St John's CofE Primary School

Inspection of St John’s C of E Primary School Clarence Road, Longsight, Manchester M13 0YE

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 28–29 January 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

The pupils at St John’s are polite, welcoming and well behaved. During lessons, pupils are attentive. They follow teachers’ instructions sensibly and contribute to discussions. Staff do not accept bullying. The pupils that we spoke with told us that staff will deal with bullying if it does happen. Pupils said that they feel happy and safe at school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ attendance is slightly below the national average due to a small number of pupils taking extended family holidays. Pupils are proud of their school and its achievements. They take part in lots of clubs, including football, tennis and hockey. They also have the chance to attend a residential visit in Year 6. Pupils take on responsibilities, such as school councillors or play leaders. This prepares them well for the future.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations of all pupils. There is a wide range of extra support for pupils to help them with their reading and their language and communication skills. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) enjoy an adapted curriculum to meet their learning needs. Pastoral support for pupils is a strength of the school. Parents and carers told us that they value the nurture and care given to pupils.

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better?

The executive headteacher, head of school and senior leaders have formed a strong and effective team. They have made the improvements needed at St John’s following the previous inspection. Parents are very appreciative. ‘I love the school. The day both headteachers came, they changed it,’ was typical of many of the comments that we heard. Leaders have raised their expectations of teachers and their aspirations for pupils. They have also improved the quality of pupils’ education.

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better?

Staff appreciate the efforts by the leadership team to consider their work-life balance and workload. Leaders place much importance on training staff for their work. New teachers and those new to the school quickly feel part of the St John’s team.

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better?

Senior and middle leaders have worked together to design an effective curriculum. The curriculum builds on what pupils have already learned in a logical way. Leaders and governors have included four ‘cornerstones’ in their curriculum planning. These reflect and address the needs of the pupils. They are communication and language, city life, aspirations and celebrating diversity. This ensures that pupils develop as well-rounded youngsters who are ready for the next stage of their education.

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better?

The English and mathematics curriculums are especially strong. Teachers have an effective knowledge of these subjects. They plan well so that learning builds on 28–29 January 2020

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what pupils already know and can do. Pupils achieve well. Their progress and attainment in reading, writing and mathematics have improved. They are now in line with national averages at the end of key stage 2.

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Senior leaders have started to train middle leaders so that they can check the quality of education across different subjects. However, staff are not clear about the lines of responsibility. Not all are sure about what their role should be.

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Leaders have effective systems for checking on pupils’ achievement in English and mathematics. They have started to develop similar systems to make sure that pupils are learning what they should in other subjects. However, it is still early days for this new strategy.

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The reading curriculum is very effective. Leaders prioritise reading. They have ensured that all staff are well trained. The youngest children are taught the sounds that letters make from their entry into nursery. Younger children can read simple texts accurately. Older pupils develop their understanding of reading through well- sequenced learning. This helps them to answer questions about what they have read. Leaders and staff constantly check to pinpoint the specific sounds or areas of reading that pupils need to practise. Staff give groups of pupils and individuals extra support when this is needed. This helps ensure that they do not fall behind. Story time at the end of the day helps pupils to experience a broad range of authors.

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Children get off to a strong start to their education in the early years. Adults make sure that they build an exciting curriculum around children’s needs and interests. It helps them to learn well across all areas of learning, including early reading and number. Children enter the Nursery and Reception classes with limited knowledge of English. The early years curriculum effectively develops children’s language and communication skills. Children are well prepared for learning in Year 1.

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Pupils with SEND are well provided for by the assistant headteacher responsible for SEND. Disadvantaged pupils are well supported by the teachers. Leaders and staff use detailed plans to identify the extra learning tasks that these pupils need. The well-developed curriculum helps these pupils to flourish.

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Pupils behave well in class. Little time is lost due to disruption. They move around the school politely. Leaders have effectively improved pupils’ attendance through a range of rewards and meetings with parents.

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Pupils’ personal development is a real strength of the school. Leaders have introduced ‘Our Whole Child Curriculum – A Journey of Well Being’. This programme includes support for mental and emotional health, keeping safe, healthy lifestyles and living in the wider world. Fundamental British values and opportunities to develop pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural understanding are carefully planned and addressed. This has been successful in ensuring that pupils behave and are well prepared for life in modern Britain. 28–29 January 2020

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff know the pupils well and have clear procedures to keep them safe. These are understood by all staff. Training records are comprehensive and show a wide range of safeguarding training. As a result, staff know how to spot any early signs that pupils may be at risk. They also know how to act on any concerns. Leaders have good relationships with health and social care professionals. This helps leaders to support pupils and their families.

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Safeguarding

Recruitment checks are thorough. Governors are diligent in their monitoring of this. The curriculum includes lessons about online safety and about safe, healthy living.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leadership of English and mathematics is strong. Monitoring procedures are well established. Leaders have successfully designed and implemented a curriculum offer for other subjects. However, not all subject leaders are clear about their role in developing this work further. Senior leaders should now clarify the role of these new leaders and provide training to enable them to better monitor and review the effectiveness of the curriculum in their subjects.

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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 are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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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. 28–29 January 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10121964 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Gareth Elswood (executive headteacher), Juliet Francis (head of school) Website www.sjcfederation.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 3–4 October 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of a federation with a local primary school. Some senior staff work across both schools in the federation. The governing body is responsible for both schools.  The number of pupils on roll has grown significantly since the last inspection. This has resulted in extensions to the building and internal improvements to the learning environment. Some pupils are taught in a separate building, close to the main building.  The vast majority of pupils are from minority ethnic groups. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above the national average.  The school received a section 48 inspection of religious education in May 2016.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. 28–29 January 2020

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 We met with the executive headteacher and head of school. We spoke with the assistant headteachers responsible for reading and SEND. We also held meetings with middle leaders and the leader for early years. We also spoke with governors and held a telephone conversation with an officer from the local authority.  As part of the inspection, we did deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, science, physical education and history. In these subjects, we made lesson visits with middle leaders, checked on pupils’ work and spoke with pupils about their learning. We also met with subject leaders and teachers to discuss the curriculum.  We scrutinised the school’s recruitment checks on its staff. We spoke with leaders and staff about the school’s procedures and systems for protecting pupils from risk and checked samples of leaders’ records.  We considered staff and parents’ views as part of our review of the responses to

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Inspection team

Ian Shackleton, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Mavis Smith Ofsted Inspector 28–29 January 2020

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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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