Ormesby Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils' behaviour varies considerably. Younger pupils behave well.

They listen attentively to their teachers and speak enthusiastically about their learning. However, this is not the same for all pupils. Older pupils say that they hear offensive and derogatory language regularly.

These pupils describe this as 'normal'. Some pupils told inspectors that incidents go unreported because they feel that adults do not deal with their concerns properly. Pupils told inspectors that the aggressive behaviours, displayed by a minority of pupils, upset them.

As a result, lessons for older pupils are disrupted and a significant minority of pupils feel unsafe in school. Som...e pupils describe their school as 'chaotic'.

A small number of pupils hold positions of responsibility in school.

These include being prefects or house captains. Pupils say that they enjoy having these jobs.

Pupils are aware of the significant contribution important historical figures have played in shaping society.

Pupils know about Martin Luther King's fight for equal rights. They told inspectors one of their 'houses' is named after him. Pupils also have an expanding knowledge of significant artists.

Older pupils have an age-appropriate understanding of healthy relationships. They are aware of the different types of family that exist in modern Britain. However, pupils do not know what fundamental British values are.

They are not able to explain why values such as respect and tolerance are important in society. A significant minority of pupils do not display these values in the way they treat one another.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders and governors do not have an accurate view of the school's strengths and weaknesses.

Trustees and governors make regular visits to school to evaluate leaders' work. However, deficiencies in how leaders record and report incidents has resulted in trustees and governors having an overly positive view of pupils' behaviour and safeguarding. Consequently, leaders' actions to address issues in these areas have been delayed.

Where issues have been identified, trustees have brokered extra help to improve the school. A school improvement adviser, provided by the trust, is helping leaders to improve the quality of education pupils receive.

Leaders have not acted swiftly enough to address the decline in the behaviour of older pupils.

Staff apply the behaviour policy inconsistently. This results in pupils viewing rewards and sanctions as unfair. The expectations that staff have of pupils' behaviour vary too much.

In Years 1 and 2, the reading curriculum is well planned. It is ambitious and introduces pupils to a wide variety of literature. Many pupils say they enjoy reading.

Most teachers have a strong understanding of the chosen phonics scheme. Pupils learn well in many of their reading lessons. Teachers make regular checks on the sounds pupils have learned.

They use this information to ensure pupils are reading the right books. This gives pupils plenty of opportunities to practise their newly learned letters and sounds. However, not all staff have the skills they need to support pupils with their reading.

Pupils in key stage 2, who need support with their phonics, do not get enough help to catch up.

Reading is a priority in the early years. Daily phonics lessons ensure that children progress quickly with their reading and writing skills.

However, the phonics activities children complete when they are learning through play are not accurately matched to what they need to learn next. Activities, such as finding letters in the water tray to make short words, do not stretch and challenge the children who have secure phonics knowledge.

In the foundation curriculum, including in history, teachers are flexible in how and when they teach units of work.

The curriculum does not provide pupils with enough opportunity to revisit their previous learning regularly. Consequently, pupils do not remember the detail of what they have been taught. In art, this is not the case.

Inspectors spoke to pupils who demonstrated a growing knowledge of artists and different artistic techniques.

In mathematics, the checks teachers make on pupils' learning do not ensure teachers understand well what pupils know and can do. In the early years, inspectors observed children searching for pretend caterpillar eggs in a tray of leaves.

The teacher supported the children to accurately count to 10. However, not all adults identify such suitable learning opportunities. When children were learning while playing elsewhere, adults missed opportunities to develop children's vocabulary and understanding of number and patterns.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified quickly. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) works with a range of external professionals to get pupils with SEND the help they need. Pupil targets are regularly reviewed to ensure the support pupils with SEND receive is helping them to progress.

Most staff are proud to work at Ormesby Primary School. Staff describe a close and supportive team. A small but significant minority of staff shared concerns with inspectors that their workload is unmanageable.

Senior leaders have not allocated time for some subject leaders to monitor the effectiveness of the curriculum on pupils' learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

Leaders have carried out the necessary recruitment checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work with pupils.

Leaders with safeguarding responsibilities have completed the required training.However, leaders have not provided the training that all staff need to keep pupils safe. When staff have been trained, this training has not been revisited often enough.

Leaders have not done all that is necessary to ensure safeguarding has a high profile in school. As a result, some staff lack the knowledge they need to identify pupils who may be at risk of harm.

Leaders have systems in place to record safeguarding incidents involving pupils.

However, the detail in the records is not thorough enough. Significant safeguarding incidents have not been reported to the governors or trustees. They have an inaccurate picture of safeguarding within the school.

Leaders report that they have not had sufficient time to carry out their safeguarding role.

There has been a decline in the behaviour of some older pupils. Leaders have not taken swift action to address this.

Pupils' poor behaviour has been allowed to persist. This has put individual pupils at risk. As a result, pupils feel unsafe in school.

Leaders ensure that pupils learn about the risks they face online. Pupils know that they must report things that worry them to a trusted adult.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have not acted swiftly enough to address the significant and recent decline in pupils' behaviour.

The behaviour policy is not being implemented with consistency. Pupils and staff report that it is not leading to improvements in pupils' behaviour. As a result, some pupils feel unsafe.

Leaders should develop their behaviour policy to ensure it meets the full breadth of behavioural needs in school, and take the necessary action to ensure it is implemented with consistency so that pupils' behaviour improves swiftly. ? Leaders have not provided all staff with the training they need to keep pupils safe. As a result, some staff do not have the knowledge they need to identify pupils who may be at risk of harm.

Leaders must ensure that all staff receive the required safeguarding training, and that this training is refreshed regularly. ? Leaders' record-keeping and reporting of safeguarding incidents is not detailed enough. Serious safeguarding issues are not reported to governors and trustees consistently.

As a result, leaders' view of safeguarding is inaccurate. Leaders must ensure that all incidents are recorded in detail and accurately reported so that governors, trustees and those monitoring the effectiveness of the school have an accurate picture of safeguarding and pupils' behaviour. ? Some staff have received the phonics training that they need.

Older pupils who are still learning to read do not get the support they need to catch up. Leaders should ensure that all staff receive updated phonics training so that older pupils, who are still learning to read fluently, get the support they need. In some curriculum areas, such as mathematics, assessments do not accurately check pupils' understanding of the full curriculum.

As a result, teachers do not have an accurate picture of what pupils know and can do. Leaders must ensure that assessment in all curriculum areas precisely checks what pupils have learned. Leaders must ensure that teachers are using this information to plan lessons so that gaps in pupils' knowledge and skills are addressed.

• In the early years, staff miss opportunities to develop children's vocabulary and understanding of mathematical concepts. The activities that leaders plan for children in the early years are not accurately matched to what children need to learn next. As a result, opportunities for children to count and compare weights and shapes are missed.

Leaders should ensure that all staff have the training they need to be able to support and expand children's mathematical thinking and wider vocabulary through well-matched learning activities. ? Pupils do not understand what British values are and why they are so important in British society. Leaders should ensure that the approach to teaching these aspects of the curriculum is reviewed so that pupils are clear on the key British values that are important in Britain today.

• Some subject leaders have not had time allocated by senior leaders to monitor the impact of their curriculum on pupils' learning. Consequently, the effectiveness of the curriculum is not clearly known. Senior leaders need to ensure that subject leaders are provided with the time and support they need to check on the quality and impact of the curriculum.