Manor Oak Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that leaders make the best use of the information they collect about outcomes for different groups of pupils to measure the success of their plans for improvement.
• Continue to focus on work to improve attendance so that reductions in rates of persistent absence are sustained.
• Improve the quality of teaching further by
  • ensuring that teachers consistently set work for the most-able pupils which builds very successfully on their previous achievements.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher has quickly and accurately weighed up the school’s strengths and weaknesses since her appointment earlier in the year. She has ensured that her senior team have worked systematically on the most urgent priorities for improvement. As a result, teachers apply the agreed policies effectively to ensure that current pupils make consistently good progress. Rates of pupils’ attendance have improved and leaders’ work to sustain this is being evaluated well.
• The senior leadership team evaluates the school’s effectiveness accurately. Their precise and thorough checks on the progress of pupils are used skilfully to decide next steps in plans for improvement. However, they do not identify measures of success for particular groups of pupils and use the thorough information they collect about pupils’ outcomes to full effect.
• Senior and middle leaders check up on the quality of teaching regularly and use this practice to make expectations of teachers clear. The process for managing teachers’ performance is effective and helps determine suitable priorities for teachers’ training. For example, there has been a strong recent emphasis on developing teachers’ skills in helping pupils to learn to read and extend the skills of the most-able readers. Leaders make sure that newly qualified teachers are also well supported in the early stages of their career.
• The curriculum reflects the needs of the school’s pupils well. Leaders have ensured that pupils are offered interesting and challenging opportunities to develop their understanding of the wider world. Pupils’ horizons are broadened through challenging and interesting visits. Displays indicate the rich and diverse learning opportunities pupils experience across a wide range of subjects. For example, pupils in Year 4 recently explored the work of the artist Wassily Kandinsky, investigating the influence of geometry on his work.
• Leaders and governors have used the primary sports funding effectively and have listened to pupils’ views when deciding on priorities for expenditure. For example, the wide range of sports clubs are now also available to key stage 1 pupils.
• Senior leaders have ensured that the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils has been spent well. These pupils make good progress from their starting points. The most-able disadvantaged pupils are making better progress in the current school year than in the past as a result of sharper checks on their learning and improvements in teachers’ skills.
• Special educational needs funding is well managed by a skilful leader and her assistant. They are effective in ensuring that the work of additional adults to support weaker learners is leading to consistently good progress for these pupils.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is good. Leaders have created a strong culture of inclusion which ensures that pupils learn to value individuality and to consider the needs of others. Pupils feel that their views are important and learn that they can have real influence on decisions about how the school can improve. This helps them understand modern British values. The curriculum also enables pupils to understand how these values have developed over time.

Governance of the school

• Governors fulfil their statutory duties effectively, including those related to safeguarding. They possess a wide range of skills which enable them to interpret information about pupils’ outcomes accurately and with good insight. They ask questions which probe and challenge school leaders well.
• Governors have a clear strategy for their own continued development. They have recently appointed an associate governor with significant leadership experience to help them develop their skills further.
• Governors are very well informed about the steps leaders have taken to improve the quality of teaching. For example they can explain the phrase ‘read, interpret, choose’, which is used to help pupils understand how they are expected to progress in reading.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The headteacher and her family worker are determined to strengthen communications with harder-to-reach families. They have developed relationships built on trust. As a result, any concerns are brought into the open more promptly.
• Procedures for identifying and reporting concerns are robust. Members of staff are provided with effective training on safeguarding matters and kept up to date with developments in weekly briefings.
• Leaders ensure that concerns are recorded meticulously and investigated thoroughly. They analyse the nature of concerns over time to determine which are most prevalent. Leaders then use this information to decide on priorities for further training and support.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers use secure subject knowledge and a good understanding of the starting points of individual pupils to plan interesting and effective learning. They encourage pupils to overcome any fears of failure and to see mistakes as a positive part of learning. As a result, pupils make consistently good progress. This is seen across the curriculum, including in reading, writing and mathematics. For example, pupils in Year 3 have an advanced understanding of the properties of light and shadows. This is due to intriguing investigations and skilful science teaching.
• Senior leaders have ensured that the teaching of reading, and particularly phonics, has been strengthened in key stage 1. Reading is taught consistently well across the whole school in the current school year. Pupils’ reading journals show that the most-able readers are challenged well to use evidence from texts to support their opinions. The additional support for the weaker readers in Years 2 and 3 is helping them to tackle unfamiliar words with confidence and enjoy reading at home. Occasionally, teachers set activities for the most able which do not represent a step up in challenge. When this occurs, the progress of these pupils slows. This is because the activity does not enable the most able pupils to deepen their understanding or apply skills to solve more difficult problems.
• Teachers make sure that pupils understand how to use resources and displays to support their learning. The range of books and equipment has been chosen thoughtfully to provide less-able pupils with additional help. Senior leaders have also invested in better-quality books to stretch the most able pupils.
• Teachers provide prompt and skilful guidance to ensure that pupils build on their mathematical understanding. Pupils’ books show that most make good progress in using and applying their skills and explaining how they came to an answer to a calculation. On occasion, however, some teachers do not reshape lessons to focus on a concept which is causing confusion for some groups. The most able pupils are sometimes not given sufficiently clear explanations of how they can apply their skills to solving more challenging problems.
• Pupils enjoy writing in a wide range of genres. The writing completed by the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged, shows evidence of their growing familiarity with classical literature. This is adding a pleasing style and flair to their writing. Teachers use the agreed assessment policy consistently well to help pupils progress in their writing skills quickly. However, sometimes teachers do not make it clear to pupils that they expect them to apply what they have learned to their next piece of writing. Consequently, progress is slower than it could be.
• Additional adults make a crucial positive contribution to the good progress of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They work closely with teachers and senior leaders to pinpoint exactly what each pupil needs to concentrate on to make progress. They provide encouragement to pupils but also insist that they persevere when learning becomes difficult.
• Pupils who speak English as an additional language benefit from this good support too. Teachers ensure that the objectives of lessons for these pupils are clear and well understood. They provide effective help when pupils come across unfamiliar words or phrases when learning in a wide range of subjects. This is why these pupils make good progress from their lower starting points.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils feel confident about expressing their views. They quickly build resilience to overcoming setbacks because of the consistent encouragement of adults in the school.
• Parents told inspectors how positive they feel about the support for the personal development of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They appreciate the way school leaders make sure that these pupils are included in all aspects of school life and feel able to contribute to discussions in lessons.
• The school’s work to enable pupils to recognise and respond to risks posed by the internet is good. Teachers remain very vigilant to new risks and adapt lessons and activities accordingly.
• Leaders ensure that pupils’ ideas and views are sought and acted upon. They also help pupils to think of the needs of the whole school community. For example, pupils recently played a major role in raising funds for a defibrillator to complement the school’s medical resources. This approach prepares pupils well for their future lives in British society.
• Older pupils enjoy supporting those who are younger or less able in the dining hall and at playtime. There is a strong sense of community and shared responsibility across the whole school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Parents who responded to the online survey and spoke to inspectors all agreed that pupils are well behaved and pupils confirm this is typically the case.
• Pupils live up to leaders’ high expectations for hard work, courtesy and consideration. Pupils’ workbooks seen on inspection show that they work hard and they try their best to present their work to a high standard.
• Leaders’ records of concerns about behaviour are detailed and meticulous. They show that when pupils occasionally act inappropriately, they learn from their mistakes and rarely repeat them. Pupils say bullying is rare. They told inspectors that teachers act firmly but fairly if there is any disruption to learning in lessons.
• The overall attendance of pupils has improved and is now in line with the most recent national average in the current school year. Leaders have also been successful in significantly reducing the number of pupils who are persistently absent from school. Leaders realise, however, that these improvements are relatively recent and will need to be monitored closely to ensure that they are sustained.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics in the current school year from their different starting points. The provisional information about 2016 outcomes indicates that pupils’ progress is particularly strong in reading and writing for pupils of average ability through key stage 2. As a result, attainment by the end of Year 6 is almost identical to the national average.
• Pupils who begin key stage 2 working below the standard expected of them make consistently good progress, and very strong progress in mathematics. As a result, a much greater proportion of them reach the expected standard before they move on to secondary school than is seen nationally. This is preparing them very well for the next stage of their education.
• The most able pupils make good progress from their higher starting points. Inspectors looked at a number of pupils’ workbooks, including some of the most able disadvantaged pupils. They demonstrate that pupils benefit from effective opportunities to refine their work and deepen their understanding in reading, writing and mathematics. However, the progress of these pupils sometimes slows when teachers set work which does not build effectively enough on previous achievements.
• Pupils’ progress in the current school year is good in key stage 1. In the previous school year the new headteacher picked up on inconsistencies in progress. This led to attainment which was lower than that seen nationally in 2016, including in the Year 1 phonics check. Improvements in teaching are now ensuring that pupils are rapidly catching up in Years 2 and 3.
• Pupils who began Year 1 with weaker phonics skills than expected are catching up very rapidly, including those entitled to support funded by the pupil premium. As a result, the proportion on track to reach the expected standard in phonics is now similar to the national average. The most-able readers go on to work in greater depth in larger proportions than that seen nationally.
• Disadvantaged pupils are making progress over time which is at least in line with that of other pupils nationally. In reading, these pupils make significantly better progress in reading than others do. The progress of the most able disadvantaged pupils is also similar to that of others nationally. The proportion of these pupils reaching higher levels of attainment by the end of key stage 1 is, however, lower than that which school leaders are striving to achieve.
• The high proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make consistently good progress over time from their starting points. This is because the additional support and resources for these pupils is very well managed by the leader responsible for these pupils.
• Pupils who speak English as an additional language benefit from effective support and make the same good progress as other pupils.

Early years provision Good

• Children make good progress in the early years from their various starting points, which are typically low. The proportion attaining a good level of development fell slightly in 2016 because a much larger proportion of them had special educational needs and/or a disability. However, consistently good teaching ensures that these pupils have made good progress from lower starting points and continue to do so.
• Around a half of children arrive new to the setting at the beginning of the Reception Year. Those who have been taught in the Nursery and the provision for two-year-olds nearly all go on to attain a good level of development. The longer children attend the early years, the better they achieve. All of the children entitled to support funded by the pupil premium in the current school year have already progressed to the next stage of development, including the most able disadvantaged children.
• The leader of the early years is working with other providers to share good practice and secure a wider range of information to support children who do not start in the school’s provision. This is ensuring that children are well prepared for Year 1.
• The teaching of phonics is skilful and accurate, ensuring that children make good progress in their reading. Teachers work closely with specialist professionals to provide good support for the large proportion of children who have speech or communication difficulties.
• Children say they enjoy the ‘maths meetings’ they join to talk about mathematical patterns and the properties of numbers. These activities stretch and challenge the most able children well.
• The early years leader drives improvement well. She supports other schools in the local area and understands her own setting’s strengths and weaknesses accurately. In the last school year she had a focus on improving the provision in the outdoor area for the Reception class. This has ensured that there are very good opportunities for children to develop early reading and writing skills outside as well as indoors. The outdoor area in the Nursery is not as well developed to support these skills.
• The provision for two-year-olds is safe and well resourced. Teachers understand the needs of individual children well and plan effective opportunities for their early learning, involving their parents fully in this process. The setting is steeped in vibrant examples of children’s work, which demonstrates how quickly they settle in and make good progress.
• Each learning area in the early years is secure and well supervised. Children behave well. They quickly learn to enjoy helping one another and taking turns. The arrangements for safeguarding in the early years are effective. Staff identify any concerns promptly and investigate them thoroughly.

School details

Unique reference number 140450 Local authority Bromley Inspection number 10019226 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Academy converter Age range of pupils 2 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 228 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Paul Iredale Headteacher Jane Butler Telephone number 01689 828099 Website www.manoroakprimaryschool.co.uk Email address jane.butler@manoroak.bromley.sch.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• The school is a stand-alone academy which operates within a larger family of local academies.
• Children in the Nursery, including the two-year olds who are admitted, attend on a part-time basis.
• The current headteacher was appointed in the Spring of 2016 after a short period acting in this role.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is much higher than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who are entitled to support funded by the pupil premium funding is also much higher than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above the national average. Those from minority ethnic backgrounds represent a larger proportion of pupils than that seen nationally.
• In 2015 the school met the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum standards for achievement and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors carried out a short series of observations in lessons with senior leaders, focused on key lines of enquiry. They also conducted longer observations in five lessons.
• Inspectors held meeting with senior leaders and representatives of the governing body. They held telephone discussions with officers of the local authority responsible for aspects of safeguarding and an independent consultant who provides support for the school.
• Inspectors conducted a scrutiny of pupils’ work and listened to a number of pupils read.
• Informal discussions were held with parents at the beginning of the school day and the views of 11 parents who responded to Ofsted’s online Parent View survey were taken into account.
• Leaders’ records relating to safeguarding and school improvement were scrutinised. Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and at breaks was observed and their views about the school’s work were sought.

Inspection team

Andrew Wright, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Chris Birtles Ofsted Inspector