Colegate Community Primary School

Inspection of Colegate Community Primary School Colegate West, Leam Lane Estate, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE10 9AH

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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 16 and 17 March 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Colegate Community Primary is a happy school where children enjoy learning and spending time with their friends. Pupils know that their school values, ‘respectful, enjoy, achieve, cooperate and honesty’, help them to make the right choices.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have created a calm and caring environment where pupils feel safe and say that they are kept safe from bullying. Pupils trust that their teachers will sort out any problems. Right from the start, in the early years, adults’ high expectations of children’s behaviour ensure children behave well. They are polite and show respect towards each other and the adults who care for them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy being praised by teachers which motivates them to try hard and strive to live up to leaders’ high expectations. The headteacher and school leaders recently changed the curriculum design so that new plans will help pupils learn and remember the important knowledge they need. However, there are some subjects, including mathematics, where teachers do not design learning that helps pupils to remember the intended curriculum. Leaders’ new system to check on this is not fully developed.

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What is it like to attend this school?

All pupils enjoy opportunities to take part in additional experiences such as the annual Dance Festival at The Sage. They participate in the wide range of after- school clubs, visits, and visitors. For example, visits to a Hindu Temple and mosque and visits from a Paralympian and author. Through these visits and visitors, pupils develop important personal qualities, such as respect and resilience.

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better?

Since the previous inspection, the school has been through a significant period of disruption, with many staffing and leadership changes. The headteacher has brought about stability in staff, who say they enjoy working at the school. Relationships between staff and pupils are positive.

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better?

Many leaders are new to their roles. Senior leaders have revised most curriculum subjects this academic year. In some subjects, for example, physical education (PE), this is fully implemented. Leaders have not fully established all curriculum changes. This means that in several subjects, pupils are not able to remember the core pieces of knowledge that they need. Some leaders have begun to make the necessary checks to ensure the new curriculum is helping pupils to know more and remember more. Although staff have recently accessed relevant training, leaders have not checked the impact of this training on teachers’ subject knowledge.

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better?

In mathematics, teachers use resources from two different curriculum plans which do not always match the activities pupils are doing. As a result, sometimes, teachers’ activity choices do not help pupils focus on the key learning that they need to be successful in the next activity. 16 and 17 March 2022

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The teaching of phonics and early reading is carefully planned, delivered and assessed. This helps pupils to learn to read accurately. Pupils who struggle to learn to read are quickly identified and given the support they need. As a result, most pupils in key stage 2 have strategies to work out how to read unfamiliar words. Pupils enjoy reading and are confident about reading in subjects across the whole curriculum. Staff encourage pupils to develop a love of reading. Pupils enjoy visits from authors, which they say encourages them to read regularly.

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Apart from phonics, leaders have only recently introduced assessment for other subjects including reading, writing and mathematics. As a result, they do not know if teachers are using assessment effectively to check that pupils’ earlier learning is secure or to inform what pupils need to learn next.

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Leaders are skilled at identifying pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) provides teachers and teaching assistants with clear guidance to support pupils to access the curriculum. The SENCo and appropriate external agencies support staff to identify pupils’ needs. For example, staff with previous speech and language training, work alongside speech and language therapists to deliver additional sessions that accurately match pupils’ needs. Pupils who speak English as an additional language (EAL) are supported well. They access the full range of national curriculum subjects. Pupils’ individual support plan targets are written in manageable small steps.

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Leaders ensure that pupils develop their independence and understanding of the world. For example, pupils enjoy a range of roles and responsibilities such as school councillors or junior librarians. Leaders promote the diversity of different communities, faiths and cultures.

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Governors are supportive of the school. They have maintained a clear vision and strategy throughout the pandemic. They recognise the need for further development of the curriculum. However, governors are too accepting of leaders’ evaluations of the school’s performance. Governors have not developed their approach as to how they will thoroughly challenge leaders more, about pupils achieving well in all subjects.

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In early years, staff help children to develop supportive relationships and clear routines. Leaders have ensured that developing children’s communication and language is a priority. Children access language-rich learning, through songs, stories and conversations with adults. Curriculum plans for subjects other than early reading do not include strong links to children’s starting points in the early years. The foundations of knowledge for subjects such as history are not established in the early years.

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Pupils play independently and harmoniously at breaktimes. They know strategies to resolve disputes and that adults are always on hand to help. Pupils know how to be healthy physically and mentally. Leaders work well with parents to support them 16 and 17 March 2022

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with issues that may prevent pupils from attending school regularly and on time. Staff say that leaders are considerate of their well-being and workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that staff receive regular training so they know the signs that might indicate that a pupil is at risk from harm. Staff know how to report their concerns.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have ensured policies and procedures are thorough. Leaders and staff know the children and families well. They act quickly to seek additional support from outside agencies when it is needed.

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Safeguarding

The school makes pupils aware of safeguarding risks, including when they are working or playing online. Pupils know where to get help if they have concerns. Older pupils understand the characteristics of healthy relationships.

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Safeguarding

Recruitment checks are thorough. Leaders ensure these checks are accurately recorded. Governors understand their responsibilities with regards to safeguarding.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Curriculum design for some core and foundation subjects, including history and mathematics, are in the very early stages of being implemented across key stages 1 and 2. As a result, some pupils do not achieve as well as they should. Subject leaders do not ensure that their subjects closely link with the early years curriculum to inform what pupils learn in key stage 1. Leaders should ensure that they continue to roll out their new curriculums in the foundation subjects, and that they are well delivered by teachers, so that pupils learn more of the intended curriculum. They should ensure that firm foundations for each curriculum subject are established in early years and consistently built upon across the school.  Assessment has been recently introduced. This means that leaders do not have a clear enough view of how well pupils are remembering the intended curriculum. Leaders should ensure that all teachers know how to implement the curriculum

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

plans and check on the impact of these. Leaders should also make sure that assessment helps teachers check what pupils know and can do, to identify what pupils need to learn next.  In most subjects, the curriculum design is new. Staff have recently accessed relevant training on the curriculum subjects. Subject leaders have not had sufficient time to check that teachers are consistently teaching the intended curriculum. This means that leaders do not know enough about the quality of pupils’ learning. They should find efficient ways to check whether teaching is enabling pupils to know and remember the content of the recently designed curriculum. 16 and 17 March 2022

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 Governors rely too much on leaders’ evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the school rather than checking it for themselves. Governors do not have rigorous systems for evaluating the school’s systems. They need to ensure their expertise is used to rigorously monitor and check progress towards key priorities to secure further school improvement.

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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. 16 and 17 March 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10227141 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 28 February 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 A new senior leadership team, including the headteacher, and a significant number of new teachers have been appointed since the previous inspection.  The headteacher is also headteacher of another school in Gateshead local authority.  New members of the governing body, including the chair of governors, have been appointed since the previous inspection.  The school makes use of one provider of alternative provision, additionally resourced mainstream school at Brandling Primary.  The school runs a breakfast club before school.

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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 had 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. 16 and 17 March 2022

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 Meetings were held with the headteacher, five governors, including the chair of governors, a representative from the local authority, senior leaders, the early years leader, the SENCo, subject leaders, teachers, support staff and administrative staff.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, PE, and history. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector also listened to pupils read to a familiar adult.  The lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead. The single central record and the school’s safeguarding records were scrutinised by inspectors.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation. This included attendance figures, curriculum plans, school policies, local authority notes of visits, local

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authority steering group minutes, the school self-evaluation document, and the school improvement plan.  Inspectors spoke to parents at the start of the school day and reviewed the eight responses to Ofsted’s free-text service. Inspectors reviewed the 13 responses to the staff survey.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons, at lunchtime and around school. They talked to pupils and staff about behaviour, bullying and well-being.

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Inspection team

Kathryn McDonald, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Lynn Chambers Ofsted Inspector 16 and 17 March 2022

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