Malvern Parish CofE Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Malvern Parish C of E Primary School Manby Road, Malvern, Worcestershire WR14 3BB

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Outcome

Malvern Parish C of E Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and confident learners in this friendly and welcoming school. They speak positively about their learning and say things like ‘I love music. It takes you to a better place’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff set high expectations for behaviour and learning. They want all pupils to do well and they do. Pupils achieve well in English and mathematics. The curriculum is broad and interesting. Exciting topics enthuse and motivate pupils. Their learning is enriched with interesting trips and events.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils readily take on extra responsibilities, for example playground leaders and peer mediators. Pupils enjoy the range of clubs offered, including unusual ones, such as ‘felting’ and ‘imagineering’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in lessons and at playtimes. They work hard and play together harmoniously. Bullying is rare. If it occurs, peer mediators are the first port of call to help resolve any minor disputes which occur. Where this is not successful, adults quickly respond and sort issues out.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents are supportive and have positive views of the school. As one parent put it, ‘We are bowled over by the high-quality teaching and individual care. We couldn’t be happier or more grateful.’ They agree that their children are happy and safe at school.

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

Leaders and staff have devised an interesting curriculum. It is generally well planned and covers all subjects. Exciting topics, such as ‘Let Battle Commence’, combine subjects and develop knowledge and skills in different areas. However, planning is more developed in some subjects than others. The curriculum in computing, design and technology and French is not as carefully planned and taught as other subjects. This means that pupils’ skills are less well developed in these areas. 10–11 March 2020

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Pupils achieve well in English and mathematics in each key stage. Robust systems are in place to assess pupils’ abilities in these subjects and identify where additional support is needed. Assessment of other subjects has not yet been developed.

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Reading is a school priority and central to pupils’ learning. All topics have a quality text linked to them. Leaders promote reading well. Daily story time and inviting reading areas in classrooms help develop pupils’ love of reading. Children learn to read from the start of Reception. Early sounds and letters are taught well and in the right order. Home reading books match the phonics sounds that pupils learn. Pupils who struggle with reading get the support they need. They get additional time to read in school and have books which are appropriately matched to their abilities.

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Writing plans ensure that pupils build up their skills each year. Pupils write in different styles and for different audiences. They use increasingly accurate grammar, punctuation and spelling as they move through the school. Resources are used well to support writing, for example a thesaurus or exciting picture stimulus. A link has also been established with an author to help inspire pupils to write. Letter formation is taught well in the Reception class. As a result, handwriting across the school is neat and books are well presented.

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Music is a strength of the school. All pupils learn to play a musical instrument. They sing and perform with confidence and enjoyment. Skills are built up progressively, with clear links. Pupils described how learning to play the recorder helped them to learn the clarinet. Others demonstrated the ability to evaluate the styles of historic and modern composers. Staff have strong subject knowledge, and several are accomplished musicians themselves. Their passion for music is infectious.

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Children in the early years get off to a flying start. Well planned activities help children develop their independence and resilience. They achieve well in their first year, especially in reading, writing and mathematics. This is because planning is linked to the skills that children need for Year 1. However, planning in other areas is less well linked with Year 1 expectations in the foundation subjects.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are helped to learn successfully. Staff consider pupils’ individual needs well and adapt activities accordingly, using external support when appropriate.

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Pupils support and show respect for each other. This means that lessons are rarely disrupted by misbehaviour. Pupils enjoy the events, clubs, visits and visitors that the school offers. These add to their enjoyment of school and their regular attendance.

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Staff enjoy their jobs and are proud to be members of staff. They feel well supported and appreciate steps taken by leaders to reduce their workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 10–11 March 2020

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Staff are well trained and understand their roles in keeping pupils safe. Leaders ensure that careful checks are carried out on all adults who work in the school. Leaders have positive relationships with pupils and their families. They know them well and support them when necessary. Leaders work effectively with other agencies. They ensure that vulnerable pupils get the help they need quickly. Pupils are aware of how to keep themselves safe online. They learn about safe cycling and who to talk to if they are worried about anything.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s curriculum is not sufficiently coherently planned and sequenced in some subjects. However, it is clear from the actions that leaders have already taken that they are in the process of bringing this about. Leaders should ensure that computing, design and technology and French are planned and delivered to the same high standard that other subjects are.  Sequences of learning are clear and build progressively from Years 1 to 6 in most of the foundation subjects. However, links have not been created between the early years curriculum and the national curriculum. Leaders should ensure that activities planned in expressive art and design and knowledge and understanding of the world feed into the Year 1 subjects with which they correspond.  Assessment in English and mathematics is well established and effective. However, assessment in other subjects has not yet been developed. Leaders should devise a

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

manageable assessment system for the foundation subjects which identifies how well pupils are achieving, in order to provide additional support or challenge where needed.

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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, also called Malvern Parish C of E Primary School, to be good on 28 November 2012. 10–11 March 2020

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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. 10–11 March 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10122536 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

 The headteacher was appointed in April 2016.  This school joined The Diocese of Worcester Multi-Academy Trust in April 2017.  The last Section 48 inspection, under the Education Acts 2005 and 2011, was on 22 January 2016. The school was graded as good.

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Information about this inspection

 The subjects considered as part of this inspection were reading, writing and music. These deep dives entailed meeting with subject leaders and teachers, looking at curriculum plans, visiting lessons, speaking to pupils about their learning and scrutinising pupils’ work. I also observed a member of staff hearing pupils read.  During the inspection, I met with the headteacher, subject leaders, teachers and pupils.  I spoke with the chair of trustees and academy learning partner from the academy trust together with four members of the local governing body.  The arrangements for safeguarding were checked. This included checks on the single central record, staff training and safeguarding records. 10–11 March 2020

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 I discussed behaviour with staff and pupils. I also observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons, at breaktimes and as they moved around the school.  I talked with pupils in lessons and during meetings about their work.  I took account of the 69 responses to Ofsted’s survey, Parent View and spoke to parents as they collected their children from school.  I met with a number of staff and considered the 11 responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff.  Checks of the school’s website were also made together with publicly available pupil performance information.

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Inspection team

Heather Simpson, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 10–11 March 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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