Girton Glebe Primary School

Inspection of Girton Glebe Primary School Cambridge Road, Girton, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB3 0PN

p.1

Inspection dates: 13 and 14 September 2022

p.1

Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good

p.1

Overall effectiveness Good

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 13 and 14 September 2022

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

Girton Glebe Primary School is at the heart of the village community. Pupils show pride in their school.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy. They are motivated and ready to learn the broad and varied curriculum on offer. This helps them meet the high expectations of staff. This includes the very youngest children who have recently just started the school.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are safe. If they have any worries, they can talk to the adults around them. Pupils say that bullying is very rare. Any incidents of unkindness are followed up by leaders straight away. Pupils are keen to help one another.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Relationships between pupils are kind and respectful. Pupils are taught to accept and celebrate their differences. This means all pupils feel welcome and included. As such, behaviour in lessons and on the playground is harmonious.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy a range of after-school clubs that are available to develop pupils’ talents and interests. These include cake club, choir and art club. Most parents are positive about the experience their children are getting. However, a small but significant number of parents are hoping for more stability in staffing following many changes over the previous academic year.

p.2

better?

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum that clearly sets out the knowledge and skills leaders intend pupils to learn. This high expectation is for all pupils, including those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The new curriculum is being embedded well. It is well thought through and taught in small steps so pupils remember more and can connect what they have learned before. Curriculum leaders have begun to check if it is having the intended impact over time, but this work is still being developed.

p.2

better?

Teachers demonstrate strong subject knowledge of the curriculum they are teaching. This is because of leaders’ effective training and support. Teachers regularly check pupils’ understanding of lessons. Pupils can recall prior learning and build new knowledge on what they have learned before.

p.2

better?

The new reading curriculum is being implemented in line with leaders’ intentions. Pupils at an early stage of reading are benefiting from a consistent approach to learning new sounds to read words. The books pupils are reading are well matched to the sounds they already know. Older pupils learn new vocabulary from the ambitious texts they access. These include books they read themselves and the class texts that are read by their teacher.

p.2

better?

Pupils with SEND have their needs correctly identified. They access the curriculum through well-planned support delivered by skilled staff. Pupils’ targets are 13 and 14 September 2022

p.2

3

appropriately matched to their needs and are regularly reviewed. Pupils show resilience in their learning, especially when they have to persevere with tasks. As a result, pupils with SEND are achieving well.

p.3

3

Children in the Reception class have settled into school well. Successful personalised transition arrangements contribute towards this. Since the national lockdowns, staff have focused on children’s abilities to share and form relationships. The early years curriculum is designed and delivered to introduce and embed new concepts and language. The activities staff plan help children practise new learning.

p.3

3

The school’s positive behaviour systems are understood by pupils and are used consistently by staff. Where specific pupils have social and emotional needs, leaders ensure the correct support is available. Staff know pupils well. Although leaders have systems for recording and acting on concerns about pupils, they do not always analyse this information to identify patterns.

p.3

3

Pupils benefit from a wide range of additional opportunities that enhance their development, for example residential trips and local visits. These experiences contribute to pupils gaining a deeper understanding of their class-based learning, such as different historical periods.

p.3

3

The local governing body and the board of trustees hold clearly defined roles to fulfil their statutory duties. Through meetings and visiting the school, they are suitably informed and well placed to challenge leaders about curriculum strengths and weaknesses. However, the information governors receive from leaders does not support governors well enough to be able to challenge leaders about other areas such as behaviour or attendance due to information shared by leaders not being detailed enough.

p.3

3

Staff are appreciative of the support from governors regarding managing workload and providing additional training. The sharing of expertise across the trust schools has benefited staff and leaders. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. However, governors and trustees are aware of the need to reassure a small number of parents who have voiced concerns about the changes in staffing over the last year.

p.3

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

p.3

Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that all staff receive effective training to keep pupils safe. Staff know how and when to record concerns about pupils. Concerns are checked by leaders, quickly followed up on and appropriate action taken. Support from outside agencies is well matched to the needs of pupils and their families.

p.3

Safeguarding

Pupils are taught to know how to keep themselves safe both online and in their community. Pupils show an age-appropriate understanding of current issues during personal, social and health education (PSHE) lessons. 13 and 14 September 2022

p.3

4

Arrangements for checking the suitability of staff during and after recruitment are robust.

p.4

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Most of the curriculum, including the early years, has been recently revised and is now being embedded. Leaders must ensure all curriculum leaders continue to check the curriculum content is being remembered by pupils and it continues to have the impact that leaders expect.  Some of the information leaders provide those with responsibility for governance is not detailed enough. This results in governors not being able to robustly challenge leaders in aspects such as behaviour and attendance. Leaders must better collate and share information they hold about these crucial areas so that governors can make even more effective use of this to hold leaders to account effectively.

p.4

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.

p.4

How can I feed back my views?

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

p.4

Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

p.4

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. 13 and 14 September 2022

p.4

School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

p.5

Information about this school

 The school joined the Eastern Learning Alliance multi-academy trust in September 2020.  There have been significant changes to leadership and a large number of staff have left and been replaced since October 2021.

p.5

Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

p.5

Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school 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.  Meetings were held with the headteacher and the chief executive officer. Inspectors met with the deputy headteacher, the assistant headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, the mathematics lead for the trust and the attendance and behaviour lead for the trust. 13 and 14 September 2022

p.5

6

 Inspectors met with the chair of trustees and the link trustee to the school, the chair and three other members of the local governing body.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, modern foreign languages and history. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at a sample of pupils’ work.  Meetings were held with leaders and pupils about PSHE and relationships and sex education and health education.  Parents were spoken to at the start of the school day and, additionally, an inspector spoke to one parent on the telephone. The inspector spoke to pupils in the playground and the lunch hall.  To evaluate safeguarding, inspectors checked the school’s single central record, considered the safeguarding policy and spoke to staff and pupils. The lead

p.6

6

inspector looked at case files and discussed a range of safeguarding records with the designated safeguarding leads.  The inspectors looked at a range of documentation relating to behaviour, attendance and special educational needs. Minutes of local governing body and trustee minutes were also scrutinised.  The inspectors considered the views of parents, including 65 responses from parents to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, and 30 free-text responses submitted during the inspection. The inspector reviewed nine responses to the online staff survey. There were no responses to the online pupil survey to consider.

p.6

Inspection team

Isabel Davis, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

p.6

Inspection team

Simon Harbrow Ofsted Inspector 13 and 14 September 2022

p.6

7

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.

p.7

7

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.7

7

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

7

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

7

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7