Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Kate Jenks Headteacher Glebefields Primary School Sandgate Road Tipton West Midlands DY4 0SX

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Requires improvement monitoring inspection of Glebefields Primary School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 18 April 2024 on behalf of His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and took place because the school has received two successive judgements of requires improvement at its previous graded (section 5) inspections.

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Requires improvement monitoring inspection of Glebefields Primary School

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school's overall effectiveness, but to identify and report on the school's progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school's previous graded inspection.

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Requires improvement monitoring inspection of Glebefields Primary School

During the inspection, I discussed with you, senior leaders and subject leaders, governors and a representative of the local authority the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I also visited a sample of lessons including phonics, heard pupils read, spoke to pupils and staff and scrutinised a range of work in books for English, mathematics, science, history and geography. I looked at school improvement plans, governors’ meeting minutes and a range of documentation. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but more work is

necessary for the school to become good.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but more work is

The school should take further action to:

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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

 ensure that staff have high expectations of pupils so that errors and misconceptions are consistently and correctly addressed and work is presented to a high standard  continue to access external support and expertise to ensure that the curriculum in the Nest provision is appropriately meeting individual needs.

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Main findings

Since the previous inspection, there have been a number of changes to staffing and governance, including changes in subject leadership, the leadership of special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and attendance. The governing body has redistributed roles and responsibilities.

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Main findings

The school has also opened a ‘Little Nest’ and ‘Big Nest’ provision for pupils with complex SEND. The school has organised two rooms specifically for this provision with a team of staff in place. Pupils with a range of additional needs, including autism and social, emotional and mental health (SEMH), access this provision for varying amounts of time.

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Main findings

You have successfully prioritised work in early reading. You have ensured that the phonics scheme, which was reasonably new at the time of the previous inspection, has been embedded. You have considered and provided relevant training for staff new to the school. This supports the consistent teaching of phonics. Alongside this, you have given a strong focus to what additional support and reading opportunities pupils need. The rigorous and regular daily and weekly reading sessions for identified pupils are non- negotiable. They happen, and they happen consistently. This is making a real difference to pupils at the earlier stages of learning to read. They practise in the presence of skilled staff who provide targeted and effective support. More pupils are learning to read fluently. They use expression and enjoy reading.

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Main findings

The work the school is doing on improving staff subject knowledge is beginning to have an impact. This has been hindered by staffing changes; thus, it is in its early stages and is not yet secure and effective. There are pockets of effective practice but this has not yet been fully disseminated to ensure consistency across all key stages. Your focus on the core subjects of English and mathematics is beginning to pay off. The chosen schemes and targeted professional development are supporting staff to use their subject knowledge with increasing clarity and confidence. This in turn, with the consistent lesson structures that you have put in place, is helping pupils to work at an appropriate level in subject content and to talk about their current learning with accuracy.

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Main findings

Staff do not yet have consistently high expectations of pupils. Your self-evaluation is accurate. You understand where teachers demand enough of pupils in terms of presentation, correct spelling and addressing of errors. You also know where this is not the case.

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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

Pupils writing in English shows an enjoyment of using exciting vocabulary. Work builds up in a clear sequence and pupils enjoy explaining their learning. They do so knowledgeably. However, the work in books across subjects detracts from this because, in too many cases, it is poorly presented and contains many errors. Mostly, teachers identify the errors and misconceptions. However, they are not making sure pupils address the errors, or if they are corrected, pupils continue to make mistakes. This means that many pupils do not learn as quickly as you would like.

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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

You have worked hard to put in place additional provision for pupils with SEND. You are supporting staff to become more skilled and equipped at adapting the curriculum for these pupils. This is starting to work well in classrooms and pupils with SEND join in lessons, access their learning and make progress. The pupils in the Nest provision follow a bespoke curriculum. For some pupils in the Nest, this helps them to learn at the right level and make small steps of progress. For others, this is less successful. A range of external expertise has been sought. Advice has been followed with many actions taken. This is not yet ensuring that some pupils’ individual needs are met well enough..

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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

You provide governors with clear information, which they are increasingly using to support and challenge the actions leaders take. They are mindful of leaders’ and staff’s well-being. Governors have targeted finances to address the areas for improvement raised from the previous inspection. This includes staffing, staff training and tackling attendance. Governors have completed a range of external audits and accessed external support. This is improving their knowledge and understanding of their roles and responsibilities. There are a range of strategies in place to check on school effectiveness. These are effective around safeguarding and attendance but less so on the quality of education.

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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

You, alongside the welfare officer, and senior leaders have tackled attendance head on. This is proving successful; although you recognise that this success needs embedding and continuing to be built upon. You have worked hard to overcome the legacy of COVID-19 and the restrictions that were in place for attending school at that time. You are using a host of strategies and resources to rebuild partnerships with families. These are steadily improving attendance, both for individual families and across the school as a whole.

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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

You have worked closely with the local authority school improvement partner, alongside the Elston Hall Learning Trust and have benefited from this support.

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OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of governors, the Department for Education's regional director and the director of children's services for Sandwell. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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