Erdington Hall Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Erdington Hall Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

The principal of this school is Jenni Downes. This school is part of Summit Learning Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Vince Green, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Karen Crowston.

What is it like to attend this school?

Erdington Hall Primary School is a happy place to learn. Pupils feel safe, staff feel valued, and the trust offers effective support. Staff have high expectations of pupils, including those with special educational needs and.../or disabilities (SEND).

Pupils rise to these expectations, work hard and achieve well.

From Nursery to Year 6, pupils know how to behave and get along with one another. They respond well to the school's expectations that they 'Be Ready, Be Respectful, Be Resilient.'

Pupils understand what bullying is and know it rarely happens here. They are confident that when it does happen it is dealt with well by adults.

Pupils enjoy a wide range of activities that help to develop their talents and interests.

They attend clubs including gardening, drama, basketball and debating club. The school organises trips to different places of worship, museums, gardens and the beach. Staff listen to pupils' opinions and ideas.

The school council has recently been involved in making decisions about school dinners, wet-play equipment and recycling.

Pupils benefit from different leadership opportunities such as playleaders and subject ambassadors. Older pupils are 'phonic friends' to younger children and they read together at lunchtimes.

This encourages pupils to become responsible, feel valued and builds their confidence.

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

The school is ambitious for all pupils. This starts in the early years, where activities are carefully designed to ensure that children learn the curriculum well.

The school's recent results for reading at the end of key stage 2 do not provide the full picture of pupils' achievements. Currently, pupils are learning well across the curriculum. The school has an accurate understanding of the needs of pupils with SEND.

Staff present knowledge that pupils can access and adapt resources to help pupils secure their knowledge. This helps pupils with SEND progress through the curriculum as well as their peers.

The school's curriculum is carefully organised from Nursery to Year 6.

This ensures pupils build their learning on secure understanding of what they have learned before. The school promotes pupils' communication skills and language development well. In early years skilled staff introduce important vocabulary to children and check their understanding of the meaning of new words through meaningful discussions.

The early reading curriculum is delivered effectively by well-trained staff. This means when pupils fall behind in reading, adults know how to quickly address any gaps and help pupils catch up. Pupils read books matched to the sounds they know and quickly develop a love of reading.

Teachers are well trained and demonstrate good subject knowledge. They present information clearly and make checks on what pupils know during the lesson. This means that they identify and address any misconceptions quickly.

However, staff do not have consistent expectations of which words pupils should spell correctly. Errors in high frequency words and important subject specific vocabulary are not routinely corrected when pupils are writing. This is hindering some pupils knowing how to spell important or commonly used words.

The school aims that nothing should be a barrier between pupils and their learning including poor attendance. Attendance remains a high priority for the school. Pupils learn about the importance of attending regularly.

Those who attend well are celebrated and enjoy visiting the 'VIP lounge'. However, absence remains stubbornly high for some pupils despite the school's work to provide support for individual families.

The school's programme for pupils' personal development is broad.

It has been carefully designed to provide the pupils of Erdington Hall with the skills and experiences they need to be ready for their next steps. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe and healthy. They discuss current events from around the world and are encouraged to consider when information sources may be biased.

Pupils understand the importance of difference, reflecting one of the school's values 'strength through diversity.' They say that everybody is made to feel welcome at this school. However, some pupils do not have an appropriate understanding of fundamental British values and how these are important in modern Britain.

The school has developed consistently applied expectations, rewards and sanctions for behaviour. Structured play opportunities at breaktime ensure pupils have lots to do. In the classroom they concentrate on their work and have positive attitudes to learning.

Staff provide effective support for pupils who might need help with managing their emotions.Trust leaders and governors provide the school with the challenge, support and training to deliver its ambitious vision. Trustees make sure that everyone is working together in the best interests of the pupils.

Staff are a happy and united team. They appreciate the efforts of leaders to support their well-being and are proud to work here.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school does not give enough attention to ensuring pupil spell subject-specific vocabulary or common words correctly in their written work. This means that some pupils do not learn to spell important words and this hinders their ability to develop this aspect of writing. The school should identify the words that they want all children to spell correctly and develop strategies to ensure these are learned and applied consistently when writing.

• Some aspects of pupils' personal development programme are not as comprehensive as they need to be. As a result, pupils do not gain as deep an appreciation of fundamental British values as they could. The school should ensure that pupils benefit from effective opportunities to develop a fuller understanding of British values and why these are important in modern Britain.

• Some pupils do not attend school regularly and too many disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are persistently absent. As a result, these pupils miss important learning and fall behind their peers. The school should continue to work in close partnership with parents and carers to address the specific barriers these pupils face, so their attendance improves and they can achieve well.

Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade.

This school was, before September 2024, judged good for its overall effectiveness.

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in February 2020.