Oakgrove School

Oakgrove School Matlock Road, Heald Green, Cheadle, SK8 3BU

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Oakgrove transforms its pupils’ chances of school success. Pupils arrive having had a poor start to their education. They leave with good prospects. A high proportion of pupils re-join mainstream schools.  Pupils’ learning is good and improving. In 2012 pupils made as much progress as that expected of pupils in mainstream schools and some achieved high standards in the national tests for 11-year-olds.  The school is well led and managed by the headteacher and his team. Excellent partnerships with the local authority’s behaviour support service, parents and with the adjacent Outwood Primary School make a very positive contribution to what the school provides for its pupils. However, governance requires improvement.  Pupils flourish in this welcoming, nurturing school. They feel safe. They become much more confident and more able to manage their behaviour and relationships with others.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

Parents are very positive about the improvements they see in their children.  Teaching is good. Staff are expert at managing pupils’ behaviour. They focus sharply on improving pupils’ reading, writing and mathematics, broadening their horizons and giving them opportunities to shine.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teaching is not yet as good as it might be.  The governing body does not provide the leaders of the school with sufficient support and challenge.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed five lessons, visiting each of the four classes. He also visited the adjacent Outwood Primary School, to observe the pupils from Oakgrove who are taught there.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, the Chair of the Governing Body, teachers and staff and also with the head of the behaviour support service and a representative of the local authority. The inspector talked informally with pupils and examined their work.  No responses were received through Parent View. Meetings were held with several parents.

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Inspection team

Brian Padgett, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school provides for primary-age pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Each pupil has a statement of special educational needs.  Pupils may be admitted to the school from Stockport primary schools at any stage in their primary education. On average, pupils spend less than three years at Oakgrove.  The school works in partnership with the local authority’s behaviour support service, which has its base in the school. It also works with the adjacent Outwood Primary School. Some Oakgrove pupils are taught at Outwood although they remain on Oakgrove’s roll.  The great majority of pupils are boys of White British backgrounds. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is very high. The school receives the pupil premium, which is additional government funding for these pupils and for those in the care of the local authority.  At the time of the inspection the deputy headteacher was absent and her duties were being

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Information about this school

covered by an acting deputy headteacher.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 The governing body should provide more support and greater challenge to the school’s leaders and managers.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Teaching should be made even more effective by:  ensuring pupils’ tasks are better matched to their individual learning needs and using teaching support more effectively to teach these tasks  using more open questions so that pupils, where appropriate, have the opportunity to explain and demonstrate their growing levels of knowledge, understanding and skills.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils arrive at the school having had a poor start to their primary education. For a wide range of reasons, their behaviour is so challenging they are unable to learn alongside pupils in mainstream classes. Many pupils have considerable gaps in their learning.  The first success of the school is that, within a short time, pupils settle and acquire the skills that are needed for learning to take place. This was seen in the class for the youngest pupils, who were learning to listen, to take turns and to share.  Pupils make good progress in their reading, writing and mathematics. This was seen during lessons and is demonstrated in the school’s records of pupils’ progress. These records show pupils’ progress is accelerating. In 2012, pupils made the progress expected of primary-age pupils nationally, indicating that gaps pupils had in their learning on entry are being filled and substantial gains in knowledge, skills and understanding are being made.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The school aims to re-integrate pupils into mainstream schools whenever possible. It is successful in doing so, often in a relatively short time. Several pupils re-join mainstream primary schools. Where appropriate, other pupils are supported by Oakgrove staff in classes within Outwood Primary School. In over three-quarters of cases, pupils transfer successfully. In 2012, Year 6 pupils from Oakgrove taught in Outwood did very well in the end of Key Stage 2 national tests, with some attaining above-average results in mathematics.  Parents reported satisfaction with the progress of their children and their attitudes to learning. This was in stark contrast to parents’ previous experience.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is good. Teachers and support staff develop excellent relationships with pupils. They are expert in managing pupils’ behaviour and in raising pupils’ self-esteem and confidence. The ethos of classrooms, and of the school, is calm and positive.  There are only a few pupils in each class, enabling staff to give them individual attention. Teachers have high expectations of all their pupils and focus on ensuring they learn the basic skills of literacy and numeracy. Recent programmes to promote learning in mathematics and writing have proved successful.  Teachers use a variety of teaching methods in lessons, such as individual work on computers and teaching all the children together. They make good use of the support from teaching assistants. However, even though numbers of pupils in each class are small, the range of learning needs is very wide. There is scope for more differentiated work for pupils at different

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The quality of teaching is good

stages of learning. This requires more effective use of teaching support in small groups.  There has been an improvement in the quality of teachers’ assessment of pupils’ progress, with detailed records of pupils’ levels helping to determine the next stages in learning. Pupils are aware of their individual targets for behaviour and for learning. Daily entries to home-school booklets ensure parents have knowledge of their children’s progress and that there is good communication between parents and the school. This is especially important since many pupils live far from the school.  As pupils’ achievement and confidence grows, there is scope for teachers to ask more open questions of the pupils. This encourages the pupils to contribute more during lessons and to explain their thinking and ideas. This is already beginning, and was demonstrated well in a science lesson for the oldest pupils. In this lesson, the teacher encouraged pupils to categorise

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The quality of teaching is good

objects for themselves and justify their choices to the rest of the class and for the others to challenge their choices. She acted as a facilitator only, allowing the pupils to take greater responsibility for their learning. Good learning took place without the teacher telling pupils the ‘right’ answers and pupils gained in self-confidence and enjoyment.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The behaviour of pupils is transformed from when they joined the school. The school is highly successful in helping pupils manage their own behaviour and developing communication skills that will help them in the future. The school is calm and orderly. Behaviour is generally good in lessons. When, on occasion, a pupil exhibits challenging behaviour, other pupils do not react, learning continues and tensions are rapidly defused. So well do pupils attending Outwood Primary integrate that it is not possible to identify them from their peers.  Parents confirm the improvement in their children’s behaviour. They say that home life is improved as a result of pupils feeling settled, happy at school and enjoying their learning. Parents expressed concern over issues arising because of recent changes in arrangements for transporting children to school. In response, the school arranged training for new drivers and

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

assistants.  Pupils feel safe and valued in school. They have great trust in the staff. The pupils’ attitudes to learning are good. They are keen to learn and maintain concentration well. Their social skills develop well.  Attendance is at the level seen in most mainstream primary schools. Short-term exclusions from school are rare and the incidence of the need to restrain pupils physically has fallen significantly.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has contributed much to good leadership, consolidating the school’s core work of improving pupils’ behaviour and, more recently, focussing staff on raising standards.  The school’s leadership has a good understanding of the progress pupils are making. Leaders hold teachers to account through performance-management arrangements.  Leaders have developed excellent partnerships with the local authority’s behaviour support service and with the neighbouring mainstream primary school. The close working with behaviour support is highly influential during the admission process for pupils. Productive relationships with the behaviour support service and with Outwood Primary are key factors which help bring about the successful re-integration of pupils into mainstream schools.  The curriculum is of good quality, geared closely to pupils’ needs. Lessons to develop personal and social development in pupils are provided along with those concerned with developing core

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The leadership and management are good

skills, especially in reading, writing and mathematics. There is an emphasis on broadening pupils’ horizons through visits out of school, often enabled through the additional funding of the pupil premium. The school is sensitive to equality of opportunity. For example, in relation to the few girls in school, arrangements are made for them to join the girls from Outwood for dancing classes.  The school’s support of parents is of a high quality. Communication is good. Considerable resources are provided for staff to work with parents, making home visits, recognising their anxieties and involving them fully in the life of the school.  Safeguarding arrangements are clear and effective.  The governance of the school:  The governing body has shown that it can take decisive action when required and that key members have a clear sense of direction for the school. However, it is under strength and is not in a position to play a full part in supporting and holding to account the leaders and

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The leadership and management are good

managers of the school to further improve teaching and pupils’ achievement. Therefore, it requires improvement.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 131887 Local authority Stockport Inspection number 402512

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Special School category Community Age range of pupils 5  11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 30 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Barbara Dunne Headteacher Rob Metcalfe Date of previous school inspection 2 February 2010 Telephone number 0161 4374956 Fax number 0161 2836665 Email address schooladmin@oakgrove-primary.stockport.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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