Moira Primary School

Inspection of Moira Primary School Blackfordby Lane, Moira, Swadlincote, Derbyshire DE12 6EX

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Inspection dates: 26 and 27 October 2022

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 26 and 27 October 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff care for pupils very well. Pupils are happy and feel safe. There is a strong sense of community, where everyone belongs. Pupils are very proud of their school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know and value the importance of respect. For example, they understand the importance of being respectful of each other and of people’s differences. Younger pupils joyfully celebrated ‘being thankful’ in their harvest festival. Staff and pupils live out the school’s values of ‘being healthy, kind, curious, adventurous and creative’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have recently raised their expectations of behaviour. Pupils behave well. They conduct themselves politely. Pupils, parents and carers say that bullying is rare. If it happens, pupils are confident that staff will help sort it out quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers’ expectations are higher in some subjects than in others. Pupils learn well in physical education (PE). They learn less well in some other subjects. The curriculum is not as ambitious as it should be in some areas. Pupils gain from a range of opportunities that support their personal development, including through community projects and charity fundraising.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The vast majority of parents are very positive about the school. Typically, one commented, ‘My children love being part of Moira Primary School.’

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better?

The quality of education is improving. Senior leaders have developed a broad curriculum that reflects the ambition of the national curriculum. Leaders are developing ambitious subject curriculums. For example, the mathematics, science and religious education curriculums build pupils’ key learning over time.

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better?

Leaders have established high expectations in some subjects and classes. For example, pupils respond well to high expectations in PE. In mathematics, teachers make sure that pupils learn important concepts in a logical order. This ensures that most pupils build their mathematical knowledge and understanding well over time.

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better?

Leaders have not considered well enough how teachers can best support pupils to learn well across all subjects. In some, including in music, teachers do not consistently check pupils’ learning in a timely way. They do not always identify quickly enough pupils’ errors or misunderstandings. As a result, there is inconsistency in how well pupils learn in these subjects across different classes. Some pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

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better?

Leaders ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive sensitive support. Staff know these pupils’ needs well. Staff make adaptations to help pupils with SEND learn the same curriculum as other pupils. 26 and 27 October 2022

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Children start to learn to read as soon as they arrive in Reception. Staff are well trained to deliver the school’s chosen phonics scheme. Books match the sounds pupils learn. Pupils learn to read accurately and fluently. Leaders ensure that older pupils learn to read with understanding. Teachers introduce pupils to a wide range of authors and books. Pupils speak with confidence about reading.

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Children get off to a great start when they join the early years. Leaders have developed an ambitious and well-thought-through curriculum. Children learn through activities that interest them. Teachers plan activities that fully support children’s personal, social and emotional development. Children benefit from wide- ranging opportunities that help them to grow in confidence and know and remember more. They engage well with these opportunities and with the adults who support them. Children follow well-established routines. Staff set high expectations, that are consistently met.

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Leaders promote all pupils’ personal development well. Leaders coherently plan rich experiences for all. There is a strong focus on developing pupils’ confidence and character. Pupils learn about right and wrong. They learn that people may hold different values or beliefs to them. Pupils learn about the importance of physical and emotional health, as well as age-appropriate relationships. This prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.

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Senior leaders work with a clear vision, passion and determination. They focus on the right priorities for the school. They are bringing about significant improvements. They are ambitious for all pupils to achieve their very best. They are mindful of staff’s workload and well-being. Staff value the opportunities they have for professional development. For example, subject leaders value their opportunities to learn how to lead.

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Governors have not fulfilled their responsibilities as well as they should. They have not thought carefully enough about how they can best support senior leaders in their role. For example, governors have not actively supported senior leaders in their well-being. They have not considered ways to address senior leaders’ workload to support them in their work to improve the quality of education.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong culture of safeguarding. Leaders ensure that the welfare and safety of pupils are key to their work. Staff know pupils well. They act swiftly when they spot concerns about pupils’ welfare. Staff receive regular training. They understand their responsibilities. Leaders work well with a range of external professionals to provide additional support when needed. Leaders maintain thorough safeguarding records. 26 and 27 October 2022

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Pupils know how to report concerns they may have for their own or others’ safety. They learn about potential risks and how to keep themselves safe, for example when online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Governors have not acted quickly to secure sustainable leadership capacity. Senior leaders are overworked. As a result, the school has not been able to make rapid improvement in the quality of education across all subjects. Governors should ensure that the challenge and support they provide enable leaders to bring about the necessary improvements to the quality of education in all subjects.  In some subjects, leaders and teachers have not given sufficient thought to the important knowledge pupils should learn, and the order in which they should learn it. At times, teachers’ expectations of what pupils can learn are too low. As a result, pupils do not routinely learn knowledge in a way that enables them to build their knowledge and skills over time. Leaders should ensure that there are high expectations around what pupils can learn. They should make sure that there is clarification regarding what knowledge should be taught and when across

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

all subjects, so that pupils are able to know and remember more.  Leaders have not ensured that teachers consistently and effectively check pupils’ learning. Teachers do not routinely identify pupils’ misconceptions, misunderstandings and errors in learning as they arise. Leaders need to ensure that all teachers understand how best to check and respond to pupils’ learning in a timely manner.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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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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. 26 and 27 October 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Kelly Ellis (Executive Headteacher)

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School details

Date of previous inspection 20 June 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 There have been many changes to the leadership structure since the previous inspection. The senior leadership team was restructured following the departure of the headteacher in July 2020. The restructured senior leadership team is composed of the head of school and a part-time executive headteacher. The previous executive headteacher left in May 2022. The current, seconded executive headteacher has been in post since May 2022.  The school does not use the services of any alternative providers.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 26 and 27 October 2022

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 Inspectors met with the executive headteacher and the head of school. They met with the chair of governors remotely, and other governors in person. They met with a local authority officer remotely.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, science and PE. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited lessons, spoke to teachers, met with pupils to talk about their learning, reviewed samples of pupils’ work and listened to pupils read.  Inspectors looked at a range of other subjects, including music, history and religious education.  Inspectors met with groups of pupils to talk about the quality of education and other aspects of school life. They spoke with staff and pupils informally.  Inspectors met with the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator and reviewed the school’s provision for pupils with SEND.  Inspectors met with safeguarding leads and reviewed safeguarding policies and

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records. They scrutinised the single central record.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation. They looked at the school’s website and published information about the school’s provision, policies, self- evaluation and development plan.  Inspectors considered the views of parents who had completed Ofsted Parent View. They reviewed responses to Ofsted’s surveys for pupils and for school staff.

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Inspection team

Chris Davies, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Alison Adair Ofsted Inspector 26 and 27 October 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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