Greenhill Academy

Inspection of Greenhill Academy Harmony Street, Glodwick, Oldham, Greater Manchester OL4 1RR

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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 Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Good

The previous ‘outstanding’ judgement reflected the school’s overall effectiveness in January 2009, under the relevant inspection framework at that time.

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Overall effectiveness Good

The new judgement of ‘good’ reflects the current inspection framework as well as any changes at the school since the last inspection.

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Overall effectiveness Good

The school has not been inspected for 11 years, which is longer than the five-year maximum interval between inspections. Changes in school effectiveness may have happened at any point in that period. The long time between inspections is because the law changed in 2011; it made outstanding schools exempt from routine inspection. 11–12 March 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Greenhill Academy School is a place where everyone is valued. Pupils and adults are welcoming to all. Together, they make the school a warm and friendly place to be. Pupils’ well-being is at the heart of the school’s work.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and teachers strive to ensure that pupils achieve well. They are successful in making this happen. The school’s motto is ‘Believe, achieve and succeed’. This exemplifies the high expectations that leaders and teachers have of their pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils across the school are keen to learn new things. This is because teachers make learning exciting and relevant.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well around school. They are polite and well mannered. Adults resolve upsets quickly. Pupils learn how to spot bullying. They told us that it is rare. Pupils know that adults will always help them with any problems.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are lots of extra activities to engage pupils. For example, teachers bring learning to life through a wide range of trips and visits. They also arrange for external visitors to talk to pupils. Pupils are keen to attend clubs such as ukulele and football.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There is a significant number of pupils with complex special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in school. The school provides very well for these pupils, and they achieve extremely well.

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better?

Leaders are confident about the quality of the curriculum that they have chosen to offer pupils. They are knowledgeable about what should be taught. Leaders have thought carefully about the order in which to teach new topics and concepts.

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better?

The curriculum is planned and taught to great effect in many subjects, including English, mathematics, science, history and geography. The curriculum plans in these subjects are well established. They enable pupils to achieve well.

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better?

More recently, leaders have ensured that the curriculum continues to develop apace in other subjects such as modern foreign languages. Leaders’ plans set out the knowledge and skills that they want pupils to learn. It is clear how pupils should progress through each subject. These newer plans are well on the way to being embedded by teachers.

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better?

Teachers are knowledgeable about the subjects that they teach. They help pupils to see connections in their learning and to build their understanding. In mathematics, for example, new work builds logically on earlier work. Teachers also allow time for 11–12 March 2020

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pupils to practise what they already know. Pupils achieve well in mathematics by the time they reach the end of key stage 2.

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In early years, adults take every opportunity to reinforce learning in mathematics. For example, adults ensure that children count, as they sit on the carpet. They also help children to look for number patterns in children’s play.

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The writing curriculum in school is a strength. Teachers use stories and texts to bring writing and topics to life. Pupils become confident writers. They write in increasingly demanding ways. For example, we saw Year 4 pupils engaged in writing persuasive letters about the destruction of the rainforests.

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Books and reading are important in school. Leaders offer ideas and workshops for parents to encourage reading at home. Pupils throughout school enjoy regularly hearing an adult share a story with them. Key stage 2 pupils said that they enjoy reading. There is a good supply of books in the school. However, some pupils do not get as many opportunities as they could to read to an adult.

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Children learn letters and sounds as soon as they start in the early years. The early years staff prioritise developing a love of reading in their children. For those children who start school as two-year olds, this experience is magical. The reading curriculum across the early years is very well planned.

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Staff have specialist knowledge of the teaching of early reading. Most pupils reach the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check. Once children are able to read, the curriculum focuses on a structured approach to help them gain a deeper understanding of the books that they are reading. However, sometimes pupils do not have enough opportunities to think for themselves about what they are reading. They do not always know how to apply their comprehension skills to other texts.

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Leaders and staff are committed to all pupils achieving their very best. They are quick to notice and help if a pupil is struggling. For most pupils, English is not their first language. By the time they leave Year 6, most pupils achieve well, particularly in writing and mathematics.

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The significant group of pupils with complex SEND also benefit from a strong, well- thought-out curriculum that successfully meets their individual needs. Leaders ensure that these pupils have the same opportunities as all other pupils. Pupils with SEND achieve well.

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Pupils behave well in school. Attendance is high. Leaders have good systems in place to make sure that as few pupils as possible miss out on learning.

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‘The Harmony Pledge’ is an integral part of pupils’ learning and personal development. It is a strength. It focuses on developing pupils’ character, resilience and emotional well-being. Pupils are proud to talk about how they can identify and express their emotions. They also enjoy having important responsibilities in school 11–12 March 2020

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such as those of sports leaders, friendship monitors and being members of the ‘eco’ team.

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Trustees play a strong and supportive role in the development of the school. Staff are very proud to work at the school and feel well supported.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong caring and nurturing ethos in the school. The protection of pupils is extremely important to all staff. Leaders make sure that all policies and procedures are in place and that everyone knows them in detail.

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Safeguarding

Leaders are confident to act if they are concerned about a pupil. They work well with professionals outside of school to keep pupils safe. Leaders are strong advocates for families and pupils.

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Safeguarding

The pastoral care in the school is a significant strength. Staff ensure that pupils and their families are well looked after and supported.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Overall, leaders have an effective approach to teaching pupils how to read. However, some pupils do not read to an adult as often as they should. This means that a minority of pupils are not as confident and quick to learn to read as they should be. Leaders should explore further opportunities for pupils to read with adults.  There is systematic approach to the teaching of reading comprehension. However, leaders’ approach lacks flexibility, resulting in some pupils not having enough opportunities to think for themselves. Added to this, some pupils do not apply what they know about reading comprehension to different stories and texts. Leaders need to explore ways to support pupils to develop independence in their reading comprehension skills.

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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. 11–12 March 2020

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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. 11–12 March 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10122182 Type of school Primary

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School details

Principal Melanie Eccles (Executive principal), John Padley (Head of Academy) Website www.greenhill.theharmonytrust.org

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 This was the first inspection of Greenhill Academy since it became an academy in February 2014. The school is one of 14 academies that form The Harmony Trust multi-academy trust (MAT). Five of these schools are located in Oldham and nine in Derbyshire. Governance is undertaken by the board of trustees. There is also a chief executive officer of the trust.  The school has provision for two-year olds.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We deemed the inspection a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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Information about this inspection

 During the inspection, we spoke with pupils about their work and school life.  We spoke with the executive principal, the head of academy and the deputy principal who also leads on inclusion and SEND. We also spoke with the assistant principals and subject leaders. In addition, we held discussions with staff, which focused on the pastoral care and safeguarding of pupils. 11–12 March 2020

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 We spoke with four members of the trust. This included the chair of the trust and the chief executive officer.  We spoke on the telephone to a representative of the local authority about SEND provision.  We reviewed a range of documentation, including that relating to school improvement, safeguarding and the checks undertaken on newly appointed staff.  We spoke with parents and carers at the start of the school day and we considered responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View.  We also gathered the views of staff during the inspection.  We carried out deep dives into reading, writing, mathematics, history, geography and modern foreign languages. For each of these subjects, we held discussions with subject leaders and teachers, visited lessons, looked at samples of pupils’ work and talked with pupils. We also considered other subjects across the curriculum.

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Inspection team

Sue Eastwood, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Schelene Ferris Ofsted Inspector 11–12 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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