Queen's Drive Primary School

Queen's Drive Primary School Inspection report

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119292 Unique Reference Number Lancashire Local Authority 326994 Inspection number 3 February 2009 Inspection date Tony Painter 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 4–11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 395 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 Dr David Parker Chair Miss Julie Webster Headteacher 4 May 2006 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection Black Bull Lane School address Fulwood Preston Lancashire PR2 3LA 01772 718344 Telephone number 01772 787126 Fax number

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4–11 Age group 3 February 2009 Inspection date 326994 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 10 Inspection Report: Queen's Drive Primary School, 3 February 2009

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors. The inspectors evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues:

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Introduction

■ How effectively the school is acting to improve pupils’ progress and standards in writing, particularly for higher attaining pupils. ■ The extent to which assessment systems give a clear picture of how well pupils are doing and help teachers’ planning. ■ How well the leadership structure is helping the school identify what needs to improve and take appropriate action. Evidence was gathered from the school’s self-evaluation documents, national published assessment data, the school’s records and procedures, observation of the school at work, parental questionnaires and discussions with pupils, staff and governors. Other aspects of the school’s work were not investigated in detail, but the inspection found no evidence to suggest that the school’s 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 larger-than-average sized school lies in a relatively advantaged area but takes pupils from a much wider area, some of which has significant social and economic disadvantages. However, the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is lower than that found nationally. Almost half of the pupils are from a range of minority ethnic groups and the proportion of pupils whose home language is not English is high. However, fewer pupils are at a very early stage of learning English. Provision for the Early Years Foundation Stage is in two Reception classes. A number of pupils with significant learning needs from a wide area attend the ‘stepping stones’ unit within the school. As a result, the proportion of pupils with a statement of special educational needs is well above average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 10 Inspection Report: Queen's Drive Primary School, 3 February 2009

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Grade: 2

This is a good school with a number of outstanding features which have ensured its good progress since the last inspection. Parents expressed high levels of satisfaction through their responses to the questionnaire, with many positive references to recent changes. ‘A happy, enthusiastic school with caring staff’, ‘I could not be happier with my child’s education’ and ‘keep up the good work’ were typical responses. The school makes outstanding provision for pupils’ care, guidance and support. Systems to ensure pupils’ safety are detailed and extremely effective and the safeguarding systems fully meet statutory requirements. The excellent attention to pupils’ welfare is established through the staff’s outstanding knowledge of each individual child and the very positive relationships they establish. This extremely positive care and support is effective in ensuring that all aspects of pupils’ personal development are at the highest level. By the time pupils leave the school they are very

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Grade: 2

mature individuals, aware of their options for the future and able to speak clearly about their aspirations. Pupils’ outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development equips them extremely well to take a full part in the excellent range of learning opportunities. High quality provision for information and communication technology enhances many lessons. The school makes very effective use of visits, visitors and good partnerships with other organisations to give pupils lively and stimulating experiences. For example, specialist teaching promotes the achievement of gifted and talented pupils in many areas of the curriculum and local health workers led a ‘teddy bears clinic’ to raise Year 2 pupils’ awareness of health matters. The school has made a good start in taking action to promote community cohesion. It has a clear view of the local area, including the wide range of faiths, cultures and ethnic backgrounds involved. It

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Grade: 2

has taken positive action to work closely with others, including those in very different areas, to widen pupils’ experiences. The pupils respond well and are positive about others with different backgrounds, showing a good understanding of significant shared values. Pupils enjoy working together and show good levels of empathy for others. They have clear and detailed understanding of how to be safe and healthy. Pupils’ high levels of attendance and their exemplary behaviour make very positive contributions to their learning. Effective reorganisation of the leadership and management structure has given staff at all levels increased opportunities to contribute to school development planning. The extended senior leadership team fully shares the headteacher’s clear vision for the school. There are very effective systems to identify where improvements can be made and what action should be taken. Professional development is carefully and productively matched to the needs of both

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Grade: 2

the school and the individual staff. Very clear and open arrangements to implement and monitor improvements ensure that senior leaders have a very detailed and accurate picture of the school, evaluated in terms of the extent to which actions improve the outcomes for pupils. Records of pupils’ progress are detailed and targets are set and shared with pupils. As a result, the school’s self-evaluation is outstanding and forms an extremely secure foundation for the school’s continued improvement. Governors are also actively involved in the school improvement process through the strategy committee and they ensure a high level of challenge in such meetings. They are less actively involved in following through developments and gaining a first-hand picture of how effectively change is being implemented. A significant strength of the school is the way that the outstanding leadership is very focused on the needs of different groups of pupils. For example, analysis of the detailed Early Years

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Grade: 2

Foundation Stage assessments indicated some weaker aspects of some children’s personal 4 of 10 Inspection Report: Queen's Drive Primary School, 3 February 2009 development. This analysis identified a need to increase the involvement of boys of Asian backgrounds and the subsequent appropriate improvements to the curriculum have had a very positive impact. Children of all backgrounds are now making equally good progress through the school in all aspects of their development. Building on the good progress made in the Reception classes, pupils achieve well in Key Stage 1. Pupils reach standards that are clearly above average by the end of Year 2. Some year-to-year variations are the result of the different groups of pupils, including some with high proportions of pupils with learning difficulties. Pupils’ progress through Key Stage 2 is significantly better than that found nationally and overall standards are well above average by the end of Year 6.

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Grade: 2

This is good overall achievement for pupils through the school. However, this picture of good overall standards and progress masks some relative weaknesses in pupils’ writing. Although high proportions of pupils reach the higher Level 5 in mathematics and science by the end of Year 6, the number of pupils reaching this level in writing remains around the national average. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are effectively assessed and their needs are effectively met. This ensures that the school is able to be inclusive and offer good equality of opportunity. Those pupils in the ‘stepping stones’ unit, for example, are given work that is carefully matched to their needs and their personal development benefits considerably from good opportunities to be a part of the whole school. The specific needs of those pupils with limited knowledge and experience of English are also securely met and such pupils often make

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Grade: 2

rapid progress as their confidence increases. Throughout the school good teaching ensures pupils’ effective overall progress. Consistent organisation and the establishment of very good relationships give pupils security and the confidence to try their best. For example, teachers use consistent strategies to give pupils good opportunities to discuss their work before answering questions, which helps them to express their ideas clearly. This supportive ethos in all classes helps pupils to gain very positive attitudes to learning. They clearly and demonstrably enjoy their learning and speak excitedly of their lessons. Teachers’ planning is detailed and they ensure pupils are aware of the purpose of each lesson, which helps them to evaluate their own learning. New strategies to encourage pupils’ self-assessment are developing well and teachers make good use of their informal assessments of pupils’ progress to plan their lessons.

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Grade: 2

The school has correctly identified the relative weakness in writing and introduced a good range of appropriate measures throughout the school to tackle the concern. Early indications from these are positive and show pupils catching up ground at rates faster than expected, in some cases very rapidly. Pupils’ current work, however, still shows some of the weaknesses in organisation, vocabulary and accuracy that were present in the scripts submitted for the national tests last year. Teachers’ marking successfully identifies general strengths and ways in which pupils may improve their work. There is less attention, however, to directly addressing the specific weaknesses in each pupil’s own work and demonstrating precisely how this can be improved.

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Grade: 2

Well managed provision in the two Reception classes ensures that children get off to a very good start to their school lives. Children have a wide range of abilities and development on entering the reception classes. Overall, this is broadly in line with that expected for their ages although there are some areas of development where many children show moderate weaknesses. 5 of 10 Inspection Report: Queen's Drive Primary School, 3 February 2009 Their overall progress in the Reception classes is good and by the time the children move into Year 1 their attainment is a little above the national averages. Good action has been taken to adapt the provision to meet the national guidance for this age group and improvements, including the stimulating outdoor area, are having a positive effect. Well established routines ensure that children’s welfare has the highest priority so they feel secure and thrive in the

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Grade: 2

caring atmosphere. Their personal development, in particular, is extremely well supported so children quickly develop independence and confidently make sensible choices about their activities. Children enjoy new friendships and play and learn well together, frequently showing good levels of concentration and effort. Their enjoyment of their learning is evident in the enthusiastic way they talk about their work and the stories they are ‘reading’. Staff get to know and respond to each individual child. Careful observation and good assessment arrangements help staff to quickly identify and provide support for any children with additional learning needs. Review of the assessment information shows that children make more rapid progress than found nationally. Analysis of the data is also effectively steering adaptations to meet the needs of different groups of children.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve writing skills, particularly of higher attaining pupils, by analysing and identifying where improvements can be made and working closely with them to improve their own work. 6 of 10 Inspection Report: Queen's Drive Primary School, 3 February 2009 .

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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. 7 of 10 Inspection Report: Queen's Drive Primary School, 3 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? 1 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? 1 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? 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/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. 8 of 10 Inspection Report: Queen's Drive Primary School, 3 February 2009

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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 The extent to which learners enjoy their education 1 The attendance of learners 1 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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learners' needs?

How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? 1 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 1 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 1 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? 9 of 10 Inspection Report: Queen's Drive Primary School, 3 February 2009

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

4 February 2009 Dear Children, Inspection of Queen's Drive Primary School, Lancashire, PR2 3LA Thank you very much for the warm welcome you gave to me and Mr Bennetts when we inspected the school. You impressed us with your politeness and the ways you were all very keen to tell us all about your school and the work you were doing. Your parents also gave us a lot of comments about how well they think you are doing, so please thank them for us. We agree with you that yours is a good school. Outstanding care helps you to feel safe and gives you the confidence to try hard. The school gives you some excellent experiences in lessons and good teaching helps you to improve your work well all through the school. As a result, you grow up to be extremely mature young people with an excellent understanding of how to look after yourselves and make the best of your lives. Your school is very good at identifying what it needs to do to make things better for you. I’m

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

sure you’re aware of the many improvements that are going on all the time. Teachers are already trying to help you to improve your writing in lots of positive ways, which are showing real signs of success. I have asked the school to go a bit further in identifying exactly what help you need and to make sure that you are given more detailed help on exactly what you each need to do to improve your own writing. This is particularly important for those of you whose writing could reach the higher levels. Thank you again for showing me your school. I wish you and your families the very best for the future. Yours sincerely Tony Painter Lead inspector 10 of 10 Inspection Report: Queen's Drive Primary School, 3 February 2009

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