Manor Park Primary School

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

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Jill O‟Connor Headteacher Manor Park Primary School Ulverscroft Road Cheylesmore Coventry West Midlands CV3 5EZ

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Short inspection of Manor Park Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 21 March 2017 with Edward Masterson, Ofsted Inspector, 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 November 2012.

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Short inspection of Manor Park Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. There have been many staff changes since then, including your appointment as headteacher in April 2014 and the appointment of your deputy headteacher in September 2014. You have formed a highly effective leadership team and you work well together. Your skills complement one another. You have secured significant improvements to the school since the last inspection. You have moved the school within the overall judgement of good, demonstrating substantial improvement. The impact of work by leaders is impressive and the school is considerably better placed to deliver learning opportunities that effectively meet the needs of pupils and now includes some aspects of excellence, for instance pupils‟ personal development and welfare and the provision in the early years.

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Short inspection of Manor Park Primary School

Leaders, staff and governors place clear emphasis on nurturing pupils‟ wider personal development as well as their academic well-being. The school‟s mantra of “SOAR to success” is prominent, not just visually but also in the way it underpins everyone‟s work. The excellent provision for enrichment further builds on this, enabling pupils to have a go at learning new skills which, otherwise, they may not be able to try.

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Short inspection of Manor Park Primary School

You accurately identify the strengths and areas of relative weakness and then systematically set about tackling the areas identified for improvement. After the last inspection the school was asked to improve the quality of pupils‟ writing and their achievement in mathematics. Pupils‟ achievement in both writing and mathematics has risen. You have put in place clear structures for teachers to follow which secure a more cohesive approach across the school. However, there is still some variation in the quality of teaching, which means pupils‟ progress is not always as rapid as it could be and which continues to need attention.

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Short inspection of Manor Park Primary School

There is a vibrant and interesting curriculum provided for pupils with a wide range of stimulating learning opportunities. Physical education is a particular strength, which is reflected in the school‟s being awarded the School Games Gold Level Mark in 2015 and again in 2016.

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Short inspection of Manor Park Primary School

Pupils say they thoroughly enjoy coming to school because they feel it is a happy and exciting place to be. They take great pride in the school. Pupils enjoy lessons and say that teachers really help and support them in their learning. They work diligently to present their work carefully and meet teachers‟ expectations. The atmosphere across the school both in lessons and on the playground is calm. Pupils are courteous and respectful to each other, visitors and staff. They particularly enjoy the opportunities they are given to take responsibility within the school, including fundraising and being a representative of the school‟s council. The „job centre‟, which encourages pupils to make an application for positions of responsibility, is seen as a fair way of gaining responsibility and older pupils say that it prepares them for the future.

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Short inspection of Manor Park Primary School

You have undertaken a full audit of the effectiveness of governance. This has resulted in a slimmed-down but purposeful and skilled governing body. Governors have clear and specific roles. Governors fully support you in your role and together you all have a clear role in understanding what the school does well and where even more can be achieved. This has ensured that your priorities for improvement are accurately identified and your plans focus on the areas most needing development.

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Short inspection of Manor Park Primary School

Children in the early years get off to a strong start. They enjoy well-planned activities which engage their curiosity and interest. Consequently, they become absorbed in learning and show focus and sustained concentration. Focused teaching ensures that they very quickly acquire the key skills they need to make good progress. The outdoor area is well developed and particularly well resourced. It fully enables children to follow up on skills learned indoors, which was an area identified for improvement in the previous inspection.

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Short inspection of Manor Park Primary School

Leaders consider the safeguarding of pupils to be of the utmost importance. They ensure that all safeguarding arrangements adhere to statutory requirements and are fit for purpose. Records are detailed and of high quality. Leaders work closely with a range of external agencies and decisive action is taken, when required, to keep children safe. Leaders and learning mentors are vigilant in ensuring that pupils‟ welfare and safety are paramount. They are unrelenting in their responsibility to ensure the well-being of every child. All checks are carried out appropriately when recruiting staff. These are recorded meticulously. Effective systems are in place to alert the school when refresher training is due. In this way, the school ensures that staff, including governors, receive training at the required intervals, as well as being kept regularly up to date with key documents. All staff have received training to help them understand the

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Short inspection of Manor Park Primary School

risks that can face pupils should they encounter extreme views and practices.

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Short inspection of Manor Park Primary School

Pupils know how to keep safe and are aware of the dangers of using the internet. They report that the school provides a range of personal and social lessons which address a range of issues around safety. They believe that any issues, including bullying, are dealt with effectively.

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Inspection findings

 A key focus for the inspection was leaders‟ knowledge of the key strengths and areas for further development. It is clear that you and your deputy headteacher know your school well. From the beginning of the inspection, you have demonstrated a reflective and accurate evaluation of what is working successfully and know those areas in need of further work. Your development plans reflect your high expectations and consistency of approach, which are being used effectively to ensure that everyone in the school is clear about the direction in which you are heading. You have identified the need to support middle leaders, but it is too early for their impact to be fully embedded across the school.  The use of a specialist mathematics teacher has had a significant impact on achievement for the most able disadvantaged pupils in mathematics and their performance is either in line with or better than that of their peers.

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Inspection findings

 There are comprehensive systems in place to track the progress of all pupils, including the disadvantaged. Leaders and teachers know who these pupils are. In some classes the provision for pupils is far stronger as a result of the challenge and pitch of the lessons. In these classes disadvantaged pupils perform as well as their peers. However, this quality of teaching is not yet consistent across the school so pupils‟ progress is not always as rapid as it could be.  There is a good level of challenge in writing tasks, particularly for the most able. Children‟s books clearly demonstrate whole-school approaches which have been employed to secure good standards across the school. Presentation of work is evidently an important priority for the school and, consequently, it is of exceptionally high quality across the school. Teachers provide pupils with opportunities to write for a variety of purposes. They have high expectations of

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Inspection findings

content and challenge pupils, accordingly. Assessment of writing is accurate and consistent across the school.  We considered why boys were not achieving at the same rate as girls in the early years. This focused attention on the Reception and Nursery classes, where it was evident that there was some exceptionally high practice.  Children settle into school routines well and make exceptional progress. By the end of the Reception Year the proportion of children who achieve a good level of development is higher than the national figure and this is rising year on year. Consequently, they are well placed for the demands of the national curriculum from Year 1 onwards. They are motivated to learn and demonstrate sustained concentration on tasks. They cooperate well together, sharing resources. They follow instructions quickly. A broad curriculum is in place, so that pupils achieve across all aspects of the early years foundation stage. The continuous provision

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Inspection findings

for play supports this effectively and the learning environment is lively and creative.  Together with school leaders, you have identified that boys‟ achievement, although lower than that of girls, is still higher than the national average. Teachers in Reception and Nursery have addressed this by providing learning experiences and resources that match the interests of boys. It is evident that boys are as enthusiastic about learning as their female peers.

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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

 they continue to develop the effectiveness of middle leaders  they continue raising the quality of teaching and learning across the school to eliminate any inconsistencies in provision.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children‟s services for Coventry. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

Edward Masterson, Ofsted Inspector, and I met with you, other members of the leadership team, other members of school staff and members of the governing body. I also met with your local authority adviser. You, your deputy head and the inspection team jointly planned the key lines of enquiry for the inspection. We visited classes in the school to observe pupils‟ learning, speak with them and look in their books. We also spoke with pupils at break and during the day. We spoke with parents at the start of the school day and considered 163 responses to Ofsted‟s online questionnaire, Parent View. We spoke with staff. We looked at a range of documentation, including information about safeguarding and attendance. We also scrutinised and discussed the school‟s self-evaluation and plans for improvement.

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