Mandeville Primary School

Inspection of Mandeville Primary School West Road, Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire CM21 0BL

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Inspection dates: 21 and 22 February 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Good

This school was last inspected 13 years ago and judged ‘Outstanding’ under a previous inspection framework. This reflected the school’s overall effectiveness under the inspection framework in use at the time.

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Overall effectiveness Good

From then until November 2020, the school was exempted by law from routine inspection, so there has been a longer gap than usual between inspections. Judgements in this report are based on the current inspection framework and also reflect changes that may have happened at any point since the last inspection. 21 and 22 February 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Mandeville Primary School are confident, respectful and resilient. They are happy in a warm and supportive environment. Pupils enthusiastically celebrate their school with visitors.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils typically respond well to the high expectations that staff have of them. Pupils are enthusiastic readers. They talk passionately about the books they read.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn about bullying through lessons and a whole-school anti-bullying week. They know and recognise bullying as unkind behaviour that repeats over time. When it happens, pupils know they can talk to staff, who support them. Pupils have confidence is staff. This helps to keep them safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils generally behave well. They are usually polite and respectful. However, sometimes, a small number of pupils talk over each other, disrupting others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils play an active role in the school and wider community. For example, pupils take part in an annual enterprise week. Working together as a class, pupils create a business idea and discuss this with local businesses. Using this research, pupils produce and sell their product or arrange and host their event. Afterwards, pupils decide how they will spend the money to benefit all pupils in their class.

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better?

Leaders prioritise reading. They recently adopted a new phonics programme. Leaders ensured that staff received training to teach the programme well. The programme starts with children in Nursery learning to recognise sounds. This includes identifying syllables and rhyme. In the Reception Year, children learn sequentially the sounds that letters make. When they reach Year 2, most pupils are fluent readers and confident spellers. This means that pupils can access more challenging books in key stage 2. Over time, pupils become proficient and fluent readers. To expand their wider knowledge, pupils read from a range of fiction and non-fiction books.

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better?

For most subjects, leaders have specified what pupils need to learn from the early years to Year 6. Much of what children learn in the early years works well. Staff understand how to weave children’s interests into the activities they prepare. They encourage children to build up their stamina for learning by sticking with an activity. Teachers generally understand how to build on this when pupils move into key stage 1. Pupils usually achieve well and remember much of what they are taught.

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better?

However, for a small number of subjects, leaders do not know well what is taught in the early years. This makes it more difficult for teachers in key stage 1 to link what 21 and 22 February 2023

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they teach to what pupils learned before Year 1. As a result, it is more difficult for pupils to remember the content of these subjects over time.

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Where assessment works best, staff use their checks to identify and support pupils if they start to fall behind. However, some teachers pose broad questions, which pupils struggle to answer. Sometimes, teachers use responses from one or two pupils and assume all pupils have the same understanding. This results in some pupils finding it hard to complete their schoolwork and discuss what they have learned.

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Staff have high expectations of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders involve pupils, parents and appropriate specialists to identify how to help pupils. They set out clear information to support teachers in meeting the needs of pupils with SEND. Leaders, including governors, check the adjustments made for pupils with SEND effectively. As a result, pupils with SEND learn well alongside other pupils.

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Leaders oversee a systematic approach to attendance concerns, which has resulted in swift improvements, ensuring pupils attend school regularly. Staff largely adhere to the approach implemented by leaders for supporting pupils’ behaviour. As such, pupils are generally polite and eager to learn. On occasion, when staff are unclear in their explanations of what pupils should do, pupils disengage and chat when they should be listening to the teacher.

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Aspects of the personal development programme are impressive, particularly the extensive range of extra-curricular clubs on offer, such as musical theatre, street dance, art and multi-sports. These clubs are well attended, particularly by disadvantaged pupils, and nurture the interests and talents of pupils. Some of the clubs result in inter-school competitions. There are opportunities, too, for pupils to contribute to school life. For instance, eco-councillors cultivate a school garden, providing sustenance for local wildlife.

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Governors have a clear understanding and share the ambition and intent with leaders to deliver a high-quality curriculum. Governors support leaders in overseeing a motivated staff. Their support helps to maintain the constant strive for improvement. Governors provide effective challenge to leaders to ensure their actions are on target and have the intended impact.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders oversee robust and effective training and reporting systems. Staff rapidly identify and report concerns about pupils. Leaders act on these appropriately, engaging with external agencies when required. Governors check the work of leaders and staff in this area carefully. There are suitable vetting checks for adults working or volunteering in the school. 21 and 22 February 2023

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Through the curriculum and wider school events, pupils learn how to stay safe. Younger pupils use a classroom display to let staff know how they are feeling or if they need to talk to an adult. Older pupils use the term ‘trusted adult’ to identify adults they can turn to for help.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few subjects, leaders have not considered fully what children learn in early years. In these subjects, teachers are not as well supported in understanding how learning in the early years fits into the sequence of learning. Leaders should ensure they set out the specific words, concepts and skills pupils should learn from Nursery to Year 6 before sharing these clearly with teachers to help them teach all subjects confidently and well.  Teachers do not always present knowledge to pupils and check their understanding as precisely as is needed. This means that some pupils do not have a secure grasp of their learning and how to complete tasks. Leaders should ensure that teachers know how to present and scaffold information for pupils and accurately check their understanding to help all pupils progress.

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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. 21 and 22 February 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10255046 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 10 and 11 June 2009, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is undergoing an expansion. The building work is due to be completed in January 2024. From September 2023, the school’s published admissions number will increase from 30 pupils to 60 pupils.  Currently, school leaders do not make use of any alternative provision for any pupils.

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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. 21 and 22 February 2023

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 Inspectors held meetings with leaders, including the headteacher, deputy headteacher, early years leader and special educational needs coordinator. They met with six governors and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, art and design and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to staff, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector also listened to a sample of pupils read to a familiar adult.  To further inspect the curriculum, inspectors reviewed curriculum documentation for history and personal, social and health education, scrutinised pupils’ workbooks from across the curriculum, and reviewed documentation setting out support for pupils with SEND.  To inspect safeguarding, the lead inspector met with the designated safeguarding

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lead to review safeguarding records and the office manager to scrutinise the single central record of recruitment and vetting checks. To further evaluate safeguarding, inspectors also spoke to governors, staff, pupils and parents, and reviewed surveys.  To gather pupils’ views, inspectors spent time observing and speaking to pupils. Inspectors also took account of the 58 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.  To gather parents’ views, inspectors reviewed the 84 responses and 52 free-text responses submitted to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View. An inspector also spoke to some parents at the start of a school day.  To gather staff’s views, inspectors spoke to several staff and reviewed the 33 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.

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Inspection team

Dave Gibson, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Daniel Short His Majesty’s Inspector 21 and 22 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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