Morelands Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management by:
  • refining and embedding the school’s new tracking and performance management systems
  • ensuring that governors have reliable performance information in order to hold leaders and teachers to account for continued improvements
  • continuing to improve outcomes for all groups of pupils in English and mathematics
  • improving the level of challenge and consistency of teaching in science and the foundation subjects
  • developing the skills of subject leaders so that they successfully contribute to improvements in their subjects.
• Continue to improve teaching and learning so that it is consistently good across the school by:
  • ensuring that teachers make effective use of assessment information to pitch work at the right level, particularly for pupils with low prior attainment and the most able pupils, so that no time is wasted
  • ensuring that teachers have consistently high expectations across the curriculum
  • making sure that the school’s wide range of outdoor learning activities better promote deeper thinking and increased pupil engagement.
• Enhance pupils’ outcomes by:
  • refining provision for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND so that these groups make strong progress from their starting points
  • enriching and improving assessment and the learning environment in early years
  • ensuring that learning activities motivate and engage boys to make stronger progress from their starting points
  • raising the level of challenge so that more pupils achieve the higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6 than in the past
  • ensuring that the curriculum sequentially develops pupils’ depth of knowledge and breadth of skills in science and the wider curriculum. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how the school may improve this aspect of its work.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Standards declined significantly in 2016. Leaders instigated some improvements and although overall progress recovered to be broadly in line with the national average, the progress of boys, disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND was poor. Last year there was some significant staffing turbulence and, in addition, the headteacher left in October 2018. Since taking over as acting headteacher, the previous deputy headteacher has bought much-needed clarity and vision and, together with his senior leaders, has reinvigorated staff. Working with the local authority he has swiftly identified the school’s shortcomings and is systematically reviewing and improving the school’s systems.
• Current leaders and governors have an accurate understanding of the strengths and the weaknesses of the school and a passion to improve standards. Governors have recruited a new substantive headteacher to start next term.
• Until recently, leaders’ and governors’ checks on the quality of teaching and learning have been ineffective. In the past, the school’s monitoring systems had not ensured that all teachers had sufficiently high expectations in English and mathematics. Consequently, standards in key stages 1 and 2 declined. Assessment and tracking systems have not been sufficiently robust or accurate enough to ensure that teachers can make immediate changes to their teaching so that all groups of pupils make good progress. This has been a significant barrier to school improvement.
• The curriculum lacks breadth and depth in science and some foundation subjects. Currently pupils do not achieve consistently well across all year groups and in different areas of the curriculum. Training is required to improve teachers’ subject knowledge and enable better planning which sequences the key knowledge, vocabulary and skills that pupils need across the curriculum.
• The local authority has been proactive in implementing a comprehensive package of support for interim senior leaders and a range of appropriate training and support for teachers. There are pockets of strong teaching and learning, most notably in upper key stage 2. However, it is too soon for new leaders’ improved systems to have rooted consistently good teaching, learning and assessment across the school.
• Following the turbulence in staffing, some aspects of middle leadership have been shared between two or three members of staff, and other middle leaders are relatively new to their roles. Subject leaders and the special educational needs coordinator know that changes are required. They are determined to do their jobs well and are stepping up to the challenge.
• Over time, teachers’ assessments have been inaccurate. Responding to this, leaders have supported training, improved assessment and moderation and have better collaboration with other schools. However, the school’s systems are too new to have had a significant impact on raising standards. Current pupils’ books show that in-school assessments and tracking systems are not yet accurate enough to reliably track the ongoing progress of different groups of pupils.
• Senior leaders have worked hard to ensure that some aspects of the pupil premium funding are used effectively. For example, funding allocated for improving family liaison and pupils’ language skills has had a positive impact on pupils’ self-esteem and communication skills. However, weaknesses in teaching and a limited range of interventions for disadvantaged pupils mean that they do not achieve as well as they should.
• Leaders rightly identify that pupils with SEND frequently have complex and multiple needs. Leaders ensure that funding is used to provide a range of useful individual support for those identified with SEND and for those pupils who attend the school’s specialist resource provisions. However, there are variations in the quality of teaching and assessment and in the deployment of teaching assistants. This means that these pupils do not make sufficiently strong progress over time, particularly in the younger year groups.
• The school offers a welcoming and friendly place for parents and visitors and sends regular newsletters home. Most parents reported that they are happy with the levels of communication from staff and feel that their child is well supported by the school.

Governance of the school

• Recognising the decline in standards, governors took decisive action to challenge the quality of leadership, teaching and learning over the past year. Since last year, in addition to appointing the new substantive headteacher, the governing body has recruited new members and embraced training and support from the local authority.
• The governing body is striving for improvements in the school’s outcomes. Many members of the governing body visit the school regularly. They ask challenging questions, understand the school’s priorities and have worked with leaders to devise a more detailed improvement plan. They are rightly proud of the school’s inclusive nature and are keen to drive improvements to leadership, teaching and learning.
• Governors are aware that the school needs to improve the progress made by different groups of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, those with SEND and the most able. Governors are aware that assessment and tracking systems are new and currently unreliable and are working with new leaders and the local authority to improve these. As these systems improve, governors intend to implement their plans for a more detailed and informed monitoring programme so that they can better hold leaders and teachers to account for improved outcomes.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Most parents and staff who responded to Ofsted’s surveys, and those who spoke with inspectors, stated clearly that the school is safe and that pupils are happy here. Pupils feel confident that staff can resolve any concerns that they may have.
• During the inspection, a range of teaching and support staff confirmed that they receive regular and thorough safeguarding training. They are knowledgeable about the school’s procedures for raising any welfare or child protection concerns.
• Although some aspects of record-keeping could be refined, the school’s systems for safeguarding are robust. Staff ensure that they work with external agencies, where appropriate, to support vulnerable pupils and their families. An effective team approach involving teachers, leaders and office staff ensures that all pupils are kept safe.
• All the school’s employment checks are in place, in line with statutory requirements.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The quality of teaching reading, writing and mathematics across the school is inconsistent and not as strong as it tends to be in Year 6. Sometimes teachers do not offer sufficient challenge, particularly for the most able. Often, pupils of different abilities complete the same work. This means that some, especially the most able, complete tasks which are too easy, while others can struggle to complete tasks set.
• Assessment is not used well enough to help teachers to plan appropriately challenging work in writing and mathematics. Some teachers do not check what pupils can do carefully enough and do not plan work which is matched to pupils’ learning needs or which builds on their prior learning. This leads to some pupils finding the work either too easy or too hard and does not help pupils, especially the most able, to make strong progress.
• Staff in the school’s two specialist resource provisions for pupils who have SEND know the children well. Strong relationships help to support pupils gaining language and communication skills. However, in line with the rest of the school, assessment is not used well enough to ensure that the work set is always sufficiently challenging. This means that pupils are not making the progress over time that they are capable of.
• Some teachers lack the subject knowledge needed to plan lessons across the curriculum that will help pupils understand what they are learning. In some classes, pupils do not have the knowledge and skills they need to complete tasks or do not move on to more challenging work.
• Some teachers accept poorly presented work and do not ensure that pupils refine and improve their work in line with the school policy when they have made errors. Some pupils do not take enough pride in their work and teachers’ expectations of pupils’ handwriting, spelling, punctuation and grammar are not consistently high enough. As a result, pupils’ progress over time is inconsistent.
• The teaching of phonics has improved over recent years and the proportion of pupils reaching the level required by the end of Year 1 is in line with the national average. Positive relationships and clear explanations by staff ensure that pupils develop the skills of segmenting and blending. This ensures that most pupils in key stage 1 can read unknown words accurately and become fluent and keen readers. Pupils’ guided reading books in Year 6 show that they read widely and often.
• The effect of teaching assistants on pupils’ learning is variable in different classrooms. Where activities are well planned by teachers, additional adults in the class have a greater impact on the progress pupils make.
• The school has a focus on providing outdoor learning opportunities. However, the quality of learning during these activities is variable and time isn’t always used effectively for all groups of pupils. Where teaching is strongest, staff use engaging contexts and challenging questions to make pupils think. Activities are planned to challenge pupils to apply and reflect on what they already know. In the best examples, teachers adapt learning following the outdoor experiences to support pupils to deepen their knowledge and improve their work.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils say that they feel safe and secure in school, and they are. They can confidently recall how to keep themselves safe, including when accessing the internet.
• Pupils show respect for one another and for adults in the school. They are aware of the need for rules and consequences. Pupils say that there is very little teasing or bullying of any kind, and that they are confident that adults will always listen and intervene to put a stop to any unkind behaviour.
• Pupils have a keen sense of equalities and have appropriate opportunities to learn about British values. They also learn about different faiths and cultures through religious education. Pupils are proud to take responsibility for running different aspects of the school, for example through being on school council, house captains, librarian or as ‘official helpers’. Consequently, pupils develop self-confidence, a sense of community and are well prepared for life in diverse modern Britain.
• Sports funding is used appropriately to improve pupils’ engagement and participation in sporting activities. The school hires specialist teachers and coaches to deliver lessons as well as offer guidance for staff. Through the curriculum and clubs, Morelands provides opportunities for pupils to engage in a range of sports, including athletics, gymnastics and various team sports. As a result, pupils develop a sense of teamwork and learn how to keep themselves fit and healthy.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. The acting headteacher has refined the behaviour policy and brought about improvements to behaviour across the school. Throughout the school, pupils know what is expected of them and behave well in lessons and around school. They are polite, respectful and display good manners.
• Most pupils and their parents are positive about behaviour at the school and agree that it is typically good.
• Pupils socialise well together and look after each other. They are proud of their school and respectful of others’ beliefs. Typically, there is little disruption to learning in lessons, although at times pupils lose attentiveness when the work is not suitable for their needs. When this happens, some chatter can slow the pace of learning.
• Leaders promote the value of good attendance well. Overall attendance, and that of different groups, is in line with, or above, the national average.

