Prince Avenue Academy and Nursery Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further improve pupils’ achievement by:
  • raising the standard of pupils’ written work in key stage 1 by ensuring that teaching shows pupils how to form letters accurately, to write neatly and to present their work carefully
  • ensuring that all teachers provide sufficient challenge for the most able pupils
  • developing the learning environment in the early years with appropriate resources so that both the indoor and outdoor areas conform to the leader’s high expectations.
• Improve leadership and management by:
  • defining specifically how the pupil premium funding is targeted to support disadvantaged pupils to overcome the barriers they face to learning and fully evaluate the use of the funding
  • introducing procedures for assessing how well pupils are achieving in foundation subjects as the curriculum is revised and implemented.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher provides calm and determined leadership; working closely with the deputy headteacher he ensures that all staff understand what is expected of them. The school’s ethos of high expectations and careful attention to pupils’ needs is evident in all aspects of its work. Pupils’ success and well-being are very important to staff; as a result pupils enjoy learning and make good progress.
• The partnership between the school and the sponsoring academy trust is strong. It has brought increased challenge and raised expectations of what pupils can go on to achieve. Staff from the sponsoring grammar school support the teaching of higher-attaining pupils in Year 6. This enhances pupils’ attainment, and the staff, too, are finding out more about how much pupils can achieve.
• Schools in the trust are working increasingly closely. Staff are developing an understanding of the contexts of each other’s schools. Staff work collaboratively to compare the quality of pupils’ work and check the accuracy of their assessments. Joint appointments, for example of the inclusion manager, are bringing increased expertise and capacity that support improvement well.
• Changes made over the past year have re-energised leadership and increased the rigour with which leaders review how well pupils are doing. Senior leaders’ analysis of pupils’ achievement is distributed to phase and subject leaders who take responsibility for ensuring that improvement happens. Whether for an individual pupil or in a particular aspect of teaching, this is working effectively to hold all members of staff to account and to bring a shared understanding of what needs to happen next.
• Leaders monitor the quality of teaching, learning and assessment frequently. Information gathered from this and from the regular consideration of pupils’ achievement is used to identify key targets for teachers’ development.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has a detailed understanding of the pupils she is responsible for supporting. Pupils’ needs are accurately identified because analysis is regular and detailed. Funding to support pupils is used effectively through costed plans for their support. As a result, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points.
• The school’s ‘care team’ ensures that pupils receive the care and support they need to attend school and enjoy learning. Pupils’ needs are carefully considered and positive relationships with wider agencies are used to help staff support pupils effectively as well as to gain access to specialist help. A strength of the work of this team is wider support given to families and the early access to expertise it provides for pupils with emotional and mental health issues.
• Staff understand the barriers that disadvantaged pupils face to their learning and have used the additional funding to support them and to implement strategies to help overcome them; for example, through focused talking time in the early years and additional help for reading in Year 1. Care team involvement ensures that pupils receive support for their wider needs. While this helps pupils to make good progress from their starting points, the lack of analysis of which strategies have the greatest impact means that leaders and governors do not know which provide the best value for money.
• Leaders are currently reviewing whether the curriculum fully meets the needs and interests of all pupils. It is broad and balanced and pupils talk knowledgeably and enthusiastically about what they are learning in different subjects, particularly religious education. Teachers monitor curriculum coverage through their planning but no procedures are in place to assess how well pupils are achieving in subjects other than English and mathematics.
• Through assemblies, trips and wider clubs, teachers provide pupils with a wide range of experiences which teach them to respect others, to be creative and to reflect on the wonders of the wider world. Pupils have an excellent understanding of equality and diversity and describe the need for respect and tolerance in society meaningfully.
• Leaders use the primary school physical education and sport premium funding effectively to increase the range of sporting opportunities provided for pupils. The school netball team has been established, pupils compete in competitive sports and festivals and their athletics skills have improved. Pupils’ engagement has increased through the specialist teaching made available and a significant proportion participate in out-of-school clubs.
• The vast majority of parents spoken to by inspectors and those who responded to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, say their children are happy at school and are making good progress. Parents recognise that behaviour has improved and say that there are good support systems in place for them should they need them.
• Breakfast club provides an excellent calm, purposeful and nurturing start to the day. Pupils experience a good range of activities, including special celebratory events each week such as celebrating St Patrick’s Day by eating soda bread. They participate in a healthy breakfast and develop independent skills as they help with activities such as washing up.

Governance of the school

• The local governing body retains the majority of responsibilities for the school. The academy trust retains an oversight of standards and is responsible for finance. Through the trust, the headteacher is challenged to continue to improve standards and he works collaboratively with the trust and other school leaders to develop provision across schools. This brings benefits for staff and children.
• Governors know the school well and are proud of the care and provision pupils receive. Link governors undertake learning walks with relevant leaders to ascertain whether improvement is being sustained. In response to the decline in phonics standards, governors endorsed leaders’ decision to restructure how reading and writing are taught. They have also supported the improvements to the early years provision.
• Minutes of governing body meetings show that they ask questions about whether pupils are achieving as well as they can. In some instances, governors agreed the level of challenge they bring to follow up these questions is not sufficiently rigorous.
• Governors know how the pupil premium is spent. They also know in broad terms the impact that has on disadvantaged pupils’ achievement. They do not currently have the information they need to be able to understand which uses of this funding provide the best value for money.
• Governors visit to ensure that health and safety requirements are met. They check that statutory requirements for safeguarding are met. They ensure that the management of teachers’ performance is appropriate and that staff are awarded for the quality of their work.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders take their safeguarding responsibilities seriously. Whatever their role, staff are vigilant in fulfilling their safeguarding duties. The site manager rigorously pursues health and safety procedures in all aspects of his work, the business manager keeps a very tight hold on recruitment information and records of staff suitability to work with children and staff report and record their concerns with care.
• Staff training is kept up to date and is supplemented by guidance on the most recent statutory requirements. Through weekly safeguarding meetings, the care team provides effective support for pupils when concerns are identified, both through their own knowledge and also through the robust relationships they have established with wider agencies.
• The potential vulnerabilities of pupils are understood and as well as ensuring that staff understand the risks the pupils may be exposed to, leaders make sure pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe. This includes them being taught about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, smoking and those related to misuse of the internet.
• The school’s ethos of nurture and care is evident in the quality of its safeguarding. The school environment is one where pupils are encouraged to understand how they can overcome challenges and how they can share concerns should it be necessary.
• The vast majority of parents say their children are safe and well looked after at school. Pupils endorse this view.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers create harmonious, calm learning environments in their classrooms. Pupils have the resources they need to support their work and develop positive attitudes to learning. Displays in classrooms and around the school reflect the standards expected as well as the range of work pupils undertake. In a key stage 2 class, a totem pole model, designed and created by the pupils, provides an unusual representation of how well they understand the positive attitudes to learning they are encouraged to develop.
• Relationships between pupils and between pupils, teachers and teaching assistants are very positive. Pupils have fun while they learn and are encouraged to learn from any mistakes they make. Adults manage behaviour positively and pupils work hard to succeed.
• The SENCo ensures that pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported to make progress in their learning. Teachers take responsibility for pupils in the class but they are well guided in their choice of resources and strategies to help pupils learn. Teachers and teaching assistants liaise well about the progress pupils make and share responsibility for different pupils at different times. Where this works best, pupils quickly develop the ability to improve their learning independently and make good progress as a result.
• Pupils are taught how their attitude to the task in hand can influence how well they achieve. From the early years, they develop an understanding of how characteristics such as resilience and concentration can help them to be successful. They accurately describe the way they need to approach a task and talk avidly about which behaviours they are using to help their progress. By the time they reach Year 6, pupils are well prepared for the demands of secondary school.
• Teachers use assessment frequently to adapt lessons to meet pupils’ needs as they learn. Teachers also skilfully enable pupils to build on what they already know to make more progress. Expectations of pupils are made clear in the front of their books and both teachers and pupils contribute to the ongoing analysis of whether they are meeting these. The level of challenge is about right for pupils in most classes although in some, the most able pupils are too often given work that does not stretch their thinking enough.
• In key stage 1, the relatively recently introduced approach to teaching reading and writing together is proving to be effective. Pupils are developing and using their understanding of phonics more accurately than they have in the past. In a Year 1 class, in response to lively, engaging teaching of core skills, pupils were working together with great concentration to check each other’s knowledge of letter sounds and to retell and write stories. Learning time was maximised and pupils’ understanding developed rapidly.
• The teaching of handwriting skills, for example letter formation and expectations of the standards of presentation, is less well focused upon in key stage 1. As a result, pupils’ work does not fully reflect the capabilities they are developing or their conscientious attitudes to their work.
• Teachers are increasingly encouraging pupils to use the number knowledge they learn in mathematics to solve problems. They use questioning well to extend pupils’ reasoning skills and to develop a deeper understanding of mathematics. As they progress through the school, pupils use the skills they learn with increasing fluency and understanding.
• Where teaching is best, teachers’ enthusiasm and thoughtful selection of books helps pupils to develop a love of reading. In a Year 3 lesson, pupils were well supported by adults because questioning about the content of their reading was precise and drew out their understanding of the text. Pupils talk about their favourite fiction works and about authors knowledgeably.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Personal, health and social education is threaded through the curriculum so pupils learn how to stay healthy and safe at an age-appropriate level. A striking feature of classrooms is the extent to which pupils try hard to succeed and enjoy their work. This is because adults encourage them to work together, share ideas and to enjoy collaborative success.
• In addition to working together well, pupils develop an excellent understanding of personal characteristics that influence how well they learn. They develop resilience, confidence and perseverance in their desire to be successful. By the end of Year 6 they are articulate, competent learners well prepared for the next stage in their education.
• Pupils show interest in their creative tasks and are encouraged to reflect on what they learn and to appreciate the magic of the natural world such as a seed germinating. Through such activities, they develop a fascination for new learning. Pupils grow in the ability to drive their own success through developing resilience and taking responsibility for their own learning.
• Staff help pupils to learn how to stay safe well. Pupils understand what cyber bullying is and the effect it can have on well-being. They are taught to share concerns with a trusted adult if they have them and say that they know what to do if an incident happens at school such as a first aid emergency.
• The care team ensures that the welfare of pupils is considered as a high priority. Pupils’ needs are well understood including the challenges some pupils face in being able to access learning without worrying about wider issues. The emotional and mental health of pupils is carefully considered and well supported. The importance the school places on managing pupils’ welfare results in them being able to focus on and enjoy their learning.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. The ethos in classrooms reflects the effort pupils make to learn well. Inspectors saw no incidents of poor behaviour. Pupils are well behaved throughout the school day. They welcome visitors warmly and share their enthusiasm for the things they are learning about.
• In year groups other than Reception, a significant proportion of pupils start the school at times other than the usual ones. For example, 48 pupils have joined the school in this academic year since September. These changes are managed effectively. Pupils’ needs are quickly assessed and support is put in place to help them learn well. The school’s warm ethos and positive approach to caring help pupils to settle rapidly and well.
• The relentless approach of the care team to ensuring that pupils are in school and learning is thorough and unremitting. Attendance has improved to be in line with the national average and the amount of persistent absence has halved. Pupils understand the importance of being in school and enjoy the recognition they receive for attending well.
• Pupils develop trusting relationships with each other and with the adults in school. They readily take on responsibility such as being a buddy to other pupils who might not have friends to play with. Pupils support each other very well in the classroom and this helps them to make good progress in their learning.
• Leaders have recognised that in the past, too many pupils did not feel safe at school; mostly because of incidents of poor behaviour and bullying. They have worked hard to address this. Activities such as ‘show racism the red card’, ‘bully beat’ and presentations on cyber bullying as well as extra training for staff have all improved this. Pupils say they feel safe in school; there are currently no recorded incidents of bullying or racism in this academic year.
• Staff recognise and contribute to these improvements. A midday supervisor explained how the playground is, ‘a pleasure to share with children, it’s better than it’s ever been’. Staff appreciate the vigilance of the deputy headteacher in helping them to manage any incidents of less than good behaviour. Although the playground is busy, pupils play happily and creatively together.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Children start in the Nursery with a range of skills and abilities and for a significant proportion these are below those typical for their age, particularly in communication and language skills and personal, social and emotional development.
• By the end of Year 6 in 2016, pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics was above the national average. The headteacher views this as the culmination of pupils’ journey through the school. Pupils made a slower start to acquiring key skills by the end of key stage 1 nonetheless their achievement at the end of Year 6 was good.
• The high level of pupil mobility affects how pupils’ outcomes are reported at the end of Years 2 and 6 because often pupils join or leave the school in the year their assessments are reported. As soon as a pupil joins the school they are a ‘Prince Avenue pupil’ and they benefit from rapid assessment of their learning and well-focused care. As a result, pupils achieve well during the time they are at the school.
• Outcomes in the phonics screening check in 2015 and 2016 were below the national average. Disadvantaged pupils attained less well in this check. By the end of Year 2, in 2016 pupils’ skills in phonics still lagged behind.
• Leaders responded to this by implementing rigorous processes for teaching phonics, reading and writing. There is good evidence across the early years and Years 1 and 2 that this is already having an impact on attainment. Pupils know and use their letter sounds to both read and write effectively. Current information supported by pupils’ learning and work shows that more are securing a good understanding. Consequently, a proportion similar to the national average in 2016 are on track to achieve at least the expected standard. This cohort includes a number of boys who have special educational needs and/or disabilities – while they are not yet working at age-related expectations, they are making good progress in acquiring key skills.
• At the end of key stage 1 in 2016, pupils’ attainment was below the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders’ analysis, supported by the work seen in classes, particularly that resulting from the new reading and writing procedures, shows that an increasing number of pupils are working at age-related levels. Pupils are making good progress in acquiring and confidently using their key skills. An increased proportion are already working at age-related levels in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Pupils learn well across a range of subjects because teachers carefully link different subjects to make learning meaningful. Pupils talk knowledgeably about their learning, for example in religious education, their thirst for knowledge and positive learning behaviour makes classrooms exciting learning environments.
• The presentation of pupils’ work in key stage 1 does not match the quality of learning. Pupils are not taught how to form letters or how to present their work well enough.
• Outcomes at the end of key stage 2 reflect the increasingly strong progress pupils make as they move through the school. In 2016, more pupils than nationally attained the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics. Attainment in reading and grammar, punctuation and spelling and the work in pupils’ books reflects the high quality of English teaching.
• As they move through the school, pupils make increasingly good progress in mathematics because they are given the opportunity to use the number facts and knowledge to solve problems and to learn across a range of subjects. In some instances, there is not enough challenge to ensure that particularly the most able pupils make all the progress of which they are capable.
• Pupils make good progress in reading. Teachers support them well to predict what might happen in a story and to discuss what authors really mean to communicate in their writing. Staff training, for example in higher order questioning, has improved the development of pupils’ skills. Pupils are presented with a range of reading resources and, by the end of Year 6, make confident comparisons between texts finding relevant information to justify their findings appropriately.
• Disadvantaged pupils in key stage 2 made similar progress to other pupils nationally. Strong teaching and timely intervention ensure that pupils receive the help they need to make good and better progress.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are accurately assessed and their needs are well met. Both those requiring extra support and those who have an education, health and care plan or statement of special educational needs make good and sometimes outstanding progress from their starting points because of the excellent support they receive.
• Pupils are becoming confident, collaborative learners. They understand the characteristics that support effective learning and use these to become increasingly successful as they move through the school. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage in their education. They can present arguments, demonstrate their skills and sustain strong relationships with adults and their peers.

Early years provision Good

• Children get off to a good start in the early years because their learning is well planned for and their social and emotional needs cared for well. Children’s development is tracked carefully and staff spend time with parents developing an understanding of the children that helps them settle quickly into school.
• In 2016, the proportion of children who achieved a good level of development was below the national average. The proportion of boys who reached this standard was low. Current assessment information shows that improvements to teaching, and to the range of activities children can access to develop their independence and social skills, are addressing this decline.
• Since September, the new early years leader has completely changed how children’s learning needs are planned for and met. In addition to well-focused direct teaching, children have a good range of activities to access during the day. These help them to use and understand the new skills they learn effectively.
• This reorganisation is still ‘a work in progress’. While the teaching children receive is more focused, the reorganisation of the early years area and the development of staff, to more sharply focus their support at the point of children’s learning, are still improving. Plans to resource the outdoor area so that it provides children with enough high-quality learning opportunities that meet the new leader’s plans and expectations are not yet complete.
• Nevertheless, early literacy and mathematics skills are taught carefully, children’s learning journeys and staff records show they make increasingly good progress during their time in the early years because of the focused support they receive.
• Phonics is taught carefully, in line with the new structures implemented in key stage 1. At this stage in the year, children in the Nursery and Reception class are making good progress in acquiring an understanding of initial sounds and in some cases, blends of letters. Children accurately explained how to spell the words they were using in the writing.
• Wider learning opportunities are engaging and fun. In the Nursery, children were hugely involved in finding objects longer and shorter than a giant’s foot! Building on the ‘Jack and the beanstalk’ theme, a giant had visited their classroom overnight leaving behind enormous, sparkling footprints. Children excitedly speculated where the giant was now, deciding whether he had climbed the beanstalk reaching to the classroom ceiling while they collected and measured objects.
• A number of children have special educational needs and/or disabilities. In common with other pupils in the school, their needs are met well. Staff provide very strong support for these pupils and manage their behaviour positively. As a result, they make a settled start to their education.
• Safeguarding in the early years is effective, children are taught how to keep themselves safe and they understand the need for rules they all share and respond to. Behaviour is well managed; children take turns and enjoy learning with adults and with each other. The learning environment is a happy, positive place to be where children are encouraged to take risks and learn new skills well.

School details

Unique reference number 140672 Local authority Southend-on-Sea Inspection number 10026732 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Nursery and Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy sponsor-led 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 426 Appropriate authority Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Academy trust Graham Crispin William Hill 01702 311411 www.princeavenue.co.uk/ office@princeavenue.southend.sch.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• Prince Avenue Academy and Nursery opened as a new academy in April 2014. It is sponsored by Westcliff High School for Girls and is part of the South East Essex Academy Trust.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• Prince Avenue Academy is a larger than average sized primary school and nursery.
• The early years provision comprises a Nursery class for three-year-old children who attend part-time and a reception class for four-year-old children who attend full-time.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium funding is well above average.
• About a quarter of the pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is in line with the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is well above average.
• In 2016, the school met the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ achievement and progress in reading, writing and mathematics for pupils in Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed lessons in all Nursery, Reception and key stages 1 and 2. A number of observations were undertaken with senior leaders. Small group interventions were also visited.
• Inspectors met with school leaders, pupils, staff, a group of governors and the chief executive officer of the academy trust.
• Inspectors talked to pupils about their learning and about the work in their books. Pupils shared their thoughts about the school, the wider activities available and about how well behaviour is managed.
• Pupils read to inspectors, both in class and in focused reading sessions where they discussed their understanding of literature and the authors they enjoy.
• Safeguarding systems, child protection procedures and records of the management of behaviour were scrutinised.
• Inspectors looked at work in a wide range of pupils’ books.
• Inspectors scrutinised leaders’ own self-evaluation, records of their monitoring of the work of the school, improvement planning, curriculum documents and minutes of meetings.
• Inspectors spoke to parents as they brought their children to school, took account of the 24 replies to Ofsted’s online questionnaire ‘Parent View’ and of the 17 free text responses to the inspection.
• Account was also take of the responses of 29 pupils and 15 staff to Ofsted’s online survey.

Inspection team

Prue Rayner, lead inspector Sandra Jones Sue Cox Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector