Framwellgate Moor Primary School

Framwellgate Moor Primary School Inspection report

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130940 Unique Reference Number Durham Local Authority 315667 Inspection number 27 February 2008 Inspection date Margaret Shepherd 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 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 262 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Jeff Lodge Chair Mrs Diane Buckle Headteacher 1 March 2004 Date of previous school inspection Newton Drive School address Framwellgate Moor Durham County Durham DH1 5BG 0191 3865400 Telephone number 0191 3832852 Fax number

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3-11 Age group 27 February 2008 Inspection date 315667 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.

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Description of the school

The school serves an area of mixed social and economic circumstances. Many pupils come from outside the immediate area of the school. There is a wide range of different minority ethnic groups. The proportion of pupils with English as an additional language is higher than usual with many being in the very early stages of learning English. Many of these pupils enter or leave the school during the year and the rates of mobility in the school are much higher than usual. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is higher than average and this includes pupils with behavioural learning disabilities. Only 25% of Nursery children go on to the Reception; the other 75% go to surrounding schools. The inspector evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues: the progress of children in the Foundation Stage and the pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2;

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Description of the school

the effectiveness of the curriculum that is based on scientific enquiry; the relationship between the school’s care, support and guidance and pupils’ personal development. Evidence was gathered from the observation of lessons, lunchtime arrangements, an assembly and performances of pupils in emotional intelligence classes. Discussions were held with pupils, the school council, staff, the senior leadership team and governors. Pupils’ work, key documents and data including the school’s self-evaluation were scrutinised. 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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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 9 Inspection Report: Framwellgate Moor Primary School, 27 February 2008

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Grade: 2

This is a good school with outstanding features, which the great majority of parents appreciate. A typical comment was ‘My children have progressed really well in school, both academically and socially.’ This matches the headteacher’s priorities for taking the school’s work forward and preparing each pupil for their future lives in the twenty first century. Achievement is good and by Year 6 standards are above average. A contributory factor to the pupils’ good progress is the good quality of teaching and learning. Children make an excellent start in the Foundation Stage. Standards are below the expected level on entry to the Nursery and several children in the very early stages of learning English join the Foundation Stage unit during the year. All children achieve extremely well and by the end of Reception standards are broadly typical for their age. Progress slows in Key Stage 1 and by the end of Year 2 standards

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Grade: 2

are average. This is due to inconsistencies in the quality of teaching which does not always lead to effective learning. Progress accelerates in Key Stage 2 because teaching is consistently good with some outstanding features. Staff support their pupils very well in understanding what they have to do to improve their work. Pupils with English as an additional language achieve very well. There is a clear emphasis on meeting their individual needs and promoting their confidence in acquiring new vocabulary through an interesting range of activities based on practical experiences. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities also achieve very well. Teachers plan carefully for these pupils and teaching assistants are sensitive to their different needs. The school takes every opportunity to create partnerships with external specialists to extend their provision for individuals. This emphasis increases pupils’ confidence,

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Grade: 2

which in turn supports their academic progress. The school has set a high priority on providing a curriculum based on scientific enquiry, which emphasises skills. This is extremely successful. Younger pupils are keen to offer their suggestions and tackle new problems. Although older pupils have not had the benefit of this curriculum over time, their skills are already higher than expected for their age. They are confident to design their own investigations, make sensible predictions, carry out experiments independently and make careful observations. This approach is evident in other subjects, for example, when tackling mathematical problem solving. The curriculum provides excellent links across different subjects and is enriched by a range of visits and visitors. There is a strong emphasis on practical experiences to promote more formal learning, such as pupils carrying out a sequence of movements and then discussing what verbs and adverbs could be used to describe them. There

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Grade: 2

is an emphasis on considering world issues such as recycling, which pupils take very seriously. Personal development is outstanding. This is another key outcome from the excellent curriculum and is combined with the outstanding care, support and guidance the school provides. The programme for emotional intelligence is exemplary, resulting in pupils showing high levels of maturity. Pupils thoroughly enjoy their learning because teachers plan relevant and exciting activities, such as collecting fruit and vegetable leftovers, making them into compost, using it in the school garden and then eating the produce for lunch. Pupils have an excellent understanding of keeping safe and healthy. The school’s safeguarding systems are in place. The pupils’ contributions to the community are outstanding. They are very proud of their achievement of being an ECO status school. The school council take their responsibilities very