Outcomes for pupils

Requires improvement

• In 2018, by the end of key stage 2, pupils’ rates of progress in writing and mathematics were in line with national averages. However, a lower proportion of pupils than in most schools made the expected progress in reading. Consequently, only just over half of the cohort achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The proportions of pupils achieving the higher standard in reading and mathematics have been lower than national averages for the last three years.
• In 2018, key stage 1 pupils’ attainment was broadly in line with the national average in reading and mathematics, but writing attainment was well below average.
• Better planning and recent improvements to assessments have started to raise expectations and improve standards in writing. Lesson observations, pupils’ work and assessment information provide evidence that the best teaching is helping pupils to make progress. In some classes, pupils are making up lost ground, but this is not consistently so across the school.
• Results for the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1 have improved and are broadly in line with the national average. Pupils are appropriately equipped to develop good early reading skills.
• The rates of progress of boys and disadvantaged pupils are variable across the school. Good relationships and targeted support enable some to make the progress that is expected of them from their varying starting points. However, too few exceed that or are supported to make the stronger progress needed to catch up and achieve age-related expectations.
• Pupils with SEND, including those within the school’s specialist resource provisions, do not make consistently strong progress from their starting points. This is due to weaknesses in teachers’ use of assessment and variations in the quality of teaching. Teachers’ case studies do show that some of these pupils have made strong progress. However, as a group the progress of pupils with SEND is weaker than their peers across key stage 1 and lower key stage 2.
• Teachers have outline curriculum planning for science, technology, and the arts and humanities. However, teachers are not sufficiently well informed to successfully sequence the depth of knowledge and skills pupils need within each of these subjects. Consequently, pupils’ achievement in science and the wider curriculum is too variable across the school.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• The proportion of children reaching a good level of development by the end of the early years has increased year-on-year. However, fewer children reached a good level of development in 2018 at the school than nationally. Not enough children are exceeding in their early learning goals.
• The leader of early years started at the school in 2017 and has introduced a number of interventions, staff training and refined systems. However, many of these are new this year and the quality of provision, assessment and planning is still variable.
• In lessons, teachers and teaching assistants record children’s achievements in reading, and leaders are gathering some case studies to exemplify where boys have made progress in their reading skills. However, assessment is not used well enough across all the different areas of the early learning goals, particularly in writing. Teachers do not use assessment well enough to identify next steps to plan for future learning.
• The quality of different resources across the outdoor and some indoor learning areas are mixed. Some do not stimulate and engage children’s interest sufficiently to promote their development of language and number skills. In addition, staff are not sufficiently alert to interact with different children well enough. Consequently, some children are not engaged and the pace of learning can be limited.
• Children in the early years are safe and well cared for. The statutory requirements for safeguarding are met, and parents appreciate the care shown to their children. Most children behave well and are respectful to each other and the equipment that they play with.
