Mount Pleasant Primary

Inspection of a good school: Mount Pleasant Primary Whitemere Road, Mount Pleasant, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY1 3BY

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Inspection dates: 19 and 20 October 2021

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Outcome

Mount Pleasant Primary continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school. The ‘Darwin values’ feed through the school and the curriculum. Pupils know and understand the values, with one pupil commenting, ‘Talking about the values gives us a safe space to talk about how we feel.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils said that there is always an adult they can talk to if they are worried. If pupils fall out, adults support them to sort it out. Pupils also said that they use ‘peer mentors’ in school to help sort their problems out, but they know to go to an adult if it is serious.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils behave well in lessons and around school. Pupils said that pupils’ behaviour has improved significantly over the past few years. They said this is because, ‘Teachers have higher expectations of how we behave.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils across the school are given a variety of responsibilities, such as school councillors, house captains, eco-warriors, peer mentors and even bagel monitors. They are proud to support charities but also recognise that charity starts at home. They are proud to have set up a uniform and food bank for the school community. Pupils enjoy attending the various clubs on offer, such as choir, football, drama and puzzle club.

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

Leaders have prioritised the teaching of reading across the school. The school is alive with books. Pupils have a wide array of opportunities to develop their love of reading. For example, they can take the ‘reading suitcase’ home and enjoy a book with a hot chocolate and biscuit, they can win a book from the reading vending machine or swap a book on the ‘book swap tree’. Pupils speak positively about reading in school. They like the wide range of books, poetry, plays and non-fiction that are taught across the curriculum.

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

The school’s phonics programme is well planned and gets pupils off to a good start in reading. Children in early years settle in quickly and build strong relationships with staff. This has helped them to be ready to learn. Children read books that match the letter 19 and 20 October 2021

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sounds they know. Children in Nursery, including the two-year-olds, share a love of stories and enjoy recreating the stories in the role-play area.

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Leaders have developed a mathematics curriculum that enables pupils to know and remember more mathematics over time. Learning is well sequenced to help pupils build up their knowledge in a logical order. Leaders help teachers through effective support and training. This has developed staff’s confidence in teaching mathematics.

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Leaders have ensured that the school’s curriculum is broad and balanced. Pupils enjoy finding out new things and are proud of their achievements. However, in a few subjects, leaders have not clearly mapped out the precise knowledge that they want the children to learn. Sometimes pupils do not remember the key knowledge that leaders want them to.

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Pupils love learning. They work hard and this is reflected in their enthusiasm for learning. Behaviour in lessons is normally of a very high quality. Teachers expect pupils to behave well. However, at times, not all teachers have high enough expectations for how pupils present their work, spell well-known words and form their numbers. This means that pupils often make the same errors in their work.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have the support they need to learn well. Staff have received training to help them make the necessary adaptations for pupils with SEND. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has worked with staff to ensure that curriculum planning meets the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND.

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Pupils are kind and accepting. They show a mature understanding of each other’s differences. Pupils shared the view, ‘People are treated fairly here, we make sure that people are accepted in their own unique way.’

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Governors and trustees understand the strengths of the school but are also clear about what the school needs to do to improve further. They work closely with leaders to provide effective support and challenge. Leaders are pleased with the support from the multi- academy trust.

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Staff are proud to work at the school. They said that leaders are considerate of their workload and place an importance on their well-being. Staff work closely together and support each other well. They are reflective and thoughtful about their work and keen to improve.

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Parents are overwhelmingly happy with the school. They are supportive and recognise the hard work that staff have put in, especially during the most recent COVID-19 lockdown. 19 and 20 October 2021

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong culture of safeguarding within the school. Staff know their pupils very well and are quick to pick up on any concerns. Leaders ensure that staff receive regular training to recognise signs of neglect and abuse. All staff know what to do when they have a concern about a pupil. Staff work closely with families and other agencies to ensure that the right support is provided.

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Safeguarding

Leaders follow correct procedures when appointing new staff. All relevant checks are completed before adults start working with pupils.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have ensured that all staff and governors fully understand the risks that pupils may face within the local area. Pupils learn about risks and how to keep themselves safe in different situations. Pupils learn how to keep mentally healthy and physically safe. They learn how to keep safe online, including when using technology and social media.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a very small number of subjects, leaders have not defined the precise knowledge that they want pupils to learn. Consequently, pupils do not learn as well as they should. It is clear from leaders’ actions that they are in the process of bringing this about. Leaders should ensure that they identify and sequence the important knowledge that they want pupils to learn in these subjects from early years to Year 6.  Some teachers do not always have high enough expectations of how pupils present their work, form their numbers or spell well-known words. At times, this leads to repeated errors in their spelling and recording. Teachers should ensure that pupils present their work to the highest standard. Teachers should also address any inaccuracies in pupils’ spelling and number formation so that mistakes are not repeated.

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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 or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, 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 deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately. 19 and 20 October 2021

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This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Mount Pleasant Primary, to be good in January 2011.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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. 19 and 20 October 2021

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School details

Website www.mountpleasant.shropshire.sch.uk/

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school is part of Severn Bridges Multi-Academy Trust. The trust comprises of three local primary schools.  The school has a nursery on site. It accepts two-year-olds.  The school is currently not using an alternative provider.  The school has a breakfast and after-school club that pupils can pay to attend.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation.  The inspector met with the headteacher, senior leaders, the chief executive officer and trustees from the multi-academy trust. The inspector also met with a group of governors.  Meetings were held with curriculum leaders, class teachers and the SENCo. 19 and 20 October 2021

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 The inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead and examined school records and discussed safeguarding cases.  The inspector completed deep dives in the following subjects: reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, and the views of staff in Ofsted’s online survey.  The inspector also spoke with pupils informally during breaktimes and observed pupils playing.

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Inspection team

Eve Morris, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 19 and 20 October 2021

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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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