Carville Primary School

Carville Primary School Inspection report

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108592 Unique Reference Number North Tyneside Local Authority 324798 Inspection number 25–26 February 2009 Inspection dates Barbara Hudson Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare, managed by the governing body, was inspected under section 49 of the Childcare Act 2006.

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Primary Type of school Community School category 3–11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 179 School (total) 0 Government funded early education provision for children aged 3 to the end of the EYFS 0 Childcare provision for children aged 0 to 3 years The governing body Appropriate authority Mr David Griffiths Chair Miss Claire Johnson Headteacher 28 November 2007 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection The Avenue School address Wallsend Tyne and Wear NE28 6AX 0191 2007236 Telephone number 0191 2006962 Fax number

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3–11 Age group 25–26 February 2009 Inspection dates 324798 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. 2 of 11 Inspection Report: Carville Primary School, 25–26 February 2009

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Carville is a small primary school with a Nursery. It is located in an area of high social and economic disadvantage. A high proportion of pupils are eligible for free school meals. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is broadly average. The percentage of pupils whose first language is not English is below average.

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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: Carville Primary School, 25–26 February 2009

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Grade: 2

Carville Primary School is a good school. It has made very good improvements since the last inspection and is providing good value for money. There have been significant improvements over the last year and therefore, in accordance with section 13 (5) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires significant improvement. Staff, governors and pupils are correctly proud of their school and are determined to continue to improve to make the school even better. Parents are very happy with the school, they feel that communications are much better and most appreciate the good advice they receive to help their children. The inspirational leadership of the headteacher has been pivotal in the drive to build a good foundation for further development. She has sensitively developed the leadership and management skills of all staff and governors. This process has been rewarded with the

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Grade: 2

establishment of a strong team of good leaders and managers. Rigorous monitoring and evaluation by senior staff ensure that teachers and teaching assistants are held accountable for the teaching and learning and standards and achievement of the pupils in their class. Effective professional development for staff has improved assessment and developed greater awareness of what pupils should be able to achieve. The result of this attention has been that pupils’ progress and standards have risen sharply this academic year. The focus has correctly been on literacy and numeracy and management of these subjects is good. The role of monitoring and evaluating what is happening in other subjects is less well developed Pupils achieve well from starting points below those expected for their age and reach broadly average standards. This represents a significant improvement on the consistently below and well below standards that pupils were attaining over time. During the last year pupils have

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Grade: 2

responded well to the introduction of more challenging targets that let them know what they are expected to achieve in a lesson and what they need to improve. This has contributed to the pupils’ lively appetite for learning. The thorough use of information from the school’s tracking of pupils’ progress means that if a pupil begins to fall behind they are quickly indentified and additional effective support is provided. The careful monitoring of all pupils including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, those learning English as an additional language and the more able shows that they make good progress. Teaching and learning are good. All staff have high expectations of what pupils can achieve. The consistently good marking, feedback and challenging targets that are set for pupils are major factors to the improved standards and achievement. Teachers’ planning is very thorough and it caters for the wide range of abilities in each class. Teaching assistants are carefully

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Grade: 2

deployed and they make a very positive contribution to the improvements within the school. The curriculum is good and the school provides a very wide range of high quality visits and visitors and breakfast, lunchtime and after-school clubs which enriches the pupils’ experiences. Community cohesion is well provided for in the curriculum: pupils have many opportunities to work and play together and learn about different communities. The curriculum, however, does not always allow for links to be made between subjects to help pupils build on the skills and knowledge they learn in one subject and apply them in others. Pupils’ personal development is good. The very caring ethos created in the school has enabled pupils to be confident, treat each other with respect and work and play in harmony. Pupils are well motivated, interested in what they are doing and enjoy learning. They have a good 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Carville Primary School, 25–26 February 2009

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Grade: 2

understanding of the importance of a healthy lifestyle and how to stay safe. They make a positive contribution to the community and, by developing adequate literacy and numeracy skills they are in a secure position to move on to the next stage of their education. Pupils’ attendance is satisfactory and is improving. Pupils are well cared for in terms of safety and their personal, social and academic education. The policies and procedures to ensure pupils are safe and well cared for are effectively in place.

