All Saints Church of England Primary School Stockport

Inspection of a good school: All Saints Church of England Primary School Stockport Churchill Street, Heaton Norris, Stockport, Cheshire SK4 1ND

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Inspection dates: 27 and 28 September 2023

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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. The school’s next inspection will be a graded inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils develop warm relationships with staff, which helps them to enjoy their learning. Staff have increasingly high expectations of pupils’ achievement, including those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Nonetheless, in many subjects, improvements to the curriculum are in the early stages of being rolled out. This hinders the achievement of some pupils in these subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils behave well and treat each other kindly. They have strong respect for the diversity within the school community. Pupils know that staff will listen and help them with any concerns that they may have.

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What is it like to attend this school?

In the early years, knowledgeable staff help children to settle in well. Children quickly adapt to school routines such as eating lunch in the canteen with older pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has carefully considered how it supports pupils’ well-being. For example, pupils benefit from regular opportunities to participate in physical games and activities. Staff prioritise this because it helps pupils to understand the importance of being physically and mentally healthy. In turn, pupils return to the classroom ready to learn.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate the many after-school clubs and activities open to them, including a book club and school newspaper, as well as sports and music clubs.

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

Governors have the necessary expertise to provide effective support and challenge to the school. They are fully cognisant of the strengths of the school and the priorities for further 27 and 28 September 2023

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development. However, the school has recently been affected by a period of considerable staffing turbulence, which has hampered how quickly improvements to the curriculum have been implemented. This is having a negative impact on some pupils’ achievement.

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The school has a strong understanding of the typical starting points of its pupils. It quickly identifies any pupils that may need additional support, such as those with SEND. Teachers successfully adapt their delivery of the curriculum so that pupils with SEND can learn well alongside their classmates. This enables the school to ensure that the curriculum is ambitious and accessible for all pupils.

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In some subjects, the school has designed curriculums that support pupils to develop a broad body of subject knowledge over time. However, in other subjects, the knowledge that pupils should learn has not been well defined. This can sometimes make it difficult for teachers to design learning that builds on what pupils know already. This hinders how deeply some pupils learn in these subjects.

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Teachers typically have strong subject knowledge. They value the support that the school has put in place to enhance their delivery of the curriculum and reduce their workload. Well-trained staff ensure that pupils with SEND receive the additional support that they need. However, in some subjects, teachers’ checks on pupils’ learning are not as effective as they should be. Some pupils have gaps in their knowledge that teachers have not identified. This makes it difficult for these pupils to secure the knowledge required for subsequent learning.

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The school ensures that pupils in the early stages of reading are well supported. Staff throughout the school have received effective training which enables them to deliver the phonics programme consistently well. This helps pupils to quickly develop their knowledge of the sounds that letters can represent. Pupils throughout the school benefit from regular opportunities to practise their reading using a variety of texts that match their reading knowledge. Expert staff support those pupils who find reading more difficult to keep up with their phonics knowledge. This helps most pupils to develop into confident and fluent readers by the end of key stage 2.

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Teachers set clear expectations for pupils’ behaviour and pupils adhere to these expectations well. This means that classroom areas are calm and any disruption to learning is rare. The school works closely with parents and carers to ensure that pupils with additional social and emotional needs receive effective support. This enables these pupils to participate fully in all aspects of school life.

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The school has taken steps to improve pupils’ rates of attendance. These strategies include celebrating high levels of attendance and supporting pupils and their families to understand the importance of attending school daily. Despite this, some pupils, including some who are disadvantaged, do not attend school as regularly as they should. These pupils miss out on important learning and all that the school has to offer.

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The school maintains a sharp focus on pupils’ wider development. For example, it ensures that pupils understand how to stay healthy and safe. Pupils learn about different beliefs and values from a wide range of world religions. They know about the principles of 27 and 28 September 2023

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democracy and they see this in action through their school council. The school also prioritises opportunities for trips and visits such as ensuring that all pupils get to visit the seaside. This helps pupils to broaden their social and cultural experiences.

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Staff encourage parents to be fully involved in the life of the school. For example, parents are invited to attend reading workshops and celebration assemblies.

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Staff are happy and proud to work at the school. They value the school’s supportive culture. Staff appreciate leaders’ consideration of their workload and well-being when making decisions about the quality of education that pupils receive.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the school has not identified the knowledge that pupils should learn and when this content should be taught. This sometimes hinders teachers from designing learning that builds securely on pupils’ prior knowledge. The school should ensure that teachers are clear about what pupils should already know and the knowledge that they require for subsequent learning.  In some subjects, teachers do not use suitable assessment strategies to check that pupils have embedded the key concepts that they need for their future learning. Some pupils develop misconceptions and gaps in their knowledge which go unnoticed. The school should ensure that teachers are well equipped to accurately identify and address gaps in pupils’ knowledge.  Some pupils, including some who are disadvantaged, do not attend school as regularly as they should. This means that they miss out on important learning. The school

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

should ensure that it takes effective action to improve the rates of attendance of these pupils.

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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. 27 and 28 September 2023

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This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in November 2013.

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 27 and 28 September 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Lindsay Fletcher

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School details

Date of previous inspection 24 July 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection there have been significant changes to the school’s leadership, including the appointment of a new headteacher and interim deputy headteacher.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school is part of the Diocese of Manchester.  The school’s last section 48 inspection took place in March 2019. The school’s next section 48 inspection will take place within the next four years.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 27 and 28 September 2023

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 The inspector met with senior leaders, including the headteacher and a range of staff. The inspector also spoke with representatives of the governing body, including the chair of governors.  The inspector met with representatives of the local authority and of the Diocese of Manchester. She also met with an independent school improvement consultant.  The inspector reviewed a wide range of evidence, including leaders’ self-evaluation documents, improvement plans, minutes of governing body meetings and records of pupils’ behaviour and attendance.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector spoke to pupils about their experiences of school and their views on

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behaviour and bullying. She observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and social times.  The inspector carried out deep dives in early reading, science and history. For each deep dive, she discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some teachers and pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects.  The inspector observed pupils reading to a familiar adult.  The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses. She also considered the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Charlotte Oles, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 27 and 28 September 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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