• Staff generally work effectively with parents. Transition arrangements are well planned, and parents report that they receive valuable information and support when their children begin school for the first time. Parents feel that communication between the school and home is good.
• Adults are very adept at helping children develop the social skills necessary to succeed in life. For example, inspectors saw an adult spend a long time encouraging boys to take turns and share an activity. The children are friendly, polite and respectful.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 116265 Hampshire 10088240 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 Maintained 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 321 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Acting Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Shirley Nellthorpe Steve Bilbe 023 9225 3770 morelandsprimaryschool.co.uk s.bilbe@morelands.hants.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 10 to 12 February 2010

Information about this school

• The school is larger than the average-sized primary school and has provision for children from age 4 to 11.
• The school has two dedicated provisions to support pupils with SEND. One caters for a total of 14 pupils across the primary age range with speech, language and communication needs. The second is a development and assessment provision which offers 10 places for children from their fourth birthdays whose needs have yet to be assessed. These children move to permanent placements during, or at the end of, key stage 1.
• Most pupils are of White British heritage and speak English as their first language.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is just above the national average. The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium is just below the national average.
• Over the past two years there has been a period of staffing changes at the school. The previous headteacher left last October and a new headteacher has been appointed to start from April 2019. In the interim, the deputy headteacher has led the school as acting headteacher. In addition, the governing body has just recruited several new members.
• The school has received a high level of support from the local authority to boost teaching, learning and assessment, early years and leadership and management.

Information about this inspection

• This inspection was carried out as a result of Ofsted’s risk assessment procedures for exempt schools. This process identified that standards since the previous inspection had declined, so the school was selected for inspection under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was subsequently deemed to be a section 5 inspection under the same Act by Her Majesty’s Inspector, and a full section 5 inspection was then carried out.
• Inspectors visited 22 lessons to gather evidence to contribute to the evaluation of the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Many of these observations were conducted jointly with senior leaders.
• Inspectors also talked to pupils about their learning and looked at their work across a range of subjects. They spoke to pupils on the playground and during lessons. Each inspector met with a group of pupils to gather their views.
• Meetings were held with the acting headteacher, senior and middle leaders and members of the governing body. The lead inspector held a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority.
• The views of 113 parents who replied to the online questionnaire, Parent View, were considered. In addition, conversations were held with several parents at the beginning of the second day of the inspection to gather their views. Inspectors also considered the views represented in 42 responses to a staff survey.
• A wide range of school documentation was scrutinised, including that relating to policies, self-evaluation, improvement planning, safeguarding, pupils’ achievement, behaviour and attendance.
• Inspectors reviewed the record of leaders’ vetting and checks on the suitability of adults to work with pupils, and they spoke to staff and governors about safeguarding procedures in the school.

Inspection team

Matthew Newberry, lead inspector Lesley Fisher-Pink Hilary Goddard

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector