Peartree Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Peartree Primary School Peartree Lane, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire AL7 3XW

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Outcome

Peartree Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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Outcome

The head of school is Megan Hardy. This school is part of Ivy Learning Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Matthew Kleiner-Mann, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Deborah Thompson. There is also an executive headteacher, Ben Statham, who is responsible for this school and one other.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are enthusiastic about their experiences at this school. They appreciate how staff care, want them to succeed and have high standards for them. Pupils demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning and have responded well to the recent changes to the curriculum. As a result, pupils are successful at this school, with published outcomes above national averages. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) also achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from clearly established rules and routines in class and at play. They like receiving ‘values’ awards or getting a ‘raffle ticket’ for good behaviour choices. Pupils know that they are treated fairly and equally. If there is any unkind behaviour, pupils have confidence in their trusted adults to address this. Pupils are safe and happy here. They find lessons interesting, enjoy all the different trips they go on and the range of sports activities available at breaktime. The school is calm and welcoming.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have their horizons broadened with visits to museums, parks, farms, a church and a residential trip. They learn new sports and take part in competitions. Many pupils participate in school clubs, from sports to art and drama. Older pupils learn British Sign Language. There is an active school council and pupils like being sports leaders. 29 and 30 April 2025

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

The school has successfully navigated a significant period of change since joining the trust. It has taken swift and effective action to ensure the curriculum is both ambitious and taught effectively. Leaders have ensured that staff share their vision and have the skills and knowledge to improve pupils’ outcomes. The school has carefully updated the curriculum to check that knowledge builds clearly over time. As a result, pupils achieve well from early years upwards.

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

Pupils in all year groups have regular opportunities to recall and revisit prior learning. Staff check for any misconceptions or gaps in pupils’ knowledge and are quick to address these. Staff follow the agreed curriculum approach consistently well. Pupils know what is expected of them and make an active contribution to their learning. Pupils with SEND have their needs accurately identified and are ably supported with appropriate adaptations. As a result, pupils with SEND are able to successfully and independently access their learning. They are not overly reliant on adult support.

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

Staff adapt lessons to meet pupils’ needs. However, there are some instances where staff are not precise or timely enough in setting work to extend pupils’ understanding even further. This also includes children in early years. This means that some pupils who are capable of more do not consistently move on to more in-depth knowledge quickly enough.

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

From early years upwards, pupils quickly learn the sounds letters make. Pupils soon become confident and fluent readers. For pupils who need extra help with reading, appropriate interventions are put in place so they catch up. Pupils regularly read books that are well matched to their reading ability. They are exposed to a rich diet of ambitious vocabulary across the whole curriculum.

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

In the wider curriculum subjects, some pupils can recall detailed key knowledge they have learned, for example about the impact of Ancient Greece on our lives today and their understanding of how light travels in science. The school has recently refined how it checks that pupils have secured sufficient in-depth knowledge in these foundation subjects. This is still in its early stages of being developed. Some staff are still becoming familiar with the ambitious curriculum content pupils must know and retrieve later. Therefore, the work pupils produce in some year groups to demonstrate what they must remember is not yet sufficiently detailed to meet these high curriculum expectations.

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

Pupils and staff demonstrate high levels of mutual respect. Pupils are supported to take corrective action for any unwelcome choices, and there has been an improvement in behaviour. Staff follow the behaviour policy consistently. Pupils know what bullying is. While rare, it is addressed swiftly if reported. The school does not tolerate any discriminatory behaviour. Pupils who need help to manage their emotions are skilfully supported. Pupils enjoy coming to school. Attendance is also improving due to leaders’ actions.

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

Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. They understand democracy through elections to the school council. The school’s personal development programme teaches 29 and 30 April 2025

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pupils about human rights, economic well-being, positive mental and physical health and treating others equally. Pupils learn how to be responsible citizens through supporting charities, being on the school council and taking on pupil leadership roles.

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The trust and local governing board know the school well and provide effective oversight of standards and the deployment of resources. They fulfil their statutory duties well. Staff value how the trust and school support their well-being and keep the workload manageable.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 There are some instances where checks on what pupils already know do not precisely inform next steps in teaching. This means that sometimes opportunities to extend pupils’ knowledge are not consistently maximised. The school needs to ensure that work set for pupils is more closely aligned to the new knowledge they need in order to excel further.  Staff are still getting used to the new assessment system in some foundation subjects. This means there are still some inconsistencies as to the level of detailed knowledge pupils have secured in these subjects. The school needs to ensure that staff are confident on the in-depth knowledge pupils must have independently and firmly secured in these foundation subjects.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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, 29 and 30 April 2025

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behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Peartree Primary School, to be good for overall effectiveness in February 2016.

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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). 29 and 30 April 2025

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Peartree Primary School converted to become an academy school in September 2022. When its predecessor school, also called Peartree Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good for overall effectiveness.  The school joined Ivy Learning Trust in September 2022. The current head of school and executive headteacher also joined the school at this time.  The trust board and a local governing board oversee the school.  The school currently uses one registered alternative provision.  There is a school-run breakfast club on site.

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Information about this inspection

 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. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has 29 and 30 April 2025

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taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the head of school, the executive headteacher, the assistant headteachers, the special educational needs coordinator, the school business manager, subject leaders, teachers and support staff.  The inspector met with the trust’s CEO and its director of education.  The inspector met with the chair of the board of trustees and the chair of the local governing body.  To evaluate the quality of education, the inspector met with staff, visited all classes, looked at pupils’ work and spoke to pupils from across the school.  The inspector also reviewed documentation provided by the school, including the school development plan, its self-evaluation document and reports to the governing board and trust.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and children; and considered the

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extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector met with a group of staff and considered the opinions expressed through the staff survey.  The inspector took account of the views of parents expressed through Ofsted Parent View, including free-text comments.  The inspector spoke to pupils from across the school during the inspection and also reviewed the responses to the pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Sara Boyce, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 29 and 30 April 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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