Adelaide Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Adelaide Primary School Walker Street, Hull HU3 2RA

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Outcome

Adelaide Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The pupils at Adelaide Primary School are a credit to their school community. Staff wholeheartedly embrace the challenges presented by the school’s unique and diverse population. Staff help to ensure every pupil develops their character to become a successful citizen.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know and demonstrate the school’s key drivers of effort, equality and respect. One pupil said, ‘Everyone is tolerant, so we feel safe and comfortable with our own beliefs.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Behaviour is exemplary. Pupils focus and concentrate in lessons, during playtime and at breakfast club. Pupils respond swiftly to instructions. Without being prompted, pupils hold doors open and show respect to each other, staff and visitors.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils can articulate the school’s behaviour policy and know the consequences of poor behaviour. Pupils know what bullying is and say an adult will help them if they tell them it is happening. Adults enact the whole school behaviour management plan. For example, using the thumbs up ‘active listening’ prompt to gain pupils’ attention.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Each class has an emotional barometer so pupils can assess their well-being. The well- being leader checks these daily and ensures pupils who have identified as feeling low or sad have time to talk to an adult. Pupils can also write down any concerns and leave them with the class worry monster. These are then followed up by the teacher. As a result, pupils feel safe, cared for and happy.

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

Leaders have developed their curriculum over time. They recognise the need to continually refine it. The curriculum thinking began with subject leaders across the trust schools. Leaders adapted it to create a distinctive ‘Adelaide Curriculum Experience’ (ACE). They have been careful to ensure that the ACE is progressive by starting the curriculum thinking from Nursery. The special educational needs and disabilities coordinator ensures 21 and 22 June 2022

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teachers are examining, lesson by lesson, any barriers to pupils’ learning. This means teachers plan adaptations to enable pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to achieve the same end points as their peers.

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Leaders have identified the ‘sticky knowledge’ they want pupils to embed in their long- term memory. However, in some units, leaders have recognised there is too much detail. This is part of the ACE refining process leaders are involved in. Improving this will help to ensure pupils have the right knowledge to build on in the next unit of work.

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Leaders have decided to introduce a new phonics scheme from September 2022. Some children in Reception and Nursery have started to use the new scheme. All staff have received training, but some teachers will not be teaching the scheme until the new school year. Pupils use their phonics knowledge to read new and unfamiliar words. Reading books match pupils’ phonics knowledge. This enables pupils to build up fluency and pace when reading. Leaders use assessments and their knowledge of the pupils to identify those who need extra sessions. These groups are flexible, and pupils access them if they have a gap in their phonics knowledge. Leaders reward pupils’ reading efforts in weekly celebration assemblies. They have involved local businesses and charities to sponsor reading prizes and raise the profile of reading.

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The teaching of mathematics is a strength of the school. There is an ambition for all pupils within the mastery mathematics curriculum. Mastery and greater depth questions challenge pupils. Pupils with SEND working below their age receive a bespoke curriculum focusing on key number facts. The calculation policy outlines when procedural methods should be taught. Information is presented clearly in mathematics lessons. This means by focusing on the important point of each lesson, pupils know what they must remember. Teachers check that pupils are recalling these concepts through the flashback 4 starter of each mathematics lesson. Pupils know this is a way of ensuring they learn number facts.

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Leaders offer a range of visits and experiences for all pupils. They visit art galleries, museums, places of worship, woodlands and theatres. ‘Jobs’ such as office assistant, teacher assistant or fruit manager are advertised. Pupils apply, are interviewed and receive payment with tokens they can spend in the prize shop. This develops pupils’ leadership skills. The Year 5 Young Evaluators lead by collecting pupil views and wishes that can impact decisions made by the school’s leadership. For example, they recently collected ideas to revamp the playground and as a result, there are now chill zones, whiteboards, books and a zoned resource area.

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The trust and local governing body (LGB) have oversight of the strengths and next steps for the school. The LGB hold leaders to account for and challenge policy and procedure.

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Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the school and the leadership team. They feel valued, supported and respected. Subject leaders have benefited from an extensive coaching programme. This has enabled them to develop their own subject knowledge, confidence and monitoring skills. 21 and 22 June 2022

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All staff have received safeguarding training. The designated safeguarding lead engages in regular briefings with the local authority and the trust. This ensures they are aware of any updates in policy and practice.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have a strong relationship with the police community support officer. They visit the school to help educate pupils about the risks in the locality.

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Safeguarding

Pupils know to tell a trusted adult if they are worried about something. They feel they can trust every adult in school.

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Safeguarding

There are a high number of pupils who are persistently absent from school. Leaders have procedures, supported by the educational welfare officer, to address this. As a result, most pupils’ attendance is improving.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Staff are getting to know the structure of a new phonics scheme recently introduced by leaders. All staff have received training, but some have not yet had an opportunity to teach, with fidelity, the new scheme. Leaders should ensure consistency of practice as staff embed the new scheme.  Leaders have identified too much ‘sticky knowledge’ they want pupils to retain at the end of some units of work. This means there are small inconsistencies in what is being emphasised by teachers as important knowledge. Leaders have recognised they need to refine the ‘sticky knowledge’ to help ensure pupils are securing the right essential knowledge to build on over time.

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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 first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Adelaide Primary School, to be good in February 2015. 21 and 22 June 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. 21 and 22 June 2022

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School details

Local authority Kingston Upon Hull City Council

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School details

Headteacher Stephen Kernan (Executive Headteacher)

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School details

Date of previous inspection 4 and 5 February 2015

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Information about this school

 The school joined Humber Education Trust in January 2018.  The executive headteacher took up the post in September 2019  The school has a high proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language, more than three times the national average.  The school has a high proportion of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding, double the national average.  The school uses one registered alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the executive headteacher, the head of school, curriculum leaders, staff and pupils. Meetings were also held with representatives of the local governing body and the chief executive officer. 21 and 22 June 2022

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 Representatives of the board of trustees were not available for meetings during the inspection.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector met with curriculum leaders, spoke to pupils and teachers, visited lessons and looked at their work. The inspector heard pupils read.  The inspector examined safeguarding records, attendance figures, curriculum plans and policies.  The views of parents were considered from the 19 responses to Ofsted’s parent questionnaire.  The views of staff were considered from meeting with them and from the 52 responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire.  The views of pupils were considered from meetings with them.

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Inspection team

Alison Stephenson, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 21 and 22 June 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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