St George's Church of England Primary School

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

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Mrs D Grindrod Headteacher St George's Church of England Primary School Buxton Road Heaviley Stockport Cheshire SK2 6NX

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Short inspection of St George's Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 13 December 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 November 2012.

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Short inspection of St George's Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since you took up post as headteacher in 2016, you have wasted no time in establishing the school’s main areas of strength and those needing further development. Despite some turbulence in staffing, you have created a nurturing and caring environment which is guided successfully by your Christian values. The pupils I spoke to were happy, independent and confident learners who show respect for others.

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Short inspection of St George's Church of England Primary School

Your evaluation of the school’s strengths and weaknesses is very accurate and development plans are well defined and focused. The local authority provides support at an appropriate level. The local authority advisor knows the school’s strengths and areas for development well. Governors are knowledgeable about their school because they ask challenging questions about the school’s effectiveness.

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Short inspection of St George's Church of England Primary School

Following the last inspection, you were given a number of areas to improve. These have been dealt with effectively. You have focused on improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. This has resulted in better progress for pupils, especially in reading and writing. Pupils are beginning to take more ownership of their learning and told me how they have time to improve and edit their own work. Through well-thought- out training, the quality of teaching has become more consistent. However, we agreed that the good practice in some year groups now needs to be shared across the school, particularly where there has been instability in staffing. Safeguarding is effective.

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Short inspection of St George's Church of England Primary School

Leaders have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Leaders deal well with the complex site. They assign additional staff at break and lunchtimes to supervise pupils and minimise any risk. Staff receive regular updates from you and the safeguarding team. Training is focused on themes that may arise in the locality so that staff can recognise and report any safeguarding issues. Records are detailed and of high quality.

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Short inspection of St George's Church of England Primary School

Parents and carers are informed of safeguarding updates through the school website and parental workshops. Pupils know how to keep safe online because of the regular reminders staff give them. You know your families well and work effectively with outside agencies to ensure that the most vulnerable families and pupils are safe.

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Short inspection of St George's Church of England Primary School

A small minority of parents expressed concern through Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, about bullying. However, pupils told me they feel safe in school because the premises are secure and they are confident that staff would help them if they have any concerns. They understand the different forms of bullying, but they told me that bullying of any kind is rare. School records also confirm this is the case.

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Inspection findings

 We agreed a number of areas of focus for this inspection. The first of these was the actions taken by leaders to improve outcomes for pupils in mathematics. The leader for mathematics has implemented appropriate developments. These actions have brought about consistency in the teaching of mathematics resulting in improvements to the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes. Assessment systems have been strengthened and tasks are now better matched to pupils’ needs. The subject leader has also ensured that there are real-life reasons for pupils to use their mathematical skills, for example in science and when baking. Pupils now enjoy mathematics, which has not always been the case. Current pupils make good progress from their starting points. Assessment data and progress in books also shows that some pupils are now making accelerated progress. However, you have already identified that some pupils,

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Inspection findings

including girls, could be challenged even further by applying their mathematics skills to problems of greater complexity.  While there has been an improvement in the consistency in teaching of mathematics, we agreed over the course of the inspection that the strongest teaching should be shared across the school to further develop consistency in all classes.  The next area we looked at was how you are improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. There is a clear focus on overcoming any barriers to learning and accelerating pupils’ progress. Governors are effective in monitoring and evaluating the effect of leaders’ actions on disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes. Quality teaching and effective support, including for the most able disadvantaged pupils, are evident. Staff now know each of these pupils extremely well and have a clear understanding of the barriers to learning that they face. Consequently, they support each pupil in a

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Inspection findings

personalised way and recent assessments show that the difference in the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and that of other pupils is diminishing. Work in pupils’ books also confirms that this is the case.  The final area we considered was the outcomes for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. The SEN coordinator has revised the provision for these pupils and correctly identified where improvements were needed. As a result, the support for pupils is accurate and focuses on specific areas of need. Information about pupils’ needs are very personalised and are developed with teachers, parents and pupils. This ensures that any new staff or visitors are made aware how these pupils’ needs are best met. Staff are trained to identify and support pupils with additional needs. Teachers and other staff demonstrate high expectations of what pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities can achieve and set challenging

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Inspection findings

targets accordingly. Pupils do not stay on individual education plans once your strategies to address barriers to learning are successful. You and your staff regularly hold review meetings about all of your pupils so the quality of provision can be assessed for its effectiveness. As a result, pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points.

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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 strongest teaching is shared across the school to further develop consistency in all classes  pupils have more opportunities to complete challenging problem-solving tasks in mathematics so that all groups of pupils achieve as well as they can.

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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 Chester, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Stockport. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

Throughout the inspection I spoke to pupils, both formally and informally, about their work and school life. I met with you, your deputy headteacher and your assistant headteachers to discuss improvements in their areas of responsibility. I also looked at learning in pupils’ books.

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Information about the inspection

I reviewed documentation which included your evaluation of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and the school development plan. I spoke to parents at the start of the school day and considered 52 responses to Parent View. I visited classes along with you and your assistant headteacher to observe pupils’ learning. I met with governors to discuss aspects of school leadership and management. I reviewed a range of documentation about safeguarding, including the school’s record of checks undertaken on newly appointed staff. I also completed a review of the school’s website.

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