Manor Field Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by:
  • ensuring that staff identify and address pupils’ misconceptions quickly and effectively
  • raising teachers’ expectations about the quality of pupils’ work, particularly in writing, and providing more opportunities to write at greater length
  • ensuring that pupils apply their mathematical skills to problem-solving and reasoning.
• Improve the quality of leadership and management by:
  • ensuring that leaders, including governors, track the progress of pupils more closely
  • making sure that leaders set clear targets in the school’s improvement plan for improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement
  • developing the evaluative skills of middle leaders, so that they are better able to judge the quality of teaching and pupils’ learning.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Leaders are ambitious for pupils, and staff and have had some successes in improving provision. However, pupils’ progress is not yet good because the quality of teaching is variable.
• Leaders have set accurate longer-term priorities, but the targets in the school’s improvement plan are not sharply focused on pupils’ achievement. The actions that need to be taken to improve teaching are not precise enough. Therefore, leaders have difficulty assessing whether strategies to raise achievement and improve the quality of teaching are working.
• Leaders, including governors, do not keep a close enough check on the progress made by different groups of pupils across the school. This means that inconsistencies in the quality of teaching and learning are not identified and acted upon swiftly.
• Subject leaders are keen to fulfil their roles and are committed to doing their best for the pupils. However, their skills of using pupils’ achievement information to focus planning are underdeveloped. So are evaluative skills needed to judge the quality of teaching. Consequently, they have not improved the quality of teaching and learning rapidly enough, and expectations of what pupils should achieve are not as high as they should be.
• Leaders have rightly focused on the improvement of teaching. The headteacher uses performance management effectively to challenge the quality of teaching. Leaders have used coaching and external training providers well to improve teachers’ practice. Teachers appreciate the support they receive and have responded positively. This is improving the learning opportunities for pupils.
• Leaders have identified correctly that there is scope to improve the use of the pupil premium. The school’s strategy identifies barriers to pupils’ learning accurately. The impact of last year’s work in this area was evaluated appropriately. This has led to improved achievement for some pupils. However, use of the funding has not yet ensured that the progress that disadvantaged pupils make is strong.
• The leadership of physical education is strong, with a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities available, which are well attended by pupils. The primary school physical education (PE) and sport funding is used well. Pupils say they enjoy sport and find PE ‘fun’. Pupils understand the value of healthy eating and physical activity as part of a healthy lifestyle. Their participation in the wide range of clubs, including yoga and the marching band, has increased considerably.
• The special educational needs leader uses additional funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities more effectively than before. She has implemented positive changes that are helping to support pupils’ learning, especially in helping pupils to catch up and secure their skills in reading.
• The broad and balanced curriculum ensures that pupils are taught a wide range of subjects. For example, good opportunities to develop pupils’ scientific, artistic and musical skills are in place. Leaders have built strong connections with local partners, such as pre-schools and other schools. This offers pupils many opportunities to learn in and beyond the immediate locality. Visits, trips and visitors enrich pupils’ learning further.
• The promotion of fundamental British values is effective. For example, some older pupils used persuasive writing to argue the merits of individual liberty. Pupils understand the principles of democracy and the rule of law. This contributes to a strong awareness of these values, which are also promoted through well-planned work in other subjects.
• Pupils’ social and moral understanding and development is strong. They value the opportunity to represent their classmates on the school council, while the ‘sports crew’ takes responsibility for improving the sports equipment. However, leaders are aware that the promotion of pupils’ spiritual and cultural development requires strengthening.

Governance of the school

• Governors are supportive of the headteacher and understand the priorities for the school. However, they do not check robustly on pupils’ progress or challenge leaders sufficiently when achievement is not good enough.
• Governors know the school well and understand where improvement is needed. They recognise that teaching needs to improve and the value of continuous professional development to support the development of all staff. They have a clear overview of what actions are being taken to improve the quality of teaching and learning.
• Governors have a clear grasp of how additional funds are used to support disadvantaged and vulnerable pupils, and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They know the impact of this funding on pupils’ achievement, and social and emotional needs.
• Governors carry out their statutory duties well. They ensure that the school’s procedures for the safe recruitment of staff meet requirements. An appropriate number of staff and governors have completed safer recruitment training.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders have ensured that there is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. Staff are vigilant, reporting concerns quickly and appropriately. Pupils feel safe in the school and know where to seek help should the need arise.
• Employment checks are carried out carefully on new staff before they join the school. Checks are recorded appropriately in a single record.
• Staff benefit from regular and effective training and updates. As a result, they have a clear understanding of their duties in relation to safeguarding, including protecting pupils from radicalisation and extremism.
• Vulnerable pupils’ needs are identified and met well. The designated leaders for child protection liaise closely with a wide range of external agencies, including children’s services departments within and beyond the local authority.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching varies in quality. There are strengths in the early years, but across key stage 1 and 2 teaching is not consistently strong. This is because expectations about what pupils should achieve are not high enough. Consequently, not enough work is pitched at the right level.
• Teachers do not always have high expectations of the quality or quantity of writing they expect pupils to produce. Pupils are not encouraged or supported to pull together their understanding of good-quality writing in longer pieces of work. As a result, in some classes, progress is too slow and work of high calibre is limited.
• In mathematics, the quality of teaching is inconsistent. Although basic arithmetic skills are taught well in some classes, not enough opportunities are planned for pupils to apply their mathematics skills to challenging problem-solving and reasoning tasks. This limits pupils’ ability to make the progress that they are capable of and reach the expected and higher standards.
• Staff sometimes tackle pupils’ misconceptions well, addressing errors effectively. This is not, however, consistent across all classes. Too often, inaccuracies in pupils’ work go unnoticed, or are not tackled effectively and soon enough. Consequently, pupils do not improve their work sufficiently quickly. For example, the quality of writing remains limited because mistakes in pupils’ use of grammar and spelling persist.
• Where pupils make good progress, teachers have good subject knowledge and question pupils effectively. They set work at the right level for pupils’ different needs and pupils are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning.
• Good relationships are evident between adults and pupils. When pupils are engaged in their learning, they show high levels of concentration.
• The teaching of phonics is good. Adults pronounce the sounds that letters make precisely to support pupils to have a secure understanding of these sounds. As a result, most pupils develop their skills of reading words accurately. Pupils read widely, so they are familiar with a wide range of text types.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils want to achieve well and know how to be successful in their learning. They answer teachers’ and each other’s questions willingly, giving a reason for their opinions.
• Pupils enjoy attending the wide range of extra-curricular activities that the school offers, including sports clubs. The home–school link worker knows pupils well and supports them with their social development. These combine to contribute very positively to their physical and emotional well-being.
• Through a well-planned programme of personal, social and health education, pupils develop a good understanding of how to stay safe in a variety of situations, including when using the internet. Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe in the school and that they have the confidence that staff will help them if they have a worry or a concern.
• Pupils benefit from good opportunities to learn and apply their knowledge of how to be a good citizen, developing their understanding of British values. For example, pupils learned about the development of democracy by applying those principles when they took responsibility for the school council elections.
• Pupils are thoughtful, responsible and caring. They are taught to respect each other and to welcome visitors through acts of kindness, such as offering a friendly greeting. Pupils are supported to be reflective through the daily assemblies and in some lessons. Pupils show respect for each other and adults, talking confidently about tolerance and the rule of law.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• The school is a calm and orderly environment, because most pupils conduct themselves well. This contributes positively to school life and ensures that lessons are typically free from disruption.
• Pupils have good manners, are polite and are welcoming. They have a good understanding of the behaviour policy and know what is expected of them. They particularly like the fact that positive behaviour and learning is rewarded.
• Pupils feel safe, especially from bullying, because of the high level of support available from staff. One parent, reflecting the views of others, said: ‘My child feels very safe and looked after at school’. Pupils have a high degree of trust in the adults in the school. In addition, the very clear behaviour strategies, consistently carried out by adults in the school, make sure that pupils know exactly what is expected of them.
• Pupils arrive for school on time and attend school regularly. Their attendance is in line with the national average. Leaders keep a close watch on pupils’ attendance. If this slips, they have refined and effective systems and strategies to ensure that pupils attend frequently. Consequently, the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent has significantly declined.
• The majority of parents and carers who responded to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, agreed that pupils are well behaved.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Pupils’ progress in key stages 1 and 2 is variable. Their achievement, particularly in writing and mathematics, is not consistently good, due to inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. As a result, pupils are not always as well prepared for the next stage of their education as they could be.
• Pupils’ progress currently in writing is not rapid enough. Pupils’ learning and work in books show that misconceptions are not routinely or swiftly addressed; common errors are often repeated and not addressed well enough. For example, mistakes in grammar and punctuation are not corrected. Too many pupils are working below age-related expectations.
• Pupils achieve well in phonics because of the good-quality daily teaching of early reading skills. Results in the Year 1 phonics screening check in 2017 have improved to be above the national average. Pupils acquire the skills they need to help them to read unknown words accurately. The school’s assessment information indicates that current pupils in Year 1 are achieving well in phonics.
• Pupils’ progress in mathematics is inconsistent. This is because teachers do not challenge pupils consistently to solve real-life problems that stretch their thinking. Teachers do not plan opportunities for pupils to develop their reasoning skills in sufficient depth. For example, teachers do not challenge pupils’ explanations of their thinking that are too simplistic.
• The achievement of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities requires improvement because the impact of teaching for these pupils is mixed in quality. Some pupils make good gains from their starting points, but progress varies, and some do not make as much progress as they could.
• Disadvantaged pupils perform inconsistently, due to the quality of teaching and the support that they receive being variable. Staff do not plan work that challenges their thinking. However, disadvantaged pupils’ achievement, while behind other pupils nationally at both key stages, has recently improved but remains a priority for senior leaders.

Early years provision Good

• The early years leader focuses well on what children need and want to learn. Teachers plan with support staff to ensure continuity and depth in learning. Learning is dynamic, changing daily to meet the developing needs and interests of the children. As a result, children enjoy learning and make good progress. The proportion achieving a good level of development is broadly average. Leaders recognise that the most able should be making even better progress than at present.
• Leaders have ensured that the additional funding has been used to good effect in the early years. Consequently, disadvantaged children, and those who have SEN and/or disabilities, make good progress from their starting points on entry to the Reception class.
• The early years leader and teaching assistants use observations to know precisely how well children are learning and developing. Assessment information feeds into making robust judgements about children’s understanding and knowledge. As a result, the next steps that children need to take in areas of learning across the curriculum are identified accurately.
• Children make rapid progress in phonics to develop very good early reading skills. Teachers assess pupils’ phonic knowledge every day. Children change learning groups regularly, as their skills and abilities develop, so that the work is well matched to their needs.
• Children are well behaved, have good attitudes to their learning and are tolerant of one another. They play and learn together enthusiastically, and do so with great enjoyment. For example, in the ‘burger restaurant’ children delighted in selling the food and working out the total bill accurately.
• The setting is safe and secure. Adults are well trained in all aspects of child protection, and welfare requirements are fully met.
• Children are well prepared for the transition to Year 1. The skills required for moving to a more formal setting are built carefully into the activities provided. These opportunities increase as the children move through Reception. There are close links between Reception and key stage 1 staff; children undertake visits to their new classrooms to fully prepare them for the start of the new academic year.
• Staff have strong relationships with parents. This starts with home visits and leads on to opportunities for parents to work with their children in class. Parents are encouraged to support their children in their learning by commenting on achievements at home in the online assessment system that is used effectively by staff. Leaders ensure that communication is effective, regularly seeking information and views from parents on how the school can best support their child.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 125930 West Sussex 10046537 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 Maintained 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 487 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Margaret Foote Daisy Bailey 01444233368 http://www.manorfieldschool.org head@manorfield.w-sussex.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 8–9 June 2016

Information about this school

• This is a larger-than-average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is lower than the national average.
• Most pupils are of White British heritage.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is broadly in line with national averages.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• Since the last inspection, there has been a significant change of staff, including senior leaders. The headteacher took up post in January 2017.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in a range of lessons, several times jointly with senior leaders.
• Inspectors examined work in pupils’ books and listened to pupils read. They also spoke with pupils formally and informally, and observed their behaviour at breaktimes, lunchtimes and during the school day.
• Inspectors held several meetings with leaders, governors and staff. A meeting was also held with a local authority representative.
• Inspectors examined a range of school documents, including: governing body minutes of meetings; the school improvement plan; the school self-evaluation report; and performance information relating to pupils’ attainment and progress. Documents relating to pupils’ behaviour, attendance and safety were also scrutinised.
• Inspectors took account of 88 responses from parents to Ofsted’s online questionnaire Parent View. Inspectors met with some parents at the start of the school day. The inspectors also considered a letter sent to the inspection team.
• There were no responses to Ofsted’ confidential online pupil and staff surveys.

Inspection team

Richard Blackmore, lead inspector Amanda Gard Becky Greenhalgh

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector