St Clement's CofE Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management by:
  • ensuring that school development plans, including the pupil premium strategy, are sharply focused with quantifiable measures of success
  • ensuring that leaders’ monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning focuses sharply on the key areas required to improve outcomes for pupils, for example in reading and mathematics
  • using more effectively the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils and those pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities
  • refining the school’s assessment system so that it provides accurate information about the progress that different groups of pupils are making
  • ensuring that governors have the information that they need to hold leaders to account.
• Improve the quality of teaching and learning by:
  • raising teachers’ expectations of what pupils, including the most able, can and should achieve
  • ensuring that teachers use their assessments of where pupils are in their learning to address misconceptions and to plan learning that meets pupils’ needs.
• Improve pupils’ outcomes in mathematics and reading across the school.
• Improve the progress made by disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities. An external review of the use of pupil premium funding should be undertaken to see how this aspect of leadership and management can be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• For much of the time since the last inspection, the headteacher has been working without a full complement of senior leaders. Those leaders she has had, have had an extremely heavy teaching commitment. This situation has had a negative effect on the quality of education that the school provides because there has simply been too much for leaders to do. They have been unable to think and plan strategically. That said, this situation has now been rectified.
• The headteacher is passionate and committed to the school. She is open and honest about what needs to improve. She is determined that only the best quality of education will do for her pupils.
• Since the last inspection, leaders, including governors, have overseen a decline in the progress that pupils make by the end of key stage 2 in reading and in mathematics. Leaders have been too slow to respond to the issues facing them. They have not focused sharply enough on the key actions needed to improve the school.
• The school’s improvement plans lack rigour, clarity and focus. They do not contain quantifiable measures of success to allow leaders and governors to measure the impact of their work to improve the school.
• Leaders and teachers have focused too heavily on improving pupils’ writing at the expense of pupils’ skills in reading and mathematics.
• The pupil premium funding is not being spent effectively to remove the barriers to learning for disadvantaged pupils. Although there have been improvements in some year groups, outcomes for disadvantaged pupils remain well below the national average for other pupils with the same starting points.
• Leaders do not ensure that pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make consistently good progress. Outcomes for these pupils vary considerably. Although there are some effective support strategies, these pupils are not catching up quickly enough with other pupils with the same starting points.
• Leaders have not ensured that teaching promotes consistently good outcomes for pupils. While there are clear signs of improvement, teaching is not strong enough across some classes and subjects.
• The leaders’ assessment system is not sufficiently robust. It focuses on pupils’ attainment rather than the progress that pupils make over time. Leaders do not routinely make comparisons with national indicators and benchmarks to judge the quality of learning and progress. They do not focus sufficiently well on how groups of pupils are progressing across the school.
• Leaders’ systems to measure the performance of staff have improved. However, leaders do not link performance management targets precisely enough to school improvement priorities. Although there is a wide range of staff training, it is not targeting the teaching of reading and mathematics with sufficient rigour to ensure rapid improvement in pupils’ learning.
• Staff reflect on the way that they teach. Morale across the school is high. Nevertheless, staff need clearer direction to make the necessary changes to teaching and learning.
• The support from the local authority has not helped leaders to improve the school. Governors have not had the information that they need to hold leaders to account.
• Since the previous inspection, middle leadership has developed. These leaders are now monitoring the impact of teaching strategies on learning and progress with more precision. However, senior leaders do not ensure that monitoring activities are focused on the areas that are most needed. For example, up to the point of the inspection, leaders had not sufficiently evaluated the effectiveness of teaching on pupils’ progress in reading, despite the decline in pupils’ outcomes.
• Leaders use the physical education and sport premium effectively. This additional funding is having a lasting effect on improving the participation of pupils in physical activity. Pupils’ attainment in physical education is also increasing and the strategies that leaders have introduced are sustainable.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced. Leaders provide a wide range of appropriate learning opportunities for pupils. For example, during the inspection, pupils were engaged in high-quality activities for science week. This inspired them to learn. Pupils undertook experiments, made predictions about what would happen and learned about the importance of taking accurate measurements. Pupils were able to understand how changing different variables can have an effect on scientific experiments. However, such challenging activities resulting in productive learning are less evident in other subjects.
• Leaders have an accurate understanding of the quality of education that the school currently provides. They recognise, for example, that outcomes are not good enough.
• Middle leaders are enthusiastic, knowledgeable and skilled. They are passionate about their subject areas and they are determined to ensure that pupils make consistently good progress.
• Parents and carers are unreservedly positive about the quality of education that the school provides. They said that they believe that their children are safe, receive good-quality teaching and make secure progress. Almost every parent felt that the school is well led and managed.
• Pupils have a good understanding of British values. They know about democracy, the rule of law and the function of British institutions, for example Parliament. Pupils’ SMSC development is a key strength of the school.
• Leaders promote equality of opportunity for pupils. They have created a school in which pupils value and respect one another’s differences. For example, pupils talked with confidence and ease about different families. There is a wide range of materials and resources that promote equality and diversity in use across the school.

