Front Street Community Primary School

Inspection of an outstanding school: Front Street Community Primary School North View, Whickham, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE16 4AY

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Inspection dates: 25 and 26 October 2023

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Outcome

Front Street Community Primary School continues to be an outstanding school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at this school unequivocally embody the school’s three rules of ‘learn, be safe, be treated with respect’. All members of the school share leaders’ very high expectations of pupils’ achievement and behaviour. Staff and pupils alike demonstrate very high standards of conduct. This contributes to behaviour and attitudes being exceptional. Pupils are happy and confident. Bullying is very rare. Parents agree.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have many opportunities to take on responsibility in the school. For example, each curriculum subject has pupil ambassadors for that subject. Pupils fulfil these roles with admirable dedication. Pupils take pride in being members of the school community. All pupils who shared their views hold the school in high regard. They were overwhelmingly positive about the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Achievement is high for all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and for disadvantaged pupils. The work that the school does to promote an inclusive environment in which pupils understand equality and celebrate diversity is of high quality. A parent summed up the views of many others by saying that the leaders ‘advocate and lead by example on teaching inclusion and equality’.

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

Staff give children sufficient opportunity to develop communication, language and listening skills from their start in Nursery. These skills prepare children in early years well so that they can develop secure phonics knowledge in Reception and key stage 1. Where the school identifies gaps in phonics knowledge, well-trained staff act swiftly to put effective support in place. This contributes to pupils becoming fluent, accurate readers. Teachers expose pupils to quality texts, both as class reading books and in their own personal choices when reading for pleasure. There is a palpable love of reading embedded throughout the school. 25 and 26 October 2023

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The curriculum across the school is exciting and engaging. Children in early years and pupils in key stages 1 and 2 all demonstrate high levels of attention and engage well in their learning. Leaders have personalised the curriculum to include local heritage. This makes the curriculum highly relevant for pupils. It has been meticulously constructed to give all pupils every opportunity to succeed.

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Pupils show an excellent understanding of their learning. For example, pupils in Year 2 were discussing racial segregation in America as part of their history work. They confidently and accurately demonstrated a clear understanding of segregation and the wider civil rights movement. They could then apply a similar level of understanding to women’s rights as part of learning about the suffragette movement in England.

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Staff use assessment effectively to pinpoint gaps in learning. These gaps are then addressed within the curriculum. This means that pupils, including pupils with SEND, can achieve well across all areas of the curriculum. The school uses its pupil premium funding to put effective support in place for disadvantaged pupils. This means that these pupils can also achieve well.

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Pupils enjoy a wide range of experiences, which reach well beyond the academic. They benefit from a wide range of cultural and spiritual education. For example, pupils regularly visit a local church and have visited a Hindu temple. Visitors to school have included representatives from the local church and a humanist minister. Pupils benefit from a strong offer for moral and social education. This helps pupils to be able to talk with confidence and understanding about diversity and equality in all its forms. Pupils also benefit from opportunities in the curriculum to learn about physical and mental health. Pupils can access support in school if they have any worries or concerns, and they know how to ask adults for this help, when necessary. Pupils access a wide range of clubs, extra-curricular opportunities and educational visits.

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Leadership at all levels is a strength of the school. Governors have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. They are well-informed and are kept up to date by school leaders. As a result, they ask probing questions and offer challenge and support to the school as appropriate. Leaders in school have crafted an environment in which staff feel valued. Staff appreciate that leaders ensure that their workload is manageable and that their well-being is a high priority.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be outstanding, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains outstanding. 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. 25 and 26 October 2023

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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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This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in January 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.

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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). 25 and 26 October 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 3 November 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The number of pupils in the school is above average.  A private childcare provider operates from a separate building on the school site.  The school uses one registered alternative provider.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this ungraded inspection under section 8 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. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, subject leaders, other school staff, representatives of the governing body and a representative of the local authority. 25 and 26 October 2023

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 The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work, including writing.  The inspector also reviewed documentation for some other curriculum areas.  The inspector listened to pupils from Years 1, 2 and 3 reading to a familiar adult.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; met with those responsible for safeguarding; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector considered the responses to the staff and pupil online surveys and to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments.

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Inspection team

Richard Beadnall, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 25 and 26 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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