Norton Canes Primary Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Secure consistency in the quality of teaching so pupils make at least good progress over time to reach expected standards, and especially in mathematics and reading by ensuring that:
  • all teachers use information about what pupils can already do to set work at an appropriate level of challenge, especially for lower- and middle-attaining pupils
  • all teachers have the same consistently high expectations of what pupils will achieve
  • work set in mathematics provides lower-attaining and middle-attaining pupils with opportunities to develop their problem-solving and reasoning skills in different contexts
  • teachers in key stage 2 check more frequently on achievement in reading and use this information to develop pupils’ reading skills more rapidly.
• Raise the achievement of lower-attaining key stage 1 pupils in writing by ensuring that teachers plan work that is appropriately challenging.
• Improve leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • all leaders have a comprehensive view of the weakest features of pupils’ achievement, so that they can correctly identify and implement actions to increase rates of progress
  • information about the achievement of groups of pupils is presented clearly so that local governors can provide a greater degree of challenge to leaders about the school’s performance.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leaders have not yet done enough to ensure that teaching is consistently strong and that pupils make good progress across all subjects.
• The headteacher has high expectations of staff. Since the school first opened in 2014, she has worked successfully with other senior leaders to tackle weaknesses in teaching. Staff are motivated and work well as a team. They support each other, share good practice and celebrate achievements in pupils’ learning. However, staffing turnover in the past few years has resulted in some inconsistencies in teaching. Leaders fully acknowledge that further work is required to ensure that teaching is consistently good across the school.
• The headteacher has a good understanding of the main priorities for the school. These are translated into areas for development in the school’s improvement plan. However, not all leaders have a secure grasp of what needs improving to raise achievement. This means that leaders’ actions to increase rates of pupils’ progress are sometimes not as specific as they need to be.
• School leaders have recently introduced a new and effective system to track pupils’ progress. They rightly identified that some of the previous assessments of pupils’ learning were not accurate. They have taken suitable action to ensure that the judgements about the standards pupils achieve are now secure.
• Some school leaders are new in their roles. They do not yet have a clear view of the performance of different groups in the subjects for which they are responsible. Consequently, they do not know what is working well and what needs to happen to raise pupils’ achievement further.
• Leaders are developing teachers’ practice and enabling pupils to make better progress than before. There are a number of reasons for this. Teachers benefit from support and training which they receive from the trust’s associate leaders. Additionally, helpful advice from senior leaders, following regular checks on the quality of teaching, enables teachers to refine their work.
• The school curriculum is broad, balanced and stimulating. A focus on developing pupils’ skills across different subjects, and opportunities to visit places such as Birmingham Botanical Gardens, helps to make learning more meaningful for pupils. Pupils enjoyed telling inspectors about the real-life bunker that they created as part of their project on the first world war. Music is a strength of the curriculum. The school commissions an outside provider to enhance this aspect of the school’s provision. Inspectors observed a spectacular musical performance of ‘Feliz navidad’ played by Year 6 pupils who used a wide range of instruments from steel drums to melodicas. They played confidently and kept in time with each other.
• There are an exciting and wide variety of extra-curricular activity clubs that are well-attended by pupils. Clubs include dance, football, archery, yoga and steel band. These opportunities enhance pupils’ learning and personal development across all year groups. The wider curriculum prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain. For example, following a ‘British values week’ with a focus on democracy, several pupil councils were set up, including a sports council and school council. The school council members, for example, make a valuable contribution to pupils’ understanding of being involved in whole-school decision-making.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is well developed because opportunities are interwoven into the curriculum. Pupils are encouraged to consider and reflect upon world events. As part of the promotion of British values, older pupils shared their views with an inspector in a respectful and reasoned manner about the United States presidential elections. Pupils have a good understanding of other religions and cultures, and study a range of religious festivals.
• Spending for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is appropriately targeted to provide these pupils with additional support. This support is helping current pupils in the school to catch up with pupils nationally.
• Leaders spend the pupil premium funding on strategies that are specific to the needs of disadvantaged pupils. These strategies are having a positive impact on current pupils’ achievement and enable them to make at least expected progress.
• The primary sports premium is effectively increasing pupils’ participation in school sport and developing the expertise of teachers through working with specialist coaches. This expenditure has enhanced the quality of teaching and extended the range of sporting opportunities offered to pupils.
• Leaders keep parents well informed through a variety of communications between home and school including text messages and notes home. The views of several parents were captured by a comment from one who said, ‘Teachers are approachable and let you know what’s going on.’
• The support from REAch2 Academy Trust has contributed to the improvements in teaching through coaching opportunities using the trust’s associate school leaders. The trust regularly checks the work of the school. The trust’s reports are sometimes overgenerous in their evaluation of leadership and management. However, the current regional director’s view of leadership is accurate. The regional director has brought a renewed focus to school improvement and helped to accelerate the pace of change.

Governance of the school

• The local governing body, together with the trust’s executive team, hold school leaders to account for the school’s performance. More recently, there has been a shift of expectations, with the local governing body members taking a greater lead in evaluating the school’s performance.
• There have been some recent changes in governance, with several new members joining the local governing body. Members are beginning to gain more clarity about their responsibilities, especially in relation to holding school leaders to account for the standards attained by pupils. However, they do not know how well different groups are achieving. This is because the information they receive from school leaders about pupils’ achievement is not clear or comprehensive, so preventing local governors from fully challenging leaders about the school’s performance. REAch2 has already arranged for leaders and governors to receive training in relation to evaluating pupils’ achievement.
• Local governing body members have an unquestionable commitment to, and passion for, enabling the school to serve its pupils well and give them the best possible educational experiences. Local governors are hardworking and get involved in the life of the school. They know the pupils and have a good knowledge of the school’s use of additional funding. For example, the governors’ evaluation of sports funding is clear and focused on impact.
• The school’s website is not fully compliant with statutory requirements. The governing body intends to respond to this immediately.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All staff receive training in how to keep pupils safe from harm. For instance, teachers have a good understanding of how to protect pupils from radicalisation and extremism. Staff take appropriate and timely action when they have a concern about a child. There is a regular audit of safeguarding arrangements involving local governors. This audit highlights any areas for improvement which are then promptly dealt with by the school.
• The school has a number of effective processes in place to keep pupils safe, both in school and beyond. These include comprehensive risk assessments. Staff work closely with a number of agencies to support pupils and their families. Leaders ensure that recruitment processes are effective and that only suitable people are employed to work with pupils. There is a dedicated governor who oversees safeguarding and helps the school check its policies and procedures.
• Staff and governors work collectively to keep pupils secure. They act on feedback from pupils, parents and staff. For example, they worked with governors to secure a safer crossing point for pupils on the main road outside school.
• School leaders ensure that the school site is as safe as possible. The grounds are clean and well maintained. Pupils contribute to this by taking care not to litter. Fire exits and signs for escape are clear and visible.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching is not yet consistently good. This results in uneven levels of achievement between key stages and within year groups. Although senior leaders have now secured more stability, staffing turnover over time has contributed to this mixed picture of the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress.
• Senior leaders are working hard to improve the quality of teaching. However, further improvements are required. Teachers do not use assessment effectively to set consistently challenging work to stretch lower- and middle-attaining pupils. Teachers give more attention to challenging the most able and this enables them to make good progress.
• Reading is not taught consistently well, especially in key stage 2. Some teachers do not check pupils’ progress in reading regularly and ensure that pupils build on and develop their reading skills quickly. Lower-attaining and some middle-attaining pupils do not achieve as well as they should in reading because tasks are not challenging enough. In contrast, both the youngest and oldest most able readers read confidently and with good understanding. They also have positive attitudes towards reading.
• In mathematics, pupils’ work and visits to lessons show that teachers provide regular opportunities for the most able pupils to solve problems and explain their thinking. As a result, they have a better understanding of mathematical concepts. In one example, a group of most-able pupils applied their knowledge of the internal angles of a triangle to effectively solve a complex problem. In contrast, teaching is less effective when teachers do not check that the work set for lower- and middle-attaining pupils is sufficiently challenging. Sometimes, too much focus is placed on completing straightforward calculations and following a method without a secure understanding. This prevents pupils from reaching even higher standards in mathematics.
• Not all teachers have high expectations of what lower- and middle-attaining pupils can achieve by the end of lessons. This results in some pupils occasionally not completing their work and therefore not fully acquiring the relevant skills and knowledge.
• Teaching assistants make a valuable contribution towards pupils’ learning, especially for those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Most teaching assistants balance the support they give to pupils with the expectation that pupils will learn how to complete their activities successfully. Occasionally, teaching assistants give too much help. This prevents pupils from thinking for themselves.
• Where the teaching is strong, pupils are catching up and making more than expected progress. This is because teachers have a very clear understanding of what pupils can already do, and move them to new learning without delay. Teachers also use questioning to good effect to probe pupils’ understanding and deepen their knowledge. For example, when studying the Spanish Armada, the teacher used questions skilfully to expand pupils’ historical vocabulary associated with Spanish galleons.
• The teaching of phonics in key stage 1 is a strength. Pupils confidently apply their phonic skills to help them read unknown words. Teachers sometimes ask pupils to read texts several times which helps younger pupils to develop their fluency and confidence in reading.
• The school’s focus on improving pupils’ writing skills in key stage 2 has been successful. Teaching is improving and pupils have regular opportunities to develop and extend their writing skills across other subjects. Teachers share individual, specific targets with pupils about what they need to do next to improve. As a result, pupils focus their attention on these aspects of writing and make good progress. Work in the books of lower-attaining key stage 1 pupils shows that sometimes they do not make the progress they should. This is because the activities are sometimes too easy and do not take the pupils’ learning forward.
• Pupils know how well they are achieving and what they need to do next because of the useful feedback they receive from teachers.
• Relationships between pupils and staff are positive. Consequently, pupils feel secure in their learning and many are willing to contribute in whole-class sessions.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils show an eagerness to learn and most approach harder work with confidence.
• Pupils reported to inspectors that they feel safe in school. They know there is always someone in school to help them if they are worried about something. They say that they feel well cared for and are supported effectively by staff.
• Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. Pupils talked knowledgeably to inspectors about fire safety and how to stay safe online. The Police Cadet Project, for instance, has been successful in engaging older pupils in understanding what it means to be a good citizen.
• Pupils enjoy and understand the benefits of their ‘forest school’ experiences in learning how to stay safe when outdoors. One comment from a pupil included a reference to learning in the outdoors, ‘It teaches us to be safe outside.’
• The school’s work on developing pupils’ personal, social and health education is effective. Key stage 1 pupils, for instance, showed a good understanding of the need to recycle rubbish. As part of their curriculum, pupils learn to help others and have been involved in a range of charity work. They have successfully raised money for organisations such as Guide Dogs and Macmillan Cancer Support.
• Pupils have a wide range of responsibilities in school and carry out these roles earnestly. For example, the sports council meets weekly to decide on improvements to physical education and sports provision. In addition, play leaders understand the importance of caring when they support younger pupils on the playground well.
• Bullying is rare. Pupils know the different forms bullying can take, including cyber bullying. School leaders take a strident approach to any breaches of the school’s anti-bullying policy, dealing with it swiftly to significantly reduce the chance of any recurrence. There have been no reported incidents of racism.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Since the school opened in January 2014, there has been a determined effort to improve pupils’ behaviour. This has proved to be a real success. Consequently, the number of exclusions is very low and pupils demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. Pupils are courteous and polite to each other, staff and visitors.
