Peatmoor Community Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the consistency of teaching, learning and assessment across the school, including in the early years, so that:
  • more pupils, especially the most able, are challenged to achieve the highest standards they are capable of
  • pupils are supported to develop, apply and extend the skills they have learned in writing and mathematics to a wide range of subjects.
• Improve the quality of leadership and management by:
  • further developing leaders’ monitoring so that they take more decisive action to improve teaching when progress slows for certain groups of pupils
  • continuing to improve the attendance of the few pupils who have higher rates of absence.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders, including governors, have worked with notable success to improve the school since the previous inspection. They are not prepared to rest on their laurels and are dedicated to working purposefully and productively to achieve the highest possible standards. As a result, pupils’ outcomes continue to rise steadily. Progress for disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is rising rapidly.
• Leaders at all levels evaluate their work carefully and have a good understanding of the main priorities for the school. The school development plan is well focused on the priorities and clearly sets out how the school plans to achieve its aims. All leaders share accountability for their role in school improvement. This helps them to draw up action plans and provide targeted training to help teachers improve. However, the monitoring of leaders’ actions is not always followed up quickly enough to confirm that it is having the desired impact. As a result, progress for some groups of pupils is not as rapid as it is for others.
• Senior leaders are fully committed to improving subject leadership and teaching. The Link Academies Collaborative Trust and external consultants provide well-established and effective support. This helps leaders and teachers understand how to improve standards of teaching, learning and assessment. Sharing good practice and ideas has helped teachers to improve assessment in writing and spelling.
• Leadership of the provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is strong. Leaders place high importance on including all pupils. Additional funding is used well to develop well-targeted provision. Focused training improves the knowledge and skills of teachers and teaching assistants and helps pupils to make better progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The special educational needs coordinator works closely with external agencies and has positive working relationships with parents. These collaborations are highly successful in making sure that pupils receive the right support. As a result, these pupils’ needs are met.
• Leaders make effective use of the additional pupil premium funding to address disadvantaged pupils’ academic, social and emotional needs. This supports their personal development well. Thoughtfully planned teaching and additional nurture support ensures that vulnerable pupils gain confidence and improve their self-esteem. Individual and group support sessions have a strong impact on progress for the majority of disadvantaged pupils in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The school uses sports funding in imaginative ways to target particular groups. Funding allows the school to employ a sports coach from a local football club. She provides extra-curricular clubs such as tag rugby and athletics, supports pupils to play sociably and cooperatively at lunchtime and enhances the professional development of staff. As a result, pupils are more enthusiastic about participating in team games. They develop a competitive spirit and have more positive attitudes to learning.
• Leaders have established a robust system for assessing pupils’ achievement in reading, writing and mathematics. This has made teachers more accountable for pupils’ progress. However, leaders’ checks are not thorough enough because they do not take full account of pupils’ prior attainment. As a result, learning for the most able pupils is not stretching them as much as it should.
• Leaders and teachers are committed to ensuring that all pupils have full access to high-quality education. They place great importance on attendance and tackle absence with determination. Attendance for the majority of pupils is good and close to national figures. While attendance is lower for a very small minority of pupils, leaders work closely with parents and this is improving attendance.
• Pupils engage in a broad curriculum and learn a range of skills across different subjects, although leaders recognise that subject leadership needs further development to ensure that pupils apply and consolidate their literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum.
• The vast majority of parents who responded to the online survey and spoke with inspectors are highly positive about leaders’ actions to support their children. One parent commented, ‘I cannot fault them for the way in which they deal with poor behaviour. They sort things out straightaway.’ Other parents remark that all staff are very approachable. A very small minority of parents have concerns about behaviour and some say they would like their children to have more challenge with their work. Leaders are aware of this and are fully committed to working closely with all parents to reassure them and gain their confidence and support.
• The school’s website is welcoming and interesting. Leaders share a wide range of detailed information to help parents understand how the school supports their children.

Governance of the school

• Governors are actively involved in school improvement. They have a range of relevant skills and experience, which they put to good use to gain an incisive view of the school. Governors ensure that safeguarding systems are robust and undertake relevant training to improve their skills. They are clear that safeguarding is everybody’s responsibility.
• Governors ensure that finances are appropriately allocated and regularly check to confirm that funding is making a difference. They closely evaluate teachers’ performance before agreeing pay awards.
• Governors make regular visits to the school and check the impact of the school’s work. They provide appropriate levels of support and challenge and ask appropriate and searching questions. As a result, they are able to evaluate how effectively teaching and pastoral support meet pupils’ needs.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders and teachers are highly sensitive about their responsibility for protecting pupils in their care. They have a clear understanding of the potential risks pupils face, particularly if they are vulnerable, and act decisively to minimise these.
• Checks on the suitability of staff are routinely carried out and all staff and governors receive regular training and guidance to support their understanding of their safeguarding role.
• The curriculum continues to be well developed to ensure that pupils are provided with information about risks in a sensitive and age-appropriate way. As a result, pupils have an informed view of how to stay safe.
• Leaders and teachers work well with families to ensure that there is a robust culture of safeguarding. Record-keeping is detailed and leaders act quickly to help pupils who are vulnerable or who need extra support. They seek guidance from outside agencies when it is needed. Leaders regularly monitor their work and check that it is making a difference. As a result, pupils are kept safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment

• Teachers have a good overview of what pupils should learn in all subjects and plan

Good

interesting lessons, which pupils enjoy. Teachers successfully explain and demonstrate how to carry out tasks. Pupils say that this helps them understand what they have to do.

• There are positive and mutually respectful relationships between pupils and adults. Pupils apply themselves to their learning and want to do well.
• Teachers and teaching assistants understand when pupils with low starting points or slightly less positive attitudes need more help. They make sure that targeted support helps pupils make faster progress and develop more positive attitudes to learning.
• The teaching of phonics is effective. Lower-ability pupils develop useful strategies, which help them to tackle tricky words and correct themselves when they make mistakes. Across the rest of the school, reading is taught well. Pupils read confidently and with enjoyment. They have a wide range of interesting books, which motivate them to read. Teaching of reading helps pupils to develop secure comprehension skills and as a result they show a good understanding of what they read.
• The teaching of writing supports pupils to practise writing in a variety of styles such as stories, play scripts and letters. Pupils apply the punctuation, grammar and spelling skills they have acquired to develop and extend their descriptive writing. Pupils are motivated to write when the subject matter has relevance to them and enjoyed writing letters following their trip to Bristol Zoo.
• Pupils develop their writing and mathematics skills through other subjects. For example, in science pupils label and sort plants into groups. But these skills are not consistently developed across the curriculum, which limits pupils’ ability to consolidate and deepen their understanding.
• Increasingly, teaching in mathematics enables pupils to apply their calculation skills through a range of tasks. For instance, pupils apply their knowledge of angles on a straight line to calculate missing angles. They enjoy the speedy game of ‘angle bingo’ to work out further missing angles. However, work in books and lessons indicates that pupils’ ability to apply their reasoning skills to solve a range of mathematical problems is less well developed.
• Teachers have good subject knowledge and focus on ensuring that pupils are well supported to meet the standards expected for their age. However, some of the most able pupils do not make the progress they could, as teachers do not routinely identify when work needs to be more challenging, especially in writing and mathematics. Discussions with pupils confirm this.
• Teachers regularly and effectively check pupils’ understanding. Questions such as ‘Is this half of the shape?’ ‘Why not?’ and ‘How do you know?’ prompt pupils to reflect on learning and justify their understanding. However, questioning is not always probing enough for the most able pupils.
• Pupils receive regular feedback from teachers. However, in both key stages, feedback does not consistently identify exactly what pupils need to do to improve. This sometimes inhibits their progress.
• Homework supports the work that pupils carry out in school and is continually reviewed so that it has the desired impact. Parents understand how well pupils are doing and know how to support their children because informative termly progress reports are shared with them.
• The curriculum enhances pupils’ personal development across a range of subjects. Pupils develop their geography skills and learn how to use a globe to identify continents. The study of people’s lives in Gambia captures pupils’ interest and highlights the diversity of others’ experience.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• When pupils arrive at school for the start of the school day, they walk in calmly and purposefully, ready to learn. Clear expectations and good role modelling by adults mean that, throughout the day, pupils make the transition between activities and into break times smoothly and sensibly.
• Pupils feel safe in school, know who to turn to if they have problems and have the confidence to share their ideas and views in lessons and assemblies.
• Pupils listen very carefully to adults and are interested to learn. They persevere to practise skills, even when work is difficult. They are not afraid to make mistakes because they know adults will help them.
• Pupils have drawn up a ‘presentation creed’, which is displayed in their books. Many pupils use this as a useful reminder to keep their work neat and tidy. However, not all teachers consistently support pupils to live up to this. As a result, the quality of presentation in some pupils’ books has declined. Leaders are now taking more decisive action to improve this.
• The culture of the school embraces fairness and equality and leaders are quick to challenge unkind words or actions. Adults share the stories of Malala Yousafzai and John Newton to illustrate the devastating consequences of extremism, persecution and control. Presented in a way that pupils can understand, the stories powerfully highlight the importance of standing up for people’s rights and fighting injustice.
• The programme of personal, social and emotional development is well established across the school and covers a broad range of activities. The curriculum allows pupils to consider their own and others’ feelings, wants and needs. The work that pupils carry out is also effective for helping to promote pupils’ awareness of water, road and fire safety.
• The school manages ‘Heron’ before- and after-school clubs. Staff greet pupils warmly, which creates a calm and happy atmosphere. Activities planned support pupils’ work in school. As a result, pupils’ engagement in activities such as reading and homework is productive.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• In and around school, pupils behave in a calm and orderly manner because there are clear and consistent behaviour management systems. Leaders regularly monitor behaviour incidents with pupils, parents and teachers and pupils understand how to apply themselves positively to their work. Pupils recognise that poor behaviour negatively affects their learning but say that adults quickly sort this out. Pupils appreciate ‘marbles in a jar’, stars and certificates to celebrate good behaviour.
• Positive relationships between adults and pupils are a real strength of the school. Pupils know what is expected of them and display the same level of respect for all adults in the school. Pupils are welcoming and extremely polite. They are interested in and keen to talk about their learning.
• Lunch and breaktimes are happy affairs. Pupils chat and play sociably and cooperatively with their friends. They enjoy balancing on rope trails, playing games with the sports coach and learning how to play chess.
• Pupils have a good understanding of all forms of bullying and know who to turn to if they need help. To monitor patterns of poor behaviour and avoid repeat incidents, leaders log all details and carry out follow-up actions when necessary.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils have achieved well since the previous inspection. In 2016, the proportion of pupils who achieved and exceeded the expected standards in grammar, punctuation and spelling, reading and mathematics was higher than pupils nationally at the end of key stage 2. Too few pupils reached the expected standards in writing but leaders recognise that teachers’ assessment at this time was not secure enough. Along with leaders in the Link Academies Collaborative Trust, they have tackled this with rigour to ensure that assessments are now robust and reliable.
• In 2016, pupils in key stage 1 achieved broadly in line with pupils nationally in reading and mathematics and well above pupils nationally in writing. However, too few pupils achieved the higher standards in reading and mathematics, which represented slower progress for the most able pupils.
• Effective teaching of phonics in Year 1 enables pupils to read well and pupils generally achieve better than pupils nationally. In 2016, the proportion of pupils meeting expected standards showed a slight decline from the previous year. However, current school information and inspectors’ findings indicate that the majority of Year 1 pupils this year are working at the expected standard.
• Almost all pupils in both key stages are working at standards expected of them. However, work in books and lessons shows that pupils are not always challenged to reach the higher standards in writing and mathematics.
• The most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, make average progress from their starting points. However, evidence gathered during the inspection confirms that these pupils are not consistently moved on in their learning when they are ready to do so.
• Leaders and teachers work effectively to diminish the difference in achievement between the disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally. Disadvantaged pupils typically make strong progress and this is because funding is used appropriately to provide opportunities and support to help them to achieve well.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make consistently strong progress because staff ensure work is set at the right level for them. The extra support pupils receive from teachers and teaching assistants provides the guidance they need to develop their skills in reading, writing and mathematics.

Early years provision Good

• Early years provision, teaching and leadership are good. Year on year the proportion of children who achieve a good level of development is higher than that of children nationally. This means that they are well prepared for key stage 1.
• Most children come into the early years at a stage of development broadly in line with that expected for their age. Additional funding is used well to ensure that disadvantaged children’s achievement is good. Leaders have identified that they need to make sure that more children are challenged to exceed the expected standard.
• Adults develop extremely positive relationships with children and make sure that they are safe and happy. Leaders ensure that safeguarding arrangements are robust. Children are confident, independent and polite. They behave sensibly because they know what is expected of them and they play well with their friends.
• Children gain much from a stimulating and well-resourced environment. They explore an exciting range of activities and resources inside and outside the classroom and are inspired to pursue their learning in different ways. They sustain concentration for long periods because they find the activities interesting.
• Teachers provide effective support to help children to develop their mathematical understanding. They enjoy choosing pizzas from menus to work out how much they will cost. Teachers’ questions, such as ‘How much is it?’, ‘How much have you got?’ and ‘How much more do you need?’ prompt children to calculate totals. Children use coins and small dinosaurs to help them add and subtract numbers.
• The teaching of reading and writing is effective. Children listen to the sounds in words and practise breaking them down to read and spell. For instance, pupils successfully locate ‘ch’ in a range of words and use their knowledge of other sounds to write words such as ‘cheese’. Adults model how to write sentences, which helps children understand what to do, and they practise writing in small notepads and on small whiteboards. Extra support sessions are provided for pupils who need to catch up. This helps them to develop their writing further.
• Induction of new staff is effective. Leaders and teachers aspire to improve teaching so that more pupils exceed what is expected of them. Training is well planned to support this.
• Adults in the early years communicate well with parents from the start of their children’s journey in the early years. They share regular progress reports with parents and plan ‘stay and play’ sessions so that parents can find out what their children are learning.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140289 Swindon 10033124 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 Academy converter 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 200 Appropriate authority Link Academies Collaborative Trust Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Andrew Bourne Donna Eaton 01793 887473 http://www.peatmoor.org.uk head@peatmoor.swindon.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 3–4 June 2015

Information about this school

• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• Peatmoor Community Primary School is smaller than the average school with 200 pupils on roll. There is one class in each year group from Reception to Year 6. It is part of Link Academies Collaborative Trust, an umbrella multi-academy trust of four local primary schools.
• The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is slightly above the national average.
• The majority of pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds or whose first language is not/believed not to be English is much lower than nationally.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is just below the national average. The largest group of these pupils have moderate learning difficulties.
• The headteacher took up post on an interim basis in April 2015. This post was made permanent in December 2015.
• The school was found to require improvement at its previous inspection in June 2015. An Ofsted monitoring visit in December 2015 confirmed that the school was making effective progress in addressing the recommendations of the inspection.
• The school met the government’s floor standards in 2014 and 2015. Following the introduction of the new tests in 2016, the school met the new floor standards.
• The school provides before- and after-school childcare managed by the governing body.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in all classes across the school. Several of these were observed jointly with the headteacher, deputy headteacher or special educational needs coordinator.
• Inspectors had discussions with the headteacher and other senior leaders throughout the inspection. Inspectors held meetings with curriculum leaders and representatives of the governing body. Three headteachers of schools within the Link Academies Collaborative Trust and the chair of the trust met with an inspector to discuss the support they provide.
• Inspectors reviewed a range of documents provided by the school including the school improvement plan, attendance and behaviour records and safeguarding documentation. Inspectors took account of the school’s latest assessment information and leaders’ evaluation of their work.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read and held a meeting with a group of pupils to gain their views of the school.
• Inspectors took account of 31 responses to the online survey, Parent View, and the school’s own analysis of a recent parent questionnaire. Inspectors met with several parents at the start of the inspection. Inspectors also reviewed pupil and staff responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire.
• Pupils’ books across a range of subjects and classes were scrutinised jointly with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and special educational needs coordinator.

Inspection team

Catherine Beeks, lead inspector Marion Borland

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector