Anfield Road Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Quicken pupils’ progress in each year group so that standards at the end of each key stage are closer to national averages by providing middle-ability pupils and the most able pupils with sufficient challenge to build on what they know and deepen their learning in each year group.
• Improve teaching and raise standards in writing by:
  • teaching spelling, handwriting and grammar systematically, in line with school policies, so that pupils develop a fluent handwriting style, spell commonly used words correctly and use accurate grammar appropriate to their age
  • ensuring that teachers have consistently high expectations for the presentation of pupils’ work in all subjects
  • providing pupils with more opportunities to practise and develop their skills by writing at greater length in subjects across the curriculum.
• Improve standards in reading by ensuring that pupils are taught and can practise comprehension skills, such as inference and deduction, explicitly in each year group.
• Strengthen assessment by:
  • making sure the school’s policy is followed and key errors and misconceptions are addressed in each year group
  • ensuring that assessment is used to inform teaching so it builds on pupils’ prior learning at an appropriate pace, especially for middle-ability pupils and the most able.
• Raise attendance and reduce persistent absence, building on recent successes and continuing with the actions being taken.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders and governors have successfully managed the amalgamation of two schools to The headtecaher create a harmonious and welcoming school for staff and pupils. Staff are highly committed to the leaders’ vision to provide a high-quality learning environment and ensure that pupils achieve as well as possible.
• The headteacher’s commitment and ambition for children at the school is inspiring. She is supported ably by the leadership team who share her aspirations. Morale amongst staff is high. Pupils grow in confidence in the happy, encouraging atmosphere.
• Leadership has been strengthened at all levels with new appointments and effective delegation. Middle leaders provide good support to improve teaching and learning. Senior leaders provide effective strategic leadership, for example in the design of an exciting curriculum and careful tracking of pupils’ progress.
• Self-evaluation is detailed and gives leaders an incisive understanding of the strengths and weaknesses in teaching and learning. Leaders have tackled weaknesses in the teaching of mathematics and phonics effectively so pupils’ progress has quickened in these subjects. They ensure that pupils’ spoken language and social skills are promoted effectively across the whole school.
• School improvement planning is focused on the right priorities to secure necessary further improvements in teaching and learning. Leaders know they need to quicken pupils’ progress across the school if pupils are to reach the expected standards for their age, especially in reading and writing. There is strong capacity within the school to secure the necessary improvements.
• Improvements to teaching are being secured through the effective management of teachers’ performance and the introduction of new policies. Teachers are clear about what is expected of them and of their responsibilities. They receive good-quality training to help them develop their skills and career aspirations.
• The school works effectively with other schools within the Liverpool Learning Partnership, North Liverpool Teaching School and Link Learning Network to plan school improvement projects and support staff’s professional development. Leaders make good use of external support and challenge, including from the local authority.
• Equality of opportunity is promoted by all staff and discrimination is not tolerated. The school is highly inclusive and all pupils are valued. A higher than usual proportion of pupils join the school after Reception. They are supported effectively to help them settle in and learn alongside their peers.
• The school’s curriculum provides exciting activities that motivate pupils and provide a meaningful context for their learning. The broad curriculum develops pupils’ enterprise and creative skills, and teaching helps pupils to make links with their own experiences.
• Pupils are offered many additional opportunities that broaden their experiences and enrich their learning. They enjoy a range of art activities and all have the opportunity to learn an instrument. Staff make the most of the Liverpool’s rich cultural environment and take pupils further afield to provide them with memorable experiences. For example, their learning about the second world war was enhanced by an ‘evacuation day’ to the East Lancashire railway and a visit to Ysgol LLangynfelin, where Anfield children were evacuated to during the second world war.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted effectively. The varied curriculum inspires pupils to enjoy learning and appreciate the world around them. Their social skills are developed successfully through collaborative working and enterprise activities. Pupils develop a good sense of Liverpool’s cultural heritage as well learning about other cultures and faiths. The diverse cultural backgrounds of pupils in school are celebrated and respected.
• Pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain. British values, such as democracy, liberty, rule of law and respect are integral to the life of the school. The school’s British values leader works effectively with subject leaders to ensure that values are taught age-appropriately in a range of subjects. Pupils’ ‘Anfield values trail’ around the school reflects British values and ensures that pupils understand their importance in the context of the school and wider society.
• The majority of pupils are eligible for pupil premium. This additional funding is spent on appropriate initiatives to minimise barriers to learning and raise the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. Support to minimise behavioural, social and emotional barriers to learning are highly successful in raising pupils’ self-esteem and promoting positive attitudes to learning.
• Additional physical education (PE) and sports funding is used effectively to extend pupils’ participation in physical activities and develop staff’s skills. For example, lunchtime supervisors lead constructive play activities that promote positive behaviour. Pupils represent their school in competitions with pride.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school and their children’s experiences, stating for example, ‘Children love going to school and the teachers and head are great’, and ‘The school is a shining light in the community.’