• Pupils get on together well and look after each other. The oldest pupils in the school take responsibility for helping the youngest pupils settle into school. There is a sense of community in the school where pupils and staff show mutual respect for each other. Inspectors observed pupils, for example, working collaboratively in a phonics lesson. They helped each other to correctly sound out words. In another instance on the playground, one child took responsibility for another child who was feeling poorly and escorted him to a first aider.
• The majority of pupils demonstrate a good level of independence in their learning. For example, pupils in key stage 2 know where they can get help before requesting support from the teacher. Occasionally, some of the younger pupils are not as focused as they should be when working independently.
• The school has implemented an effective behaviour policy which rewards good behaviour and challenges any incidents of poor behaviour fairly and quickly. Pupils respond well to this and most pupils do not need more than a verbal reminder to keep their behaviour in check. Pupils spoke favourably about the party for good behaviour and said that it encourages them to behave well. Pupils spoke of one or two individuals in the older classes who sometimes disturb their learning.
• The school is tidy and orderly. Pupils enter the dining hall sensibly and behave well while waiting for their lunch to be served. Very occasionally, a few pupils do not move around the school quietly.
• Pupils’ attendance has improved over time and is now in line with the national average. The attendance of disadvantaged pupils has also improved due to the concerted efforts of staff. Current attendance of these pupils is in line with the national average. Leaders promote good attendance by offering various incentives for pupils, as well as highlighting the best class attendance in the school’s weekly newsletter. Attendance is monitored carefully and effective action taken when pupils’ absence becomes a concern. There is still further work to do to reduce the small number of pupils who are persistently absent.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ achievement is variable. It is not yet good across the school or in different key stages. This is particularly the case in mathematics across the school, reading at key stage 2, and writing for the lower-attaining pupils in key stage 1.
• Provisional 2016 national curriculum test results and teacher assessment for Year 6 show that standards in reading and mathematics were below the national average. There were no published provisional results for writing available. However, the school’s own analysis shows that standards in writing by the end of key stage 2 were broadly average.
• Last year, too few pupils in Year 6, including disadvantaged pupils, made the progress they should from their different starting points in reading and mathematics. In contrast, the school’s assessment information shows that the Year 6 pupils made at least expected progress in writing.
• Current work in pupils’ books, the school’s own information and visits to lessons confirm that, although variable, the progress of current pupils is improving with some pupils making good progress from their starting points.
• Current achievement in writing is strong in key stage 2, with pupils making good progress over time.
• In key stage 1, progress in writing remains variable for different groups. Some of the younger, lower-attaining pupils in key stage 1 do not consistently make the progress they should in writing. This is because activities are sometimes too simple and do not build on what pupils already know. For example, in some books, pupils were expected to complete a simple phoneme (unit of sound) matching task when they had already acquired this skill.
• The current progress of disadvantaged pupils eligible for the pupil premium funding is improving and they are making at least expected progress. For example, in mathematics their skills are developing well, especially in number, angles and fractions. The most able disadvantaged pupils are extended well through appropriately challenging activities.
• Lower- and middle-attaining pupils do not have sufficient opportunities to develop their reasoning skills, which slows down their progress in mathematics.
• The most able pupils make good progress in mathematics, reading and writing. For example, in mathematics pupils are expected to explain and give reasons for their answers.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make at least expected and sometimes better progress. This is because the special educational needs coordinator knows these pupils well. She has a good understanding of their needs and has effectively broken down learning into smaller steps to enable them to achieve success. Support for these pupils is managed appropriately. Pupils know what they are learning because teaching assistants offer effective support.
• Overall achievement in key stage 1 improved further last year. In 2016, outcomes in key stage 1 were stronger than those in key stage 2. At the end of Year 2, attainment in reading, writing and mathematics was above the national average. The proportion of Year 1 pupils achieving the expected standard in the phonics screening test was above the national figure.

Early years provision Good

• Provision for children in the early years, including for two-year-olds, is good because it is effectively led and managed. Leaders have an accurate picture of the strengths and weaknesses in this area and are passionate about all children achieving well. The early years leader has correctly identified the need to improve the outdoor provision in order to give children more chances to learn through exploration and discovery.
• Teaching and learning are strong, and children achieve well as a result. The full range of learning experiences are effectively planned so all groups of children make good progress from their starting points. Children develop their early reading skills successfully in Reception, using phonics successfully to build words.
• Children get off to a good start in the two-year-old provision and the Nursery. By the time they leave the Reception class, they have acquired a secure foundation to build on in Year 1.
• In 2015, the number of Reception children achieving a good level of development was close to the national average. Provisional achievement data for 2016 shows that the percentage of children achieving a good level of development was below the national average. However, these children had lower starting points than the 2015 cohort. School records confirm that they made good progress during their time in the early years.
• The school’s tracking data shows that current Reception children have already made good gains in learning from their starting points.
• The learning environment in the Reception class is bright and colourful and entices children well into exploration and purposeful play. Teachers and teaching assistants ensure that rich opportunities for language development are carefully integrated into the activities on offer. There is a hive of activity where children engage in pretend play and develop their speaking and listening skills well. For example, a small group of children manned the phone in Santa’s workshop, took calls then distributed jobs to the nearby elves.
• Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported effectively. As a result, they play and learn alongside other children, and their individual needs are well met.
• Accurate assessment, together with well-planned experiences, poses an appropriate level of challenge which meets the needs of the most able children successfully.
• The early years pupil premium funding is used effectively to support children with developing their basic skills. As a result, disadvantaged children make at least the same good progress as other children.
• The behaviour of children is never less than good because adults are encouraging and reinforce appropriate behaviour. Children develop clear routines in the early years, know what is expected of them and behave appropriately. Inspectors observed the children displaying good listening skills when a policeman visited the classroom as part of their topic about people who help them.
• Safeguarding is effective and all statutory requirements are met. For instance, children learn to use equipment safely and to take turns in the different areas of the classroom to avoid overcrowding.
• There is effective communication between home and school, including good induction arrangements to help children settle into the Nursery. For example, children made creative ‘meet me’ boxes at home where they placed personal artefacts about themselves including books and photos. Parents are highly supportive and they take up the many opportunities that are provided for them to come into school to work alongside their children. The school has recently introduced an online assessment tool which allows parents to add to their child’s portfolio of learning.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140489 Staffordshire 10019991 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy sponsor-led 2 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 250 Appropriate authority Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Academy trust Denise Selvey Karen Amos 01543 279402 nortoncanesacademy.co.uk headteacher@nortoncanesacademy.co.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about governance on its website.
• The school does not comply with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish about the annual report and accounts, and accessibility plans for disabled pupils.
• This school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The school has a Nursery and it also has a provision for two-year-olds, Think 2. The governing body manages both.
• Most pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils supported with a statement of special educational needs or education, health and care plan, or through special educational needs support is above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is broadly average.
• The school met the government’s floor standard in 2015 which sets the minimum expectations for attainment and progress.

Information about this inspection

• The inspection team observed learning in all year groups, including some joint observations with senior leaders. In addition, inspectors reviewed pupils’ works in books and on classroom walls.
• Inspectors talked to pupils during lessons, around school and in one formal meeting to gather their views.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, other leaders, school staff and the regional director of the trust. The inspector also met with four members of the local governing body.
• Responses from 84 parents and carers to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View) were analysed, in addition to four responses to the online pupil survey. Inspectors gathered the view of parents at the beginning of the school day.
• Inspectors heard pupils read.
• Inspectors took into account 19 responses to the staff questionnaire.
• Inspectors scrutinised the school’s website.
• The inspection team looked at a wide range of information including the school improvement plan, assessment information from its pupil tracking system and leaders’ monitoring of teaching. Inspectors reviewed documentation relating to safeguarding, as well as the minutes of trust and local governing body minutes.

Inspection team

Tim Hill, lead inspector Gill Turner Rebecca Nash Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector