Preston Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that teaching, learning and assessment is highly effective across the school by making sure that:
  • teachers identify misconceptions in pupils’ writing and act to ensure that pupils receive the support they need to make further progress
  • teachers identify and support pupils who fall behind and enable them to catch up even more quickly, in particular those who are middle-attaining.
• Leaders ensure that the impact of their actions consistently improve outcomes for all pupils by:
  • even more closely monitoring the outcomes and progress of all pupil groups and offering support and interventions which are bespoke to the needs of the pupils
  • continuing to tackle absence and persistent absence so that pupils have every chance to progress
  • improving the quality of teaching of religious education so that pupils have a wider understanding of different faiths and how they are represented in the local and national community.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders have developed a curriculum which excites and enthuses pupils across the school. Their strong consideration of the local environment has informed distinct curriculum choices, which include plans to offer lifeguard training and sailing. Leaders have also made links with businesses to offer experiences for pupils that are highly valued and relevant. One parent added, ‘It’s wonderful to see the enthusiasm that enrichment creates…wonderful to see the enthusiasm for learning it creates.’ As a result, pupils’ attitudes towards learning are positive and they feel that there is a context for what they are learning.
• Leaders have invested much time, energy and funding into pastoral care, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. The range of enrichment activities has had a positive impact on pupils’ attitudes towards school and promoting a readiness for learning. As a result, pupils speak highly of the opportunities available to them and the attendance of disadvantaged pupils is improving.
• Governors have worked well and in a timely fashion with external support to improve the effectiveness of their actions. They have assembled a team that offers a range of skills which complement the needs of the school. Governors challenge leaders and hold them to account for their actions. They do not shy away from asking probing questions, and follow these up robustly. As a result, governors have an extremely strong understanding of the school. Their frequent moderation and challenge has contributed to the school’s improvement in recent years.
• Leaders provide an extensive and diverse range of professional development for staff across the school. The professional development considers two strands, whole-school training and individual training, which allows staff to choose training which will help them develop their practice further. Staff appreciate the range of training available to them and this has helped to establish a strong group of middle leaders. As a result, leaders implement the vision of the school to improve standards and this reflects positively on pupils’ outcomes. Similarly, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is improving as a result of leaders’ actions.
• The multi-academy trust has acted strategically and with a clear vision in mind to improve the quality of education for pupils in Preston Primary School. The trust is highly thought of by the local authority for its strong purpose, and this matches the views of the inspection team. Leaders at trust level have strong ambitions and strive for excellence. As a result, the school improvement journey has been centred on building sustainability for the future and developing a school with the pupils at the heart of every decision.
• Leaders have designed and developed a clear monitoring system to help move the school forward from a low starting point. This has led to significant improvements in teaching, learning and assessment. There is still more work to be done to ensure that monitoring activities consistently focus on improving pupils’ outcomes. Looking ahead, leaders recognise the need to improve the precision of their monitoring if they are to continue this journey towards excellence.
• Curriculum design and the school’s focus on values have resulted in pupils being able to speak eloquently about fundamental British values. However, pupils have limited knowledge about different faiths, particularly in their own local community. As a result, pupils are not yet able to understand how different faiths are represented across all communities and the unique contribution that they make to British society.
• Leaders have used pupil premium funding to provide wide-ranging interventions to support and guide disadvantaged pupils. However, the precision needed to make sure that these interventions have most impact on pupils’ progress is not yet in place. As a result, leaders have rightly identified the need to sharpen their systems for offering interventions, monitoring the impact of these and evaluating their effectiveness on pupils’ outcomes.

Governance of the school

• The governing body has been effective in holding leaders to account. Governors have had access to a wide range of resources and training, which has helped them to fulfil their statutory duties. The governing body has been innovative in its approach to attract new governors to the school, and this has been highly successful. As a result, the governing body is well informed, highly skilled and able to have a positive impact on school improvement.
• The systems in place to track monitoring and impact are well designed and used well. Governors regularly monitor the performance of the school in all areas and findings are well recorded. Governors have identified areas for improvement and tackled them without delay. Consequently, governors have an accurate view of the school and have proved that their actions have had an impact on the school’s improvement.
• The trust has recently sought an external review to evaluate the effectiveness of the school’s governance. The review has resulted in further improvements in governance. The trust has developed a unique additional team which has added further challenge to leaders as well as securing strong governance into the future by way of succession planning.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders have an extremely robust system for ensuring that the safeguarding of pupils is paramount. All adults in the school understand that it is their responsibility to pass on any concerns they may have about pupils to the assigned staff. Consequently, the responsibility for reporting concerns by all members of staff results in a shared and rigorous culture of safeguarding.
• When concerns arise, leaders act swiftly to ensure that information is recorded and passed on to relevant agencies. Files are well managed and clearly demonstrate timely referrals which are actioned and followed through carefully. The safeguarding procedures across the school are highly effective.
• Leaders have ensured that routine checks take place when recruiting staff. As a result, recruitment procedures are robust and checks on staff ensure that safeguarding pupils is central to the whole process.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers plan and provide exciting opportunities for pupils to access a rich curriculum. Pupils speak enthusiastically about their experiences, which have resulted in their improved attitudes towards learning. For example, in a persuasive writing activity they were given the opportunity to present their ideas for selling houses to a local estate agents. Writing for a clear purpose and audience led to good progress and positive achievement for these pupils.
• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment in mathematics encourages pupils to develop their reasoning skills, helped by skilful teacher questioning. Pupils can demonstrate an increasing understanding of key concepts as they move through the school. As a result, progress in mathematics by the end of key stage 2 is a strength.
• Teacher assessments of pupils are accurate and show clearly the next steps required to help them make progress. Pupils’ books show that they are challenged well and are accessing a curriculum which is helping them to build on their prior knowledge. As a result, the proportion of pupils working at age-related expectations across the school is increasing.
• Homework is rich and varied and offers a range of opportunities for pupils to apply what they have learned at school in the home setting. In many cases, homework supports the exciting and engaging curriculum, which is designed to spark children’s curiosity. As a result, pupils enjoy the homework activities and understand the benefits they have on helping them to progress as learners.
• The teaching of phonics is well-matched to the needs of the pupils. Adults deploy resources well and provide effective support. Pupils enjoy these sessions, participating well and attentively. As a result, outcomes in phonics are above national averages by the end of Years 1 and 2.
• Teachers provide pupils with opportunities to write in a range of contexts. Many of these accompany real-life experiences which have acted as a stimulus for improvement. For example, when pupils visited a Harry Potter exhibition they created their own story books based on these experiences. This helped them make good progress in improving their writing skills.
• Teachers’ feedback in writing does not yet have the precision needed to help all pupils improve their sentence structure and use of accurate grammar. Teachers are following the school’s feedback policy but some misconceptions and errors by pupils remain unnoticed. This leads to mistakes being repeated and slows pupils’ progress.
• The monitoring of pupils’ choices of reading books is not sufficiently rigorous. As a result, some pupils choose reading books which offer very little challenge and are too easy. This leads to a variability in pupils’ attitudes to learning and slows the rate of improvement in reading overall.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. There is a strong moral purpose throughout the school. All members of the school share and discuss the school’s values regularly and pupils can articulate the values well. Parents are impressed with the school’s focus on morals, one parent stating, ‘Good morals are taught from a very early stage.’ As a result of this focus, pupils demonstrate a strong moral code across the school and display empathy for one another.
• Pupils speak candidly about the importance of staying safe in a range of ways. They speak knowledgably about the need for sea and beach safety as well as the importance of internet safety. The school has invested time in considering the local environment when staying safe. This has resulted in a conscientious and well-rounded approach to safety by pupils.
• Pupils speak passionately about their school and local community and express concern for current issues which have affected their local environment. For example, pupils contacted their local Member of Parliament to campaign for a ban on plastic bottles in order to protect marine life. Consequently, pupils are having a real impact on their local community and feel valued when offering their own ideas and concerns.
• Pupils are not yet fully clear on what it means to be a successful and reflective learner. Teachers are providing pupils with feedback but the lack of precision does not encourage pupils sufficiently to engage positively in the feedback process. Consequently, this slows pupils’ progress and hinders their learning.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Incidents of poor behaviour have reduced dramatically over time. Leaders keep detailed logs of behaviour incidents as well as potential triggers for unacceptable behaviour and follow these up swiftly to ensure that chances of reoccurrence are minimised. Consequently, relationships between pupils are excellent and behaviour across the school is a strength.
• Pupils respond extremely well to adults’ high expectations of their behaviour. Pupils hold doors open for their peers and members of staff and speak about their school with immense pride. They feel that they have contributed positively to the school’s environment and ethos and speak passionately about what makes their school unique.
• Attendance across the school is improving for all groups. Leaders have made progress with identifying those pupils who are regularly absent from school and have already made clear plans to reduce absence rates further.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Outcomes for Year 6 in 2016 were a strength for the school. Pupils’ progress in reading was in the top 25% nationally and pupils’ progress in writing and mathematics improved. As a result, the proportion of pupils that reached expected standards for their age was above national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.
• By the end of key stage 1, the proportion of pupils working at age-related expectations was above average for reading, writing and mathematics. In addition, the proportion of pupils who reached greater depth was also greater than the national average in writing and mathematics.
• Lower-attaining pupils make strong progress. Effort made to help these pupils catch up with their peers is working well. Pupils have access to a wide range of interventions, including academic and enrichment activities, which have helped to improve their learning outcomes. Because of this support, lower-attaining pupils make strong progress in all subjects.
• The teaching of phonics is effective. From a highly effective start in the early years, pupils have regular opportunities to practise and improve their phonics understanding. Consequently, the proportion of pupils who reached the required standard in the phonics screening check in Year 1 is in line with the national average. By the end of Year 2, the proportion who have reached this is above the national average.
• Leaders use pupil premium funding well to support disadvantaged pupils. This has been particularly successful in writing, where all pupils met the expectations for their age by the end of Year 6.
• The proportion of pupils working at age-related expectations by the end of Year 2 is slightly above the national average. Most pupils make strong progress from when they leave the early years provision. However, some pupils who are working at the standard expected for their age, and who are capable of higher achievement, are not making sufficiently rapid progress.
• The progress made by pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is strong. From their starting points, pupils make progress which results in some pupils exceeding age-related expectations. Higher expectations across the school have had a positive influence on progress for these pupils. Leaders responsible for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities ensure that support is well matched to each pupil’s needs.
• The proportion of pupils working at age-related expectations throughout the school is increasing in almost all year groups. Additionally, improvements in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment are beginning to make inroads into closing gaps in learning for pupils in upper key stage 2 and accelerating the progress made by these pupils.
• The quality of education for pupils who use the autistic spectrum disorder provision has improved. Pupils access and contribute well to the majority of their lessons and are making strong progress from their starting points.
• Some middle-attaining pupils across the school are not making enough progress. The level of challenge and support provided for these pupils has not been precise enough. As a result, the proportion of this group of pupils working at higher standards is below the national average.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Children in the early years make strong progress from their starting points. The number of children who reach a good level of development has been consistently above national averages. This has provided them with a strong springboard for their future progress. Children are extremely well prepared for life in key stage 1 and attain very well given their different starting points.
• The early years leader has a tenacious approach to ensuring that children have the best start to school. She has set up clear systems which allow all adults to contribute to the planning cycle through detailed observations. Adults consider the needs of all children at every stage of planning and delivery, which results in all children making strong progress.
• Parents have regular opportunities to find out how their children are getting on, both academically and socially. They value the open-door policy, particularly the weekly sessions for parents to attend. These sessions help parents feel less anxious about their children starting in Reception and they greatly appreciate the efforts made by staff to make this important transition a success. One parent whose views were typical of many said, ‘Our four-year-old has just begun his foundation year and we are extremely happy with the caring attitude his teachers are showing at this exciting yet daunting time.’
• The early years leader works closely with a local nursery to ensure that transition for new children in Reception is smooth. Some of the work undertaken includes moderation of children’s assessments and adopting a consistent approach when assessing children’s progress. Because of this, pupils settle extremely quickly in the provision.
• The environment in the early years provision is set up to accommodate bountiful learning opportunities. Adults have carefully designed these to meet the needs of all children, who access the activities with ease and independence and feel confident to share their learning experiences with each other.
• Staff in the early years class embrace innovation and have sought out excellent practice from a range of settings. One example of this was when staff identified that they needed to improve outcomes for boys. They visited a provision which had great success in this area and skilfully applied these approaches in their own setting. As a result, outcomes for boys have improved over the last three years while also maintaining strong outcomes for all groups of pupils.
• Leaders have created a safe and secure learning environment and provide training for all adults to keep children safe. Well-considered risk assessments for activities demonstrate staff vigilance in this important work. Consequently, adults check all activities for any potential risk and so pupils are kept safe.
• The progress that children make in writing is a strength. Children have many exciting and purposeful opportunities to write throughout the year and so their skills develop significantly. However, sometimes errors with the use of capital letters and full stops are not corrected.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 141237 Torbay 10036954 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 sponsor-led 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 322 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Executive Headteacher Head of School Val Dixon Ken Kies Scott Ord Telephone number 01803607075 Website Email address www.preston.torbay.sch.uk admin@preston.torbay.sch.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• Preston Primary School is slightly larger than the average-sized primary school.
• A very large majority of the pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is higher than is found in most schools.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum standards expected nationally for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed pupils’ learning in all classes across the school, mostly jointly with senior leaders.
• Discussions took place with the head of school, executive headteacher and assistant headteachers. In addition, the inspection team met with the school’s special educational needs coordinator, the head of pastoral care and the designated safeguarding lead for the school. The school has a distributed form of leadership. Inspectors met with the team responsible for leading the curriculum.
• Inspectors scrutinised a number of documents, including minutes from governors’ meetings, school improvement plans and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.
• Inspectors took account of the 57 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and the 46 comments made by parents sent by free text during the inspection.
• The inspectors looked at pupils’ work in their books together with the senior leaders, to establish the current quality of pupils’ work and progress over time.
• Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour and spoke to groups of pupils to seek their views about the school. Inspectors gathered the views of pupils during lessons, playtimes and lunchtimes.
• An inspector conducted a walk around the school to look at curriculum displays and the promotion of British values.

Inspection team

Nathan Kemp, lead inspector Anthony Epps Simon Green Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector