Oakham Primary School

Inspection of Oakham Primary School Darbys Hill Road, Tividale, Oldbury, West Midlands B69 1SG

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Inspection dates: 26 and 27 November 2024

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Outstanding

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Until November 2020, the school was exempt from routine inspection because it was judged as outstanding for overall effectiveness at its previous inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The school has not been inspected under section 5 of the Act since June 2013. Since September 2024, schools have not been awarded an overall effectiveness grade. 26–27 November 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Everyone is made to feel welcome at Oakham Primary School. The school’s motto of ‘succeeding together’ is evident to see throughout. Staff build strong relationships with pupils and actively celebrate their achievements and successes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave exceptionally well. In lessons, pupils show a keen desire to learn and complete tasks willingly. At social times, pupils play together happily and are keen to share their enjoyment of school with visitors. Pupils feel safe in school and know who to speak to if something is worrying them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a rich array of different experiences at school. Many older pupils take on leadership roles such as play and sports leaders, lunchtime helpers and well-being champions. Pupils also enjoy the range of residential trips they can attend such as an outdoor learning centre in Year 2 and Snowdonia in Year 6. Pupils are active citizens in their local community. They enjoy raising money for a guide dog charity and singing and performing at a local care home.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are overwhelming positive about the school. One parent represented many when saying, ‘The teachers and staff go above and beyond for every pupil. Oakham Primary School is just fantastic. A pleasure to have my child attend there.’

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

The school prioritises the teaching of early reading. As soon as children join Nursery, they begin to learn initial sounds and letters. The school’s phonics programme is well designed so that children progressively learn to blend sounds and identify words with increasing confidence. The school ensures that the books children read are well matched to their phonics ability. Children enjoy reading and are keen to share their love of books with adults. Staff regularly check how pupils are progressing. This helps to identify pupils who need additional support so that they can catch up. By the end of key stage 1, the vast majority of pupils can read fluently and are ready for their next stage of learning.

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

The curriculum in mathematics is well structured and sequenced. Teachers carefully explain tasks and use questioning effectively to check pupils’ understanding. Teachers use resources well to help pupils develop a secure grasp of number. However, in some lessons, teachers do not provide enough opportunities for pupils to develop their reasoning or problem-solving skills. As a result, some pupils are not as secure in their mathematical knowledge as they should be.

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

In other areas of the curriculum, the school has effectively set out the knowledge and skills that pupils will learn over time. Alongside this, the school has identified the steps of learning that are needed to help pupils understand more complex tasks and ideas. In many areas of the curriculum, the school has also considered the key subject vocabulary that pupils need to learn and how this will support their understanding of each topic. The school has begun to put in place steps to assess pupils’ learning in the foundation 26–27 November 2024

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curriculum. However, this information is not always used effectively to adapt lessons or close gaps in pupils’ knowledge.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported extremely well. The school’s ‘Den’ provision ensures that pupils receive tailored interventions and can access lessons with their peers. Staff review learning plans regularly so that they accurately reflect pupils’ needs and the targets they are working towards. The school engage effectively with outside agencies and ensure that pupils with SEND are fully part of school life.

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The school’s personal development offer is exceptional. A comprehensive personal, social, health and economic programme ensures that pupils develop a strong understanding of age-appropriate relationships and how to stay safe, including when online. Pupils’ understanding of fundamental British values is extremely strong. Pupils learn about values such as democracy through class debates, creating their own political manifestos and electing house captains. Pupils have a multitude of experiences to develop their cultural understanding. There are visits from local theatre companies as well as learning about different religious festivals such as Diwali, Eid and Advent. The school goes above and beyond with the trips, visitors to school, and extra-curricular opportunities they offer to pupils.

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Governors are highly committed to the school. They have a secure understanding of its many strengths. Governors provide effective support and challenge to school leaders and fulfil their statutory duties diligently. Leaders have an accurate view of the school. They recognise that there is further work to do to strengthen teaching knowledge in the foundation curriculum.

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Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They appreciate the support they receive for their workload and well-being. They are unanimously proud to be part of the ‘Oakham family’.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some mathematics lessons, pupils do not get sufficient opportunities to develop their reasoning and problem-solving skills. This means that some pupils are not as secure as they should be in their mathematical knowledge to tackle more complex ideas and concepts. The school should ensure that all pupils are given appropriate opportunities to develop their reasoning and problem-solving skills to strengthen their mathematical understanding further. 26–27 November 2024

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 The school is still in the process of developing its assessment procedures in the foundation curriculum. This means that assessment information is not being used as effectively as it could be to help strengthen the curriculum and address gaps in pupils' knowledge. The school should further develop their use of assessment in the foundation curriculum so that it helps deepen pupils' knowledge and understanding in these subjects.  In some foundation subjects, teachers’ subject pedagogical knowledge is less well developed. This means that teachers are not fully aware of how best to teach content of different subjects in the most effective way. The school should support all staff to enhance the teaching of the foundation curriculum.

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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). 26–27 November 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Jacqueline Handley

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School details

Date of previous inspection 27 and 28 June 2013 under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was appointed in September 2019. Since this time, several other members of the leadership team have been appointed.  The school does not use alternative provision.  The school operates a breakfast club and an after-school club.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024, will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 26–27 November 2024

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 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with seven members of the governing body. Meetings were also held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and other senior leaders, subject leaders, teachers and pupils. They also talked informally to pupils and staff to gather general information about school life.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, science, geography and music. For each deep dive, inspectors 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. They also looked at other subjects to check how they are planned and taught.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors reviewed the single central

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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.  Inspectors reviewed a range of school documents. These included information about behaviour, attendance, the school curriculum and improvement planning.  Inspectors observed informal times of the day to evaluate safeguarding and pupils’ behaviour.  Inspectors considered responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View and free-text comments. They also considered responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Mark Howes, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Mary Maybank Ofsted Inspector 26–27 November 2024

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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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