Milton Park Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Milton Park Primary School Milton Park Road, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset BS22 8DY

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Inspection dates: 19 and 20 January 2022

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Outcome

Milton Park Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Milton Park Primary follow the school’s values. They are ‘responsible, respectful and resilient’. Leaders ensure that pupils receive high-quality pastoral support. Pupils feel that staff will support them with any problem they have. Consequently, pupils feel safe because staff care for and nurture them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations for all pupils. Pupils know and follow the school rules. They behave well in class and around the school and are kind to each other. Pupils say that bullying is rare, but that when it occurs, staff deal with it effectively. Pupils also take on responsibility as anti-bullying ambassadors to offer support to their peers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take advantage of the opportunities that staff provide. These include sports clubs and the ‘mini police’. Leaders are ambitious to reinstate other activities that have been affected by COVID-19. Pupils develop responsibility towards their local community, for example by litter-picking in the local park. Pupils also have opportunities to learn and collaborate with other pupils across the multi-academy trust.

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

Leaders ensure that pupils learn to read as soon as they start school. They check that staff teach the curriculum as planned. As a result, pupils remember the sounds they have learned successfully. To support this, pupils read books that are matched to the sounds they know. Teachers use what they know about pupils to provide extra support with reading where needed, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff read to pupils regularly and develop their understanding of a range of vocabulary. Pupils choose from high-quality texts and read for pleasure. In Reception, staff ensure that books are readily available for children to read.

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

Leaders have planned an ambitious curriculum in each subject. The curriculum is sequenced from Reception to Year 6 so that pupils can use what they know to learn something more complex. Support staff are highly effective in supporting pupils’ learning 19 and 20 January 2022

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across the curriculum. Leaders support teachers’ subject knowledge so that they can deliver the curriculum clearly. However, there are some subjects for which the curriculum is new. In these subjects, teaching is not yet as effective as it is elsewhere.

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Staff adapt learning for pupils who need additional support, including most pupils with SEND. In many subjects, teachers identify what pupils know and remember precisely. They address misconceptions quickly. Pupils are encouraged to learn from the mistakes that they have made. One pupil, whose view reflected that of many, said: ‘Every time you get something wrong, you learn something new.’ However, assessment is not yet used consistently well across all curriculum subjects. In subjects where this is weaker, pupils do not know and remember as much as they could.

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The personal, social and health education curriculum encourages pupils to celebrate diversity. Pupils read high-quality texts that support this. Pupils respect each other’s differences. Older pupils expressed the importance of knowing that it is ‘okay to be different’.

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Staff support pupils to become responsible citizens. Their strong emphasis on pupils’ personal development ensures that pupils are well prepared for their next steps in education. Pupils have an age-appropriate understanding of physical and mental health. Leaders ensure that pupils with SEND are fully included in school life. They provide additional sporting and extra-curricular opportunities for these pupils.

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Leaders know the school well. They use what they know to improve the school further. Staff feel that they are well supported because leaders are considerate of their workload. They feel that their well-being is a high priority for leaders.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The school’s safeguarding team has developed a culture in which everyone is responsible for safeguarding pupils. There are effective policies and procedures in place. Staff know how to report concerns using school systems and receive regular safeguarding training. Leaders ensure that appropriate checks are completed for new members of staff and induction processes are robust. Trustees and local governors understand their statutory responsibilities for safeguarding.

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Safeguarding

Pupils say that they feel safe in school. They learn how to keep themselves safe through the school curriculum, including how to stay safe online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers’ use of assessment is not as well developed as it could be in some subjects. This means that gaps in pupils’ learning are not always identified. Leaders need to 19 and 20 January 2022

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ensure that assessment is used effectively in all subjects to help pupils to know and remember more of the curriculum.  In some subjects, the curriculum is not implemented as leaders intend. As a result, pupils do not learn as well, or as much, as they could. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum they have planned is implemented consistently well in all subjects.

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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 a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Milton Park Primary School, to be good in March 2017.

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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 January 2022

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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 the Extend Learning Academies Network (ELAN) multi-academy trust.  Milton Park Primary School converted to become an academy in October 2017. When the predecessor school of the same name was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.  The school uses one registered alternative provider.  The school runs a breakfast club and after-school club provision.

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Information about this inspection

This was the first routine inspection the school had received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders, and has taken that into account in her evaluation of the school.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, and art and design. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject 19 and 20 January 2022

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leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector also spoke to leaders about the curriculum in some other subjects.  The inspector held meetings with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, special educational needs coordinator, curriculum leaders, and teaching and support staff.  The inspector met with the chair of trustees, the chief executive officer, the school improvement partner and the chair of the governing body.  The inspector met with designated safeguarding leads to discuss how they keep pupils safe in school. She considered the school’s recruitment procedures, staff induction and training, records of concerns and its engagement with external agencies. The inspector also spoke with staff and pupils throughout the inspection.  The inspector considered responses to the online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View,

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including free-text responses. The inspector also took into consideration the responses to the staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Donna Briggs, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 19 and 20 January 2022

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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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