Parkway Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Parkway Primary School Alsike Road, Erith, Kent DA18 4DP

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Outcome

Parkway Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The pupils at this school are a pleasure to be around. They are happy and feel safe and love to talk about their learning. They know that, if they are worried about anything, there is a trusted adult they can talk to. Bullying rarely occurs but, if it does, pupils know that staff will take it seriously and it will be dealt with properly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders have set out a broad and ambitious curriculum across the school. Pupils are focused and work hard in lessons. Their behaviour is consistently strong. Pupils are respectful and polite to staff and to each other.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy a range of activities which enhance the curriculum. They have ‘history days’ where, for example, pupils studying the Gunpowder Plot learn about the properties of gunpowder. Pupils also enjoy visits to places like the British Museum and HMS Belfast.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have opportunities to develop as young leaders. They can become play leaders and help younger pupils at lunchtime or become a school councillor and present the views of their classmates.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of their school and how it develops their character. ‘It helps me to change and become a better person,’ said one.

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

Pupils study an ambitious curriculum that matches the breadth of what is expected nationally. Leaders prioritise curriculum development, including in the specially resourced provision.

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

The early reading curriculum begins in the Nursery, where pupils enjoy shared books, rhymes, and songs. Staff are well trained to deliver the phonics programme once pupils start learning to read. Pupils use phonics to blend sounds and read words, and the books 25 and 26 June 2024

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which are read are at an appropriate level. Staff intervene swiftly and effectively when pupils need extra help to keep up with their peers. The enjoyment of reading is also encouraged by the school in many ways. For example, pupils have access to the school library, reading areas around the school, and book corners in classrooms, and a reading trolley is available at break and lunchtimes.

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Teachers check pupils’ understanding and address misconceptions appropriately in lessons. For example, in history teachers check pupils’ understanding of which seaside activities were common in the past and why they no longer happen in the present. Pupils use concrete resources to support their learning. For example, in mathematics, pupils use cubes to help them determine the volume of shapes.

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In most subjects the curriculum is designed to build on pupils’ past learning. When discussing history, for example, pupils could talk about the different kinds of empires that had existed across time and what they had in common.

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In some subjects the school is still refining the curriculum to ensure that pupils are learning the most important knowledge in the right order and so are fully prepared for secondary school. These refinements have not yet had a chance to be fully established or to embed.

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Pupils with SEND are identified as quickly as possible. Teachers make appropriate adaptations to enable pupils to access the full curriculum. Pupils in the specially resourced provision access the curriculum at a level suitable for their needs. Where it is possible and desirable these pupils are included in the mainstream activities. They attend assemblies and swimming lessons, take part in school productions and have participated in the local paralympics. Parents and carers praise the caring atmosphere at the school and the support offered to pupils with SEND.

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The school has effective systems in place to ensure that pupils behave well. Pupils, including those with SEND, are enthusiastic and attentive in lessons. They listen well and are eager to answer questions. If something goes wrong, then staff talk to pupils and help them to understand how to behave in the future.

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The school is doing everything it can to improve attendance. This includes first day calls and following up carefully for vulnerable pupils. It also includes offering different types of support to parents, depending on each family’s circumstances. Pupils are also offered rewards for good attendance, such as awards and certificates.

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The school has thought carefully about supporting pupils’ wider development. This includes after-school clubs such as choir, dodgeball, and gymnastics. The school enables all pupils to attend clubs if they wish to do so. Pupils can talk about different world religions they study and important British values. Pupils also contribute to the local community, including working to create a healthier environment around the school and donating to the local food bank. 25 and 26 June 2024

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Governors understand the systems for safeguarding at the school. They provide both challenge and support for leaders. Staff are proud to work at the school, they think that their workload and well-being are taken into account.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders are refining some subjects in the curriculum to ensure that pupils learn the most important knowledge in the right order and so are fully prepared for secondary school. Changes are not yet fully established and embedded. This means that sometimes pupils do not recall key learning or more complex concepts in some subjects. The school should ensure that key knowledge and skills are identified and that these alterations and new developments are in place securely across all subjects.

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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 October 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.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school. 25 and 26 June 2024

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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 June 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 9 October 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses one registered alternative provision for a small number of pupils.  The school has a specially resourced provision at the Alsike Road site for pupils with a moderate learning difficulty or a severe learning difficulty. There are currently 66 pupils on roll in this provision.

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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. 25 and 26 June 2024

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 The inspector spoke with the headteacher, senior leaders and subject leaders. They also held meetings with the members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, and history. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with pupils about their learning and looked at samples of their work.  The inspector also spoke with groups of staff and pupils and looked at samples of pupils’ work in other subjects.  The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys completed by parents, pupils, and staff.

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Inspection team

Eleanor Ross, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 25 and 26 June 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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