Staple Hill Primary School
Page Road
Staple Hill
Bristol
BS164NE

Phone:01454 867240
Headteacher: Mr Peter Foss-Clark

Visit school website 

350 pupils, Mixed

ofsted.gov.uk

© Crown copyright 2009

Introduction

This inspection was carried out by out by one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and two additional inspectors. The inspectors visited 17 lessons and held meetings with staff, governors, parents/carers and pupils. They observed the school's work and looked at a wide range of documentation, including 46 parental questionnaires.

The inspection team reviewed many aspects of the school's work. It looked in detail at the following:

• Attainment, learning and progress throughout the school, particularly:

- the progress of different groups, including boys, pupils who speak English as an additional language and Black African pupils

- pupils' achievement in writing.

• The effectiveness of both the monitoring systems implemented by leaders to check the pupils' progress and the strategies to improve standards in writing.

Information about the school

This school is larger than most primary schools and serves a mixed urban community of high mobility. Most pupils come from the surrounding area but a significant number come from the city of Bristol. The majority of pupils are of White British heritage but a quarter of pupils are from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds, the largest of which is Black African. An increasing number of pupils come from homes where English is not the first language. The percentage of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average; the majority of these pupils have speech, language and communication problems, moderate learning difficulties or behavioural, emotional and social problems. Many children attend the on-site nursery before starting school. A new headteacher was appointed in September 2008. Work on a new school building is due to start this year.

Main findings

'Staple Hill is a great place for my child to learn about the world she lives in and the different cultures.' 'It is lively, vibrant and stimulating with a lovely atmosphere.' These are the views of most parents. Inspectors agree.

Staple Hill Primary School provides a good and improving education. It is an inclusive harmonious, community where both pupils and adults want to be. All at the school know the pupils exceptionally well and ensure the school's vision, 'Children to feel cared for in a trusting environment', is a reality, which it is. As a result, most aspects of pupils' personal development are good; their cultural development is outstanding. Monitoring by the headteacher and governors is rigorous. They evaluate the school's work accurately; this is enabling the school to set the right targets to improve. Staff are dedicated and keen to do better. All are ambitious for the future and this demonstrates the school's good capacity to improve.

Most children start school with a lot of catching up to do. They settle into the Nursery and Reception Years extremely well and make good progress. This good progress continues across the school; by the time they leave, pupils attain average standards overall. All groups, regardless of their ethnic background, achieve well, with the exception of boys in writing. Pupils enjoy their learning, and their good attitudes and behaviour are key factors in their good progress. This is because teaching is good and occasionally outstanding. Nevertheless, despite the teachers' good assessment, not all pupils know how to improve their work and some more able pupils are not consistently challenged in all lessons.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Raise standards and achievement in writing by ensuring that:

• teachers plan tasks using resources and lively texts that inspire boys to write
• there is a sharper focus on boys' ongoing progress in writing in all subjects other than English
• more opportunities are created to develop pupils' literacy skills across the curriculum.

• Make better use of the good assessment procedures by ensuring that:

• all pupils understand how to improve their work, especially in writing
• more able pupils are consistently challenged in all subjects
• the excellent assessment practice established in the school is shared amongst all staff.

• Pupils' positive attitudes to learning, good behaviour and hard work mean they make good progress in lessons. They respond enthusiastically to the consistently good or better teaching they receive, try with sustained endeavour to meet the high expectations set by staff and take delight in their accomplishments.
• Pupils who struggle with aspects of their work make good progress in light of their difficulties because of support that is carefully tailored to their needs. The school's rigorous systems for tracking pupils' progress coupled with good use of data by staff to identify pupils who are falling behind, ensures early, effective interventions to help pupils catch up.
• Boys' writing is a particular weakness. This is a significant factor in the generally lower rates of progress they make in English than girls. The school is addressing this underachievement successfully through effective learning initiatives such as 'Talk for Writing' and the 'Big Write'. These are yielding improvements; in all lessons observed boys' progress was good.
• Pupils undertake duties around the school diligently and the older pupils show good levels of care for the younger ones. 'Peer Mentors', 'Super-Playrangers' and the 'Huff n Puff Crew' carry out their responsibilities enthusiastically. Pupils play harmoniously together and, as a pupil reported, 'if there is a problem, it is quickly sorted out'.
• The school is quite right to be proud of its rich cultural diversity which it celebrates impressively. The uplifting assembly on Diwali is a tribute to the high priority the school places on developing the pupils' understanding of social, moral and global issues. The school's Healthy School and Active Mark Awards are also fitting testaments to the pupils' good appreciation of healthy lifestyles.

These are the grades for pupils' outcomes

¹ The grades for attainment and attendance are: 1 is high; 2 is above average; 3 is broadly average; and 4 is low

How effective is the provision?

Positive, caring relationships and excellent management of behaviour characterise all teaching. Teaching assistants play a full part in this and form good partnerships with the teachers and the pupils. Their carefully planned role ensures that pupils with additional needs are fully engaged and challenged appropriately to succeed, which they do.

In the best lessons teaching is lively, often inspiring and moves at a fast pace. Staff challenge the pupils to take the lead in their learning either independently or in groups. As a result, they are highly motivated, kept on their toes and no learning time is lost. Nevertheless, occasionally, a few teachers talk too much and the pace of learning slows.

Accurate assessment is used effectively to target different groups, including boys, pupils who speak English as an additional language and Black African pupils. Increasingly pupils are involved, using the imaginative strategy '2 stars and a wish!' impressively. Marking is detailed. Tracking systems to check the pupils' progress are rigorous and teachers are held accountable appropriately to ensure pupils meet their targets. Nevertheless, despite these good procedures, a small number of pupils do not know what they need to do to improve their work and the bar is not set consistently high enough for more able pupils in all subjects. There are also insufficient interactive resources and lively texts to inspire boys to write.

The curriculum is stimulating and interests the pupils. Classes are very well organised with good quality cross-curricular displays related to projects. Art and music are strong features within the school, greatly enhanced by the creative curriculum on offer on 'Wobbly Wednesdays'. Themed weeks such as 'Active Week' and 'Staple Hill's Got Talent' provide good specialist teaching in design technology, music, physical education and music. The additional provision for gifted and talented pupils is good. This is greatly valued by the pupils and their parents/carers.

There are an extensive range of visitors, visits, clubs and opportunities for learning outdoors. The curriculum promotes cultural awareness exceptionally well which contributes significantly to the pupils' enjoyment at school. However, there are not enough opportunities for pupils to improve their weaker writing skills in all subjects.

The school's commitment to the care, support and guidance of all pupils is at the heart of its philosophy. Pastoral care is a strength in this nurturing family community. Pupils are cared for sensitively. They in turn feel safe and protected. As a younger child said, 'it, the school, is like a fortress; you can't get out!' The breakfast club provides both a calm and structured start to the day with delicious food, much appreciated by those pupils who attend. Monitoring of pupils' attendance is vigilant. Although overall attendance is slightly below the national average, there are good signs it is improving.

These are the grades for the quality of provision

How effective are leadership and management?

The new headteacher, ably supported by the deputy headteacher, is providing quietly determined leadership with a strong focus on raising achievement. An infectious team spirit permeates throughout the school; all are ambitious to improve and there is no complacency. Monitoring of teaching and learning by senior leaders is rigorous. Subject leaders execute their role diligently. That said, their involvement in monitoring lessons is not sufficiently developed.

Leaders, including governors, have an accurate picture of the school's strengths and weaknesses and are setting the right targets to make it better. Monitoring by governors is assiduous. Good use is made of their professional knowledge and expertise to evaluate the work of the school to hold it to account.

Needs of all individuals are analysed carefully and appropriate strategies are in place to ensure all groups of pupils progress at a swift pace, particularly boys in writing. Robust steps are taken to safeguard children and there are strong partnerships with parents and agencies. The school reaches out to other communities successfully and has good plans in place to develop this work further.

These are the grades for leadership and management

Early Years Foundation Stage

The children get a good start to their school life and make good progress through the Early Years Foundation Stage. The attractive indoor and outdoor learning environments are carefully organised to give the children the maximum opportunities to develop and progress in all areas of learning.

Although it is still early days, all the young children starting school are settling in remarkably. This is because of exemplary induction procedures, outstanding relationships and good levels of care. Already the children display a good awareness of the daily routines; this is a testament to the good and, on occasions, outstanding teaching they receive.

Nursery children are already happy and confident to move around the indoor and outdoor classrooms; they engage purposefully in play and participate enthusiastically in a variety of appropriately planned child-initiated activities. Adults engage sensitively with the children to support their language and social development. Children in Reception, including those new to the school, play and work well together. They are happy to pursue their own learning interests independently, using the colourful planning boards to record their chosen activities. There is a good emphasis on the teaching of letters and sounds and the manipulation of numbers, coupled with an appropriate balance of whole-class, group and child-initiated activities.

Leadership is good; there is a clear and shared vision for the Early Years Foundation Stage and teamwork is strong. Children with additional needs are appropriately supported and challenging behaviour is managed expertly. Daily observations and focused assessments of children's learning and development are diligently carried out and recorded thoroughly. The 'Learning Diaries' are of a particularly high quality. Nonetheless the collation of this data to show the progress of specific groups is underdeveloped.

Most children start school in the Nursery and Reception with levels well below those expected for their age. Scrutiny of assessment information shows that by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, children make good progress in all aspects of learning from their low starting points.

These are the grades for the Early Years Foundation Stage

Views of parents and carers

Parents' views of the school are overwhelmingly positive. Most parents who responded felt that their children enjoyed school and were kept safe. Other parents noted the approachability of staff. A few parents had concerns about a small minority of pupils' disruptive behaviour but inspectors judge the school to be diligent in dealing with these incidents.

Ofsted invited all the registered parents and carers of pupils registered at Staple Hill Primary School to complete a questionnaire about their views of the school.

In the questionnaire, parents and carers were asked to record how strongly they agreed with 13 statements about the school.

The inspection team received 46 completed questionnaires by the end of the on-site inspection. In total, there are 371 pupils registered at the school.

The table above summarises the responses that parents and carers made to each statement. The percentages indicate the proportion of parents and carers giving that response out of the total number of completed questionnaires. Where one or more parents and carers chose not to answer a particular question, the percentages will not add up to 100%.

Overall effectiveness of schools inspected between September 2007 and July 2008

19 October 2009

Dear Pupils

Inspection of Staple Hill Primary School, Bristol, BS16 4NE

I am writing to say thank you very much for giving us such a warm welcome during our recent visit to Staple Hill Primary School. We were impressed with the way you greeted us so courteously with lovely friendly smiles. We enjoyed talking with you about your work, listening to how you celebrate Diwali, seeing you eat healthy lunches and reading the book written by 'Mathias' Marvels'. You go to a good school. Here are some of the special things that it does well.

• Your school looks after you well and the adults want to do their best for you.
• Your behaviour is good; at times it is exemplary. Everyone in the school cares for each other and the older pupils look after the younger ones very well indeed.
• In the Nursery and Reception, you get off to good start in all aspects of your learning; you make good progress as you move through the school and attain average standards overall by the time you leave.
• Your teachers plan interesting trips and fun activities which help you to enjoy school. The teaching in the school is good; on occasions it is outstanding.
• You have a well-developed understanding of moral, social and global issues by the time you leave. You celebrate your different cultural backgrounds superbly.
• There are lots of visits, which you participate in enthusiastically. You contribute well to the local community and care for those who are less well off than you.
• You have a committed headteacher, caring adults and dedicated governors at your school. We have asked them to raise standards in writing and ensure the boys achieve as well as the girls. We have also asked them to make sure that you all know how to improve your work.

It was a real privilege to visit Staple Hill Primary School. Continue to work hard and, most importantly, enjoy your learning. Best wishes for the future. We hope that you achieve great things!

Yours faithfully

Mrs M Harlow

Her Majesty's Inspector