Shirehampton Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further extend the good rates of progress seen in the school by ensuring that:
  • leaders consolidate the improvements to the teaching of mathematics so that a greater proportion of pupils reach the higher standards
  • pupils use feedback to improve their learning
  • teaching in all year groups consistently challenges pupils, especially the most able, to work at greater depth leaders continue to work with families to make sure that even more pupils, especially those that are disadvantaged, attend school more regularly.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The highly effective headteacher works tenaciously to improve pupils’ chances of doing well. Her talented deputy headteacher and senior team support her very well. Together, they are totally committed to improving the life chances of all the pupils in their care. As a result of this commitment, the school continues to improve.
• There is an effective culture of teamwork and mutual respect. Adults consistently put children first and very strong, caring relationships have been established. Excellent relationships are fostered with the local community and the great majority of parents hold the school in the highest esteem. As one parent commented, ‘The school has a lovely, welcoming atmosphere where my child feels free to have his own opinion and be himself … teachers have created a very comfortable and creative place in which to learn.’
• Across the school, there is an improving trend in outcomes for pupils, despite the dip in mathematics last year. All leaders focus relentlessly on raising pupils’ aspirations and improving their life chances.
• Leaders check the school’s performance rigorously. They quickly recognise and praise the good work of staff and pupils and are alert to situations where more advice and guidance are needed. Because staff benefit from supportive feedback, a climate has been created where everyone is trying hard to make the school even better. Consequently, teamwork is strong, staff morale is high, and pupils’ progress is accelerating.
• Pupils’ learning, their progress and the quality of teaching are checked regularly and are closely linked to teachers’ performance and pay increases. Leaders’ observations of teaching accurately identify good practice, which is then celebrated and shared.
• Leaders use their excellent coaching and mentoring skills to provide support when teaching requires improvement. New staff are extremely pleased with the help they receive. Staff questionnaires are wholly positive about leaders’ impact on improvement.
• Leaders are clear that, despite progress being made, standards need to rise further, particularly in mathematics, to prepare pupils for their next class as well as to prepare the oldest pupils to start secondary school. There is a good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. School improvement priorities are accurately dealing with the weaknesses.
• The school teaches a broad curriculum, with subjects such as history, geography, science and religious education taught in sufficient depth. Subject leaders support their subject well with advice, resources and ideas, which enable teachers to develop their expertise and become more confident in teaching the subject.
• The school prides itself on ensuring that pupils become confident and responsible individuals. Their social and moral attitudes and values are strongly integrated into many aspects of the work of the school. Values of tolerance and respect for others are very well developed and are evident in the way pupils who joined the school midway through the school year have settled into the school and become part of the school community.
• The school makes good use of visits to the theatre, museums and places of interest, as well as visitors to the school, to provide opportunities for pupils to experience life and opportunities outside their immediate environment. Parents and pupils spoke highly of these opportunities.
• The additional pupil premium funding is spent mainly on providing targeted additional support for disadvantaged pupils. This is used effectively, as seen in the ongoing improvement in the progress of these pupils. A number of disadvantaged pupils have also been helped to improve their attendance and behaviour, and they now attend more regularly. Leaders recognise that there is still more to do to work with some families to make sure that the attendance of this group of pupils matches that of others in the school.
• The school has used the primary physical education (PE) and sport premium funding wisely to improve the quality and breadth of PE and sports provision. The range of after-school sports clubs has been extended and specialist staff employed to improve pupils’ expertise in different sporting activities. As a result, more pupils take part in sporting activities.
• Good use is made of the school’s additional funding to support pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) takes great care to make sure that the individual needs of these pupils are carefully assessed and that the right interventions are put in place. As a result, well-targeted additional support, including counselling and nurture provision, helps these pupils make good progress and catch up with their peers.
• The local authority is providing an appropriate balance of challenge and support.

Governance of the school

• Governors are far-sighted and ambitious for the school. They are very well informed about how well the school is doing and have a secure understanding of different types of school information. Governors make sure that they receive up-to-date training so that they can interpret school information for themselves. They know where the best teaching is in the school and give their full support to the initiatives of school leaders to improve classroom performance.
• Governors fully contribute to the discussions on how the additional pupil premium funding should be spent and carefully check the impact on the pupils’ progress of the extra support and guidance provided. Governors are also very well informed about the systems for managing staff performance and the way that pay rises are decided. They meet all their responsibilities very well, including national requirements for safeguarding pupils.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• A culture of active vigilance pervades the school. All pupils, but especially those that may be thought of as vulnerable or at risk because of circumstances in their lives, are kept safe and out of harm as a result of strong pastoral and multi-agency work. The deployment of key personnel, especially the very effective learning mentors in the pastoral team, provides concerted support to vulnerable pupils and their families.
• Thorough and regular training ensures that all staff are alert to the risks which pupils may face. Staff make prompt referrals of any concerns, reliably using the school’s well-established reporting systems.
• In lessons and assemblies, pupils are regularly reminded of online risks. Governors oversee the school’s safeguarding work diligently.
• Care and attention by premises staff ensure that the site is secure and safe. Visitors’ access to the premises is tightly controlled.
• The school’s continual focus on improving attendance includes prompt checks on unexplained absences. Parents are overwhelmingly confident that their children are safe and well cared for in the school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Typically, pupils are inspired to learn and they do so with confidence and pride. Mutual respect between teachers and pupils means levels of enjoyment and motivation are high. Consequently, pupils are calm, settled and ready to learn.
• Good-quality teaching ensures that pupils develop their skills in literacy and numeracy well. Teachers use accurate assessments of pupils’ progress to inform careful planning for the next steps in their learning. Pupils engage well during lessons because, overall, teaching and activities are set at the right level of challenge for them.
• There is a positive atmosphere in classrooms and teachers expect pupils to work hard. Throughout the school, teachers ensure that classrooms are well organised and uncluttered, with attractive displays celebrating pupils’ successes while providing information to support their further progress.
• The SENCo ensures that pupils’ special educational needs are identified promptly and accurately. Specific additional teaching is provided where required, usually by well-trained teaching assistants, supporting the learning of these pupils well, including those supported by the pupil premium.
• Phonics is taught well. Staff are well trained in the school’s systematic approach so that pupils experience consistent teaching as they move through the stages of the school’s programme. All the adults involved show a good understanding of phonics and speak clearly when they say the sounds. This is helpful to all pupils, particularly those who join the school with weak communication skills.
• Pupils develop a love of reading. Teachers ensure that pupils read a good selection of literature. Parents speak positively about how their children are expected to bring books home and read regularly every week.
• Following the dip in standards in mathematics last year, the school has made rapid and effective improvements to the way mathematics is taught. Gaps in pupils’ knowledge and comprehension are now accurately identified. Well-focused teaching, especially in Years 4, 5 and 6, is leading to a more secure understanding of mathematical fluency and reasoning. The school recognises that that there is still insufficient challenge in mathematics teaching to ensure that more pupils reach the higher standards by becoming better able to solve mathematical problems.
• The teaching of writing is effective throughout the school. A strong emphasis on teaching spelling, including grammar and in providing plentiful opportunities for pupils to write lengthy pieces of work, is evident in all classes. Pupils take pride in their writing and their books clearly show evidence of the good progress they make in writing with fluency and precision.
• In most year groups, teachers have suitably high expectations for the most able pupils and usually provide work that meets their specific needs. There are some inconsistencies, however. In a few year groups, for example in Years 3 and 4, teaching does not increase the progress of the most able pupils promptly enough.
• Teachers’ feedback to pupils follows the school’s policy and is very effective. Such feedback provides clear and precise advice for pupils about how to further improve their work. However, pupils do not consistently use this feedback to improve their own learning.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils were keen to tell inspectors that they feel very safe in the school and very well cared for. Many pupils have complex social and emotional needs and their well-being and welfare are central to the work of the school.
• The school reviews the needs of its vulnerable pupils daily. Staff use a range of information well to enable them to focus on pupils with the most need, including those at risk of low attendance.
• The school provides high levels of pastoral support, care and attention for individual pupils who need this help. Pupils have additional support from their usual classroom activities in timetabled sessions with well-trained staff. The adults skilfully combine opportunities for pupils to reflect on their feelings and behaviour with support for academic learning. This boosts pupils’ confidence and self-esteem. As a result of such provision, there have been no exclusions at the school for the past three years and vulnerable pupils are making good progress.
• Pupils told inspectors that bullying is rare, and that they were fully confident that adults would step in promptly to resolve any concerns. The reliable records kept by staff show very few incidents of bullying or name-calling.
• Pupils are very aware of how to keep themselves safe in a range of situations, both in and out of school. They understand the dangers that the internet can pose and how to stay safe when online. Parents interviewed were all very positive about how well the school looks after their children.
• The breakfast club provides a caring environment where pupils can relax and play games and enjoy breakfast before starting their day.
• Most pupils have good attitudes towards learning, are enthusiastic, eager and take care with their work. However, at times when teaching does not fully capture their attention or motivate them well enough, a few pupils lose attention and act in an immature way.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are keen to meet teachers’ high expectations of behaviour and learning. Pupils get on well with each other and there is a strong sense of community. Pupils are considerate and respect each other. They behave well during playtimes and lunchtimes and when moving around the school.
• Pupils talked confidently with inspectors and were extremely positive about the school and the support and help they receive. Older pupils felt that behaviour had improved significantly over their time at the school. They were adamant that racist and homophobic incidents do not occur. This was exemplified by how well pupils from other cultures and ethnic backgrounds felt at home in the school.
• In recent years, attendance has been below the national average and persistent absence has been high. The attendance of pupils supported by the pupil premium and those who have SEN and/or disabilities has been particularly low. The school has tackled this problem of weak attendance with energy, imagination and, in the last 18 months, increasing success.
• The result is that persistent absence has been substantially reduced. Attendance overall, although still just below average, has improved significantly, and the difference in the attendance of vulnerable groups and others across the school is getting smaller. Despite this tenacious approach to reducing absence, school leaders recognise that more still needs to be done to improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Across the school, all groups of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities are making good progress in their academic achievement and wider development. Inspection evidence, including a close scrutiny of the work in pupils’ books, discussions with pupils and observations of learning, confirms that is the case.
• Throughout the school, most pupils are currently working at the standards expected of their age in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Leaders successfully addressed the weak performance in writing seen at the end of key stage 2 in 2016. By the end of 2017, the proportion of pupils reaching the standard expected of their age and those reaching the higher standard in writing was above that seen nationally.
• While writing improved in 2017, progress in mathematics slipped. A higher proportion of pupils than that seen nationally reached the expected and higher standards in mathematics in the national tests in 2017. However, their rate of progress was not as rapid as might have been expected, given that they achieved extremely well at the end of key stage 1.
• Recent improvement to the teaching of mathematics, particularly the strong emphasis on developing fluency and reasoning, has led to an upturn in pupils’ gains in their mathematical understanding. However, pupils’ confidence at solving mathematical problems expressed in words is still developing and too few are reaching the higher standards.
• Pupils in Year 2 in 2017 made good progress during key stage 1, building on the good start made in their Reception Year. The proportions of pupils that reached the expected standard and those working at greater depth in reading and writing were similar to those seen nationally and, in mathematics, the proportion was higher.
• Pupils achieve well in phonics, where standards at the school are rising year on year. In 2017, the proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard in the Year 1 national phonics check was above the national average. This year, an even higher proportion of pupils are on track to achieve this standard, with little or no differences in achievement between disadvantaged pupils and others or between boys and girls.
• Disadvantaged pupils are making progress as well as other pupils and current school data, supported by work seen in pupils’ books, shows that the differences between these pupils and others nationally are reducing quickly. The school uses its additional funding well to make sure that specific targeted help is well directed at these pupils so that they are able to take advantage of all the school has to offer.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities currently make good progress. Vigilant direction by the SENCo and a precise awareness of the needs of each of these pupils by class teachers, coupled with extra support sessions for those who need it, have led to many of these pupils making great gains in both their academic and social development.
• The most able pupils achieve well, particularly in reading and writing. Inspectors found that these pupils read widely and often and write with fluency and expression. Too few, however, are being challenged to develop their mathematical reasoning skills, or to deepen their understanding in mathematics.

Early years provision Good

• Positive relationships between home and school ensure that children settle into daily routines, gain confidence and quickly start to make good progress. Children love coming to school and parents are very appreciative of the good start that their children receive in the early years. One parent spoke for many when saying, ‘My daughter loves it at the Nursery … she has learned so much in the three months she has been there.’
• Children join the early years with knowledge and understanding below those typical for their age, especially in their speaking, listening and communication skills.
• The assessments of children on entry, in-year, and at the end of Reception are accurate. Assessments are based on a range of evidence, including well-targeted photographs of children at work and play. They also include overall termly assessments, which are used to inform individual action plans.
• Children are eager to participate in all that is provided for them and they work hard and make good progress. The proportion of children that leave Reception having reached a good level of development has been above the national average for the last two years. This prepares children very well for their learning when they move into Year 1.
• Phonics is taught well in the Reception Year. Teaching assistants are provided with effective training that supports them to develop the skills to teach phonics well. Inspectors saw children developing their early phonics skills well to read and write unfamiliar words.
• Good teaching underpins this good progress. Staff provide a carefully balanced programme of activities led by adults and tasks children can choose for themselves. Core skills are taught well through whole-class and small-group activities. Classrooms are attractive and stimulating.
• There are numerous opportunities for children to develop their understanding of numbers, and to begin to develop writing skills. Opportunities to develop imagination, physical skills, and to play together are rich in this early years setting. Children in the Nursery were seen to learn excitedly to count to 20 in the outdoor areas by using ‘point and say’ when manipulating small toys.
• Adults work well with children who require additional support, including disadvantaged children and those who have SEN and/or disabilities. These children make the same rapid progress as others in the early years.
• Early years provision is well led. There is a very clear view about the strengths and weaknesses of the provision and highly effective organisation and planning for the curriculum that closely meets the needs of all children. A very flexible approach to the curriculum and a constant questioning as to how things can be further improved characterise the leadership of this area.
• Parents are secure in the knowledge that their children’s welfare is given a very high priority. Arrangements to ensure that children are safe and that their needs are met are thorough. As a result, children feel happy and safe and this helps them to thrive.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 132196 Bristol City of 10037859 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 Maintained 2 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 488 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Rebecca Golder Louisa Munton 0117 9031447

www.shirehamptonprimary.org

shirehamptonp@bristol.gov.uk

Date of previous inspection March 2013

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards.
• The proportion of pupils who receive support for SEN and/or disabilities is above average.
• The proportion of pupils who have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan is below the national average.
• There are above average numbers of pupils known to be eligible for support by the pupil premium.
• The school runs an on-site breakfast club which is managed by the governing body.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in visits to lessons across the school, most of which were jointly observed with senior leaders.
• Discussions took place with the headteacher, the senior leadership team, the chair and two other members of the governing body.
• Inspectors scrutinised a number of documents, including school improvement plans and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.
• The inspection team carried out a joint scrutiny of the quality of pupils’ work in books with senior leaders.
• Inspectors spoke to groups of pupils to seek their views about the school. The views of other pupils were gathered during lessons and lunchtimes. Inspectors listened to pupils from key stage 1 and key stage 2 reading.
• Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons, at lunchtimes, breaktimes and around the school.
• An inspector visited the on-site breakfast club.
• Inspectors considered 82 responses to the online survey, Parent View, as well as 64 free-text responses from parents, 80 responses to the online pupil survey and 26 responses to the online staff survey.

Inspection team

Michael Merchant, lead inspector Matthew Cottrell Wendy D’Arcy

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector