Coppice Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Coppice Primary School Shawhurst Lane, Hollywood, Birmingham, West Midlands B47 5JN

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Outcome

Coppice Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Coppice Primary School is a large school with a family atmosphere. It is welcoming and inclusive. Pupils are happy and say that they feel safe in school. They enjoy learning and are enthusiastic in lessons.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Senior leaders know pupils well. Pupils have positive relationships with adults in school. Pupils work hard because teachers expect them to. Parents and carers say that staff are approachable and friendly. Parents value the regular communication from the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand the school rules. ‘The Coppice Way’ is securely embedded. Pupils behave very well. They help each other in the classroom and look after one another during playtimes. The oldest pupils have a younger buddy and enjoy activities such as reading regularly together. Bullying rarely happens at the school. Pupils know that if someone does or says something unkind, adults will follow it up straight away to stop it happening again.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders offer pupils many chances to shine. The headteacher’s aim is that ‘no talent is left undiscovered’. Pupils value the wide range of opportunities they receive. Staff ensure that these experiences give pupils opportunities to build their character.

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

Leaders have a relentless focus on school improvement. They want all pupils to be happy, confident and successful learners. The curriculum is ambitious for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders have identified the important knowledge and skills that pupils should learn in each subject. Leaders have ensured that learning is sequenced so that pupils successfully build up knowledge over time. This means that pupils achieve well.

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

Leaders provide training so that all teachers can lead their subjects well. In most subjects, teachers explain new learning clearly and help pupils to make connections with what they 4 and 5 October 2022

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have learned before. In these subjects, pupils make good progress. However, in a few subjects, some of the work that pupils are given does not always support their learning well enough to help them to remember the key knowledge.

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Teachers use checks on pupils’ learning effectively to identify where pupils need additional support. Teachers are quick to spot pupils’ mistakes. They address these straight away. This is particularly useful for pupils with SEND so that they can get the support they need quickly.

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Reading is a priority. Children start to learn to read as soon as they enter the Reception year. Leaders have made sure that staff have the skills they need to support pupils to build their knowledge of sounds rapidly. Pupils have plenty of opportunities to practise the sounds they have learned and become more fluent readers. Pupils with gaps in their knowledge of sounds are quickly identified. They get the extra help they need to catch up.

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Children get off to a good start in early years. They benefit from the well-resourced classrooms and outdoor areas. Staff interact well with the children. They play alongside them and encourage the children to develop their vocabulary. The activities children complete are carefully planned so that their learning builds over time. For example, in Nursery, the children learn about the school environment. In Reception, they expand on this to learn about the local area with aerial photos and visits to the local post office and library. As the children move into Year 1, they build on this experience to learn about maps and areas of the United Kingdom.

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Leaders have developed a carefully planned programme of wider experiences and opportunities for pupils. Older pupils enjoy residential visits to outdoor adventure centres to experience activities such as archery and canoeing. They also visit arts centres, where all pupils have the chance to perform to each other. These trips promote pupils’ resilience and build their confidence. Pupils enjoy a wide range of after-school clubs, including gymnastics, photography and choir. In Year 6, all pupils get a chance to experience being an entrepreneur with a business enterprise scheme, where they manage a budget and develop products to sell for a profit.

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There is an effective personal, social and health education curriculum that helps pupils to understand how to keep safe and healthy. Pupils receive caring support from staff (and dogs) to identify and manage their emotions. Pupils learn about different faiths and cultures. However, some pupils do not have a secure understanding of fundamental British values and why these are important in modern life.

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Trustees support and challenge school leaders. They know the school’s strengths and areas for development. Staff are proud to work at the school. Leaders are considerate of teachers’ workload and promote staff well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 4 and 5 October 2022

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Leaders and trustees keep pupils’ well-being and safety at the forefront of their work. Safeguarding leaders ensure that staff receive frequent training and updates on pupils and specific safeguarding matters. Staff are vigilant. They know what to do if they have any concerns about pupils’ welfare. Leaders work closely with external agencies to ensure that pupils are kept safe. The designated safeguarding lead and deputy safeguarding lead follow up on support provided by other professionals to ensure that it is the most appropriate and effective. The checks on staff before they start working in the school are thorough.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, teachers do not consistently provide pupils with learning activities that help them to remember all the key knowledge they need for future learning. Leaders should ensure that teachers provide pupils with work that fully supports their learning to enable them to remember knowledge over time.  Pupils’ knowledge about fundamental British values is variable. Some pupils are not being prepared fully for all aspects of life in modern Britain. Leaders should ensure that opportunities to develop pupils’ understanding of fundamental British values are purposefully planned and delivered throughout the curriculum.

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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 an ungraded inspection and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in May 2017.

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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. 4 and 5 October 2022

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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. 4 and 5 October 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10240297 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection 16 May 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses one alternative provider.

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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.  The lead inspector reviewed documents on the school’s website, as well as published information about the school’s performance.  Inspectors had discussions with the headteacher, senior leaders, the special educational needs coordinators, the early years leader, subject leaders, and trustees, including the chair of the trustees.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the lead inspector met with subject leaders, visited lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. 4 and 5 October 2022

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 The lead inspector met with the headteacher, who is the designated safeguarding lead, and the deputy safeguarding lead. Pupils’ case files were reviewed. The single central record of the checks on staff’s suitability to work with children was scrutinised.  The lead inspector met with staff, including early years teachers, to discuss their workload and the support they receive to carry out their roles.  The lead inspector spoke to pupils about how safe they feel in school and how they learn to keep themselves safe.  The lead inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around school, including at breaktime. The lead inspector also met with groups of pupils to discuss their views of the school and personal development opportunities.  The lead inspector considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and the staff questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Corinne Biddell, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Helen Forrest His Majesty’s Inspector 4 and 5 October 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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