Park Primary School

Inspection of Park Primary School Love Lane, Wallasey, Merseyside CH44 5RN

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Inspection dates: 10 and 11 October 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 10 and 11 October 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are warmly welcomed by leaders into the positive environment of this school. They explained that staff help to keep them safe. The school ensures that any instances of bullying or name-calling are dealt with swiftly and effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel listened to by adults and know that if they have any worries or concerns, they are dealt with quickly. The school makes use of outside specialists to help support pupils with their emotional health. These actions help pupils to feel happy in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils achieve well. They understand the high expectations that the school has of their achievement. Pupils meet these expectations, by working hard in lessons. They conduct themselves politely and calmly across school. They are respectful to their friends and towards staff. The school encourages pupils to behave well through a system of regular praise and reward.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take full advantage of the school’s large and well-resourced outdoor environment. For example, they use the exercise machines with enthusiasm and spoke to the inspectors about the importance of keeping fit and healthy. Pupils appreciate the range of extra-curricular clubs that they can access. They talked about how much they look forward to residential trips.

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better?

The school provides pupils with a broad and ambitious curriculum. This includes a well-designed curriculum in the early years that helps to prepare children well for their learning in Year 1 and beyond. Staff ensure that all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), access the full curriculum offer.

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better?

Staff receive a wide range of professional development. This helps to improve their subject knowledge and their delivery of curriculum content. As a result, in many subjects, pupils spoke about their learning confidently and knowledgeably.

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better?

The school quickly identifies pupils with SEND. Staff use a range of carefully considered adaptations to their curriculum delivery to support these pupils in their learning. Where required, the school utilises external agencies to provide specialist support. This helps pupils with SEND to achieve well.

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better?

Reading is well promoted across the school. Pupils access a wide range of books that are attractively displayed throughout corridors and in class libraries. Older pupils said that they enjoy listening to their teachers read to them on a daily basis.

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better?

Children in the Nursery class regularly listen to stories, poems and rhymes. They are well prepared for their phonics learning as soon as they enter the Reception class. Pupils practise their reading using books that are closely matched to the sounds that they already know. The school has trained staff to deliver the recently introduced 10 and 11 October 2023

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phonics programme. However, there are some inconsistencies in the delivery of this programme. This slows how quickly some pupils learn new sounds.

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Children’s positive attitudes to their learning begin in the Nursery class. All pupils pay close attention to their teachers’ instructions. However, some pupils do not attend school regularly enough, or are late for the start of the school day. This means that they miss important learning.

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Pupils understand the importance of respect and tolerance. Staff encourage them to look after their environment. Pupils apply and vote for positions of responsibility, such as school councillors. This helps them to understand the importance of democracy in society. The school ensures that older pupils are well prepared for high school through a range of activities and transition meetings.

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Although parents are positive about the school overall, communication from the school is not effective enough. This means that parents are not as well informed as they could be about their children’s education or other aspects of school life.

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Governors use their expertise to challenge and support the school well. They make sure that any decision-making takes into consideration the workload and well-being of staff. For example, they have ensured that the assessment procedures have been streamlined to reduce the burden on teachers’ workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 A small number of staff do not deliver the phonics programme as effectively as they should. The school should further support staff so that they deliver the programme consistently well.  Some pupils do not attend school regularly enough, while others do not arrive on time at the start of the school day. This limits how well they learn. The school should continue to work with these pupils and families to improve their attendance and punctuality. This will enable these pupils to benefit from the good quality of education that the school provides.  Communication channels with parents are not clear. This leads to some parents reporting that leaders do not keep them informed about their children’s education and school life. The school should ensure that it works closely with parents to improve communication. 10 and 11 October 2023

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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.

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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 special educational needs and/or disabilities (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). 10 and 11 October 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 24 April 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, a new chair of governors, deputy headteacher and assistant headteacher have been appointed.  The governing body manages the before- and after-school provision.  School leaders do not currently make use of any 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 the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record, took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and 10 and 11 October 2023

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considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and members of the senior leadership team. The lead inspector also met with governors.  The lead inspector spoke to a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, art and design, science and history. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects.  The lead inspector listened to some pupils reading to a familiar adult.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour at playtimes, lunchtimes and during lessons. Inspectors also talked to pupils about school life.

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 Inspectors spoke to parents and carers at the start of the school day and considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. The lead inspector also reviewed the responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire. There were no responses to Ofsted’s pupil questionnaire to consider.  Inspectors spoke with staff to discuss leaders’ support for their workload and well-being.

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Inspection team

John Tomlinson, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Saeeda Ishaq Ofsted Inspector 10 and 11 October 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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