Shaw Hill Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Continue to focus on the achievement of the most able pupils in key stage 1 and key stage 2 classes to sustain the current rise in the proportion exceeding age-related standards.
• Build on the best practice that exists in many lessons in Years 1 to 6 to provide more opportunities for pupils to work independently and show initiative rather than relying too much on adult direction or instruction.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• This is a very successful school that is skilfully led by a strong team of leaders and governors. The headteacher has been determined and effective in creating an ambitious culture for pupils and staff to aspire towards. Senior leaders and staff provide a curriculum that enables pupils to thrive, improves their interests and personal development and which is successful in achieving academic excellence. The school’s excellent website illustrates very clearly the school’s aims and ambitions for its pupils and the local community. As the headteacher states, ‘We strive to achieve the highest standards by stimulating and challenging children.’
• Supported by a skilled deputy headteacher and assistant headteachers, leaders, governors and staff have sustained consistent improvements to teaching and learning since the previous inspection. Well-devised training and professional development have focused very much and effectively on improving the impact of teaching on pupil outcomes.
• All parents and carers spoken to are very satisfied with the care and education provided for their children. These views are also reflected in school surveys of parents. Pupils also confirm how much they enjoy and thrive at school. ‘They (the staff) build our confidence and really try to help you at all times’, stated one. Another pupil illustrated the ambitious expectations that teachers hold, saying, ‘The teachers, they really push us forward and help us meet our targets.’
• Parents and pupils are right. Senior leaders and governors have built on previous success, working with staff to develop and improve teaching and learning. Leaders monitor, support and challenge staff, making sure that they drive pupils’ achievement forward to ensure that every pupil who is capable reaches or exceeds age-related standards.
• The headteacher works closely with senior and phase leaders to manage, monitor and evaluate the school’s work. The deputy headteacher and assistant headteachers regularly and skilfully analyse assessment information with teachers to check pupils’ progress. Reviews of pupils’ progress and teachers’ performance are systematic and robust in ensuring that pupils achieve their full potential.
• The school improvement plan is informed by accurate assessments and evaluations of pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching. Regular checks and reviews are wide-ranging and include half-termly pupil progress checks. Assessments of the rate of progress that different groups and individuals make are carried out robustly. The results of phase leaders’ reviews of pupils’ recorded work and an assessment of the impact of teaching over time are also used very well.
• The oversight and management of special educational needs provision are very effective in making sure that pupils receive appropriate support and intervention. The funding allocated for this is used very well to pay for specialised support in the form of small-group or individual one-to-one adult support and intervention programmes. These are also effective in helping pupils who have severe learning difficulties, including pupils who have autistic spectrum disorder and those who have physical disabilities or impairments.
• Provision and funding allocated for pupils who speak English as an additional language are very well managed. Assessments show that all pupils who speak English as an additional language make outstanding progress, including Roma and Gypsy pupils, enabling most to reach or exceed age-related standards in English and mathematics.
• Self-evaluation is thorough and accurate. Regular checks and accurate assessments enable leaders to see if pupils are making enough progress. Leaders have, rightly, focused on the achievement of the most able pupils and identified that there is potential to increase further the number exceeding age-related standards in some classes.
• The school’s curriculum is carefully tailored to interest and challenge pupils. It includes interesting projects, visits and stimulating clubs such as ‘art attack’, ‘bug club’ and the ‘science zone’. Senior leaders and staff who manage phases, key stages and subjects oversee curriculum plans to make sure that pupils cover core skills in all subjects. Excellent enrichment and extra-curricular clubs broaden pupils’ experiences before and after school.
• The staff make a significant contribution to pupils’ welfare and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. School councillors play a very active part in their school community. Pupils contribute ideas and, as the headteacher told me, ‘They even tell me how well I am performing.’ There are excellent opportunities for pupils to learn about other faiths, customs and traditions through religious education, the arts, music, themed topics, projects and educational visits. The school is successful in promoting a strong emphasis on British values of tolerance, respect for democracy and equality.
