Maids Moreton Church of England School

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

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Miss Keira Ainsworth Headteacher Maids Moreton Church of England School Avenue Road Maids Moreton Buckingham Buckinghamshire MK18 1QA

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Short inspection of Maids Moreton Church of England School

Following my visit to the school on 22 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 April 2012.

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Short inspection of Maids Moreton Church of England School

You and your team have maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have a very clear and ambitious vision, with a relentless determination that every pupil achieves their best. Parents are supportive of the school. One said that the ‘school provides a happy, nurturing environment for children to learn in’ and a number of parents made similar comments. Teaching assistants have undertaken a good range of valuable training to develop their understanding, so they can better support pupils in class. You work very effectively with the Buckinghamshire Learning Trust and your local group of schools to share successful teaching and learning practice. This effective collaborative work has further developed teachers’ skills and improved pupils’ progress. The school’s website is very helpful. It celebrates pupils’ work and provides useful information for parents.

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Short inspection of Maids Moreton Church of England School

You ensure that all staff are well supported and an effective part of the valuable team. Staff work hard on developing and refining their practice to further accelerate pupils’ achievement. Governors believe that you go to extraordinary lengths in supporting the school and are very confident in your leadership. They work closely with you to identify and evaluate the school’s progress. Governors carry out a range of useful tasks which include the thorough monitoring of safeguarding arrangements. Their regular visits to the school ensure that they have a good understanding of its strengths and areas for improvement. As a result of this very strong leadership, the school continues to be good, and is improving. The calm, highly supportive and nurturing ethos ensures that everyone is appreciated in your vibrant school. One pupil said, ‘Everyone is our friend.’ Pupils play cooperatively with each other and are very confident when speaking to adults.

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Short inspection of Maids Moreton Church of England School

Bullying is rare and if it does happen, it is dealt with swiftly in accordance with the school’s policy. Pupils know who to speak with if they have any concerns. The well- established routines and high expectations ensure that pupils’ behaviour is good and that they feel safe. Pupils are very positive about the support and care they receive from staff. A small number of parents raised a concern about the support for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. I explored your provision for this group of pupils and found it met their needs well. You make good use of external specialists to support this work.

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Short inspection of Maids Moreton Church of England School

You have successfully ensured that pupils’ achievement continues to be good. In 2016, the number of children in Reception Year reaching a good level of development was above the national average. In the Year 1 phonics check in 2016, the proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard was above the national average. In the 2016 national key stage 1 assessments, pupils did better in reading than in writing and mathematics. You carefully evaluated the reasons for the dip in these 2016 results and rightly put in place an effective range of measures to accelerate pupils’ progress. You reflected prudently on the reporting of the 2016 results, mindful that in your small school comparisons with the national figures for pupils’ progress can be difficult to interpret. Current pupils are making good, and some accelerated, progress in reading, mathematics and writing. Pupils are very well supported in their learning by the effective feedback from adults, which helps

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Short inspection of Maids Moreton Church of England School

them to improve their work. You have a relentless drive to improve achievement and recognise, correctly, that there remain some pupils who could make even better progress, especially in writing and mathematics.

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Short inspection of Maids Moreton Church of England School

The need to improve pupils’ attendance is correctly a high priority as it was lower than the 2016 national average. Since September 2016, your robust action to reduce absence has led to improved pupil attendance.

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Short inspection of Maids Moreton Church of England School

You have addressed the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection effectively. With your staff team, you correctly identify pupils’ needs to ensure that these are well met in the classroom. Your system to monitor and evaluate pupils’ progress is meticulous and enables you to track achievement accurately, and respond quickly to any dip in progress.

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Short inspection of Maids Moreton Church of England School

Safeguarding is rightly your first priority and everyone is vigilant. Pre-employment checks on staff suitability are robust. You ensure that there is timely ongoing training for staff and governors to ensure that they know how to keep pupils safe. Governors review and evaluate safeguarding policies and procedures carefully, including safer-recruitment practices, staff induction and site security. There are rigorous systems to monitor and check the well-being of pupils. When any concerns arise, staff take swift, appropriate action. You successfully involve outside agencies to further support pupils and their families.

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Short inspection of Maids Moreton Church of England School

Maids Moreton ensures that pupils learn in a supportive, safe and caring environment. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe in the building. They are aware of the potential dangers when using the internet. Knowing the school’s rules well, pupils said that if they ever viewed anything on the internet that made them feel unsafe, they would close the lid of the laptop and tell an adult. Pupils feel safe in school and are well supported by the adults around them. Parents also agree that their children are safe at school.

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Inspection findings

 During this inspection we looked closely at specific aspects of the school’s provision, including: the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements; how the teaching of writing enables different groups of pupils to make good progress; how the teaching of mathematics ensures that different groups of pupils are challenged; and how well leaders and governors are improving pupils’ attendance.  The English coordinator has accurately evaluated the strengths and areas for development in writing. Staff training on evaluating pupils’ writing across the school and the teaching of spelling is further supporting staff in ensuring that pupils make at least good progress. The strong emphasis on giving pupils opportunities to write at greater length is improving their work. Pupils respond very well to adults’ advice, helping them to improve their writing. Where you have correctly identified those pupils who are not making enough progress, you

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Inspection findings

have swiftly put in place relevant additional support. The work in pupils’ books clearly shows that they are making good progress. The profile of writing has been further raised by introducing a ‘Writer of the Week’ award. Pupils value highly the certificates awarded in assemblies and when their good work is displayed. Teachers track pupils’ progress very carefully and use this invaluable information well to identify individualised support to accelerate pupils’ writing progress. You have accurately identified that some middle-attaining pupils need to make more rapid progress to achieve as well as they can.  In your role as mathematics coordinator, you track pupils’ progress across the early years and key stage 1 in a helpfully evaluative and systematic way. You have ensured that lower-ability pupils are well supported to develop their understanding of numbers. Staff ask good open-ended questions to allow pupils

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Inspection findings

to explain their reasoning. Consequently, pupils’ understanding of how to solve mathematical problems develops well. I saw pupils diligently, and with great enthusiasm, discussing whether to use their multiplication or division skills to answer a question. Pupils’ books clearly indicate that they are making good progress, but there are some pupils, especially the most able, who are capable of doing even better.  You have an unrelenting determination to ensure that pupils are not disadvantaged in their learning by frequent absence. You closely monitor each child’s attendance to ensure that they come to school unless unwell. Good attendance is promoted effectively through newsletters, assemblies, through supporting parents and by working with the local authority. The governing body also checks pupils’ rates of absence as its members know that low attendance can have an adverse effect on pupils’ achievement. Your robust and rigorous

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Inspection findings

approach has improved current pupils’ attendance markedly this year, compared to last year’s figures. The number of pupils who have been persistently absent has also reduced.

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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

 all middle-ability pupils make strong and sustained progress  more pupils exceed the standards expected for their age in mathematics, especially the most able pupils  pupils’ attendance continues to improve, to be at least in line with the national average.

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Next steps for the school

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

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Information about the inspection

I met with you, one middle leader, four governors, a group of pupils and a representative from the Buckinghamshire Learning Trust. I spoke with eight parents on the playground and considered 22 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including 14 written comments, and four letters. I also evaluated 10 responses to the questionnaire for staff and 16 responses to the pupil survey. Together with you, I visited all classes to see pupils’ learning and examined their work in their English and mathematics books. I also observed pupils at breaktime and spoke with them informally. I also considered a range of documents, including those relating to safeguarding and pupils’ progress.

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