Etchells Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching to raise pupils’ achievement further, by:
  • ensuring that teachers consistently ask questions which challenge pupils to think more deeply about their work
  • ensuring that teachers consistently provide the most able pupils with tasks which challenge them, particularly in mathematics.
• Work with pupils and families to improve attendance, particularly of those who are frequently absent.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• Clear, focused and determined leadership from the headteacher has led to rapid improvement across the school. Staff morale is high. The headteacher has successfully developed a culture of high expectations and ambition, with staff working together to ensure that the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement have improved significantly since the last inspection.
• Leadership at all levels is strong and leaders work in close collaboration with one another. As a result, the progress that pupils’ make is very carefully checked and any additional barriers to learning are quickly identified and tackled.
• The school also has a firm focus on promoting equality of opportunity so that all pupils can achieve well, irrespective of their backgrounds or starting points. Pupils in the resourced provision are an integral part of school life, more often than not working happily alongside their peers in school.
• Leaders with responsibility for different key stages and subjects have an accurate understanding of the strengths and areas for development in their areas of responsibility. Regular checks on the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress have led to improvements in the quality of teaching and provision across a wide range of subjects. As a result, pupils develop their skills very well. For example, the recent training on the use of the outdoor environment to promote geography and history has enhanced these areas of learning. Once changes have been made to the curriculum, leaders evaluate their success carefully.
• The curriculum is well planned. Teachers ensure that it is exciting, matches pupils’ interests and develops their skills across a range of subjects. A wide range of extra-curricular opportunities, including trips, visitors and work with other schools, enhances the curriculum. During the inspection, pupils in key stage 2 went to the cinema to watch ‘The BFG’ as part of their work, talking enthusiastically about the characters on their return. Older pupils were learning how to write computer programmes, designing their own computer game, showing very good understanding of technical language and confidently manipulating on-screen characters.
• The school’s system for checking on the performance of teachers is closely linked to improving pupils’ achievement. Leaders at all levels contribute to this. High-quality professional development and training are carefully linked to the needs of individual teachers as well as the school’s priorities. Staff work together to reflect on and share the best practice they observe. As a result, the quality of teaching has improved throughout the school.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very well planned for and is woven throughout the curriculum, including most subjects and personal, social and health education. Close links with the local mosque and church and opportunities to learn about a range of different religions and cultures extends pupils’ wider understanding. Pupils are able to discuss the rule of law, the role of the monarchy and also what leaving the European Union might mean for them, for example.
• Funding to support disadvantaged pupils is used very effectively. Each of these pupils has a detailed action plan, identifying needs and an allocation of resources. These are regularly checked by leaders and the governing body to establish how well pupils are doing and to identify swiftly any pupils who may be in danger of falling behind. Consequently, the differences between the standards reached by these pupils and other pupils nationally are lessening because their progress is good and sometimes outstanding.
• Primary physical education and sport funding has been used successfully to widen the range of sports on offer. Pupils have had opportunities to develop their skills in a range of different sports including lacrosse, dodgeball and karate. This has led to increased participation, including in after-school clubs and also success in local sports competitions. Work with Manchester City Football Club on disability sports is one example of the breadth of opportunity the funding has provided, with two pupils being selected to play in the wheelchair and amputee football teams.
• The support provided by the local authority has been effective. Leaders and staff have benefited from being part of a cluster of schools where good practice is shared and built upon. Work with consultants from the local authority has ensured rapid improvements in the quality of teaching and the effectiveness of middle leaders.
• The overwhelming majority of parents are highly supportive of the work of the school and their comments often refer to how the school has improved since the change of leadership around the time of the last inspection. Parents are consulted on and involved in the changes which are made at the school. A parents group, with representatives from each class, meets regularly. The group most recently discussed changes to the behaviour system and how to improve attendance, suggesting changes which have been successfully put into practice.

Governance of the school

• The governing body has high expectations of the school and has worked with the headteacher to set a culture of high ambition. The committee set up to check how well the school is doing has focused specifically on key areas for improvement and has ensured that leaders have been held stringently to account for the school’s performance.
• Governors have a very good understanding of the quality of teaching, the assessment information for different groups, including those eligible for pupil premium, and where there are any areas for development. They are very well informed and ask challenging and searching questions of leaders, often setting the area for focus for subsequent meetings.
• Governors have first-hand knowledge of the school and its performance through the visits they make, looking at pupils’ books and talking with pupils about their work.
• The governing body has a good understanding of its statutory duties and ensures that funding is appropriately and effectively used. It ensures that training is up to date and relevant to the experience and role of different governors.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Training is up to date, including the ‘Prevent’ duty training, which staff and governors attended together. Leaders are vigilant in following the school’s safeguarding procedures, including, when concerns are raised, liaising closely with the relevant external organisations. The governing body regularly undertakes audits for health and safety and safeguarding to ensure that the school’s practice is of a high quality. Parents have opportunities to attend information sessions on e-safety and the website provides them with additional information.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching has improved significantly since the last inspection so that it is now consistently good. ‘The Etchells Way’ has a firm focus on improving teaching and pupils’ achievement, with agreed expectations of presentation, marking and assessment. It is used consistently by staff.
• Pupils take great pride in their work and teachers’ high expectations mean that the standard of presentation in their books is usually high. The feedback, marking and guidance that pupils receive are of a high quality and support pupils in improving their work. This is particularly apparent in writing, where teachers’ clear comments and pupils’ responses show how the quality of their work improves. As a result, standards in writing are particularly strong.
• Marking across subjects is good. Teachers often ask pupils to explain their understanding of topics, such as the workings of the eye, to deepen their learning. Misconceptions are picked up quickly, for example in mathematics, where teachers identify mistakes and show pupils where they made an error. As a result, pupils’ learning improves.
• Pupils read well and enjoy reading for pleasure. Younger pupils use their phonics knowledge well to read unfamiliar words. Older pupils appreciate the importance of reading and can successfully find information implied in texts, such as in ‘Goodnight Mr Tom’. Pupils know they are expected to read regularly and that their teachers will check up on this.
• Pupils have good mathematical skills and are able to use these to work out problems in different contexts. Teaching builds well on pupils’ previous learning so they are able to apply what they have learned to answer more complex questions. Pupils in Year 5 were using their knowledge of factors to work out missing numbers in a sequence and in Year 6, pupils used their knowledge of negative numbers well to answer challenging problems.
• The use of a specialist teacher for computing ensures that pupils receive high-quality teaching which develops their programming skills well. Class teachers also learn from this specialist expertise. Skills in geography and history are taught well, with pupils learning about the growth of the Roman Empire in Year 4, for example.
• Teachers have good subject knowledge and use assessment information well to plan lessons which interest pupils and motivate them to learn. The majority of pupils work on tasks that enable them to think carefully and extend their learning. Sometimes, however, teachers do not provide the most able pupils with tasks that challenge deeply, particularly in mathematics.
• Teachers use questioning effectively to ask pupils to explain their answers and their reasoning. Pupils in Year 5, for example, were questioned about their understanding of e-safety and associated dangers. In many instances, this enhances pupils’ understanding and learning, but sometimes teachers do not challenge pupils to think deeply enough and this restricts their learning.
• Teaching assistants provide pupils, including the most able, with effective support which develops their understanding from their different starting points. They identify and correct misconceptions well and provide additional challenge through their roles in supporting different groups of pupils.
• Homework provides pupils with good opportunities to practise and develop their skills in reading, writing and mathematics as well as undertaking activities and tasks which build on their learning in the wider curriculum.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• The school has a calm and harmonious atmosphere where pupils play and mix happily with each other. Pupils are polite and well mannered – holding doors open for adults and being considerate of one another.
• Older pupils take their responsibilities seriously, whether they are ‘buddies’ to younger children, playground ‘squaddies’, keeping the school tidy as part of the ‘eco’ team or setting an example as head boy or head girl. Pupils on the ‘teaching and learning’ council look at aspects of learning, such as gathering views on what makes a ‘good’ lesson.
• Pupils feel safe in school and know that staff will keep them safe. They are very confident that staff will sort out any problems they may have and they know who they can talk to about them in school. Relationships between staff and pupils are very caring and supportive.
• Pupils who attend the resourced provision have well-planned and effective support that ensures that they develop their skills, both alongside their peers and in the resource base. Strong links with a range of specialist agencies support the physical, mental, social and emotional needs of the most vulnerable pupils.
• Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe and are very clear about the importance of keeping safe while using a computer. They understand about different types of bullying, including cyber bullying, and know that bullying is something that is repeated regularly. Pupils say that bullying is not something that happens often and that it is quickly dealt with.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and they work diligently and harmoniously together on different activities. They listen to one another carefully, take account of each other’s points of view and help one another with their learning. Pupils in Year 5 shared their ideas for a piece of writing, for example, sensibly discussing words and phrases that would enhance their work.
• Staff are very skilled at supporting the small number of pupils who sometimes find it difficult to manage their own behaviour. They calmly but firmly establish the parameters and expectations for learning, adapting their responses to each individual’s needs.
• Occasionally, pupils are not fully engaged in their learning and become distracted, which slows their learning. This is usually when the task is not well matched to their abilities or if they are waiting too long to start a task.
• Attendance is below average and has dipped slightly after showing a small improvement. The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent is above the national average. The school has worked hard to improve punctuality with good success. Good attendance is rewarded and the school works in partnership with the local authority attendance officers to support families. Nevertheless, some pupils do not attend regularly enough and too many are frequently absent.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Standards have improved since the last inspection. The majority of children begin school with skills that are below those typical for their age. Over the past four years, the proportion of pupils reaching a good level of development at the end of Reception has been increasing. In 2015, this was above the national figure and provisional data for 2016 shows that this has improved again.
• The work in pupils’ books, current in-school assessment information and other inspection evidence confirm that pupils make good progress across a wide range of subjects. Pupils are extending their science knowledge and developing their investigative skills; their history and geography skills are enhanced through effective cross-curricular links. Subject leaders check regularly on how well pupils are developing their skills in these and other areas.
• In 2015, the proportion of pupils reaching the expected level by the end of Year 2 improved and was similar to national averages in reading, writing and mathematics. The proportions of pupils reaching the higher levels in these subjects were above the national figures. This represents good progress from their different starting points. Unconfirmed information for 2016 shows that the majority of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, with approximately a third of pupils exceeding this.
• The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check was well above the national average in 2015. Information from 2016 shows that this has improved again. This is because children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 receive good-quality phonics teaching which is well matched to their different needs. Teachers and teaching assistants are well trained to deliver the sessions and work collaboratively to ensure that pupils are well supported and challenged.
• By the time they reach the end of Year 6, most pupils reach the standard expected of them and some do better than this. The majority of pupils make at least the progress expected of them. Although published data in 2015 shows that pupils’ progress was not as strong as it was in 2014, leaders analysed the reasons for this and swiftly tackled them. As a result, the provisional results for 2016 show that pupils made strong progress, particularly in reading and writing. The majority of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing, and mathematics and grammar, spelling and punctuation.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good and sometimes better progress. Staff are well trained in assessing their needs and providing the right support. The special educational needs coordinator, who is also the resource base teacher, ensures that provision is carefully mapped and checked.
• Pupils in the resource base are also well provided for. Assessments of their different needs are carefully made and checked, ensuring that they make good progress in their learning and other wider skills.
• Disadvantaged pupils make good progress, sometimes at a faster rate than other pupils nationally. Consequently, the attainment of disadvantaged pupils is improving and any differences are diminishing. This is because the funding for these pupils provides additional support and resources which are matched closely to their needs, including those who are most able.
• Pupils who speak English as an additional language make similarly good rates of progress to their peers because they are well supported.
• The most able pupils make good progress, especially in reading and writing, because teachers have high expectations of what they are capable of and plan activities which challenge them. In mathematics, however, teachers sometimes do not challenge these pupils as effectively as they could, and so they do not always make the best possible progress.

Early years provision Outstanding

• The majority of children join Nursery with skills which are below those typical for their age, particularly in reading, writing and their understanding of number. Over the last four years, children’s attainment has risen. Children now make rapid progress in the Nursery and Reception classes and by the end of the Reception Year the proportion reaching a good level development is above the national average. Children are extremely well prepared to start Year 1.
• Children settle very rapidly and quickly become confident because the systems, routines and expectations in the early years are well defined. Children are encouraged to be independent, helping one another with activities and tasks, and confidently exploring resources. One child, for example, helped a classmate take his jumper off rather than an adult doing this for him.
• Adults are very skilled in knowing when to intervene to move learning on and ask questions that encourage children to think for themselves and explain what they are finding out. In a Reception session, children were exploring magnets and their properties. Very effective questioning teased out children’s understanding of this and ensured that their understanding developed quickly.
• Teachers and teaching assistants know the children very well and the system in place to check how well children are doing and what they need to develop further is highly effective. All staff contribute to this and, as a result, activities are planned to match the differing needs of the children closely, including through independent tasks.
• Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are very well supported and develop their skills well alongside their peers. For children who start at the school with little or no English, a teaching assistant who is able to converse in their home language enables children to develop quickly, both in confidence and in learning English.
• Pupil premium funding is used to provide disadvantaged pupils with additional support and resources. Each child has a detailed plan to ensure that they are able to make the best possible progress, which is closely checked by leaders.
• Most-able children are given high levels of challenge and good support to ensure that they make rapid progress, particularly in developing their early reading, writing and mathematics skills. In one session, for example, a child was well supported in developing their learning about different shapes.
• The leadership of the early years is highly effective. Staff work collaboratively across the different classes and ensure that the quality of teaching and provision is of a consistently high standard. Careful analysis of how well children are doing and which areas need further development ensures that adults pinpoint different needs and challenge children effectively. The school recently provided more opportunities for children to write for different purposes and in different ways. This has paid dividends and resulted in significantly improved learning, especially in writing.
• Leaders and adults have high expectations of the children, including of their behaviour. Consequently, children behave well, learn how to share and take turns very well because these are consistently modelled by adults. Relationships are highly positive. Children are kept safe because all staff closely adhere to procedures and risk assessments.
• Parents are involved in their child’s learning from the outset. They are encouraged to contribute to their child’s learning and there are regular opportunities for parents to find out how well their child is doing. Parents are highly positive about the experience their children have in the early years.
• Best use is made of the outdoor learning environment to provide children with opportunities to explore and extend their skills. Plans are in place to extend and develop the outdoor provision.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 106045 Stockport 10019800 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 3–11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 417 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Rahilah Nazir Cathy Beddows 0161 437 1792 www.etchells.stockport.sch.uk headteacher@etchells.stockport.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 25–26 September 2014

Information about this school

• Etchells Primary School is larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The majority of pupils are of White British heritage. About a third of pupils are from minority ethnic groups, the majority of whom are of Pakistani heritage. A quarter of pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average but an above-average proportion have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan.
• The school has a resourced provision for eight pupils with specific learning needs.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• There is a privately run before- and after-school club on site which is inspected separately.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed pupils learning in a range of lessons and also looked at pupils’ work.
• The inspectors listened to pupils from four different year groups reading, and talked with them and other groups of pupils about their lessons and school life.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, other senior and middle leaders, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.
• The inspectors observed the school’s work and scrutinised documentation relating to pupils’ progress and the management of the school, including the arrangements to ensure that pupils are kept safe.
• Inspectors took account of the 46 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View) and spoke with several parents. The views of staff were also taken in to account, through 32 responses to an Ofsted questionnaire.

Inspection team

Vanessa MacDonald, lead inspector Lisa Morgan Nick Capron

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector