Gorsey Bank Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Gorsey Bank Primary School Altrincham Road, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5NQ

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Outcome

Gorsey Bank Primary School continues to be a good school. There is enough evidence of improved performance to suggest that the school could be judged outstanding if we were to carry out a section 5 inspection now.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well and work hard in lessons. They feel safe in class and trust their teachers to take care of them. Playtimes are calm and enjoyable for pupils. Pupils I spoke to told me they have lots of friends and can speak to any adult if they have any worries. They also said there is little bullying or falling-out but teachers tackle this well if it does occur.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school is excellent. All staff members have high expectations for every pupil. Pupils mix together well. Some older pupils take responsibility for younger ones. For example, Year 6 pupils help Reception pupils at lunchtime in their first week at school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils develop positive attitudes that enable them to make an effective contribution to school life. Older pupils enjoy their role as e-cadets or ‘Rights Respecting’ councillors. Pupils are proud of their school, especially the way in which they celebrate diversity. They are polite when speaking with adults and are kind and considerate to each other.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have carefully thought about what pupils should learn in each year group and in each term. The curriculum plans in all subjects make it clear to teachers what to teach pupils and in what order. Pupils know what they need to know before tackling more challenging work. These approaches are highly successful. Pupils told me that they enjoy learning a wide range of subjects, especially mathematics.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

In French lessons, teachers give precise thought to the skills in communication and grammar they want pupils to learn. Over time, pupils move from speaking and listening to reading words and sentences. 11–12 September 2019

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Pupils also develop deep knowledge and skills in history. This enables them to freely discuss and understand ideas of increasing complexity. Pupils I spoke to made connections between the periods of history they had studied. These included links between the topic of slavery in Aztec history and the discussion of civil rights in their current work. Teachers ensure that activities build on previous knowledge. They develop pupils’ skills, such as comparison, needed to be successful in later year groups.

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There is a clear structure for the teaching of phonics. Pupils first learn to work out words so that they can then become more fluent at reading. Pupils practise reading books that match the sounds they can read. The proportion of children learning to read by the end of Year 2 is well above the national average every year. The head of school places great importance on reading for pleasure. Leaders make sure that all teachers are experts in the teaching of early reading.

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Leaders have provided more books on different topics. These books also have more diverse themes. Many books match very well with the school’s curriculum topics. Pupils talk with enthusiasm about their books. They told me they had learned about the Himalayas and Tibet through a class novel. All staff place a high importance on reading. This contributes to pupils being able to understand texts across the curriculum.

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Early reading and mathematics teaching are highly successful. Leaders of English and mathematics know which skills young children need to do well. The early years lead also develops the skills children need for the start of key stage 1.

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Provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is strong. Pupils with SEND study the full curriculum. Teachers adapt activities so that pupils with SEND gain knowledge and understanding.

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Pupils benefit from a wide range of additional activities and opportunities. These include taking part in a variety of residential activities in key stage 2. Pupils regularly meet interesting visitors, such as ex-pupils from the world of sport and children’s authors. Pupils appreciate these opportunities for learning beyond lessons. They value the clubs on offer, especially the sports and music clubs.

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Governors and trustees are very clear on their roles and on how they want the curriculum to operate. This contributes to the well-organised learning in school. The staff I talked with told me how proud they are to be part of the school. They also said that leaders are considerate about staff workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff receive regular training and updates, and safeguarding procedures are thorough. Leaders have a good understanding of the specific issues in the locality. Staff training reflects this. All safeguarding concerns are logged and followed up.

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Safeguarding

Pupils are taught how to stay safe on the road and around school. The school has a clear 11–12 September 2019

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programme for e-safety learning. Pupils complete other work about keeping themselves safe through assemblies and with visitors such as police officers.

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Leaders work well with external agencies to make sure that pupils receive the support that they need. Leaders have also put emphasis on mental health and well-being provision for pupils.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Gorsey Bank Primary School, to be good on 31 October 2012.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 11–12 September 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10110966 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Gorsey Bank Primary School opened as an academy on 1 October 2016. The school is part of The Laurus Trust.

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Information about this inspection

 During the inspection, I spoke with pupils, both formally and informally, about their work and school life. I spoke with senior leaders, members of the local governing body, the chief executive officer and the executive head of school.  I reviewed documentation, which included your evaluation of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement and the school development plan. I considered 152 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, 26 responses to the online staff survey and 87 responses to the pupil survey.  I conducted deep dives into reading, history and French. These included visits to lessons, discussions with pupils, leaders and teachers, and reviewing pupils’ work. I also met with teachers to discuss early reading and mathematics.  I reviewed a range of documentation about safeguarding, including the school’s record of checks undertaken on newly appointed staff. 11–12 September 2019

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Inspection team

Simon Hunter, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 11–12 September 2019

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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