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Grade: 2

Provision and management in the Early Years Foundation Stage are good and a significant improvement on the last inspection. All staff have developed and consistently apply good teaching skills although some letter and sound activities are insufficiently interactive to fully engage the children. Staff provide a rich curriculum which offers the same levels of challenge and stimulation indoors and outdoors, within a happy, safe and secure environment. Staff have correctly focused on ensuring that all areas of learning provide many opportunities for children to develop their basic speaking and listening, literacy, numeracy and personal and social skills. This has resulted in children making good progress. Standards are rising and children in the Reception year are now working at age related expectations whereas when they started Nursery their skills were below those typical for their age. Planning and assessment is well managed

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Grade: 2

and staff use this to plan interesting learning opportunities which also take into account individual children’s needs. The welfare of children is good. Parents are welcomed into the Early Years Foundation Unit and relationships are fostered through accessing initiatives such as ‘Learning through play’. This helps to build positive relationships with parents and carers. There is a cohesive team spirit which supports the good work of this unit. Significant improvements since the last inspection are reflected in a parent’s comment ‘the improvements have been fantastic and my child loves coming here’.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the curriculum provision so that pupils have greater opportunities to apply their learning in more meaningful ways across all subjects. ■ Improve the evaluation of all other subjects in a similar way to that for literacy and numeracy.

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Grade: 2

Achievement is good. Most pupils currently in Years 1 to 6 started in Key Stage 1 at below average levels and make good progress to reach average standards. This is a significant improvement on the standards seen in the school’s national assessment and test results over time. Over a number of years the school’s results in the Year 2 national assessments and the Year 6 national tests have been consistently below or well below average. Inspection evidence indicates that standards are now broadly average throughout the school and improving rapidly, although a legacy of underachievement remains that is being consistently and successfully tackled. These improvements have occurred because high quality professional development has made teachers very aware of what the pupils should be doing at any given age. The comprehensive monitoring of teachers’ work has ensured that their improved knowledge is effectively applied. As a result, all teachers ensure that all pupils, including those who are

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Grade: 2

learning English as an additional language, those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and gifted and talented pupils meet and frequently exceed their challenging targets. In turn, 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Carville Primary School, 25–26 February 2009 this has resulted in significantly improved achievement and rising standards over this academic year. Pupils who underachieve are very quickly identified and are provided with additional and effective support and help to get them back on track. Although these improvements are recent, the commitment and dedication of the staff and improvements to aspects of monitoring and tracking strengthens the sustainability of these improvements.

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Grade: 2

Pupils’ personal development and well-being, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are good. Pupils of all ages enjoy coming to school, have positive attitudes to learning and take advantage of the breadth of activities that they are offered. Their behaviour is good and pupils appreciate the ‘Good to be Green’ system. Pupils say that, ‘behaviour has definitely improved in the last year’. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of education because they are confident, self-reliant, literate and numerate. They have a secure understanding of how to stay healthy. Attendance is satisfactory and improving following the school’s interventions. Pupils know how to stay safe and they are confident that any problems, including bullying, will be quickly dealt with. They also make a valuable contribution within the wider community such as through their involvement as ‘consultants’ to refurbishment of the local

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Grade: 2

park. The school has tackled pupils’ personal development with the same rigor that they have used to improve pupils’ academic achievement and see the journey of improvement continuing.

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Grade: 2

Good teaching, in particular the very good consistent marking, feedback and challenging targets that all teachers provide for the pupils has contributed to the improvements in standards and achievement. Pupils’ learning is good because they are motivated and act upon comments from the teachers and teaching assistants. All teaching staff have high expectations of what the pupils can achieve, their planning is good and they cater well for the very wide range of ability in each class. Their relationships with the pupils are very good and this contributes to the good behaviour in lessons. Teaching is consistently good or better in Years 5 and 6 because staff maintain a very good pace to each lesson by introducing new and interesting activities for the pupils to do at appropriate times. In other lessons the activities pupils are expected to do are not always as interesting as they could be and sometimes too much time is allocated to complete

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Grade: 2

The good curriculum caters particularly well for the pupils’ personal development. Pupils are provided with a wide range of interesting visits and visitors to the school and an extensive range of high quality clubs that are well attended. Opportunities for pupils to work and play together are provided and this promotes harmony between pupils from different backgrounds. Many teachers currently teach different subjects in separate lessons and sometimes therefore miss opportunities to link aspects of pupils’ learning. The school has identified that it needs to review the way the subjects are taught so as to make the lessons more meaningful and fun for the pupils. The ‘Carville University’ on a Friday afternoon, where pupils choose a course to 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Carville Primary School, 25–26 February 2009 pursue and ‘graduate’ at the end of the half term, is an innovative approach that contributes

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Grade: 2

to raising the pupils’ aspirations and motivation to learn.

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Grade: 2

Care, guidance and support are good. Safeguarding procedures are firmly embedded to meet national guidelines. Risk assessments are in place to ensure the health and safety of pupils. Policies and practice to ensure pupils have equality of opportunity are in place. The school tracks pupils’ progress accurately and uses this detailed information effectively. Pupils who need extra support are identified quickly and appropriate interventions are put in place. This, along with the consistent good use of the school’s own ‘green and pink’ system for marking pupils’ work and the effective use of targets ensures most pupils meet or exceed age-related expectations. This is particularly evident in the good progress that more able pupils are making. There are good links with outside agencies which ensures that the needs of pupils, especially vulnerable pupils and those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are met.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. The inspirational headteacher has carefully developed the leadership and management qualities of the senior leadership team, all other staff and governors. This has led to effective teamwork and shared approaches that have been rewarded with significant improvements in the school. The school’s self-evaluation process is rigorous and ensures that the school has a good understanding of its strengths and areas for improvement. Staff are now more accountable for the quality of learning and teaching in their classes and this has had a significant impact on improving pupils’ standards and achievement. All teaching staff have responded positively to a wide range of high quality local authority support and professional development. They have a clear understanding of what is expected of them and this is exemplified by the now rigorous planning of lessons and systematic making

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Grade: 2

of pupils’ work. Over the last year the school has correctly concentrated on literacy and numeracy and subject coordination in these subjects is good. The management of other subjects is less well developed particularly their roles in monitoring and evaluating what is happening in their subjects. The school effectively evaluates its community cohesion and this is promoted effectively with many opportunities for pupils to improve their social and cultural development that successfully promotes harmony between pupils from different backgrounds. This results in a real feeling of belonging to the school and local community. Governance is good. The governors are fully involved and effectively hold the school to account. Parents are very supportive and most appreciate the good advice that the school provides. There is a strong commitment to make further improvements from governors and all staff. The capacity to improve is good.

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Grade: 2

7 of 11 Inspection Report: Carville Primary School, 25–26 February 2009 .

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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: Carville Primary School, 25–26 February 2009

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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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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? 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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EYFS?

2 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? How good are the overall personal development and well-being of the children in the EYFS? 2 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 2 How effectively is the welfare of children in the EYFS promoted? 2 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed?

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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/or disabilities make progress

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Achievement and standards

1 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: Carville Primary School, 25–26 February 2009

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which 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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learners' needs?

How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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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 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 2 How well does the school contribute to community cohesion? 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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Carville Primary School, 25–26 February 2009

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

27 February 2009 Dear Pupils Inspection of Carville Primary School, North Tyneside, NE28 6AX Thank you for making the inspectors so welcome when we inspected your school. We were delighted with the polite, helpful and friendly way in which you helped us to enjoy our visit. You answered our questions well and we were very pleased to hear that you enjoy coming to school because you want to learn, you have lots of interesting things to do and the staff and pupils are very friendly. We are pleased to tell you that we agree with you that Carville Primary School is a good school. Like you, we recognise that the staff have recently put a lot of work into the school to make it a better place for you to learn. First we would like to tell you about the good things we found during our visit. We know that you enjoy learning and behave well. Teachers help you to improve your work by the ‘pink and green’ marking in your books and the challenging targets that they set you. All adults take

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

good care of you and help you to become responsible, confident young people. The headteacher, staff and governors are passionate about improving your education. We did find some areas where the school can continue to improve the education that they provide for you. These are developing the ways in which different subjects are taught to you and improving the ways that teachers make sure all of the subjects in the curriculum are effectively evaluated. We enjoyed talking to you, your teachers and all the other adults in your school, as well as watching you learning in the lessons that we saw. We wish you and all the staff the very best for the future. Yours faithfully Barbara Hudson Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Carville Primary School, 25–26 February 2009

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