Heath Mount Primary School

Heath Mount Primary School Inspection report

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103333 Unique Reference Number Birmingham Local Authority 308282 Inspection number 17 October 2007 Inspection date Terry Elston 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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Primary Type of school Community School category 4 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 408 School The governing body Appropriate authority Graham Evans Chair Najma Chaudhary Headteacher 20 June 2005 Date of previous school inspection Mary Street School address Balsall Heath Birmingham B12 9ST 01214 641691 Telephone number 01214 644195 Fax number

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4-11 Age group 17 October 2007 Inspection date 308282 Inspection number .

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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 one Additional Inspector. The inspector evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues: •Pupils’ progress and their standards •Pupils’ enjoyment of school and their awareness of how to stay safe and live healthy lives •The qualities of leadership and management that lead to high standards. The inspector gathered evidence from observations of lessons, discussions with pupils, governors and staff, tracking pupils’ progress, analysis of attendance and gaining the views of parents. Other aspects of the school’s work were not investigated in detail, but the inspector found no evidence to suggest that the school’s own assessments, as given in its self-evaluation, were not justified, and these have been included where appropriate in this report.

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Description of the school

This is a large and expanding school with a very high proportion of pupils whose first language is not English; Punjabi, Arabic and Urdu are the most common. Nearly a half of pupils are eligible for free school meals and a third have learning difficulties and/or disabilities. These figures are much higher than in most schools. A higher than average proportion of pupils enter or leave the school other than at usual times.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 9 Inspection Report: Heath Mount Primary School, 17 October 2007

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Grade: 1

This is an outstanding school at the very heart of the community. Parents are fully justified in seeing the school as a place where their children flourish and enjoy learning. An important reason for the school's success lies in the leadership and management, not least by the headteacher who has the highest expectations of pupils, staff and herself. She knows how to improve things and inspires staff with her unwavering enthusiasm. Other leaders provide good support to the headteacher, although the school recognises that subject coordinators need to play a more active part in managing school improvement. The rigorous self-evaluation systems are based securely on accurate assessment of pupils' skills, regular checks on the quality of teaching and effective action to rectify weaknesses. This explains why the school has made such good improvements since the last inspection and why it is set to do even better.

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Grade: 1

Parents are unanimous that the teaching is exceptional, and they are not wrong. Typical lessons see teachers firing pupils' enthusiasm with exciting tasks and providing wholehearted encouragement for all pupils, whatever their ability, to do their best. This is why they do so well. Children enter the school with skills significantly below average and, by the time they leave, standards are consistently above those found nationally in English, mathematics and science. This outstanding progress puts the school consistently in the top flight of all schools in the country. Children make an excellent start in the Reception classes where the adults lay such good foundations for pupils' learning and personal development. Pupils say how much they enjoy school and they say the best thing about school is the 'fantastic teachers who always have time to help you'. They feel safe because bullying is rare and staff

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Grade: 1

take excellent care of them. All arrangements for safeguarding children meet legal requirements and are monitored closely by the well- informed governing body. The school tracks pupils' progress very carefully, sets very challenging targets and provides outstanding support to ensure they have every chance to meet them. It also provides excellent support for pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and they make outstanding progress as a result. The curriculum provides excellent guidance on how to live healthy lives and pupils say how much they enjoy the nutritious food at lunchtime. They think deeply about how their actions affect others and develop an excellent sense of right and wrong. As a result, behaviour is outstanding and pupils make the most of their time in lessons. The many opportunities provided for pupils to learn about the world around them mean they develop a very good awareness of

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Grade: 1

the richness of different cultures. The extensive range of clubs at lunchtime and after school is very popular with pupils and does much to extend their learning in areas such as music, sport and information and communication technology (ICT). Pupils have many opportunities to take responsibility for their community and they do this readily, for example the school council takes its duties very seriously and its decision to buy new waste bins has helped make the playground much tidier. Such opportunities, alongside pupils' well-developed literacy and numeracy skills, ensure they are well prepared for the future. The school makes every effort to forge links with the community. The strong links with local churches and schools and enthusiastic support of local charities make pupils fully aware of the world around them and do much to enhance their social development. These many strengths explain why parents are so positive about the school and the way it

