Chase Terrace Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Chase Terrace Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 21 May 2019, 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 May 2015.

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Under your leadership the school has continued to improve.

Standards in English and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 have risen, with disadvantaged pupils keeping up with others. Pupils' writing and spelling, which were identified as ar...eas for improvement by the previous inspection, have shown marked improvements. In addition, you have made positive changes to the outdoor learning areas, which have enhanced the early years provision at the school.

Indeed, the outdoor space is now an inspiring place in which children can learn and play. After some staff turnover in recent years, staffing is now on a more even keel and policies are implemented with consistency. Pupils' behaviour is managed well and exclusions from school have reduced significantly.

You and your team are well informed about the school's effectiveness and have set appropriate priorities for further improvements. Looking to the future, there is potential for the most able pupils to reach higher standards in mathematics. The attendance of some pupils could also be improved.

There is a supportive culture in the school. Pupils are kept safe, enjoy lessons and work hard. Most parents who expressed a view made positive comments about the school's work.

Safeguarding is effective. Safeguarding is effective. The school's procedures and routines are fit for purpose.

Record-keeping is kept up to date and all the proper employment checks on staff are carried out correctly. Policies reflect current guidance and staff know what to do when safeguarding concerns arise. Pupils are well informed about keeping safe.

During this inspection, pupils could explain how to act responsibly online and knew how to report any worries or concerns. There are several informative displays around the school that remind adults and pupils about safety matters. Your team is aware of likely risks in the local area and a trained counsellor works at the school to support pupils and their families.

Unexplained absences are followed up promptly and effective procedures for checking on pupils' whereabouts when they move schools are in place. Pupils say that they feel safe in school. Inspection evidence supports their views.

Inspection findings ? Since the previous inspection, the school has continued to develop its Nursery provision. Demand for places has increased and, currently, the Nursery is full. As well as improving the facilities, you have made sure that the early years curriculum gives children exactly what they need.

For example, a significant proportion start school with underdeveloped communication and language skills. In response, you have focused on developing children's language and listening skills and your staff give a lot of attention to the early teaching of phonics. These actions have evidently brought benefits.

By the end of the Reception year, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development is not far off the national average. Furthermore, the proportion reaching the expected standard in the Year 1 phonic screening check is above the national figure. Effective teaching and purposeful routines in the early years classes help to set solid foundations for learning in the years ahead.

• Across the school, behaviour is managed well and pupils respond positively to the staff team's constructive approach. In lessons, pupils listen attentively and work hard and there is a calm, respectful working atmosphere. Teachers consistently promote and model the school's values of respect, determination, honesty, friendship, pride and enthusiasm.

Pupils understand these values and interact positively with their teachers and one another. ? Outside on the playground, pupils usually get on well. Staff are quick to act when any problems or accidents occur and pupils say that the school's rules are fair.

Pupils also report that they have a say in agreeing school rules, which helps them to develop responsible attitudes. Some pupils can find it hard to manage their emotions during the school day and, from time to time, this can cause upsets. However, the school's well-trained staff and visiting experts work with pupils to help them overcome their difficulties and cope with school life.

The school's increasingly successful work in this area has led to a significant reduction in exclusions in the last two years. ? Most of the time, pupils are thoughtful and considerate and treat others with respect. Bullying is not accepted and pupils are confident that, if it happened, staff would stop it.

• In recent times, a small proportion of pupils have had too much unnecessary absence from school. In response, leaders have sought to support and challenge pupils and their families. A range of incentives, such as regular attendance celebrations and prizes, have helped to improve attendance.

When needs be, sterner action has been taken in order to make expectations clear. Even so, some pupils continue to miss too much school without good cause. ? Since the previous inspection, academic standards have risen.

By the end of Year 6, the majority of pupils reach the expected standards for their age in both English and mathematics. This is the result of effective teaching across the school and means that, by the time they leave primary school, pupils are more than ready for the challenges of the secondary school curriculum. ? During this inspection, I looked specifically at the teaching of mathematics because the most able pupils have not done quite as well in this subject as they have in reading and writing.

Leaders are alert to this, and pushing standards higher in mathematics has been a focus of recent staff training. It is clear that there is some highly effective mathematics teaching in the school. Typically, teachers have strong subject knowledge, provide clear explanations and are attentive to pupils' questions.

However, routines for consolidating pupils' knowledge and skills are not fully secure across the school. Sometimes teaching moves on too quickly before pupils have had enough opportunity to consolidate and deepen their understanding. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should: ? Ensure teaching in mathematics supports the most able pupils to reach the highest possible standards by making sure that: – pupils have enough opportunities to deepen their understanding before moving on to new subject matter – routines for practising and consolidating pupils' mathematical knowledge and skills are equally rigorous throughout the school.

• Continue to work with families and supportive agencies in order to improve the attendance of pupils who miss too much school. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Staffordshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

Yours sincerely Diane Pye Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met with you, members of your staff team and two governors. I carried out short observations of teaching and looked at pupils' work in books and on display. I talked with pupils in lessons and at lunchtime and met with a group of pupils to talk about school life.

I spoke with parents at the beginning of the school day. By the end of the inspection, there were 33 recent responses on Parent View and 27 free text responses. I took account of these and also considered the 18 responses to Ofsted's staff questionnaire.

I looked at a number of documents, including: the school's own evaluation of its performance, improvement plans, pupils' achievement and attendance information, exclusion records, information about the work of governors, external reports about the school, and several school policy documents. I also checked the school's website and the procedures for keeping pupils safe. I asked the staff, pupils and parents about safeguarding matters.

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