Manor Green Primary Academy Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching and learning by:
  • identifying strategies to further challenge the most able and the most able disadvantaged pupils to achieve the highest standards in mathematics
  • refining the use of assessment of pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding to better inform the next steps in their learning.
• Strengthen the quality of leadership and governance by ensuring that:
  • middle leaders are provided with the necessary information to allow them to monitor their areas of responsibility effectively
  • governors question the impact of funding for disadvantaged pupils to make sure that these pupils achieve the best outcomes possible.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• School leaders have recognised the reasons for the low standards and progress experienced by the school in 2016. Leaders were slow to recognise the depth of understanding required for the new curriculum assessments and, therefore, expectations for pupils’ attainment were too low. There was a false sense of security about the quality of teaching and learning at the school until the rigour of the new assessment arrangements exposed weaknesses in teaching and learning. Senior leaders have rapidly and effectively tackled underperformance in both teaching and leadership. The multi-academy trust has provided frequent opportunities for staff to develop their skills through training opportunities and by visiting other schools. Consequently, expectations about the standards that pupils should reach have been raised and the current progress of pupils is good.
• Clearer processes for managing the performance of teachers have been put in place to hold teachers to account for the progress of pupils in their classes. This has been effective in communicating higher expectations to staff, who are motivated to achieve more challenging targets. Staff are positive about the opportunities to develop their own knowledge and skills.
• As part of the school’s drive to set higher aspirations, pupils are encouraged to talk about how they are learning. In particular, pupils in key stage 2 have a stronger sense of what they are learning and are more articulate when reflecting upon their work. They are making good progress from their starting points in a range of subjects.
• The school is using the funding for disadvantaged pupils to employ a speech and language therapist to improve the quality of pupils’ speech and their listening skills, particularly in the early years. The renewed focus on pupils’ outcomes means that staff have a much sharper focus on disadvantaged pupils’ progress and because of the higher expectations that leaders have set, they make better progress than other pupils.
• In mathematics, leaders have introduced a new approach that allows all pupils, regardless of ability, to attempt to solve some of the harder learning challenges. This approach ensures that all groups make good progress, particularly middle-ability pupils. However, it does not offer the challenge to stretch the thinking of some of the most able pupils well enough. This has already been recognised by school leaders as an area for improvement.
• Although the school does not receive any additional funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, leaders have ensured that pupils who require additional help are supported by teaching assistants who question pupils well in order to improve their learning.
• The curriculum is well planned through carefully thought-out themes which are delivered in an exciting and motivational way. Pupils have opportunities to develop their knowledge, understanding and skills in a wide range of subjects and this is supplemented by a range of extra-curricular activities.
• Leaders promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Pupils display a good awareness of other faiths and have had opportunities to visit museums and other places of cultural interest. Pupils show a good understanding of British values. This understanding is supported by memorable activities such as transforming their classroom into the House of Commons so that they can create their own ‘bill’. They are respectful of other’s differences, views and opinions.
• Since the publication of the 2016 results, senior leaders have overhauled the school’s assessment and tracking systems. A more accurate system is now providing senior leaders with a good overview of the progress of pupil groups within the school. Middle leaders have an accurate view of their subjects because they have visited other schools and so can measure their own effectiveness against these examples. However, teachers’ assessment of pupils’ achievements is not refined enough to make sure that pupils move swiftly on to more challenging work, particularly in mathematics. This also means that middle leaders do not have easy access to pupil progress information that would assist them in identifying areas for improvements in their subjects.

Governance of the school

• Governors maintain a broad overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the school and are aware of the recent reasons for underperformance. They have ensured that there are strong arrangements for the management of the performance of staff and have supported leaders in setting higher expectations within the school. They manage the performance of the headteacher rigorously by setting challenging targets for improvement.
• Governors know how the funding to develop sports within the school is providing a wider range of competitive activities for pupils to participate in. They know how popular the sports competitions are with pupils and that these are complemented by specialist coaching which is improving the quality of pupils’ physical education.
• Governors ask relevant questions in meetings to gain a better understanding of how the school is improving. They have a good awareness of how well different pupil groups are progressing but have not fully unpicked how the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is making a difference to pupils’ progress and standards.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The leadership of safeguarding is highly effective in communicating the school’s policies and systems so that these are understood by all. Staff are trained about a wide range of issues and receive frequent updates from members of the safeguarding team, for example on the outcomes of serious case reviews. The result is that the culture within the school is one of constant vigilance.
• There is good partnership working with other agencies, and school leaders are tenacious in championing the needs of pupils above all else. Any concerns are referred to the appropriate body swiftly and followed up to ensure that pupils have access to the services that they need.
• Pupils feel safe in school. They display a good awareness of online safety and have made the connections between how making the right moral choices can keep them safe from extremist views. They are well informed and have very mature attitudes towards keeping themselves and each other safe.
• The school has a learning mentor who responds swiftly to any concerns left in the school’s worry box. All pupils speak enthusiastically about the work she does to ensure pupils’ emotional well-being.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The good relationships between staff and pupils mean that pupils engage well in lessons and time is used productively.
• In mathematics, the expectation that pupils will apply their skills with greater independence is becoming an integral part of their learning. Pupils talk about their level of mastery and are given sufficient time to practise their skills.
• Senior leaders track pupils’ progress, which highlights pupils who need support to catch up. These interventions provide pupils with opportunities to familiarise themselves with the content of some of their learning prior to it being formally taught in lessons. This has impacted well on pupils’ self-esteem. The result of this is seen in increasing rates of progress for pupils, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Pupils receive homework from the earliest stages of their education and this is set in line with the lessons from that week. Pupils understand the importance of their homework and are enthusiastic to use the online resources that the school provides for their mathematics work. This helps to consolidate pupils’ understanding as well as informing parents about what has been taught that week. Parents are happy about the information they receive from school and believe that their children make good progress.
• The teaching of phonics is good. From a low level of language acquisition on entry, pupils make good progress to read with increasing fluency by the end of key stage 1 and with greater understanding and expression as they move through key stage 2.
• When writing, pupils are provided with high-quality texts upon which to base their work. This means that they have been provided with a model of good practice. They draft and redraft their work, continually improving their writing as they go. Pupils’ work clearly shows that they are making good progress. Pupils are challenged to write with flair and imagination in order to reach the highest standards. However, in some pieces of work, there are inaccuracies in basic punctuation and spelling that have gone uncorrected.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well through the use of teaching assistants who question pupils’ understanding effectively to move their learning along at a good pace.
• Pupils’ topic books and science work allow them to hypothesise and test out ideas. They have opportunities to practise their writing work, for example when explaining ‘why we have day- and night-time’ at the same time as learning key scientific terminology. Cross-curricular topics, such as the Year 6 study of the Second World War, promote pupils’ independent thinking by posing big questions about the cause of the war. These also bring learning to life by providing a rich context that captures pupils’ imaginations. Inspectors witnessed the enthusiasm of Year 1 pupils who worked with their parents to design rockets as part of a workshop in the school hall. In another Year 2 topic, pupils experimented with how to join materials before creating and evaluating their designs for puppets.
• However, the approach to assessing pupils’ learning against the knowledge, skills and understanding taught in lessons is not consistent. Targets in the front of books are not used well and, at times, this leads to a lack of clarity when teachers identify pupils’ next steps. Although, in general, pupils progress well, the work in their books sometimes does not show this. Some of the most able, and most able disadvantaged pupils, are not challenged to the full extent.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils take pride in being part of the school. The work done by staff to boost pupils’ confidence has a positive effect on pupils’ love of learning as well as their progress. Pupils are developing a sense of what it means to be a successful learner because the school helps them to think about how they can improve their own work.
• Pupils are aware of the learning mentor who is available to them should they have any concerns. Pupils light up when discussing her role because she responds to their concerns with compassion and understanding. The learning mentor checks the school’s worry box daily and responds to pupils quickly to make sure that the school looks after their emotional well-being. Consequently, pupils feel safe in school with, for example, one describing it as her ‘second home’.
• Pupils have a good awareness of other faiths. This is reflected in displays around the school and celebration books that show the full range of activities that promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education. Displays also promote British values in sport. The curriculum themes include topics on Fair Trade and debating the moral implications of historical actions. Pupils receive careers advice in the form of the school's ‘aspirations week’, when different visitors are invited to talk about their jobs, such as vets, engineers and pharmacists.
• Pupils know how to keep themselves safe from harm. They believe that they are able to approach staff with their problems. They are aware of different forms of bullying because the school teaches them about respecting others. Pupils say that there is no bullying because issues are tackled head-on by the staff at the school. One example of this is how leaders tackled the use of derogatory language by arranging a workshop for pupils, educating parents through newsletters and imposing sanctions on pupils who persisted in calling others names. Pupils now have a better understanding of the issue and they report that any derogatory language is now exceptionally rare.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• By Year 6, pupils aspire to become play leaders at lunchtimes. Play leaders’ behaviour sets an example to the rest of the school. The older pupils regulate the behaviour of younger pupils, passing on any concerns to staff as necessary.
• In lessons, pupils engage with their own learning and there are no incidents of disruptive behaviour. On the rare occasions where pupils switch off from their work, they do not disrupt the learning of others.
• Attendance is broadly in line with national averages. The school has worked on reducing the persistent absence of targeted pupils, with success being based on establishing positive relationships between the school and home. Strategies to achieve this include conducting home visits and inviting parents to informal coffee mornings.
• Pupils conduct themselves well around the school, and at playtimes they are sensible and well behaved. However, they bemoan the lack of equipment or activities to keep them engaged during playtimes and lunchtimes.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• The school experienced significantly low standards and progress in 2016. This was due to a lack of awareness among leaders about the rigour of the new curriculum. Currently, pupils are making strong progress because of the swift actions taken by the headteacher to remedy the weaknesses in the school’s provision. The work seen in a range of pupils’ books across the curriculum supports this.
• The focus on children’s speech and language in the early years means that children are better prepared for Year 1 because they are able to form more letter sounds correctly. The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check increased in 2016 to be slightly lower than the national average.
• Disadvantaged pupils are making good progress due to a renewed focus on the use of the additional funding that the school receives. This has been reviewed to provide better support for pupils’ learning, the impact of which is seen in the progress pupils make in their writing and mathematics exercise books.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make at least good progress from their starting points and often make better progress than their peers. Their work is heavily assisted at times but this support enables them to achieve well.
• By the end of key stage 2, pupils are beginning to reflect well on their own learning and they display the maturity and awareness of others that prepare them well for the next stages of their education.
• Pupils achieve well across the curriculum. Themes that interest and engage pupils are well planned and the cross-curricular writing is of the standard seen in pupils’ literacy books.
• Pupils make good progress and achieve well in mathematics. However, leaders agree that the most able and the most able disadvantaged pupils can be challenged even further.

Early years provision Good

• The leadership of the early years is strong. Opportunities to share good practice across the multi-academy trust have been effective in supporting leaders’ awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the early years. As a result, leaders have prepared clear action plans for improvement. Leaders have provided support to ensure that recent staffing changes have strengthened the quality of teaching and learning in the early years.
• Leaders use the early years pupil premium to target the development of children’s language skills, which are typically below those expected for their age upon entry to the school. The use of a speech and language therapist is successful in ensuring that children can clearly form basic sounds. Other areas of intervention are based upon the individual needs of each child.
• In Nursery, children develop independence by following clear routines. Staff model positive relationships and they make learning fun so that children’s progress moves on at a brisk pace. Children are kept fully focused on their activities and as a result they behave well. Children work independently and creatively, for example when designing their own Easter egg. Children are clear about the expectations that staff have of them about sharing and using resources. They communicate well with each other and listen carefully during role-play activities.
• Reception staff have high expectations for children’s transfer to Year 1. This is exemplified by teachers who model and support children’s writing when preparing them for Year 1. The proportion of children meeting the age-related standard for writing has increased over the last three years because children’s progress from making marks to writing in simple sentences has been more rapid. This has been effective in increasing the number of children achieving a good level of development by the end of their Reception Year, which is now only slightly lower than the national average.
• Children’s books accurately chart their progress through a wide range of interesting activities. Their work shows clear progress in all aspects of learning, particularly in their writing and mathematics work. Many children are making good progress towards meeting or exceeding the standards expected for their age by the end of Reception.
• The attractive outdoor area is well organised and encourages children to investigate and devise their own learning. For example, Reception children build obstacle courses and time each other as they complete circuits of it. Adults interact well with children to encourage further learning, for example by children timing their own heart rate. However, during the inspection, Nursery children were observed to use only a small, cramped corner of the outdoor area that has been fenced off for their use. This limited space is not able to provide the quality and range of learning available for Reception children, although school leaders informed the inspection team that Nursery children do have regular access to the larger outdoor area.
• Parents are positive about the early years provision. Leaders are proactive in engaging with parents as early as possible by holding informal coffee mornings. Leaders encourage parents to be involved with their child’s education through events and regular updates in children’s homework books.
• Safeguarding in the early years is vigilant and all statutory requirements are met. All staff receive training and support regularly to keep children safe.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 142286 Tameside 10026785 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 Number of pupils on the school roll Academy converter 3 to 11 Mixed 462 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Principal Telephone number Website Email address Mr Mark Gaunt Mrs Jackie Lomas 0161 3365864 www.manorgreenprimaryacademy.co.uk j.lomas@focus-trust.co.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• The school converted to an academy in October 2015. The school is a member of the Focus Trust, a charitable multi-academy trust.
• In 2016, the school did not meet the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of Year 6.
• Manor Green Primary Academy is larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The percentages of pupils from minority ethnic groups and of pupils who speak English as an additional language are below the national averages.
• The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals is above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average, although there are no pupils who have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching in each class. This included shorter visits made jointly with the headteacher as well as longer observations to observe the work of classes from Nursery to Year 6.
• Inspectors examined a range of pupils’ work across the curriculum and heard pupils read.
• Inspectors spoke to pupils formally in groups and informally around school.
• Inspectors spoke with parents and took into account the views of 46 parents who completed Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View.
• Inspectors made observations of pupils’ behaviour during lessons, at lunchtime and when pupils were moving in and around the school.
• Meetings were held with staff, governors, senior leaders and middle leaders.
• Inspectors considered a range of documentation, including the school’s evaluation of its own performance and its areas for development.
• Inspectors looked at attendance and behaviour records, including records of bullying incidents.
• Inspectors reviewed safeguarding documentation and considered how this related to daily practice, as well as speaking with staff and pupils.

Inspection team

Steve Bentham, lead inspector Doreen Davenport Deborah Bailey Clare McGarey Linda Griffiths

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