• Leaders and governors make very good use of additional funding, including pupil premium, and monitor its impact. The funding is used to deploy staff to work with individuals and groups during lessons and to plan particular catch-up programmes or interventions. The primary school physical education sport premium is used well to provide a range of opportunities and resources for pupils to engage in games, sports and activities that promote healthy and active lifestyles. The school council came up with the idea of installing additional netting in the football and basketball zone of the playground so that pupils could play safely and productively to improve their ball skills. The ‘children’s zone’ on the school’s website is regularly updated, along with the extensive gallery of school events and pupils’ work. These illustrate very clearly the school’s outstanding curriculum and the strong contribution it makes to pupils’ academic success, personal development and enjoyment of school.
• The local authority, through the Birmingham Education Partnership, has provided ‘light-touch’ challenge and support for the school. The school’s leaders and staff respond well to external support and also make a significant contribution, sharing their excellent practice with other schools.

Governance of the school

• There is now effective and very skilled governance, representing a significant improvement since the previous inspection in 2013 and the monitoring inspection in 2014.
• Since the previous monitoring inspection, the school’s actions have been very effective in addressing weaknesses in governance. Both leaders and governors now demonstrate excellent capacity for sustained improvement.
• An external review carried out after the previous inspection prompted a reconstitution of the governing body. A thorough skills audit was carried out to recruit and attract governors who have a broader and more professional range of skills than was previously the case.
• In addition to regular visits and monitoring activities carried out by governors, they receive regular updates about pupils’ progress and achievement in the very thorough and extensive termly headteacher report. The assessment information shared is accurate and enables the governing body to challenge underperformance.
• Governors have a clear understanding of the most important priorities related to pupils’ achievement and progress. They recognise that a greater emphasis is now needed on sustaining improvements to the achievement of pupils capable of reaching high standards in reading, writing and mathematics.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Pupils and the parents spoken to by inspectors were unanimous in their belief that pupils are safe in school. Pupils say that the staff and other pupils make them feel very safe, valued and secure.
• Child protection arrangements are robust. Staff recruitment and vetting are rigorous, reflecting a strong and vigilant culture of safeguarding throughout the school.
• Staff and governors understand their roles and responsibilities and know what to do or who to ask when seeking advice about the safety and welfare of pupils. Governors and leaders have been trained in the national ‘Prevent’ duty to safeguard pupils. Good strategies are in place, as stated on the school’s website, to protect pupils from any form of extremism or radicalisation.
• The deputy headteacher and inclusion manager work effectively with vulnerable families to make sure that pupils are safe, for example when not attending school, by contacting families and carrying out home visits. They follow up any concerns raised by teaching or support staff or when referring cases to designated staff and agencies across the local authority.
• Teachers, teaching assistants and administrative staff are well trained and vigilant. They understand their responsibilities and diligently check to verify the identity of visitors, volunteers and adults working in the school.
• Governors and staff keep up to date with legal requirements and undertake regular reviews of the school’s child protection and safeguarding policies. The safety and well-being of children in the early years are very well managed and the early years welfare requirements are fully met.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Assessment information and pupils’ work in books show that the teaching makes a strong contribution to pupils’ academic performance and personal development. Teachers and support staff set high expectations for pupils’ work and progress. This is clearly reflected in the way pupils’ books are presented, as teachers consistently apply the school’s policy for presentation and recorded work in all classes.
• Lessons are usually well organised so that pupils are very clear about what they are expected to achieve. Pupils respond with excellent attention and answer questions thoughtfully during class discussions or when working with their classmates in groups. For example, when asked to explain the mathematical methods used to calculate problems, pupils are able to communicate clearly what they have learned. They can apply the most appropriate calculation skills to solve problems. In English lessons, teachers provide good opportunities for pupils to draft, redraft and edit their writing to improve the form and structure and the accuracy of spelling and punctuation. Evidence from pupils’ writing shows consistent expectations and teachers offering the right level of challenge at different stages of the drafting process.
• Leaders and staff expertly use assessment information to ensure that there is a balance of whole-class teaching and targeted support for pupils when taught in small groups. Some specialised intervention programmes have been carefully tailored to meet the needs of specific groups. For example, those in the early stages of learning English receive well-focused support, including bilingual intervention and opportunities to improve their knowledge of letter sounds and words when reading aloud to an adult.
• Teachers have adapted very well to the changes from national curriculum levels to new age-related standards. Teachers use assessments diligently to measures pupils’ progress. Teachers and support staff meet regularly to compare and assess improvement by applying consistent criteria when gauging how much progress pupils make. They use this information to set ambitious learning targets for pupils to aim for. Pupils also use assessment information and teachers’ marking comments to check if they are making enough progress towards a specific learning target linked to age-related standards in all subjects of the curriculum.
• Teachers’ questioning is purposeful and productive, extending pupils’ thinking and deepening their understanding. The tasks provided by teachers are well matched to meet the needs of pupils across the ability range. There is further scope, particularly in some classes in Years 1 to 5, to build on the good work being done with the most able pupils so that more of them exceed age-related standards.
• Pupils’ workbooks and class journals of previous work show that the tasks teachers plan are adapted to extend pupils’ knowledge and understanding through specially devised ‘challenge tasks’. However, there are occasions during some lessons when pupils’ progress slows because they are not given enough time to think for themselves or develop their ideas independently, relying too much on adult direction or instruction.
• The teaching of reading is highly effective. From the excellent start made in the early years, pupils are taught phonics skills very well and move on to become independent and confident readers by the time they move into key stage 2. There has been good progress since the previous inspection in developing pupils’ reading and comprehension skills. Older pupils, in particular in key stage 2, read widely and often, and experience a broad range of authors and genres and a combination of fiction, poetry and non-fiction books and texts.
• Pupils are inspired by their teachers and support staff through varied and stimulating reading workshops shared with parents and special topics or projects. ‘World Book Day’ was recently celebrated, which motivated pupils and provided opportunities for them to share their favourite books with others. This and many other examples enliven and inspire pupils as they experience a wide range of traditional stories and children’s modern literature to spark their imagination. This prompts them to write their own stories and share these with others.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils respond very well to learning in lessons, to the excellent opportunities they have for reflection in assemblies and when studying special topics or themes. British values, such as respect for law and democracy, are clearly reflected in the way pupils are involved in their school community as elected school councillors or ambassadors, such as head boy and head girl. Additional responsibilities, such as nominating school councillors or contributing to their community through fundraising, make a significant contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral and social development.
• Leaders, governors and staff make sure that pupils are safe and secure in school. Pupils learn a lot about staying safe and healthy. For example, pupils can explain the precautions they need to take when using computers, including the use of the internet and text messaging on mobile devices. Pupils are very clear about the school’s visitor recognition system and know that they need to tell a responsible adult if they see anyone without a visitor identification badge.
• Pupils say that bullying is very rare. Pupils confirmed that the few incidents are dealt with very well by leaders, teachers and support staff. Pupils make and keep friends easily and explained that, as one stated, ‘There is always someone in this school, adult or child, who will care for you.’
• The school’s indoor and outdoor environment and resources are well maintained, clean and stimulating. Pupils respect their school and its resources and wear their uniform with pride. They willingly offer to tidy up after eating their lunchtime meal or sandwich and make sure that they hang their coats up tidily when arriving at school. There is no litter or unkempt area of the school, reflecting how well pupils care for their school community.
• The school is a cohesive and supportive school community. Leaders and staff are successful in tackling any form of discrimination and pupils learn to respect and appreciate the many and varied customs, traditions and religions that exist in Britain. Special events, cultural and religious festivals and celebrations enable pupils to learn about and understand social and cultural diversity. These activities make a very positive contribution to pupils’ moral, social and cultural development.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils are enthusiastic learners who support and respect the views of others. They are energised by the range of subjects they study and the activities and visits provided by the school. They are keen to answer questions, share ideas and contribute to discussions in lessons. However, there are occasions in some lessons when adults tend to lead discussions without allowing enough time or opportunity for pupils to think for themselves or show independence.
• Pupils form positive and trusting relationships with other pupils and staff. It is very rare to see any pupils disrupting lessons or interrupting the work of other pupils. On the contrary, pupils cooperate very well with their classmates, share resources and help each other in their learning. Pupils try hard and persevere with their ‘challenge tasks’ and are often rewarded with praise when completing tasks that proved to be difficult or challenging. In this way, pupils’ efforts are valued by the staff and pupils respond to this very well by always trying to do their best.
• Pupils enjoy school very much. It is encouraging to hear what parents told inspectors about families respecting their school and valuing their education as a significant contributor to their children’s well-being and future success. This is reflected in good attendance rates. Leaders and staff are vigilant and keep regular contact with families to ensure that pupils are safe and attend punctually.
• Persistent absence rates are reducing rapidly because of positive relationships with families and robust follow-up measures if pupils do not attend school. The deputy headteacher and staff regularly check to see why pupils do not attend, and contact families to ensure that pupils are safe when not in school. The school has been successful in reducing the persistent absenteeism of a small number of families.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Pupils in all year groups make nothing less than good progress and the large majority make outstanding progress over time. Last year’s national test results for Year 2 and Year 6 pupils confirm that pupils achieve extremely well in relation to their different starting points.
• Building on the excellent start made in the early years, the vast majority of pupils in Year 1 and Year 2 reach the expected standard in phonics, laying strong foundations for developing reading and writing skills.
• Pupils’ attainment by the end of key stage 1 is consistently in line with the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. This represents rapid progress in relation to their starting points. For example, pupils who join the school speaking little or no English soon learn to engage in conversational English and learn to read and write fluently and accurately by the end of Year 2. Teaching assistants and teachers utilise fully the pupils’ home languages to help them improve and develop conversational English.
• In key stage 2, the 2016 national tests showed that the overall attainment of pupils in reading, writing and mathematics was above the national average. In addition, pupils reached above-average standards in spelling, punctuation and grammar, as well as in science, by the end of Year 6 last year. All of these measures represent outstanding progress and above-average attainment compared with other schools nationally.
• Leaders utilise pupil premium funding very well to provide targeted support for disadvantaged pupils, enabling them to achieve exceptionally well. Their attainment and progress compare favourably with other pupils nationally who are not disadvantaged.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities achieve very well, especially in writing and mathematics. They make rapid progress towards their individual learning targets and are increasingly learning to read independently and fluently. Leaders ensure that every pupil across the school is given an individualised set of learning targets, including the most able pupils who are capable of reaching very high standards.
• Current assessments show that pupils continue to make outstanding progress in relation to their low starting points when they joined the school. Assessment information also shows that the most able pupils are achieving very well overall. However, the proportion of those on track to reach higher than age-related standards is uneven across classes in Years 1 to 5. Leaders and staff are, rightly, giving this immediate priority to ensure that all of the most able pupils reach higher than age-related standards by the end of each key stage.
• Pupils are very well prepared for secondary education, both academically and in terms of their personal development, ambition and readiness to learn and do well at school. Older pupils in Years 5 and 6 showed maturity and an ambitious outlook when asked about their future endeavours when at secondary school.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Most three- and four-year-old children start school with skills and abilities that are below those typical for their age, particularly in language, communication and personal skills. Outstanding teaching and strong pastoral support in the Nursery and Reception classes help the youngest children get off to an excellent start. The children are keen to do well and try very hard. Their behaviour and attitudes to school and learning are exceptional.
• The teaching is outstanding and is a model of best practice in both the Nursery and Reception classes. All three teachers in both settings are very well supported by teaching assistants. All adults across the early years are very well qualified, skilled and knowledgeable in their understanding of the early years and child development. Adults prepare stimulating indoor and outdoor lessons and activities that enable the children to develop confidence and skills in all areas of learning.
• The children make rapid progress in early phonics, reading, writing and mathematics. This lays strong foundations for their learning and development in Year 1. Approximately one in three children join the early years with little or no spoken English. These children soon engage with adults and other children. Together, with all children across both Nursery and Reception classes, they develop spoken language by learning songs, nursery rhymes and traditional stories. They also improve their reading and writing skills using modern children’s literature and interesting themes. The children soon develop confidence using conversational English during the varied and stimulating activities they experience with their classmates.
• Children achieve exceptionally well in safe and secure learning environments. More than four out of every five children reach a good level of development in early literacy (reading and writing) and mathematics by the time they start Year 1. This has been a consistently rising profile in recent years, with current children in the Reception Year on track to achieve even better. These standards are well above the national average and represent outstanding progress in relation to the children’s starting points.
• Good use is made of additional pupil premium funding for children from disadvantaged families. The children make outstanding progress, particularly in other communication skills such as listening and speaking with understanding. Last year’s assessments show that the proportion of disadvantaged children reaching a good level of development was above that of other children nationally who are not disadvantaged.
• Throughout the early years, children play safely and settle into school quickly. In both the Nursery and Reception classes, the children engage and cooperate with other children independently. Nursery children quickly develop confidence and independence when choosing from a range of stimulating indoor and outdoor activities. Whatever the children choose to do, they sustain interest and complete tasks, such as when Nursery children volunteered to go to the creative area to make ‘hungry caterpillar necklaces’, improving their dexterity and concentration skills.
• In the Reception class, traditional stories like ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ are used to very good effect to stimulate interest and curiosity. The children happily sang along to rhyming couplets and recordings of the story. They predicted the next line in the story and recited, ‘fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell the blood of an Englishman’, while creating storylines with pictures and words on a large paper spread out along the floor. The ‘giant’s castle’ was very well represented in one of many role-play areas, stimulating interest and creativity. The children write accounts, draw pictures, dress up and handle utensils skilfully. Children’s literacy, numeracy and dexterity skills develop rapidly and are the bedrock of skills that improve their learning, confidence and independence. Over time, the children learn about the world around them when studying plants and mini-beasts, as well as observing and recording changes during the four seasons of the year.
• Adults engage with both children and their parents or carers so that early relationships with families are strong and trusting. Home visits are carefully planned to make sure that parents are familiar with the school’s expectations and that there is a smooth transition for the children when they first come to school. The early years leader skilfully influences the work of other adults so that the combined skills of teachers and support staff benefit the children enormously as they learn and thrive.
• The leadership, management and oversight of the early years are of high quality. Adults provide children with an outstanding start to their schooling. The staff carry out regular and robust assessments to monitor how well each individual child is doing. They provide parents with remarkable evidence of their children’s progress and development in the children’s ‘learning journeys’ (ongoing written and pictorial evidence kept in books).

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 103157 Birmingham 10025270 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 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 463 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Paul Stockdale Nadeem Bhatti 0121 464 2131 www.shawhill.bham.sch.uk/ enquiry@shawhill.bham.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 6–7 June 2013

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• This is a large primary school. All pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds, the large majority of which are of Pakistani heritage. Other pupils come from a range of heritages, including African, Bangladeshi and Roma or Gypsy ethnic groups. Most pupils speak English as an additional language and approximately one in 10 pupils joining the school at different times speaks little or no English. These figures are well above the national average.
• Early years provision comprises a Nursery class for three-year-old children who all attend part-time in the morning or afternoon, and two Reception classes for four- and five-year-olds who all attend full-time.
• The percentage of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is similar to that of most schools.
• The percentage of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding is well above the national average.
• The school met government floor standards in 2016, which are the minimum requirements for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• After the school’s previous inspection in June 2013, the school also received a monitoring inspection carried out by Her Majesty’s Inspectors in May 2014. This inspection was carried out in accordance with no formal designation procedures under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The monitoring inspection looked at the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements and the leadership and management of the school.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors carried out lesson observations, some of which were undertaken jointly with the headteacher. Inspectors spoke to pupils during lessons, checked samples of pupils’ recorded work and met with groups of pupils to discuss their work, behaviour and safety and to hear them read. Inspectors spoke to pupils during break and lunchtimes to ask them their views about the school. Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour and safety in the playground and at other times. Two school assemblies were observed.
• Inspectors looked at a range of documentation including: leaders’ and governors’ own evaluations of the school’s effectiveness; the school’s improvement plan and action plans; information about pupils’ achievement, progress and performance; and documents and information related to governance, teaching, behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.
• Inspectors held discussions with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and other senior and middle leaders. The lead inspector met with two governors and also spoke by telephone with a representative, the district lead, of the Birmingham Education Partnership, which is commissioned by the local authority to support and challenge school improvement across Birmingham.
• Inspectors spoke to a number of parents and carers to seek their views about the school. There were too few responses to analyse on the online Ofsted questionnaire, Parent View, although the lead inspector considered the school’s most recent survey of parents’ views.
• Inspectors spoke to nearly all teaching staff to provide feedback on lessons observed. Inspectors also considered the views of members of staff during discussions and meetings with inspectors, as well as taking account of the few who completed the online inspection questionnaire.

Inspection team

Charalambos Loizou, lead inspector Benjamin Taylor Stuart Evans Paul Longden Derek Gardiner Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector