Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Ms Julie Mills Head of school Manor Primary School Ettingshall Road Bilston Wolverhampton WV14 9UQ

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No formal designation inspection of Manor Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 12 December 2019, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings.

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No formal designation inspection of Manor Primary School

This inspection was conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 and in accordance with Ofsted’s published procedures for inspecting schools with no formal designation. The inspection was carried out because Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector wished to understand the quality of a single curriculum subject, modern foreign languages (MFL), provided by outstanding primary schools. These inspections are to develop Ofsted’s understanding of good practice in the primary curriculum.

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Main findings

MFL is a key priority for the school. Leaders aim to continue to improve the quality of curriculum provision in MFL so that all pupils make rapid and sustained rates of progress by the time they leave school.

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Main findings

Leaders have high expectations that all class teachers in key stage 2 teach French, supported by an enthusiastic leadership team, including an MFL coordinator. Class teachers are highly enthusiastic and committed to teaching French. This is infectious and ensures that pupils are equally keen to learn. Teachers feel very well supported by leaders to teach the subject. Senior leaders’ monitoring of MFL is well developed. Senior leaders and the subject coordinator observe French teaching and learning each half-term and regularly review pupils’ work in books.

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Main findings

Expectations are high for pupils, almost all of whom achieve at least the nationally expected standard in English and mathematics by the end of key stage 2. Leaders have set similar expectations for pupils in French. However, there are no national benchmarks at the end of key stage 2 with which to compare their outcomes to those of other pupils nationally.

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Main findings

Assessment, including in French, is linked to expectations of the national curriculum programme of study for key stage 2. Leaders have developed a skills progression ladder, ‘building blocks’, for each year group. This was produced in collaboration with local secondary schools to ensure that pupils are well prepared for Year 7. Information on pupils’ achievements by the end of Year 6 is shared with local secondary schools. A tracker shows the progress pupils have made every half-term through a series of ‘I can…’ statements for each year group. However, sometimes progress through ‘I can …’ statements is not linked closely with evidence in pupils’ books.

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Main findings

All pupils in key stage 2 study French for an hour a week. This includes pupils for whom English is an additional language and those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). All four skills, speaking, listening, reading and writing, are given equal emphasis from Year 3 onwards. By Year 5, some pupils are able write well beyond requirements at the end of key stage, as set out by the National Curriculum Programme of study for MFL.

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Main findings

Leaders have developed their own scheme of work based on the national curriculum programme of study. There is a focus on key vocabulary and the grammar required, which builds up progressively during each year group.

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Main findings

Pupils in key stage 1 and 2 can also get a taste of languages through language clubs, which include French, German and Spanish. Leaders are developing a link with a French school so that pupils can communicate with native speakers of their own age. Pupils who can speak other languages at home are recognised in celebration assemblies.

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Main findings

Teachers have gaps in their subject knowledge because they are not language specialists. Leaders have carried out a skills audit of teachers and recognise that teachers’ pronunciation is an area for further development. The subject coordinator is able to model accurate pronunciation. Leaders do not ensure consistently enough that language errors in teaching and in the resources used are identified and corrected. Where necessary, teachers should have the opportunity, through further training, for subject enhancement. There are also occasions where teachers did not pick up on pupils’ misconceptions and errors before moving on to the next part of learning.

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Main findings

Leaders recognise the importance of teaching phonics. The school does not yet have any phonics scheme books for French. Reading within French lessons is an area for development for the school. Curriculum planning ensures that knowledge and skills learned are revisited through new topics and that there are opportunities to apply the skills learned. For example, pupils learn number in Year 3. This is revisited in each subsequent year. The number skills are applied to money. Pupils are able to develop dialogues linked to shopping and prices through learning how to say ‘I would like to buy…’ in Year 6. Pupils also apply number in other topics, such as directions and telling the time. There are strong curriculum links with mathematics and geography. Pupils can make links with other subjects. For example, they develop their numeracy skills through tally charts, Venn diagrams and surveys in French. Pupils can map the temperature

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Main findings

Planning builds on previous knowledge learned. Pupils in Year 3 learned about vocabulary linked to toys. Then they learned to build up sentences with increasingly complex grammatical structures, using compound connectives. Different tenses are introduced in Year 4. By the end of Year 6, they have learned about present, past, future and conditional tenses. They start expressing opinions by being able to say ‘I like…’ in Year 3. This builds up to ‘In my opinion I think that…’ by Year 6.

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Main findings

Pupils develop their skills using technology, including laptops, iPads and online dictionaries in French.

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Main findings

Pupils are encouraged to carry out their own research to develop a wider cultural understanding of France. They know about types of food with French connections, such as macaroons, baguettes and croissants. They know that where a French word has a similar spelling to an English word, it does not necessarily have the same meaning. For example, they knew ‘raisins’ in French meant ‘grapes’ in English and ‘anniversaire’ meant ‘birthday’. However, pupils were unaware of where else in the world French is spoken.

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Main findings

All pupils spoken to said French was their favourite subject because of the way it is presented through games, interactive activities and technology. They were able to explain the ‘building blocks’ assessment system, which informs them of how well they are doing.

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Evidence

During my visit, I looked at your curriculum provision for French. I met with you, the executive headteacher and deputy headteacher. I met the subject coordinator for modern foreign languages. I visited five lessons and scrutinised pupils’ books, jointly with school leaders. I spoke to a group of pupils and met a group of class teachers.

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Evidence

I watched a video the pupils had prepared in order to demonstrate their French speaking skills. I looked at a range of curriculum plans and assessment documents. I also looked at the information about MFL on the school’s website.

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Context

The number of pupils on roll is 630, which is well above the national average for primary schools. Just over half of pupils are White British. The largest minority ethnic group is Indian. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below average, as is the proportion of pupils eligible for SEND support. The proportion of pupils with an education health care plan is broadly average, as is the percentage entitled to free school meals. The level of mobility is very low. There are no full-time vacant teacher posts in the school.

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Context

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, chair of the board of trustees, the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Wolverhampton. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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