Grange Farm Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Grange Farm Primary School Dewsbury Avenue, Coventry, West Midlands CV3 6NF

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Inspection dates: 21 and 22 February 2024

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Outcome

Grange Farm Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Grange Farm Primary is a friendly and improved school where pupils get along with each other well. One pupil, speaking for many, summed up the school by saying, ‘Everyone is welcome here.’ The school’s values of ‘respect, responsibility and resilience’ are well embedded and are lived out in how pupils behave towards each other. Most parents are positive about the school and the opportunities it offers. Pupils attend regularly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has renewed the expectations for what pupils learn, and pupils are responding very positively to the increased level of challenge the school now offers. They concentrate well in lessons, and can talk about their work and how they are supported to improve. They show resilience when presented with more challenging tasks, and are increasingly able to complete these.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils can talk clearly about the significant number of visits and visitors they have each term. There are a considerable range of extra-curricular opportunities that pupils enjoy. These include a wider variety of sports, including competitive opportunities that are designed to be open to as many pupils as possible. Pupils relish the new leadership opportunities they have in the school, and are pleased to be able to lead on aspects of the school’s development.

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

The previous curriculum was not ambitious enough, so leaders developed a new curriculum that has been recently implemented. In some subjects, this curriculum is being delivered well and pupils are making better progress. For example, in mathematics, teachers check pupils’ understanding well and make appropriate adaptations to learning based on their assessment. However, in some foundation subjects, the curriculum is not taught as well. For example, assessment is not used precisely, and therefore gaps in pupils’ knowledge are not addressed. Where the curriculum is delivered well, teachers select learning tasks that are well matched to pupils’ needs, and this helps them to learn 21 and 22 February 2024

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the intended curriculum. However, in foundation subjects, the learning activities do not consistently help pupils to build on their prior learning well enough.

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The school has ensured that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities have their needs accurately identified. Teachers and teaching assistants are provided with useful information to support these pupils, who now benefit from learning alongside their year-group peers. They achieve well.

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The school has ensured greater consistency in the teaching of reading, which is now taught well. Staff are well trained, and they ensure that in the early years and key stage 1 pupils learn the correspondence between sounds and letters. Thanks to regular assessment, staff quickly notice if a pupil has gaps in their phonics understanding. Staff use regular assessments to ensure that the books pupils read are well matched to their phonics stage, and they work effectively to ensure pupils have a range of books to take home to practise reading. This renewed approach means that pupils now develop their early reading skills well. Pupils discuss the books they read with enthusiasm, and a well- stocked library supports their independent reading.

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Pupils behave very well at Grange Farm, both in lessons and at social times. They act with considerable courtesy and respect to each other at breaktimes or when working collaboratively in lessons. Pupils understand leaders’ expectations for them, which are now fully embedded. They relish the opportunity to earn ‘Dojo’ points. Pupils attend well and leaders act promptly should there be any concerns about a pupil’s attendance.

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Leaders have also ensured greater consistency in the wider curriculum covering pupils’ personal development. The curriculum for pupils’ personal, social, health and economic education is comprehensive and includes the development of pupils’ well-being as well as wider opportunities. Leaders have ensured their curriculum is enriched by a range of trips and visitors who come to the school. They closely monitor participation in these opportunities to ensure the most vulnerable pupils benefit from them.

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Governors hold leaders to account supportively and know the school well. Parents are mainly positive about the school and its place in the local community. Staff are valued and appreciate the way that leaders are mindful of their workload. Leaders have yet to ensure that leaders at all levels are skilled in checking the delivery of the curriculum in their subject areas, and that this is done consistently.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 21 and 22 February 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 There are some inconsistencies in how well the new curriculum is delivered in foundation subjects. This means that there is variation in the quality of education. Leaders should ensure that quality assurance and professional development support all staff to deliver the new ambitious curriculum as they intend across all foundation subjects.  In some foundation subjects, the selection of learning activities is less precise. This means that the learning activities do not enable pupils to securely build on their knowledge and skills as well as they might. The school should ensure that the curriculum in these subjects is coherently planned and delivered so that each learning activity selected consistently enables pupils to deepen their learning over time.  On some occasions, assessment is not used precisely enough. This means that teachers can miss opportunities to identify when pupils have not understood key

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

learning. Leaders need to ensure that all teachers are skilled in using assessment effectively to identify and address any misconceptions.

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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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2014.

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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. 21 and 22 February 2024

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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). 21 and 22 February 2024

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School details

Chair of governing body Colin Marscheider

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School details

Date of previous inspection 3 October 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses one registered alternative provider.

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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 their evaluation of the school.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; 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.  As part of this inspection, the inspector met with the governors, a representative of the local authority, senior leaders, subject leaders and teaching staff as well as other employees in the school. 21 and 22 February 2024

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 The inspector carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and science. He also looked at examples of pupils’ work in other subjects. 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.  The inspector observed pupils reading to a familiar adult.  The inspector reviewed the school’s extra-curricular activities, enrichment programme and careers and personal development programmes with leaders and pupils.  The inspector reviewed the school’s behaviour and attendance records with school leaders.  The inspector met with members of staff and spoke to pupils, both formally and informally, at various points in the inspection. He took account of responses to the staff survey and to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses.

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Inspection team

Andrew Madden, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 21 and 22 February 2024

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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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