Inspection Report Percy Shurmer Primary School
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INSPECTION REPORT PERCY SHURMER PRIMARY SCHOOL Balsall Heath, Birmingham LEA area: Birmingham Unique reference number: 103367 Acting Headteacher: Ms L Chaeger Reporting inspector: Mrs Christine Huard 27290 Dates of inspection: 16th - 19th September 2002 Inspection number: 246285 Full inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 © Crown copyright 2002 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL Type of school: Infant and Junior School category: Community Age range of pupils: 3 - 11 Gender of pupils: Mixed School address: Longmore Street Balsall Heath Birmingham Postcode: B12 9ED Telephone number: (0121) 440 3431 Fax number: (0121) 440 3896 Appropriate authority: The governing body Name of chair of governors: Mr Kamal Fawaz Date of previous inspection: November 2000 Percy Shurmer Primary School - 1 INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM Subject Aspect Team members responsibilities responsibilities 27290 Mrs C Huard Registered inspector Science How high are standards? Art and design The school's results and pupils' achievements How well is the school led and managed? 19644 Mr J Bayliss Lay inspector How high are standards? Pupils' attitudes, values and personal development How well does the school care for its pupils? How well does the school work in partnership with parents? 7523 Mr T Canham Team inspector History How well are pupils taught? Physical education Educational inclusion 14848 Mr K Cassidy Team inspector Mathematics How good are the curricular Information and and other opportunities offered communication to pupils? technology 12594 Ms M Jeavons Team inspector Geography Special educational needs 22657 Mr M Madeley Team inspector English Religious education English as an additional language 27826 Mr A Parsons Team inspector Special support facility The work of the hearing impaired unit 7418 Mrs K Rollisson Team inspector Areas of learning for children in the Foundation Stage Design and technology The inspection contractor was: PPI Group Ltd 7 Hill Street Bristol BR1 5RW Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints that are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor should be raised with OFSTED by writing to: The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division The Office for Standards in Education Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Percy Shurmer Primary School - 2 REPORT CONTENTS Page PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 4 - 8 Information about the school How good the school is What the school does well What could be improved How the school has improved since its last inspection Standards Pupils’ attitudes and values Teaching and learning Other aspects of the school How well the school is led and managed Parents’ and carers’ views of the school PART B: COMMENTARY HOW HIGH ARE STANDARDS? 9 - 12 The school’s results and pupils’ achievements Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT? 13 - 14 HOW GOOD ARE THE CURRICULAR AND OTHER OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED TO PUPILS? 14 - 17 HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS? 17 - 19 HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS? 19 - 20 HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED? 20 - 23 WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER? 23 THE WORK OF THE HEARING IMPAIRED UNIT 24 - 25 PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS 26 - 30 PART D: THE STANDARDS AND QUALITY OF TEACHING IN AREAS OF THE CURRICULUM, SUBJECTS AND COURSES 31 - 47 Percy Shurmer Primary School - 3 PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL Percy Shurmer Primary School is situated close to the centre of Birmingham in the socially and economically deprived area of Sparkbrook. It is larger than most primary schools and the 312 pupils mostly attend from the local area. Twenty three of these pupils are hearing impaired and make up the Hearing Resource Base. The school is part of Highgate Small Education Action Zone. Children join the Nursery class when they are three and nearly all continue into the main school. When they join the school their attainment is very low, with the great majority of children having little or no English language skills. A relatively high percentage of pupils join the school during each year, also with little or no English. Overall there are more boys than girls, with the biggest imbalance in the Reception classes where there are nine more boys than girls. Nearly all of the pupils in the school are from ethnic minority groups with the largest proportion of pupils originating from Yemen. Other ethnic groups represented include Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Caribbean, African and Indian. For nearly all the pupils (94 per cent), English is an additional language. About a quarter of them are at a very early stage of learning English and comparatively few of the pupils speak English fluently. Main languages spoken are: Arabic, Urdu, Punjabi and Bengali. Over half of the pupils are eligible for free school meals; this is well above the national average. Thirty one per cent of pupils (102) are on the school's register of pupils with special educational needs, which is above average. Twenty five pupils (nine per cent) have statements of special educational need; this is well above average. All but two of these statements relate to pupils with hearing impairment. Additional support is provided for pupils who have difficulties with speech, communication and learning. Additional support is also provided for pupils with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Some of this support is provided through the Excellence in Cities initiative. HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS Percy Shurmer is an effective school and pupils are taught in a sympathetic and caring environment. Although pupils are attaining standards that are below average overall, these have improved significantly in the last two years. The school received an achievement award recognising this from the Department of Education and Skills in 2002. Pupils work hard and have good attitudes towards their work and this has a positive impact on their achievements during lessons and over time. The school has very effective strategies to promote inclusion and equal opportunities and pupils achieve well whatever their prior attainment. They are prepared well for life in a culturally diverse society. Pupils in the hearing resource base are appropriately integrated into classroom activities on a regular basis. Teaching is consistently good throughout the school with a high proportion of very good teaching being observed in Year 6 enabling pupils to learn effectively. The acting headteacher's leadership and management are very good. She has a very clear vision for the future development of the school, which is shared by the senior management team, staff, governors and parents alike. The school provides sound value for money. What the school does well The leadership and management provided by the acting headteacher and senior management team are very good. The quality of teaching is consistently good throughout the school, enabling all pupils to learn effectively. The pupils have good attitudes towards their work, they behave well and have established very good relationships with each other and the adults in the school. This has a positive impact on their learning. The school makes good provision for its pupils with special educational needs and in the hearing resource base. Children make good progress with developing their linguistic skills when they first enter the school in the Foundation Stage1 and Key Stage 1. The school has established particularly good relationships with the local community. The school cares for its pupils effectively through careful monitoring of their personal and academic development. 1 The Foundation Stage is made up of the Nursery and Reception classes. Key Stage 1 comprises Years 1 and 2. Percy Shurmer Primary School - 4 What could be improved Pupils’ attainment in English, mathematics and science at both key stages. Standards are below average in information and communication technology (ICT) and history. There is too little support for pupils who enter the school with limited English language skills in Key Stage 22. Attendance is below average and still too low. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan. HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION The school was last inspected in November 2000. Since then, it has significantly improved and either wholly or partially addressed the many issues identified then. The leadership and management of the school have improved considerably. It is much more rigorous and focused towards raising standards and the skills shown by the acting headteacher have been successful in driving the school forward in a positive way. This has resulted in significant improvements in standards overall and particularly in English and mathematics. The full National Curriculum is now covered. Teaching has improved and the actions taken to improve teachers’ knowledge, understanding and planning, for subjects in which they were less confident, have been successful in raising their levels of competence and thus the standards attained by the pupils. The weaknesses in ICT have mostly been remedied because better equipment has been installed and staff have received and are still receiving good quality training, closely matched to their needs which has raised their confidence. However, the subject has yet to be fully integrated across all subjects although a start has been made on this and is identified within the school improvement plan.