils becoming disengaged from learning, because they cannot do what they are being asked to do. Some pupils consequently disrupt others. When this happens, staff are too slow to address inappropriate behaviour.

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better?

Many pupils start school with very low levels of literacy. This is further complicated as a significant number of pupils have additional speech and language needs. Leaders have identified that reading is a priority. The reading curriculum is strong. 15 and 16 February 2022

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Children learn to read as soon as they start school. In Nursery, there is an emphasis on listening to sounds. As children move into Reception they receive a structured daily phonics session. Through this, children learn how letters and sounds combine to make words. They are given books with words that match the sounds they are learning. With practice and repetition, children develop a strong phonic knowledge. Leaders have chosen to spend additional time on reading, to help pupils with their fluency. This is working well.

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Teachers check pupils’ reading knowledge regularly. If a pupil falls behind, this is quickly identified. Pupils receive one-to-one or small group reading support. In these sessions, staff help pupils to articulate sounds clearly and practise applying the sounds that they are learning. However, in other subjects, members of staff struggle to see which pupils are falling behind or assess what pupils need to be taught next. This is because there is not a detailed, structured curriculum in place in these subjects.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive effective support. Leaders have ensured that pupils who require additional adult support receive it. This helps pupils to access the curriculum fully. Adaptations to the curriculum are successfully matched to learning plans for each of these pupils. These plans are reviewed regularly and adapted by the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo).

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Many pupils come from challenging, disadvantaged backgrounds. Leaders have put in place some clubs and trips. Some visitors are invited into school to broaden pupils’ understanding of the world. However, the opportunities for pupils to experience broader cultural experiences are not good enough. Leaders have not thought about how pupils could develop leadership and responsibility roles. Pupils lack a voice in school. Leaders are not providing a platform for pupils to be fully valued and heard. Nonetheless, leaders provide strong emotional and pastoral support for pupils with identified needs. Highly trained and knowledgeable staff help pupils with their behaviour, emotions and well-being.

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Governors know the school and community well. They are aware of the challenges that the school faces, and where the areas for development are. Governors provide challenge and support for leaders. They ask searching questions about decisions that are taken, including use of the budget, monitoring and standards. However, inaccurate self-evaluation of the performance of the school has affected precise forward planning.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The designated safeguarding leads (DSLs) provide a vital service at this school. They act as social care support, medical support, family support workers and as an advice centre. The DSL team is a vital link between external agency support and school. Many parents rely heavily on the support that the staff members provide. 15 and 16 February 2022

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Staff strive to keep pupils safe. Leaders keep meticulous records and track patterns of concern closely. Leaders and staff know exactly when to intervene, and what is the best support to offer families and pupils.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Foundation subjects are not organised well enough. They do not have sufficient knowledge content or appropriate sequencing. This means that pupils do not acquire the knowledge they need. Leaders should review the curriculum to ensure that the right knowledge is delivered from Nursery to Year 6.  The curriculum in early years is not implemented with sufficient precision or ambition. This means that children do not receive a curriculum that prepares them for the next stage of their education. Leaders should review the content and implementation of the curriculum. They should make sure that sufficient value is given to monitoring, to ensure that a consistent approach with high ambition is adopted by all staff.  Leaders do not provide sufficient opportunities for pupils’ personal development. As a result, pupils lack a broader cultural understanding of the world, and are not encouraged to take on leadership and responsibility roles. Leaders should look at

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

the wider curriculum and how they can provide a greater range of experiences for pupils.  Low-level disruptive behaviour is not addressed swiftly enough. Pupils’ learning is therefore interrupted too often and learning time is lost. Staff should raise expectations so that pupils can learn in a positive environment. 15 and 16 February 2022

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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.

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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. 15 and 16 February 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10211673 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 1 and 2 May 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This school uses one registered alternative provider.

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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 leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors did deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics, science, history and art. Inspectors spoke to leaders about the curriculum and met with teachers from the lessons visited. Inspectors looked at pupils’ work and spoke to pupils.  Inspectors also looked at curriculum plans and spoke to leaders about other subjects.  Inspectors listened to a range of pupils read from different year groups. 15 and 16 February 2022

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 Inspectors met with the SENCo, members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.  The lead inspector spoke to the provider of alternative provision.  Inspectors looked at the single central record and spoke to leaders, teachers, governors and pupils about safeguarding.  Inspectors considered the 21 responses made by parents to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, including 20 free-text responses. Inspectors also considered the eight responses to Ofsted’s online staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

David Milligan, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Richard Crane Ofsted Inspector 15 and 16 February 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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