Mansbridge Primary School

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

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Mr Mark Sheehan Headteacher Mansbridge Primary School Octavia Road Swaythling Southampton Hampshire SO18 2LX

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Short inspection of Mansbridge Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 13 June 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 May 2013.

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Short inspection of Mansbridge Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your team have remained sharply focused on meeting the needs of the pupils in the school. You have high ambitions for all the pupils, including the large proportion of disadvantaged pupils. The commitment of you and your team ensures that all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, leave the school well prepared for the next stage in their education.

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Short inspection of Mansbridge Primary School

You have maintained the warm relationships between staff and pupils identified by the last inspection. Pupils continue to feel safe and well cared for in school and parents appreciate this. Pupils are friendly and help each other when they can. They show each other respect and are polite to adults and other pupils.

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Short inspection of Mansbridge Primary School

The governing body has continued to demonstrate strong leadership. Governors are determined that pupils will do well, and they have invested in a range of strategies to make this happen. For example, the additional teaching time available to pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 together with effective speech and language support in the Reception class demonstrate the governors’ commitment to good outcomes for pupils. Governors closely monitor the progress pupils make in reading, writing and mathematics. However, they are not yet monitoring the progress pupils make in subjects across the wider curriculum.

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Short inspection of Mansbridge Primary School

You, with other leaders, have taken effective action to maintain and build on the strengths identified in the last inspection. Although you have increased the amount of teaching that is outstanding, there is still more work to do here. You have successfully increased the proportion of Year 6 pupils who reach the higher levels in reading and writing, but this is not yet the case for mathematics.

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Short inspection of Mansbridge Primary School

The work you have already undertaken to further strengthen middle leadership and improve the teaching of mathematics demonstrates your continued capacity and commitment to further improve the school.

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Short inspection of Mansbridge Primary School

This is an extremely caring school where the well-being of pupils is at its heart. Staff are well trained in all areas of safeguarding and you and other leaders are tenacious when following up concerns with other agencies. Leaders have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality.

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Short inspection of Mansbridge Primary School

Parents are confident that children are safe and the pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe, including online safety. Many pupils commented on the role that assembly plays in teaching them how to keep themselves safe.

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Short inspection of Mansbridge Primary School

Pupils say that bullying hardly ever happens and they are confident that staff will always listen to them and help them if needed. Leaders ensure that the school site is a secure environment for learning, and the pupils recognise and appreciate this.

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Short inspection of Mansbridge Primary School

The curriculum ensures that pupils learn how to keep themselves safe as they progress through the school.

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Short inspection of Mansbridge Primary School

With other leaders, you work hard to ensure that all pupils attend regularly, particularly disadvantaged pupils. Attendance is above national averages and has been for the last two years. As a result of your continued focus on the importance of good attendance, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils is improving.

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Inspection findings

 At the start of the inspection, we agreed to look in particular at the following aspects of the school’s work: – the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements – how well leaders have addressed the recommendations of the previous inspection report to improve the quality of teaching – how effectively leaders are ensuring that disadvantaged pupils, particularly the most able disadvantaged pupils, make consistently good progress in all subjects and year groups – how well the wider curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to acquire knowledge, understanding and skills in a broad range of subjects.

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Inspection findings

 Children start school with levels of development that are lower than typical for their age. As a result of the strong teaching they receive, and their own positive behaviour, they make good, and sometimes very good, progress. This allows them to reach standards that are broadly average in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  The close attention given to disadvantaged pupils is a strength of the school. From their very low starting points, disadvantaged pupils go on to achieve standards at the end of Year 6 that are higher than the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. Most-able disadvantaged pupils do particularly well in English, but their progress is less consistent in mathematics. The school regularly checks the progress that disadvantaged pupils make and has a wide range of effective strategies to ensure that all pupils do well.  Most-able pupils, including most-able disadvantaged pupils, do not always make

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Inspection findings

the progress they need to reach the higher levels of achievement in mathematics. Although leaders are aware of this and have started to change the way that mathematics is taught, this work is too recent to have impacted on the outcomes that pupils achieve.  Since the last inspection, leaders have maintained the good quality of teaching, learning and assessment in the school. Leaders have been quick to identify areas of the school that could improve further. A good example of this is the action taken to improve the teaching of mathematics. Teachers have received support and training to develop their subject knowledge and questioning skills. As a result, teachers are becoming more skilled at identifying what holds pupils back. This is leading to pupils beginning to make more progress in mathematics. Actions such as these have made sure the strong achievement identified in the last inspection has been maintained.

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Inspection findings

 The headteacher, staff and governors are highly ambitious for the pupils in the school. As a result, leaders and governors look for expert advice to help them improve. For example, a recent review from a partner school helped leaders identify how middle leaders could have more impact in the school. This led to middle leaders taking more responsibility for the training and development of teachers. As a result, teachers feel well supported and the school is developing an innovative approach to teachers’ professional development.  Since the last inspection, the curriculum continues to interest and engage pupils. Pupils enjoy the topics they cover and produce work of good quality across the wider curriculum. Topics are designed to engage pupils’ interest and cover a range of themes. Additional activities on offer, from dance to chess, are enjoyed by pupils and valued by parents. The personal, social, health and economic

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Inspection findings

curriculum is thorough and age-appropriate, enabling pupils to build their knowledge and understanding as they progress through the school. While the curriculum is strong, it does not yet have the breadth and depth to inspire pupils to learn as well as they could. Leaders are aware of this and are beginning to develop a more exciting curriculum that will motivate and enthuse their pupils to achieve equally well in all subjects. Governors are aware that the assessment and tracking of pupils’ work in the wider curriculum are not as well developed as they are for English and mathematics. Consequently, governors are not yet effectively monitoring the progress pupils make in subjects across the wider curriculum.

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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

 the most able pupils make better than expected progress in mathematics  the curriculum excites and inspires pupils, enabling them to achieve equally well in all subjects.

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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 Southampton. 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 and members of your leadership team to discuss a range of issues including safeguarding, pupils’ progress and attendance. I met with one of your senior team to talk about the teaching of mathematics. I met with members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority. Together, you and I carried out visits to classrooms and looked at pupils’ work. I spoke to parents at the start of the day and talked to children throughout the day. I reviewed school documentation, including the school’s policies and procedures for safeguarding. I took account of 32 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including 22 written comments. I also considered 25 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.

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