Parkend Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, including in the early years, by:
  • developing precise assessment in reading, writing and mathematics so that teachers consistently plan work that challenges pupils to reach the highest standards that they are capable of
  • ensuring that all teaching interventions accelerate progress for pupils who need to catch up
  • providing pupils with more opportunities to apply and secure their reading, writing and mathematics skills across the curriculum.
• Improve leadership and management, including governance, by ensuring that:
  • the curriculum is developed further to ensure that pupils are well supported to make good progress in all subjects
  • subject leaders are supported to monitor teaching effectively and consistently intervene to raise standards of teaching
  • leaders develop further communication with parents by ensuring that the school website meets statutory requirements. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Since the previous inspection the school has suffered from a prolonged period of turbulence caused by several changes of leadership and two unsuccessful collaborations with local schools. Leaders, including governors, have not taken the necessary action to maintain the good quality of teaching and this has impacted adversely on pupils’ outcomes.
• The new headteacher has only been in post for one term but has quickly identified the key priorities for the school. She has a relentless drive and passion for improving outcomes for all pupils and supports teachers well. This is helping teachers to understand precisely how teaching needs to improve. However, improvements are in the early stages of development and it will take time to determine if these can be sustained.
• The headteacher has taken the necessary steps to distribute leadership responsibilities and is supporting subject leaders to develop the monitoring of teaching. Leaders use the school’s assessment system to identify how well pupils are achieving. However, they do not use this information effectively enough. This limits their ability to intervene when pupils need to make more rapid progress. As a result, several pupils, including the most able pupils and disadvantaged pupils, are still catching up from a legacy of weak teaching.
• Since she began in post, the headteacher has taken on the role of special educational needs coordinator. She has a good understanding of pupils’ needs and has begun to support teachers to adapt provision appropriately. This is resulting in better teaching, which more effectively meets pupils’ needs and is enabling some pupils to make strong progress. The headteacher currently relies on external specialists to provide those pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. However, she is fully aware that further training is required to enable her fulfil her role and sustain improvements for pupils.
• Leaders use pupil premium funding to provide additional resources which support pupils. This helps to develop pupils’ well-being and learning and there are early signs of improvement in pupils’ capacity to learn. However, this support is not yet accelerating their progress.
• The school makes effective used of the additional funding for physical education and sport to provide sports coaches and develop links with local cricket and tennis clubs. Additional support is provided for teachers and this improves their confidence to teach a range of skills. Children enjoy trying a variety of sports, including archery, horse riding and abseiling. These opportunities inspire pupils to engage in learning and improve their fitness.
• The curriculum covers a wide range of subjects and provides appropriate opportunities for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. For example, pupils are interested in learning about life during wartime and enjoy writing poems, creating artwork and writing about life as an evacuee. However, the curriculum is not yet sufficiently developed to ensure that pupils make strong progress in all subjects. It also provides limited opportunities for pupils to embed the skills they have learned in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The school’s website does not contain all the information it needs to comply with statutory requirements. As a result, parents are limited in the degree to which they understand how the school is supporting their children. The headteacher and governors are aware that the website needs updating and have plans in place to do this. However, until recently, the urgent priority of securing the stability of leadership and improving outcomes for pupils has naturally taken precedence.
• The vast majority of parents who responded to the online questionnaire or spoke to the inspector are very happy with the quality of education provided at the school. They speak extremely positively about their children’s enjoyment of school and the new headteacher. Typical comments include ‘any problems are nipped in the bud’ and ‘staff are friendly and always help when asked…nothing is too much trouble’.

Governance of the school

• Governors are fully committed to supporting the school and ask searching questions to determine the effectiveness of leaders’ actions. However, they acknowledge that until recently, despite their best efforts, they have not had a good enough understanding of the progress that pupils were making. This has restricted the extent to which they been able to hold leaders to account.
• The headteacher has heightened governors’ awareness of the fact that teaching needs to improve rapidly so that pupils make better progress. There is now a sharper focus to governors’ monitoring visits and this is enabling them to become better informed about the effectiveness of leaders’ actions.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The school implements rigorous safeguarding practices and undertakes thorough checks to determine the suitability of staff to work with children. Staff receive relevant training on all aspects of safeguarding, which helps them to recognise when a pupil might be at risk. Staff understand that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility and understand how to refer any concerns they might have. The headteacher maintains secure and detailed records of all referrals and regularly liaises with outside agencies and parents. This ensures that pupils’ welfare is well supported. She also routinely follows up the school’s actions to check that it is making a positive difference.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching has not consistently supported pupils to make the best possible progress. This has prevented many pupils from reaching the standards expected of them.
• Teachers’ use of assessment does not routinely take account of pupils’ starting points. As a result, work is not always pitched at the right level and pupils frequently complete tasks that are too easy for them. This means that they do not always achieve what they are capable of.
• Teachers have positive working relationships with pupils and value their contributions to their learning. This encourages pupils to work hard. However, there is inconsistency in the degree to which teachers intervene in learning to check pupils’ understanding. This limits their ability to correct pupils’ mistakes and adapt teaching to move pupils’ learning on.
• Evidence from pupils’ learning reveals that teachers do not always explain precisely what they want pupils to achieve. There is also variability in the effectiveness of teachers’ feedback. Consequently pupils are not always clear what to do or how to improve their work.
• The majority of pupils are keen to apply themselves to their learning, but teachers do not always encourage pupils to have enough pride in their work. As a result, the quality of pupils’ work sometimes diminishes over time.
• Pupils are beginning to develop their writing in other subjects such as history. However, reading, writing and mathematics are not consistently well embedded across the curriculum. As a result, pupils are hindered from applying and securing these skills in other subjects.
• The teaching of phonics has contributed to improvements in the proportion of pupils reaching expected standards at the end of Year 1. However, phonics teaching is still too variable and does not routinely build on pupils’ prior learning. This prevents pupils from making secure progress.
• Well-trained teaching assistants are deployed effectively. They capitalise on the good relationships they have developed with pupils to guide learning well. They provide clear explanations and encourage pupils to think carefully. This helps pupils understand what to do and remain focused on their learning.
• Pupils enjoy learning and persevere well when learning becomes difficult. For example, they think hard and apply their knowledge of multiplication and division when simplifying fractions.
• Pupils receive regular homework and this helps them to build on skills learned in school. Parents value the information that teachers and leaders share with them, enabling them to understand how to support their children at home.
• The swift action of the headteacher has led to some early improvements in teaching. For example, pupils are now more regularly challenged to apply their reasoning in mathematics to solve problems.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are proud of their school and are well mannered and polite. Adults and pupils have mutually respectful relationships. This helps to ensure that pupils listen carefully to instructions, focus on their learning and cooperate well.
• Pupils enjoy school and attend regularly. This means that they are well placed to benefit from all that the school offers. For example, they enjoy participating in clubs such as netball and cookery.
• Pupils understand school routines well and come into school punctually. Good supervision and clear expectations mean that pupils settle quickly and are ready to learn.
• Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and persevere when learning gets difficult. They are beginning to find out how they learn best. This is improving their independence and their ability to take ownership of their learning.
• The school provides effective pastoral support, such as the friendship group, to help pupils manage their feelings and emotions. This supports and improves their readiness to learn. As a result, pupils are making better progress.
• The school encourages pupils to be thoughtful, tolerant and caring citizens. As a result, they embrace and value differences between themselves and others. Pupils are reflective and consider the consequences of people’s actions, for example when learning about Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela.
• Pupils who spoke to the inspector say that they feel safe at school because adults look after them well. They report that there is always someone to turn to if they are worried or upset. The school supports pupils to stay safe in different situations. For instance, they know how to stay safe when using the internet and when crossing the road.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils have a clear understanding of right and wrong and this ensures that they are well behaved in lessons.
• Adults have high expectations of pupils’ attitudes to learning. Consequently, pupils move around the school in a purposeful manner, ready to apply themselves to their work.
• Pupils understand the different forms of bullying and say that poor behaviour is rare. Pupils say that when behaviour falls short of the school’s expectations, adults sort it out quickly. Leaders’ monitoring records confirm this.
• During playtimes and lunchtimes, pupils play happily and sociably with each other and enjoy taking part in various games such as football and skipping.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• In the last two years, weak teaching has resulted in too few pupils reaching the standards expected of them at the end of each key stage. Only a small minority of pupils, including the most able pupils, reach higher standards. Progress in all subjects in the last two years has been well below the national average. Consequently, too few pupils have been sufficiently prepared for the next stage of their education.
• The teaching of phonics has improved in recent years. As a result, the proportion of pupils reaching expected standards in 2015 and 2016 was in line with the national figure. However, current teaching of phonics is variable and in 2017 the proportion of pupils who met expected standards in phonics in Year 1 declined. It is too early to determine how successfully the school is reversing this underachievement.
• Pupils currently in the school make steady progress in reading, writing and mathematics, but do not make the accelerated progress they need to catch up. This is because teachers do not use assessment well enough to ensure that pupils’ work is appropriately targeted to match their stage of development or ability. Consequently, gaps in pupils’ learning do not diminish quickly enough. There are some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities, who do not reach the standards that they are capable of.
• Although there is still much work to be done, the headteacher has taken swift and focused action to improve pupils’ outcomes. This is starting to have a positive impact. Pupils’ books reveal that they are now developing their reasoning skills in mathematics and improving their comprehension skills in reading. However, this has not yet had a sustained impact on pupils’ progress and it will take time to determine whether these improvements can be maintained.
• The headteacher has begun to revise interventions for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. As a result of more sharply focused teaching, pupils’ self-esteem and confidence are improving and some pupils are making strong progress. Nevertheless, interventions and monitoring procedures are not yet fully embedded and so it is too soon to determine their long-term success.
• Teachers provide opportunities for pupils to develop their writing, for example in history. However, although pupils write in subjects other than English, teachers do not consistently help pupils to secure and extend their writing skills across the full curriculum. This restricts pupils from making the progress that they need to make.
• Pupils enjoy reading and are provided with opportunities to read widely and often. The large range of books in the library inspires pupils to read for pleasure. Pupils who read to the inspector did so confidently and fluently, applying their knowledge of phonics to read words accurately. Pupils can recall events in stories and show a good understanding of what they are reading.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Children’s progress in the early years has been variable. As a result, too few children have reached a good level of development at the end of the early years. Consequently, children are not adequately prepared to make the transition into Year 1.
• There have been recent improvements in the proportion of children who reach expected standards at the end of the early years. Nevertheless, it is too early to determine whether this can be sustained.
• Leaders work closely with other schools to share ideas for good practice and develop their use of assessment. However, teachers’ assessment of what children can do is not precise enough. As a result, leaders have an inaccurate view of children’s strengths and weaknesses. This limits how effectively teachers can plan children’s next steps of learning.
• Teaching is not yet good. This is because learning is not always appropriately matched to children’s capabilities. At times it also hinders pupils from developing and securing skills across a wide range of areas of learning. Consequently, children do not make sufficiently strong progress.
• Adults develop caring and supportive relationships with children, ensuring that children are kept safe at all times. Adults act as positive role models and this encourages children to listen carefully, respond to instructions and work cooperatively with each other.
• Children are keen to learn and they settle to tasks with the minimum of fuss. However, adults’ questions and interventions in learning do not consistently help children to make strong progress. This means that children are not fully supported to achieve what they are capable of.
• Additional adults are well deployed to support children who need extra help. They make good use of praise and encouragement, which motivates children to remain focused.
• Teachers and other adults frequently choose learning activities for pupils rather than letting them make their own choices. This limits children’s ability to explore the learning environment and find things out for themselves.
• Leaders liaise well with pre-school providers and parents and this helps to ensure that children are well supported when they start school. Parents are very positive about the way that the school supports their children and comment that this helps them to settle well. Parents enjoy receiving regular communication from teachers, allowing them to celebrate their children’s achievements and support their learning at home.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 115553 Gloucestershire 10033210 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 Maintained 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 69 Appropriate authority Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Local authority Claire Knapman Jasmin Marangon 01594 562407 http://parkendschool.com admin@parkend.gloucs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 14–15 March 2013

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the curriculum, pupil premium funding, primary education sports funding, special educational needs and governors on its website.
• Parkend Primary School is a smaller than average primary school. The school has three mixed-age classes consisting of: Reception and Year 1; Years 2 and 3; and Years 4, 5 and 6. The school does not run a breakfast or after-school club.
• There are very few pupils supported by pupil premium funding.
• Very few pupils receive special educational needs support, have a statement of special educational needs or have an education, health and care plan.
• The majority of pupils are White British. There are very few pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds. There are no pupils whose first language is not or is believed not to be English.
• The government’s floor standard, which is the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment and progress at the end of Year 6, is not applicable due to the small number of pupils in the school.
• The school has suffered from considerable turbulence in recent years. There have been several changes of headteacher since the last inspection and collaborations with two local schools ended in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The current headteacher began in post in September 2017.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed teaching in all classes. Several of these were jointly observed with the headteacher. The inspector and headteacher also reviewed a wide range of pupils’ work in different subjects and year groups.
• The inspector held meetings and discussions with the headteacher and other leaders, including governors. The inspector also held a meeting with a representative from the local authority.
• The inspector observed breaktime and lunchtime and held formal and informal discussions with pupils. Pupils also read to the inspector.
• The inspector spoke with parents at the start of the day and considered 20 responses to the online survey, Parent View, including free-text responses.
• The inspector scrutinised a range of key documents, including safeguarding records, the school’s evaluation of its work, school development plans and governors’ minutes.

Inspection team

Catherine Beeks, lead inspector

Ofsted Inspector