Governance of the school

• Governors provide leaders with effective support and challenge.
• Governors have a good understanding of the school’s performance and strengths and weaknesses in teaching, informed by their understanding of performance data and regular reports from leaders at all levels.
• Governors set relevant performance targets for the headteacher focused on improving teaching and raising standards. They are well informed about how leaders manage the performance of teachers and decide on teachers’ salary progression.
• Governors ensure that the pupil premium and additional sports funding are used effectively.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Pupils’ safety and welfare is at the heart of the school’s work. Pupils feel relaxed and safe in the calm, orderly environment.
• An experienced and knowledgeable team work successfully to ensure that all policies and procedures are fit for purpose and staff know the routes to follow if they have any concerns. Checks to ensure the safe recruitment of staff are rigorous.
• The school provides excellent support for the most vulnerable pupils and their families in collaboration with other agencies. The procedures that are in place to support children who are looked after or who have a protection plan are exemplary.
• Regular training for staff and governors ensures that they are well informed of safeguarding requirements. They have a good understanding of the ‘Prevent’ duty and their responsibilities as outlined in ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education 2016’.
• There are appropriate filters in place to ensure pupils’ safety when using the internet.
• Parents are confident that their children are safe and happy in school. They say leaders are, ‘Really friendly and committed to ensuring the best for all.’

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching does not provide sufficient challenge for pupils of middle ability and most-able pupils over time, so they do not make enough progress to reach the standards expected for their age at the end of Year 6.
• Assessment is not used effectively to build on pupils’ prior learning in some classes and too much time is spent repeating work the most able pupils have already mastered. Some key mistakes are not picked up in line with school policy, for example number reversal and misspelling of key words.
• Handwriting, spelling and grammar are not yet taught systematically from class to class in line with the school’s recently introduced policies. Pupils do not develop a fluent handwriting style as they progress through school, and their punctuation and grammar is not given sufficient attention. Teaching successfully broadens pupils’ vocabulary but many pupils misspell commonly used words into key stage 2 because their errors are not corrected in line with school policy. Consequently, pupils’ writing lags behind their oral communication skills.
• Pupils have limited opportunities to practise their writing at length across the curriculum. Some written work is not finished because pupils are not given enough time.
• Early reading behaviours and phonics are taught effectively. Reading skills are taught successfully in teacher-led guided reading sessions but are not developed as well in activities that are set for pupils to complete independently. While pupils develop a love of reading and read enthusiastically, their comprehension skills are not taught and reinforced explicitly enough, especially for high-ability readers.
• Leaders have a clear view of where further improvement is needed and teachers have established a good foundation on which to secure this. Positive, encouraging relationships help pupils develop positive attitudes to learning. Stimulating, enriching activities across a broad range of subjects keep pupils interested and give them a wide knowledge base. Pupils develop a love of learning and want to do well.
• Pupils’ spoken language skills and vocabulary are developed from the start in the early years and built on effectively as pupils move through school. This helps pupils to think analytically and develop their knowledge in different subjects, although it is not yet reflected in their writing.
• The whole-school drive to improve pupils’ progress in mathematics has had a good impact. Pupils are now making expected or better progress from their starting points. Investigative and mathematical skills are promoted well in many subjects.
• Teaching supports pupils of lower ability, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language to make good progress. Teaching in class and in small groups meets the needs of these groups well.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils feel safe in the school’s calm and nurturing environment. They know they can talk to teachers about concerns and feel free from bullying and harassment at school.
• A small minority of pupils raised some concerns about safety and bullying in the pupil questionnaire. Their comments referred to incidents that happened outside the school gates. Leaders are aware of these concerns and are taking appropriate action.
• Bullying in school is rare. Rigorous systems for managing behaviour, including the involvement of parents, help to tackle inappropriate behaviour or potential bullying before it escalates to become a major issue. Pupils do their best to uphold the school rules.
• Pupils have a good awareness of different types of bullying. They show respect for others and feel that there is rarely any name-calling. They are sure that racist abuse or homophobic language is not used in their school.
• Helping pupils to understand how to assure their own safety and health outside school is a key focus in several subjects. Pupils develop a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe online. They are taught about the health risks of smoking, alcohol and drugs and understand the importance of a healthy diet and exercise.
• The relatively high proportion of pupils who join the school part way through key stage 1 or 2 are welcomed and supported. Parents endorse this stating, for example, ‘My child immediately felt welcomed.’
• Staff work hard to build pupils’ confidence and self-esteem. They encourage pupils to ‘aim high’ while developing positive attitudes to learning.
• Excellent support for vulnerable pupils helps to minimise barriers to their learning and ensure their safety and well-being. The school works closely with a range of agencies to ensure that support meets pupils’ and families’ needs. The procedures to support children looked after by the local authority are highly effective and are enhanced by close liaison with the local authority ‘looked-after children’ team.
• Teachers help pupils develop effective leadership skills and social skills. Pupils work together constructively; they have good speaking and listening skills and show respect for each other’s views. They enjoy taking responsibility, for example on the school council, as eco warriors, or providing support to younger pupils as ‘reading rangers’ and ‘maths masters’. The school council has been active in promoting a love of reading, introducing ‘snack a-go-go’ (an alternative healthy meal option) and raising awareness about bullying and keeping safe; they are rightly proud of their achievements.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are attentive, work hard and want to learn. They rise to teachers’ high expectations for their behaviour so lessons are hardly ever disrupted.
• Pupils show great pride in their school. They look after the wonderful displays and resources carefully. They conduct themselves sensibly and are considerate and polite in shared areas of the school. They socialise and play constructively together at breaktimes.
• Permanent exclusions are below average but fixed-term exclusion was above average in the year following the opening of the school. The rate of exclusion is reducing with the improved systems in place to support pupils at risk.
• The majority of pupils attend well and love coming to school. However, persistent absence remains an issue for a small number of families and that, together with a high level of illness, keeps attendance well below average. The inclusion officer provides good support to families with first-day response and visits to homes, and unauthorised absence and persistent absence is reducing as a result.
• The large majority of parents who responded to the Ofsted questionnaire feel that pupils are well behaved and bullying is dealt with effectively. Inspection findings support their views.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ attainment in standardised assessments at key stage 1 and key stage 2 was below average in 2015, although pupils made expected progress from their low starting points. In 2016, pupils’ progress and attainment were below the national average in reading and well below average in writing. Pupils made expected progress in mathematics from their starting points but a below average proportion reached expected standards.
• Pupils currently in school are making better progress but are not making rapid enough progress to enable them to reach the standards expected for their age in each year group. The majority of pupils start school with knowledge and skills that are below those expected for their age and they do not catch up rapidly enough at each key stage because their progress is uneven across the school.
• The pupils who achieved at expected standards at the end of the early years are not sustaining the good progress they made in the early years at key stage 1. Similarly, the pupils who attained expected standards in key stage 1 assessments are not sustaining consistently good progress at key stage 2. Pupils of middle ability are not taught at sufficient pace in all year groups to enable them to sustain good progress.
• Pupils’ progress in writing is too slow. There are signs of improvement but recent initiatives to improve the teaching of writing have not yet been implemented consistently or had time to improve pupils’ outcomes by the end of Year 6.
• Pupils’ achievement in the phonics screening in Year 1 has steadily improved and the proportion reaching the expected standards is now close to average. Pupils go on to develop effective decoding skills and can recall the main points from a written text. They enjoy reading for pleasure and can pick up the main facts from information texts. However, their attainment in reading assessments is below that expected for their age. Comprehension skills, such as inference and deduction, are not taught explicitly enough and pupils have limited opportunity to practise such skills.
• Pupils make expected or better progress in mathematics, following a focus on mathematics teaching in training. Pupils’ attainment is consequently improving.
• A relatively high number of pupils join the school throughout key stages 1 and 2, some are new to the country and many have gaps in their education. These pupils often make rapid progress from their starting points when they join the school, but their attainment in tests is often low. Pupils who speak English as an additional language are very well supported and make good progress.
• Pupils who join the school in the Nursery or Reception classes achieve higher standards than those who join later. They have a more consistent experience and benefit from the school’s positive ethos for learning from the start.
• The majority of pupils are disadvantaged. They make better progress than other pupils in school but their progress and attainment was below that of other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics in 2015 and 2016. Initiatives funded through the pupil premium are beginning to make a difference, and the school data shows that the difference between disadvantaged pupils in school and other pupils nationally is diminishing.
• Pupils who have low ability and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make expected and sometimes better progress because teaching in class and in small groups supports their learning well.
• There are few high-attaining pupils in the school. The most able pupils, including the most-able disadvantaged, are not provided with sufficiently challenging activities to enable them to make good progress in all classes. Work is pitched towards the lower ability in some classes, and those of middle ability and the most able spend too much time repeating what they can already do.

Early years provision Good

• Children enter the Nursery and Reception classes with a wide range of experiences. They settle well and soon make friends in the welcoming environment. They grow in confidence and join in activities with enthusiasm.
• The early years provision has improved under a new leadership structure and with good-quality training for staff. Leaders have an accurate understanding of strengths and areas requiring further development, and of children’s specific learning needs. Their ambition for children, and drive to improve provision, is shared by all staff.
• The majority of children join the Nursery or Reception provision with knowledge and skills that are below those expected for their age in language, reading, writing and mathematics.
• Children’s specific needs are catered for effectively in the well-organised, age-appropriate Nursery provision. The two-year-old provision helps children develop their physical language skills very effectively from the start. The three- and four-year-olds grow in independence and develop positive behaviours for learning.
• Children’s behaviour is consistently good in all classes. They feel safe and are safe in the nurturing and well-ordered environment. All statutory welfare requirements are met in each provision and there are rigorous safeguarding procedures that are followed by all staff. The children are well supervised by well-qualified staff.
• Good teaching and accurate assessment of children’s needs help children to develop their language and communicate effectively from the start. Teachers and teaching assistants take every opportunity to broaden children’s vocabulary and encourage them to express themselves.
• Children in all classes are provided with a broad range of interesting activities that stimulate their imagination and give them plentiful opportunities to experiment and practise their developing skills both indoors and outside. The environment is rich in print and children have easy access to good-quality resources. Number and early reading and writing skills, including phonics, are taught and developed effectively.
• Additional funding is used effectively to provide disadvantaged children with good-quality support and raise their achievement. For example, additional phonics sessions have boosted their phonic skills.
• Parents are well informed about their children’s progress and involved in their learning. They enjoy attending the half-termly ‘enterprise’ events, such as the teddy bears’ picnic and stories around a camp fire. Parents who made their views known are very positive about the early years provision. ‘My child loves going in and has come a long way in the Nursery and Reception classes in this fantastic school,’ is typical of many comments.
• The well-targeted teaching and stimulating activities support children to make good progress from their low starting points. The proportion of children reaching a good level of development is rising steadily and getting closer to average. Children’s language skills and positive behaviours for learning provide a good foundation for further learning, but they are not all ready for the age-appropriate curriculum when they move into Year 1.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140975 Liverpool 10022800 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 Community 2 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 617 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Cllr John McIntosh Claire Drew-Williams Telephone number 01512 631 541 Website Email address http://anfieldroadprimary.co.uk admin@anfieldroadprimary.co.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school opened in September 2014 following the amalgamation of the infant and junior schools. The headtecaher of the infant school became the headteacher of the new school. A new leadership team has been appointed since then and the governing body has been reconstituted.
• The school is much larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The school provides funded places for two-year-olds.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is below average but the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is close to average. Twenty-two languages are currently spoken in the school.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average. The proportion with statements or education, health and care plans is well below average.
• An above average proportion of pupils join or leave the school in key stages 1 and 2.
• The school did not meet government floor standards in 2015, which set the minimum standards for pupils’ progress and attainment.

Information about this inspection

• This was the first inspection of the new school. The predecessor infant and junior schools were inspected separately.
• Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes. They looked at pupils’ work during observations and carried out an in-depth scrutiny of a sample of pupils’ work with school leaders. They talked to pupils about their work in lessons and meetings.
• Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour around the school and gained their views about safety and bullying. Inspectors spoke with several parents as they brought their children into school.
• Inspectors held discussions with school leaders, staff, two governors, a local authority representative and groups of pupils.
• They looked at documentation including the school’s self-evaluation, improvement planning and records of monitoring, management of performance and training. Safeguarding policies and procedures were examined.
• Inspectors took account of 65 responses to the Ofsted parent questionnaire, 73 responses from staff and 53 responses from pupils.

Inspection team

Jean Olsson-Law, lead inspector Ann Gill Jean Robinson Nusret Ellahi Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector