Setting

Miss N Madden St Malachy’s RC Primary School Eggington Street Collyhurst Manchester M40 7RG

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Education act 2005 to insert name of school

Following my visit to your school on 15 November 2012, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report on the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Education act 2005 to insert name of school

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in September 2012. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Evidence

During the visit, meetings were held with the headteacher, the acting deputy headteacher, the Chair of the Governing Body and a group of pupils. A telephone conversation was conducted with a representative of the local authority. The school improvement plan was evaluated; records of the monitoring of the quality of teaching, minutes of the Governing Body meetings, examples of the updated planning format and the newly introduced tracking of children’s progress in the Nursery class were scrutinised. The Vice Chair of Governors and a further governor joined the above mentioned personnel for the final feedback.

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Context

Since the inspection a new Chair of the Governing Body has been appointed. CfBT Inspection Services Suite 22 West Lancs Investment Centre Maple View Skelmersdale WN8 9TG T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 01695 566937 Direct F 01695 729320 Direct email :jsimmons@cfbt.com

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Main findings

Senior leaders and governors have made a positive start to improving the performance of the school. The new headteacher has used the recommendations from the section 5 report together with her accurate self-evaluation to set a clear direction for the school to become good and reflects a systematic approach to improvement. Performance management arrangements have been re-introduced so that staff are held more accountable for the progress and attainment of pupils in their class. Action to monitor the quality of teaching has identified strengths and areas for development in practice. This has led to stronger practitioners coaching other staff; visits by staff to an outstanding school to observe outstanding teaching; and training for all staff on guided reading techniques. A new lesson planning format guides staff on how to use pupils’ prior knowledge to set challenging activities and use pupil progress information to set high expectations.

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Main findings

The new Chair of the Governing Body is experienced in governance and joins a team committed to the improvement of the school. He has quickly become acquainted with the school and brings a wealth of knowledge to support and challenge senior leaders. Governing Body minutes show that members are increasingly asking challenging questions, based on the good quality information they receive, on the performance of the school. Members of the governing Body have received training on their role as governors and further training is planned on the use of pupils’ progress data. Members have been directly involved in developing the school improvement plan immediately after the inspection and have already reviewed the progress at committee meetings. Although the plan is effective in directing the work of the school and includes a timeline, it would be beneficial to tighten up the milestones so all know exactly what is to be achieved by a set time.

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Main findings

Senior leaders and governors have begun to take effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. Following the visit to the school, HMI recommend that further action is taken to:

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Main findings

 tweak the school improvement plan to more succinctly link planned action to pupils’ learning outcomes.

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Main findings

Ofsted will continue to monitor the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The local authority has allocated funding to the school to enable three teachers to attend the ‘Inspiring Learning Programme’ to further develop good practice. Termly quality assurance visits focus on pupils’ progress and key priorities based on inspection criteria. Senior leaders plan to enhance their skills of lesson observations through attending the local authority training on observing lessons. The headteacher is improving her leadership skills through attendance at the ‘New to Headship Programme’. She has used contacts to set up training for governors with a focus on their role and plans are in place for training in the use of pupil progress data.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Manchester as below.

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