King George V Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in key stage 1 by ensuring that teachers:
  • increase their expectations of what pupils can achieve
  • plan work that is more closely matched to the needs of all pupils
  • identify and correct pupils’ misconceptions swiftly so they make faster progress improve pupils’ spelling and handwriting skills.
• Improve the provision in the early years by ensuring that teachers:
  • plan activities which provide more challenge to all pupils
  • improve the teaching of early writing and provide more opportunities to write so that children develop their skills more rapidly.
• Improve pupils’ behaviour and personal development, by:
  • making lunchtimes more purposeful for pupils so they engage in better play
  • maximising time for learning in lessons so pupils move from one activity to the next promptly
  • providing training for lunchtime supervisors so they are better equipped to carry out their responsibilities and support pupils.
• Improve leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • governors make certain that permanent leadership arrangements are quickly put in place
  • governors monitor the school’s work more rigorously and hold leaders to account for the achievement of pupils
  • middle leaders further develop their roles and take greater responsibility for pupils’ outcomes across the school.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Since the previous inspection, the school has experienced a period of significant staff turbulence. During the last two academic years, there have been several senior leadership changes, including five deputy headteachers. This instability in leadership has hampered the school’s progress. The acting headteacher took up post in October 2015 but has only very recently managed to secure more consistency in staffing.
• Senior leaders regularly monitor lessons and work in pupils’ books, although this has not yet had sufficient impact in tackling inconsistencies in pupils’ achievement in the early years and key stage 1. However, leaders are providing opportunities for teachers to observe best practice and learn from one another.
• Up until very recently, the work of middle leaders was not tightly focused enough on identifying and addressing areas for improvement within subjects. This lack of focus on pupils’ achievements contributed to the dip in pupils’ outcomes in 2016 compared with previous years.
• In the past, leaders have not always been quick to respond to tackle the weaknesses in teaching due to limited leadership capacity. However, more recently senior leaders have challenged underperformance in teaching more decisively and with rigour. Where teaching is not improving quickly enough, a support plan is put in place combined with close checking of a teacher’s work. This has increased the pace of change at the school and led to better teaching.
• Very recently appointed, dedicated middle leaders have already embarked on a well-planned programme of work to further develop teaching and learning in their subject areas. They have an accurate view of pupils’ achievements across the school, although they need more opportunities to observe teaching. While their plans and actions are credible, it is too soon to fully assess the impact of their work.
• Most parents speak favourably about the school and what it offers their children. However, some parents have not yet developed confidence in school leadership because of the instability over the last two years. For example, some parents are unsure which staff to approach when they need help with their children’s education.
• External support has been effective in helping the school move forward. Senior leaders have worked closely with the local authority and the St. John Bosco Teaching School Alliance to identify areas for improvement and implement strategies to address weaknesses. As a consequence, the quality of leadership has improved and all staff work collaboratively and with greater determination to improve their practice. Senior leaders have an agreed programme of support arranged with the teaching school alliance to further develop leadership of the early years.
• The acting headteacher has developed an effective monitoring and evaluation system which is being used well to improve teaching, learning and assessment. This has been particularly effective in key stage 2. Leaders have implemented a robust system of performance management and all teachers have specific targets for improving the quality of their teaching and pupils’ work in books. This is having a demonstrable impact for the majority of teachers.
• Current leaders have a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Improvement plans are detailed and sharply focused on the right priorities. The acting headteacher quickly tackled the emerging issues in key stage 2 so that now the current pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, make good progress across the curriculum. Leaders are using pupil premium funding more effectively to diminish the difference between the progress made by disadvantaged pupils and others.
• Leaders ensure that special educational needs funding is used appropriately to benefit those who it is intended for. Provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is improving. However, leaders have only recently started to check carefully and fully evaluate the impact of interventions for these pupils.
• Leaders have devised a thematic curriculum which engages and motivates pupils well. It is supported by a variety of trips and visitors, and a wide range of extra-curricular activities which are well-attended.
• Pupils experience a weekly enrichment afternoon which provides them with additional skills and qualities that enhance their development and progress. For example, they develop their geographical skills through the orienteering club. Inspectors observed an energetic dhol drumming lesson. Pupils commented, ‘Enrichment clubs are great because we get to develop our creativity.’
• The sport premium funding is being used well to improve the quality of physical education teaching and encourage wider participation in a range of sports. The school employs a sports coach who successfully teaches and promotes enjoyment in sport.
• The school is providing exceptionally well for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils show a readiness for life in modern Britain and show respect for, and understanding of, each other’s individual differences, beliefs and faiths.

Governance of the school

• Governance has not fully sustained the pace of change in line with the current national expectations about governors’ roles and responsibilities. Governance is rightly identified on the school’s development plan as an area that requires some attention. Governors’ monitoring was also identified as an area for improvement at the last inspection, and this still remains an issue to some extent. Governors’ presence in school to evaluate leaders’ work has been too limited in the past. For example, despite governors being invited to the school’s termly school improvement adviser’s visit provided by Sandwell local authority, they do not always attend. This is a missed opportunity for governors to get an independent view and a deeper understanding about the school’s performance.
• Governance is beginning to improve. Governors are becoming better informed about the school’s performance because they are starting to visit more regularly and ask searching questions of leaders. Some governors are very committed and are knowledgeable about the school’s work. They are starting to challenge senior leaders and become more strategic in the way they work.
• The acting headteacher provides comprehensive reports to governors to keep them informed about different aspects of the school’s work, including the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes. As a result, governors have a broad understanding of the main strengths and weaknesses of the school. Governors work with the local authority external adviser to set appropriate objectives for the headteacher’s appraisal.
• For a prolonged period of time, governors have struggled to recruit a permanent headteacher. This has placed additional strains on leaders and their capacity to move the school forward. Parents are also anxious about the future leadership of the school. Governors are working quickly to try and resolve this recruitment issue.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All staff recognise and understand clearly their responsibility for safeguarding pupils. They receive regular quality training to ensure that they can identify any pupils who may be at risk of harm. Staff understand about current and specific safeguarding matters including child sexual exploitation and female genital mutilation. Staff have a good knowledge of reporting procedures and what to do if they do not feel that appropriate action is being taken by leaders. Safeguarding records are comprehensive and generally well organised. They demonstrate that those responsible for safeguarding take swift action when the need arises.
• Governors and leaders ensure that all staff and volunteers are appropriately vetted to reduce the risk of unsuitable people being in contact with pupils. Staff know what actions to take if they have concerns about any adults working with pupils. There is a culture of vigilance which serves to protect pupils from harm. Staff work well with other external agencies to provide support to vulnerable pupils and their families.
• The school site is safe and secure. The large majority of pupils told inspectors that they felt safe in school. However, there were a few who shared concerns about the behaviour of other pupils at lunchtime. While they said that behaviour had much improved compared to last year, this remained a source of worry for some pupils.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching in key stage 1, while gradually improving, is not yet consistently good. Teachers do not always ensure that the work given to pupils is well matched to their abilities. Some teachers do not pick up pupils’ misconceptions early enough and intervene in learning to support pupils. At other times, in mathematics for example, too much time is spent consolidating skills and knowledge that pupils already have acquired. In this instance, pupils, including those who are disadvantaged and the most able, do not move on quickly enough which results in slower progress.
• The teaching of writing is not consistently effective in key stage 1. The majority of pupils have not yet established a neat, legible and consistent style of handwriting by the end of Year 2. Too many pupils make spelling errors of common words. Teachers are not always providing pupils with the guidance they need to improve their work and therefore they continue to make the same mistakes in their writing.
• There is inconsistency between classes in key stage 1 in the effective teaching of phonics. Some pupils are able to apply their phonic skills well to work out unknown words as a result of effective teaching. Others are not developing their phonic skills rapidly enough because teaching lacks rigour.
• Most teaching assistants who work with pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities support them well so they make good progress in their learning. For example, they encourage self-help skills, drawing pupils’ attention to useful resources which enable them to work with a greater degree of independence.
• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment in key stage 2 is good and improving, particularly in upper key stage 2. Teachers’ strong subject knowledge, consistent high expectations for learning and well-planned lessons result in current pupils making good progress across subjects. Teachers’ real enthusiasm supports pupils’ effective learning. Teachers intervene at the right time in pupils’ learning to move it forward so no time is wasted.
• Pupils show positive attitudes to reading and read regularly in school. They apply their reading skills well to read with good understanding, expression and fluency. Pupils benefited from a visit from an author as part of ‘World Book Day’ events. Pupils regularly access books from the school library. The library area is vibrant, well organised and stocked with a wide range of good fiction and non-fiction books.
• All teachers share ‘steps to success’ with pupils to help them structure their learning and make progress. Most pupils use these well to self-assess their work. Occasionally, pupils evaluate their work as ‘green’ to indicate that they have a good understanding, yet work in books demonstrates a more limited grasp of the concept that has been taught.
• Teachers in key stage 2 usually provide a good level of challenge for the most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged. As a result, pupils make good progress. For example, pupils coped well with the challenge to research and write about different aspects of British democracy, including the formation of bills in Parliament.
• Current pupils’ progress in mathematics has improved since a concerted effort has been made by leaders to improve the quality of teaching in mathematics. Pupils’ work demonstrates that mathematical fluency and reasoning are developed well. Almost all teachers use questioning effectively to prompt and encourage learning.
• Pupils successfully write for a variety of purposes. Teachers of younger pupils do not teach handwriting consistently well. This results in too many pupils who have poor letter formation and lack a consistent style. Writing in key stage 2 is taught well and pupils have opportunities to edit their own work.
• Most teachers are committed to trying to make their teaching lively, engaging and meaningful. They plan activities that enable pupils to make sense of difficult concepts. For example, in a science lesson, pupils passed around sweets in a group to represent electricity flowing through a circuit. This supports the good progress of pupils.
• Teachers use first-hand experiences well to inspire pupils’ learning. Older pupils took part in a trip to Tipton Sports Academy as part of their work on the ancient Greek Olympics where they learned how to throw a javelin and the shot put.
• Teachers ensure that all pupils have targets in their books for core subjects. Most pupils use these confidently to see how much progress they are making. For example, pupils reviewed their targets at the end of a writing lesson to evaluate their own progress. This self-assessment enabled them to understand what they had achieved and what they needed to do next.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Personal development and welfare

Requires improvement

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Not all teachers nurture purposeful learning and provide pupils with engaging activities that develop an eagerness to learn. As a result, sometimes pupils’ attitudes to learning are not as good as they could be. This leads to pupils occasionally not being as focused as they should be on their work.
• Leaders have organised anti-bullying events and ensured that pupils are taught about bullying. However, despite these efforts to help pupils recognise the different types of bullying, a few pupils still lack a clear understanding. Leaders are already aware of this and have started to tackle this through the introduction of a new behaviour policy. Pupils say that on the rare occasion when bullying happens, it is usually dealt with immediately by teachers or the headteacher.
• The standard of pupils’ presentation of work varies across key stages. Teachers in key stage 2 make their expectations clear about presentation. As a result, the majority of older pupils write neatly and take pride in their work.
• Teachers work hard to promote pupils’ self-esteem and help them to see purpose in learning. For example, pupils celebrate their achievements though a weekly praise assembly which parents are invited to attend.
• Pupils demonstrate empathy to others and a mutual respect for difference and cultural diversity. For example, older pupils showed an emotional understanding and sensitivity when asking another pupil about experiencing an earthquake. They speak articulately about British values such as tolerance of others.
• Leaders take into consideration the views of pupils. Pupils are involved in school decision-making through the active school parliament. School parliament members write manifestos, hold a campaign day and are democratically elected at a school polling day.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• Pupils’ behaviour at lunchtimes is variable and not consistently good. Lunchtime supervisors are not proactive enough in supporting pupils to play kindly together or resolve disagreements. Some pupils told inspectors that they did not always feel listened to when they approached a lunchtime supervisor with a problem that they needed help with. Staff do not deal with poor conduct at lunchtimes consistently because their expectations of pupils’ behaviour are not high enough.
• Pupils’ behaviour can sometimes be unsettled during transition times, for example when pupils move from one activity to another between lessons. This results in lost learning time.
• There are few recorded instances of poor behaviour and pupils usually behave well during lessons. Pupils show respect for each other and listen politely to the ideas of others. Occasionally in some lessons, pupils lose focus and become distracted when work is not well matched to their needs.
• Pupils’ attendance rates improved in 2016 and moved closer to the national average. Staff work hard with parents to try and reduce absence and this is having a positive impact.
• A new behaviour policy has very recently been introduced. Pupils already know about this policy and what is expected. Pupils are excited by the addition of the new ‘golden table’ to reward lunchtime behaviour.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Since the last inspection, and up until 2016, pupils who left at the end of key stage 2 typically made progress that was better than that of other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. However, although not directly comparable, there has been a dip in recent outcomes. In 2016, pupils in key stage 2 made progress that was broadly in line with that of other pupils nationally in reading and writing. They made weaker progress in mathematics.
• By the end of key stage 1 in 2016, the proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics was broadly in line with the national average. However, there were no pupils in key stage 1 assessed at working at greater depth in reading, writing or mathematics. This is because teachers have not expected enough from pupils in the past.
• The teaching of phonics is inconsistent. In 2016, the proportion of pupils passing the Year 1 phonics check fell again for a third consecutive year to below the national average. Similarly, the percentage of pupils achieving the phonics standard by the end of Year 2 also fell to below the national average.
• From the school’s own assessment information and evidence seen in books, current pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are making good progress in key stage 2. Pupils’ progress in key stage 1 is more variable. Similarly, the most able are achieving well in key stage 2 because the work is more challenging.
• Teachers provide a language-rich environment in classrooms. The majority of pupils who speak English as an additional language make steady progress and achieve broadly average outcomes by the end of key stage 2. Leaders are aware of the need to focus their attention on international new arrivals who are at the early stages of speaking English.
• In 2016, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities made progress that was broadly similar to others nationally with the same lower starting points in reading and writing. Current pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress in their learning. They show pride in their work and an improvement in presentation over time.
• Leaders use the pupil premium funding with increasing effectiveness to help disadvantaged pupils in key stage 2 make good progress.
• Current pupils on roll in key stage 2 achieve well across a range of other subjects including science, history and religious education. Teachers have the same high expectations of standards in these subjects as they do in core subjects.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Some, but not all, children begin school with skills and abilities that are lower than those typical for their age. While some children make good progress from their starting points – not all do because staff do not provide sufficient challenge in children’s learning.
• In 2016, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development improved compared to the previous year, although this was still below the national average. This means that not all children are fully prepared to meet the demands of Year 1.
• Adults in the Reception class do not routinely provide activities that build on and extend children’s learning effectively. This results in low-level learning which limits children’s progress. In addition, teachers do not routinely check children’s knowledge and understanding throughout a session to ensure that they are all being supported effectively to achieve the expected learning outcome.
• Teachers plan some meaningful learning experiences for children linked to literature. For example, children were very engaged in planting ‘magic’ seeds related to the story ‘Jack and the beanstalk’. However, adults did little to present children with any degree of challenge, which slowed progress.
• Children’s progress is too variable because teaching is not yet securely good. Leaders do not yet have a secure grasp of the new assessment system because it has only very recently been introduced. This means that analysis of children’s performance is limited and staff are not consistently using pupils’ assessment information to identify clearly what children need to do next to make good progress.
• Leaders have correctly identified that children’s learning journeys do not capture a comprehensive picture of progress or provide enough information in order to make accurate judgements about children’s progress over time.
• In 2016, a very low proportion of disadvantaged children attained a good level of development compared with other children in Reception. However, current children on roll eligible for pupil premium funding are making better progress as a result of specific teaching interventions.
• The teaching of phonics is effective. Most children use their phonic skills well to help them read. However, children are not given enough opportunities to apply their phonic skills in their writing.
• Teachers do not provide children with enough opportunities to develop their writing. While staff give children specific teaching points about how to improve their writing, they do not always check how well pupils have succeeded in their learning. This results in some pupils’ mistakes not being identified quickly enough.
• Children’s personal, social and health education is promoted well. For example, children learned how to recognise other people’s feelings by the use of picture cards. Most pupils behave well in the early years.
• Leaders ensure effective transition arrangements so that children quickly settle into school. This includes open days for parents and home visits. The majority of parents are very positive about how well their children settle into the early years. They say that teachers are accessible and parents have someone to talk to if there are any concerns about their children.
• Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well. For example, children with speech and language needs are well catered for and make good progress in developing their speech.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 131223 Sandwell 10025224 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 238 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Kyle Bailey Sarah Penny Telephone number 0121 553 0060 Website Email address www.kinggeorgev.sandwell.sch.uk headteacher@kinggeorgev.sandwell.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 7–8 February 2013

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• This school is slightly smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The school has a Nursery class managed by the governing body.
• Nearly all pupils come from a wide variety of minority ethnic groups.
• A larger than average proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of pupils supported with a statement of special educational needs, an education, health and care plan or through special educational needs support is below the national average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is above the national average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards which set the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment and progress.
• The school works collaboratively with the local authority and the St. John Bosco Teaching School Alliance.

Information about this inspection

• The inspection team observed learning in all year groups, including carrying out some joint observations with senior leaders. Inspectors reviewed pupils’ work in books and on classroom walls.
• Inspectors talked to pupils during lessons, around school and during planned meetings to gather their views.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, other leaders, school staff and a representative from the local authority. An inspector also met with a member of the governing body.
• Responses from 17 parents and carers to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View) were analysed in addition to paper copies that were handed into the school. Inspectors also gathered the views of parents at the beginning of each school day.
• Inspectors heard pupils read.
• The inspection team looked at a wide range of information including the school’s website, development plan, assessment information and teacher performance management documentation. Inspectors reviewed documentation relating to safeguarding, as well as the minutes of the governing body.

Inspection team

Tim Hill, lead inspector Jayne Thorpe Pamela Matty Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector