Anderton Park Primary School

Anderton Park Primary School Inspection report

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103192 Unique Reference Number Birmingham Local Authority 316487 Inspection number 4 °5 December 2007 Inspection dates Mark Mumby HMI Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 which gives Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools the authority to cause any school to be inspected. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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Primary Type of school Community School category 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 690 School The governing body Appropriate authority Shafiq Shariff Chair Anne Bufton Headteacher 9 March 2006 Date of previous school inspection Dennis Road School address Sparkhill Birmingham B12 8BL 0121 4641581 Telephone number 0121 4641762 Fax number

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3-11 Age group 4 °5 December 2007 Inspection dates 316487 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 of Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMI) and two Additional Inspectors. When the school was inspected in March 2006, it was judged to require special measures because it failed to give the pupils an acceptable standard of education. Since March 2006, the school has been monitored on a regular basis by HMI.

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Description of the school

Anderton Park is a large primary school with a nursery. It serves a disadvantaged area in central Birmingham. Virtually all of the pupils are from minority ethnic groups with most being of Pakistani background. Almost all of them do not speak English as their first language. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LDD) is higher than that found nationally, although the proportion of pupils with a statement of special educational needs is low. When children start school, the majority of them have skills and understanding that are well below what is expected for their age.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Anderton Park Primary School, 4 °5 December 2007

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Grade: 3

In accordance with section 13 (4) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures. The school now provides a satisfactory education for its pupils. There have been significant improvements since the last inspection. In particular, the quality of teaching and learning has improved and is now satisfactory. This is the result of the high expectations of the headteacher and the determination throughout the school community to improve the education for all of the pupils. Most lessons are well planned to provide a good range of interesting and challenging activities. As a result, pupils enjoy their work and the majority of them are making satisfactory progress, with a significant proportion making good progress. Pupils' behaviour and attitudes in lessons are often exemplary. Pupils participate enthusiastically and respond well to teachers.

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Grade: 3

The school provides a safe and stimulating learning environment in which pupils from all backgrounds work and play harmoniously together. Pupils say that they feel safe and report no bullying. They participate in a good range of activities to contribute to the school and wider community. For example, pupils' views are valued and regular meetings take place between groups of pupils and the school's senior managers. Along with a sound grounding in basic skills, this prepares pupils well for their future economic well-being. The school has nurtured relationships with parents very effectively and parents are now fully involved in the education of their children. The clear leadership and high expectations of the highly regarded headteacher are the driving force behind the school's improvement. She has developed and motivated her leadership team to ensure that the members work very effectively with all of the staff to raise the quality of

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Grade: 3

teaching and learning throughout the school. Her relentless drive for improvement is already making a significant difference to the pupils' learning. As a result, the progress made by pupils has improved markedly and the considerable legacy of underachievement is being eradicated. Consequently, the school provides good value for money and has a good capacity to improve further. Rigorous monitoring and evaluation activities are used very effectively to target support. For example, improvements to the quality of teaching and learning and the now effective marking of pupils' work are a direct consequence of such actions. In order to raise standards, there has been an appropriate focus on developing literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum. However, there are still too few opportunities for pupils to write at length in literacy and other subject areas. As a result, the pupils' rate of progress in

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Grade: 3

writing is not improving as quickly as that in reading and mathematics. Although the school has carried out appropriate checks on the suitability of all of the staff to work with children, the governing body has failed to ensure that the school's central record of staff details is fully compliant with statutory legislation.

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Grade: 3

Teachers and support staff work well together to create a calm and peaceful environment in which children feel safe, enjoy learning, and engage well in the activities provided. The children make satisfactory progress because the teaching is appropriate. There is a good balance between activities directed by adults and opportunities for children to work independently. However, 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Anderton Park Primary School, 4 °5 December 2007 on occasions, activities are not sufficiently stimulating or do not take appropriate account of the levels of language development.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Increase the amount of good and better teaching to enable all pupils to make as much progress as they can and to raise standards further. ■ Raise standards in writing by providing more opportunities for pupils to write at length across the curriculum. ■ Ensure the governing body fulfils its statutory responsibilities.

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What the school should do to improve further

A small proportion of the schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory, but which have areas of underperformance, will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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Grade: 3

Despite the difficulties that many pupils have with the English language, they make satisfactory progress in the Foundation Stage. In recent months, the progress made by pupils in Years 1 to 6 has accelerated so that many have made as much progress in one term as they had previously made in two. Pupils make the best progress in reading and mathematics. The school sets itself challenging targets and these are continually being revised upwards as the rate of pupils' progress increases. Although standards attained in the most recent national tests were very low, school assessments indicate that the majority of pupils are now on track to reach the standards expected for their age in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 2 and Year 6. The progress made by more able pupils has also improved and many are now working at above average levels. Pupils with LDD make satisfactory progress.

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Grade: 2

Pupils enjoy coming to school and are enthusiastic about their learning. Their attendance has improved significantly and is now in line with the national average. Pupils are polite and respectful to adults and have complete confidence that they will be looked after well. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils are very clear about the school rules and enjoy the recognition and rewards they get for good behaviour. Pupils talk openly about their feelings in circle times and assemblies. They respond well at special times, such as when their friends lead prayers in their home language or when they design a school card to celebrate Eid. Pupils enjoy the benefit of meeting people from different faiths and celebrating a wide range of religious festivals. They know about healthy lifestyles, but some could be more careful about their diet. The school council provides a good opportunity for pupils to have a

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Grade: 2

voice and the views of pupils from every class are collected before each meeting. The logo on every Birmingham dustbin lorry was designed by a pupil and this is just one example of the effective community involvement encouraged by the Every Child Matters coordinator. Pupils are very aware of the importance of giving and respond very well to appeals for charities. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Anderton Park Primary School, 4 °5 December 2007

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Grade: 3

Teachers know the pupils well, have high expectations, and ask challenging questions of individual pupils to ensure that everyone understands and keeps up with the learning. They use a good range of strategies to stimulate the different pupils in the class and move quickly from one activity to another to maintain the pupils' interest. Work in pairs or groups provides good opportunities to help pupils develop their understanding. Teaching assistants are mostly well deployed and provide a good level of support, particularly for those pupils who find learning more difficult. Sometimes, however, pupils learn more slowly when they are working on individual tasks. This is frequently because the tasks are too difficult or because the teacher has not made the most effective use of the adult support in the classroom.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum meets the needs and interests of the pupils well. Effective links between subjects and good use of information and communication technology across the curriculum provide some good opportunities for pupils to practise many basic skills in a variety of interesting ways. However, pupils do not have sufficient opportunities to develop their writing skills. Visitors to school, including a theatre group, officers from the local fire service and representatives from different faiths, complement the good range of visits out of school to add breadth and excitement to pupils' learning and personal development. Participation in activities, such as the twice-daily 'wake up, shake up' sessions, instrumental music lessons and the choir, also extend pupils' learning opportunities. A good range of extra-curricular sports activities helps to improve pupils' physical development and health and well-being. Pupils develop good skills

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Grade: 2

of independence, both in lessons and through taking on responsibilities around school. A group of pupils from Years 5 and 6 is representing the school at the Birmingham Youth festival.

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Grade: 2

The school looks after pupils' welfare well and there are effective procedures for promoting safe and healthy lifestyles. Good use is made of outside agencies to help plan and provide for pupils with particular learning or personal needs. Support for pupils at the early stages of learning English as an additional language or with learning difficulties is good. Most pupils know their targets and marking is effective, often providing helpful guidance on how pupils can improve their work. Teachers frequently include individual questions in their marking. However, on occasions, pupils do not respond to these questions.

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Grade: 2

Procedures to monitor and evaluate the work of the school are very rigorous and are sensibly shared throughout the staff team. The progress made by individual pupils is tracked carefully and timely support is put in place whenever it is needed. The senior leaders have an excellent understanding of the school's strengths and areas for further development. The governing 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Anderton Park Primary School, 4 °5 December 2007 body is provided with appropriately detailed information about the performance of the school and asks challenging questions in order to hold the school to account for its work. However, the effectiveness of the governing body is limited by poor attendance at too many of its meetings. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Anderton Park Primary School, 4 °5 December 2007 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Anderton Park Primary School, 4 °5 December 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? 3 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

3 How well do learners achieve? 4 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 3 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 3 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 2 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?

2 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. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Anderton Park Primary School, 4 °5 December 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 2 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 No 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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Anderton Park Primary School, 4 °5 December 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

6 December 2007 Dear Children Inspection of Anderton Park Primary School, Birmingham B12 8BL Thank you for making Mrs Boyle, Mr Muton and me so welcome when we visited your school. We really enjoyed talking to you and seeing how enthusiastic you all are about your school and your work. I have visited your school four times now and have seen how quickly it has improved. It is now a satisfactory school because Ms Bufton and all your teachers have worked very hard to sort out all of the problems from the past. Your lessons are now much better because your teachers plan interesting activities which make you think. That is why you are learning much more now. I have asked your teachers to keep up their hard work to make your lessons even better still. I have also asked them to help you improve your writing by practising it more in different subjects. It was good to see how you all get on so well with each other. Your behaviour in lessons is often

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

outstanding ° well done! It is a good idea that you have opportunities to tell the teachers what you think about your school. The school council must be doing a good job and I am sure you enjoy the tea parties with Ms Bufton. I am pleased that your attendance at school has improved ° it must be all those exciting activities you have, like the 'wake-up, shake-up' sessions each morning and afternoon and those special music lessons that some of you have. Some of you may have heard about the school governors. They have to make sure that the school is doing a good job, but some of them are not very good at going to their meetings and they do not always do everything they need to. I have asked them to make sure that they do their job properly. All of your teachers and the adults that care for you in school work really hard and Ms Bufton makes absolutely sure that your school is always getting better. Please keep up all the good

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

work and enjoy your time at school. Good luck! Yours sincerely Mark Mumby Her Majesty's Inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Anderton Park Primary School, 4 °5 December 2007

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