Moira Primary School

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

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Mrs Karen Hambleton Headteacher Moira Primary School Blackfordby Lane Moira Swadlincote Derbyshire DE12 6EX

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Short inspection of Moira Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 20 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 February 2013.

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Short inspection of Moira Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The school has grown in size and age range and now has children in every year group to Year 6. You have been in post since 2014 and have ensured that leadership has been strengthened as the school has changed. Staff support your ambition and are appreciative of your highly collaborative approach that has involved them in the changes. Pupils, parents, staff and governors all feel a part of this happy school and are vocal in their appreciation of your leadership. This was summed up well by one parent who said, ‘I think the leadership at the school is wonderful. Everything that has been introduced at the school I can see is for the benefit of the children.’

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Short inspection of Moira Primary School

The pupils’ conduct is excellent. This begins when you meet them at the gate when they arrive at school, continues when they respond within seconds to be escorted into classrooms, and is maintained throughout the day in lessons and during social times. One pupil told me that Moira is like a ‘mini-home’. When asked what they would change, the only suggestions from pupils were to make classrooms and grounds bigger and the hours longer. Pupils say that they are hardly ever unkind to each other and they could not think of any examples of bullying.

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Short inspection of Moira Primary School

You and the governors have a secure understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school and have communicated high expectations to the school community. Work in the early years has continued to be a strength of the school and lays down a solid foundation for the learning to come as the pupils get older. Pupils learn phonics (letters and the sounds they represent) well, and nearly all read fluently at an appropriate standard for their age.

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Short inspection of Moira Primary School

There has been a determined response to the previous inspection report. Standards have risen in writing and mathematics because teachers’ approaches to feedback and extended writing have been more consistent. You have gone beyond this and have worked with in-school teams and local partnerships, bringing in additional expertise from governors where appropriate. As a result, pupils make rapid progress from a relatively low start when they begin in the early years to above national standards by the end of key stage 1.

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Short inspection of Moira Primary School

Now that school leaders are confident about the quality of learning throughout the early years and key stage 1, next steps include ensuring this consistency throughout key stage 2, including the wider subjects studied, such as science. You have enthusiastic leaders, staff and governors who are keen to work with you because they ‘don’t settle for good’.

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Short inspection of Moira Primary School

Since you have been in post, you have rightly worked to ensure stability as the school grows. You have successfully tackled weaknesses in pupils’ learning, such as ensuring that more pupils reach greater depth in key stage 1. You have also reduced the differences between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and others.

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Short inspection of Moira Primary School

The school’s communication of information to parents and others through its website is weak. The required information on the school’s website is neither up to date nor easily accessible. Leaders and the governing body have not ensured that they are on top of legislative changes and remain up to date with their duties on the publication of information.

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Short inspection of Moira Primary School

You have detailed knowledge of the pupils in your school and the difficulties some of them face. As the school’s designated safeguarding officer, you have ensured that staff are trained and they know what to do if they are concerned that a child is being harmed. Recruitment procedures are secure.

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Short inspection of Moira Primary School

The school’s safeguarding policy is up to date and takes account of the most recent legislation. You ensure that safeguarding records are securely stored and that you have a detailed knowledge of the school’s work with other agencies to ensure that each individual child is protected. Where necessary, you take decisive and persistent action so that vulnerable pupils receive the help they need. This has sometimes included the involvement of other professionals, such as social care or the police, where concerns justified this step.

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Short inspection of Moira Primary School

Pupils say that they feel safe and are able to tell an adult if they are worried about a friend or themselves. They have also been taught to keep themselves safe. For example, pupils confidently explained their knowledge about e-safety, roads, bikes, stranger danger and behaving safely in subjects such as physical education.

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Short inspection of Moira Primary School

All the pupils I spoke with were happy to come to school. Leaders check their attitudes to school with regular surveys and the most recent survey indicates that 97% of pupils like school and 99% know where to go if they have a problem. Messages on gates, fences, roads outside the gate and walls of buildings reinforce this emphasis on safety.

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Short inspection of Moira Primary School

As a result of these examples and other ongoing care throughout the school, leaders have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders, other teachers and teaching assistants have established consistent approaches to the teaching of writing, reading and mathematics in key stage 1. Presentation of work is excellent, with cursive handwriting a particularly strong feature. Teachers and teaching assistants work together to ensure that pupils are confident in their learning. They assess pupils’ attainment and record it regularly. Leaders keep careful track of the progress made by individual pupils and intervene quickly where necessary.  The mathematics curriculum has been revised and pupils are exposed to problem-solving and reasoning challenges from an early age. Leaders say that teachers are aware of the barriers faced by some pupils and adapt their teaching in mainstream lessons to take account of them, although this was not always evident on the day of the inspection. Leaders are confident that previous weaknesses have been successfully tackled, with notable improvement expected

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Inspection findings

in the assessments at the end of Year 2 in mathematics and in the numbers of pupils reaching the highest standards.  In key stage 2, work in pupils’ books provides further evidence of the high expectations of staff and leaders. The school’s tracking suggests that nearly all pupils are making the progress they should from their starting points. Teachers’ feedback is clear and pupils respond thoughtfully to their advice, particularly in writing and mathematics. Teachers provide extended writing opportunities and pupils are increasingly writing accurately and skilfully. There is less consistency in teaching in key stage 2, with the best practice in the younger year groups and in reading, writing and mathematics. Teachers’ questioning is used frequently to assess pupils’ understanding but is less well used to deepen pupils’ understanding and develop their reasoning.  You have worked hard to create a school with a ‘family feel’, where your

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Inspection findings

accessibility to parents is valued. Leaders provide successful communication routes for parents. These include the weekly blog in the early years and the beautiful home-learning books in which parents play a crucial role in learning activities out of school. Governors are very knowledgeable about the school. They ensure that they visit the school regularly, looking at their assigned subject or year group. They make focused learning walks to look at the school environment. As a result, the governing body knows that the information it holds is accurate and that its support and decision making is well directed. Some governors have particular expertise which they bring to bear in appropriate fields of work, such as the budget or pupils’ writing.  The school’s website, however, does not provide easy access to the information needed by parents and other readers. The school has not had a systematic approach to ensuring that all documentation is up to date with the most recent

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Inspection findings

legislation. Information is not easily found in one place. As a result, leaders and the governing body have not ensured that the school publishes the required information or that all school policies and procedures are fit for purpose. The governing body has already decided on a new website for September 2017.

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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 extend their work on improving the quality of teaching in all years in key stage 2 and in a wider range of subjects to ensure consistency of teaching, learning and assessment throughout the school  teachers develop their questioning in lessons to deepen pupils’ understanding and develop their reasoning skills, for pupils from all starting points and levels of confidence  they maintain all the required information on the school’s website and make sure that all school policies are up to date, fit for purpose and easy to find.

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

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Information about the inspection

I considered evidence from a range of sources, including the previous inspection report and information about the school’s performance in 2015 and 2016. I also reviewed the school’s website and read its published policies. I spoke with parents as they brought their children to school and also considered the 28 responses on Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, results of school surveys, feedback folders, two written communications and one face-to-face meeting with a parent. I read the results of the school’s own surveys of pupils and staff, and 17 responses to an Ofsted survey. Meetings were held with you, governors and leaders of both key stages and the early years to discuss the school’s progress since the last inspection. I considered a range of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation documents and action plans, the single central record of the checks on staff and volunteers, a sample of recruitment files, the safeguarding policy and records of

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Information about the inspection

actions taken to protect pupils’ welfare. I looked at records of staff training to ensure that they were up to date. I talked with a group of staff to make sure that they knew what to do if they were concerned about a child. We jointly made short visits to lessons, looked at the quality of work in pupils’ books and spoke with pupils about their learning. I met formally with a group of pupils from across key stages 1 and 2 to listen to their views and hear them read. I observed pupils’ behaviour in class, before school and at breaktime.

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