Salisbury, Manor Fields Primary School

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

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Ms Jo McMorrin Headteacher Manor Fields Primary School Wilton Road Salisbury Wiltshire SP2 7EJ

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Short inspection of Manor Fields Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 11 May 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 2012.

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Short inspection of Manor Fields Primary School

You provide high-quality leadership. The pupils in the school have a wide range of abilities, including those who enter with skills well above that which would be expected and those who have profound and multiple learning difficulties. Many of the most vulnerable arrive part-way through their school career. Your constant drive and great enthusiasm have established a school in which all pupils are included and expected to achieve. Despite numerous staff changes, the leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection. You have built on the areas of strength and addressed the points for improvement from the previous report. You and your staff habitually explore developments in education, weighing up and implementing improvements that have been effective elsewhere.

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Short inspection of Manor Fields Primary School

Many of your current teachers are at an early stage in their teaching careers, and three are newly qualified. Ably assisted by your deputy, you provide strong support to these teachers, with clear expectations, regular feedback and training. Good practice is shared across the school. In responses to the Ofsted questionnaire, all staff strongly agreed that the school is well led.

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Short inspection of Manor Fields Primary School

When visiting classes, we saw that the pupils had excellent attitudes towards their learning. They were closely engaged in their work, concentrating and contributing. The books we looked at showed that all year groups are making at least good progress. The most able pupils achieved particularly well last year in Year 6. Some of the current Year 6 pupils of all abilities showed me a range of pieces of work that they rightly felt had really challenged them. One said, ‘This school is going to be something we’ll remember for all our lives.’ Another confirmed, ‘It sets us up for the future.’

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Short inspection of Manor Fields Primary School

Leadership responsibilities are shared across the experienced teachers in the school. Due to staff changes, many leaders are new to their roles, including those responsible for literacy, pupil premium support and special educational needs. These leaders are well organised, enthusiastic and highly committed to raising achievement. You have ensured that they have developed good professional knowledge about their subject areas. As yet, they are less effective in getting a strategic overview through analysing data about pupils’ progress or monitoring the quality of learning directly. This makes it harder for them to identify priorities for improvement and to fine-tune what they are doing to make improvements. This is an area you identified for action when the changes of role became necessary.

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Short inspection of Manor Fields Primary School

You have improved attendance for individual pupils with a history of persistent absence. You have funded a ‘family link partner’ who meets parents informally and supports them. All of the parents who responded to the questionnaire said that they would recommend the school to others. Parents feel that the school’s staff team is very approachable, and praise the steps it takes to welcome them by, for example, encouraging them to come in and eat lunch with their children. One spoke for many when they wrote about the school in saying that they ‘feel very privileged to be a part of it’.

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Short inspection of Manor Fields Primary School

You and your staff at all levels demonstrate an absolute commitment to pupils’ well- being. You provide very effective early support for families, while working closely with external agencies when required. You keep detailed and high-quality records. Governors make sure that they listen to pupils and check any concerns that they may have, for example by talking to members of the school council. You have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose.

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Short inspection of Manor Fields Primary School

Almost all parents and pupils who responded to the questionnaires feel that children are safe in the school. Typical comments included parents saying that staff ‘genuinely care’ and that the school has been ‘extremely supportive and understanding’. I spoke about safety to pupils in all year groups. They all said that they felt safe and would feel confident about going to an adult if needed. They knew how to ensure each other’s safety and how the school acted to make sure hazards were overcome. They knew what bullying is, but all thought there was none.

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Short inspection of Manor Fields Primary School

You have effectively reduced exclusions from the comparatively high level two years ago. You exclude only where it is essential and work closely to support the families and pupils involved. You are careful to follow up when children move to other schools to make sure the new school has received them and has the information it needs.

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Inspection findings

 To be sure that the school remained good, my key lines of enquiry were about the progress of disadvantaged pupils, the provision you make for pupils who have an education, health and care plan or a statement of special educational needs, and the way you have adapted and are adapting the curriculum to improve teaching of literacy, especially writing.  Data on pupils’ achievements in 2016 shows that while disadvantaged pupils in key stage 1 did well, disadvantaged pupils who left key stage 2 made slower progress than their classmates. In Reception, few disadvantaged pupils reached a good level of development by the end of the year. The school’s current data, however, shows that almost all disadvantaged pupils now in the school are making the progress they should, gaining on others nationally.  You and your staff consistently ‘go the extra mile’ to support disadvantaged pupils. Those who need it, including those who have left care, receive emotional

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Inspection findings

support that is very carefully tailored to them as individuals. Pupils are very positive about the academic support they receive.  Provision for the high proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan or a statement of special educational needs is good. They are enrolled in either of the two resource-based classes or in the main school. They are involved in and interested by the work they do. Pupils receive timely and appropriate support through speech therapy programmes, physiotherapy and occupational therapy where needed.  In 2015, this group of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities were absent more often than pupils nationally. Some of this group still have high levels of absence, but this is for unavoidable medical reasons. The school works closely with external professionals to give staff training, support pupils and make sure medical needs are met as far as possible in school.

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Inspection findings

 In 2015, only half of the pupils in Year 1 reached the expected standard in the phonics check. After researching options, you introduced a new approach to phonics teaching, adapting it carefully to get maximum impact. This was very successful as in 2016 three quarters of the Year 1 pupils reached the standard. They made rapid progress from the points they had reached at the end of Reception. Pupils were learning effectively in the phonics sessions we saw during the inspection.  The 2016 results showed that, in key stage 2, progress in writing was not as good as in reading and mathematics. You have rightly identified the need to develop the way pupils use spoken language to support their writing and have recently changed the curriculum to ensure a focus on this aspect throughout the school. At the moment, work shows that staff are generally challenging pupils to improve the writing in their literacy books. Writing in topic books and science

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Inspection findings

books is not at such a high standard. The worksheets that teachers use in science are effectively developing pupils’ scientific knowledge and understanding of science, which has been a focus, but limit opportunities to practise writing.  Literacy is receiving effective attention in the early years. Children are making good progress. In the session we saw, they were talking about words and phrases that they might use for writing, with one child suggesting ‘as high as the clouds’. The formal literacy sessions are followed up effectively through the activities staff provide for children to choose for themselves.  Governors are well aware of the strategies the school uses to improve the progress of disadvantaged pupils and to improve the curriculum. They showed convincing evidence of the way that they monitor developments and the way they challenge you for the data to assess the strategies’ effectiveness.

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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

 teachers improve pupils’ progress in writing by demanding that the standards of writing in pupils’ work in other subjects are as high as they are in literacy books  newly appointed leaders gain the skills to analyse data and monitor learning rigorously so that they can prioritise targets for improvement and adjust strategies to accelerate pupils’ achievement.

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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 Wiltshire. 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 discussed the school’s self-evaluation and improvements since the previous inspection. Together, we visited a range of classes to observe pupils’ learning. I spoke to pupils during lessons and playtime and also met formally with a group to gather their views. I looked at pupils’ work in lessons and scrutinised separate samples of their writing. I took account of 40 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, together with a range of written comments from parents. I also took account of 11 responses to Ofsted’s online staff questionnaire and 42 responses to the pupil questionnaire.

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Information about the inspection

I analysed a range of school documentation, including plans, school policies and safeguarding procedures. I studied information about the progress of pupils. I met with the early years leader, literacy coordinators and special educational needs coordinators, and talked informally with other staff. I met a group of governors, including the chair. I also spoke by telephone to an adviser from the local authority.

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