The Grove Primary School

Inspection of a good school: The Grove Primary School Campkin Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB4 2NB

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Outcome

There has been no change to this school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this initial (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a full inspection were carried out now. The next inspection will therefore be a full (section 5) inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at The Grove Primary School are happy and enjoy school. They talk confidently about their learning and share their knowledge and ideas excitedly. However, some pupils are not taught precisely enough in their learning, especially when they are first learning to read.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say bullying does happen, but that adults deal with it well when they know about it. Pupils say that adults keep them safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are kind, polite and friendly. They are respectful of each other and have very good manners. Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. They listen to their teachers carefully.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are a small number of pupils with very complex needs. These pupils receive diligent pastoral care on a day-to-day basis. However, they do not get the long-term support they need to help them to develop and learn independently.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils access the wide range of activities and educational visits that the school offers. These opportunities enrich their learning and enjoyment of school. Pupils relish the art and science projects in the community such as the street art project and visits to art galleries.

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

In the last year the headteacher, leaders and governors have started to develop the curriculum. In some subjects, such as mathematics, they have identified exactly what pupils need to learn and when. Staff are well trained and confident to deliver the curriculum. Teachers check what pupils know and can do. They quickly identify and teach 11–12 May 2022

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pupils how to address misconceptions. As a result, pupils learn well. However, in several other subject areas, leaders have not fully identified what teachers need to teach and when. Assessment, staff training and leaders’ monitoring for some areas of the curriculum have not taken place.

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Many pupils learn to read fluently, especially children in the early years. However, a significant number of pupils do not. They lack phonics knowledge to sound out new words confidently and independently. Some teachers and adults do not teach early reading as well as they should. Leaders are introducing a new reading curriculum. They have identified a systematic programme for teaching synthetic phonics in the early years and key stage one. Plans include the training of all staff in the new phonics programme. However, currently, pupils who have fallen behind are not learning to read as fluently as they should.

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Pupils say they enjoy reading for pleasure. Pupils enjoy stories and being read to by their teachers. They talk confidently about books they are reading.

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Clear routines and expectations mean children in Reception get off to a strong start to their learning. As a result, they share, take turns and play together well. Adults take every opportunity to improve children’s vocabulary. Well-chosen activities mean that children develop appropriate knowledge and skills while enjoying their learning.

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Leaders work hard to support the day-to-day needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Adults are caring and highly inclusive. Leaders and governors have invested in the school’s ‘Aviary’ provision. This is trying to help some pupils to be provided with individualised support to access lessons successfully with their classmates. However, there are several pupils who have complex needs. Leaders are not meeting some of these pupils’ learning needs meaningfully. These pupils are not learning as successfully as possible.

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The headteacher and the governors have a clear grasp of the improvements that need to be made. They have identified the right priorities and are already taking action. Governors provide suitable support and challenge and hold leaders to account. Leaders are considerate of staff workload. Staff feel well supported and are proud to work at the school.

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In discussion with the headteacher, we agreed that reading, the wider curriculum, and the development of provision for pupils with SEND may usefully serve as the focus for the next inspection.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have a clear system in place to identify, support and manage safeguarding. Staff are well trained and are careful to note any signs that might show a pupil is at risk. Records show that leaders act promptly when a pupil or their family need support. Staff receive regular safeguarding training. They know what to do if there are concerns about a 11–12 May 2022

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pupil. Governors ensure that leaders carry out the necessary checks on adults working at the school. The record of all checks is carefully and accurately maintained.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The current reading programme is not supporting those readers who need more help to catch up effectively. Leaders need to establish and embed their new reading curriculum, including effective staff training. This is so that the significant minority of pupils who need extra help, receive timely and effective support to read fluently and learn well.  Several subjects in the curriculum are not fully developed. Leaders have not carefully chosen what pupils should learn at each stage. Leaders should act with continued urgency to ensure that they establish a clear and coherent curriculum across all subjects so pupils can build their knowledge and understanding. Leaders should provide training for staff to support them to implement the full curriculum with confidence and skill.  Increasing numbers of pupils have complex needs. The provision for some of these pupils, while caring and inclusive, does not meet their educational needs in the longer

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

term. These pupils are not being supported to develop learning behaviours and access learning in lessons successfully. Leaders should work with the local area partnerships to ensure that pupils receive the right long-term specialist support that they require to access their full education.

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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 second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 23 rd January 2013.

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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. 11–12 May 2022

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The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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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. 11–12 May 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10211265 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 25 January 2017 under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, there have been changes to leadership including the headteacher and special educational needs coordinator.

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Information about this inspection

 The lead inspector carried out deep dives in art, mathematics, and early reading.  For each deep dive the inspector met with subject leaders, evaluated curriculum documentation, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with several groups of pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The lead inspector reviewed the information that is available on the school’s website.  The lead inspector spoke with leaders, teachers, support staff, governors, and pupils to establish the effectiveness of the school’s safeguarding procedures.  The lead inspector took account of feedback from 42 parents that were submitted to Ofsted’s Parent View, 42 free text comments and 22 staff survey responses. 11–12 May 2022

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 The inspector considered a range of documentation, including the school’s development plans, evidence of monitoring of behaviour and bullying incidents, evidence of a recent safeguarding audit and minutes of governors’ meetings.

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Inspection team

Rachael Judd, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 11–12 May 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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