Somerville Primary School

Inspection of Somerville Primary School Northbrook Road, Wallasey, Merseyside CH44 9AR

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Inspection dates: 14 and 15 September 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 14 and 15 September 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy learning and playing at this caring school. They learn to treat everyone equally. Pupils make the most of everything that the school offers. They live up to the school’s values of happiness, respect, resilience and responsibility.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are considerate and polite. Their conduct in and around the school is impeccable. Pupils who spoke to the inspectors said that adults in school help them to resolve worries or problems.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are keen to learn. They know that staff expect them to do their best and achieve well. Pupils listen attentively in lessons and confidently answer questions. Most pupils become successful learners who achieve well in most subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take part in a variety of trips, visits and clubs, including yoga, origami and debating. They support the local community, for example, by collecting food for local food banks. Pupils carry out extra responsibilities with pride. These include being eco-councillors, librarians and members of the online-safety team.

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better?

In the last academic year, the school has raised its expectations of how well pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), should achieve. It has designed a well-ordered curriculum so that, from the early years to the end of Year 6, pupils’ learning builds logically on what they already know and remember. The school identifies the needs of pupils with SEND quickly. This means that staff can give these pupils the help that they need to follow the same curriculum as their peers. Pupils, including pupils with SEND, now achieve better than they did in most subjects as a result.

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better?

The school’s well-designed curriculum means that teachers know exactly what pupils need to learn and when this should happen. Teachers have strong subject knowledge. In the main, they choose appropriate resources, activities and questions to help pupils learn. Teachers check what pupils know and remember and use this information to adapt the curriculum. However, in a small number of subjects, teachers do not give pupils sufficient opportunity to learn essential knowledge. As a result, in these subjects, pupils do not build a strong body of knowledge that enables them to achieve well.

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better?

Reading is a priority for the school. All staff who teach early reading are well trained. This ensures that children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 make a good start in becoming readers. Staff make frequent checks to identify when pupils are falling behind with the reading programme and to provide the help that they need to catch up. From the early years upwards, staff make sure that pupils read books that match their reading knowledge. Most pupils read fluently and accurately by the end 14 and 15 September 2023

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of key stage 1. In key stage 2, pupils continue to develop secure reading skills, including comprehension. The school ensures that all pupils read for pleasure.

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From the start of the early years, staff establish routines that contribute to pupils’ positive behaviour. Staff model calm, respectful and caring relationships. These are reflected in all aspects of school life. Occasionally, lessons are disturbed by some pupils who find it difficult to concentrate. Staff skilfully help these pupils to pay attention so that disruption is minimal. In the past, too many pupils did not attend school regularly enough. This has had a negative impact on their achievement. The school has put in place more rigorous systems to discourage poor attendance and reward those who attend well. As a result, there has been significant improvement. Nevertheless, some pupils are absent too often.

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The school provides well for pupils’ personal development. Staff look after pupils well, especially those who are vulnerable. Pupils learn how to respect and value others who may be different to them. They know what it means to have a healthy relationship. Pupils are well prepared for life in a diverse and modern Britain.

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The school takes account of staff workload and well-being. Staff feel that they are valued members of a supportive team. The school provides many opportunities for parents and carers to be involved in their children’s education. These include workshops and online materials to support parents in helping their children to read.

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Governors bring a wide range of skills and experience to their roles. They have helped the school to bring about recent improvements to the curriculum.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a small number of subjects, teachers do not deliver the curriculum well enough to develop the full range of skills and knowledge required by the school. As a result, pupils do not achieve as well as they should. In these areas, the school should review the implementation of the curriculum to ensure an appropriate balance across all aspects of the programmes of study so that pupils achieve well.  Many pupils do not attend school regularly enough. As a result, a considerable number do not benefit fully from their primary education. The school should strengthen its work with parents to improve attendance so that all pupils flourish academically and personally. 14 and 15 September 2023

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents 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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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with SEND; pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked-after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 14 and 15 September 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 31 October 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Somerville Federation, which includes Somerville Nursery School. The headteacher of Somerville Primary School is the executive headteacher of the Somerville Federation.  The school does not make use of alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection of the school since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken this into account in their evaluation.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and 14 and 15 September 2023

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considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive safeguarding culture that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors met the headteacher, other leaders and members of the governing body. An inspector also spoke on the telephone to a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, English, art and design, and science. For each deep dive, they met the subject leader to discuss the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons with the subject leader, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work with the subject leader. They observed some pupils read to a familiar adult.  Inspectors considered the views expressed by parents in their responses to Ofsted Parent View. This included free-text comments. They had discussions with parents in the playground before the start of the school day.

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 Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff and pupils. They scrutinised the school’s own surveys for parents. They also spoke to some pupils about life in the school.  Inspectors spoke to staff to discuss their experience in the school, including support for their workload and well-being.

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Inspection team

Liz Kelly, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

David Woodhouse Ofsted Inspector 14 and 15 September 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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