Howes Community Primary School

Inspection of Howes Community Primary School Palermo Avenue, Cheylesmore, Coventry, West Midlands CV3 5EH

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 10 and 11 April 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of Howes Community Primary School. They feel safe and know that the adults in school care for them. The school’s values of showing friendship, respect, integrity, equality, nurture and determination are understood by all.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has aspiration for everyone, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, the curriculum is not yet fully developed in all subjects. Pupils do not yet benefit from a high enough quality of education in a number of curriculum subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well around school. They help and support each other. Pupils enjoy taking on responsibilities and know that they have a voice which is listened to. For example, the school council requested the outdoor gym which helps pupils to keep fit and healthy.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils value the role of Roux the ‘dog mentor’, which includes spending time with pupils who might struggle with some aspects of school life. This boost pupils’ confidence and helps them to develop life skills.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Many pupils enjoy the range of lunchtime and after-school clubs. From dance to ‘knit and natter’, pupils are offered opportunities to develop talents and discover new interests.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and staff are very positive about the school.

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better?

There have been recent changes to the school, which in many aspects have improved pupils’ experiences.

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better?

The school prioritised improving early years. Here, children get off to a strong start. Activities are chosen carefully to develop children’s vocabulary and interests. They delight, for example, in driving recycling trucks, collecting ‘rubbish’ and sorting it into different containers. Potential barriers to learning are quickly identified and the school supplements activities to meet children’s individual needs, including where pupils speak English as an additional language.

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better?

A new phonics scheme is in place and staff are trained to deliver it. While there are some small inconsistencies in some phonics lessons, pupils enjoy learning how to read. This starts in Nursery, where children learn to hear, and make, the sounds they will need when beginning to read. Regular checking on pupils’ reading means that those at risk of falling behind are identified. Extra support is put in place to help them to catch up.

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better?

The school has overhauled the curriculum in other subjects. For example, in physical education (PE) and mathematics, what pupils are to learn has been identified clearly. 10 and 11 April 2024

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The curriculum is well sequenced so that pupils can build on what they have learned previously. Pupils in Year 5, for instance, use their previous learning about methods of addition when solving problems. While improvements in core subjects are apparent, they have not yet had the necessary impact on pupils’ outcomes in national assessments.

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This more successful approach is not yet consistent across the curriculum. In some foundation subjects, the school has not identified clearly enough what pupils are to learn and how they are to build on this progressively. As a result, pupils in several year groups study the same work at the same time, with the same outcomes. Some lessons are organised so that learning becomes confused between different subjects. At other times, pupils do not have opportunities to practise skills they have learned. While the school knows that there is work to be done to continue to develop the curriculum in these subjects, it has not recognised the extent of the deficiencies.

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The attendance of some groups of pupils has improved. The school has implemented measures to bring about improvements. However, the number of pupils, including vulnerable pupils, who are persistently absent is too high and increasing. This means that these pupils miss important aspects of their education.

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This is an inclusive school. The additional resource provision for hearing impaired pupils provides a nurturing environment and skilful support to enable pupils to access much of their learning alongside their classmates. Pupils are proud to share the ‘poster prompts’ around school which help them to learn British Sign Language. Other pupils with SEND are well supported to access the curriculum. Their needs are quickly identified, and they are fully included in all aspects of school life.

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Pupils benefit from a range of opportunities for personal development. Voting for school councillors provides pupils with an understanding of life in modern Britain. Pupils learn about keeping safe, including online. They have a clear understanding of other cultures and faiths. Opportunities such as inter-school sporting competitions and public choir performances allow pupils to shine.

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There is a strong sense of community amongst the staff team, who are all very proud to work at the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some foundation subjects, the curriculum is still being developed. The important and distinct skills and knowledge pupils need to learn in each of these subjects and how pupils’ learning will progress across year groups have not been 10 and 11 April 2024

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identified sufficiently well. Where this is the case, pupils experience disjointed learning with few opportunities to build on their learning over time. The school needs to ensure that there is a well-planned, progressive and well-sequenced curriculum in place for every foundation subject.  The school had not identified the extent of the deficiencies in the curriculum for some subjects. As a result, they have not identified that pupils are not achieving high-quality outcomes. The school should ensure that they evaluate the curriculum effectively and that this impacts positively on pupils’ achievement of high-quality outcomes.  The percentage of pupils who are persistently absent from school is too high and has increased over time. This means that a significant number of pupils, including some who are the most vulnerable, miss large periods of their learning. The school should ensure that they continue to explore how they can support pupils

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who are persistently absent so that they attend school more often.

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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 April 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website howescommunityprimaryschool.co.uk

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School details

Date(s) of previous inspection 16 and 17 October 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher joined the school in January 2022.  The school does not use alternative provision.  The school runs on-site before- and after-school provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspector(s) 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. The lead inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the inspectors carried out deep dives into these subjects: reading, mathematics, physical education and design and technology. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans 10 and 11 April 2024

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where they were available, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also looked at samples of pupils’ work, spoke to school leaders and looked at curriculum documentation for some other subjects. The lead inspector also listened to pupils read to a familiar adult.  The inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, special educational needs coordinator and other leaders, including a representative from the local authority monitoring office.  The lead inspector met with the chair and representatives of the local governing body.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons, around the school and at lunchtime. The inspectors spoke to pupils about pupils’ behaviour.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and

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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.  The inspectors considered responses to Ofsted Parent View, including parent free- text responses. The inspectors also took account of responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys.  An inspector talked to parents and families at the school gate.

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Inspection team

Rachel Henrick, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Tony Bradshaw His Majesty's Inspector 10 and 11 April 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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