Uplands Primary School

Inspection Report Uplands Primary School

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115890 Unique Reference Number Hampshire LEA LEA 279697 Inspection number 18 October 2005 to 19 October 2005 Inspection dates Peter Thrussell AI Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Morshead Crescent School address Primary Type of school Fareham Community School category Hampshire PO16 7QP 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01329232878 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01329318777 Fax number 299 Number on roll Mrs Jackie Miller Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Anthony Markham Headteacher 9 October 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 279697 18 October 2005 - 4 to 11 19 October 2005 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by three additional inspectors.

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Description of the school

This large, popular primary school serves the town of Fareham in Hampshire. Most of its pupils are of white British heritage, with very few from minority ethnic backgrounds. The number of pupils with learning difficulties is below average for this size of school. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is well below average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Uplands Primary School, 18 October 2005 to 19 October 2005

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Grade: 2

This is a good school with some outstanding features. It gives good value for money. Pupils are extremely well cared for, feel safe and enjoy coming to school. Outstanding links with outside agencies reinforce this care. Children receive a good start to their education in reception and many exceed their expected learning goals at the age of five. The quality of education, including teaching, throughout the rest of the school is good. As a result, pupils make good progress in their learning and consistently attain above average results in national tests. This progress is very carefully checked. Assessment information is used well to organise learning groups. However, there is some inconsistency between teachers' planning for different learning needs, especially for more able pupils in some lessons. The pupils are not always sufficiently aware of how well they are progressing in their learning or of what they need to do to

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Grade: 2

improve.Pupils' personal development is outstanding. Many opportunities are provided for pupils of all ages to work and play alongside each other. This helps to foster very good relationships, the care they show for each other and their exemplary behaviour. The leadership of the headteacher is very good. He is well supported by the governing body and an effective staff team. The school has clearly identified its strengths and where it could improve further. There has been good improvement since the last inspection. The school is well placed to carry out further improvements and to continue making progress.

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What the school should do to improve further

What the school should do to improve further * Provide further challenge for the most able pupils.* Make consistent use of assessment information in all lessons.* Provide more opportunities for pupils to know and understand how well they are doing in school.

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Grade: 2

Standards on entry to reception vary from year to year and are slightly above average overall. Children get a good start to their education; they make good progress and most achieve all of the learning goals expected at this age. A significant number exceed them. In Years 1 and 2, pupils continue to make good progress. The school's performance in national tests for Year 2 has consistently been above average. In Years 3 to 6, pupils continue to build on earlier successes and make good progress. In Year 6, pupils' performance in national tests has consistently been well above average in recent years.Action has been taken to further improve pupils' understanding and use of mathematics. This has had some effect in ensuring that girls make similar progress to boys and in raising the proportion of pupils achieving higher levels of attainment in this subject. Although more able pupils generally make good progress, the work

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Grade: 2

planned for them does not always provide sufficient challenge, nor encourage them to fully use and develop their skills across the wider curriculum. Pupils with learning 2 Inspection Report: Uplands Primary School, 18 October 2005 to 19 October 2005 difficulties make good progress due to the very well managed provision and effective support.

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Grade: 1

Pupils' personal development and well-being are excellent. They have very positive attitudes to their learning. Their behaviour is exemplary, particularly in the degree of self-discipline they develop as they move through the school. Lunchtime is a really pleasant social occasion. Parents say that their children enjoy school, and pupils confirm this. They say that they especially enjoy lessons in which they do practical activities such as art and physical education. They also particularly enjoy the extra choices they have in Personal Achievement Time. Such opportunities, together with the ways that teachers successfully encourage them to work co-operatively, are good examples of the positive ways in which the school is equipping its pupils for their future.Pupils show good spiritual development. There are outstanding strengths in their moral and social developments. This is seen in the excellent relationships and in the great

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Grade: 1

consideration and support pupils show for the particular physical or behavioural needs of some of their peers, and in their charity fund raising. More planned opportunities are needed to develop further pupils' satisfactory awareness of cultural diversity. Pupils make an excellent contribution to the life of the school. Pupils of all ages are keen to help others by becoming playground 'buddies'. They are proud of the ways their views are taken into account, often through the school council, resulting, for example, in the creation of the Maths Zone in the playground.

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learningTeaching is good overall and helps pupils to achieve well and develop positive attitudes to learning. This good teaching has sustained high standards in recent years. In the best lessons, teachers' subject expertise and lively approach capture and hold the pupils' attention. Teachers' good knowledge of individual pupils means that questions and activities are pitched at exactly the right level to move on their learning and not a minute is wasted. This results in pupils making rapid progress. There are generally very good relationships and behaviour is managed effectively. Teachers work closely with their skilled learning support assistants, enabling them to help pupils very effectively. There is a good range of assessment information but variations in how well teachers use this to match work to pupils' needs. This is especially so in mathematics, where pupils are grouped by ability for lessons, and for the most

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Grade: 2

able who are not always sufficiently challenged. Teachers' marking gives an indication of how well pupils have completed the task. However, there are few comments to help pupils to know precisely how to improve their work. There are also inconsistencies in how well teachers use the end of lessons to reinforce or extend learning or to help pupils to assess their own learning and what they need to do next. 3 Inspection Report: Uplands Primary School, 18 October 2005 to 19 October 2005

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Grade: 2

The school provides a broad and well-balanced curriculum for the pupils. It looks constantly for further ways to make it more stimulating and relevant for pupils. The impact of some initiatives, for example, providing opportunities for pupils to learn in different ways, are not yet consistently evident in lessons. Others, such as Personal Achievement Time, which gives opportunities to explore new areas of learning, motivate pupils highly and make them keen to learn. This is part of an excellent range of enrichment and extra-curricular activities. Planning takes good account of the two age groups present in most classes, helping pupils of all abilities build well on previous learning and to make good progress. Provision for pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities is good and results in them making good and at times very good progress towards their individual targets. However, more able, gifted and talented pupils could

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Grade: 2

be challenged further to make even better progress. The school has rightly highlighted the need to improve this aspect.A well-structured programme of personal, social and health education effectively promotes pupils' understanding of health and safety issues, as well as the school's participation in the Healthy Schools scheme and the opportunity for older pupils to work for their Citizenship Award.

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Grade: 2

Pupils are cared for exceptionally well and feel very safe and secure. The care for them is very well planned, with regular meetings between teachers and teaching assistants and, when necessary, the involvement of outside agencies. The school fulfils all requirements for health and safety. Very good provision is made for pupils with specific medical or personal needs and procedures for monitoring their conditions are thorough.Health and safety routines and risk assessments are all fully in place and conscientiously observed. Child protection procedures are clear and widely understood. Counselling and anger management programmes are well established. The school has good links with parents who are very supportive of the school's work to help and care for their children. There are very good systems for tracking the progress of pupils, including those with learning difficulties. Individual literacy and numeracy targets

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Grade: 2

inform pupils of the direction of their learning. However, they are not always made sufficiently aware of their progress in meeting these targets. Pupils particularly appreciate the way they are trusted by the school to be conscientious and responsible.

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Grade: 2

The headteacher's leadership is very good; he is ably assisted by the deputy headteacher. He gives clear direction for the school's work and focuses very strongly on the all round development of pupils. The school is largely accurate on self-evaluation, and makes good use of information to plan its improvement. There has been good additional improvement since the last inspection in the provision for 4 Inspection Report: Uplands Primary School, 18 October 2005 to 19 October 2005 information and communication technology. The headteacher has built up a good staff team. The Foundation Stage is well led and the provision for pupils with learning difficulties is very effectively managed. Subject leadership is good. Learning is monitored through looking at planning and pupils' work, and talking with pupils. The majority of lesson observations are carried out by the headteacher and deputy headteacher. Areas for further improvement are clearly identified from this monitoring,

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Grade: 2

including those set out in this report, and careful consideration given to them. There are good opportunities for staff development closely linked to the needs of the school. Action is well-planned but the monitoring of this does not always result in consistent and sustained implementation by teachers, which inhibits the further progress of some pupils. The school has very good systems for tracking pupils' attainment and progress and setting challenging individual targets. Teachers have this information, but do not always use it sufficiently to fully meet the learning needs of all pupils, especially the most able.The work of the governing body is good. Governors clearly know the strengths and weaknesses of the school and contribute to its self-evaluation. Many visit the school frequently and contribute actively to its work. They ensure that the school meets its legal responsibilities. Finances are used well. Recent additions to the

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Grade: 2

school buildings and grounds have improved the provision for the Foundation Stage and further developed an effective learning environment. 5 Inspection Report: Uplands Primary School, 18 October 2005 to 19 October 2005 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Uplands Primary School, 18 October 2005 to 19 October 2005

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 1 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 2 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 1 The behaviour of learners NA 2 The attendance of learners NA 1 How well learners enjoy their education NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 1 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 2 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 2 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 2 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

I am writing to let you know what we found out when we visited your school. Thank you for taking part in the inspection. We spoke to many of you during our visit and you were always interesting to talk to, polite and helpful. You spoke enthusiastically about enjoying school and all the activities that you can take part in. We liked these things the most:* You behave extremely well, work hard and enjoy your lessons.* You particularly enjoy Personal Achievement Time (PAT).* The school provides many out of school activities.* You are learning things more quickly than in many schools.* You make healthy choices.* The school is caring and listens to you.* You are very responsible in the jobs they ask you to do. * Your head teacher and deputy head teacher lead the school well.We have asked the school to work on these things now:* Use the information they have on how well you are doing to plan enjoyable and challenging work for you all;* Give you more time and

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

opportunity to talk about your lessons and how well you are doing. Thank you again and I hope that our inspection will be useful to your school and lead to further improvements. Yours sincerely Peter Thrussell, Lead Inspector

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