Green Park Community Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Increase the proportion of pupils who attain a greater depth of learning by the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The headteacher provides outstanding leadership for the school. Very well supported by the deputy headteacher, he is uncompromising in his determination to provide the best possible learning and personal experiences for pupils. All leaders, staff and governors share his vision and ambition. They work hard as a strong team to build on the strengths and improvements forged since the previous inspection.
• Senior leaders have an accurate view of the school’s strengths. Robust and regular monitoring of all aspects of the school’s work gives them an accurate view of the areas for further development. School development planning reflects this information and shows the unwavering commitment to further, continuous school improvement.
• Senior leaders make rigorous checks on the quality of teaching and learning and pupils’ progress. Leaders draw out the best in all staff. Staff value the high quality of guidance they receive in a culture of support and coaching.
• The performance management system is innovative and involves staff undertaking research projects. These are linked to personal areas of development as well as whole school priorities, and used highly effectively to raise standards. Teachers at the start of their career are supported extremely well.
• Systems for tracking pupils’ progress are incisive and the information is used very effectively. This enables leaders to make sure that no pupils are left behind. Well-targeted support for individuals and groups through appropriate interventions ensures rapid improvement in outcomes.
• Leaders have worked successfully to tackle the issues identified in the previous report. One of these was to develop stronger partnerships with parents. Parents are extremely supportive of the school and express every confidence in the leadership and the staff. One wrote: ‘The school feels very community based and everyone has only the best intentions for all the pupils and their parents, I can’t praise them enough.’
• The broad and balanced curriculum successfully develops pupils’ personal skills as well as academic excellence. Learning based around interesting themes, topics and texts helps to motivate and inspire pupils. The curriculum is enriched with special days to broaden pupils’ cultural awareness, a wide range of clubs, visits and visitors to school. Pupils are very enthusiastic about the clubs available to them, which give them opportunities to develop existing skills and learn new ones.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, the school’s core values and British values are tightly interwoven and threaded through everything the school does. As a consequence, pupils develop as responsible, well-rounded citizens who are very well prepared for life in modern Britain and the next stage of their education. Staff are good role models for pupils and make sure that the school’s mission statement, which is, ‘To allow every pupil at Green Park to have a voice, to be listened to and be heard,’ is implemented consistently.
• The school’s inclusive ethos means that outstanding guidance is given to pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Pupils’ needs are swiftly identified, the provision is managed extremely well and consequently pupils make excellent progress from their starting points.
• Senior leaders and governors ensure that effective use is made of the pupil premium funding to improve achievement for disadvantaged pupils, including those who are most able. Potential barriers to learning are identified and exceptionally effective support is provided to help overcome these. As a result, the progress of disadvantaged pupils is significantly higher when compared to that of other pupils nationally.
• The school makes very good use of the primary physical education and sport funding. It is used in a range of ways to enhance the existing good provision for physical education. These include the employment of a specialist sports coach in partnership with the collaboration schools, additional lunchtime and after-school clubs, and increased opportunities for pupils to participate in competitive sports. The sports coach works with pupils and staff to enhance skills and therefore improve outcomes for pupils.
• The successful leadership skills of the headteacher and deputy headteacher are recognised by the local authority. Previously, the headteacher led another school in addition to Green Park in the role of executive headteacher and continues to support other schools. The deputy headteacher is currently providing interim leadership for another school.

Governance of the school

• Governors know the school very well and have very positive and productive working relationships with leaders and staff.
• They provide an excellent balance of support and challenge to leaders in a culture of transparency, trust and shared ambition for continuous improvement. They are extremely well informed about the school’s strengths and areas to develop through leaders’ reports, their own monitoring visits and attendance at development planning days. These activities enable them to hold leaders to account very effectively for the school’s performance.
• Members of the governing body are active in the local community and ensure strong links with the school.
• Governors keep a close check on the pupil premium funding and the primary sports funding to ensure that it is used appropriately and is making a difference for pupils.
• Governors ensure that all statutory responsibilities are met including those relating to safeguarding.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders ensure that a culture of safeguarding is embedded in the school. All staff are aware of their responsibility in keeping children safe and are vigilant in doing so. Staff know pupils extremely well and are aware and alert to any behaviours that may cause concern. The procedures for raising and recording concerns are fit for purpose and followed rigorously by all staff.
• Record-keeping is detailed, well organised and managed. All of the required checks are made on staff and governors.
• There are good links with parents and external organisations so pupils receive timely and appropriate help when necessary. Leaders make sure that all staff are well trained and that they receive regular updates and information.
• The school site is safe and secure and robust risk assessments are carried out. In a forest school session, for example, Year 6 pupils were learning how to safely light a fire. Extremely rigorous procedures were taken to ensure that pupils could take measured risks while their personal safety and the safety of others was paramount.
• Pupils say they feel safe in school. Parents who responded to the online questionnaire agreed that their children feel safe and are well looked after. They appreciate the fact that along with other staff, the headteacher is regularly at the gate in the mornings to greet parents and pupils. This gives them a chance to ‘chat or raise any issues’. One parent wrote, ‘I feel the school is a lovely, safe environment and my child is very happy.’

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teachers and teaching assistants have excellent relationships with pupils. They know how individual pupils learn best and tailor planning to meet their needs exceptionally well. As a result, pupils work hard and are resilient learners who want to do well.
• Pupils respond very well to the ‘can do’ culture that all adults promote exceptionally well. Staff have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and of behaviour in class.
• Pupils are motivated to learn because teachers capture their interest and imagination and their natural curiosity to investigate and find things out for themselves.
• Pupils’ excellent behaviour and attitudes to learning help them work together well, share ideas and opinions and make outstanding progress. Teachers provide pupils with many opportunities to debate issues, consider different perspectives and to respect the views of others without necessarily agreeing with them. Pupils know their opinions and efforts are valued and that if they do not understand something, teachers will always take the time to explain and give further support.
• Teachers’ very skilful questioning encourages pupils to extend their thinking and enables teachers to check pupils’ understanding.
• Skilled and dedicated teaching assistants make an excellent contribution to pupils’ learning. They work extremely well with teachers to make sure that all pupils are fully included and as a result, all groups of pupils make strong progress over time.
• The school’s policy for marking and feedback is used consistently across the school. Pupils said that teachers’ comments help them know how to improve their work. Pupils are clear about what they need to do to succeed and have increasing opportunities to reflect on learning and assess for themselves how well they think they and others have done. They demonstrate a great level of maturity when commenting on others’ achievements.
• Phonics teaching is highly effective. A high ratio of skilled staff to pupils enables learning to be fun and targeted precisely to the needs of pupils of different abilities. Older pupils confidently use skills of inference to develop their depth of understanding of characters, plots and settings in a meaningful way.
• Successful actions have been taken to improve outcomes in aspects of writing, which were areas for development in the previous inspection. Teachers now use a consistent approach to teaching grammar, punctuation and spelling. The success of this is evident in the proportion of pupils who reached the expected or higher standards at the end of Year 6, which was above that found nationally. Inspectors were very impressed with the quality of pupils’ imaginative writing displayed around the school. Teachers provide pupils with meaningful opportunities for writing and to apply their skills across other areas of the curriculum. A group of the most able writers in Year 5 and Year 6 produced some exceptionally powerful poetry linked to their history work.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils develop as exceptionally well-rounded individuals and confident, self-assured and resilient learners. They thrive in a happy, calm and caring environment, enjoy all that they do and have excellent attitudes to learning.
• ‘The pastoral care and education provided are excellent,’ and ‘My son has made fantastic progress in his academic and social achievements since joining this school’ are typical of many parents’ views about the high quality of care and support and attention to pupils’ well-being.
• Pupils are exceptionally caring and respectful of each other and adults. Inspectors were impressed with pupils’ good manners, friendly greetings and interesting conversations. They are very proud of their school and keen to share their views and their achievements with visitors.
• Leaders are innovative in their work to ensure the welfare and well-being of pupils and to support their emotional and social development. The family liaison officer and the play therapist make a valuable contribution in supporting pupils and their families. The school dog is also an asset to the school. A pupil described how he talks to the dog and it stops him ‘being so sad and angry’.
• Pupils say that any bullying in school is extremely rare because, as one pupil said, ‘it is just not tolerated’. They are very aware, however, that bullying can take different forms and are very confident that if any problems should arise, teachers would listen to them and help them. Pupils say they feel very safe in school. They understand the need to keep safe when using the internet and other social media.
• Pupils know they are safe to learn without any type of discrimination as they know that any language or actions that may cause offence would not be tolerated.
• Pupils enjoy the responsibilities they have. The head boy and head girl, prefects and school council members, for example, all play important roles in the school and are valued by other pupils. One school council member said, ‘It is a privilege to be on the school council.’
• Pupils who attend the breakfast or after-school club have a safe, healthy and sociable start or end to the school day. This provision makes a significant contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils are introduced to a range of foods from different countries, learn vocabulary of other languages and are encouraged to make healthy choices.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils conduct themselves exceptionally well in lessons, around the school and when they are gathered together at assembly times. Their excellent behaviour was evident in the playground and during the wet playtimes during the inspection when they demonstrated responsible and mature attitudes. The older pupils in particular demonstrate how well they manage their own behaviour and need very little, if any, reminders from adults. They show respect for each other and adults.
• Pupils come to school ready and eager to learn and start the day in a calm, orderly way. Pupils respond exceptionally well to teachers’ high expectations and as a consequence, behaviour in lessons is exemplary. Pupils know and understand the behaviour system and are very clear about what is expected. Pupils and parents agree that the school makes sure pupils are well behaved.
• Most pupils attend school regularly. Attendance has improved and is around the national average. One pupil said, ‘I like this school. I haven’t missed a single day this year because it’s really nice here.’ Leaders go the extra mile to ensure that pupils who may be at risk of exclusion are given the time and the support they need and wherever possible, pupils are successfully reintegrated back into their classes. Leaders analyse attendance of different groups rigorously.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• From starting points that are well below those typical for their age when they start in the Reception Year, pupils make outstanding progress. By the end of Year 6, progress is significantly above that which is expected in reading, writing and mathematics. They make substantial progress across a range of subjects.
• In 2016, attainment at the end of key stage 2 was above that found nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils’ work in their books and the school’s information about progress show that pupils currently in the school continue to make excellent progress. They are on track to sustain above average standards by the time they leave at the end of Year 6.
• Although changes to the assessment systems mean that information in 2016 is not directly comparable to previous years, there were considerable gains in the outcomes for pupils by the end of Year 2. Overall standards were, for the first time in several years, above those expected in writing and mathematics and in line with the expected standard in reading.
• The progress of disadvantaged pupils by the end of key stage 2 was also significantly above other pupils nationally. Attainment was above national in reading and mathematics and in line with national in writing. Disadvantaged pupils in all year groups make similar, and often even more rapid, progress than others.
• In the Year 1 phonics screening check in 2016, the proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard was just below the national average. This was a considerable improvement from the past two years. Leaders had identified that, as starting points in Reception were low, pupils needed to make accelerated progress to catch up and reviewed phonics teaching throughout the school. The success of leaders’ work and targeted intervention is evident in the improved phonics skills. Those who did not reach the expected standard in Year 1 receive very effective support in Year 2 so that they catch up quickly.
• Pupils develop as fluent, confident readers who enjoy reading and read widely. They talk with enthusiasm about their favourite authors and styles of writing.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make rapid gains. The provision for this group is managed exceptionally well. Their needs are identified at an early stage and appropriate and highly effective support is given. They benefit from additional support in lessons and when working individually or in small groups outside of the classroom.
• The most able pupils including those who are disadvantaged are generally challenged to achieve well. Leaders have correctly identified that to support the school’s continuing improvement, more pupils should now be achieving at the higher levels. In 2016, the proportion of pupils who reached the higher levels by the end of Year 6 was above national in writing and close to national in reading and mathematics. By the end of Year 2 in 2016, fewer pupils than found nationally were working at the greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics.

Early years provision Outstanding

• A significant proportion of children start in the early years with skills and knowledge that are well below that which is typical for their age, although this does vary from year to year. The majority of children who started in the Reception Year in 2015 had particularly low starting points in their communication and language skills, physical development and personal and social development. Almost half of the year group received specific speech and language intervention. Many of the current cohort of Reception children are also receiving support for their speech and language skills.
• In 2016, the proportion of children that reached a good level of development was very close to the national figure. This is because of excellent provision that gives children an outstanding start to school. For a few children, there was not enough time for them to catch up before moving into Year 1.
• Adults know the children very well and there are excellent procedures to get to know them and their families before they start at school. Parents appreciate the opportunities to attend ‘Come and Play’ sessions and coffee mornings. They say they are well informed about their children’s progress and like the support from the school to help with their children’s learning at home.
• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding. Activities are planned that capture the interest, imagination and curiosity of the children so that they thrive and quickly develop a love of learning. During the inspection, children were completely engrossed in learning about the Chinese New Year. Among many other activities they learned how to use chopsticks (with varying degrees of success) and compared a real life bearded dragon to a pretend dragon. They enjoyed counting and ordering numbers and performing dragon dances using a range of musical instruments. Assessment is used exceptionally well by staff to plan the next steps in learning.
• Highly skilled phonics teaching ensures that children get a very good grounding in early reading and writing skills. One parent wrote, ‘My child has come on in leaps and bounds since starting in Reception in September. His reading and sounding words out is fantastic, especially since he couldn’t read a thing beforehand. He amazes me every day with the new things he has learned and he adores his teachers.’
• Children are happy, very well cared for and they behave exceptionally well. They share and cooperate very well with each other in the vibrant classroom and outdoor area. Their independence is promoted well and they develop confidence and enquiring minds as a result.
• Excellent leadership of the early years ensures that children learn very effectively in a stimulating, safe and secure environment. There is a high proportion of adults to children to ensure that all children, whatever their needs, are included and learn to the best of their ability. Staff are managed very efficiently and work exceptionally well together as a strong and effective team.
• Children who are disadvantaged or may be vulnerable in any way are given all the necessary support to help reduce any barriers to learning.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 135197 Kent 10024733 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. 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 322 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Nigel Collins Richard Hawkins 01304 822663 www.greenparkcps.co.uk/ headteacher@greenpark.kent.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 21–22 June 2012

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is larger than the average-sized primary school and the roll is expanding. There are three mixed-age classes for pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 and two classes in every other year group. The Reception Year operates as one early years unit, which children attend on a full-time basis.
• The large majority of pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average.
• The proportion of pupils supported through the pupil premium funding is above average.
• The school provides daily breakfast and after-school clubs.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The school is the lead school for the Dover collaboration of four member schools.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed teaching and learning in a number of classes. Most of these observations were conducted jointly with the headteacher or the deputy headteacher.
• Inspectors talked to pupils about their work and looked at work in pupils’ books.
• Inspectors observed pupils at playtime and lunchtime and asked them for their views on the school. They also talked to pupils about reading and listened to some pupils read.
• Discussions were held with the headteacher and deputy headteacher, other senior leaders, governors, the local authority improvement adviser and other staff with key leadership responsibilities.
• Inspectors looked at a wide range of documents, including the school’s own check on its performance and the quality of teaching, the school improvement plan, information on pupils’ progress, and records relating to attendance, behaviour and safeguarding.
• Inspectors looked at the 32 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, which included 14 written comments and spoke to some parents at the start of the school day.

Inspection team

Margaret Coussins, lead inspector Rosemary Keen Anne Allen John Bosley

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector