Monksdown Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Monksdown Primary School Monksdown Road, Liverpool, Merseyside L11 1HH

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Inspection dates: 17 and 18 October 2023

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Outcome

Monksdown 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 in this school. They are happy and safe. Pupils are confident to seek help if they have any concerns. Adults in school know the pupils very well. They are quick to support pupils if they are hurt or feel worried.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils rise to the school’s high expectations of their academic achievement. Staff provide timely support when needed to enable pupils to keep up. This helps pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to typically achieve well across the curriculum.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand the school values and they live up to them. They behave well and play together harmoniously.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school values pupils’ opinions. Pupils said that their voices are always heard. They enjoy frequent opportunities to debate topical issues. For example, pupils have recently expressed their views on free school meals to their local Member of Parliament. Experiences such as these enable pupils to become active citizens, who contribute positively to society.

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

The school provides a broad, rich and ambitious curriculum. In most subjects, the school has identified the important knowledge, skills and vocabulary that pupils need to know and remember. In these subjects, the school has ensured that the subject curriculums are ordered in a logical way, which helps pupils to build their knowledge securely over time. However, in some subjects, the school has not identified the key knowledge that children in the early years and pupils in key stages 1 and 2 are expected to know. This prevents some pupils from learning as well as they could in these subjects.

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

Teachers benefit from a well-designed programme of training and support. This helps them to develop their subject knowledge and increase their curriculum expertise. 17 and 18 October 2023

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Teachers typically design activities that help pupils learn and remember new knowledge. However, the school sometimes does not ensure that teachers carry out careful checks on what pupils have learned. This makes it difficult to identify pupils’ misconceptions or to address any gaps in their knowledge.

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The school caters well for pupils with SEND. There are clear procedures in place to swiftly identify pupils with additional needs. The school provides effective training, so that teachers understand any barriers to pupils’ learning. This helps staff to skilfully adapt their teaching to enable these pupils to access the full curriculum, so that they achieve well.

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The school prioritises reading. It ensures that children in the Nursery Year gain a rich knowledge of sounds. Phonics is taught from the start of the Reception Year. Staff are well trained to deliver the agreed phonics programme effectively. Appropriate and timely extra support is provided to children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 who need to catch up. This helps these pupils to develop fluency and confidence in their reading.

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The appreciation of reading begins from the start of the Nursery Year, where children enjoy singing rhymes and listening to stories. Older pupils learn about important issues such as diversity and inclusion through carefully selected books. They are also inspired through the opportunities that they have to speak with current authors.

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Pupils are polite, courteous and behave well. In lessons, staff help pupils to focus on their work. Pupils listen carefully. They follow the established school rules and routines well, so that learning is rarely disrupted. As a result, the school environment is calm and purposeful. Pupils learn to manage their emotions. Staff skilfully support any pupils who may require extra help with their social and emotional skills.

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Pupils have carefully crafted experiences beyond the academic curriculum. They are knowledgeable about fundamental British values. They show an interest in and respect for how other people in modern Britain live. There is a wide variety of enrichment activities on offer for pupils, including an extensive amount of extra-curricular activities that pupils enjoy attending. Pupils undertake many roles of responsibility. For example, the gate monitors welcome families to school each day and the pupil subject leaders help the school with curriculum developments. Pupils wear their responsibility badges with pride and they are diligent in their roles.

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Parents and carers are positive about the school. They said that staff are approachable, friendly and kind. The school works closely with parents to ensure that they are fully equipped to best support their children with their learning.

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Staff are proud of the school and value the support that they receive to fulfil their roles. The school ensures that teachers’ workload is considered carefully when changes are introduced.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 17 and 18 October 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers do not routinely check whether pupils have understood what they have been taught in some subjects. This sometimes means that they are not sure how well pupils are building up their knowledge securely over time. The school should ensure that teachers check on pupils’ learning regularly, so that they can spot, and then address, misconceptions or gaps in learning.  In some subjects, the school has not identified the key knowledge that pupils should know and remember from the early years to Year 6. As a result, sometimes pupils do not deepen their learning as well as they could. The school should make sure that the curriculum sets out the knowledge that pupils will learn in all subjects, including in the early years.

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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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in September 2014.

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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 17 and 18 October 2023

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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). 17 and 18 October 2023

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School details

Date of previous inspection 6 March 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 A new headteacher has been appointed since the previous inspection.  The school operates a breakfast club.  The school makes use of two registered alternative providers for a small number of pupils.

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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 inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and the leaders for SEND, behaviour, attendance and pupils’ personal development.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, geography and art and design. For each deep dive, the inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, 17 and 18 October 2023

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visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at a sample of pupils’ work.  The lead inspector observed some pupils reading to a familiar adult.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the single central record and took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils. They considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The lead inspector spoke with a group of governors. He also spoke with a representative of the local authority.  The lead inspector met with parents at the start of the school day. Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments.  Inspectors spoke with pupils about their experiences of school life and their views of behaviour and bullying. They observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and at

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breaktimes and lunchtimes.  Inspectors spoke to staff about their workload and well-being.

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Inspection team

James Marsh, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Gaynor Rennie Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 October 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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