Manley Village School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that the governing body fulfils all of its duties and provides at least good governance by making sure that:
  • governors have a better understanding of the school’s assessment information so that they are more able to hold leaders to account and help to raise pupils’ outcomes
  • governors oversee the correct use of the physical education (PE) and sports premium and analyse its impact with precision
  • governors oversee more effective use of the external funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and analyse its impact
  • the school’s website fully meets government requirements and the child protection policies are up to date.
• Increase the proportion of the most able pupils attaining the expected standard for their age at greater depth from Reception to Year 4 by:
  • making sure that the transition into Year 3 and the teaching in Years 3 and 4 are more effective
  • making sure that the most able pupils use their skills and understanding across subjects to complete work at a higher standard
  • improving the quality of teaching in history in key stage 1
  • accelerating the rate of progress in writing between Reception and Year 4
  • enabling pupils from Reception to Year 4, in mathematics, to explain their reasoning mathematically and solve a greater range of puzzles and problems.
• Raise the proportion of pupils attaining the expected level in the Year 1 phonics screening check by making sure that:
  • all adults and pupils pronounce the phonics sounds accurately
  • pupils have enough time to develop, learn and practise their phonics
  • pupils are challenged more often to extend their skills in the spelling of a variety of known and unknown words.
• Increase the proportion of disadvantaged pupils attaining the expected standard for their age and the expected standard at greater depth by:
  • making more effective use of the pupil premium funding
  • making sure that the governing body knows precisely the impact of the funding and frequently challenges staff to improve outcomes of this group of pupils.

An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium funding should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• The main reasons why leadership requires improvement are weaknesses in governance, the decline in the school’s quality since the previous inspection and the lack of impact of external funding on pupils’ outcomes. The school has rested on its previous outstanding judgement and has not kept pace with other schools nationally.
• The pupil premium funding has not been spent well. At the start of the inspection, the strategy was not published on the website. In 2016, a majority of disadvantaged pupils were absent more than those in other groups. They did not attain even the expected standard for their age in mathematics and in writing and made sluggish progress.
• The external funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities has not been spent efficiently, meaning that this group of pupils has not made good progress and the provision has been patchy.
• The physical education (PE) and sports premium has not been spent correctly. It has been spent on swimming, mathematics, dance and gymnastics, yet these are part of the national curriculum and should be funded through the school budget.
• The curriculum has not enabled the most able pupils to make good progress. In the mixed-age classes for Years 1 and 2 and for Years 3 and 4, the older pupils are often not challenged enough, particularly in history, geography and science.
• Leaders have not checked on pupils’ progress very well. In phonics, for example, they have not measured pupils’ progress from their skills at the end of Reception. There have been recent improvements, which show that leaders have started to identify which pupils from their starting points are not keeping pace with others or who need to be accelerated to attain the higher standards.
• The headteacher has led successful improvements to the way in which pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are taught. Teaching assistants, for example, are now made aware of the individual child’s needs and background before starting any targeted work.
• Leaders have established a culture of higher expectations for pupils’ outcomes. Most staff have taken the raised aspirations on board. The headteacher has an accurate understanding of the school’s weaknesses and many of the areas for improvement identified during this inspection are similar to those in the school’s action plan. He is under no illusion about the amount of improvement that has to take place to halt the school’s decline and then return it to its previous level of success. Some of the improvements are being scuppered by long-term staff illness, constant changes to staffing and the reluctance of some staff to change unsuccessful ways of working.
• There is a good system in place to check on the quality of teaching through observing in lessons, looking at pupils’ work and asking pupils’ views and thoughts about the teaching they receive. Leaders then use this well to identify training needs for individual teachers.
• The curriculum is organised on a rolling programme so that the mixed-age classes meet the content of different subjects over two years. The curriculum enables pupils to have good spiritual and moral development. In religious education, for example, they think and write maturely. There are some good examples in their work of activities that help them to reflect on how they admire their parents, on their important personal beliefs and on the nature of temptation and peer pressure. The curriculum also extends pupils’ cultural development well, particularly through trips to art museums, theatres and a music performance at the Manchester Arena. The curriculum does not prepare pupils as well as it might for the full range of diversity in modern Britain. Pupils’ knowledge and understanding about people from different countries and about sexuality and gender identity are not well developed.
• Pupils develop a good understanding of British values. They have, for example, a good knowledge about how to change things in the locality, for instance by reducing speed limits near the school. They understand the idea of democracy and how governments are elected. Overall, the curriculum has a positive impact on pupils’ personal development.

Governance of the school

• Governance requires improvement. The governing body has not made sure that the website meets requirements, and there is no system in place for it to check the website against national regulations regularly. Similarly, the governing body has not made sure that the sports premium is used correctly and has a good impact on pupils’ participation in competitive sport. The governors are unsure about the impact of the pupil premium strategy for this academic year and about the effectiveness of the funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• The governing body does not have a good understanding of pupils’ performance in national examinations over time or of current assessment information, and has not been able to halt the school’s decline.
• The governing body has supported leaders in trying to stabilise the disruption to pupils’ learning caused by staff turmoil and absences. It is taking appropriate decisions to manage staff illness. Governors have become more involved in the last two years by visiting classes and meeting teachers who lead subjects to get a better overview of the quality of teaching. The governing body has used guidance from external specialists to help it with managing the performance of staff and leaders.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. At the start of the inspection there was an administrative error in the single central record which was quickly fixed. There were omissions in the safeguarding policy which had not been updated to meet the requirements of ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education 2016.’ By the end of the inspection, appropriate procedures were in place but the policy was not updated.
• Leaders have established a safe culture in the school. There is a clear system for signing in visitors and checking their identity and credentials before they enter the school. The system for checking on adults’ identity, qualifications, references and right to work in the United Kingdom meets requirements. Documentation is fit for purpose.
• Staff have been trained in different elements of safeguarding, such as how to prevent extremism and keeping lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pupils safe. They are updated frequently about health and safety and other safeguarding matters through staff meetings.
• There have been very few referrals to social or any other services. Leaders work well with parents, the local authority officers and other agencies such as health visitors and the police to make sure that children are kept safe. They make good use of the local authority’s systems to monitor and filter inappropriate websites.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The teaching of phonics is not as effective as it should be. This is partly because adults do not pronounce the sounds that letters represent as clearly and accurately as they should. The pupils also pronounce them incorrectly. They add an extra vowel to the end of the sound so instead of ‘r’ the adults and pupils pronounced it ‘ra’. In addition, pupils are not taught phonics for long enough. During the inspection, one group, after getting organised and walking across the road to another building, only had ten minutes of learning before returning. There is not a good focus on spelling or on using sounds in nonsense as well as real words.
• Teaching is not as effective in Years 1, 2, 3 and 4 as it is for the older pupils. In Year 3, for example, in mathematics, the pupils repeat work completed in Year 2. The level of challenge in mathematics has not kept pace with the requirements of the new curriculum, particularly for the most able. Pupils are not challenged well to think or reason mathematically or deepen their understanding.
• In writing, pupils in Years 2 to 4 make steady rather than good progress. They are often too informal when they write or they use words inappropriately for the audience or the style of writing. Their spelling shows errors in their phonic skills. Most-able pupils are not challenged to deepen or apply their writing in history, geography or science. Despite writing quite well in English, for example, they are asked to write only an odd word or phrase when they should be explaining scientific events or phenomena in more depth. The teaching of history is not effective in key stage 1 in helping pupils to use increasingly more complex historical vocabulary and terms, in understanding chronology and in looking at events and sources form different viewpoints.
• In contrast, teaching in Years 5 and 6 is effective for all groups of pupils and across all subjects. The teacher poses questions and sets activities that challenge pupils and make them think.
• Most teachers have good subject knowledge and use this to explain things clearly to pupils. Teachers teach reading well, which inspires pupils to continue to read at home.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. The pupils are a delight and a credit to the village and to the school. They are bright, articulate and self-confident. They know how to be successful learners, which is a key factor in their good work ethic and in the progress they make, particularly in reading.
• Pupils are keen and eager to take on responsibilities around the school and also to take part in social change through campaigning for changes to local speed limits and by raising money for good causes.
• Pupils say that they feel safe. In particular, they have a good knowledge of how to stay safe when socialising online or through online games and activities. They know, for example, what to do when contacted by someone they do not know or when asked for details about themselves. Because the school is so small, as one pupil commented, ‘We can approach anyone if we are worried because we are like a big family and we know everyone well.’
• Pupils say that bullying and name-calling are uncommon, but they do hear some pupils use ‘gay’ as a derogatory word or use unkind words to describe someone’s appearance. Through online gaming there is also some use of racist terminology and occasional swearing.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. They are polite, friendly and have good manners. Learning is rarely disrupted through pupils’ poor behaviour or because of them losing concentration and drifting off task.
• There have been no exclusions in recent years, which is an indication that pupils conform well to adults’ requests and instructions, and they take care of and respect each other. The few children who find behaving well more difficult have been managed effectively and subsumed into the Manley Way of high behaviour expectations.
• Pupils at break and lunchtimes are sensible and control their own behaviour. The canteen, according to pupils, can be rather noisy, but staff confirmed that pupils respond when asked to quieten down.
• National figures seem to show that pupils’ attendance has declined in the last three years and that persistent absence has risen. However, the figures are distorted by some pupils competing in national or regional sports events. The number of pupils persistently absent has dropped from 12 in the autumn term to around five in the summer term. Attendance is rising and is close to 96%, which is good.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ skills in using phonics to read by the end of Year 1 are not good. Attainment has been below the national average over the last three years and assessments show that progress from the end of Reception has been sluggish.
• Pupils who are disadvantaged make steady rather than good progress from their starting points, but this is not enough to enable them to attain higher standards. Similarly, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities also make steady progress. They receive targeted support, which has mixed success because the impact of the support has not been checked well by leaders.
• Pupils’ attainment by the end of Year 2 in writing and mathematics is in line with the national average, but given their starting points their progress in these subjects has not been good. This is partly because the older and most able pupils complete work at the same level as the younger pupils in subjects such as science, history and geography. Their writing skills are not extended well in these subjects, which means that they miss out on opportunities to apply what they have learned in mathematics or writing.
• Pupils’ attainment in writing in key stage 2 in 2016 was well below average. Current pupils’ writing in key stage 2 shows a mixed picture. In Years 3 and 4, pupils’ writing progress slows because the work is not challenging, particularly for the most able, and does not increase pupils’ literary, grammatical or spelling skills well. Their tone and use of language is too informal for certain types of writing. Their mathematical standards stagnate in Years 3 and 4. This is because they repeat work they can already do and there are not many chances for them to develop their ability to solve problems, explain their methods or reason mathematically.
• In contrast, current pupils in Years 5 and 6, including the most able and disadvantaged, make good progress in their writing. They extend and apply their skills well into other subjects such as religious education, history, geography and science. They develop an appropriate writing style and write ever more complex sentences.
• Pupils’ reading is high quality by the end of Year 6. In 2016, for example, pupils made well-above-average progress and it is clear why. Pupils, particularly the most able, read widely and often. They described to an inspector how they read at night for an hour or more because they love reading. In reading aloud they paused in their reading for suspense, intoned their voices to read a question or an exclamation and they read at slow and faster pace for effect. A high proportion in 2016 attained the expected level at greater depth.
• Pupils’ attainment in 2016 was above average by the end of Year 6 in mathematics and they made average progress. The rate of pupils’ progress increases as they get older. In Years 5 and 6, pupils persevere with complicated calculations to solve well-crafted puzzles and problems which make them prove their thinking and methods mathematically.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Children are taught in the same class as Year 1 and Year 2 pupils, and for some activities such as PE and phonics they join in with their older classmates. There are small numbers, but over time it is clear that children enter the school with levels of skills and development that are typical for four- and five-year-olds. They make steady progress. This is because the most able children are not challenged as much as they could be to develop their writing and mathematical skills at a brisker pace or at greater depth. The majority of pupils are well prepared for Year 1 but a small minority are not.
• Leaders, until very recently, have not been measuring children’s progress from their starting points to the end of the year. This means that teachers have not intervened quickly enough to pick up the pace of children’s learning. They have not directly observed the other adults who teach phonics, which means that they do not have a good understanding of the quality of teaching in these sessions.
• Children have the chance to explore, find things out and be confident in having a go by selecting from a range of well-maintained resources. They are active learners and gain confidence. In PE, for example, they joined in with older pupils developing sequences of moves to perform a dance. The few children who have not had pre-school experience sometimes struggle to settle quickly, but the adults work well to establish good learning behaviour. Teachers assess children frequently throughout the year and involve parents well.
• Children act and use resources safely. They behave well and respond well to adults’ requests and are friendly and confident. They gain a good rapport with older pupils, who readily encourage and help them. Leaders make sure that welfare requirements are met and children are safe.
• Leaders are reflective and work well with all adults to train them in the latest developments. They have improved the outdoor area. They have also improved the accuracy of assessment by checking with other schools and with teachers in other year groups.
• Leaders work well with parents and early years providers to make the move into full-time education as smooth as possible. There are good systems in place to do this, for example weekly visits to Reception and the chance to join in assembly, breaktime and other communal activities prior to September. There are also workshops and meetings with parents, who can contribute to children’s learning. Teachers use the summer project well and shape the curriculum based on children’s interests and the skills they showed in the previous summer.
• The curriculum is interesting and varied and includes the chance to experience outdoor education in a forest. It is based strongly on children’s interests, but does not have a strong impact on enabling the most able children to attain the highest standard.

School details

Unique reference number 110999 Local authority Cheshire West and Chester Inspection number 10032791 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 Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Maintained 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 70 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Mr R Wilde Mr V Thapar 01244 981201 www.alvanleyandmanleyfederatedschools.cheshire.sch.uk/ Email address head@manley.cheshire.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 12 March 2008

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of the correct information in the special educational needs and/or disabilities information report. The school has not published the details of what is taught in the curriculum in each subject in each year group on its website. The safeguarding policy does not meet requirements. At the start of the inspection, there was a large number of requirements that were not met. This was remedied by the end of the inspection.
• Manley is much smaller than the average-sized primary school. Most pupils are White British. It does not use alternative provision to educate pupils off site.
• The proportion of pupils identified as disadvantaged increased considerably in 2016 and was close to the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who stay or arrive at the school part-way through their education is above the national average.
• In 2016, pupils’ outcomes met the government’s floor standard which is the minimum expectation for pupils’ attainment and progress.
• The school provides education for under-fives in the key stage 1 class, which also has Years 1 and 2 pupils.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed teaching in the three classes in a range of subjects, including art, English, mathematics, phonics and PE, with the headteacher. He scrutinised pupils’ work and observed pupils’ behaviour at break and lunchtime. No pupil completed an online questionnaire, so he took into account the opinions of 32 pupils who completed the school’s own survey as well as the views of 14 pupils with whom he met formally.
• The inspector met with two members of the governing body and held a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority. He reviewed minutes of governing body meetings as well as a range of other documents.
• Only two parents completed Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, so the inspector took into account the views of the parents who completed the school’s own survey.

Inspection team

Allan Torr, lead inspector

Her Majesty’s Inspector