Childwall Valley Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve pupils’ outcomes, particularly for the most able, by:
  • deepening pupils’ understanding of mathematics so that a higher proportion attain the expected standard at greater depth
  • ensuring that pupils apply consistently the highest standards of punctuation and spelling throughout their written work.
• Increase the challenge and support given to the most able children in the early years to ensure that they reach the highest standards.
• Ensure that the school’s policy on feedback to pupils is consistently followed across all classes.
• Continue to improve the attendance of the small group of pupils who are persistently absent.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher, ably supported by the deputy headteacher, has successfully addressed the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. Leaders have taken difficult but effective decisions to help drive up standards. As a result, pupils are now making good or better progress from their starting points.
• Since the previous inspection, leaders have created a culture of high expectation, which has raised pupils’ aspirations. As a result, pupils are keen to attend school and to do the best they can.
• Leaders have a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school because of their rigorous monitoring. They tenaciously pursue improvement and have built a team of strong subject leaders who are very effective.
• Leaders use the accurate systems for monitoring pupils’ progress and attainment, and do not delay in tackling any underperformance of pupils or staff. They regularly monitor pupils’ progress to ensure that where pupils need further support, resources are allocated accordingly.
• Leaders’ frequent monitoring ensures that they have an accurate understanding of strengths and weaknesses in teaching. They ensure that teachers develop secure subject knowledge and effective strategies to help pupils learn.
• Staff morale is high. They reflect well the culture of the school where ‘Challenge is fun’ and that it is okay to make errors. Pupils comment that ‘making mistakes is okay as it helps us to get even better than before.’ Pupils feel that they can trust the staff and know that staff will do everything they can to support their development and learning.
• Leaders effectively use the pupil premium funding for pupils who are disadvantaged to ensure that barriers to learning are removed. As a result, disadvantaged pupils are making good or better progress across the school. Strategies used include the use of additional support staff and extra-curricular activities.
• The additional funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is used well. As a result, these pupils make good progress from their starting points. Parents of pupils with specific needs praise the school and the leaders for what they do to support their children.
• The physical education (PE) and sports funding is used effectively to provide a wide range of sporting activities, including golf. Pupils comment positively on their sporting opportunities and are very proud of the school’s achievements and awards in competitions.
• Leaders support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development highly effectively. The ethos allows pupils to consider their own values along with others. As a result, the school is a place where all feel welcome and respected, and where British values are well promoted across all ages. Pupils are very well prepared for their next steps and for life in modern Britain.
• Leaders carefully consider how to incorporate the skills of English and mathematics across a broad, balanced and creative curriculum. As a result, teachers know how well their pupils are doing in all subjects and plan effectively to ensure that pupils make good progress. Pupils enjoy all the topics they learn and can recall elements of the learning in subjects such as history and geography. At the end of a library session, an inspector heard a pupil enthusiastically say, ‘Oh brilliant. It’s history next.’
• The school offers a range of rich extra-curricular and after-school activities for pupils. These include sports and art, and they even have a media studio where pupils can record their own radio programmes for broadcast across the internet. Pupils also have a green-screen film studio to support the development of making films.
• The school offers a breakfast club for pupils, where a nutritious snack is offered. The behaviour of pupils in the breakfast club reflects the positive ethos of the school and prepares pupils very well for the day ahead.

Governance of the school

• Governors support the headteacher well to maintain a highly positive culture and an ethos where pupils feel valued and safe.
• Governors work effectively to hold the leaders to account for the improvements that the school makes. They know the school well and have the necessary skills to challenge and support the headteacher. Governors visit the school frequently to ensure that plans are implemented and are successful.
• Governors ensure that government funding, including funding for pupils who are disadvantaged and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, is used effectively. They ensure that the funding is spent on the pupils for whom it is provided. Governors monitor the school’s information and the impact of any initiatives used effectively to ensure that good progress is being made by these pupils.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• All staff are suitably trained in safeguarding, as are the governing body. They act swiftly when any concerns are raised. They have established rigorous and efficient systems to ensure that staff joining the school are suitable to work with children.
• Pupils feel safe in school and comment that inappropriate behaviour is rare, but when it does occur it is tackled quickly.
• The school is secure and all staff have undertaken necessary training, including within the early years, to ensure that children and pupils are safe.
• Early years staff are also well trained and vigilant. Ensuring that children are safe, confident and happy is their highest priority.
• The school has effective systems in place to help pupils to understand how to be safe, including when using technology, and what to do if they are concerned about anything. Pupils across all age ranges told inspectors exactly what they need to do if they had any concerns. The school has appropriate monitoring and filtering systems in place for its internet connection and effective online safety procedures.
• Detailed records are kept of any safeguarding or bullying concerns. Leaders act swiftly to ensure that issues are resolved without delay. As a result, pupils feel safe within the school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Leaders’ effective promotion of reading has developed pupils’ strong love of books. Recent developments to the library have led to greater participation by pupils in reading activities.
• Teachers use challenging questions well to encourage pupils to consider reasons for the answers they give and to work out the best method to use, for example when calculating in mathematics. As a result, pupils are resilient learners, within a rewarding environment. However, teachers do not consistently challenge the most able pupils to deepen their understanding.
• Overall, effective teaching across the school supports well all groups of pupils in their learning. The school’s motto, ‘Easy is boring, Challenge is fun’, is a thread that the pupils strongly believe in throughout the school. Pupils are keen to do the best they can and learn well.
• Pupils enjoy their learning. One pupil corrected the inspector when asked about the work they do. She replied, ‘We don’t work here – we learn.’ This was a feeling that was evident throughout the school, even among children in the early years.
• Teachers’ well-considered planning ensures that pupils receive opportunities to apply the skills they have learned to solve problems in different subjects. This allows pupils to make sense of why they learn what they do. For example, following an educational visit, pupils use the skills of report writing to inform others about their trip.
• Middle leaders’ effective systems for assessing progress across subjects other than English and mathematics allow them to identify strengths in teaching and learning and where additional support and guidance are needed. Progress within these subjects is measured across all groups of pupils. This is a real strength of the school.
• The school has an effective system that informs teachers how to give feedback to pupils and promote further learning. However, the application of this policy is not yet applied consistently across all classes. In the majority of cases where the strategy is effective, pupils make good progress.
• Teachers generally plan well for all groups of pupils. However, on occasions, the most able pupils do not receive sufficient opportunities to deepen their understanding of more complex aspects of English grammar and punctuation.
• English is taught systematically and effectively. Teachers make good use of technology, including a media suite and a green-screen camera, to enhance reasons for writing, particularly with the older pupils. A radio studio is also used to pre-record programmes that pupils then broadcast through the internet.
• Spanish is taught by a native speaker who delivers systematic and challenging activities in which pupils learn well. For example, in one lesson, the teacher did not speak any English, yet all pupils understood the instructions given. They learned about colours and names associated with flags from different countries.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. Since the last inspection, leaders have brought about significant positive changes to the culture of the school. They have introduced new systems and strategies that have resulted in pupils developing high levels of resilience and effective learning skills. Pupils across all age groups have a confidence that persuades them that nothing is too hard to achieve.
• Across the school, pupils’ attitudes to learning are exemplary. They have a strong respect for all people within the school.
• On the very few occasions where bullying has occurred, pupils say that these issues are dealt with swiftly and effectively. Leaders’ detailed behaviour records show this to be the case.
• Pupils want to learn and believe that it is important to do the best they can. They strive to do their best and would rather accept a challenge to learn more than take an easier option.
• Leaders ensure that pupils are safe in school. The quality of education they receive ensures that they can make positive decisions when facing challenging situations, for example when using online technology. Parents agree that the school ensures that their children are kept safe.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Their high level of resilience helps them to achieve well. Pupils play very harmoniously at breaktimes. At all times, pupils are very respectful to each other and adults.
• Pupils have a very clear understanding that how they behave can affect how they will live and succeed in the future. As a result, they aspire to do well and value highly any support they receive.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development equips them very well to be thoughtful, caring and active citizens in the school and in wider society.
• Attendance overall is slightly below average but improving. On the few occasions where a pupil’s attendance deteriorates, leaders act swiftly and effectively. Where necessary, the school works well with external agencies to improve attendance. Attendance for those few pupils who have not attended well, is improving.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• In 2016, the number of pupils who attained the required standard in the Year 1 national phonics check was broadly in line with the national average. The number attaining the required standard by the end of Year 2 had further improved to above the national average. Current, school-based assessments and work seen in pupils’ books indicate that the rate of improvement is being at least maintained.
• In 2016, pupils in Year 2 made good progress. The proportion who attained the expected standard in the national end of key stage 1 assessments was in line with the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. Work in pupils’ books shows that this rate of progress is being sustained and accelerated.
• By the end of key stage 2, historical data indicates that pupils were achieving below the national average. However, pupils currently in Year 6 are achieving a much higher standard.
• Outcomes for some of the most able pupils are not as high as they could be. Leaders are aware of this and are taking appropriate actions to address this issue. Scrutiny of these pupils’ work suggests that these improvements are having a positive impact on the most able pupils’ achievement.
• In reading and mathematics, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make similar progress to other pupils in the school and nationally. Attainment information provided by the school for current pupils shows that these pupils will achieve better outcomes in 2017 than they did last year.
• In 2016, disadvantaged pupils made good progress in reading and writing in both key stage 1 and key stage 2, particularly in writing and those with low starting points. However, leaders recognise that more needs to be done to better support disadvantaged pupils’ progress in mathematics and some of the most able pupils, to ensure that they achieve to their full potential.

Early years provision Good

• Throughout the early years, leaders have created a vibrant and well-resourced environment for children. As a result, children come to school wanting to learn and behave very well.
• Leaders ensure that the progress of children is carefully monitored, and effective actions are taken where any concerns are raised. Parents work effectively in partnership with staff to ensure that their children get the best start to school life.
• Broadly speaking, children enter the Nursery with levels of development below those typical for their age. From the outset, teachers and support staff develop children’s skills in order to encourage them to be independent learners as soon as possible.
• During the inspection, inspectors saw effective teaching and witnessed children working independently on tasks ranging from mathematics activities to role play to word activities. This level of confidence from younger children was typical of the attitudes to learning seen throughout the inspection.
• The teachers’ careful planning and organisation allow children to learn wherever they wish to. As a result, children rapidly gain skills from the time they start and in a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces.
• Scrutiny of work and assessment information shows that children make good progress during their time in the early years. On some occasions, the most able children are not challenged sufficiently to allow them to reach their full potential or apply their skills to develop knowledge at a greater depth.
• Leaders have effective systems in place to ensure that children are safe and well looked after. Frequent and rigorous training ensures that staff are up to date and well skilled in how to safeguard children and respond to any first aid incidents that might occur. Risk assessments are carried out daily to ensure that the resources available for the children are safe to use and that the setting is secure.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 134210 Liverpool 10032184 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 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 200 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Jane McKelvey Kevin Basnett 0151 722 2544 www.childwallvalley.org enquiries@childwallvalley.org Date of previous inspection 17–18 March 2015

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is smaller in size than most primary schools.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils eligible for support through the pupil premium is well above average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average.
• Since the previous inspection, the school has appointed a new deputy headteacher and has appointed a temporary teacher to cover for one who is currently on maternity leave.
• The school operates a breakfast club that is open to all pupils before the start of the school day.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed lessons in all classes, some with leaders of the school.
• Discussions were held with pupils at breaktimes, lunchtimes, during lessons and when shown around the school by the pupil ambassadors.
• Inspectors spoke with parents, staff, senior and middle leaders, and representatives of the governing body. One inspector met a representative of the local authority.
• A range of documents were analysed by inspectors, including records of progress for all pupils, tracking systems, behaviour logs, minutes of meetings of the governing body, attendance information, safeguarding records and records on the quality of teaching.
• Inspectors also looked at pupils’ work, learning journeys for children in the early years, blogs created by pupils and work undertaken by pupils on the computer.
• Inspectors heard pupils read.
• Inspectors took account of 49 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View.

Inspection team

Keith Wright, lead inspector Deborah Bailey

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector