All Saints Church of England Primary School Marple

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

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Mr McShane and Mrs Noble Acting Co-Headteachers All Saints Church of England Primary School Brickbridge Road Marple Stockport Cheshire SK6 7BQ

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Primary School, Marple

Following my visit to the school on 11 January 2018, 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 March 2014.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Primary School, Marple

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Pupils are happy and proud to be part of the All Saints community. Relationships are excellent and pupils have complete confidence in staff to take good care of them. Pupils behave well, both in class and during breaktimes. Older pupils enjoy taking responsibility and regularly look after, and work with, pupils in the Reception class. Pupils benefit from a wide range of sports clubs and a rich curriculum, which incorporates music, art and regular educational visits. They enjoy school, wear their uniform with pride and are rarely absent.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Primary School, Marple

School leaders have developed excellent relationships with the local community and are held in high regard by parents and carers. Parents typically commented on Parent View: ‘The school goes above and beyond for our children. They take all parental concerns seriously and deal with issues immediately. Our children enjoy learning, have fun and the school puts their well-being and learning at the heart of everything they do.’

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Primary School, Marple

Governance is strong. Governors provide good support to school leaders and also offer a good level of challenge. They are knowledgeable about the school and have played an important role in the school’s continued improvement.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Primary School, Marple

All members of staff who responded to the Ofsted survey said that they are proud to work at All Saints. They also said that the school is well led and managed and that leaders support staff well in managing behaviour. At the previous inspection you were asked to strengthen leadership by developing the role of those teachers with responsibility for leading different areas of the curriculum. You have made progress in this area, particularly in reading and mathematics. Leaders meet regularly with teachers to review pupils’ progress and attainment and ensure that additional support is provided for pupils in danger of falling behind in their work. You recognise that further work is required in order to ensure that the checks made on all curriculum areas are more thorough and systematic.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Primary School, Marple

At the previous inspection you were also asked to improve the way that teaching assistants support learning in lessons. You have been successful in addressing this issue. The status of teaching assistants has been raised significantly and they now play a much more active and effective role in supporting learning.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Primary School, Marple

As designated safeguarding leads, you work closely together to ensure that the school is a safe and welcoming place for all. As a result, there is a strong culture of safeguarding at All Saints and safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You work closely with outside agencies, where necessary, to intervene early where issues emerge, and make sure that appropriate support is provided for pupils and their families. The recording of all matters relating to safeguarding at the school is exemplary.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Primary School, Marple

Staff know pupils well. They are vigilant about pupils’ welfare and know what to do if they have any concerns. They understand the importance of acting swiftly and decisively to address any issues that might arise. Governors maintain a good overview of safeguarding policies and practice. The safeguarding governor works closely with school leaders and regularly checks on a range of safeguarding issues, including staff recruitment and training.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Primary School, Marple

Pupils spoken to during this inspection said that they always feel safe in school. They know that they are able to speak to an adult if they have any concerns. Pupils also demonstrated a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe online. During a discussion with me, about the dangers associated with the internet, pupils told me that they have key messages about online safety ‘drilled into’ them.

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Short inspection of All Saints Church of England Primary School, Marple

Almost every parent who responded to the Parent View survey agreed that their children are well looked after and safe in school. Parents typically stated that: ‘All Saints is a lovely, caring school. Everybody knows each other and children feel safe. It has a real community feel and pastoral care is brilliant.’

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Inspection findings

 The first line of enquiry that I explored during this inspection was to see if phonics teaching has improved. Results in the phonics screening check were below the national average in both 2016 and 2017. School leaders have undertaken a review of the way in which phonics is taught and have made changes which are beginning to improve pupils’ early reading skills. Teachers and teaching assistants have been provided with additional training and demonstrated good subject knowledge in the phonics sessions observed during this inspection. Recent assessments of pupils’ knowledge and understanding of phonics, in Year 1, show that current pupils are making better progress in developing this key aspect of their learning.  During the inspection I also looked at pupils’ progress and attainment in reading across the school. This is a particular strength. Children quickly learn the basics of reading across the Reception Year and key stage 1. They read regularly at

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Inspection findings

home and at school. Teachers track the progress that pupils make carefully and provide additional support where required. The older pupils I spoke to during the inspection demonstrated a good knowledge of children’s authors and read widely and often. The school’s success in developing pupils’ reading is reflected in the test results at the end of key stage 2. The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard, and those judged to be working at greater depth, has been above the national average at the end of Year 6 for the past two years.  Another area I focused on was pupils’ achievement in writing. Writing has a high profile at All Saints and some excellent pieces of work are displayed in classrooms and corridors around the school. In many of the books seen, pupils demonstrated good writing skills and were developing into successful writers. However, in some classes pupils do not write at length often enough to develop

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Inspection findings

and fully extend their writing skills. Too often in these classes, pupils’ writing is brief and focused on the specific skills they are learning. The progress that they make, in developing the ability to write fluently and accurately, is limited as a result.  I also looked at the role of subject leaders in raising standards across the curriculum. There has been some good progress in this area. Pupils benefit from a broad curriculum and some high-quality work was seen in geography and history books. Leaders make regular checks on pupils’ progress, meeting with teachers each term to discuss progress and any potential barriers to learning. This information is also shared with the governing body. However, the checks that are made on pupils’ progress in some curriculum areas are not as effective as they should be. For example, issues with the slower progress seen in the writing books in some classes have not been successfully addressed. There were

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Inspection findings

also some weaknesses in pupils’ science books. Leaders have not done enough to ensure that all pupils make consistently good progress in this subject and develop scientific knowledge and understanding relevant to their age and abilities.  Finally, I looked at the impact of teaching assistants on teaching and learning, as this was identified as a weakness at the previous inspection. Leaders have been extremely successful in addressing this issue. Those spoken to during this inspection said that they feel highly valued at the school and, during the lessons I visited, they demonstrated a good understanding of their role in supporting learning. They work closely with teachers and regularly share the responsibility for leading learning activities. Teaching assistants have had access to a wide range of training opportunities. They are currently working with staff from a local teaching school, sharing expertise and benefiting from observing effective

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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 checks that are made on the quality of pupils’ work are more thorough and systematic  all teachers provide regular opportunities for pupils to develop their writing skills by writing at length  pupils are challenged to learn more deeply in science.

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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

During the inspection I held a number of meetings with the two acting co- headteachers. I also met with the headteacher, who is currently on maternity leave but came into school on the day of the inspection. I met with six members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority. I spoke with parents, staff and pupils. I visited all classrooms, with school leaders, to observe teaching and learning. I spent time looking at the quality of work in pupils’ books and listened to some pupils read. I spoke with a group of Year 6 pupils about various aspects of school life and observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and dinner time. I reviewed a range of documentation, including the single central record, the school’s self-evaluation, the school’s development plan and records relating to the monitoring of teaching and learning. I also took account of the staff and pupil questionnaires and the 47 responses to Parent View.

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