Mount Street Primary School

Inspection of Mount Street Primary School Mount Street, Greenbank, Plymouth PL4 8NZ

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Inspection dates: 24 and 25 January 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 24 to 25 January 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils contribute to, and thrive, as members of this calm school. They live by the trust’s values of ‘Believe you can and together we will’. All pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are included in all parts of school life. This helps them all to feel valued members of the school community. Pupils know that staff care for them and about their learning. Pupils learn to play and work well together. Pupils enjoy their lessons. Many say they love their family oriented school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

All staff follow leaders’ very high expectations for pupils. Staff apply the school’s behaviour policy consistently and fairly. They ensure that positive relationships are promoted well. As a result, pupils behave very well. Bullying is rare and, if it does happen, it is dealt with effectively. Sensible adjustments are made for those with SEND. Low-level disruption is very rare. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are particularly strong.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Nearly all parents who responded to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents, are positive about the impact of the school on their children. They rightly believe their children are safe and well looked after.

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better?

Leaders ensure that pupils are at the heart of their decision-making. Leaders, including those from the trust, have high expectations about what they want pupils to achieve. Senior leaders, including those in the early years, know their community exceptionally well. They utilise this to improve the school in a well-considered way.

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better?

Staff, like pupils, feel valued. Their well-being is promoted well. Leaders develop staff to be effective when teaching, leading subjects or when supporting groups of pupils, depending on their roles.

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better?

Leaders have a clear rationale for the curriculum. They prioritise broadening pupils’ experiences and use of language from the moment they arrive. For example, leaders have developed a curriculum that links to pupils’ experiences and local setting. This approach has been particularly useful in engaging pupils’ enthusiasm and engagement in learning.

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better?

Leaders ensure that all subjects are carefully and deliberately designed. Staff teach sequences of lessons that build effectively on what pupils know and can do. However, teachers’ subject knowledge is more secure in some subjects than others. Where it is better, teachers use their understanding to explain new ideas to pupils with precision. Conversely, leaders know that in some subjects, such as in history and art, teachers are less secure. This means pupils learn elements of these subjects in less cohesive way than in others. For example, in history, pupils learn a lot of facts about periods of time. However, they do not secure the knowledge needed to use evidence to make judgements about the past. 24 to 25 January 2023 Leaders have established useful ways to ensure that teachers assess pupils’ knowledge with accuracy. This is more effective where teachers’ subject knowledge is stronger. There are times when the use of assessment is not as effective as it

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better?

could be in helping pupils make more rapid progress, for example when pupils join the school mid-year and are new to their class.

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better?

Pupils learn to love reading. Teachers, including those in the early years, are reading experts. They diligently and consistently follow the school’s approach to teaching reading. Pupils take home books that match the sounds they have learned. They speak confidently about stories they have read, have had read to them and have learned to enjoy. Leaders and teachers have developed a range of reading areas to make the reading of books enjoyable and fun. Staff are all passionate about reading as a result. They know it is their job to make reading enticing and enjoyable. Collectively, this helps pupils develop good attitudes towards reading and an ability to read effectively.

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better?

Pupils’ wider development is promoted very well. Leaders ensure that all parts of the curriculum and extra-curricular opportunities are accessible to all pupils, including those with SEND. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted very effectively. For example, pupils learn about different cultures, diversity, different types of family and the importance of democracy and the rule of law. Trips and visits are utilised whenever possible in order to enrich and enhance pupils’ learning.

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better?

The trust provides robust governance. There are effective systems and processes through which leaders report to the board and to their local governing body. Trustees are given useful and wide-ranging information about the strengths and areas for development of the school. They use this to support and challenge leaders well. This has helped ensure the rapid improvement secured since the time of the last inspection.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that pupils’ safety is a top priority. All appropriate checks are completed to ensure the suitability of staff. The training staff receive helps them to recognise the signs of when pupils are at potential risk. Staff understand what to do if they have any worries about pupils’ welfare. Leaders act quickly to deal with any concerns. Referrals to outside agencies are made in a timely manner, ensuring that pupils and their families get the support they need. Pupils know that they should speak to a trusted adult if they are worried or upset.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

24 to 25 January 2023  In a small number of subjects, staff subject knowledge is not strong enough. The curriculum is not implemented effectively, which hinders pupils’ learning. Leaders should ensure that teachers are confident and skilled in the subjects they are delivering.  Assessment is not always as effective as it needs to be, for example when pupils join the school other than at the normal time and when checking pupils’ ability to apply their knowledge in some subjects. This slows pupils’ learning. Leaders should strengthen the use of assessment so that teachers can more rapidly address gaps in pupils’ learning.

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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. 24 to 25 January 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10256576 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

 Mount Street Primary is a smaller-than-average size academy in the centre of Plymouth.  The school provides for children from 2 years old in the Nursery provision.  The school manages a before- and after-school club, which is run on the school premises.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.

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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 school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 24 to 25 January 2023  Inspectors met with leaders, including the headteacher, the assistant headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator and the lead for the early years. They also spoke to a range of staff.  Inspectors met with the Chair of Trustees and the Chief Executive Officer from the Learning Academies Trust.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, history and art. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at a sample of pupils’ work. The lead inspector also heard a selection of pupils read.

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Information about this inspection

 To inspect safeguarding, inspectors checked the single central record of recruitment checks, talked to leaders responsible for safeguarding and checks records relating to safeguarding. Inspectors also talked to a range of staff and pupils informally.  Inspectors took account of 20 responses to Ofsted’s Parent View questionnaire and free-text responses.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation, including the leaders’ evaluations, improvement plans, minutes of local governing body meetings and information about the school’s curriculum.

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Inspection team

Matthew Barnes, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Simon Bissett Ofsted Inspector 24 to 25 January 2023 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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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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