Parkstone Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Parkstone Primary School Parkstone Road, Hull HU6 7DE

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Outcome

Parkstone Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive at this inclusive school. The challenging behaviour of a small number of pupils with additional needs is managed well by leaders. Staff have had the training they need to support pupils who find following school rules difficult. Pupils with social and emotional needs meet with the well-being leader to tell them their problems. Pupils use ‘feelings caterpillars’ and worry boxes in classrooms to let adults know how they feel. All adults have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Classrooms are oases of calm. As a result, pupils are happy. They feel safe at school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say that bullying rarely happens. This view is supported by leaders’ records. When incidents of bullying are reported, leaders spend time speaking to the pupils and parents and carers to sort it out. Leaders help pupils to resolve their differences.

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What is it like to attend this school?

All pupils know the school rules. They talk with pride about the ‘leading learner’ badges they get for reading regularly, arriving on time and trying hard. They enjoy saving their leading learner stickers so that they can choose the prize they want. One pupil told the inspector that, ‘school is amazing because teachers include everyone’.

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

Leaders value the support the trust provides. Subject leaders benefit from meeting staff in other trust schools to exchange ideas and good practice. The governing body challenges leaders on the actions they are taking to improve the school. Teachers say that leaders listen to their views and help them to manage their workload. Staff are happy, and morale is high.

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

The reading curriculum is well organised. Pupils discuss and analyse texts during their ‘reading mastery’ lessons. Pupils enjoy the books their teacher reads to them. Leaders have provided teachers with the phonics training they need. As a result, phonics is taught with consistency and accuracy. Teachers make regular checks on the sounds that pupils know. Pupils who are falling behind in their phonics get extra help to catch up. However, 10 and 11 May 2022

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the books that pupils read do not always match the sounds they know. For a small number of pupils, the books are just too hard. This means that they are not able to read the book fluently.

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Children in early years learn phonics as soon as they start school. In Reception, phonics is taught every day. Teachers use ‘pinny time’ to revisit the sounds that children have been taught, as they learn through play. Teachers model language and sounds accurately. This means that Reception children get off to a strong start with their reading. The number of sounds that they know grows quickly.

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The needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities have been carefully considered when leaders developed their curriculum. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) provides advice and training to staff. In subjects such as mathematics and geography, regular recaps on previous learning help pupils to remember what they have been taught.

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In mathematics, teachers make daily checks on pupils’ understanding. This ensures that the work pupils do is suitably challenging. Pupils are very positive about their mathematics work. Reception children get opportunities to explore numbers all the time. Daily mathematics lessons help them to count with speed and confidence. The inspector saw children finding numbers that added together to make 12. Children enjoyed sorting puppets into piles on the carpet and combining them to find the total.

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The geography curriculum is a strength of the school. Leaders have carefully set out what they want pupils to know by the end of each year. Teachers have strong subject knowledge and use geographical vocabulary with precision. Pupils were able to explain to the inspector how weather and climate at the equator are different from those of the tropics and the poles. Leaders have carefully planned links with other subjects, such as mathematics and history. Pupils could talk about rainfall and temperature graphs, as well as the impact of the River Nile on Egyptian settlements. However, the assessments that teachers undertake in subjects such as history and geography do not check the full breadth of what pupils have been taught. Leaders do not have a complete picture of pupils’ knowledge and skills in these wider curriculum subjects.

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Although pupils know that it is important to be respectful to everyone, pupils’ understanding of fundamental British values and different religious beliefs is underdeveloped. Leaders’ relationships and sex education and health education curriculums give pupils an age-appropriate understanding of healthy relationships. Pupils have been taught that sexist or racist views are unacceptable in society. They know that everyone is unique and special. Pupils treat one another equally.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders carry out the necessary checks to ensure that adults are safe to work with children. Records are well organised and maintained. Leaders provide training and support for all staff, so that they know what to do if they are worried about a pupil. Adults 10 and 11 May 2022

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report their concerns quickly. Leaders with responsibility for safeguarding take swift action to get the support for pupils that they need.

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Leaders identified that when pupils were learning remotely, they were using the internet much more. On pupils’ return to school, leaders prioritised reminding pupils how to stay safe when online. Pupils are clear about the steps they need to take to use the internet safely.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 For a small number of pupils, the books they read do not match the sounds that they know with enough accuracy. The books are too hard. As a result, pupils do not get the practice they need to become fluent and confident readers. Leaders should ensure that all books are accurately matched to the sounds that pupils have been taught, so that they can read them confidently.  In some wider curriculum subjects, such as geography and history, assessments do not reflect the full curriculum that pupils have been taught. This means that the full picture of pupils’ understanding is not known in enough detail. Leaders should ensure that their assessments in all areas of the curriculum accurately check on the skills and knowledge that pupils have been taught.  Pupils’ understanding of different religions and British values is underdeveloped. Pupils do not remember the religions that they have studied or the British values they have

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

been taught. Leaders should ensure that the approach to teaching these aspects of the curriculum is reviewed so that pupils are clear about the different religious beliefs that exist and the key British values that are important in Britain today.

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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 predecessor school, Parkstone Primary School, to be good in March 2014. 10 and 11 May 2022

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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 .

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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. 10 and 11 May 2022

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School details

Local authority Kingston upon Hull City Council

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School details

Inspection number 10227615 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  The school joined the Humber Education Trust in January 2018.  The proportion of pupils in receipt of additional funding through the pupil premium grant is higher than the national average.  The school does not use 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 leaders, and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and other leaders, including the SENCo. The inspector reviewed the support plans leaders have in place for pupils and visited lessons to see these in action.  The inspector met with representatives from the governing body, including the chair of governors. 10 and 11 May 2022

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 The inspector met with the chief executive officer (CEO) and the deputy CEO of the trust.  The inspector carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics and geography. The inspector met with curriculum leaders, visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work and talked to pupils and teachers. Leaders were involved in the deep-dive activities. The inspector also met with the curriculum leaders for history, personal, social and health education, and religious education to discuss their curriculum plans.  The inspector considered a range of documents. The inspector looked at the school’s website, minutes of governing body meetings, policies and published information about the school’s performance.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and at other points in the school day, such as lunchtime. The inspector also met with the headteacher and deputy headteacher to discuss how they deal with pupils’ behaviour.

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 The inspector spoke with parents informally at the start of the school day. The inspector considered the responses that were received through the Ofsted staff questionnaire and the responses received through Ofsted Parent View. There were no responses to the pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Chris Pearce, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 10 and 11 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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