Mansel Primary Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching and provision in the early years by making sure that:
  • leaders act quickly on what they know from their monitoring of the quality of teaching to implement improvements
  • teachers provide tasks that challenge children sufficiently across the early years curriculum
  • activities provided are focused on planned learning to allow all groups of children to make rapid progress so that more of them reach a good level of development by the end of Reception.
  • Improve the quality of teaching in phonics throughout the early years and Year 1 so that more pupils reach the expected standard in phonics and in reading by the end of key stage 1.
  • Further improve the quality of leadership and management, by:
    • evaluating achievement in all curriculum subjects, including reading, with the same rigour that is applied to writing and mathematics so that any underachievement is addressed promptly
    • continuing to work with parents to ensure that fewer pupils are persistently absent.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The principal of the school, ably supported by the principal of the trust and the leadership team, has been unstinting in her efforts to improve the quality of teaching and raise standards across the school since the last inspection.
• The motto of the school – ‘Build, Belong, Believe’ – is reflected in senior leaders’ and governors’ high expectations of staff and pupils, together with the inclusive culture which nurtures and develops all children. It is no surprise that almost all parents who met with inspectors and responded to the online questionnaire said they would recommend the school to others.
• The senior leadership team have clear roles and responsibilities. These leaders are knowledgeable about their respective areas and know what needs to be done to secure further improvement. The close links with the other academy schools and other schools in the locality are being used to share good practice. Leaders have been effective in disseminating this good practice which has resulted in improvements in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.
• Performance management is used well to address the school’s priorities. Whole-school training, individual coaching and self-review of lesson videos by teachers are some of the successful strategies that have led to better teaching, learning and assessment. Pay awards for teachers are only given where performance targets are successfully met.
• Staff morale is high. Staff are overwhelmingly supportive of the school’s leadership. Staff say that ‘the team spirit that exists is exceptional’ and ‘the staff team led by a dedicated and aspirational leadership team are 100% dedicated to every child in school and their families’.
• The pupil premium is being spent effectively. Regular checks are made to evaluate the impact on learning for disadvantaged pupils. The funding is used mainly to ensure that there are sufficient staff to teach pupils in specific groups to boost their progress, including the most able disadvantaged pupils. As a result of this strategy, disadvantaged pupils achieve well compared with other pupils. Indeed, by the end of key stage 2 in 2016 this group of pupils had made progress that exceeded the national average for all pupils.
• The additional funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is used effectively. These pupils are supported to make good progress from their starting points.
• The primary physical education (PE) and sports funding is used to develop staff confidence and expertise by enabling them to observe and work alongside specialist sport coaches. The funding has also been used to provide opportunities for pupils to engage in competitive sports, in football, swimming and gymnastics, for example, and to improve the quality of sport and play activities at breaktimes and lunchtimes. As a result, pupils are developing their skills in a wide variety of sporting activities and there has been a substantial increase in the number of pupils taking part in extra-curricular sporting events.
• The school works in close collaboration with Steel City Schools Partnership to share resources and good practice and ensure that assessments are as accurate as they can be. The school has benefited hugely from this arrangement.
• The school and the trust work effectively with the local authority to validate the school’s evaluation of the quality of provision and confirm the areas for further improvement.
• The school has adopted a curriculum that is broad and balanced and meets the needs of its pupils. It is planned so that pupils have a range of learning experiences that are stimulating and mostly challenging. Exhibitions of pupils’ work give pupils a purpose to their learning and an opportunity to showcase what they have learned. Currently, however, leaders do not monitor the extent to which pupils cover all curriculum areas and the impact on their learning and progress rigorously enough.
• Children enter school with skills below those typical for their age. An increasing proportion of children reach a good level of development by the end of Reception but this is still well below the national average. While leaders have recognised that there are inconsistencies in the quality of teaching in the early years they have not taken prompt enough action to ensure that more children make good progress so they achieve the expectations for their age at the end of Reception.
• A new programme for the teaching of phonics has not been monitored rigorously enough to have the positive impact on improving pupils’ phonic skills that leaders expected.

Governance of the school

• Governors have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. This is due to the largely high-quality information that is given to them by the leadership team on how well pupils are performing in most subjects.
• Governors link with members of the leadership team and see for themselves the school’s work. They also have presentations by staff on some key areas for improvement, such as attendance, so they can evaluate whether the actions taken by the school are effective. However, their impact on raising the quality of teaching and outcomes in the early years and in phonics has been limited.
• Minutes of meetings of the governing body confirm that governors challenge leaders soundly through searching questions. However, they have not monitored with sufficient rigour the link between the percentage of pupils meeting the phonics standard in Year 1 with lower attainment in reading at the end of Year 2.
• Governors know how additional funding has been spent and the impact it has had on pupils’ achievement. They are less clear about the impact of PE and sports funding on pupils’ participation.
• Governors take their responsibilities for safeguarding of pupils very seriously and ensure that the school’s systems and processes comply with government requirements.
• The school governors liaise with the other governing bodies of schools in the Steel City Schools Partnership to discuss and share their priorities and good practice. From this they have developed an action plan for the further development of governance at the school.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. An electronic system for recording concerns ensures that these are shared and action to keep pupils safe is promptly put in place.
• Policies and procedures for safeguarding are kept up to date with the latest government guidelines.
• Leaders work closely with outside agencies to make sure that those pupils who are vulnerable are supported and kept safe and secure.
• All staff have had high-quality training on recognising any signs of risk. They are vigilant with regard to pupils’ safety and welfare and know what to do if they have concerns.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Effective action since the last inspection has improved the quality and consistency of teaching across the school. As a result, the vast majority of teaching is at least good, enabling most pupils to make good progress.
• Adults have built very positive relationships with pupils. Classrooms are places where pupils enjoy learning because learning is exciting and connected to the curriculum themes. For example, in a Year 6 class pupils were writing about the gold rush in the Yukon as part of their studies about America. In Year 4, pupils were using coordinates in mathematics to find places on a treasure map linked to their study of the novel ‘Treasure Island’.
• Teachers in key stage 1 and 2 use their assessment information to plan work for pupils so that they make good progress from their starting points. They build on the interests and enthusiasm of pupils and as a result pupils engage well with their work.
• A new approach to teaching mathematics is ensuring that pupils develop their reasoning skills and are challenged to apply their mathematics skills in solving problems. Consequently, pupils are making more progress in mathematics and are achieving higher levels of attainment than pupils nationally.
• Reading has a high profile throughout the school. There are numerous ways in which the school encourages pupils to read such as enabling pupils to access a reading programme, choosing class novels that appeal to pupils and exploring language in other subjects such as mathematics, geography and history. Pupils apply the grammar, punctuation and spelling rules they have learned to their longer pieces of writing. As a consequence, pupils’ writing has improved so that they make good progress from their starting points and reach the standard expected of them by the end of key stage 2. However, teachers’ high expectations of pupils’ writing in English lessons are not replicated in other subjects such as science and religious education and this prevents learning from being even better.
• Prompt support in lessons for pupils who need to catch up enables them to be ready to tackle new learning at the same time as their peers and so they make good progress.
• Teaching assistants largely provide effective support in aiding the good progress of specific groups of pupils, including the most able. Sometimes, however, the quality of teaching assistants’ questioning does not enable pupils to think more deeply about their work or to fully develop their independent learning skills.
• A recently introduced programme for the teaching of phonics is not yet consistently taught in the early years and Year 1. In some of these lessons the pace of learning is slow because pupils repeat what they already know and so are not challenged enough. This has a negative impact on some pupils’ reading skills in key stage 1 because they are not able to use the phonic sounds to help them to read fluently. Nevertheless, good teaching of phonics and reading in Year 2 helps to address weaker teaching in Reception and Year 1 so that most pupils make the progress they need to reach the expected standard in reading by the end of key stage 1.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school, with one commenting, ‘Mansel is providing the best environment, best education, healthy activities and has the best staff. I feel happy and proud that my daughter is a Mansel learner.’
• Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe and secure in school. They have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations, including when using the internet.
• The school breakfast clubs are well attended and provide a positive start to the school day with both pupils and parents attending to buy breakfast and join in the games and activities. The school promotes healthy lifestyles through the breakfast clubs in the food choices on offer and by ensuring that all pupils who attend clean their teeth after having breakfast and before school.
• During breaktimes pupils can take part in organised activities which help to develop a range of skills. For example in the key stage 1 ‘Play Pod’ pupils can use scrap materials to create their own games, and there are different sports activities to choose from.
• Pupils have opportunities to take on a range of responsibilities such as sports ambassadors, school council representatives, reading partners with younger pupils, and punctuality monitors. They are proud of being appointed to do these jobs.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and an understanding of being good citizens is promoted well through the curriculum. For example, pupils have studied different religions and cultures and events in history such as the Fire of London and the Yukon gold rush.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils generally behave well in lessons and around school. They respond quickly to directions given by staff and are polite and courteous to visitors.
• The school is a calm learning environment. This is because all pupils understand the expectations for their behaviour. Pupils say that bullying is rare and this and any other poor behaviour is dealt with through the school’s behaviour code.
• Through the school’s values, pupils understand the characteristics of being Mansel learners. These values have a high profile around the school and pupils are able to describe how they contribute to their learning.
• Pupils are very well supported in lessons by the school’s pastoral team. Since the introduction of additional adult support for behaviour in the classroom, the number of fixed-term exclusions has dropped significantly.
• Promoting good attendance remains a priority for school leaders. Attendance is encouraged and punctuality is promoted well through OTIS – On Time In School. Absence is monitored closely. Leaders challenge parents whose children are regularly absent. Currently, attendance overall is average but the number of pupils who are persistently absent is still too high.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• From their different starting points, and often starting points that are below typical for their age, pupils make at least the progress expected of them and most make better than expected progress across the school. By the end of key stage 2 in 2016 the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard for their age exceeded the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. The proportion reaching the higher standard in reading and mathematics was equal to the national average.
• Pupils’ progress between key stage 1 and 2 in reading and particularly in mathematics exceeds the national average and in writing is similar to the national average. The most able disadvantaged pupils make better progress in reading and mathematics than other pupils nationally.
• The current progress of pupils in reading, writing and mathematics is good. As a result, the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard by the time they leave the school is on track to exceed that of previous years.
• Pupils are given opportunities to deepen their learning by being challenged in the work they do. This is particularly the case in mathematics where a greater proportion of pupils make higher levels of attainment than the national average.
• Pupils also make good progress in other subjects, including in PE, often because of high-quality teaching from subject specialists.
• The outcomes for disadvantaged pupils match and often exceed those of other pupils in school and nationally. Furthermore, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress due to well-planned and targeted support that meets their needs.
• The gaps in attainment between boys and girls in reading and writing that were evident in previous years are diminishing in most year groups.
• The school’s tracking of pupils’ progress is ensuring that every pupil receives the support they need to catch up and to make good progress. This includes targeted teaching of year 2 pupils who have not met the phonic standard at the end of Year 1. As a consequence of this, the cumulative proportion of pupils who have met the standard by the end of Year 2 in 2016 is close to the national average.
• In addition, interventions for underachieving pupils in reading and writing ensure that they make good progress to diminish the achievement gaps with other pupils.
• Most-able pupils also have interventions that are planned to deepen their thinking and develop their skills so that they secure the higher standards they are capable of.
• By the end of Year 1, the proportion of pupils who reach the required standard in phonics is below that seen nationally. This has not improved over the last two years and so the gap compared with the national average has widened. An increasing proportion of pupils than in previous years met the standard by the end of Year 2 in 2016, but it is still below the national proportion.
• Achievement in reading at the end of key stage 1 is also below the national average. This is because pupils in Year 1 do not have a secure understanding of strategies to decode unfamiliar words to help them to read fluently.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Leaders have evaluated the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in Nursery and Reception and they are aware of what is not working well enough. However, they have not taken prompt enough action to address the weaknesses. As a result, the quality of teaching is inconsistent and children’s progress is variable. For example, some children revisit skills they already know. Furthermore, many of the planned tasks do not always challenge children to learn more.
• Most children join the Nursery class with knowledge and skills below those typical for their age. Some children make good progress through Nursery but many children in Reception do not make the good progress they need to make in reading, writing and number. Consequently, too few children reach a good level of development by the end of Reception and, so, many are not well prepared to start learning in Year 1.
• Over the last two years the proportion of children reaching the early learning goals in each area of learning has increased. However, this proportion is still below the national average. The gaps in achievement for all children and particularly disadvantaged children are not closing quickly enough in comparison with other children nationally.
• The pace at which children are taught to acquire the phonic skills they need to be able to learn to read is too slow for them and so they do not make good progress in this area of learning. Some children who already demonstrate a good understanding of words and sequences are not routinely challenged to write in sentences. Children lose interest in the learning activities because of this lack of challenge. Further interest is lost because staff spend too much time unnecessarily reinforcing the behaviour rules.
• A range of activities are provided both inside and outside the classroom. Equipment is of good quality and the outdoor provision has been successfully enhanced to help to support children’s development, particularly their physical development. Children show an interest when they have free choice and are generally purposefully engaged. They cooperate well with each other and are keen to talk about their work with adults.
• Children listen attentively to the stories that are read aloud by the teacher. The teacher checks children’s understanding of the story by asking questions, to which children respond eagerly. Children sing songs to remind them of the days of the week and practise counting number sequences.
• Children who have special educational needs are well supported to develop speech and language and their understanding of words.
• Safeguarding is effective. Staff training is up to date and staff assess the potential risks to children by, for example, checking the safety and any risks of the outdoor provision.
• Parents are becoming increasingly involved in their child’s learning through being able to access the electronic system that is used to record children’s achievement through the early years.
• The relatively new provision for two-year-olds provides a good start for these children. For example, they are very regularly exposed to spoken language and they are encouraged to develop independent skills. As a result, most children talk, listen, respond to instructions, behave and concentrate in a way appropriate for their age.

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School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 139137 Sheffield 10023829 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 Academy sponsor led 2 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 435 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Principal Keith Smith Rebecca Rickersey Telephone number 0114 2321278 Website Email address

www.mansel.sheffield.sch.uk enquiries@mansel.sheffield.sch.uk

Date of previous inspection 20–21 January 2015

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 is a larger than average-sized primary school.
• The school is an academy within the Steel City Schools Partnership.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for support funded by the pupil premium is well above the national average.
• The large majority of pupils are from a White British background. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is average.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is well above average.
• The proportion of pupils with a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan is below the national average.
• The school has provision for two-year-olds and a Nursery class which children access on a part-time basis.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in all classes and in small groups of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Inspectors observed some lessons jointly with school leaders. An inspector also observed an assembly.
• Inspectors looked at a range of pupils’ work, either in lessons or as a separate study.
• Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour at breaktime and lunchtime.
• Inspectors spoke to governors, the principal of the trust, a representative from the local authority, staff, pupils, parents and senior leaders. Inspectors listened to various pupils read.
• Inspectors took account of the 14 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents, Parent View, and the school’s own survey of parents’ views. Inspectors also spoke to parents at the beginning of the school day.
• Inspectors took account of the 38 members of staff who responded to their questionnaire
• Inspectors scrutinised various documents in school, including minutes from governing body meetings, and documents relating to: child protection, the performance management of teachers, attendance, and achievement.

Inspection team

Christine Turner, lead inspector Fiona Dixon Marianne Young

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector