Nishkam Primary School Wolverhampton Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • monitoring and evaluation of teaching and pupils’ outcomes by senior leaders are consistently accurate
  • assessment information is accurate and provides a clear picture for governors of how well pupils are progressing, so they can challenge leaders
  • governors evaluate more rigorously the impact of funding for disadvantaged pupils, those who have SEN and/or disabilities and the PE and sport premium
  • disadvantaged pupils and girls attend school more regularly.
• Improve teaching in order to enable more pupils to make rapid progress in reading and writing, including the most able and disadvantaged pupils, by ensuring that:
  • teachers plan challenging activities based on accurate assessments that enable pupils to make rapid progress from their different starting points
  • pupils’ mistakes and misconceptions are identified and rectified
  • pupils have more opportunities and time to develop their writing
  • most-able pupils in key stage 2 have more opportunity to read at a higher standard
  • pupils’ work in their books is of a high standard of presentation. An external review of governance and an external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how these aspects of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leaders and governors have an overgenerous view of the effectiveness of the school, including teaching and outcomes for pupils. Too many of the issues identified in the previous inspection report have not been tackled quickly or effectively enough. As a result, inconsistencies in teaching remain and assessment information is still insufficiently reliable.
• Monitoring over time has not been rigorous enough to ensure that teaching is consistently good. However, most leaders have an accurate view of the strengths and weaknesses of teaching seen in lesson observations.
• Assessment information compiled by leaders presents a conflicting picture as to whether pupils are making accelerated progress, or not enough progress, compared to work seen in books. Where data is inaccurate, it can lead to teachers not identifying pupils’ appropriate starting points and next steps.
• The pupil premium funding is not sufficiently targeted at disadvantaged pupils. As a consequence, not enough pupils are making accelerated progress in reading and writing and their level of attendance remains low.
• The PE and sport premium funding is spent effectively, with parents’ workshops and classes particularly well received. However, leaders do not sufficiently evaluate its impact.
• Leadership of SEN and/or disabilities is at an early stage of development. A comprehensive programme of support for the small number of identified pupils and training for staff is in place. However, leaders have not yet sufficiently evaluated the impact of funding and outcomes of those who have SEN and/or disabilities or established why so few pupils are on the register.
• There is no specialist leadership for English as an additional language. Consequently, this role is undertaken by the special educational needs coordinator. A number of subjects do not have coordinators based in the school.
• Arrangements for performance management of staff are in place to ensure that staff only receive a pay award when specific targets are met. There is, however, a lack of understanding among leaders and governors spoken to over who has overall responsibility for approving pay awards.
• Leaders have established a strong ethos founded on the school’s core values. The whole school community, including pupils, fully embraces these.
• Leaders have ensured standards of attainment are high at the end of Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics and that outcomes are consistently high in phonics assessments in key stage 1.
• All parents spoken to, and the overwhelming majority of those who responded to Parent View, were full of praise for the school’s ethos and values. Almost all who responded said they would recommend the school to another parent.
• Partnership with the wider Nishkam School Trust has provided additional capacity to improve at senior leadership level and in the early years.
• Leaders promote spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and British values very well. This ensures that pupils have a good understanding of democracy, parliamentary structures in the United Kingdom, and other faiths, including Christianity and Islam.
• Leaders have ensured that there is a broad and balanced curriculum. Pupils gain experiences in languages, humanities, art, technology and science through the school’s ‘creative curriculum’ with cross-curricular themes such as ‘chocolate’ and ‘animals’. The curriculum is enhanced well by enrichment activities. These include musical performances by the choir, residential weeks and day trips such as to ‘Mad Scientist’ and Cadbury World. A wide range of clubs includes chess, Panjabi and computing.
• Newly qualified staff receive effective support through a detailed programme of training.

Governance of the school

• Governors are highly supportive of leaders and ensure that the core values of the trust are upheld successfully in the school. They ask relevant questions and hold extensive discussions on outcomes for pupils, including different pupil groups. Governors make safeguarding a high priority through regular visits and reports, to ensure that leaders meet all their duties and requirements. However, the following areas for improvement remain:
  • they have an overgenerous view of the school’s performance based on the assessment information they receive from leaders; those governors spoken to acknowledged they did not always understand this information
  • they do not sufficiently evaluate the impact of the pupil premium, special educational needs funding and the PE and sport premium
  • there is no named governor for special educational needs; the education sub-committee includes special educational needs in its remit, but there is not enough specific oversight of the school’s arrangements for those who have SEN and/or disabilities
  • governors do not have a shared understanding of the performance management arrangements for staff.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• According to the headteacher, the school ‘lives and breathes’ safeguarding. This was verified by inspectors’ discussions with pupils and parents, who confirmed overwhelmingly that their children felt very safe in school. Staff at all levels of seniority spoken to by inspectors are secure in their responsibilities and duties. They know what to do if a potential safeguarding incident arises. The high priority given to safeguarding above all else was evident in the curtailing of an inspection feedback meeting in order for senior leaders to respond to a potential safeguarding incident. Leaders ensure that they are fully up to date with training and guidance and this is regularly disseminated to staff. Governors hold leaders rigorously to account. Records and referrals are timely and thorough.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching is not consistently good. Where teachers do not sufficiently challenge pupils, particularly the most able, including those who are disadvantaged, pupils find the work too easy. In these instances, work set does not take enough account of pupils’ different starting points. Questioning does not consistently lead to thinking in greater depth or higher-level skills, particularly for the most able.
• Learning time is lost where most-able pupils are not set to their work quickly enough. This happens when teachers spend too long on over-lengthy introductions to activities to the whole class. This also does not leave sufficient time for pupils to complete their written work once they have been set to work on tasks.
• Pupils’ mistakes and misconceptions are not picked up and addressed consistently enough. Where pupils are together on the carpet and hold up their answers on mini-whiteboards, there are times when wrong answers are not identified. Instead, teaching moves swiftly on to the next task. There are examples of work in pupils’ literacy and numeracy books where wrong answers are marked as correct. Feedback to pupils accentuates the positive and does not provide enough challenge. Expectations for presentation of pupils’ work are at times not high enough.
• Phonics is not taught consistently well. As a consequence, pupils do not apply the skills to decode unfamiliar words they come across in other subjects such as ‘hexagon’ and ‘pentagon’ in mathematics. Too many pupils rely on sounding each individual letter separately rather than blending and segmenting. Teachers make reading a high priority in lessons, although some texts in key stage 2 are not sufficiently challenging for most-able pupils.
• Where pupils are given different tasks to do in literacy, there are times when the focus is on quantity of work rather than depth in understanding, for example when most-able pupils were expected to produce more adjectives in their writing than other pupils.
• Teachers manage classes well. Where there are instances of low-level disruption, for example where a pupil has become bored by an activity going on for too long, teachers and additional adults are able to bring pupils back on task quickly. Such incidents of low-level, disruptive behaviour are dealt with effectively.
• Relationships between teachers, additional adults and pupils are strong. Teachers promote positive attitudes to learning through the school’s core values, which are reinforced through a system of rewards. Teachers are successful in engaging boys in literacy, for example in a task on ‘heroes’ in key stage 2.
• Where pupils have been challenged in literacy and numeracy, for example, through extension tasks, they are able to make rapid progress over time.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare good Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• The school looks after pupils very well to ensure their safety and well-being. Parents spoken to were full of praise for the care shown by staff. Those responding to Parent View were equally positive.
• Relations between adults and pupils and between pupils from different backgrounds are very strong.
• Pupils organise fundraising activities for a range of charities, for example sending parcels to Syria. In a special assembly to celebrate Diwali, the Year 2 class were responsible for telling the story of Rama and Sita and for leading the singing and prayers with minimal intervention from adults.
• Pupils show a good understanding of diversity in the United Kingdom and the wider world. As a consequence of learning about chocolate, pupils in key stage 1 were able to compare and contrast life in the United Kingdom and Ghana. Topic work on the British Isles indicates that pupils have a good understanding of its history from Roman times.
• Pupils are familiar with the United Kingdom’s geography and institutions, such as the royal family and government, including the Prime Minister. They get to experience democracy through school council elections. They have the opportunity to be elected as ambassadors or lunchtime monitors.
• Pupils spoken to agreed that bullying is rare and that they feel very safe in school. Year 3 pupils have been involved in an anti-bullying campaign to promote awareness and understanding of what to do if you are bullied. Pupils were confident that they could report incidents and they would be dealt with. They knew how to keep themselves safe, for example when using the internet and not providing personal information either through social media or to strangers.
• Most pupils show resilience even when the pace of learning dips, although a few give up when they do not understand the task.
• The extent to which pupils take care with the presentation of their written work in their books is not high enough.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils have positive attitudes to their learning and behave well in lessons. They have good relationships with each other. They are enthusiastic and are eager to learn. Those spoken to said that they enjoy school.
• Before, during and after the special Diwali assembly all pupils, including the very youngest, behaved impeccably. Pupils, including those of other faiths or of none, showed strong respect for the Sikh faith during songs and prayers led by Year 2 pupils.
• Pupils have a very strong sense of right and wrong linked to the school’s core values. The values are prominently on display throughout the school and reflect the way that pupils interact with each other. They spoke of isolated incidents of misbehaviour or bullying where they were indignant that those individuals ‘did not demonstrate our values’.
• There have been no exclusions in recent years.
• During breaktimes and lunchtime, pupils play sensibly and safely. They move around the building and the site in a calm, orderly manner and look out for each other on the playground. Few children are left on their own.
• There are a small number of low-level disruptive incidents in lessons where pupils became bored if they have spent too long on a single activity. Occasionally, this interrupts the learning of others, which means they do not finish their work.
• In recent years, attendance has been below the national average, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and girls. Persistent absence is also high. The rate of attendance has improved this academic year so far. There have been some individual success stories of reducing persistent absence as a result of strengthening partnerships with parents through staff contact. The profile of attendance has been raised through workshops, newsletters to parents and a breakfast club every morning. However, the overall rate remains low for disadvantaged pupils. Girls’ attendance is not as high as it is for boys.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Evidence from teaching and from work seen in pupils’ books in both key stages 1 and 2 indicates that not enough pupils are making good or better progress. Pupils’ progress is hampered by the lack of challenge and undemanding work set in some classes. Pupils’ progress is also restricted when they do not have enough time to finish their work.
• The number of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is very low in the school. The progress they make throughout the school is in line with that of other pupils. Disadvantaged pupils, including those who are most able and pupils who speak English as an additional language, also make progress in line with that of other pupils in school.
• Outcomes in the end of Year 1 phonics assessments have been consistently above average. Pupils, especially those who join late or who have missed learning, do not consistently have the phonics skills to tackle new or unfamiliar words in other subjects. The level of challenge of some of the reading texts in key stage 2 for most-able pupils is too easy. Consequently, they are not being sufficiently well prepared for the more challenging texts they will face in the next phase of their education.
• The proportion of pupils making accelerated progress from Reception to the end of Year 2 in the most recent assessments was high in mathematics but low in reading and writing, including for disadvantaged pupils.
• Leaders’ assessment information also indicates that a large number of pupils made slower progress from the end of Reception to the end of Year 2 in reading and writing in 2017. However, school information also indicates that pupils in key stage 1 are now making better progress.
• In the most recent assessments in Year 2, attainment was high in reading, writing and mathematics, with no significant difference between boys and girls. The proportion of most-able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, working at a higher standard or in greater depth, was also high.

Early years provision Good

• Outcomes up to 2016 were consistently above average by the time pupils left Reception. In 2017 there was a dip; nevertheless, children had made rapid progress from their well-below-typical starting points.
• Leadership and teaching in the early years are new but continuing to build on the previous good practice and provision in teaching. This ensures that children who have only been in school for a few weeks already have well-established routines of conduct and behaviour. Expectations of behaviour are high and relationships between adults and children and between children are already strong. Children take turns and share resources willingly.
• Following the recent departure of the early years coordinator, effective leadership is being provided through the Nishkam School Trust to support the new members of staff and monitor teaching, planning and assessment.
• The environment is well set out inside and outdoors. It is organised effectively around coherent themes such as Halloween and two-dimensional shapes. Children can already identify some two-dimensional shapes and know some of their properties. Their knowledge and understanding were applied through making witches using these shapes and making pastry shapes in cooking. A range of literacy activities, ranging from mark-making to writing Halloween party invitations, supported children’s development in writing.
• The expansive outdoor environment is used well to reinforce learning. Natural resources such as twigs and leaves are incorporated into pupils’ design and art to make skeleton figures. Specific areas, for example for construction or numeracy, are well set out.
• Pupils are kept safe and secure due to rigorous safeguarding procedures.
• Displays on walls and fences to support literacy are limited in the outside environment.
• During free-flow activities observed by inspectors over the two days, pupils gravitated towards gender-stereotyped activities so that boys were on the computers and playing with construction bricks while girls were in the kitchen or home area, dressing and bathing dolls.
• Pupils’ work is only recorded in literacy and numeracy books at this stage of the term. Wider evidence from a range of other subjects has not yet been collated.

School details

Unique reference number 139274 Local authority Wolverhampton Inspection number 10037156 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Academy free school Age range of pupils 4 to 9 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 217 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Bhupinder Singh Minhas Headteacher Harmander Singh Dhanjal Telephone number 01902 554900 Website www.nishkamschooltrust.org Email address info-npsw@nishkamschool.org Date of previous inspection 9–10 June 2015

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies and free schools should publish.
• Nishkam Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school as it currently takes pupils only up to Year 4. It is growing rapidly as it opens an additional year group and more classes each year.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average.
• The school admits pupils from a wide catchment area as parents are attracted by the Sikh-faith designation of the school. The school is one of the four schools in the Nishkam School Trust which also has schools in Birmingham, London and Kenya. The school has been administered by the trust since September 2014.
• The early years coordinator left his post in July 2017. An assistant headteacher and special educational needs coordinator were appointed in 2016. Senior leaders from the trust are currently working with the school to develop leadership in teaching and learning and in the early years.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is about one in 25, which is well below the national average. There are no pupils with a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan.
• The percentage of pupils from minority ethnic groups is well above average, with about 10% identified as White British. The largest group is Indian. The proportion who speak English as an additional language is above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who join or leave the school mid-way through a key stage is high.
• The current chair of the governing body took up his post after the last inspection.
• The school has not been assessed against the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6, as there are currently no pupils in Years 5 or 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed 20 lessons or parts of lessons, all of which were jointly observed with either the headteacher or a member of the senior leadership team. In addition, inspectors made a number of other short visits to lessons and other activities.
• Inspectors heard pupils read during lessons and conducted scrutinies of their written work in literacy and numeracy and other subjects.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, other leaders and members of staff and spoke to two groups of pupils.
• Inspectors met the chair and vice-chair of the governing body. The lead inspector also spoke to the chief executive of The Nishkam School Trust.
• Inspectors spoke to 22 parents during parents evening. In addition, they took account of 33 responses to the online questionnaire Parent View. There were no responses to the pupil and staff surveys.
• Inspectors observed the school’s work and scrutinised a number of documents, including those relating to the school’s self-evaluation, as well as governing body minutes, improvement plans, and school information on pupils’ recent attainment and progress.
• Inspectors also considered behaviour and attendance information, and policies and procedures relating to special educational needs, pupil premium funding, PE and sport premium funding, safeguarding and child protection.

Inspection team

Mark Sims, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Jane Spilsbury Her Majesty’s Inspector