Oasis Academy Harpur Mount Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve further the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • leaders develop the skills of middle leaders, so that they can better influence the quality of teaching in their subject areas and build further on the strong practice already evident
  • leaders ensure that staff apply behaviour systems consistently during pupils’ social times.
• Improve further the quality of teaching to accelerate pupils’ progress by ensuring that:
  • teachers provide all pupils with an appropriate level of challenge, but particularly with reading at key stage 2, so that pupils can apply their comprehension skills to more complex texts as soon as they are ready
  • pupils at key stage 1 can better apply their phonics knowledge in their writing.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders and staff are highly ambitious for pupils. Staff at every level share the vision of the trust. Leaders are uncompromising in their aim to improve the opportunities and life chances of children in the local area.
• The school is at the heart of the local community. Staff have worked to establish strong and effective relationships with parents and carers. This is particularly important given the significant proportion of pupils who arrive part way through the academic year. For example, staff run history classes for parents who wish to learn new skills. Parents find staff approachable and they are very supportive of the school. This is reflected in their high attendance at parents’ evenings and other celebratory events.
• With the support of the trust, the newly appointed executive principal and associate principal have quickly established a truthful and comprehensive view of the school. Leaders understand the school’s strengths and what aspects of the school require further development.
• Leaders have high expectations of staff. To this end, they have effective systems in place to check on the quality of teaching. Staff are highly motivated. They benefit from a programme of training that is relevant and personalised, helping them to refine and improve their practice. For instance, improvements in the quality of teaching have had a positive effect on pupils’ attainment in mathematics at key stage 1.
• Staff have the chance to share good practice with teachers in other local schools across the trust. Staff are proud to work at the school. They report that leaders are highly considerate of their well-being. Those teachers who are new to the profession feel well supported by leaders and more experienced staff in all aspects of their professional development.
• Leaders ensure that there are systems in place to manage pupils’ behaviour. These systems are highly effective during learning and while pupils move around the school building. Teachers apply leaders’ behaviour systems consistently. This ensures that pupils’ attitudes to learning remain highly positive. Nonetheless, there are occasions on the playground when some staff do not apply these systems consistently.
• Leaders are flexible in their design of the curriculum and they are keen to ensure that it meets the needs of pupils. To this end, they are currently in the process of adapting the curriculum to promote the physical and emotional health of pupils better. Pupils benefit from a curriculum that is broad and balanced. They develop their reading, writing and numeracy skills across a wide range of subject areas.
• Middle leaders are keen and enthusiastic. They share the ambition of the trust and senior leaders. The subject leader for mathematics has made a particularly positive contribution to improving the quality of teaching in this subject. However, there are some subjects where middle leaders have not had enough opportunity to impact as positively on the quality of teaching. As a result, there is some variation in the breadth of opportunities that pupils get to develop their subject-specific skills across the wider curriculum.
• Leaders ensure that additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils is used to secure better outcomes for this group of pupils. Leaders have systems in place to monitor the progress of all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils. This means that pupils who fall behind benefit from extra support. Leaders check that funding is spent appropriately. Disadvantaged pupils make better progress than other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The school’s provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is well led. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) checks that extra help and support for these pupils have a positive effect. Consequently, leaders know whether additional funding for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is spent well. This group of pupils make good progress, especially with their reading.
• A high proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language. This group of pupils benefit from a highly effective programme of support when they join the school. Leaders ensure that these pupils settle quickly and receive well-planned and carefully tailored support. Consequently, they have the required skills in reading, speech and language to access the curriculum.
• When pupils leave the school, they are well prepared for life in modern Britain. This is a very diverse school. Over 35 different languages are spoken by pupils. Leaders have created a community where differences are celebrated. Staff promote diversity and tolerance and pupils understand the importance of mutual respect. Pupils can develop socially, morally, spiritually and culturally. For example, pupils help to raise money for education projects in Mozambique. Through the religious education curriculum, pupils learn about different religions, faiths, cultures and families different to their own. For instance, pupils learn about religious festivals such as Diwali and Eid.

Governance of the school

• At every level of governance, there is complete clarity about roles and responsibilities. The board of trustees ensures that governance arrangements are effective.
• The regional director ensures that leaders are held to account diligently for all aspects of performance. The regional director ensures that the board of trustees is kept well informed about the school’s strengths and the areas leaders still need to work on.
• The academy council supports school leaders well. The chair of the academy council has a strong understanding of the context of the school. She provides trustees with an important insight into how leaders engage with the local community.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders ensure that the school’s procedures for safeguarding are thorough and fit for purpose. Relevant staff have a detailed knowledge of vulnerable pupils’ needs and monitor their well-being closely.
• Staff are fully aware of their responsibilities to ensure the safety and well-being of all pupils. They receive appropriate training and understand, for example, the signs of neglect. Leaders work well with external agencies. They act quickly when they have concerns about a pupil. Pupils and their families feel well supported by staff.
• Pupils, staff and parents agree that the school is a safe place. Pupils trust their teachers and they are confident an adult in school will help them if they have worries or concerns. Parents report that their children are well cared for at school.
• The trust carries out regular checks to review leaders’ work to keep pupils safe.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Learning environments are positive places where pupils try to do their best. Pupils enjoy their learning. This is reflected in their consistently high rates of attendance. Typically, pupils’ work shows that teachers set high standards in terms of presentation. Teachers follow the school’s feedback policy consistently.
• Teachers and other staff know pupils well. Positive relationships between staff and pupils are at the centre of the school’s approach to learning. Pupils cooperate and support each other well during activities.
• Teachers expect the very best of pupils. Consequently, pupils display positive attitudes to their learning and they apply themselves to increasingly complex activities. They are keen to learn from their mistakes and develop their knowledge and understanding further.
• Teachers have secure subject knowledge. They pay close enough attention to what pupils already know when planning learning. They use this to sequence pupils’ learning effectively. This is especially the case in mathematics. For example, pupils at key stage 2 build on their prior knowledge of factors to simplify fractions.
• Teachers assess pupils’ work accurately. External moderation supports this, both across the trust and within the local authority. However, work in the books of some pupils shows occasions when teachers do not challenge pupils as soon as they are ready. For instance, some pupils at key stage 2 do not have sufficient opportunity to apply their comprehension skills to more complex texts in reading.
• Phonics teaching is effective across the school. Teachers help pupils to make good progress in decoding words. However, at key stage 1, pupils are less successful in transferring this knowledge into their writing.
• Teachers ensure that teaching assistants are used well. Teachers plan learning effectively to ensure that pupils receive well-targeted help. This is especially the case for those pupils who fall behind in their learning. Teaching assistants use their expertise and knowledge well to support those pupils who speak English as an additional language. This group of pupils benefit from a highly effective programme of support and high-quality teaching.
• Work in pupils’ books across the wider curriculum shows that, over time, pupils have opportunities to develop their subject-specific skills in subjects such as religious education, history and science. Nonetheless, there is some variation across classrooms in the breadth of opportunities pupils have to develop their knowledge.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Leaders ensure that there is a strong culture of safeguarding. This means that pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, both in the local community and online. Pupils report that they feel safe and that bullying incidents are extremely rare. Pupils are confident that any incidents of bullying will be dealt with effectively by their teachers. Pupils understand the negative effects of racist and homophobic language. They say that the use of derogatory language is rare.
• Leaders work effectively with external agencies to ensure that vulnerable pupils and their families receive appropriate help and support. Staff help pupils to develop physically and emotionally. For example, staff in the ‘nurture room’ help pupils to understand their emotions. The sports premium is used to promote pupils’ physical health and the benefits of exercise.
• Staff work to promote pupils’ confidence and self-esteem. As a result, pupils are confident learners who want to do well. They are keen to contribute to discussions during learning. Pupils’ positive attitudes to learning support them to make good progress.
• Leaders ensure that pupils develop socially, morally, spiritually and culturally. For instance, the religious education curriculum enables pupils to respect the differences between Christianity and Hinduism. The personal, social and health education curriculum ensures that pupils show respect and tolerance for different families.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Staff have fostered supportive relationships with families that are built on trust. Leaders’ work with families ensures that parents understand the importance of good attendance.
• Pupils’ attendance is excellent. During the last academic year, overall attendance was well above the national average. The proportion of pupils who are regularly absent from school is consistently below the national average. This is also the case for disadvantaged pupils and those pupils who speak English as an additional language.
• In the past, the proportion of pupils excluded for a fixed period has been above the national average. Leaders’ behaviour information shows that the number of exclusions for a fixed period is reducing. Staff are effective at working with pupils at risk of exclusion to ensure that they stay in school. This picture of improving behaviour is also supported by the fact that the number of behavioural incidents is also decreasing year on year.
• Pupils conduct themselves exceptionally well during learning and in the school building. They are friendly and well mannered. For example, pupils are keen to hold doors open for their peers, staff and visitors. In classrooms, staff ensure that pupils remain focused on their learning. Inspectors saw no evidence of disruption to learning during the inspection and pupils confirmed that this is typical.
• Overall, pupils play together well, and they show respect for their peers. However, there are occasions when a small minority of pupils behave boisterously on the playground. Sometimes, staff do not challenge this behaviour. As a result, pupils report that behaviour on the playground, at times, falls short of the high standards they have come to expect.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils are well prepared for secondary school. Pupils’ progress in each of reading, writing and mathematics has been above or in line with the national averages in key stage 2 for the last three years.
• Provisional information for key stage 2 in 2018 shows that pupil attainment was slightly below average. However, this was affected by the approximately one third of pupils who joined the school late in the key stage. The attainment of pupils who completed the whole of key stage 2 at this school was above the national average.
• Leaders’ assessment information and work in pupils’ books show that current pupils make good progress at key stage 2. This is particularly the case in writing and mathematics. This is because, over time, teachers use accurate assessment information to sequence pupils’ learning effectively. Current pupils make good progress at key stage 1. This is especially the case in reading and mathematics.
• Disadvantaged pupils make good progress. Provisional information for 2018 shows that the proportion of disadvantaged pupils who achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics at key stage 2 was above the national average. At key stage 1, disadvantaged pupils make good progress. This is because leaders ensure that this group of pupils benefit from well-planned, bespoke support and can catch up with their peers.
• Those pupils who speak English as an additional language make excellent progress. This is particularly the case at key stage 2. This is because this group benefit from a highly effective programme of support when they join the school and high-quality teaching. Provisional information for 2018 shows that pupil attainment and progress for this group are above the national average for all pupils.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress. This is especially the case in reading. Strong assessment systems mean that these pupils are identified swiftly, and they benefit from personalised support that meets their needs.
• The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in the phonics screening check is improving over time and approaching the national average. Given pupils’ low starting points, this indicates they are making good progress.

Early years provision Good

• The early years leader is experienced, highly knowledgeable and enthusiastic. She has an accurate view about the effectiveness of the provision. Consequently, leaders tackle areas for development successfully. For example, improvements since the last inspection mean that the provision now caters well for children’s creative and physical development.
• Children make good progress from typically low starting points. The proportion of children who achieve a good level of development has increased since the last inspection.
• Children who join the school’s Nursery make better progress than those who join in the Reception Year. Teachers and staff work well to help children catch up, although some children do not go on to reach a good level of development at the end of the Reception Year.
• Staff know children well and they foster strong and supportive relationships that allow children to settle quickly. Staff adapt learning appropriately. They skilfully reshape their questioning to support children’s learning. Teachers’ assessment of children’s development is accurate. This means that children receive effective support from staff.
• Leaders monitor the quality of teaching in the early years to provide a strong basis for further improvement. Consequently, children benefit from high-quality teaching.
• The curriculum is stimulating, with a good range of enrichment opportunities to provide children with experiences of the wider world. Teachers plan learning that reflects children’s interests and is well matched to their needs. Routines during learning are well established and time is used effectively.
• Teachers ensure that staff are used effectively to provide extra support for children. This is particularly the case for children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those children who speak English as an additional language. As a result, these groups of children make good progress.
• The atmosphere in the early years is happy, calm and purposeful. The environment is airy and vibrant. There are displays which celebrate children’s successes in the development of their creative skills.
• Staff place a strong emphasis on the development of good manners. As a result, children behave well. They develop their ability to take turns, share equipment and concentrate, through a multitude of different activities.
• Staff have developed strong links with parents. As a result, parents are closely involved with their children’s learning and can better support their children at home. Parents report that they are kept well informed about their children’s progress.
• Safeguarding is effective and welfare requirements are securely met.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 139056 Manchester 10082093 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy sponsor-led 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 424 Appropriate authority Board of trustees Chair Executive Principal Telephone number Website Email address Keith Dennis Kathy Maskell 01612054993 www.oasisacademyharpurmount.org/ info@oasisharpurmount.org Date of previous inspection 24–25 September 2014

Information about this school

• Oasis Academy Harpur Mount is part of the Oasis Community Learning (OCL) multi-academy trust. Under the model of governance across Oasis Community Learning’s schools, the direct governance role is delegated to the appropriate regional director.
• The OCL board of trustees is the appropriate authority. The academy council acts in an advisory capacity and represents the views of the local community.
• The school serves an area of high socio-economic deprivation. The proportion of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds is higher than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above the national average.
• The school has two classes in each year group from the Reception Year to Year 6. It has one Nursery class for children aged three years and above.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors met with a range of leaders and other staff during the inspection. These included: the executive principal, the associate principal, the SENCo, the designated safeguarding lead, the early years leader, middle leaders, teaching staff and the regional director from OCL.
• The lead inspector spoke on the telephone with a representative from the board of trustees and the chair of the academy council.
• Inspectors visited lessons across year groups to observe pupils during learning and scrutinised pupils’ work across the curriculum. Inspectors spoke with groups of pupils formally across a range of year groups. Inspectors observed pupils before school, at breaktime and at lunchtime.
• Inspectors examined a range of documentation provided by the school. This included the self-evaluation of the school, the leaders’ development plan, attendance and behaviour information, assessment information and documentation relating to safeguarding.
• Inspectors considered 63 responses to Parent View, 22 responses to the staff survey and 27 responses to the pupil survey.

Inspection team

Emma Gregory, lead inspector Doreen Davenport Joan Williamson

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector