Cheetwood Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Cheetwood Primary School Waterloo Road, Cheetham, Manchester M8 8EJ

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Outcome

There has been no change to this school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this ungraded (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a graded (section 5) inspection were carried out now. Inspectors are recommending the next inspection to be a graded inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Cheetwood Primary School is a happy place to be. Pupils and their parents and carers value the community feeling at the school. Staff build positive relationships with pupils and know them well. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), know that the staff care about them and will support them if they have any worries.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils said that bullying is not acceptable in this school. Leaders and staff deal with such issues swiftly and successfully. Pupils understand leaders’ high expectations of their behaviour and they make every effort to reach them. Pupils get on well together and follow the school’s ‘golden rules’. They treat the staff and each other with respect.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have opportunities to take part in a wide range of clubs and leadership activities. For example, they can be peer mediators, school councillors or reading rangers. They especially enjoy spending time developing their skills on the sports courts.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders expect pupils to do well academically. Most pupils, including those with SEND, achieve well in different curriculum subjects. However, in some subjects, pupils do not deepen their understanding sufficiently well. This is reflected in what the pupils in Year 6 achieved in 2022.

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

Leaders have ensured that the curriculum encompasses a broad range of subjects. All pupils study and enjoy this curriculum. In some subjects, leaders have carefully identified the important concepts that pupils need to know. They have broken these down effectively and placed them in a logical order so that pupils can build on what they know, 16 and 17 May 2023

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from the start of Year 1 to the end of Year 6. However, leaders’ thinking about what children learn in early years is not as well developed in some subjects.

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The Year 6 pupils who left the school in 2022 did not achieve as well as they should in the end of key stage 2 reading, writing and mathematics tests and assessments. In part, the COVID-19 pandemic had a limiting effect on pupils’ achievement, as did the rates of pupils’ absence and the high number of pupils leaving or joining the school. However, leaders have recognised that some weaknesses in the English and mathematics curriculums also hindered pupils’ learning. Leaders have taken swift and effective actions to tighten up these areas. As a result, current pupils’ learning in these subjects is much more successful.

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Most subject leaders are trained well and provide valuable guidance for teachers about how to teach curriculums effectively. However, teachers sometimes do not use assessment strategies consistently well in lessons to check that pupils’ understanding is secure. This means misconceptions are not addressed effectively. As a result, some pupils, including those with SEND, do not achieve as well as they could.

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Leaders place a high priority on teaching pupils to read. They have developed the school library and other reading areas into vibrant places where pupils read interesting books by a diverse range of authors. Older pupils enjoy books by popular children’s authors and poets.

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Most of the time, suitably trained staff deliver leaders’ early reading and phonics curriculums well. However, staff’s extra support for pupils who struggle to read is less successful. This hinders pupils’ reading and they do not catch up as quickly enough.

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Pupils are polite, well-mannered and articulate. Pupils are able to listen to their teachers and focus on their learning because lessons are rarely disrupted by excessive noise or misbehaviour. Leaders promote pupils’ wider development very well. There is a well- designed personal, social and health education curriculum that promotes all aspects of pupils’ personal development.

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Children in the early years enjoy learning. They listen intently in class, follow the rules closely and try their best. Children are engaged in class. Their eagerness to learn helps to ensure that lessons are usually unhindered by disruption.

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Staff are very positive about working at the school. Staff told the inspector that leaders are mindful of their well-being and workload.

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Members of the governing body share leaders’ vision for the school. They take their role seriously, having pupils’ best interests at the forefront of their work.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 16 and 17 May 2023

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Leaders ensure that staff receive regular training so that they remain vigilant to the signs that indicate pupils might be at risk from harm.

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Staff follow clear guidance to report concerns, which are followed up tenaciously by leaders. When necessary, leaders do not shy away from escalating their concerns to secure appropriate help for vulnerable pupils and their families.

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Pupils learn about how to keep themselves safe. For example, they learn about staying safe online and some of the important features of healthy relationships.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, teachers do no use suitable assessment strategies to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge, nor do they address misconceptions effectively. This means that some pupils do not make the progress they should. Leaders should ensure that teachers are well equipped to spot and then tackle pupils’ misconceptions before deciding what they need to learn next.  Weaknesses in teachers’ use of assessment strategies affects their support for weaker readers. Teachers do not intervene effectively when pupils fall behind in their reading. This means that these pupils do not have sufficient opportunities to catch up with their peers. Leaders should ensure that teachers give weaker readers the timely, focused supported that they need so that pupils who fall behind can catch up quickly.  Leaders have identified the key knowledge they want children to learn across several areas of learning in the early years. This is because leaders’ curriculum thinking for

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

many subjects only starts from Year 1. Leaders should ensure that their curriculum in early years is carefully thought out, including logically ordered, so that children learn all that they should.

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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 March 2018. 16 and 17 May 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. 16 and 17 May 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10283636 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 6 and 7 March 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Leaders do not make use of alternative provision.  There is a breakfast club available each morning.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school has 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 held discussions with the headteacher and other leaders. He also spoke with subject leaders and other members of staff.  The inspector spoke with four members of the governing body, including the chair of governors. The lead inspector also spoke with a representative of the local authority.  The inspector checked the arrangements for keeping children safe. They reviewed documentation, including information about attendance and bullying, and spoke to leaders, governors, staff and pupils.  The inspector carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, he discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of 16 and 17 May 2023

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lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and reviewed samples of pupils’ work. The inspector observed pupils reading to a familiar adult.  The inspector met with leaders responsible for the provision for pupils with SEND and scrutinised samples of documentation relating to SEND, including pupils’ support plans.  The inspector considered parents’ views, which were shared through Ofsted Parent View. This included the free-text comments received from parents. The inspector also reviewed the responses to Ofsted’s survey for staff and for pupils.  The lead inspector reviewed a range of documents, including the school’s self- evaluation and improvement plan.

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Inspection team

Andy Hunt, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 16 and 17 May 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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