Delph Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Delph Primary School Denshaw Road, Delph, Oldham, Greater Manchester OL3 5HN

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Outcome

Delph Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well looked after and cared for at Delph Primary School. They told the inspector that they are happy and safe. Strong respectful relationships are evident between staff and pupils. They leave well prepared for secondary school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff expect everyone, including themselves, to follow the ‘Delph ways’. Pupils rise to these high expectations and behave well. Pupils listen attentively in lessons and engage in the tasks that they are asked to do. They enjoy playing together and helping out around the school. Pupils report issues, such as bullying, to staff who deal with any incidents effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are expected to do their best academically. They achieve well. They are also expected to contribute to helping each other learn across the whole of their school. Older pupils listen to emerging readers and talk to them about their books. Pupils take their responsibilities seriously and choose good causes to support. They raise money for local and international charities.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Adults in school are focused on helping pupils to ‘be the best that they can be’ as learners and as active citizens of their world.

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

Most pupils achieve well by the time they leave Delph Primary. Even so, leaders have thought carefully about how to improve some subject curriculums to strengthen pupils’ achievement further.

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

Leaders have clarified what they expect pupils to learn as they move through the subject curriculums. They have made clear the important knowledge that pupils should know, so that new learning builds on what has come before. However, some of the changes made are still very new. Some staff are still getting used to teaching different content. Leaders 19 and 20 April 2023 are at the early stages of checking how well the new curriculums are being delivered to make sure that they are making a difference to pupils’ achievement.

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

Reading is given a high priority in school. Staff have been well trained to teach pupils how to develop their early reading knowledge. Children in the pre-school and in the Reception Year share books together, enjoy singing nursery rhymes and cooperate well. Children in the Reception class and pupils in key stage 1 continue to progress well through the phonics programme. They learn that sounds can be represented as letters and eagerly use their new understanding to try to spell accurately. They practise reading using books that match the sounds that they know. Teachers carefully check the sounds that pupils know and give further support when it is needed. This helps pupils to grow in confidence as readers. Fluent readers are taught to think more deeply about the texts that they read. Pupils can access books that capture their interests from the class and school libraries.

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

Teachers present new information clearly in lessons. They use a range of assessment strategies to identify pupils who are falling behind in their learning. Teachers check to find out if this is because intended learning has been missed or misunderstood. They reshape their teaching effectively in order to help pupils make up for lost learning.

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

Pupils behave well in their lessons. Most are excited and engaged in their learning. They follow instructions well. Teachers help to develop these positive learning behaviours from the early years, where children learn to take turns, listen to each other’s ideas and focus on the task in hand. Most pupils attend school regularly. However, this is not true for some disadvantaged pupils who miss much of their valuable learning time.

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

Leaders identify the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) early and accurately. Teachers adapt their lessons to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. This means that these pupils are well supported to access the curriculum and learn important knowledge.

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

Pupils benefit from taking part in a wide variety of extra-curricular activities, such as spelling bees and choral competitions. The brass band can often heard be playing around the village entertaining the local community. Pupils learn about different religions, cultures and ways of life well beyond the village. Leaders make sure that pupils understand and engage in the wider world through the taught curriculum and carefully chosen trips and visits.

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

Leaders are considerate of staff’s workload when introducing changes. Staff appreciate the opportunities they have to engage in training to develop their teaching practice. They feel valued and supported. There is a strong team ethos throughout the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that staff receive regular safeguarding training and updates. Staff know the signs that suggest a pupil may be at risk of harm. They promptly report any safeguarding concerns that they have. Leaders make timely referrals to wider 19 and 20 April 2023 safeguarding partners and purposefully follow these up. This ensures that pupils and their families receive the help they need.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn how to keep themselves mentally, physically and emotionally healthy. They are confident to report any concerns that they have. Importantly, pupils know how to keep themselves safe in the wider world and online.

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Safeguarding

Governors check that safeguarding systems are working well.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The changes to some of the subject curriculums are very new and leaders have not checked to make sure that they are having the desired effect. This means that leaders are not aware how well teachers are faring in teaching new content or if the new ways of working are helping to secure pupils’ knowledge. Leaders should ensure that they review the impact of the recent curriculum change. This is so leaders can support staff to deliver the new content as intended in order to improve pupils’ achievement further.  Some disadvantaged pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should. This means that they miss too much important learning across the curriculum. Leaders should ensure that these pupils attend school regularly so that they benefit from all that is on offer.

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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 school to be good in January 2018.

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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. 19 and 20 April 2023

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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. 19 and 20 April 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10268842 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 23 January 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Dovestone Learning Partnership.  Leaders manage an additional pre-school provision on the same site.  Leaders do not use any alternative provision.

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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 leaders and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  The inspector carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work, including pupils with SEND.  The inspector listened to pupils read and discussed their books with them. 19 and 20 April 2023  The inspector also spoke with representatives of the local authority and members of the governing body, including the chair of governors.  To inspect safeguarding, the inspector scrutinised safeguarding records, including the single central record. He also spoke to leaders, staff and pupils about safeguarding.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector spoke to the leaders for personal, social and health education and discussed curriculum thinking for this aspect of the school’s work.  The inspector observed social times and spoke to pupils informally during these times.  The inspector spoke to groups of pupils about their learning and experiences in school.  The inspector took account of the Ofsted pupil and staff surveys.  The inspector spoke to parents and carers and took account of Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses.

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Inspection team

Steve Kirkpatrick, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 19 and 20 April 2023 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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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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