Moor Hall Primary School

Moor Hall Primary School Rowallan Road, Sutton Coldfield, B75 6RE

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.  Children get an excellent start to their education in the Reception Year. They make outstanding progress in all areas of their early development.  Standards in mathematics, reading and writing are well-above average and have been since the previous inspection. Standards in other subjects are equally strong.  Pupils benefit from teaching that is at least good and usually outstanding so they all make excellent progress.  Careful checks make sure that all pupils are making the best progress they can. Those in danger of falling behind, or who need extra help, are identified quickly and given prompt support so they too achieve exceptionally well.  Teachers set demanding tasks knowing that pupils respond enthusiastically and try hard to achieve their very best. The more able always rise to the challenge and their achievement is outstanding.  Teachers are highly successful in encouraging

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

pupils to find things out for themselves from the very youngest age.  Teachers mark pupils’ work regularly. Marking is often of a high quality, particularly in English, but does not always give pupils enough ideas on how they can improve.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted very well. This is highly effective in helping pupils to develop strong relationships, outstanding attitudes to learning and excellent behaviour.  Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding and they are kept exceptionally safe and secure in school.  Senior leaders have very successfully created a school environment in which high expectations of what pupils can achieve and high standards are typical.  Leaders regularly check on teaching. Through rigorous procedures, using a wide range of evidence, they have established a record of continually improving the quality of teaching.  Governors are very well qualified with relevant

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

experience for governing a school. They have a high level of involvement in running the school. They check the school’s performance for themselves. They question and challenge leaders to ensure the highest quality of education.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 16 lessons, all of which were seen jointly with the headteacher or an assistant headteacher.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, governors and staff. Inspectors spoke to a group of pupils formally, and others informally during lesson observations and at break times.  The inspectors looked at a wide range of school documentation including: the school’s own evaluation of its performance and its development and improvement plan; information about pupils’ progress and the support given to disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs; evidence about leadership’s monitoring of teaching; records relating to safeguarding and attendance.  An inspector met with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of 104 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View. They also looked at the school’s own recent survey of parents’ views. The inspectors took account of

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Information about this inspection

letters written by parents and, at their request, met with parents of two pupils.  Inspectors considered 25 responses to the questionnaire for school staff.

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Inspection team

David Speakman, Lead inspector Additional Inspector John Mollard Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized primary school.  Pupils are taught in single-age classes for all abilities throughout the school.  The proportions of pupils from minority ethnic groups and pupils who speak English as an additional language are well-below average. No one is at the early stages of learning English.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is below average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also below average.  A very small minority of pupils are supported by extra funding through the pupil premium. In this school it applies to pupils who are in the care of the local authority and those known to be eligible for free school meals.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

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Information about this school

 In the last three years, five newly qualified teachers have joined the school.  There is a privately run nursery, Ducklings Day Nursery, on the school site. It is inspected separately.  The school provides before- and after-school care at Moorhens before- and after-school club. The club was visited as part of this inspection.  Leadership provides support to other local schools through:  the headteacher being a local leader of education who provides support to other schools in the local authority  the Chair of the Governing Body being a national leader of governance and providing support to governing bodies in this and other local authorities.  The school is a member of the Four Oaks Learning Trust for Excellence (FOLTE). The seven local schools in the trust share a common set of values and principles and a common purpose – a commitment to further improve the learning of pupils across the family of schools. As members

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Information about this school

of the trust, school staff contribute to, and benefit from, developing a high-quality of education within the trust.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Extend the best quality of marking across all classes and subjects so that the feedback pupils receive on how to improve their work is consistently helpful.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children join Reception with skills and knowledge expected for their age. They make excellent progress in all areas of learning, but particularly in communication and in their personal development. Children show high levels of enthusiasm for learning and confidently join in investigating and exploring, finding things out for themselves. By the time they join Year 1, most have achieved a good level of development and their attainment is above average.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils make excellent progress to reach well-above average standards. They make excellent progress throughout Key Stage 1 and, by the end of Year 2, standards are consistently well- above average. By the end of Year 6, standards are high year on year in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils currently in school were found to be set to continue the school’s record of high standards and excellent achievement in English and mathematics. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 have made excellent progress since the beginning of Key Stage 2 and are now over a year ahead of the rate of progress nationally expected for their age group at the end of the key stage. Pupils in Year 2 are similarly already about a year ahead of the levels expected for their age group by the end of this academic year.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils make excellent progress across a wide range of subjects other than English and mathematics and achieve high standards. They use reading and writing skills in other subjects very well and build a broad base of general knowledge. Singing is of a high quality. Many pupils learn to play instruments to a high standard. Pupils have excellent computer skills, and use computers competently as a tool for learning. The school has a strong record of sporting achievement, indicating at least good standards in physical education.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Results of the national screening in Year 1 to check pupils’ knowledge and understanding of phonics (sounds that letters make) are high when compared to the national proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard. Pupils throughout the school enjoy reading a wide range of books. Most are fluent readers and have effective strategies to read unfamiliar words. They can recall main ideas from text with excellent levels of accuracy and detail.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Work for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is set at the right level so they too make excellent progress. Staff are very effective in developing pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills with a well-chosen range of classroom methods. Consequently these pupils are able to keep up with other pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 More-able pupils are given work that challenges them. They achieve exceptionally well, reaching very-high standards across a wide range of subjects.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The progress of pupils eligible for help through the pupil premium funding is outstanding and they have caught up with other pupils. In the 2013 national tests at the end of Key Stage 2, they had successfully closed the attainment gap in English and mathematics between themselves and others in the school, having made better progress than most other pupils in their classes.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Adults have very high expectations of what pupils can achieve and set work that is consistently demanding to move pupils on rapidly at all attainment levels. Throughout the school, teachers are skilled at providing interesting opportunities for pupils to learn through exploring and investigating. They intervene when appropriate, using questions as further points for learning. They ask questions rather than telling pupils the answers. This practice is particularly effective in encouraging the learning of more-able pupils, who often follow their own lines of enquiry in extending their learning, and learn at a rapid pace.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers provide excellent role models for the pupils. Their writing on boards and in books is neat and well presented. The high-quality written resources provided to assist learning are produced by the teachers themselves and adapted to the ability levels in their classes. Adults are courteous to pupils and to each other.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers and other staff show impressive subject knowledge and what they teach is accurate and well explained. They give helpful examples of how to learn what is intended.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching in the Reception class provides interesting and imaginative opportunities for children to learn. Teachers combine opportunities for children to learn through exploration and investigation with a balance of more formal instruction. For example, in a Reception physical development lesson, adults showed how to play a complicated game exceptionally well so young children were able to compete straight away. During child-initiated activity, children are encouraged to try things out for themselves, such as mixing paints, but adults are always there to help to move learning on when necessary.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Outstanding teaching of reading, writing, numeracy and information and communication technology shows in pupils’ high standards and excellent progress. Learning is set into a real-life context so pupils can see a purpose to their learning. For example, in mathematics, Year 3 gained some important ideas about measurement while learning how people used to measure length in the past.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Knowledge and skills across a range of subjects are often developed together to deepen pupils’ understanding. In information and communication technology, for example, Year 5 consolidated their internet research skills while finding out a host of interesting facts about the Olympic Games and important information about different countries across the world. This activity was highly effective in helping pupils to learn. They were able to find things out for themselves and not rely on others for answers. However, other learning is done in discrete subjects with the teacher leading the activity and is just as effective.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Pupils’ work is mostly marked well and helps them understand how they can improve it. There are examples of marking that are highly effective in helping move pupils onto the next steps in learning. However, marking and feedback are not of a consistently high quality across subjects or in identifying the next steps for pupils to take in learning.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are taught very well. Prompt identification of how their learning can be advanced means support is provided from the earliest opportunity and weaknesses overcome quickly. Staff are efficiently deployed to support these pupils in class so they are fully included in all activities. Teaching assistants do a very good job in supporting these pupils. For example, a group of Year 1 pupils was seen to be supported through interesting and challenging number games that became gradually more difficult. They enjoyed this learning activity and worked enthusiastically.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The progress of pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding is very carefully monitored. They are taught exceptionally well through a well-chosen range of methods and groupings to enable them to achieve outstanding results.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. They have excellent attitudes to learning and approach tasks with enthusiasm and a determination to do their very best. They soon learn to try to overcome for themselves any difficulties they experience. In Year 2, for example, pupils use a wide range of readily available resources to look up answers to questions for themselves.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils at all ages take great care to present their work neatly and tidily. Very little work remains unfinished and pupils’ work books are a credit to the care they take.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils speak exceptionally well about behaviour. They say lessons are very rarely interrupted by poor behaviour. They are aware that pupils can occasionally ‘be silly’ at break times but that teachers deal with any issues straight away.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe at school and feel very secure while there because school leaders ensure their safety as the highest priority. Entry to the school is securely managed and all staff are checked thoroughly prior to being appointed. Safety arrangements in classrooms and outside areas are regularly assessed as safe. Pupils are helped to reach a good understanding of the different types of bullying and know what to do if they ever need help. They say it is rare. Pupils also gain a very good understanding of how to stay safe while using the internet.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils are cared for exceptionally well in the before- and after-school clubs. Activities are of a high quality. This provision is carefully monitored; governors were involved in its setting up and are still involved in its running.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils enjoy school. They see learning as ‘great fun’ and say they particularly enjoy the interesting and illuminating links between subjects. They particularly liked the work focused on ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ because of the drama and computer-based research linked into the topic. One pupil said that questions in mathematics made him think and he enjoyed that challenge. Attendance is consistently above the national average.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Most parents who responded to the online questionnaire, Parent View, say their children are happy, safe and well looked after, and that behaviour is good. Inspectors fully endorse parents’ views as an accurate evaluation of the school.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Staff are exceptionally well led by the headteacher and work as a highly effective team. The headteacher and the senior leadership team work very closely with the governing body and between them they have developed a culture through which everyone is expected to do their very best.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Rigorous arrangements for the frequent checking of teaching and pupils’ progress have resulted in ongoing improvements in the quality of teaching and learning. Five teachers new to the profession have started their careers in Moor Hall Primary. Through robust checking of their teaching and effective support, all are now teaching to a good and, sometimes, outstanding standard. Targets set to improve teachers’ work are challenging and have helped improve their practice.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leadership at all levels is strong. The headteacher and governors have made sure that staff have the expertise to step into new roles if necessary and maintain highly effective leadership. Membership of the Four Oaks Learning Trust provides many valuable opportunities for leaders at all levels to develop their own leadership skills and consult with other effective leaders and managers.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Subject leaders are very effective in making sure that the provision in their subjects or areas of responsibility is of the highest quality. They play a full role in checking the progress pupils make and that what is taught is up to date and helps pupils prepare exceptionally well for their future education. Pupils’ ability to cope with the transfer at the end of Year 6 is endorsed in an exceptionally positive view expressed by the headteacher of the secondary school to which most pupils transfer.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leadership of Reception is highly effective in enabling children to make excellent progress from their entry to the school. They are helped to develop as enthusiastic learners from the outstanding teaching and learning opportunities with which they are provided.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The curriculum is carefully planned to engage pupils’ interest. There is an appropriate emphasis on developing pupils’ learning skills and making them into effective learners able to learn with increasing maturity. Learning skills are made prominent in all subjects and there is detailed guidance for teachers to help them plan for the steady building of pupils’ learning skills. This aspect of the curriculum is a key factor in forming pupils’ excellent attitudes to learning.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The curriculum, additional learning opportunities beyond the timetable and the whole-school environment support the outstanding promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. All four aspects are promoted equally well. Of particular note is the pupils’ understanding of social and moral aspects, supported by strong school’s promotion of values, attitudes and beliefs that result in their outstanding behaviour.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Finances are managed very well. Pupil premium funding is used to improve the progress of individual qualifying pupils through providing appropriate teaching and support. Eligible pupils are funded to attend school clubs and after-school care to ensure equal opportunity across the school. The school has detailed arrangements for spending the primary sports funding. Action taken is widening opportunities for pupils to take part in sports activities and improving teachers’ expertise through working with a newly appointed specialist teacher.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school:  The quality of governance is high. Governors work exceptionally well with leaders at all levels. They are proactive in dealing with important issues identified through their regular visits and their own analysis of information on pupils’ progress and attainment. This means they are fully aware of how well the school is doing and how the achievement of pupils compares with that in other schools. Their thorough understanding of the school’s performance enables them to hold leaders to account.  Governors’ regular visits to the school give them an excellent understanding of how well teachers are doing through first-hand observation and through discussions with staff. They are very knowledgeable, and their professional expertise gives them a thorough understanding of the quality of teachers’ practice.  They challenge senior leaders on school improvement. They set clear and challenging targets

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The leadership and management are outstanding

in managing the performance of the headteacher and staff, making sure teachers’ pay always links with competence and ensuring pupils’ progress and achievement.  They make sure statutory requirements are met, including for safeguarding.

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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 103351 Local authority Birmingham Inspection number 431489

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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 Primary School category Foundation Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 210 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Pam Garrington Headteacher Andrew John Steggall Date of previous school inspection 14 July 2009 Telephone number 0121 675 3966 Fax number 0121 675 4501 Email address enquiry@moorhall.bham.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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