Greenfield Primary School and Early Years Centre

Inspection of Greenfield Primary School and Early Years Centre Queen Street, Hyde, Cheshire SK14 1QD

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Inadequate Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Inadequate Early years provision Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement 5–6 November 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

The quality of education that pupils receive at this school is not good enough. For too long, pupils at Greenfield Primary School have not had the education that they are entitled to. Senior leaders’ and governors’ expectations of pupils are too low. Pupils are not well prepared for the next stage of their education. Despite this, pupils’ achievement in mathematics, particularly in Year 6, has improved noticeably in the past year.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at the school want to succeed in their studies but the school’s weak curriculum lets them down. That said, pupils throughout the school are happy. They behave well in classrooms. Children from the Reception class, as well as older pupils, walk sensibly along the corridors. Pupils show consideration and thought for others in their actions. Bullying is rare and staff respond well to any incidents.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents, carers and pupils appreciate the extra activities, such as sports, that pupils can attend at the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are safe at the school. For instance, staff carefully supervise pupils’ arrival at the premises. Office staff thoroughly check the suitability of visitors. Pupils told inspectors that they feel safe.

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better?

Pupils do not get a good start to their education at this primary school. Senior leaders are unclear about how to provide pupils with a curriculum that helps them to learn and achieve well. They have too little understanding of how to make pupils’ education at the school better. Leaders and teachers expect too little of pupils. Senior leaders are complacent about weaknesses in different subjects. Senior leaders are too dependent on help from experts outside of the school. The capacity for senior leaders to make the urgent changes that are needed without external support is poor.

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better?

Governors do not check the work of the school properly or challenge senior leaders enough about the quality of education that pupils receive. Governors’ understanding of their legal duties under the Equality Act 2010, and for safeguarding pupils, is poor. Governors and senior leaders have acted too slowly to bring about improvements in the school. For example, governors have too little oversight of the use and impact of the pupil premium funding.

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better?

Senior leaders do not have a clear view of the curriculum offer. They are unclear if pupils learn all aspects of the subjects set out in the national curriculum. They have not helped staff to plan the school’s curriculum in enough depth or with enough links between activities. Staff, who are full of enthusiasm and trying to do their best for the pupils, are held back by the weaknesses in leadership and management. For example, in reading, geography and design and technology, subject leaders have many ideas and are trying to improve the curriculum. However, they cannot explain 5–6 November 2019

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whether staff teach knowledge to pupils in a logical order. Teaching and the work set for pupils in these subjects do not support the school’s intentions well. Even so, pupils are keen to learn and are well behaved.

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Despite some modest improvements in the Year 6 national tests and assessments in 2019, pupils’ achievement across the school is poor, especially in reading and writing. In the Nursery class, staff place immense importance on teaching children through story books. However, there are weaknesses in the design and implementation of the early reading curriculum. As a result, not enough children leave the early years with the reading skills that they need. In key stage 1, staff do not make sure that pupils always practise reading with books that match their knowledge of phonics. The proportion of pupils who meet the required standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check has been significantly below average for two years. Pupils’ reading skills are weak in key stage 1 and key stage 2.

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In contrast, leaders and staff have started to improve the curriculum in mathematics in the early years and throughout the school. The results at the end of key stage 2 in 2019 show that pupils’ attainment and progress in mathematics in Year 6 improved noticeably. Even so, these improvements are very recent.

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Leaders and staff plan a good range of opportunities to build on pupils’ personal development. Pupils enjoy the responsibilities they are given to become ‘arts councillors’ or ‘digital leaders’, supporting and helping others. They regularly take part in topical debates. For example, they have held discussions relating to Britain leaving the European Union and the general election. Pupils raise money for local charities to support those facing challenging circumstances. They also learn about a varied range of different faiths and cultures. This helps them to appreciate the diversity of the world in which they live. Pupils also enjoy attending clubs after school, which include art, football and dodgeball.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities learn well, despite the limitations of the curriculum. This is because of the extra help that they receive from teachers and teaching assistants.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff know how to spot possible safeguarding risks to pupils. They act to protect pupils where necessary. Leaders contact other agencies promptly when concerns arise. Leaders and staff help pupils to understand how to keep themselves safe, for example when they are online. Pupils are confident that they can share their worries with staff.

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Safeguarding

Some aspects of safeguarding did not meet government requirements. These weaknesses are easy to resolve and do not affect the safety of pupils. Still, they highlight the fact that leaders and governors do not keep their knowledge of safeguarding fully up to date. 5–6 November 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils do not achieve well in reading and writing. Leaders should urgently improve the curriculum plans for reading and writing so that pupils can read and write successfully by the end of every key stage. This will mean that pupils will leave Greenfield Primary School fully prepared for secondary school.  Senior leaders do not have a clear grasp of the weaknesses in the work of the school. They should take steps to improve their ability to accurately check and decide what the school needs to improve and how this will be achieved. Then they will be better placed to improve the school without the need for external support.  The quality of the school curriculum is variable. Leaders should develop a clear understanding of the school’s intended curriculum. They should reduce their emphasis on assessment in determining the content of the subjects taught. Leaders need to be sure that the national curriculum is fully taught in every

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

subject. They should make certain that the content of every subject in the school’s curriculum, including geography and design and technology, is planned and taught in a logically planned order.  Weaknesses in governance have negatively affected the school for too long. The governing body needs to hold leaders to account for the quality of education, including the need to improve pupils’ attainment. Governors urgently need to understand their duties around safeguarding, equality and the use and impact of the pupil premium funding to improve the achievement of disadvantaged pupils.  Senior leaders need to keep themselves up to date about safeguarding, for instance with the guidance outlined in ‘Keeping children safe in education 2019’.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted . 5–6 November 2019

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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. 5–6 November 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10110885 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.greenfieldprimaryhyde.co.uk/

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School details

Date of previous inspection 23–24 May 2017

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, the Nursery class has changed to afternoon places only.  The overall number of pupils at the school has fallen in recent years.  Since spring 2019, the local authority has jointly funded intensive extra support for the school to help to improve the quality of education, as well as leadership and management. This work is commissioned from a multi-academy trust. The work is overseen by a school improvement board whose members come from the local authority, the school and the academy trust.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. 5–6 November 2019

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The school may appoint newly qualified teachers.

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 We spoke with some parents at the start of both days of the inspection. We considered parents’ views shared through the Ofsted Parent View website, including seven free-text comments.  We visited the Nursery and Reception classes to gather information about children’s learning and we discussed the early years with leaders.  We listened to some pupils read and talked with some more pupils about how they learn to read.  We met with some pupils to discuss behaviour, bullying and the support that they receive from staff for their personal development.  We spoke with senior leaders to consider the work of the school, including the special educational needs coordinator.  We reviewed the school’s work to protect pupils from harm. We checked school records and reviewed information about staff training. We asked some pupils and parents about safety. We checked a sample of relevant school policies.  We met with a group of teachers and with a group of teaching assistants to talk

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about their work, and considered 12 staff responses to the Ofsted staff survey.  I met with three members of the governing body, including the chair of governors. I also checked minutes of recent meetings of the governing body.  I met with a representative of the local authority on both days of the inspection. I also reviewed information from recent meetings of the school improvement board.  We looked at reading, mathematics, science and geography by visiting lessons, sometimes with leaders. We met with pupils to discuss their work, checked the work in pupils’ books and spoke with teachers and leaders about these subjects. We also checked some of the school’s work in physical education, design and technology and art and design, some of which was carried out with school leaders.

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Inspection team

Tim Vaughan, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Doreen Davenport Ofsted Inspector 5–6 November 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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