Governance of the school

• The school’s governors are highly skilled people. They regularly review the quality and impact of their work. They challenge leaders about the quality of education that the school provides. However, they have not always had the information that they need to hold leaders fully to account. As a result, governors did not identify the extent to which the standards in reading and in mathematics at the end of key stage 2 had declined over time.
• Governors have not had sufficient training to allow them to interpret national data and benchmarks. This means that they have been unable to compare the progress of disadvantaged pupils, and those who have SEN and/or disabilities, with national averages for other pupils with the same starting points. Governors have suitable plans in place to improve their understanding of data and how to make best use of it.
• Governors are proactive, committed and determined to improve the school for pupils, but they have focused on the wrong priorities. They have not demanded appropriately sharp and focused school improvement plans from leaders. The governing body has relied heavily on external reports that have not always provided an accurate picture of the key actions needed to improve pupils’ progress.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. There is an extremely strong culture of safeguarding right across the school.
• Leaders diligently undertake all of the required checks to ensure the suitability of staff to work with pupils.
• Leaders’ systems for recording, monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of safeguarding procedures are excellent.
• Staff receive regular and appropriate training to ensure that they can recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse.
• Parents are fully involved in safeguarding arrangements. Links with other agencies are highly effective.
• Leaders ensure that they teach pupils to be safe. For example, pupils have sessions provided by the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), fire-safety training and a Bikeability programme. Pupils also undertake workshops on anti-bullying, autism awareness and children’s mental health.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Some teachers do not have sufficiently high expectations of what pupils can and should achieve. This includes providing sufficient challenge for the most able pupils.
• Some teachers do not always deal with pupils’ misconceptions as they arise. They do not use their assessment of where pupils are in their learning to ensure consistently good progress.
• On occasion, teachers do not plan learning that builds on pupils’ prior knowledge and understanding. Teachers do not provide enough activities that deepen pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding.
• Some teachers are not developing pupils’ skills in reading and mathematics to a high enough level. For example, in mathematics, pupils often get all of their work correct and are not challenged by re-working problems. Pupils themselves realise that they can and should achieve more.
• Leaders do not use the school’s assessment system rigorously enough to identify underachievement or to promote consistently high-quality teaching and learning.
• Teachers have focused on improving writing right across the school. Pupils are inspired to write and they do so with skill and competence.
• Pupils are willing to read in class and out of lessons. However, teachers are not developing pupils’ inference or decoding skills sufficiently well.
• Leaders and teachers are over-reliant upon additional out-of-class support sessions for some groups of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils. They do not ensure that teaching routinely meets pupils’ needs within the classroom.
• In some lessons, teachers do not ensure that pupils improve their work with sufficient depth to consolidate their learning.
• On occasion, teachers rely on prepopulated worksheets that do not meet the needs of pupils because these limit their thinking. These resources do not promote consistently strong learning and progress.
• Teachers provide pupils with plentiful opportunities to work in small groups and to collaborate. This is proving effective in developing their oracy skills.
• There are very strong relationships between teachers and pupils. Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour in every classroom. Routines are well established.
• Teachers regularly set pupils homework that helps them to extend their learning.
• Teaching assistants make a positive and effective contribution to pupils’ learning and progress.

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 pupils are safe in school. Teachers and other adults ensure that pupils know how to stay safe online and in the local community. Leaders are proactive and respond to any emerging issues relating to online technology as they arise.
• Leaders pay particular attention to pupils’ social and emotional health. They provide a very strong personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education programme. This, coupled with high-quality SMSC education, is effectively building pupils’ resilience, emotional intelligence and empathy.
• Pupils know how to keep themselves healthy and active. They particularly enjoy taking part in the wide range of sporting activities on offer. Leaders are working towards a local award that helps to make pupils aware of the risks of a range of issues, for example, obesity, alcohol, drugs and mental health.
• Pupils have the opportunity to take on plentiful leadership opportunities. For instance, some pupils are prefects, others are buddies, some run the ‘I love reading’ club and pupils in the ‘eco team’ enjoy helping their peers to look after the environment.
• Pupils model well the school’s Christian values of compassion, forgiveness, thoughtfulness, respect and trust. During the inspection, there was substantial evidence of pupils living out these values. In particular, they showed compassion and forgiveness towards each other.
• Pupils are continually developing their resilience, self-confidence and positive attitudes to learning. Occasionally, however, some pupils do not take sufficient pride in their work.
• The pastoral support team provides a wealth of additional support to parents. For example, parents have access to workshops on special educational needs, interpreter services and behaviour support sessions.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils’ attendance is good. The strong pastoral team supports pupils to attend school regularly. The proportion of pupils who are regularly absent from school is lower than the national average.
• Exclusions from school are extremely rare. There are practically no incidents of bullying, racism or homophobic behaviour. Leaders promote inclusivity and diversity among pupils at every opportunity.
• Leaders keep very comprehensive behaviour records. Each term, they review any issues that have arisen to ensure that they improve pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to learning further.
• Pupils’ behaviour in lessons is good. There is rarely any disruption. However, when teachers do not challenge pupils sufficiently, or do not address their misconceptions in learning, pupils’ attention drifts. Pupils lose focus and this slows their progress.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• By the end of key stage 2, pupils’ progress in reading and in mathematics for the last two years has been well below the national average. Leaders and governors have not acted quickly enough to stem the decline in pupils’ progress and attainment in these subjects.
• Current pupils also do not make consistently strong progress in reading and mathematics. According to the school’s own information, some pupils in a number of year groups have made slow progress since the start of the academic year.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities do not make consistently strong progress from their starting points. A significant minority of these pupils underachieve by the end of key stage 2.
• By the end of key stage 1, disadvantaged pupils make secure progress in their learning. However, by the end of key stage 2, disadvantaged pupils’ progress is well below that of other, non-disadvantaged pupils nationally. Leaders have not successfully removed barriers to learning for this group of pupils across key stage 2.
• The school’s own information is sometimes confused about how well groups of pupils are progressing and achieving. Leaders and teachers do not track different groups of pupils with sufficient rigour.
• In 2017, Year 6 pupils’ attainment in the spelling, punctuation and grammar test was well below the national average. Leaders are taking effective action to address this issue.
• Leaders do not prepare some pupils sufficiently well for the next stage of their education because pupils underachieve in relation to their starting points and capabilities.
• Pupils make very strong progress in writing. By the end of key stage 2, for the last three years, pupils’ progress in writing has been well above the national average.
• By the end of key stage 1, pupils’ attainment across subjects for the last three years has been broadly in line with the national averages.
• The vast majority of pupils pass the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1. Most of those who do not, catch up by the end of Year 2.
• Those pupils who speak English as an additional language make good progress from their different starting points. Teachers and other adults in the school provide effective support to this group of pupils.
• Pupils make good progress in the wider curriculum. Leaders have an appropriate assessment in place by which to measure pupils’ learning and progress in subjects such as history, geography, religious education, computing and design technology. A specialist teacher teaches pupils science and they now make good progress in this subject.

Early years provision Good

• The quality of education provided in Nursery and Reception classes is good and improving because of strong leadership and strong teamwork between teachers and other adults.
• Leaders evaluate the effectiveness of early years effectively and have secure plans to improve the quality of learning and progress further.
• Skilful teaching ensures that many children reach a good level of development from low starting points. The proportion of children who reach the expected standard by the end of early years is broadly in line with the national average.
• All classrooms, including the outdoor provision, are well organised, with well-planned activities that support all the areas of learning. For example, during science week, adults asked children to investigate objects that sink or float. Children had to record their findings, promoting early development of investigatory skills and good language development.
• Leaders plan the curriculum thoughtfully and carefully. For example, through the ‘Three Little Pigs’ story, children learned about which objects they could move by blowing them across a surface. They explored heavy and light objects.
• Staff have a good knowledge of how children learn and develop. As a result, they provide children with a wide range of stimuli to enthuse and inspire them to learn.
• Adults effectively support children’s development through well-crafted questions. Teachers and other adults model language very well for children.
• Teachers’ and other adults’ assessment of children’s progress is accurate. Children’s learning journeys demonstrate examples of good progress and development over time.
• Teachers and other adults ensure that children behave well in both the Nursery and Reception class.
• Parents take an active role in the early years provision. They value the work that the school does to support their children. They said that their children are safe, behave well and are very well taught.
• Leaders and teachers ensure that all statutory safeguarding requirements are met.

School details

Unique reference number 105501 Local authority Manchester Inspection number 10045158 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 3 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 237 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Eleanor Ward Headteacher Jane Parker Telephone number 0161 301 3268 Website www.stclementsprimary.co.uk Email address admin@st-clements.manchester.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 5–6 June 2014

Information about this school

• St Clement’s Church of England Primary School is an averaged-sized primary school.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is above the national average. However, the number of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is below the national average.
• The number of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above the national average.
• The school has full-time Nursery provision.
• The school met the government’s floor standards in 2017, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of key stage 2.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors formally observed teaching in lessons across early years and key stages 1 and 2. Shorter learning walks across a series of lessons were also undertaken.
• Inspectors undertook an in-depth analysis of pupils’ work in several subjects across the school. In addition, inspectors looked at a wide range of pupils’ work in lessons.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, members of the governing body, middle leaders, teachers, a recently qualified teacher, teaching assistants and pastoral support staff. A meeting was also held with the local authority school improvement officer.
• A range of documentation was scrutinised by the inspection team, including: the school’s own self-evaluation; the school improvement plan; the school improvement partner’s reports; departmental review documentation; records of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment; records of ongoing teacher training; minutes of meetings of the governing body; information about how well current pupils are progressing in their learning; analyses of past pupils’ performance and behaviour; and attendance records.
• Observations of pupils’ behaviour were undertaken before the start of the school day, at the end of the school day, during breaktimes and at lunchtimes. Inspectors met formally with a range of pupils from key stages 1 and 2.
• Inspectors considered 27 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and 27 free-text responses. Inspectors also considered 30 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and 31 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.

Inspection team

Jonathan Smart, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Sheila O’Keeffe Ofsted Inspector