Pawlett Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Urgently secure the effectiveness of safeguarding in the school by:
  • ensuring that supervision of pupils at lunchtimes is adequate
  • insisting that referrals of safeguarding concerns are timely and that record keeping meets requirements
  • ensuring that health and safety requirements are secure and fire safety regulations met.
• Urgently improve leadership and management so that they are consistently good by:
  • ensuring that pupils have equal access to teaching by qualified staff
  • equipping leaders to take effective action to eliminate inadequate teaching
  • measuring pupils’ progress from their starting points to eradicate any underachievement quickly
  • insisting that teachers’ assessment is accurate and that teachers use it to plan work to meet pupils’ needs
  • ensuring that governors robustly hold leaders to account for performance across the whole school and that they know the impact that teaching has on pupils’ progress.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment urgently by ensuring that teachers:
  • have consistently high expectations of what all groups of pupils can achieve in reading, writing and mathematics
  • set work that challenges pupils and deepens their understanding so that middle- attaining pupils and the most able pupils make good progress in writing
  • consistently and effectively deploy and manage teaching assistants.
• Improve the personal development, behaviour and welfare of pupils by ensuring that teaching is demanding enough so that persistent, low-level disruption and disrespectful behaviour in lessons are eradicated.
• Swiftly improve provision in the early years by ensuring that:
  • curriculum requirements are met
  • learning environments are fit for purpose
  • assessment is accurate and used to build on children’s knowledge and skills so that they make good progress. 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 Inadequate

• As a result of ineffective leadership, the school has gone into decline. The school is failing to provide an adequate education for its pupils.
• Leaders have failed to address the school’s shortcomings. Weaknesses are widespread and include teaching, learning and assessment, pupils’ development and well-being, pupils’ outcomes, and the culture of safeguarding in the school.
• Strategic leadership is poor. Weak record keeping and leadership practices mean that the school does not function as effectively as it should. For instance, pupils in Years 3 and 4 and children in Reception are taught routinely by teaching assistants. In addition, teachers do not have enough oversight of what pupils can do, know and understand.
• Leaders have not ensured that pupils have equality in the education they receive. As a result of entrenched weak teaching across the school, some pupils receive work that is too difficult, while for others the work is routinely too easy and fails to present sufficient challenge. Children in Reception do not receive equal and fair access to the early years curriculum throughout the school day. This has an adverse effect on children’s and pupils’ progress and they underachieve.
• A school improvement plan is in place but its impact is minimal. As a result, leaders’ self-evaluation of the school is also inaccurate.
• Leaders have not improved pupils’ writing across the school sufficiently. Writing is accurately identified as a weakness in the school’s improvement plan. However, writing across the wider curriculum is not well enough developed. Pupils’ spelling is weak and this hinders their ability to write with accuracy and fluency. Pupils who can write well are left to write independently without adequate guidance. Consequently, too few of these pupils are exposed to working at the highest standards. Leaders’ actions are not bringing about the required changes across the school to improve writing. The teaching of writing is inadequate.
• The curriculum is poorly planned and does not meet the needs of pupils. Leaders have not kept abreast of the requirements of the national curriculum. As a result, many pupils do not experience work across the curriculum that will prepare them well for secondary school. Leaders have not ensured that the curriculum is demanding enough, particularly for the most able. Pupils do not show resilience and determination as learners. This results in pupils losing concentration and not making as much progress as they should.
• Staff know that there is work to be done to improve pupils’ outcomes and the curriculum overall, but they are not given the training or skills to make the required improvements.
• Professional feedback to teachers has not raised the quality of teaching and assessment. Leaders have ensured that external moderation of pupils’ work takes place but when weaknesses have been raised, they have not been tackled effectively. As a result, failings in teaching across the school prevail.
• Leaders’ strategic overview of teachers’ assessment is ineffective. As a result, they do not identify when assessment is inaccurate. Pupils’ weak performance is accepted and misjudged as appropriate progress. This means that there is a shortfall in the work in books when compared with the assessments teachers make. Consequently, weak achievement goes unnoticed.
• The transition from one learning activity to another takes too long. This has not been identified by leaders and reduces learning time. Pupils and staff accept this as usual practice.
• Leaders have not ensured that provision and teaching for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are good. Leaders know individual pupils well and specific plans are in place to plan for pupils’ progression in learning. However, teaching varies considerably across the school for these pupils. Leaders do not monitor the impact of pupils’ progress adequately. As a result, teaching is not well matched to pupils’ needs and learning is slow.
• Physical education and sport premium funding has improved the sports provision on offer. This is having a positive impact on participation in sport within school and through additional competitive sports.
• The majority of parents who responded to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and those who spoke to the inspector, were generally supportive of their village school. Two thirds of parents would recommend the school. Some parents expressed valid concerns relating to communication, leadership of the school and the progress their children make, particularly in writing.
• Newly qualified teachers may not be appointed.

Governance of the school

• Governors have not held leaders to account for planned actions that have not remedied the weaknesses in pupils’ writing. For example, they have ratified a detailed action plan which focuses on writing, but have not assured themselves of the impact of leaders’ work to improve this. As a result, the impact of leaders’ actions is minimal and pupils across the school underachieve.
• Governors have been too accepting of weak performance throughout the school.
• Governors have prioritised succession planning and securing future plans to enable financial security and stability for the school. They are highly strategic in this regard. The chair of governors and his team understand the strengths and weaknesses of the school but have been too slow in tackling them. As a result, widespread weaknesses in leadership persist, pupils do not achieve well enough and safeguarding requirements are not met.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.
• The culture of safeguarding children is not as secure as it should be. The school does not adequately follow up concerns about pupils. Referrals to external agencies are not timely or robustly considered. Record keeping is weak.
• Supervision of pupils at lunch- and breaktimes is not adequate. Concerns that pupils raise are not consistently dealt with quickly or in a sensitive manner. Health and safety record keeping is poor. Fire drills take place but records are not accurate.
• The designated safeguarding lead does not have oversight of the single central record or the checks that have taken place. Vetting checks are carried out to confirm adults’ suitability to work with children. However, some aspects of record keeping are not compliant with statutory requirements.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

• Teaching is poorly planned and fails to meet the needs of pupils. Teachers do not sufficiently plan for the wide differences of ability between pupils. As a result, work is sometimes too easy or too hard. Pupils often have to sit and wait for an extended period before they receive work at the right level for them. This poor practice is widely accepted across the school and considerably weakens pupils’ progress over time.
• Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can do are not high enough. Teaching for the most able pupils does not stretch and challenge them. Too often, these pupils are left to work without sufficient monitoring or guidance. Consequently, teaching does not deepen their understanding adequately. Considerable weaknesses prevail in the curriculum in addition to those in English and mathematics. As a result, pupils’ underachievement is widespread.
• The headteacher has not made the necessary improvements to teaching. Where weaknesses have already been identified, they have not been remedied. Teachers do not have sufficient subject knowledge or a full enough understanding of the requirements of the national curriculum. As a result, teachers’ assessments of pupils’ learning are over-generous and inaccurate.
• The teaching of writing is inadequate. Teachers do not routinely use their assessments to develop and improve pupils’ writing. For example, on inspection pupils were asked to edit and improve their work, but were not given their previous draft to refer to. As a result, it was difficult for pupils to improve their work. They repeated mistakes and wasted learning time. Such practice has contributed to pupils making weak progress over time. Pupils’ capacity to apply their writing skills across the curriculum is also not good enough because teachers do not consistently plan for it to take place.
• Pupils across a wide age range often receive the same work. This means that work is often too easy or too difficult. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make variable progress because teachers do not take into account pupils’ individual needs when planning specific work.
• The teaching of phonics is not good enough. Pupils are unable to effectively apply their knowledge and understanding of phonics to their spelling. Spelling is weak across the school and is a barrier to pupils meeting the standards of work expected for their age.
• The teaching of mathematics is inconsistent. At key stage 1, activities are often too easy or repeated and this limits pupils’ progress. Reasoning and problem solving are not taught effectively. In upper key stage 2, these aspects of mathematics are stronger, but pupils’ progress is not good enough because teaching is poorly planned and teachers’ questioning is weak.
• Teaching assistants are not managed well by teachers. Consequently, the work of teaching assistants lacks sufficient positive impact.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate.
• Leaders’, teachers’ and assistants’ work does not develop pupils’ self-discipline enough to help them become successful learners. The school’s curriculum does not support pupils well enough to develop their resilience and determination to learn. Consequently, pupils do not make good progress. Pupils are not being well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Pupils lose interest in their learning because of weak teaching. Pupils become easily bored in lessons because learning is not challenging or lacks purpose.
• The inspector noticed a number of pupils falling out with one another at break- and lunchtimes. When pupils asked staff for help in these situations, their requests were sometimes left unanswered or adults were insensitive in the manner they adopted.
• The breakfast club and the after-school club provide a calm start and end to the day. In the after-school club, pupils have a healthy snack and are encouraged to play a good variety of games and activities. Signing in and out arrangements meet requirements.
• Pupils told the inspector that they are encouraged to develop their understanding of keeping safe in school. Pupils talked about work they had completed on e-safety and how their assemblies provide additional knowledge about living in modern Britain.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is inadequate. As a result of poorly planned teaching, pupils regularly become distracted, hindering their ability to sustain their learning. In key stage 2, some pupils are disrespectful and talk over the teacher when the teacher is speaking to the class.
• Poor behaviour is recorded by the headteacher using the school’s behaviour concern forms. However, persistent misbehaviour by a few pupils is common and is too readily accepted.
• Very many pupils demonstrate excellent manners and attitudes. However, pupils’ learning behaviours are underdeveloped because teachers do not demand enough of pupils. This has an adverse effect on pupils’ ability to grapple with new learning. As a result, their learning falters.
• Overall attendance is above the national average. Where some pupils’ attendance is low, it is tracked carefully by staff. The school offers additional support from external agencies to the small number of pupils who do not attend regularly. As a result, their attendance is rising gradually.

Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

• As a result of weak teaching, pupils are not making enough progress, and considerable underachievement is evident across the school. Leaders’ and teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve are far too low. Previously low-attaining pupils are not catching up quickly enough.
• Pupils’ outcomes in writing are inadequate. A focus on writing across the school has had insufficient impact. Pupils are not making enough progress from their different starting points. Pupils do not apply their writing skills across the curriculum sufficiently and their spelling is weak. This has a negative impact on pupils’ ability to write with accuracy and at length.
• Published outcomes in 2016 at key stage 1 show that no pupils achieved the expected standard in writing. Now in Year 3, these pupils are not catching up quickly enough.
• Pupils’ progress in mathematics is too variable. In key stage 1, while some pupils have a secure understanding of number, they have few opportunities to apply this through reasoning and problem solving, hampering their ability to reach or exceed expected standards. There is greater emphasis on reasoning and problem solving in key stage 2. However, pupils’ progress is not good enough because teaching is poorly planned and is not closely matched to pupils’ needs, limiting pupils’ progress in mathematics overall.
• All pupils at the end of key stage 2 achieved expected standards in reading. In mathematics and writing, a smaller than average proportion reached expected standards.
• Current pupils’ achievement in reading is too variable. Those pupils who have previously underachieved are not catching up quickly enough, including those who are disadvantaged. The curriculum does not deepen and extend pupils’ understanding of what they read sufficiently.
• The most able pupils make insufficient progress because work is often too easy and fails to challenge them.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make variable progress. Their progress speeds up and slows down depending on the quality of teaching they receive.
• The proportion of pupils successfully completing the phonics screening check in Year 1 has risen steeply in 2016 and is now in line with the national average. Pupils can decode words successfully but they are not well equipped to use phonics to help them spell accurately. New initiatives in place to teach the application of spelling are in their infancy. The school’s performance information shows that currently, no pupils meet the spelling targets set for them.
• In 2016, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development, the standard expected at the end of early years, rose steeply but remained below that achieved nationally. Outcomes have been well below the national average for the last three years.

Early years provision

Inadequate

• The leadership of early years is inadequate. Leaders have not ensured that children experience their full entitlement to the early years curriculum. As a result, provision is consistently weak and does not meet the needs of children well enough. Children are not well prepared for the next stage in their education.
• Children do not receive enough teaching from the qualified teacher. They are predominately taught by a teaching assistant. As a result, children’s developmental needs are not met.
• Leaders do not have a strong enough focus on monitoring the quality of teaching. Consequently, weaknesses in provision are not picked up quickly enough, and this results in teaching that is inadequate.
• Teaching for the most able children is not challenging enough. Learning is impeded by weak assessment and teaching that fails to stretch and deepen children’s thinking.
• The quality of assessment information is too variable. For some children, assessments are too narrow and do not provide a full and accurate picture of what children can do, know and understand. As a result, learning opportunities do not always support the children to make good progress or to catch up.
• Assessments are not used effectively to plan for children’s learning needs. The class teacher does not have full oversight of what children are learning. Not enough note is taken of what children can and cannot do. As a result, staff are unaware when teaching is ill matched to children’s needs, which slows children’s learning and progress.
• During learning with Years 1 and 2, some Reception children find whole-class activities too difficult because they are pitched too high and beyond what is expected in the early years curriculum. This reduces the amount the children learn and slows their progress.
• The indoor learning environment does not provide easy access for children to experience all areas of learning in the early years curriculum. Learning outside is predetermined by the equipment that adults set up. Most recently, a designated outdoor area has been established but does not provide an enclosed and safe area for children to explore and investigate. This limits children’s progress over time.
• Children have positive relationships with their peers and adults alike. They make the best of activities on offer but their learning is hindered by the inadequacies in provision.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 123693 Somerset 10025068 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 57 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address William Barnard Anne Goodison 01278 684151 www.pawlettprimaryschool.co.uk agoodison@educ.somerset.gov.uk Date of previous inspection 22–23 March 2012

Information about this school

• This school is much smaller than the average primary school. There is one class for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2. Key stage 2 pupils are taught in two classes for part of the week and as one class on some afternoons. The headteacher has a part-time teaching commitment in key stage 2.
• The proportion of pupils for whom the pupil premium provides support is well below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• There is a breakfast club and an after-school club managed by the school.
• The school has too few pupils who took part in the 2016 key stage 2 tests to make comparisons with the current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.
• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of specified information on its website for pupil premium information.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed pupils’ learning across the school. Some learning was observed jointly with the headteacher.
• The inspector looked at pupils’ books to establish the quality of their current work and their progress over time. The inspector also listened to pupils read and discussed pupils’ views of the teaching of reading in the school.
• The inspector scrutinised a variety of school documents to ascertain the school’s evaluation of its performance.
• The inspector reviewed records relating to behaviour and safety, attendance and safeguarding. The inspector also reviewed the school’s performance information.
• The inspector held meetings with the headteacher and teachers. A telephone conversation took place with a representative of the local authority. A further meeting took place with the head of school improvement for Somerset local authority. The inspector also met with a group of governors on the first day of the inspection and met with the chair of governors twice.
• The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour during their learning and at lunchtimes and breaktimes. She also met with some pupils to seek their views of the school and to ascertain how they feel about their learning and development.
• The inspector visited the after-school club and scrutinised procedures for the part-time breakfast club.
• The inspector considered 12 responses to the online survey, Parent View. She also considered comments provided by parents’ text messages and spoke to parents during the inspection. The inspector met with teaching staff to seek their views of the school and considered responses to the staff and pupil online questionnaires.

Inspection team

Julie Carrington, lead inspector

Her Majesty’s Inspector