Paget Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Senior leaders and governors should quickly secure stability in staffing, notably teachers, to ensure that improvements in teaching and learning can be sustained.
• Improve the quality of leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • the governing body keeps a much closer check on the effectiveness of leaders’
  • actions on pupils’ achievement, holding leaders rigorously to account leaders’ plans for improvement set out with more clarity their intended actions, with measurable milestones that increase the pace at which they address areas for development
  • the role of middle leaders is further developed so they take greater responsibility for whole school improvement and the raising of pupils’ achievement.
• Secure consistency in the quality of good or better teaching by ensuring that:
  • all teachers move pupils on more quickly in their learning when they are finding work easy
  • teachers provide suitably challenging activities to enable the most able pupils to be stretched and achieve their potential.
• Improve pupils’ outcomes in writing by:
  • teaching handwriting more regularly across the school so pupils develop a neat, cursive style
  • providing better guidance and support to pupils in developing their spelling skills.
• Further improve the attendance of all pupils. 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

• The high turnover of staff has meant that leaders have been particularly challenged in maintaining a consistent level of effective teaching. Despite leaders’ swift response to the ever-changing staffing arrangements, this instability has led to too much variation in the quality of teaching and adversely affected pupils’ rates of progress.
• Leadership is not yet sufficiently distributed for it to be fully effective in enabling the school to achieve some of its plans. This issue is mostly attributed to the numerous changes in staffing, which have also affected some leadership roles. A shortage of middle leaders has meant that development of some subjects has been more limited. Middle leaders’ actions do not yet have enough impact on pupils’ achievement across the school.
• The headteacher and a small number of other leaders have too many areas of responsibility. This strain on leadership has hampered their efforts to drive forward improvements and maintain the previously good quality of education. However, the school has made recent staffing appointments which are projected to alleviate many of these difficulties in the near future.
• Phase leaders are becoming increasingly effective in helping to improve the quality of teaching. They carefully monitor levels of pupils’ achievement in their key stage and organise support for teachers to develop their practice. This is proving successful. For example, recent staff training related to the teaching of reading has enabled most pupils to make faster progress.
• While most leaders have a clear understanding about what the school needs to do to improve, their action plans are sometimes too vague. Some leaders do not explicitly state how they will know if they have achieved their aims and been successful in improving outcomes for pupils. Some improvement plans do not encourage a sense of urgency because there are no timescales.
• The headteacher has high expectations of herself, the staff and pupils. She communicates these expectations clearly so no one is left in any doubt that ‘children come first’ at Paget Primary. There is a shared understanding and belief among staff, consistent with the school’s values, that ‘every child deserves a champion’.
• Senior leaders regularly check on the quality of teaching and learning. They use their findings to provide tailored support to individual teachers, which typically leads to better teaching. Senior leaders are persistent in their determination to eradicate any weaknesses in teaching and do not shy away from taking appropriate action when it does not improve quickly enough.
• Leaders have been successful in designing a broad curriculum which engages and inspires pupils. Teachers carefully weave together different subjects, which helps pupils to make meaningful links and supports their progress. For example, Year 2 pupils designed a miniature imaginary land then created effective dioramas based on the book ‘The Tunnel’ by Anthony Browne. The pupils combined and successfully developed their skills in reading, writing and, design and technology.
• The wider curriculum has been carefully planned to ensure that pupils experience a varied range of rich experiences. These include visits to the theatre and places of historic interest such as Blakesley Hall in Birmingham. In addition, a wide range of before-school, lunchtime and after-school clubs are on offer, including dodgeball, gardening and boxing. These extra-curricular activities are well attended by pupils and contribute effectively to their personal development.
• Leaders target pupil premium funding to address the broad range of barriers to achievement that disadvantaged pupils face. Some of the funding is used to extend pupils’ academic, social and cultural development by offering them wider experiences. For example, learning to play a musical instrument or providing extra individualised reading support. However, disadvantaged pupils’ achievement, like that of other pupils, varies from class to class due to inconsistencies in teaching.
• Leaders make highly effective use of the sport premium funding. There is an impressive range of sporting activities offered to pupils of all abilities, including involvement in competitions. Pupils’ participation rates are high and this impacts positively on their mental and physical well-being.
• Extra funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is generally used well to support their progress. Interim arrangements for the leadership of SEN and disabilities are working because there has been an effective handover. The temporary leader is maintaining the levels of effective support that pupils receive.
• The impact of professional development for staff has been varied as a result of frequent changes in staffing. However, where there has been consistency in staffing, training has proved beneficial. For example, as a result of recent training, staff provide better learning support for pupils who speak English as an additional language.
• The majority of parents have a positive opinion of the school. They say their children are happy to come to school. Several parents, understandably, expressed concerns about the number of different teachers their children have had in a short space of time.

Governance of the school

• Governors know the school’s broad strengths and weaknesses because they receive informative reports and assessment information from the headteacher and other leaders. However, governors do not systematically and thoroughly check that the actions in improvement plans are having the desired impact on pupils’ achievement. This is because governors do not yet have a well-planned monitoring schedule which is closely aligned to the school’s improvement plan.
• Governors are getting increasingly better at asking questions of leaders which enable them to have a clearer insight into the school’s work. However, minutes of meetings show that they accept responses from leaders too readily and do not ask enough follow-up questions to get a deep understanding of the school’s performance.
• Governors’ monitoring was an area for improvement at the time of the previous inspection and not enough action has been taken to improve it sufficiently since. However, more recently, the chair of governors has encouraged other governors to pay closer attention to the school’s core function of raising pupils’ achievement. She has a clear view of how governance needs to develop and has already shifted the focus of governors more sharply on the quality of teaching and learning.
• Governors meet their statutory duties and have ensured that safeguarding is effective and additional funding is generally targeted well to support pupils’ progress.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• There is a strong culture of safeguarding, where staff remain vigilant and promptly report any worries about pupils who may be at risk of harm. Documentation relating to safeguarding is well organised and the recording of concerns is appropriately detailed. Leaders are persistent in following up referrals, especially when other agencies are slow to respond. Staff have a good knowledge of the different aspects of keeping pupils safe because they have received extensive and effective training. The care of pupils with specific medical needs is good.
• Leaders ensure that pupils are taught well about keeping themselves safe, through personal, social and health education lessons. For example, younger pupils know how to cross the road safely and older pupils develop their understanding of protecting themselves by attending workshops run by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
• Leaders ensure that all appropriate checks are made on new staff and volunteers to reduce the risk of unsuitable adults working with children. There is a specific governor for safeguarding who checks to see that all statutory requirements are met. Leaders are particularly reflective about the school’s safeguarding processes and alter their practice when appropriate to best meet the needs of pupils and their families.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• There are wide variations in the quality of teaching throughout the school. In some classes, the teaching is much more effective, and most pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, make good progress. In other classes, teachers do not identify quickly enough when pupils are ready to move onto more challenging work. Consequently, the progress of these pupils is slowed.
• Most teachers do not routinely ensure that there is a good level of challenge for the most able pupils in lessons. Despite the different levels of tasks that teachers usually plan, they are not consistently hard enough to stretch the most able pupils. This means that these pupils do not achieve their full potential.
• The teaching of writing, while not consistently good, is improving. Pupils are making increasingly better progress because they are regularly supported to edit and improve their work. However, handwriting is not taught well or often enough, and therefore many pupils do not develop a neat, consistently fluid style of handwriting over time. There is also insufficient focus on the teaching of spelling, which results in too many pupils making spelling errors in their written work.
• Most pupils display positive attitudes towards reading because leaders value this important skill and promote it widely. Pupils use the attractive and well-stocked library to select books of interest. Pupils’ progress in reading varies from class to class, depending on the quality of teaching. In a few classes, pupils are asked to complete low-level activities which do not enable them to make good progress. In other classes, the teaching of reading is effective.
• Teaching assistants make a strong contribution to pupils’ learning, particularly those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, or who speak English as an additional language. For example, they help pupils to expand their vocabulary and check understanding, which enables them to make better progress.
• The teaching in the ‘Panthers’ resourced provision for pupils who have an autistic spectrum disorder is a strength. Teachers provide an effective, bespoke programme of study which helps pupils to make good progress.
• Teaching in the foundation subjects effectively supports pupils’ learning and their ability to transfer skills across the curriculum. For example, in a physical education lesson where pupils were learning how to throw a ball accurately, the teacher asked, ‘What could you have done better?’ This enabled pupils to be reflective about their learning and identify improvements.
• Where teaching is most effective, teachers rapidly determine pupils’ starting points, then adapt the planned learning carefully to build pupils’ confidence and understanding. For example, in a key stage 1 science lesson, the teacher began with an ‘anchor’ problem related to capacity to discover what pupils already knew. Pupils were expected to ‘prove it’ when they shared their predictions about which container held the most liquid, developing their reasoning skills well.
• Teachers skilfully incorporate opportunities for pupils to successfully develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural skills across the curriculum. For example, Year 1 pupils who were writing about a recent visit to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens were able to tell the inspector good reasons why it is wrong to pick wild flowers.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school's work to promote pupils' personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils feel safe in school and are safe. They are taught about safety and have a good understanding of how to reduce risks to themselves. Older pupils benefit from a visit to ‘Safeside’, an experiential learning centre that enables pupils to make sensible decisions about thinking and acting safely.
• There are strong relationships between pupils and staff. This supports the good attitudes that pupils have towards their learning and their desire to work hard. Most pupils show pride in their work and present it neatly.
• The school is particularly effective at drawing on the expertise of other agencies and charities to support vulnerable pupils. This work enables pupils to be more receptive to learning. The work of the recently appointed pastoral managers is commendable. They have quickly established a positive rapport with parents and pupils, and supported some very vulnerable pupils effectively.
• Pupils say that incidents of bullying happen, although staff are quick to act and resolve issues. Pupils are taught about why bullying is wrong. They have a good understanding of the different forms of bullying and how to get help if they are being bullied.
• A parent described the playground at lunchtime as ‘an oasis of fun’, and inspectors wholeheartedly agree. There are an impressive range of activities available for pupils to join in with if they choose. These include a range of sports such as hockey, badminton, football and quiet, calmer activities like drawing and reading. Almost all pupils are purposefully engaged in an activity and show great enjoyment.
• Pupils are given roles of responsibility in school and carry these out well. Specially trained pupil ‘sports leaders’ run activities during breaktimes. The school council holds meetings and discusses issues of importance. For example, it has recently been responsible for changing the school lunch menu.
• Teachers weave British values very successfully into the curriculum so that pupils have a practical knowledge and understanding. For example, pupils understand about democracy through class voting and electing school council members. Pupils at Paget learn how to become good citizens and are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Staff have clear expectations about pupils’ behaviour and follow the school’s policy consistently. As a result, pupils behave well, both inside classrooms and outside on the playground. They treat each other with respect and get along well together. For example, on the playground a group of younger pupils played with a large parachute, working together as a team and having fun.
• Staff keep a detailed log of behaviour incidents and use this information well to offer targeted support to individuals, particularly those who have difficulty managing their feelings. Teachers’ management of, and support for, pupils who display very challenging behaviour is effective. As a result, the number of fixed-term exclusions has decreased since last year. Leaders go to great lengths to avoid exclusion and only use it as a last resort.
• Pupils’ attendance is low compared to the national figure. Leaders’ initiatives to increase rates of attendance are substantial. They have tried, and continue to try, a range of strategies to further improve attendance. These include rewarding good attendance, letters home to parents, or taking stronger approaches, including court proceedings, when parents fail to send their children to school. Attendance for the large majority of pupils is gradually improving. There is a small group of pupils who account for a significant proportion of absence, and despite leaders’ best efforts, their attendance remains a concern.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Not all pupils make good progress. This is because the quality of teaching is too variable between classes. Where teaching is effective, pupils achieve well. In other classes, particularly where there has been a high turnover of staff, pupils’ progress is not yet consistently good.
• Disadvantaged pupils make the same variable progress as others in reading, writing and mathematics, dependent on the quality of class teaching. In some classes and in some subjects, disadvantaged pupils are progressing well and attaining better outcomes than other pupils. However, in other classes, teaching does not routinely support them to make good progress.
• The majority of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make at least secure progress from their individual starting points because of carefully planned individualised support.
• Since the last inspection, pupils’ attainment at the end of key stage 1 has fallen. In 2014 and 2015, it was well below that of other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. While not directly comparable, the proportion of pupils attaining the expected standard in reading in 2016 was closer to the national average and broadly in line for writing and mathematics.
• Published results show that in 2015 and 2016, pupils in key stage 2, including disadvantaged pupils, made progress in reading, writing and mathematics that was broadly in line with that of other pupils nationally. However, the school’s assessment information shows that, for current pupils, there are some wide variations in rates of progress across classes.
• The proportion of pupils who passed the Year 1 phonics screening check has risen year-on-year, and was above the national figure in 2016. From their starting points, current pupils are making sure progress in developing their phonics skills.
• Pupils who speak English as an additional language are making increasingly better progress as a result of more effective support to meet their needs.

Early years provision Good

• The leadership of the early years is good. The leader knows the strengths and weaknesses of the provision well. She has a good understanding of the barriers to learning for pupils who speak English as an additional language, and children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. She ensures that there is a rich language environment, which helps children to quickly develop key vocabulary.
• The quality of teaching is good. Early years staff carefully nurture and develop children’s confidence and independence. From their typically low starting points, children make good progress, including disadvantaged children. Last year, the proportion of children who achieved a good level of development was lower than the national average, although this reflects the very low starting points of a large proportion of children.
• Children’s spiritual, social, moral and cultural development is carefully planned and developed in both the Nursery and Reception classes. For example, in Nursery, children who had been reading ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ were sorting foods into two groups based on whether or not they were healthy. Children correctly separated fruit from chocolate and explained the damage sugar can cause to teeth.
• Nurturing relationships support children’s personal and social development. Staff are successful in encouraging parents to have more involvement in their children’s learning.
• Children are well behaved and show positive attitudes to learning. They enjoy the activities that teachers provide and are keen to spend time exploring their own ideas. For example, a small group of children were observed learning to negotiate while playing a board game together independently.
• Staff provide a range of engaging activities which enable children to make links between their learning. For example, a section of the classroom is a dedicated ‘exercise gym’. This is where children excitedly create their own exercise routines, lifting weights while developing their counting skills at the same time.
• Sometimes learning tasks do not lend themselves well to challenging the most able children. Adults do not regularly pose questions which require children to grapple with a problem and search for a solution.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 103240 Birmingham 10032665 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 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 437 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Alison Sturgess Victoria Nussey 0121 464 3902 www.paget.bham.sch.uk enquiry@paget.bham.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 12–13 December 2012

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, which set the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment and progress.
• This school is larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The majority of pupils are White British. There are a wide range of other ethnic groups represented.
• An above average proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language, and the proportion is growing each year.
• The percentage of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is much higher than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium funding is much higher than the national average.
• The school runs a breakfast and after-school club.

Information about this inspection

• The inspection team observed learning in all year groups, including carrying out a number of joint observations with leaders. Inspectors looked at pupils’ work in books and on walls.
• Inspectors talked to pupils during lessons, around school and during planned meetings to gather their views.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher and deputy headteacher, other leaders, school staff and the chair of governors.
• Responses from 30 parents and carers to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View) were analysed, including free-text responses. Inspectors also gathered the views of parents at the beginning of the school day.
• Inspectors heard pupils read during lessons and also reviewed pupils’ home-school reading records.
• The inspection team looked at a wide range of information, including the school’s website, self-evaluation summary, school improvement plan, assessment information, governors’ documentation and anonymised performance management documentation. Inspectors reviewed documentation relating to safeguarding.

Inspection team

Tim Hill, lead inspector Kim Ellis Jeremy Bird Patrick Amieli Paul Whitcombe Her Majesty's Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector