Fairhaven Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by continuing to improve the quality of teaching, ensuring that:
  • teachers design learning activities that are accurately matched to the needs of all pupils
  • clear expectations in terms of presentation and handwriting are consistently implemented across all classes
  • existing good practice is shared more widely across the school
  • teachers’ assessments of pupils’ learning are accurate and used effectively to inform planning.
• Further strengthen leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • leaders at all levels, particularly those new to their roles, are supported to develop their skills further, learning from best practice
  • records of behavioural incidents are analysed so that trends are quickly identified and appropriate support is put in place for pupils
  • leaders at all levels make sure that the additional help pupils receive is having a positive impact on their progress and attainment.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since his appointment, the headteacher has focused relentlessly on improving the quality of teaching and learning. Comprehensive support and training are in place to improve the accuracy of teachers’ assessments and the effectiveness of teaching. Teachers work together to research an approach, then plan, observe and discuss lessons. Teachers find this approach challenging but effective and they appreciate the fact that the headteacher takes part too.
• Teaching is still not yet consistently good but there are signs of impact and improvement. The headteacher has established a culture of learning and reflective practice among the staff. Teachers appreciate the opportunities they have to work with other local schools, learning from good practice, and the headteacher is keen to develop these links further.
• The headteacher, along with the governing body, is ambitious for the school to provide the best education for the pupils and sets high expectations for everyone. As a result, pupils are keen to do their best and staff understand the need to raise standards.
• There has been some turbulence in staffing over the last academic year. However, parents and carers, on the whole, feel that this has been handled well by the school’s leadership and are supportive of the current drive to improve teaching.
• Despite being a relatively new leadership team, leaders have established clear expectations and routines. The school improvement plan details a wide range of actions, but further work needs to be done to help middle leaders focus on the support that will have the most impact on pupils’ learning.
• Support for newly qualified teachers is comprehensive and provides an appropriate level of challenge for their development.
• Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. They learned how democracy works in Britain by following the last general election. Teachers shared the manifestos of the major parties with pupils, then pupils voted in the hall, which was set out to represent a real voting booth. Pupils then had the opportunity to write their own manifestos.
• In personal, social and health education, pupils learn about individual freedom by discussing what is unique about them and what individual liberty means to them.
• The school’s curriculum has been revised recently to ensure that all subject areas are covered in sufficient depth. Work in pupils’ books shows engaging topics such as the Romans and rivers. Displays around the school demonstrate how art, history and geography link to school trips, such as to a local castle and an outdoor education centre.
• Additional funding, such as the pupil premium and the physical education and sport premium, is spent to subsidise residential trips and activities such as skiing and bouldering. In some cases, it is used to pay for pupils to attend the before- and after-school clubs, in order to benefit pupils. Leaders make sure that governors receive information about how the funding is spent. As a result, governors can check on the positive impact of this funding on outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.

Governance of the school

• Governors have a realistic view of the school and are aware of the areas for improvement. Almost half the governors have recently joined the governing body. They are supportive of the actions, support and training the headteacher is putting in place to improve the quality of teaching. Governors monitor progress made against the school improvement plan. However, they acknowledge that changes need time to become embedded for evidence of impact to emerge.
• Governors are committed to making sure that their work helps the school to improve further. They have planned a review of governance in the near future.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Staff are trained regularly and are vigilant in all aspects of safeguarding, including child sexual exploitation, the ‘Prevent’ duty and child protection. When referrals are made, they are followed up robustly by the headteacher, who escalates cases with the local authority where appropriate.
• Records of individual incidents are kept appropriately and confidentially, but leaders do not yet analyse patterns and trends in this information to help them target support quickly enough.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• In the majority of cases, teachers set tasks at different levels of difficulty for different pupils in the class. However, the level of challenge is not consistently appropriate for all pupils. Some pupils struggle to complete work, but others find it too easy. As a result, learning time is wasted because the most able pupils could be moving on more quickly and the least able pupils have to wait for help before they can move on.
• Inaccurate assessments mean that teachers do not routinely adapt their teaching to respond to pupils’ misconceptions. Consequently, pupils continue to make errors in their work.
• Pupils are given opportunities to develop mastery in mathematics by working on word problems. However, in their efforts to work quickly, the most able pupils sometimes misread questions and make mistakes, which are not noticed quickly enough by staff. Consequently, the pace of pupils’ learning slows.
• Presentation in some pupils’ books is poor. Teachers do not routinely insist on joined-up handwriting. Spelling mistakes of common words are sometimes not picked up and are allowed to continue over time without challenge. As a result, while pupils are able to write at length with appropriate content, their writing is not consistently grammatically accurate.
• A wide range of small-group interventions are used to help pupils catch up. In some cases, these are led by teachers or higher-level teaching assistants. There is evidence of the positive impact of many of these interventions. However, in some cases, teaching assistants working with small groups do not demonstrate the knowledge and skills needed to support pupils’ learning well, for example persisting with an ineffective method rather than varying the approach to find a more efficient way of working.
• Some teachers ask challenging questions that require pupils to explain their thinking and provide reasons for their answers. This helps to move learning on quickly. However, this is not the case in all lessons.
• Teachers’ subject knowledge in phonics is good. When reading, younger pupils are able to use their phonics knowledge well to decode unfamiliar words.
• Leaders have introduced a new emphasis on and approach to reading. Pupils take part in the reading challenge to read all of the books recommended for their year group. A ‘River of Reading’ mural in the hall displays the books pupils will read in class from Reception to Year 6. The mural is a constant reminder of the importance of reading and supports the reading challenge by encouraging all pupils to take part. Pupils talk enthusiastically about their progress through the challenge.
• Relationships between adults and pupils are strong. Pupils behave well in lessons and disruption to learning through poor behaviour is rare. Pupils say that their teachers are always helpful.
• Pupils appreciate the opportunity in some lessons to choose the best level of challenge for them. Pupils say that they like to choose the harder levels of challenge when offered ‘spicy’ or ‘hot and spicy’ challenges.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of activities to help them develop self-confidence and self-awareness, including residential trips and sports competitions, as well as more unusual activities such as skiing and bouldering. In the before- and after-school clubs, pupils complete craft activities and play games, working cooperatively with others.
• Pupils enjoy being ambassadors and being part of the school council and the eco council. Ambassadors recently carried out a survey of science lessons. They reported their findings back to the school council, recommending that the school council raises funds to buy scientific equipment. Pupils feel strongly that they make a valuable contribution to improving school life.
• The school grounds have a trim trail, which pupils use at break and lunchtimes to keep fit and have fun. A range of other playground equipment is available, such as skipping ropes and footballs. Pupils also enjoy using the table tennis tables in the playground at lunchtime. The school sports coach leads activities at lunchtime and after school, helping pupils to keep physically active.
• Pupils say that they feel safe and, if they were worried about anything, they would tell a teacher. They are able to explain how to keep themselves safe online, in school and when using the internet at home. A number of pupils are training to become anti-bullying ambassadors through the ‘Diana Award’.
• Pupils are chosen at random to attend ‘Pupil Power Parties’ with either the headteacher or deputy headteacher, where they are invited to discuss how to improve the school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. They are polite and respectful towards adults, visitors and each other.
• The atmosphere around the school is calm and orderly. Breaks and lunchtimes are well supervised but pupils largely regulate their own behaviour because they know what is expected of them. All classes have monitors for responsibilities such as information technology, the library and snack times. Pupils take turns in these roles. Older pupils act as playground monitors to play with the younger pupils.
• Since the appointment of the current headteacher, teachers say that behaviour has improved. Pupils say that a new red card and yellow card system is working well and rewards motivate them to behave well. There are few behavioural incidents and pupils say that bullying is rare. Most parents say that any incidents are dealt with promptly by staff.
• Pupils and staff agree that they are proud to belong to Fairhaven Primary School.
• Pupil ambassadors carry out a wide range of duties, including cloakroom checks at the end of lunchtime for all classes. Those classes with a tidy cloakroom will get a reward. In this way, pupils learn to look after their own and other people’s belongings.
• There have been no permanent exclusions and only one fixed-term exclusion during the current academic year.
• Attendance has been consistently above the national averages for the last three years.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ progress and attainment in reading and mathematics by the end of key stage 2 have been below national averages for at least two years for all pupils.
• Leaders acknowledge that there is more work to be done to refine the accuracy of assessment in some parts of the school. However, work in books shows that a higher proportion of pupils are achieving at the expected standard for their age in reading, writing and mathematics across key stages 1 and 2 than at the same time last year.
• While pupils in Year 6 are now making more rapid progress in closing the gaps in their knowledge and skills, this is not the case for pupils currently in Years 1 to 5.
• Pupils produce high-quality written work in some classes in key stages 1 and 2 but this is not consistently seen across all year groups and all classes. In Reception, children are taught to join their handwriting, but further up the school this expectation is not consistently applied. As a result, pupils’ handwriting and presentation are variable.
• The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in phonics in Year 1 is usually in line with the national average but dipped slightly in 2017.
• The small number of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities make progress in line with other pupils.
• The number of disadvantaged pupils in each year group is very small, therefore assessment information should be treated with caution. However, for those year groups with meaningful numbers of disadvantaged pupils, progress is broadly in line with that of other pupils.

Early years provision Good

• Leadership of the early years is effective. Children feel secure and are happy to learn because they have positive relationships with teachers. Well-established routines ensure that children know what is expected of them and they behave well.
• Children are highly engaged in their learning as a result of well-planned activities linked to their interests. In a role play outside, for example, children played the part of detectives, complete with clipboards, making notes of clues to catch a robber bear on the loose. This worthwhile activity, based on the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, was both purposeful and exciting.
• The standard of children’s writing in the Reception class is high. They are taught to join their letters and proudly demonstrate how well they can do this. They talk enthusiastically about their learning and they are confident as a result of the positive, supportive relationships with teachers and other adults.
• Good phonics teaching supports children to read well at an appropriate level for their age. They use their phonics knowledge well to read sounds and write words.
• The proportion of children achieving a good level of development has been broadly in line with national levels for the last two years. The quality of children’s learning seen during the inspection suggests that a high proportion of children are achieving at the expected standard for their age this year.
• Activities are designed with a balance of teacher-directed and free-choice tasks for children, which correspond to their interests and support their learning.
• The early years lead teacher has an accurate understanding of the quality of provision. She knows the children well and models effective practice to the other staff. Safeguarding is effective. Staff are trained and updates are provided regularly.
• Engagement with parents is good. Parents value the fact that teachers communicate with them regularly, sharing notes and photographs of their children’s work electronically. Parents also upload work children have done at home.
• The purpose-built early years block provides appropriate accommodation for both Reception classes and staff have created a welcoming learning environment for children. The outdoor space could be developed further to enhance children’s learning.

School details

Unique reference number 103786 Local authority Dudley Inspection number 10042890 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Maintained Age range of pupils 4 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 310 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mrs Pearl White Headteacher Mr Thomas Garner Telephone number 01384 818 385 Website www.fairhaven.dudley.sch.uk Email address info@fairhaven.dudley.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 24–25 September 2013

Information about this school

• Fairhaven Primary School is larger than the average primary school.
• Children in the early years are taught in a new purpose-built classroom.
• The majority of pupils in key stages 1 and 2 are taught in single year-group classes but there are three mixed year-group classes of Years 1 and 2, Years 3 and 4 and Years 5 and 6.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is below average. The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan is below average.
• The vast majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.
• The school manages a breakfast club and an after-school club.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching in all classes at least once. Most observations were carried out with a member of the leadership team. In addition, the lead inspector carried out a learning walk with pupil ambassadors.
• Inspectors listened to pupils reading as a small group, as well as during lessons.
• Inspectors looked at work in pupils’ books during lessons and carried out a detailed scrutiny of their writing, mathematics and topic work jointly with a member of the leadership team.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, special educational needs coordinator, English leader and early years leader.
• The lead inspector met with a representative of the local authority and with a group of four governors.
• Inspectors spoke to parents and took account of 100 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire.
• Sixteen responses to the staff survey were also considered by inspectors.
• Inspectors scrutinised a number of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation, the school improvement plan and information on pupils’ current attainment and progress.
• Inspectors reviewed information about current attendance and records of behaviour, safeguarding incidents and referrals, and checked policies and procedures.

Inspection team

Jane Spilsbury, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Michael Appleby Ofsted Inspector Susan Hughes Ofsted Inspector