Valley View Primary School

Inspection of Valley View Primary School Valley View, Jarrow, Tyne and Wear NE32 5QY

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Early years provision Outstanding 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 July 2014. Since September 2024, schools have not been awarded an overall effectiveness grade. 18 and 19 March 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Valley View Primary are superb ambassadors for their school. They embody the school’s aim of allowing all to thrive ‘educationally, socially, morally and culturally’. Pupils are polite and considerate. Their empathy for one another is remarkable. Across school, pupils of all ages contribute to a highly positive learning environment. Caring staff support and nurture pupils. They ensure that pupils are safe. Warm relationships between staff and pupils abound throughout the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders across the school have the highest expectations for pupils’ achievement. Well- trained staff strive to provide pupils with every opportunity to reach these high expectations. Pupils’ work in their books is of a high standard. Their understanding of their learning is deeply ingrained.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils demonstrate exceptional behaviours and attitudes. Their conduct in classrooms and around school is exemplary. On the rare occasions that pupils struggle to meet the school’s high expectations for behaviour, skilled staff put sensitive and effective support in place.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school. For example, they make comments, such as children ‘love attending school’ and that staff are ‘caring and warm’ who ‘nurture the family environment’.

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

Children in early years gain a strong start to their education at Valley View. They thrive in the vibrant and richly resourced provision. Knowledgeable staff have a sharp focus on children’s development of communication and language. They model important vocabulary with precision. This has notable impact on children’s understanding. Children excitedly pointed out the live caterpillars that they have in Reception, using terms such as ‘chrysalis’ and ‘life cycle’ to explain what they see with accuracy. From their earliest days in the Nursery provision, children develop a secure understanding of number and communication and language. This prepares them well for the transition to key stage 1.

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

Well-trained staff develop pupils’ awareness of phonics. The focus on identifying gaps in pupils’ phonics knowledge ensures that these gaps are closed swiftly and effectively. Pupils at the early stages of learning to read achieve highly. They are very well prepared for the reading curriculum beyond phonics.

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

Precise identification of pupils’ needs, including for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), is a real strength of the school’s provision. Pupils get the support that they need to succeed and achieve well.

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

Across the school, high-quality and well-implemented curriculums enable pupils to achieve well. Pupils speak with deep understanding about their learning. For example, pupils accurately place many different historical periods into the correct chronology. Pupils use art techniques such as scumbling and stippling to good effect in their sketchbooks. Others 18 and 19 March 2025

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draw on their knowledge of multiplication facts to solve more challenging problems involving fractions and percentages. Nevertheless, pupils’ attainment in mathematics did not meet leaders’ high expectations in 2024. Pupils did not achieve as highly as they could. Gaps in pupils’ mathematics knowledge were not identified and closed with sufficient swiftness.

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Pupils’ behaviour is exceptional. The ‘family groups’ set up by the school enable pupils of different ages to come together and work collaboratively. This fosters a strong sense of empathy and care between these pupils. Older pupils are proud to be role models for the younger children in the school. Attendance is not an issue. Leaders work effectively with parents to improve attendance where this is necessary.

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The school is not content to focus solely on the academic development of its pupils. Opportunities for pupils’ wider development are diverse and well thought out. The ‘industry school’ programme allows older pupils to gain first-hand experience of work by local businesses. Visitors to early years, including police officers and paramedics, promote career aspirations for the very youngest pupils. A rich programme of educational visits enables pupils to put their learning into real-life contexts. Pupils speak with pride of their visit to the local cenotaph as part of Remembrance activities in school, for example. They have exemplary attitudes to people of different faiths, beliefs and sexuality. Pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs and extra-curricular activities.

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Resolute leadership ensures that pupils are at the heart of all decisions made at the school. School leaders are supported, challenged and held to account by a committed and highly knowledgeable governing body. Governors have an exceptional understanding of their roles. They check carefully the information that they receive from leaders. Leaders have very high expectations for all and there is a clear and unswerving focus on staff workload and well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In mathematics, the school had not identified and addressed gaps in some older pupils’ knowledge with sufficient swiftness. This means that these pupils did not achieve as well as they could. The school should ensure that any gaps in pupils’ mathematical knowledge are addressed swiftly so that all pupils are able to achieve highly. 18 and 19 March 2025

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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). 18 and 19 March 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Gemma Jeynes (Executive Headteacher)

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 3 and 4 July 2014, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 A breakfast club operates on site under the management of the school.  The school has a specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND (specially resourced provision). This caters for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs. There are no pupils currently accessing this provision.  The school makes use of a specially resourced provision in another local primary school. This provision caters for pupils with speech, language and communication needs.

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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. 18 and 19 March 2025

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  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 the executive headteacher, the head of school, other school staff, members of the governing body and spoke with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics, art and design, and history. 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.  Inspectors also spoke to some pupils about their work in religious education and looked at examples of pupils’ work across a number of other subjects.

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 An inspector listened to some pupils from Years 1, 2 and 3 reading to a familiar adult.  An inspector looked at the school’s plans for pupils with SEND and visited a sample of pupils in lessons to evaluate the provision for these pupils.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: 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.  The inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. Inspectors spoke with some parents at the end of the school day.  An inspector had a tour of the school with some pupils.  The inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire, including the free-text comments.

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Inspection team

Richard Beadnall, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Angela Vear Ofsted Inspector 18 and 19 March 2025

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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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