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Grade: 1

enables their children to develop their academic and personal skills. They feel very welcome, take part enthusiastically in the many opportunities for them to learn about how the school 4 of 9 Inspection Report: Heath Mount Primary School, 17 October 2007 works and join adult education classes. Typical of parents' comments are, 'excellent school ° the best', 'amazing progress' and 'children enjoy every moment'.

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Grade: 1

The provision in the Reception classes is excellent. The very good leadership and management ensure that the provision meets the needs of all groups of children and parents speak highly of the outstanding start it gives them. The comprehensive home °school links, starting a year before children enter the Reception, ensure that they make a smooth transition to school. The detailed assessments provide accurate measures of children's strengths and weaknesses and teachers use them expertly to plan activities at just the right level. Teachers and teaching assistants do everything to make learning fun and children love coming to school. The support for children with little or no English is exceptional and they make rapid progress. The curriculum is planned very carefully to ensure children have the right balance of academic work to improve their reading, writing and number skills and time to develop their independence and social skills

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Grade: 1

through play. As a result, children make excellent progress.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Develop the role of subject coordinators to give them more responsibility for raising standards. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Heath Mount Primary School, 17 October 2007 .

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What the school should do to improve further

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 of 9 Inspection Report: Heath Mount Primary School, 17 October 2007

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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? Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 1 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 1 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

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

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learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 1 The behaviour of learners 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 of 9 Inspection Report: Heath Mount Primary School, 17 October 2007

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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 1 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 1 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 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 of 9 Inspection Report: Heath Mount Primary School, 17 October 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

18 October 2007 Dear Pupils Inspection of Heath Mount Primary School, Balsall Heath, B12 9ST Thank you for making me so welcome when I visited your school. I really enjoyed seeing you work so hard in lessons and sing so beautifully in assembly. Those of you who were kind enough to speak to me showed how proud you are of your school. You are right to be, because it is an outstanding school. What I liked most about your school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You are very friendly and helpful to visitors and each other.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You work very hard and make excellent progress.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your behaviour is excellent, both in class and out in the playground.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You know a lot about how to stay safe and live healthy lives.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You do a lot to help people who are not as lucky as you.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ The leaders are excellent and know how to improve things.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You love the many clubs at lunchtime and after school that teach you important skills in things like ICT, music and sport. ■ Your teachers are doing a brilliant job. They work very hard to plan interesting work and make your lessons fun. ■ All staff at the school take excellent care of you and keep you safe.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

What we would like the school to do now. Give the teachers in charge of different subjects more responsibility for raising standards. Good luck for the future. Yours faithfully Terry Elston Lead inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Heath Mount Primary School, 17 October 2007

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Annex B

Inspection of Heath Mount Primary School, Balsall Heath, B12 9ST

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Annex B

Thank you for making me so welcome when I visited your school. I really enjoyed seeing you work so hard in lessons and sing so beautifully in assembly. Those of you who were kind enough to speak to me showed how proud you are of your school. You are right to be, because it is an outstanding school.

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Annex B

• You are very friendly and helpful to visitors and each other. • You work very hard and make excellent progress. • Your behaviour is excellent, both in class and out in the playground. • You know a lot about how to stay safe and live healthy lives. • You do a lot to help people who are not as lucky as you. • The leaders are excellent and know how to improve things. • You love the many clubs at lunchtime and after school that teach you important skills in things like ICT, music and sport. • Your teachers are doing a brilliant job. They work very hard to plan interesting work and make your lessons fun. • All staff at the school take excellent care of you and keep you safe.

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Annex B

What we would like the school to do now.

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Annex B

Give the teachers in charge of different subjects more responsibility for raising standards.

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