Mossfield Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that more pupils reach higher standards in English and mathematics by the end of Year 2 and Year 6 by more consistently providing pupils with challenging work across all year groups, including the early years.
• Ensure that all leaders of subjects, other than English and mathematics, have an accurate overview of standards in their subject to ensure that pupils make even stronger progress.
• Continue with leaders’ current strategies to reduce pupils’ rates of absence, persistent absence and exclusions further so that they match the national average.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher and his senior leaders have a clear view of the effectiveness of the school. They responded well to a decline in standards in recent, published assessment information for Year 2 and Year 6, specifically in reading. They analysed the assessment information accurately and put in place appropriate action plans for school development. As a result, there has been strong improvement in pupils’ achievement in reading in Year 2 and Year 6. The progress of almost all current pupils is good across a range of subjects.
• The headteacher and his team have created a warm and welcoming learning environment. Staff said that they are proud to work in the school, and they appreciate the training that senior leaders provide. Staff feel that it helps them to improve their practice. They also said that senior leaders are supportive and approachable and do all that they can to manage the workload of staff effectively.
• The school’s curriculum is broad and balanced. Leaders promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well through a range of activities, including educational visits and after-school clubs. They promote fundamental British values effectively through lessons, for example, in religious education. Leaders develop pupils’ understanding of equality well through, for example, a programme of activities that encourages respect for all people, regardless of their characteristics. Leaders are reflective and keen to find ways to enhance the curriculum further. Consequently, they have begun to revise its structure to broaden pupils’ experiences and deepen their learning.
• The school uses funding for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities effectively. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) organises provision for this group of pupils well and has a clear view of its strengths and areas for development. She has efficient systems in place to ensure that pupils receive the support that they need. She liaises well with outside agencies, such as those concerned with educational psychology or speech and language therapy. Consequently, current pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress.
• Leaders make effective use of pupil premium funding. They provide a range of extra activities, including individual tuition to support pupils’ learning in English and mathematics. As a result, current pupils who are disadvantaged make strong progress.
• Leaders make effective use of the primary school physical education and sport premium. Pupils have plenty of opportunities to take part in competitive sport. The school employs sports coaches successfully in order to enhance pupils’ experience of sport and to help staff develop their own skills.
• Leaders have effective systems in place for checking on pupils’ progress and ensuring that teachers are accountable for this. Senior leaders carry out activities such as lesson observations and feedback areas for improvement to staff. Termly meetings to check on pupils’ progress enable leaders to pinpoint extra support for pupils who may be falling behind. These actions contribute well to the good progress that pupils make across a range of subjects.
• The overwhelming majority of parents who spoke with the inspection team or responded to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the work of the school. They feel that their children make good progress and are happy and safe.
• Leaders of most subjects, including English and mathematics, are knowledgeable about the quality of education provided in their subject. They are clear about strengths and areas for development. They have efficient systems in place that enable them to have an overview of pupils’ progress in most subjects. Their actions effectively support the good progress that the majority of current pupils make. However, in a small number of subjects, leaders do not currently have an accurate enough view of standards.
• The proportion of pupils who are excluded from school has reduced since 2017, although it is above the national average. Leaders manage the process effectively. They have valid reasons for carrying out exclusions and only do so as a last resort. The school has an effective approach to behaviour management and the reintegration of excluded pupils, which ensures that there are few repeat exclusions.
• Leaders have taken effective action to halt the increase in the rate of pupils’ overall absence. They have also reduced the rate of pupils’ persistent absence. However, both these rates are above the national average.
• The local authority understands current standards in the school and provides a light level of support. This reflects the high degree of confidence it has in the leadership team to sustain the recent improvements in pupils’ progress.

Governance of the school

• Governors have greatly strengthened their scrutiny of standards in the school since the last inspection. They have a clear picture of how well pupils are performing and they receive valuable information from the headteacher to support their work. As a result, they make a valuable contribution to ensuring that the majority of pupils make good progress.
• Governors fulfil their responsibilities effectively. For example, they hold leaders to account well, asking searching questions about a range of pertinent topics, such as pupils’ progress and staffing matters. Consequently, they ensure that leaders secure good progress for the majority of pupils in the school.
• Governors are knowledgeable about safeguarding and have received appropriate training. They have a secure overview of the effectiveness of the school’s safeguarding procedures. They achieve this by having a dedicated safeguarding governor who keeps in regular contact with the school’s safeguarding lead. They also receive termly reports on safeguarding matters from the designated safeguarding lead, which they probe during meetings of the governing body. By these actions, they make sure that safeguarding in the school is effective.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders ensure that there is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. Staff know pupils well and are alert to changes in behaviour that may indicate safeguarding concerns. Pupils feel safe in school and trust adults to support them if they have any worries.
• Pupils know how to stay safe in school because adults teach them well. For example, pupils understand e-safety through a range of lessons and presentations that they receive throughout the year.
• Adults have a firm understanding of safeguarding procedures and know the signs of abuse. They receive effective training. This includes extra information connected to local issues, such as gang-related matters.
• The designated safeguarding lead keeps highly-detailed records of concerns in an electronic recording system. He takes prompt action and liaises with other agencies, such as children’s services, when necessary. Staff are fully conversant with the reporting and recording process.
• The school’s record of the necessary checks on members of staff is thorough and complies with the relevant guidance. Leaders follow appropriate procedures to ensure that they recruit staff safely.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Leaders have taken effective action to improve the teaching of reading, following the decline in performance in recent test results in Year 2 and Year 6. This includes a greater focus on the school’s guided reading sessions. The deputy headteacher is deployed as reading coordinator to keep a check on the quality of teaching and learning. Because of these actions, pupils’ progress in reading has greatly improved. The large majority of current pupils make strong progress because the quality of teaching is good.
• Teaching and learning are also effective in other subjects, including mathematics. Teachers mostly use their good subject knowledge to plan lessons that sustain pupils’ interest and deepen their understanding, according to their abilities. Sometimes, however, the learning does not match the abilities of a few pupils and they find the work too hard. In these circumstances, pupils can show a lack concentration, which leads to them being distracted from their task.
• There are positive relationships between staff and pupils, which are the result of teachers’ high expectations of pupils’ standards of conduct and work. Staff manage pupils’ behaviour well, which ensures that little learning time is lost. Pupils are clear about classroom routines and adhere to them well. The vast majority of pupils show positive attitudes to their learning. Many discuss their work with each other enthusiastically and help each other when required.
• Teachers and other adults make effective use of questioning. They encourage pupils to think carefully about what they are doing and probe their understanding well. Adults also give pupils useful feedback to support their learning. They mainly intervene promptly to correct pupils’ misconceptions and to help them understand.
• Teachers deploy teaching assistants effectively to support least-able pupils, including those who have SEN and/or disabilities. This contributes to the good progress that this group of pupils make.
• Teachers provide some challenging work for the most able pupils, but this is not consistent. In mathematics, for example, there are sometimes not enough opportunities for most-able pupils to grapple with more complex concepts that entail a deeper level of reasoning and understanding.
• Teachers ensure that pupils have opportunities to use their English skills in other subjects. For example, in key stage 1, they write facts about India in geography. In key stage 2, they have opportunities to discuss interesting questions, such as ‘Would it be a good idea if money fell from the sky?’ However, there are fewer opportunities for pupils to use their mathematical skills in other subjects.

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 safe in school and know how to stay safe. They have adults that they can talk to if they have any worries. Teachers provide them with the information that they need to stay safe online. The school arranges for visitors to come to school to talk to pupils about various aspects of staying safe.
• Pupils enjoy the educational trips and the clubs that the school provides. These activities support their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively and promote a good understanding of fundamental British values. Pupils visit different places of worship, such as a Sikh temple. They also take part in a range of clubs, such as fitness, football and chess. Pupils understand issues about equality and can make contrasts with other countries. They recognise, for example, that in some countries girls do not have the opportunity to go school.
• Pupils say that there is very little bullying in school. They are confident that adults would deal with any incidents as effectively as they manage the occasional disagreements that happen between pupils in the playground.
• Most pupils show pride in their work and take care with its presentation. They also show pride and enjoyment when talking about their learning.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils typically display good conduct around school, which is an orderly environment. They understand staff’s expectations about moving around in the corridors and the hall. Pupils play well together at breaktimes and consider each other’s needs.
• Pupils’ overall absence rate has been rising in recent years and, by 2017, was above the national average. Leaders have introduced a range of strategies to address this issue. These include rewards for pupils who have high attendance and meetings with parents to discuss and address poor attendance. Leaders also work closely with the local authority’s attendance officer, who makes visits to pupils’ homes as necessary. Leaders’ strategies are beginning to have a positive effect, as the overall absence rate has stopped rising.
• Pupils’ persistent absence rate has also increased recently and, in 2017, was above the national average. Leaders have applied the strategies described above to address the problem. Their efforts have seen some success, as the most recent rate of persistent absence has reduced. There are, however, several pupils who have had long-term illnesses, or are members of the Traveller community. When these pupils are removed from the figures, the rate of persistent absence is further reduced and is closer to the national average.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Evidence from pupils’ work and from unvalidated national assessment information for 2018 shows that there has been a marked improvement in pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 2 and Year 6, compared to the previous year. This is particularly noticeable in reading and comes a result of the stronger teaching that leaders have secured through their strategies for improvement.
• Pupils’ work and the school’s own assessment information show that most current pupils make good progress across a range of subjects, including English and mathematics. They are well prepared for the next stage of their education. However, sometimes the most able pupils do not do work that is sufficiently challenging. The proportion of pupils who reach the higher standards in national tests in English and mathematics, though improving, is still below the national average.
• Pupils who are disadvantaged make strong progress from their starting points. Leaders successfully provide various activities to support this group of pupils, such as extra sessions in mathematics or English. The progress of disadvantaged pupils in reading, writing and mathematics is improving towards that of other pupils nationally.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make strong progress. The support activities that the SENCo organises contribute well to the progress that these pupils make. Leaders regularly evaluate the effectiveness of these activities to ensure that they meet pupils’ needs appropriately.
• From low starting points, pupils in Year 1 make good progress in phonics. Although the proportion reaching the expected standard is below the national average, it is improving over time. Approximately three quarters of pupils in Year 1 met the expected standard in the phonics check in 2018. Typically, by the end of Year 2, the proportion of pupils meeting the standard is in line with the national average. Pupils use their knowledge of phonics well to help them read with fluency and accuracy appropriate to their age and ability. The majority of pupils read widely and often and show good levels of comprehension. Leaders give reading a high priority. They have created displays around school to promote it and have provided many new books to stimulate pupils’ interest.
• Pupils make good progress in other subjects as well as English and mathematics, acquiring knowledge, understanding and skills effectively. For example, in geography, pupils in key stage 2 can explain features of volcanoes and can read maps, using coordinates. In religious education in key stage 1, pupils find out about different faiths and have the opportunity to think about their different features. Sometimes, however, most-able pupils do not have opportunities to complete challenging work.

Early years provision Good

• Children come into the early years with skills and knowledge that are below those that are typical for their age. The percentage of children achieving a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year has improved over time. In 2018, the proportion was close to the most recent national average. This represents good progress and most children are well prepared for Year 1.
• Workbooks show that children make good progress. For example, they develop their writing well, showing continuous improvement in the way they form their letters. By the end of the Reception Year, some can write in simple paragraphs, showing good phonics knowledge in their spelling.
• The leader of the early years is experienced and has been in post for some time. She has a clear and accurate picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the provision. She devises action plans that identify areas for development, such as strengthening boys’ writing, which she has identified recently. She has thorough systems in place for checking on pupils’ progress. She uses this information to plan for pupils’ needs effectively, including those who are disadvantaged and those who have SEN and/or disabilities.
• Children behave well. They show that they feel safe through their positive attitudes and their confidence to approach trusted adults. The welfare requirements are met and staff follow the same safeguarding policy and procedures as the rest of the school. There are always members of staff present who are trained paediatric first aiders.
• Parents play an important part in their child’s education and development. Leaders involve them in activities to support their child’s entry to Nursery, such as ‘playgroup afternoons’ in the summer term before starting nursery. Leaders also hold morning reading sessions and evening workshops to keep parents aware of aspects of their child’s learning. Parents are supportive of the work of the early years staff.
• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good. Teachers mostly plan and teach interesting activities that are demanding enough for the majority of pupils. They also follow children’s interests wherever possible. For example, during the inspection, windy weather led to teachers adapting their plans to enable children to make kites, which they enjoyed flying. Sometimes, however, teachers do not provide work that sufficiently challenges the most able children, most noticeably in mathematical work.
• Teachers question children effectively to encourage them to think about their work or to assess their understanding. When teaching assistants are deployed to observe children and make assessments of their progress, this contributes to the children making good progress. Just occasionally, however, teaching assistants are less focused than they could be on making sure children deepen their learning.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 105925 Salford 10037782 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 Community 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 398 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Craig Reaper David Magee Telephone number 0161 921 2160 Website Email address www.mossfieldps.salford.sch.uk mossfield.primaryschool@salford.gov.uk Date of previous inspection 29–30 April 2014

Information about this school

• The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils who come from minority ethnic backgrounds is in line with the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is in line with the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who receive support for their SEN and/or disabilities is approximately twice the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is below average.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support through pupil premium funding is twice the national average.
• A small proportion of pupils belong to the Traveller community.
• A breakfast club and an after-school club are provided on-site. These are managed by a private provider and are subject to a separate inspection.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors carried out observations of learning in all year groups. Some of these were joint observations with the headteacher. The headteacher and the deputy headteacher were present at inspection team meetings.
• A range of documentation was scrutinised, including: the school’s self-evaluation summary, action plans for school improvement, records of the monitoring and evaluation of teaching and learning, assessment information, minutes of meetings of the governing body and records connected with the safeguarding of children.
• Inspectors had discussions with: various stakeholders, the headteacher, senior leaders, subject leaders, other members of staff, the chair and other members of the governing body, a representative of the local authority, parents and pupils.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read and analysed pupils’ work in a range of subjects. They also looked at the work of children in the early years.
• Inspectors evaluated 14 responses received through Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, during the inspection. There were no other survey responses.

Inspection team

Mark Quinn, lead inspector Doreen Davenport Erica Sharman

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector