St Margaret's CofE Junior Infant and Nursery School

Inspection of St Margaret’s CofE Junior Infant and Nursery School Hive Street, Hollinwood, Oldham, Lancashire OL8 4QS

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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 Good 1 and 2 March 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

St Margaret’s Primary School is a warm and welcoming learning environment. Pupils are proud of their school. Pupils work hard to live up to leaders’ high expectations of their learning and behaviour. Leaders, staff and pupils are keen to make sure that St Margaret’s vision of being a ‘place to become’ is at the heart of everyday school life.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and safe in school. They understand the importance of tolerating and respecting one another. Pupils explained that there are caring relationships between everyone. If they have any worries, pupils know where to go to get help. Pupils feel confident to report bullying. Pupils said that leaders deal effectively with the small number of incidents that do occur.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in lessons and they concentrate on their work. Pupils are confident to discuss their ideas within lessons. They debate with maturity and they are considerate of others’ views.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The curriculum is effective. Across subjects, pupils achieve well. Pupils produce work of which they are proud. Children in the early years are well prepared for the next steps in their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have frequent opportunities to develop their wider talents and interests. They engage well in school performances and wider learning that takes place outside of the classroom. Pupils work closely with a resident poet and an artist who enhance their wider learning and development.

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better?

Curriculum development has been a considerable aspect of leaders’ work to improve the quality of education for pupils since the previous inspection. From the early years to Year 6, leaders have set out an ambitious curriculum for all pupils. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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better?

Everyone accesses a broad and balanced curriculum, including children in the early years. Leaders have successfully identified the key knowledge that they expect pupils to learn. Pupils appropriately revisit this knowledge throughout the curriculum so that they develop a deep and rich body of subject knowledge.

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better?

Teachers carefully design their lessons to ensure that pupils learn well. In the main, they select activities that are appropriate to deliver the curriculum content. Subject specialists are helping to improve teachers’ confidence in delivering the full suite of national curriculum subjects.

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better?

Staff successfully use leaders’ assessment strategies to check what knowledge pupils are retaining from units of work. However, some teachers do not adapt the delivery of the curriculum as effectively as they should when pupils develop occasional 1 and 2 March 2023

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misconceptions in lessons. Nevertheless, pupils build up a secure body of subject knowledge on which they can make connections to future learning.

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Within the early years, leaders ensure that children benefit from a well-designed curriculum. Staff focus very closely on developing children’s communication and language skills. This helps to prepare children well for the demands of the Year 1 curriculum.

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Leaders identify and assess pupils with SEND as soon as possible. Teachers make necessary changes to ensure that pupils with SEND can access the curriculum. Pupils with SEND learn well across the curriculum.

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Children in early years start their journey of learning to read as soon as they join the Nursery class. Staff immerse the youngest children in different books, rhymes and stories. Children in the Reception Year learn phonics well. Staff receive effective training to ensure that they deliver the phonic curriculum consistently well. Pupils learn the sounds in a logical order. This helps them become more proficient readers. Staff check on pupils’ reading knowledge to identify which pupils are at risk of falling behind their peers. When needed, staff provide timely support to keep pupils on track with their reading. The books that pupils read match the sounds that they know. This helps them to become more confident readers.

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Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to their learning are strong. Pupils conduct themselves well around the school, including at social times. Older pupils show care and support for younger pupils through their role as mini mentors. Within lessons, pupils concentrate on their learning. Interruptions to lessons are rare.

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Leaders have designed a well-thought-out curriculum to promote pupils’ wider personal development. Pupils benefit from a range of different leadership opportunities. This includes becoming members of the school council, the ethos committee and the reading committee. Pupils understand how to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy. Pupils have a deep understanding about the different religions and races which make up modern day Britain. Leaders have clear actions in place to improve pupils’ wider personal development further still.

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Governors and leaders know the school well. They have taken effective action since the previous inspection to continue to improve the curriculum. Governors routinely challenge leaders about how well pupils are learning. Staff value the attention that leaders give to their well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and staff ensure that safeguarding is a key priority in school. Staff know their families well. They use this knowledge to keep vigilant to any changes in pupils’ behaviour. 1 and 2 March 2023

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Leaders have introduced effective systems to ensure that safety and welfare concerns about pupils can be reported swiftly by teachers. Leaders take effective action about any issues raised. They work closely with external agencies to keep pupils safe. Leaders keep detailed and appropriate records of the actions that they take.

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Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe. This includes about how to keep themselves safe when using the internet. They know what they need to do if they see something untoward.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, adaptations that teachers make in lessons for pupils, including those with SEND, could be enhanced further. Occasionally, the current adaptations made in those subjects are not always having the desired impact. Leaders should ensure that teachers are well trained to identify the adaptations that are needed in these final few subjects.

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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. 1 and 2 March 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10256023 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 October 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Leaders do not make use of any alternative providers.  This Church of England school is part of the Diocese of Manchester. The last section 48 inspection took place November 2016.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.  This was the first routine inspection that the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and they have taken that into account as part of their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with a range of senior leaders, including those responsible for the school’s pastoral system and the personal development programmes.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, English, art and design, and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, visited lessons, talked to pupils and looked at pupils’ work. 1 and 2 March 2023

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 The lead inspector met with a group of governors, including the chair of governors, a representative of the Diocese of Manchester, and the school improvement partner who represented the local authority.  The lead inspector observed some pupils in Years 1 to 3 reading to familiar adults.  Inspectors reviewed leaders’ policies and procedures to keep pupils safe. They scrutinised documentation, such as the single central record. Inspectors discussed safeguarding with leaders and staff.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour at breaktimes and lunchtimes, and as they moved around the school. They scrutinised leaders’ records of pupils’ behaviour.  Inspectors spoke with groups of pupils about their experiences at school. They spoke with staff about their workload and well-being.  Inspectors took account of the responses of Ofsted’s online survey for staff and pupils.  Inspectors met with parents at the start of the school day. They took account of

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the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses.

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Inspection team

Stuart Perkins, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Chris McDonald Ofsted Inspector 1 and 2 March 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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