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Grade: 2

seriously and expect to make a difference to the running of the school. For example, they lead assemblies to cover issues like keeping safe. Older pupils greatly value their roles in supporting younger pupils and are very confident in situations such as running the whole-school daily 4 of 9 Inspection Report: Framwellgate Moor Primary School, 27 February 2008 ‘wake up shake up’ sessions. Attendance is good as is behaviour. The great majority of pupils behave extremely well. Pupils with behavioural difficulties and/or disabilities work hard to manage their behaviour. Pupils’ preparation for their future lives is excellent. They revel in decision-making. They work confidently within teams, co-operating with each other to complete tasks. They have very good levels of basic skills, particularly in information and communication technology. This starts early with Year 2 pupils producing powerpoint presentations at a standard

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Grade: 2

that is not expected until much later in Key Stage 2. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. The school’s emphasis on promoting each pupil’s individual needs within the context of developing an understanding of their place within the school community promotes racial harmony extremely well. Pupils from the many different ethnic groups work and play together with the attitude that every one has something special to contribute to the school community. Leadership and management are good. The headteacher’s resolve to improve provision is having a positive impact on standards and these are clearly improving. She works closely with senior leaders, especially in evaluating what is happening in school. This leads to self-evaluation being accurate and a very clear vision of how to further improve the school. In response to identified concerns, the school introduces innovations successfully, taking advantage of different pilot

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Grade: 2

projects, such as the use of mini-laptops in Years 4 and 6. However, these projects are not used in Key Stage 1. The school deploys staff well making effective use of individual skills. Governance is good with governors well involved in the school’s work, such as taking assemblies. There has been good improvement since the previous inspection. The school has an excellent capacity to improve due to the clarity about the next steps to take, coupled with the determination of all staff who are willing to try out new initiatives and evaluate them for their effectiveness.

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Grade: 1

The quality of the Foundation Stage is outstanding and children make excellent progress in both age groups. The curriculum is very lively and stimulating, both inside and outside classrooms, and covers all the different aspects of the six areas of learning. There is a high priority on personal development with excellent care, support and guidance. Children develop high levels of independence and concentration because activities are so interesting and so carefully matched to their needs. Staff challenge and support each child to reach their potential and track their progress very carefully. Teaching and learning are excellent. The organisation of the teaching team is exemplary with staff very clear about the key learning expected from activities. Children in the early stages of learning English work in racial harmony with other children and are very confident in trying out their new language skills. The co-ordinator manages

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Grade: 1

the unit extremely well. She has an extremely clear vision of creating an environment where all facilities are available for every child and where each individual’s particular needs are met.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Increase the consistency in the quality of teaching and learning in Key Stage 1.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Extend the use of pilot projects into Key Stage 1. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Framwellgate Moor Primary School, 27 February 2008 .

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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: Framwellgate Moor Primary School, 27 February 2008

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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

2 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 2 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 2 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 1 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: Framwellgate Moor Primary School, 27 February 2008

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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 2 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 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: Framwellgate Moor Primary School, 27 February 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

28 February 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Framwellgate Moor Primary School, Durham, DH1 5BG Thank you for being so very welcoming to me when I came to your school. You were all so friendly and helpful in answering my questions. I am writing to let you know what I found out. You receive a good education at your school. Your learning is excellent in the Nursery and Reception. In these classes your teachers give you really interesting things to do with lots of opportunities to explore and investigate, like guessing what would happen when you put water on the coloured sweets and then watching the different ways that the colour ran out of them. You work hard through the school and your standards are higher than usual by the time you get to Year 6. You are particularly good at predicting what might happen in your investigations and then working out whether you were right. Teachers and teaching assistants work very well

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

together to help you to learn. In some classes your learning is better than in others. Your teachers are going to work hard to make sure that it is equally good in every class and you can do your best to make sure that you work hard to make your progress even better. The school makes sure that you have a very exciting curriculum with very interesting activities to help you to learn. Your personal development is excellent. You have an outstanding understanding of how to keep safe and healthy. The older pupils work really hard to look after the younger pupils. Your school councillors are very responsible and help to make your school an even better place. The dance routines that you do are extremely expressive and show how well you understand about different feelings. Assemblies are extremely interesting and you are very respectful during prayers. You work very well together in teams and are very skilful at making decisions. The

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

understanding you have of how to make the world a better place is excellent, through schemes such as your recycling. The school works hard to introduce new and exciting ways to learn, particularly in Key Stage 2, like your mini-laptop project. This is now going to happen in Key Stage 1 as well. Your headteacher and senior staff and governors are all working hard to make your school an even better place for you. I saw so many remarkable things when I came to your school, which I will always remember. I wish you all great success in your future education. Yours sincerely Maggi Shepherd Lead inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Framwellgate Moor Primary School, 27 February 2008

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