Pemberley Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve pupils’ attendance, by:
  • systematically checking the attendance of all groups of pupils and then acting decisively to reduce pupils’ absence
  • passing information about attendance on to governors so they are better placed to monitor this aspect of leaders’ work.
• Improve leadership and management, by:
  • using assessment information to identify pupils’ underachievement quickly and ensure that a greater proportion of most able pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils, are sufficiently challenged to work at greater depth
  • developing robust systems and procedures for logging, tracking and analysing incidents of poor behaviour.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The head of school is passionate about the school being at the centre of the local community. He is determined that pupils will succeed through a combination of good family support, effective education from staff who feel valued, and involvement in local community events being hosted at the school. Governors, parents and staff are overwhelmingly supportive of his work and vision, and say he is ‘always there and very approachable’.
• The trust offers extremely effective support for the head of school, with coaching from the executive headteacher and advice from the regional director. This guidance is welcomed by the head of school, who acts on it swiftly. Consequently, leaders have the capacity to continue to build on the current successes and to fulfil their vision for their pupils and community.
• The school’s curriculum, which is developed and led by the assistant head of school, meets the needs of pupils well. There is a broad and rich range of subjects, delivered creatively, which is carefully planned across all year groups to offer progression. This ensures that the majority of pupils meet age-related expectations in all subjects. Staff place strong emphasis on successfully developing pupils’ English and mathematical skills in different subjects.
• Leaders make sure pupils have a good understanding of British values through activities such as: elected school councillors; a range of school trips, including one to a Roman settlement; and the celebration of all cultures. Leaders provide many other opportunities for pupils to develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural learning in lessons, in assemblies and during playtimes.
• Pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities are supported successfully so that they can seamlessly join in with the same learning as the rest of the class. Leaders use the funding for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities effectively to provide targeted teaching and emotional support, which is helping pupils to tackle new challenges. Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are making particularly strong progress in reading.
• Pupils of all ages attend the school’s breakfast club and take part in a range of academic, physical and social activities. Pupils enjoy the quality of the healthy breakfast, the range of activities and the chance to socialise with friends.
• Staff are proud to be part of the trust. Parents recognise that the staff ‘work impeccably as a team’. Leaders support staff well to develop their practice, for example through experienced staff working collaboratively with those who are newly qualified.
• Primary physical education (PE) and sport premium is used to improve staff’s ability and confidence to teach PE. It has also been used to extend the range of activities pupils are offered beyond the school day. These activities are extremely popular and attended by the majority of pupils. The school’s sports teams, Pemberley Panthers, compete in sports against other local schools and have already won awards for their attitude to PE.
• Leaders use pupil premium funding well and disadvantaged pupils benefit from a range of strategies to improve their attendance and achievement. Funding is also used to ensure that disadvantaged pupils have equal opportunities to take part in school visits, receive additional support to help fill gaps in their understanding and attend the large number of extra-curricular activities available.
• Leaders do not use their assessment information well enough to identify the groups of pupils who are underperforming. As a result, leaders have not recognised that some most-able pupils, and most-able disadvantaged pupils, are being insufficiently challenged to work at greater depth.
• The head of school and assistant head of school know their pupils and staff very well. Some of the systems for managing improvement, such as tracking pupils’ low-level behaviour problems, rely solely on leaders’ knowledge. This approach does not enable leaders to identify patterns of poor behaviour and put in place appropriate actions.

Governance of the school

Safeguarding

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is consistently good, and leaders successfully prioritise the recruitment of dedicated and skilled teachers. Teachers and other adults in the classroom promote mutual respect, high expectations and a positive attitude from pupils, who want to do what the adults request.
• Teachers challenge pupils to reach age-related expectations and, as a result, pupils sometimes make mistakes. Pupils confidently take risks in their learning because they know that they will learn from their mistakes. For example, a pupil explained that she was proud of a particular piece of work because she had made mistakes and then improved her work as a result.
• Teachers and additional adults working with pupils ask searching questions and give pupils time to consider their answers. Consequently, pupils think about their learning and are well supported in reaching, or working towards, age-related expectations in all subjects.
• Teachers plan effectively to meet the needs of pupils who speak English as an additional language and these pupils make rapid gains in their learning. Pupils who start school speaking very little English quickly catch up so that they are working at similar or higher standards to their peers.
• Teachers know their subjects well. They are skilled at tailoring learning to meet the needs of the majority of pupils in their classrooms. Pupils are given frequent opportunities to use reading, writing and mathematical skills in other subjects. Pupils use these skills well and act upon teachers’ feedback, which helps them to understand how to improve their work further. Occasionally teachers’ feedback does not follow the school’s policy, and then pupils’ progress is not as strong.
• While pupils will respond to feedback and guidance given in line with school policy, they are rarely encouraged to improve their work independently.
• Teachers offer pupils different levels of challenge to try in their learning. In key stage 1, pupils are guided to the most appropriate challenge. As a result, the most able pupils are stretched to meet higher standards. However, in key stage 2, pupils can choose the level of challenge. Teachers do not ensure that most-able pupils choose challenges that are sufficiently demanding.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• There is a strong culture of care for pupils throughout the school, with leaders demonstrating a commitment to working to help families.
• All staff give high priority to the personal development and welfare of their pupils. This is a significant strength of the school. Staff look after children very well in classrooms, on the playground and around school. Consequently, pupils feel totally safe at school.
• At lunchtime, play leaders ensure that other pupils, especially the youngest, respect the equipment available and use it safely.
• Pupils’ self-belief and confidence as learners are clearly evident in lessons. They enjoy their learning and being given the opportunity to share their work. They are able to explain how their learning has improved over time.
• Pupils are supported to understand the importance of living healthily. As a result, they are active in physical sports and competitive games. They also try to eat a balanced diet. At playtimes and lunchtime the school provides a healthy menu of meals and snacks.
• Pupils and parents believe that bullying is very rare. Pupils report their confidence in adults’ ability to deal with any incidents quickly and decisively should they happen at school or online. However, pupils also reported that they do not always follow the advice they are given.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils behave extremely well around school and in lessons, with very few exceptions, respecting each other and adults equally well without needing to be reminded.
• Pupils know right from wrong and take charge of their own behaviour to make sure they abide by leaders’ high expectations. Behaviour management strategies are used consistently well by staff in the classrooms. Parents, pupils and staff agree that behaviour is good.
• A few pupils occasionally behave in an unacceptable manner and are excluded for fixed periods. Leaders have been successful in supporting pupils who have been excluded in the past with improving and managing their behaviour so that they are now fully integrated into school life.
• Pupils’ attendance overall has risen to be broadly in line with the national average. Girls’ attendance is improving but is lower than that of all pupils in the school and nationally.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils make increasingly strong progress, from their individual starting points, across the curriculum. It is particularly evident in mathematics and writing by the end of key stage 1.
• In 2017, the proportions of disadvantaged pupils who reached the expected standards in reading, writing, mathematics and science at the end of key stage 1 were well above those expected for non-disadvantaged pupils nationally. Disadvantaged pupils currently attending the school are making good progress.
• The quality of pupils’ work in subjects other than English and mathematics is of a similarly high standard. Pupils have regular opportunities to make appropriate use of writing and mathematics across a range of subjects. For example, the quality of pupils’ writing in history and science work matches that found in their English books.
• The proportion of Year 1 and Year 2 pupils who reach the expected level in their knowledge of phonics is rising and is now average. This is because of the effective teaching of phonics from the moment children start in the early years class. A few lower-attaining pupils in Year 2 are not given reading books of the right level to support their individual needs.
• Pupils who speak English as an additional language make strong progress across the curriculum, often from very low starting points. By the end of key stage 1, they catch up with their classmates and continue to make good progress in key stage 2.
• Many pupils in Year 4 have joined the school recently. Those who have been at Pemberley long enough to benefit from all that the school has to offer are making strong progress in all subjects.
• In 2017, the proportion of girls reaching expected standards in English and mathematics at the end of Year 2 was lower than that for boys at Pemberley and lower than standards reached by girls nationally. Overall, girls currently at the school have now caught up with their classmates.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make expected progress in writing and mathematics. They make good progress in reading and, with targeted support, can access reading materials appropriate for their ages in key stage 2.
• Most-able pupils do not make consistently good progress. Some, particularly those who are disadvantaged, have not been identified as underperforming quickly enough to accelerate their progress so that they exceed the standards expected for their ages.

Early years provision Good

• Children in early years get off to a good start as a result of well-planned induction procedures and good teaching. They learn well in the setting’s stimulating indoor and outdoor environments. Staff quickly develop good relationships with children and make their learning fun.
• In 2017, the proportion of early years children reaching a good level of development rose to meet that seen nationally.
• Staff provide a good balance of child-led and adult-led learning through purposeful play. Children learn well alongside each other, even when they are not directly supervised. They know right from wrong and will correct each other confidently if a misguided choice is made.
• Staff make regular assessments of pupils as they work and play. Children develop well from often low starting points as a result of adult-led activities meeting individuals’ needs.
• Children who have SEN and/or disabilities are supported well. Adults know these children’s needs and interests very well and ensure that learning is offered in a way that captures their interests. Consequently, these children are ready for the next stage of their education when they leave early years.
• Staff plan activities designed to offer challenges for the most able children when they are working independently. However, the children are not successfully guided to try the activities and they work on the same tasks as their classmates.
• Children develop their knowledge of the world through a broad range of well-planned activities. During the inspection, children were keen to share their knowledge of spiders.
• Phonics is taught well so children quickly gain a good understanding of letters and sounds to support their early reading and writing skills.
• The early years leader has an accurate view of the strengths and areas for development of the provision. She receives effective support from the trust in developing her leadership skills.
• Staff ensure children’s welfare, health and safety at all times, in line with school policy.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140380 Essex 10046580 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy sponsor-led 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 145 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Head of School Telephone number Website Email address Iain Macleod Neil Coster 01279 215745 www.pemberleyacademy.co.uk admin.pemberley@reach2.org Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school is part of the REAch2 Academy Trust. It opened in September 2015.
• A local governing body works alongside a regional board for governance. An executive headteacher supports the head of school for management purposes.
• The school currently has pupils from early years to Year 4. It plans to increase over the next two years to accommodate pupils to Year 6.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above average.
• There has been very high mobility since the school opened in 2015. Seventy-eight per cent of pupils in Year 4 joined Pemberley after the end of key stage 1.
• The proportion of girls in the school is well below average, with only 10% of pupils in Year 3 being girls.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector visited lessons in all classrooms, many with the head of school. She also observed playtime and lunchtime activities.
• The inspector scrutinised pupils’ work in all subjects. She heard pupils read and spoke with pupils about their school and their opinions.
• The inspector held discussions with staff, governors, the executive headteacher and a representative of the trust.
• The inspector looked at a wide range of school documents including: the school’s self-evaluation summary; the school development plan; records of governors’ meetings; policies; and external reviews of the school’s performance.
• The inspector examined 47 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and held informal discussions with parents who accompanied their children to school. She also considered written responses from parents and the online questionnaire responses from staff.

Inspection team

Paula Masters, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector