Mosborough Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mr Martin Fallon Headteacher Mosborough Primary School New School Road Mosborough Sheffield South Yorkshire S20 5ES

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Short inspection of Mosborough Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 14 March 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in December 2011.

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Short inspection of Mosborough Primary School

The leadership team has maintained and improved upon the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since the last inspection, there has been severe turbulence in staffing at all levels. The school has seen two new headteachers and deputy headteachers and the majority of the teaching staff are new to the school. The governing body, however, has remained stable and has provided high-quality support to ensure that pupils have received good-quality education during the changes. The leadership of the school is now stable and has been so for the last 18 months. You have ensured that leaders have clear roles and accountability for those roles and that leadership is devolved throughout the school. Members of staff take great pride in leading areas such as enterprise and the science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum.

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Short inspection of Mosborough Primary School

Twenty-three staff responded to the confidential questionnaire, with a 100% positive response for every question. Staff commented on how ‘rewarding and fulfilling’ it is to teach at Mosborough and how they are ‘hugely proud of being part of team Mosborough’. You have systematic performance management arrangements which highlight strengths in the staff and how these can be used to support school improvement. Any areas of development are quickly identified. The support given by the deputy headteacher is highly focused and the impact on improving the quality of teaching is highly visible.

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Short inspection of Mosborough Primary School

There were several areas of improvement identified at the last inspection. These have been addressed well. For example, the early years provision now has good- quality records of children’s achievements and better use is made of assessment information. You and your team have worked tirelessly to ensure that the assessment system you use is appropriate for the needs of your pupils and parents. With this in mind, you have adopted a point-in-time assessment model to enable you to track how well pupils are progressing from their starting points and through the academic year. You and your team are not complacent and recognise that, although the majority of pupils reach high levels of attainment, the progress of some pupils could be better.

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Short inspection of Mosborough Primary School

Parents and carers are highly supportive of the work you and your team do to ensure that their children are happy, safe and learn well. Parents contribute in a number of ways to support the school as they take a very active interest in all aspects of school life, for example listening to their children read, supporting them with their homework and taking part in school events.

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Short inspection of Mosborough Primary School

Governors are highly motivated towards ensuring that the school continues to improve. They are a stable and skilled team which supports and challenges the school well. They have a rigorous system in place which enables them to be well informed and to be able to challenge the school on relevant information. All governors meet at least three times per term. They conduct regular skills audits which then allow them to allocate roles and responsibilities appropriately. They have developed monitoring groups, such as the community voice monitoring group, so that all governors are very well informed.

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Short inspection of Mosborough Primary School

Pupils say that they feel very safe. They know that adults will always help them if they have a concern, but also comment that concerns are minor. Pupils have an accurate understanding of what bullying is but are proud to say that they do not have bullies at their school. You have ensured that your staff are well trained and you have four deputy designated safeguarding leads, so that a well-qualified person is always available should an issue arise. The records you keep of any concerns are detailed and appropriate and governors are kept informed as appropriate. You make particular effort to ensure that those people who are not directly employed by the school due to the private funding initiative scheme are aware of their roles and responsibilities regarding protecting children.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils behave extremely well at all times. They are polite and courteous and take pride in keeping their school clean and tidy. The personal development of pupils is a strength of the school. In ‘philosophy for children’ sessions pupils learn to debate and listen to and respect the opinions of others, even when they may be different from their own. Their ready acceptance, tolerance and respect for those who have different beliefs and home circumstances to their own are a testament to this strong personal development. Pupils take on various roles of responsibility in school, such as the Pupil Parliament and the various committees within the parliament.  Pupils enjoy coming to school and parents understand the importance of regular attendance. For the majority of pupils, attendance rates are consistently high. In 2016, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils was lower than that of other pupils. Close monitoring of attendance rates and swift support for some families

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Inspection findings

have improved rates of attendance for disadvantaged pupils from 93.6% in 2016 to 94.1% in 2017. Your school is still working hard to improve this figure and support pupils appropriately.  You and your team make sure that pupils enjoy learning. Extra-curricular activities enhance an already engaging curriculum. Pupils take part in clubs such as World Explorer, where they learn about and experience life and culture in different cities around the world. You recognise the need for pupils to have a range of experiences so that they have the opportunity to excel in subjects such as art, sports, music and drama.  The environment that pupils learn in is exciting and stimulating, both inside and outside. Younger children are given lots of encouragement to write, as well as to enjoy problem-solving activities, such as a child in the early years who persevered and strategically manipulated pipes and racks to ensure that his ball

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Inspection findings

could follow the pathway that he wanted it to follow.  Year 1 disadvantaged pupils in 2015 and 2016 did not achieve as highly in the phonics check as other pupils in school or nationally. The needs of these pupils have been met with booster sessions and interventions. The monitoring of phonics knowledge is now more rigorous so that any potential weaknesses are addressed, and Year 1 pupils are currently at a higher standard than those from previous years.  Teachers teach pupils skills that are transferable and usable in every subject. They are taught skills such as inference and deduction and how to use brainstorming strategies to solve problems. These skills can be seen being used over a range of subjects such as English, science and art and they help to secure the high attainment levels seen across all key stages. However, you and your team recognise that there is a need for some pupils, particularly higher-attaining

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Inspection findings

pupils, to be able to work at a greater depth of learning.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 a greater percentage of pupils, particularly higher-attaining pupils, are working at a greater depth. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Sheffield. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you and the deputy headteacher. I met with members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority. I also met with different groups of pupils formally and listened to some pupils read. One hundred and fifty-seven responses to the Ofsted questionnaire, Parent View, were considered, which represents most of the families in school. Twenty-three staff responded to the staff questionnaire and I also spoke to staff during the day. We visited classes together and looked at some pupils’ books, and spoke to pupils to consider the quality of teaching and learning across the school. Behaviour was observed throughout the day, including lunchtime. A range of documentation was scrutinised, including that relating to safeguarding, pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching in school. I also considered school assessment information, school policies and information posted on the school website.

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