Grangetown Primary School

Inspection Report Grangetown Primary School

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111647 Unique Reference Number Redcar and Cleveland Local Authority 289013 Inspection number 5 °6 October 2006 Inspection dates Graeme Clarke Reporting inspector

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

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St George's Road School address Primary Type of school Grangetown, Middlesbrough Community School category

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TS6 7JA 3 °11 Age range of pupils 01642 455278 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01642 459167 Fax number 237 Number on roll (school) Cllr Gareth Dadd Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Carl Faulkner Headteacher 1 April 2001 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 289013 5 °6 October 2006 3°11 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

The vast majority of pupils are of White British background. An exceptionally high number take free school meals reflecting the very disadvantaged socio-economic character of the locality. A well above average number of pupils have learning and behavioural difficulties. Some of them are taught in a specially resourced base alongside other pupils with statements of special educational need who transfer from nearby schools. Another resourced base caters for pupils whose misbehaviour puts them at risk of being excluded from schools in the locality. The school has the Healthy School Award.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Grangetown Primary School, 5 °6 October 2006

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Grade: 2

Grangetown Primary School provides a good education for its pupils and gives good value for money. The headteacher’s outstanding leadership sets an exemplary tone for learning and promotes a clear philosophy that every child does matter. His determination and commitment have improved the school year on year since his appointment. He and his new senior team work exceptionally well with parents, the local authority and external agencies, to give outstanding care, guidance and support. This does much for pupils’ personal development and well being and successfully lays the foundation for their future good progress and achievement. Pupils really enjoy school and respond very positively to their accomplishments being recognised through displays and assemblies. They are very enthusiastic and cheerful and their behaviour is outstanding. They feel safe in school, echoing parents’ comments that bullying is not an issue because any incidents are dealt with promptly. Pupils

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Grade: 2

know how to adopt a healthy life style. They take part energetically in physical activities and make sensible choices from the lunch-time menu. Many pupils make a full contribution to their school community and they are all well-prepared for their move to secondary school. Parents are delighted with their children’s progress and enjoyment of school. They value the information about school life they receive and many take part in activities arranged for them. One parent’s comment sums up their views: ‘It is a pleasure to send my children to such a well run school having peace of mind knowing that they are well looked after and that it caters for their needs.’ Good and often outstanding teaching, with well-chosen activities, helps all pupils, including those with gifts and talents, or learning and behavioural difficulties, to make good progress. In the Nursery and Reception classes they make especially good progress

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Grade: 2

in their personal and social development but their literacy and numeracy skills are not so well developed. Year 1 and 2 pupils do well by making good progress, especially in mathematics, but less so in reading and writing. Year 6 pupils made good progress and achieved better results in 2006 compared with 2005. Up until 2005, standards had been below average and achievement was not as good as it could be. Standards were much higher in Year 6 tests this year in all subjects and exceeded the school’s targets. English and mathematics results have been improving over the past couple of years and this year science results were also greatly improved. Boys do not do as well as girls in reading and especially in writing. The headteacher, governors and senior staff work openly and well together. They have a clear picture of most aspects of the school’s work and know that efforts to raise standards further need to centre on improving literacy. The school successfully

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Grade: 2

addressed all issues from the last inspection and standards have improved since then. The capacity for further improvement is good.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Raise standards of mathematics and literacy across the school. 2 Inspection Report: Grangetown Primary School, 5 °6 October 2006 • Take steps to reduce the gap in performance between boys and girls in literacy, particularly in writing.

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Grade: 2

Pupils make good progress and achieve well as a result of good teaching. Children begin Nursery with abilities that are very low. Good provision leads to good progress in their personal and social development especially. In literacy and numeracy, children do well in improving on their low standards on entry. Despite this good progress, standards remain below the expectations for their age at the end of Reception. A high proportion of Year 1 and 2 pupils have learning difficulties but they work hard and make good progress from their below average starting point, especially in mathematics. There has been a small but significant improvement in standards since 2004 but standards remain below average. In 2006, Year 6 pupils gained better results in the national tests than their counterparts in 2005. Prior to 2005 pupils did not achieve well enough compared with pupils in other schools, but this measure included

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Grade: 2

pupils with statements of need. Results in English and mathematics in 2006 have risen but are still below average whilst science results have greatly improved and are average. In 2006 results were even better, even though they were still below average in mathematics and English. Science results, however, improved greatly and were average. The 2006 results exceeded the school’s targets in English and science, and were on target in mathematics. Boys do not do as well as girls in reading and more especially writing and they fall a long way short of girls at the higher Level 5 in reading and science. Pupils with learning and behavioural difficulties benefit from good support and make good progress. Pupils do well in information and communication technology (ICT) and show strengths in art and design and design and technology.

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Grade: 1

Pupils’ personal development and well being are outstanding. Good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is fostered by assemblies, a well-structured programme of lessons, day and residential visits, and thematic studies, such as those about Africa and Egypt. Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary, both in lessons and at play. Pupils say they feel safe in school and are confident that they can talk to an adult if they felt that they needed to. They conduct themselves sensibly and safely in school and the playground and are respectful in their dealings with adults and each other. Pupils are very enthusiastic and cheerful, which reflects how much they enjoy school. Taking term-time holidays into account, attendance is average. Pupils adopt a healthy life style. They put their all into the ‘wake and shake’ physical activity each morning and voluntary sports activities are popular. Help from the lunch-time staff successfully

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Grade: 1

encourages them to make sensible choices from the menu. Many pupils make a full contribution to their school community. For example, the school council plays an active part in enhancing facilities. Younger pupils like the scheme for ‘playground leaders’ 3 Inspection Report: Grangetown Primary School, 5 °6 October 2006 who are trained to organise yard games and give support and friendship to those who need it. The school prepares pupils well for later life by developing their basic skills and experience of team-work in lessons and out of school activities.

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good, with some outstanding features. Lessons are well-planned and contain a good variety of activities which, because they are well matched to pupils’ abilities, arouse and maintain their interest. Teachers share the purpose of their lessons with pupils and review what they have learned, although sometimes not enough time is given at the end to consolidate pupils’ learning. Good use of interactive whiteboards provides many opportunities for pupils to develop speaking and listening skills through group discussion work and questioning. Homework is set regularly and is used wisely to consolidate work done in school. Advice for parents on how to help encourages their involvement. For example, in an outstanding lesson where Year 3 were studying ancient Egypt, good help from home assisted with researching information from the Internet. Good displays around school give information about current topics to aid pupils’ learning and also celebrate their

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good. It meets statutory requirements for children in the Foundation Stage and pupils in Years 1 to 6. Pupils develop basic skills through newly developed themes that reflect local needs and link different subjects. Good provision is made for pupils with learning and behavioural difficulties and for supporting those who are gifted and talented. All pupils learn Spanish, which aids their confidence with speaking as well as their cultural development. Many pupils take part in a wide range of out-of-school activities. The breakfast club helps pupils develop social skills. Gardening club members are proud that their contribution has made a big difference to the school’s grounds. Participation in sports and dance clubs fosters physical development. Good use is made of the local and wider community to broaden pupils’ experiences. The use of outside speakers and visitors enhance lessons. For example as part of the

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Grade: 2

African theme, Year 2 pupils were keenly interested in a talk by a climber who scaled Mount Kilimanjaro. Visits to local churches and opportunities to take part in a Year 6 residential visit with outdoor pursuits all enhance spiritual and social development.

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Grade: 1

Care, guidance and support are outstanding. Child protection procedures are in place, with all staff suitably trained. Excellent working arrangements with the local authority 4 Inspection Report: Grangetown Primary School, 5 °6 October 2006 promote the safeguarding of children. Comprehensive risk assessments for visits are carried out where necessary. Pupils benefit from good supportive arrangements with local secondary schools to help them when they move on. Very effective links with parents, such as through the mother and toddler group arranged in partnership with Surestart, do much to smooth entry to the nursery. There are rigorous procedures in place for assessing, tracking and reviewing all pupils’ progress. Pupils know how well they are doing and say they like the school’s way of involving them in judging their progress and setting targets to help them improve.

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Grade: 2

Good leadership and management throughout the school play make a vital contribution to promoting the high quality of teaching, curriculum and care and to creating the very positive climate for learning where all pupils thrive and enjoy themselves. Governors are dedicated and diligent in ensuring the school is well led, managed and administered. The headteacher, new senior staff, new subject leaders and the governors are open-minded and helpful in sharing their perceptions of the quality of pupils’ education and all aspects of school life. They are working well in partnership with one another to analyse information about pupils’ performance and evaluate the school’s work. They are accurate in their judgement of pupils’ achievements but too modest in judging personal development and well-being and teaching provision. They properly identify appropriate areas for development, particularly literacy. Best value is gained

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Grade: 2

from resources to foster pupils’ progress, personal development and academic achievement. The recent focus on strengthening leadership, improving teaching and making the guidance and support for pupils as effective as possible, has raised standards and pupils’ achievement. 5 Inspection Report: Grangetown Primary School, 5 °6 October 2006 .

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Grade: 2

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Grangetown Primary School, 5 °6 October 2006

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The behaviour of learners 3 The attendance of learners 1 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

1 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 7 Inspection Report: Grangetown Primary School, 5 °6 October 2006

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 8 Inspection Report: Grangetown Primary School, 5 °6 October 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Grangetown Primary School St George's Road Grangetown Middlesbrough TS6 7JA 9 October 2006 Dear Pupils Mrs Sparkes and I really enjoyed visiting your school on Thursday and Friday last week. Thank you for helping us when we came into your classrooms and your assembly to see you at work. You were very polite and helpful. Grangetown is a good school with a very friendly atmosphere. You are being taught well and you make good progress with your work. You are really well behaved, have good manners, and work hard. You are safe and happy because all the adults in the school look after you very well. Mr Faulkner, the other teachers and all the staff are very proud of you. We were very impressed with the work that you do, how you know about what you have learned and how you can do better next time. We enjoyed talking to you when we met those of you on the school council and some of you at lunch-time. It was great to see how much you enjoy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

coming to school and taking part so enthusiastically in all the activities. We have talked with the governors and Mr Faulkner and asked them to help you to develop your numeracy and literacy skills so that, by the time you leave Grangetown Primary and move on to your next school, you all can read, speak and write well and are skilled in mathematics. With best wishes to you all Graeme Clarke (Lead inspector) 9 Inspection Report: Grangetown Primary School, 5 °6 October 2006

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