Calshot Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Calshot Primary School Calshot Road, Great Barr, Birmingham, West Midlands B42 2BY

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Inspection dates: 14 and 15 February 2023

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Outcome

Calshot Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Everyone at Calshot Primary School is ‘aiming high’ in all aspects of school life. Staff, pupils and parents share leaders’ high expectations. Pupils are positive about their learning and work hard in their lessons. Leaders make sure that teachers know what to teach and pupils enjoy what they learn. However, in some subjects, the link between what children learn in the early years and how this is built on in key stage 1 is not clearly set out.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. They appreciate that staff share the reasons why they are proud of their good behaviour. Positive relationships help pupils to feel safe at school. Adults help pupils to sort any problems out, including bullying, quickly and fairly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders provide a range of opportunities for pupils to take an active role in school life. Pupils enjoy these roles, such as eco-monitors, and recognise the responsibility these roles bring. Pupils know that these responsibilities will support them to develop the skills they will need to become positive citizens in modern Britain.

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better?

Leaders have created an ambitious curriculum. This sets out the key knowledge and skills pupils should learn and by when. Teachers understand what is important for pupils to learn and teach this clearly. They make sure that the tasks pupils complete match what they want them to know. Teachers carefully check what pupils have learned.

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better?

Pupils remember their learning well and show pride in what they achieve. They speak positively about their learning, for example in mathematics when solving problems involving algebra. Pupils know that their current learning will help them to make progress in the future. For example, they understand why editing written work is important to identify ways that they can improve it. Children in the early years benefit 14 and 15 February 2023

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from structured activities which reflect what leaders want them to learn. However, leaders have not fully ensured that the learning in some subjects in key stage 1 builds on what children know and understand by the end of Reception.

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Leaders prioritise creating a love of reading. Parents appreciate this. Well-trained staff teach phonics well using high-quality resources. Staff provide resources matched to the sounds pupils are learning. For example, children in the early years independently choose from a range of activities linked to their sound of the day.

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Leaders use assessment well to identify pupils who need extra support in learning to read. However, some of the support is not as effective as it could be. Staff ensure that pupils know the strategies to help them to break words down into sounds they know, but do not provide enough opportunities for pupils to practise the skills they are being taught. This means that some pupils do not consistently apply the skills they are learning to quickly become fluent and confident readers. This is especially the case for pupils at the earliest stages of reading.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive effective support. Staff identify these pupils quickly and create precise targets matched to their individual needs. This helps staff to ensure these pupils learn the same curriculum as their peers. As a result, pupils with SEND achieve well.

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Leaders have high expectations of behaviour, and pupils understand these expectations. Pupils know the consequences if they do not behave appropriately, but say that misbehaviour is rare. They show respect to their friends and to adults. It is rare for low-level disruption to disturb learning.

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Leaders ensure that pupils learn about topics including racism through carefully planned lessons in subjects such as history. As a result, pupils know to treat people equally. They understand what it means to be responsible, and value the opportunity to represent their class on the school council.

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Staff feel supported by leaders, who they describe as approachable. Staff also value the support that they provide for each other. Leaders consider the workload of staff, and staff appreciate this. Governors take their responsibilities to support staff, including leaders, seriously. They provide high levels of support and challenge to leaders.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders carry out the necessary safeguarding checks on staff and ensure that staff know that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Staff quickly identify pupils who may be at risk of harm, and promptly report any concerns. Leaders respond to these concerns quickly and make sure pupils receive the support they may need. 14 and 15 February 2023

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Pupils feel safe at school. They know that staff keep them safe in many ways, such as helping them to know what to do if there was a fire. Pupils learn about how to stay safe online, including how to recognise potential scams and how to keep personal information private.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, leaders do not have a secure understanding of how to develop their subject from the early years. This means that they do not know how the knowledge and skills from the early years support pupils to make progress as they move into Year 1 and beyond. Leaders should ensure that key knowledge and skills are carefully thought through from the early years to key stage 1  Some staff do not provide sufficient opportunities for pupils at the earliest stages of learning to read to practise using the reading skills they are taught. This means that some pupils are not developing the fluency and confidence in reading quickly enough. Leaders should ensure that the additional reading support for pupils is more effective in quickly developing pupils’ reading.

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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 March 2017.

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 14 and 15 February 2023

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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. 14 and 15 February 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10226965 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 21 and 22 March 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than average primary school.  The school provides early education for children from the age of two.  The number of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above average.  The school does not use any 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. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The lead inspector met with the headteacher and the deputy headteacher. The lead inspector spoke with a representative from Birmingham Education Partnership and members of the governing body. Meetings were also held with the special educational needs coordinator, teachers and support staff. 14 and 15 February 2023

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 Deep dives were carried out in early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the lead inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at a sample of pupils’ work.  A range of documentation was also scrutinised, including minutes from governors’ meetings, attendance information, leaders’ plans to improve the school, and the school website.  When inspecting safeguarding, the lead inspector spoke with staff about how safeguarding incidents are logged and reported. The lead inspector considered the safeguarding policy and spoke with leaders about their role in keeping children safe. The lead inspector spoke with pupils about how they are taught to stay safe.  The lead inspector took account of the parents’ comments and responses in Ofsted Parent view. Comments in staff surveys were also considered.

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Inspection team

Michelle Bishton, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector 14 and 15 February 2023

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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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