Pallister Park Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The headteacher has devoted much of her career to the pupils and parents and carers of Pallister Park. She places pupils' best interests at the heart of all decision making and is ably supported by the deputy headteacher.

Assistant headteachers are recently appointed. They are enthusiastic and knowledgeable and provide additional capacity for the school to improve further. However, their improvement plans are not focused sharply to the gains in pupils' outcomes desired.

Overall, pupils' outcomes in reading and writing are improving at key stages 1 and 2 as a result of improvements to teaching approaches. The teaching of mathematics contin...ues to enable pupils to make consistently effective progress over time. Leaders' actions have led to a reduction in pupils' absence rates.

Likewise, the proportion of pupils who are regularly absent from school is also reducing and is now much closer to the national average. Leaders see this aspect of their role as a continuing priority. Pupils' outcomes in the Year 1 phonics screening check have been variable over time.

Current outcomes indicate that the improvements seen in 2018 have not been sustained. This is because teachers use resources from a range of schemes that do not consolidate pupils' phonics skills effectively. Pastoral care is a strength of the school.

It provides a haven of calm and security for pupils, particularly the most vulnerable. Pupils say that they feel safe and that there is always a trusted adult in whom they can confide. Those parents who spoke to inspectors endorse this view.

Pupils behave well. They are courteous and polite to visitors and are proud of their achievements. They have contributed to the new behaviour policy, which is resulting in fewer behavioural incidents at the school.

Schemes of work for subjects in the wider curriculum vary in quality. In physical education (PE), music and science, schemes of work map out the progression of knowledge and skills carefully, and pupils make good progress as a result. In geography, modern foreign languages and history, schemes of work are less well developed and pupils' progress is variable as a result.

Children get off to a good start in Nursery. They settle quickly because of the warm and trusting relationships that are quickly formed. Children's progress in Reception is too variable.

Teachers do not systematically build upon children's knowledge and skills as effectively as they could. As a result, in 2018, fewer than half of children in Reception reached a good level of development and were ready for Year 1.

Information about this school

The school is much larger than the average-sized primary school.

The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is almost three times the national average. The proportion of pupils with SEND and with an education, health and care plan is less than the national average. The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage.

The school is the lead school in the Our Children 1st Multi-Academy Trust. It is currently the only school in the academy. It is organised with three members, six trustees and a local governing board.

There remain some parent vacancies on the local governing board. The predecessor school was judged outstanding at its last full inspection in June 2013. It converted to an academy in April 2017.