Tansley Primary School

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

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Tracey Holmes Headteacher Tansley Primary School Gold Hill Tansley Matlock Derbyshire DE4 5FG

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 28 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 September 2012.

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

Until recently, you had a stable staff and leadership team. This continuity meant that the quality of teaching was good and standards in reading, writing and mathematics remained high. Your robust systems have ensured that the two new members of staff have maintained these high standards. They have a received a thorough induction and are therefore contributing fully to the life of the school. Similarly, three new governors have received appropriate training so that they possess the necessary knowledge and skills in order to hold you fully to account.

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

You have now relinquished the majority of your large teaching commitment. This has allowed you to focus fully on driving the school forward. Your self-evaluation and school improvement plans are detailed and accurate. You have a clear view of the school’s strengths and areas for development.

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

You have a created a warm and caring school where staff know pupils and families well. Several parents told me that communication between school and home is strong. They particularly appreciate the daily opportunity to speak to you and the staff to discuss any queries they may have. Parents are supportive of the school. Responses to Ofsted’s Parent View overwhelmingly stated that pupils are happy, safe and making good progress. One parent remarked, ‘It’s like dropping my child off at a friend’s house.’

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

In the 2016 end of key stage 2 tests, the proportions of pupils who achieved at the expected standard and at a greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics were above those seen for other pupils nationally. This cohort also made better progress than other pupils in reading, writing and mathematics. In the key stage 1 tests, the proportions of pupils who achieved at the expected standard in reading and writing were above national averages. The proportions of pupils who achieved the expected standard in mathematics and at a greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics were just below the national averages.

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

You have implemented robust assessment and tracking systems that are updated termly in reading, writing and mathematics. You hold pupil progress meetings with teachers to ensure that any pupil who is falling behind quickly receives the help they need in order to catch up. Assessments are moderated by other schools within the cluster, therefore ensuring teachers’ assessments are accurate.

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

Information provided by you and work seen in books show that the majority of pupils are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics, and are on track to be working at age-related expectations by the end of the academic year. A small number of pupils in each year group are on track to be exceeding age-related expectations by the end of the academic year.

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

Upon examining pupils’ books, you agreed with me that a large number of pupils across the school do not present their work neatly enough. This was the case in writing, topic and mathematics.

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

Pupils in receipt of pupil premium funding are catered for well, are tracked carefully and are making good progress. ‘Pupil premium centred plans’ show clearly how the funding is allocated and ensure that all pupils who are entitled to this funding are receiving it.

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive good support and are making good progress. Parents attend termly meetings and are therefore kept fully informed of the pupil progress being made. There are good links with outside agencies, including an educational psychologist and the speech and language team.

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

Governors are enthusiastic, knowledgeable and possess a broad range of skills and experience. They have undertaken relevant training, for example in examining pupil progress data. As a result, they are able to ask challenging questions in meetings. Governors visit the school regularly to check on the various aspects of its work. One recent example from last term was a safeguarding audit. Subsequently, the governor wrote a report of her findings and this was shared at the next governors meeting, therefore keeping other governors fully informed.

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

At the previous inspection, you were asked to ensure that initial assessments of children in the early years drew effectively on parents’ and carers’ knowledge of their children. You have successfully achieved this by holding meetings with parents and by asking them to complete an overview of their child before they start at the school. This means that staff have a much fuller picture of each child and can therefore accurately plan for the next steps in their learning. You agree that a next step for the early years staff is for this assessment information from parents to become an ongoing process throughout the year. This will enable staff to maintain an up-to-date knowledge of each child as the academic year progresses.

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

The outdoor learning environment for children in the early years is a strength. There are a range of stimulating activities and equipment for the children to use and explore. Children are progressing well in all areas of learning, including physical development.

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

The inspector also asked that you take into account national data in order to evaluate the progress of the small number of pupils who have very low starting points. From my discussions with you and from the documents you provided it is clear that you have achieved this. You have a good understanding of national data and how this relates to all pupils at Tansley.

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Short inspection of Tansley Primary School

There is a strong safeguarding culture within the school. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of a high quality. Staff have received appropriate safeguarding training. You have a robust system in place for recording concerns raised by staff and you make timely referrals to outside agencies should a child or family require extra support. You make rigorous checks on staff and volunteers before they are allowed to work alongside pupils and the single central record is up to date and well maintained. You have robust systems in place for monitoring the attendance of pupils, including vulnerable pupils, and you ensure that fixed-term exclusions are rare.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils are not as well prepared for life in modern Britain as they should be. They do not have enough of the necessary knowledge and understanding of other faiths and cultures that are different to their own. For example, in my discussions with them, pupils could not tell me about other faiths and their places of worship.  Pupils in key stage 1 are challenged suitably in a wide range of subjects. For example, during a mathematics lesson, a Year 1 pupil correctly identified a 3D shape as a ‘square-based pyramid’. There are also many opportunities for pupils to write at length in English and across the curriculum.  Pupils in the key stage 2 classes are also challenged suitably. Evidence seen in pupils’ writing and mathematics books show clearly that they are being given work at the appropriate level. Teaching assistants are deployed most effectively when they are supporting pupils from different ability groups during a lesson.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils told me that behaviour is good both inside classrooms and outside at break and lunch-times. They are confident that adults deal with any issues quickly and fairly. Pupils welcome the opportunity to take part in after-school clubs, such as fencing, gardening, football and netball.  The democratically elected school council have been instrumental in organising a weekly healthy tuck shop. Money raised from this is going towards a whole- school trip to the seaside in the summer term.  The local authority adviser has provided good support to the school and has validated your judgements on the quality of teaching and the assessments made by teachers relating to pupils’ attainment and progress.

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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

 pupils are prepared more fully for life in modern Britain by ensuring that they have a knowledge and understanding of faiths and cultures different to their own  Reception parents have an ongoing involvement in their child’s assessment and progress so that staff have an up-to-date knowledge of the child through the year  pupils present their work in all subjects to the best of their ability.

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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 Derbyshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, I held meetings with you in your roles as headteacher and special educational needs coordinator, the subject leader in English, four members of the governing body, including the chair, and a group of six pupils. I scrutinised a range of the school’s documents, including those relating to the progress of pupils, the school’s improvement planning, self-evaluation and safeguarding. I visited all of the classrooms to see the learning that was taking place. I spoke with pupils and looked at the work in their books. I spoke with parents as they brought their children to school in the morning and I took account of the views of parents through responses to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View. There were no responses to the staff or pupil Ofsted surveys.

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