Marine Park Primary School

Marine Park Primary School

Address: Hatfield Square, Woodbine Estate, South Shields, Tyne and Wear, NE33 2RD Unique reference number (URN): 151264

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Staff know the pupils well and provide a welcoming environment. Pupils enjoy coming to school and understand the importance of good attendance. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils attend well. Pupils particularly value the ‘dot shop’, which is a reward system that has helped them to improve their attendance. Leaders’ tracking and monitoring means that they identify drops in attendance quickly. This means that leaders can provide timely support for families to address barriers to attendance. Leaders work closely with wider services to promote pupil attendance. Leaders’ recent work on attendance has led to improvements, including for pupils who are persistently absent.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Pupils behave well in school and during lessons. Generally, they have positive attitudes to learning. They say they feel happy and safe in school. Staff teach pupils how to be kind and to treat each other with respect. As a result, they interact with each other positively and are courteous and polite towards adults. Where there are incidents of unkind behaviour, pupils know that staff will support them to address this. Pupils say that incidents of bullying are rare. These are dealt with swiftly by staff. Leaders work closely with parents to support pupils who require adaptations to help them improve their behaviour.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders place high importance on pupils’ wellbeing. As a result, pupils feel a strong sense of belonging at their school. The personal development curriculum ensures that pupils develop socially, morally, spiritually and culturally. Leaders ensure that staff have the knowledge they need to teach the content of the personal development programme, and they draw on external expertise when needed.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils learn about fundamental British values, different faiths and beliefs and protected characteristics through assemblies and lessons. They value this learning, and as a result, they feel passionately that diversity should be celebrated and that everyone should be respected. Pupils feel strongly that discrimination should not be tolerated. They embrace the diversity within the school community and demonstrate tolerance and understanding of difference. Pupils take part in voting for the school council and have an understanding of democracy.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils are taught about the importance of healthy relationships. This is taught through a well-structured, age-appropriate programme. Pupils understand how to stay safe both on and offline and recall assemblies where they have been taught about the importance of water safety. They have an understanding of the different types of bullying and the impact they can have. Pupils know how to keep themselves healthy. Pupils talk about trips they have taken to the local park and beach. They value the opportunities to venture into their local community.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils, take part in extra-curricular clubs. Leaders have an awareness of which pupils attend extra-curricular activities, and they target pupils to attend. However, leaders do not precisely track and analyse pupils’ engagement with wider experiences and extra-curricular clubs or

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Needs attention

pastoral support. This means that for some pupils, barriers to attending are not always fully understood.

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Needs attention

Pupils develop independence and resilience throughout their school journey. They generally say they feel well prepared for secondary school.

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Achievement Needs attention

Outcomes at the end of key stage 2 are mixed. Disadvantaged pupils attain in line with their peers nationally. However, not all pupils build the knowledge in reading, writing and mathematics that they need over time. Outcomes in mathematics have historically been weak. However, pupils’ work shows that leaders’ recent improvements in the curriculum for mathematics are starting to have a positive impact. Pupils who take the multiplication tables check in Year 4 achieve consistently well.

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Achievement Needs attention

Pupils in early years and key stage 1 do not learn to read fluently. Leaders know this and are prioritising early reading. The impact of this work is not yet reflected in the published Year 1 phonics screening check results. However, early signs of improvement are evident in children's communication and language in the early years, but this is at an early stage.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders do not have a clear oversight of the quality of the curriculum in some subjects. They do not make regular checks to understand how well pupils are learning the school's curriculum. Leaders have prioritised the development of reading, writing and mathematics to ensure that pupils develop the fluency they need. Leaders are aware that there is more work to do to improve the curriculum in these areas. Leaders’ choices about how pupils learn in some subjects, such as history and art, make it difficult for pupils to remember their learning over time. This is because they learn these subjects in discrete blocks of time, which are not revisited over the school year. Some pupils do not remember the important knowledge they need to know, and they do not always connect their learning to lessons they have had before. In some subjects, such as Spanish, the curriculum and teaching are more effective. Pupils' long-term learning in these subjects is more secure.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Teachers generally deliver new concepts clearly. This is particularly evident in mathematics. In this subject, teachers check what pupils know and address misconceptions effectively. Sometimes, the questions that teachers ask are not precisely worded. This means that pupils do not always understand what they are being asked. Teachers generally have high expectations of pupils’ presentation and the work that they produce, which is particularly evident for older pupils. Teachers have a detailed subject knowledge.

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Early years Needs attention

Leaders are clear about the strengths in the early years as well as the areas for development. They ensure that children's welfare is a priority. Children are happy and well cared for. They behave well and interact positively with staff and each other. Children are independent and confident and generally understand the routines of the day. However, too few children leave the early years ready for the next stage of their school journey. This is because, up until recently, leaders have not acted swiftly enough to ensure that the learning in the early years begins with the starting points of the children in order to meet their needs.

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Early years Needs attention

Leaders understand the importance of securing children's basic skills and have planned their curriculum around this. Teachers follow structured plans for the teaching of phonics, mathematics and language skills. However, some children in Nursery are not given the time to revisit and embed skills before moving on. Most interactions between staff and children develop vocabulary and understanding. Many children use this vocabulary with accuracy in their play. Children engage well in play. They enjoy taking part in learning, both indoors and outdoors. This encourages physical development and risk-taking. Staff have recently begun to adapt learning to interest children and to meet their individual needs. These recent changes are supporting children to be better prepared for their next stage in learning, but this remains at an early stage.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Processes are in place to identify the needs of pupils who face barriers to their learning and wellbeing, for pupils who speak English as an additional language and for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, these processes are not monitored and reviewed precisely by leaders to ensure they are effective. Teachers do not have accurate plans for each pupil to help them to provide the correct support in class. This means that for some pupils, including children in the early years, changes made to the school's curriculum are not consistently matched to the needs of the pupils. However, the support adults provide for pupils more widely helps them to access activities and to develop their understanding.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders work with professionals to better understand pupils’ needs. They draw on advice from specialists to understand strategies and resources that can be used to help pupils. This includes seeking support for pupils’ wellbeing. Leaders work with parents and carers to better understand their children's needs. Leaders can demonstrate how additional funding will be used to support disadvantaged pupils and remove barriers to learning. However, leaders do not always check how effective this work is.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders’ actions to address the school priorities are recent. In the main, these are appropriate; however, they have not yet had an impact on pupils’ outcomes. Leaders have a broad understanding of the school’s strengths and areas that require further development. Leaders' actions to monitor the changes they have made are less precise. In some cases, leaders have not ensured that the action taken is leading to improvement. Leaders’ actions have not been sharply focused on removing barriers to learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those who speak English as an additional language and those who face other barriers to learning. However, leaders’ recent work on improving attendance is showing a positive impact. Leaders' work in the early years is focused on improving children’s basic skills. However, it is too early to see the impact of this work over time.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Governors and trustees meet their statutory duties. They have a detailed understanding of the school and its context. They know the challenges that the school faces and support and challenge leaders. They have held leaders to account on some issues, for example safeguarding and attendance. Leaders and those responsible for governance put the interests of pupils at the centre of the work they do, particularly in relation to the wellbeing support that pupils receive.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders and governors generally consider staff wellbeing and workload. Staff increasingly receive the training they need to improve their practice. Most staff who shared their views spoke positively about the school. Pupils and parents are very positive about the work that the school does to make pupils feel as though they belong.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils enjoy attending this warm and welcoming school at the heart of its community. Most pupils attend well. They say it is a school where everyone belongs and diversity is celebrated. Pupils benefit from positive relationships with staff, and as a result, they feel safe and secure in school. Pupils say that falling out is rare. They know that any incidents, including bullying, will be dealt with quickly by staff. Pupils confidently place their trust in staff. They know they are well cared for and that their views will be listened to.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils generally make progress in their learning by the time they leave school. Most pupils engage positively in lessons and are proud of their achievements. Older pupils have many opportunities to learn new information. However, over time, outcomes in Year 6 English and mathematics tests have not been as positive as they should be. Leaders have begun to act on this by making sure that pupils learn the right knowledge in a clear order. This helps pupils to build their understanding in reading, writing and mathematics. These changes are new, and the impact of this work is not yet evident in the outcomes that pupils achieve.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face barriers to learning is not consistent. This is because pupils’ plans do not always identify precisely what targets pupils are working on and the support that they need. This includes in the early years. This means that some pupils are not well prepared for the next stage in their education.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

There are some extra-curricular activities on offer for pupils that link to sport and art. Many pupils show an interest in the school cricket club. Some pupils who face barriers to learning receive the help they need to support them to participate in these opportunities. Pupils speak positively about their local trips to the library and the cinema.

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Team inspectors:

Graham Findlay, Ofsted Inspector Bec Yeadon, His Majesty's Inspector

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities have support plans that precisely identify appropriate targets linked to their area of need. Leaders should ensure that the work they have begun on developing the core subject curriculum is mirrored across all subjects. Leaders should ensure that pupils continue to develop their foundational knowledge and knowledge across the curriculum so that pupils are well prepared for the next stage in their education. Leaders should use the information from children’s starting points to precisely tailor the provision so that children make the progress they need to be ready for key stage 1. Leaders and governors should ensure that any action taken is precisely monitored and evaluated so that they are assured this is driving improvement across all areas of the school’s work.

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About this inspection

This school is part of Tyne and Wear 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, Ashley Emmerson, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Stephen Wharton.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

The school currently makes use of one registered alternative provision. They do not use any unregistered alternative provision.

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About this inspection

Headteacher: Shelley Metcalfe The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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national average

2024/25 (3 term) 5.7% 5.2% Close to average

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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