Arundale Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Arundale Primary School Lowry Grove, Mottram, Hyde, Cheshire SK14 6PW

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Outcome

Arundale Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Everyone at Arundale Primary is given a warm welcome at this friendly and happy school. Pupils enjoy coming to school each day. Staff deal with any bullying issues swiftly and effectively. This helps pupils to feel safe and happy.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils value the support that leaders and staff provide. They spoke fondly about Sadie, the school therapy dog, who is a valued member of the Arundale family.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff and pupils champion the school’s HEART values: hard work, equity, aspiration, resili- ence and teamwork in all aspects of school life. Pupils proudly rise to leaders’ high expec- tations of work and behaviour. Their conduct and positive attitudes to learning embody the school’s aims and ethos. They proudly collect points in exchange for prizes in recogni- tion of their good behaviour and hard work.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from an attractive and inspiring environment, both indoors and outside. They appreciate the many opportunities that they have to enhance their learning beyond the classroom.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils value their leadership roles in school. For example, members of the enterprise team enjoy running the daily ‘snack shack’, where they sell a range of healthy snacks at breaktimes. Eco-councillors, school councillors and sports ambassadors also value their roles in helping to make the school the best it can be.

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

Leaders and staff have developed a well-constructed and ambitious curriculum. They ensure that pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), experience a rich variety of trips, visits and visitors to enrich and deepen their learning. 2 and 3 February 2023

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Staff have worked together to decide what pupils will learn in each subject from early years to the end of Year 6. They have thought carefully about the order in which teachers introduce new content.

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In lessons, staff teach the curriculum as leaders intend. Teachers explain new content clearly to pupils. Staff use assessment information well to identify gaps in knowledge and check for misconceptions, so that future learning can address them.

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Increasingly, teachers devise activities to encourage pupils to recall recent learning. However, leaders have not clearly identified the most important subject-specific concepts that pupils should revisit over time. Staff do not routinely check that pupils can recall and connect newer learning with prior learning from previous year groups or key stages. This means that some pupils struggle to remember some key information in the longer term.

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The youngest children get off to a good start. They respond well to their teachers’ instructions. Children confidently undertake new challenges and proudly share their achievements with staff.

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Reading is at the heart of the school’s curriculum. Leaders have created interesting reading areas to encourage pupils to develop a love of reading. There are inspirational quotes, such as ‘reading is a blast’ and ‘adventure is just a page away’, displayed in the school’s attractive and well-stocked library. Pupils enjoy reading a variety of different books and stories.

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Leaders have ensured that staff teach the early reading programme consistently well. Pupils begin to learn sounds as soon as they start school. They confidently read books using the sounds that they know. Leaders swiftly identify and help any pupils who are not keeping up with the programme. By the end of key stage 2, pupils have developed considerable expertise in reading. They show positive reading attitudes.

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Pupils with SEND achieve as well as other pupils. Leaders work effectively with a range of external partners to ensure that they receive high-quality support in a timely manner. Pupils with SEND enjoy learning alongside their peers.

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Pupils show highly positive attitudes to their learning. In lessons, they help each other and take care not to disturb others. They achieve well, particularly in English and mathematics.

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Governors and leaders are committed to providing a wealth of opportunities to broaden pupils’ understanding of the wider world. Pupils enjoy spending time in the school’s well- resourced grounds as well as visiting the local area. They spoke animatedly about a recent trip to Chester Zoo, which the whole school participated in.

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Pupils show respect for others and have a secure understanding of different faiths and cultures. They also know about British values, such as democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. 2 and 3 February 2023

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Governors share leaders’ and staff’s high aspirations for the school. They hold the school to account effectively. Staff value the steps that leaders and governors take to support their workload and well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and staff care a great deal about the pupils and their families. They work well with a wide range of external partners and agencies to keep pupils safe.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have made sure that staff are well trained and have the skills and knowledge to carry out their safeguarding roles effectively. They keep meticulous records to make sure that staff quickly spot any pupils who may be in danger of neglect or harm.

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Safeguarding

As part of the curriculum, pupils develop an age-appropriate awareness of different aspects of safety. This includes using the internet responsibly and not talking to strangers.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, leaders have not clearly identified the most important subject- specific concepts that they want pupils to revisit over time. As a result, in these subjects, some pupils do not remember prior learning from previous years. Leaders should ensure that teachers are clear about which key concepts to teach in each subject and when to revisit them, so that pupils know and remember more over time.

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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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in February 2013. 2 and 3 February 2023

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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.

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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. 2 and 3 February 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10256020 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 4 October 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Leaders provide a breakfast club.  Leaders do not make use of any alternative provision.  The school is an associate school of the Victorious Multi-Academy Trust.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection that the school has received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and she has taken this into account in her evaluation of the school.  The inspector carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, she met with leaders, discussed curriculums, visited a sample of lessons, met with teachers, spoke with pupils about their learning and reviewed samples of pupils’ work. She also observed pupils from Year 1 to Year 3 reading to a familiar adult.  The inspector considered other subjects on the school’s curriculum. She talked to the leaders who lead these subjects. She also spoke to pupils about their learning in these subjects. 2 and 3 February 2023

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 The inspector held discussions with the headteacher, other leaders and staff.  The inspector met with governors, including the chair of the governing body. She spoke with a representative of the local authority and the school’s quality-assurance professional. She also spoke to the chief executive officer of the trust in which the school is an associate school.  The inspector spoke with different groups of pupils to gather their views of the school and held discussions about their behaviour and learning. She also observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and at playtime.  The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses. She spoke to several parents at the start of the school day. She also considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff and Ofsted’s online survey for pupils.  The inspector met with those responsible for safeguarding at the school. She

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scrutinised a range of documentation in relation to safeguarding. She also spoke with governors, staff, parents and pupils about safeguarding.  The inspector considered a range of documentation provided by school leaders and staff. This included the school development plan, minutes of governing body meetings, headteacher reports and the leaders’ self-evaluation document.

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Inspection team

Louise McArdle, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector 2 and 3 February 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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