William MacGregor Primary School

Inspection of a good school: William MacGregor Primary School Glascote Road, Glascote, Tamworth, Staffordshire B77 2AF

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Inspection dates: 24 and 25 January 2023

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Outcome

William MacGregor Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and feel safe at William Macgregor Primary School. They come through the school gates with smiles on their faces. Pupils and their parents know that the adults at school are always there to help and support them. This school is very much at the heart of the community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well and poor behaviour is rare. If bullying occurs, adults deal with it very quickly. This means that the school is a calm and purposeful place to learn. Pupils are confident, enjoy talking about their learning and display positive attitudes in class and around school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations for all pupils and want them to do their best. Adults support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well to help them keep up with their peers wherever possible. Leaders are passionate about ensuring all pupils experience the whole curriculum.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders place a particular focus on encouraging pupils to talk about their learning and to explain their thinking. Through regular structured conversations, pupils demonstrate a strong understanding of what they learn.

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

Leaders have designed an ambitious and broad curriculum for all pupils, including those with SEND. They have made deliberate choices about what is most important for pupils to know. They ensure that teachers know exactly what they should teach and when they should teach it. The school has recently provided all pupils from Year 1 with a mobile digital device, which they use across the curriculum. Although at an early stage of implementation, pupils and teachers typically use these devices well to enhance learning. Sometimes, however, the devices make tasks more complicated than they need to be. 24 and 25 January 2023

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Learning to read is a priority at William MacGregor. Children start to learn phonics from their first days in school. Leaders have adopted a consistent approach to phonics and train staff to deliver it well. Teachers assess pupils regularly, and if children fall behind put additional support in place swiftly. By the end of key stage 1, most pupils read fluently.

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Leaders provide high-quality books for pupils to read. Most pupils love to read and do so often. They particularly enjoy it when their teachers read to them. Some pupils struggle to remember the author of the book their teacher is reading because teachers do not routinely talk about this. The reduces pupils making informed choices about the books they read themselves.

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Pupils know and remember the curriculum well. They can talk confidently about what they are learning now and what they learned in the past. This is because the curriculum is well organised and designed to revisit learning and build on it. Teachers also demonstrate strong subject knowledge and skilfully engage pupils in their learning. For example, in mathematics, the sequence of learning ensures key facts, such as number bonds and times tables, are rehearsed regularly from early years to Year 6. This is helping pupils to remember key information well and use it to solve problems effectively. Pupils show a rich understanding of what they study in other subjects, for example, in history, how the Second World War started. Pupils develop a deeper understanding of the periods they study and do not just learn facts.

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Pupils, including those with SEND, are enthusiastic and excited about their learning. They work hard and behave well in lessons. Disruption of learning is rare. However, the quality of work that pupils create is inconsistent. This is because teachers do not always have high enough expectations of what pupils can produce.

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Pupils get a wide range of opportunities outside of the classroom. They take part in after- school sports clubs, take on roles such as school council members and enjoy exciting trips. These include an outward bound residential, a sleep-over on HMS Belfast in London and a trip to France.

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Leaders in school and from the trust know the school well. They visit lessons and speak to pupils regularly. When making changes, they consider advice and guidance very thoroughly and always consider the workload and well-being of staff. All staff at this school enjoy coming to work and are very proud to do so.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that all adults are well trained to identify when pupils may be at risk of harm. All staff understand their responsibility for safeguarding pupils and know what to do if they have concerns.

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Safeguarding

Leaders keep meticulous records of concerns and act promptly when necessary. They work effectively with external agencies to make sure vulnerable pupils and families get the support they need. 24 and 25 January 2023

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Pupils feel safe at school and know who to speak to if they have any worries. They are used to speaking about their emotions, which contributes to the school’s positive safeguarding culture.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers do not always have high enough expectations of the work that pupils produce. This means that teachers accept work which is of inconsistent quality and does not reflect how well pupils are learning. Leaders should ensure that teachers have consistently high expectations, so that the quality of pupils’ work is improved. This will ensure that pupils are better prepared for their next stage of education.  Sometimes learning is made more complicated by the use of digital devices. As a result, pupils occasionally become confused about what they are learning. Leaders should ensure that the most effective strategies are used in lessons to maximise pupils’ learning.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the predecessor school, William Macgregor Primary School, to be good in January 2013.

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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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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school. 24 and 25 January 2023

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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 and 25 January 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10256960 Type of school Primary

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School details

Website www.williammacgregor.staffs.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 William Macgregor Primary School converted to become an academy in September 2018.  The school is part of The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership.

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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 this into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, head of school, the assistant headteacher, the SEND coordinator, representatives of the trust, parents, staff and some of those responsible for governance.  Deep dives were completed in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, discussed the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers and pupils, and looked at samples of work. 24 and 25 January 2023

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 The inspector spoke with pupils about their experiences in school and observed their behaviour around the school.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements, the inspector spoke to members of staff and pupils to find out about the school’s safeguarding culture. The inspector met with the designated safeguarding leader to discuss the school’s policies and procedures. During these meetings, records were scrutinised, including those relating to the safer recruitment of staff. Case files were sampled to explore how the school identifies and supports pupils who may be at risk of harm.  The inspector considered responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for parents, staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Gareth Morgan, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 24 and 25 January 2023

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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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