Greenfield Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Greenfield Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 11 July 2018 with Clare Cossor, Ofsted Inspector, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in June 2014.

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You, together with senior leaders and governors, identify the main priorities for improvement and work systematically towards them.

The school is a vibrant place where pupils enjoy learning, verified by thi...s typical parental comment, 'The school is fantastic at engaging the pupils and creating interest and energy in learning.' The pupils we spoke with during our visit told us about the varied and interesting topics, the trips to outside locations and their participation in productions and performances. They said they enjoy the sports, music and drama activities.

Pupils told us how they play their part in the school community and how they develop respect and tolerance towards others. At the time of the previous inspection, leaders were asked to develop the role of subject leaders in understanding and improving pupils' progress. Despite staff changes, you have developed this area well.

Subject leaders who are new to their posts receive the appropriate level of support and training to do their jobs well. They are ambitious for pupils' learning and are keen to ensure continued improvements in their subjects. They analyse information about pupils' progress and work on ways to ensure that pupils, including the most able, reach their full potential.

However, not all leaders yet check and improve the quality of teaching and learning. Also at the time of the previous inspection, leaders were asked to ensure that the most able pupils make good progress. You have made this a whole-school focus.

In reading, writing and mathematics, staff help pupils to deepen their understanding and demonstrate what they know. They make sure pupils interpret what they read, develop complex writing styles and master mathematical concepts. As a result, the proportion of pupils working at greater depth, including disadvantaged pupils, is above average.

You and school leaders have raised the profile of reading throughout the school. I saw some good examples of teachers checking pupils' understanding of their reading and using extra resources to stimulate pupils' responses and interest. During our visit, pupils read competently.

They spoke enthusiastically about class stories and favourite authors. They said they receive regular extra help to improve their reading and they like the range of books on offer. In mathematics, leaders ensure that staff deepen pupils' understanding of mathematical concepts.

In the lessons I visited, pupils of varying abilities worked on a range of activities. The most able quickly got on with suitably challenging work. Teachers helped pupils to correct their mistakes and to explain their reasoning.

There is some variation, however, in how well pupils recall number facts, which slows their ability to reach their answers quickly. One of your main priorities is to reduce any differences in performance between groups of pupils. Although you are aware that some still exist, you are successfully diminishing the differences.

For example, much is being done to motivate boys to read and write enthusiastically, in order to ensure good progress in these subjects. You use external expertise to evaluate and strengthen leadership and provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. You have improved the provision for disadvantaged pupils.

You recognise that, while strong pastoral support for pupils benefits their personal development and well-being, some of the academic support has not previously led to strong enough progress. You now ensure that any extra help given to pupils accelerates their progress effectively. You are improving pupils' attendance.

You work well with families and provide incentives to encourage pupils to keenly attend school. However, to better evaluate the effectiveness of the school's actions, there is room for greater analysis of the attendance and punctuality of specific groups of pupils. Safeguarding is effective.

Leaders have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You and designated leaders ensure that staff understand the school's systems and know how to report concerns over pupils' welfare. You provide relevant training and make sure that checks carried out on adults who work with pupils are thorough.

You systematically record and follow up any child protection concerns. You understand the circumstances which make some pupils more vulnerable. You establish positive links with parents and carers and external agencies.

You and staff promote pupils' understanding of how to keep safe in various ways. Older pupils learn about national and international affairs which helps their understanding of the dangers of extremism. You have introduced ways to help pupils to keep safe from exploitation.

You use visits to outside locations, such as Warning Zone, to enable pupils to weigh up risk and potential hazards. Pupils say they feel safe. When we asked pupils about bullying, they talked sensibly about the different forms bullying can take.

They said they learn frequently about anti-bullying during lessons and assemblies. Inspection findings ? Leaders' thorough evaluation of the curriculum has led to improvements in the teaching of reading and mathematics. As a result, the proportion of pupils at the expected standard and above by the end of Year 6 has increased from 2017.

• Leaders expect staff to consistently teach key reading skills and provide pupils with a rich variety of reading materials. Whole-school training sessions help staff to extend pupils' skills, especially the most able. Staff use extra resources and interesting texts to instil a real enjoyment of reading.

• In mathematics, staff ensure that pupils use their knowledge and skills. However, some pupils' progress is slowed because they do not know number facts well enough to quickly work out calculations and to solve problems. ? Leaders evaluate the extra support and teaching of disadvantaged pupils to ensure it has full effect on improving pupils' achievement.

Although some differences still exist, most disadvantaged pupils now make accelerated progress. ? Changes to the provision for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are leading to stronger progress than previously. Staff and leaders pay close attention to pupils' needs and regularly check how well individual pupils are doing, personally and academically.

• Phonics standards in Year 1 have improved from 2017 and are in line with those seen nationally. Leaders have reorganised the way in which pupils learn about phonics. Staff undertake relevant training in order for them to teach phonics effectively.

However, when leaders check the teaching of phonics, they do not evaluate whether the approaches used in the early years and in Year 1 are consistently effective. ? Senior leaders support middle and subject leaders effectively in their development, although there is some variation in how well some leaders check the quality of teaching and learning, including in phonics. ? Attendance is improving and the number of pupils who are absent frequently is reducing.

However, leaders do not rigorously analyse the attendance of specific groups of pupils. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? all leaders are well informed about the quality of teaching and learning in their subjects ? any differences in performance between groups of pupils continue to diminish ? the teaching of mathematics consistently develops pupils' mental recall of number facts ? leaders and governors check the attendance of different groups of pupils. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Leicestershire.

This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Vivienne McTiffen Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, inspectors met with you, school leaders and governors. We looked at samples of pupils' work and discussed information on pupils' progress.

We visited some classes with senior leaders to observe the teaching of phonics, English and mathematics. We met with groups of pupils and listened to pupils read. We spoke with pupils about their learning during lessons and spoke with pupils and staff during playtimes.

We analysed the 107 responses to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View, and 69 written comments submitted by parents. We took account of the 48 responses to the questionnaire completed by staff. We looked at documentation relating to safeguarding and discussed the school's safeguarding procedures.