Fellside Community Primary School

Inspection of Fellside Community Primary School Fellside Road, Whickham, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE16 5AY

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Outstanding 24 and 25 May 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Fellside Community Primary School is a safe and caring place to learn. Pupils have exceptional attitudes to learning and are highly motivated. Leaders and teachers help pupils to understand what it means to be a good citizen in a diverse world. Pupils are respectful and value the views of their friends. They have an excellent understanding of world faiths. The school has recently achieved the national Career Mark. Older pupils have a strong understanding of future career paths.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders prioritise pupils’ physical and emotional health. Staff support pupils to build resilience and manage their emotions extremely well. A ‘friendship’ programme helps pupils to build positive relationships. An extensive extra-curricular programme is available for all pupils that includes little rugby, tennis, football, cricket and athletics. Pupils take part in a range of sporting fixtures and were proud to become Tyne and Wear hockey champions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding. Relationships in class and on the playground are extremely positive. Pupils say that bullying is not part of their school ‘because it would not fit with their character compass’. Pupils care for and support the well- being of other pupils. The understand the importance of being ‘a good egg’.

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better?

Leaders have implemented a well-sequenced and ambitious curriculum from Year 1 to Year 6. All pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), benefit from a broad range of learning experiences. This includes a range of visits to local places of interest, such as Vindolanda Roman fort, which helps to bring learning to life. Leaders ensure that pupils learn about famous artists, scientists and historians. This helps pupils to understand how they can apply their learning in later life. In some subjects, teachers do not use assessment effectively to identify what pupils know and can remember. Pupils confidently recall recent learning; however, they struggle to remember ‘sticky knowledge’ from previous topics.

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better?

The recently introduced programme for the teaching of phonics has brought greater structure and sequence to lessons. Leaders have ensured that pupils in key stage 2 who had developed gaps in their learning during the COVID-19 pandemic also benefit from the programme. However, in some lessons, adults do not model learning consistently. This means that a small number of pupils struggle to keep up with the pace of whole-class teaching. Some teachers do not use assessment accurately enough to ensure that pupils read books that match the sounds that they know. Therefore, some pupils who struggle to crack the phonics code do not have the consistency of support they need to catch up quickly.

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better?

In her role as special educational needs coordinator (SENCo), the headteacher has prioritised effective communication with parents and carers. Working in partnership with external agencies, she has ensured that pupils are receiving the additional 24 and 25 May 2022

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support that they need to do well. Parents speak positively of the partnership between school and home. All staff have high expectations for pupils with SEND. Teachers, with the support of experienced teaching assistants, make sure that pupils have the resources they need to take part in the full curriculum. Pupils enjoy their lessons and contribute confidently.

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Children in Nursery and Reception get off to a strong start. Relationships between adults and children are positive and caring. This helps children to settle quickly. Knowledgeable adults model language well and help children to develop a love of learning. Children develop a love of reading from an early stage. They enjoy listening to stories and their weekly trips to the school library. Songs and rhymes are a regular part of the daily provision. The early years leader has begun to develop links between the early years and the key stage 1 curriculum. In some subjects, such as history and science, this is well established. However, further development is needed in other subject areas.

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Leaders ensure that teachers have a range of professional development to support them to deliver the curriculum well. However, in phonics, some staff require additional training to ensure that there are no inconsistencies in delivery. Teachers speak positively about the support leaders provide for their well-being and workload. Some subject leaders are newer to their roles and welcome the guidance they receive from senior leaders. Governors hold leaders to account effectively. They have high aspirations for all pupils and staff. Governors understand their statutory responsibilities and monitor safeguarding procedures effectively.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The designated safeguarding lead (DSL) provides staff with the training they need to keep pupils safe. All staff understand the steps they should follow if they have a concern about a child. The DSL receives regular supervision and guidance from the social services team. This means that she acts on all concerns quickly and effectively.

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Safeguarding

The curriculum teaches pupils how to recognise positive and negative relationships. Pupils say that they feel safe and know that they can approach any adult in school if they are worried. Pupils say that teachers tell them to ‘try, try and try again’ if they feel that adults are not listening or do not believe them.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The teaching of phonics is variable and lacks consistency. Some staff do not model learning effectively. The books that some pupils read do not match closely to the sounds that they know. As a result, in some sessions, pupils do not receive the support they need to catch up quickly. Leaders should ensure that all staff 24 and 25 May 2022

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have the subject knowledge necessary to deliver the phonics programme with consistency and that this is monitored effectively.  In some subjects, teachers do not use assessment consistently to find out what pupils know and can remember. Some assessments do not link directly with the taught curriculum. This means that learning moves on before some pupils have embedded essential subject knowledge. Leaders should ensure that there is a consistent approach to assessment, as part of the learning process, that links closely with the ‘sticky knowledge’ for each subject.

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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. 24 and 25 May 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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Date of previous inspection

18 October 2007, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was appointed in February 2014.  A new leadership structure is in place, which includes a deputy headteacher, an assistant headteacher and two members of staff with a teaching and learning responsibility.  The headteacher is currently acting SENCo in the absence of the substantive postholder.

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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 of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the assistant headteacher, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority. 24 and 25 May 2022

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, history and science. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also met with the SENCo, the subject leader for personal, social and health education and considered additional subject assessment information in computing and art.  To judge the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors scrutinised the single central record, checked procedures for the safer recruitment of staff and held a meeting with the DSL. Inspectors met with staff to check their understanding of safeguarding and the impact of any training received.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including 51 free-text responses. In addition, inspectors considered the responses to seven staff surveys

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Inspection team

Alex Thorp, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Michael Reeves Ofsted Inspector 24 and 25 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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