Moorland Primary School

Inspection of Moorland Primary School Maslin Drive, Beanhill, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK6 4ND

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The headteacher of this school is Angela Garner. This school is part of Campfire Education Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Sarah Mitchell, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Liam Harrison. 5 and 6 December 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are confident and proud of their school. They know the school’s ‘Respect’ values well and explain how these are taught in assemblies and within the curriculum. Pupils thrive through roles and responsibilities such as school councillors and ‘well-being ambassadors’. These roles help them to develop empathy and care towards each other. Pupils are committed to the school’s vision of ‘Together we can’. One pupil summed this up, saying, ‘We feel responsible for each other, and our words and actions matter.’ Pupils value diversity. There is a strong commitment to inclusion and equality throughout the school. In lessons, pupils are motivated and have positive attitudes to their learning. This starts well in Nursery and Reception. Pupils take turns and respond well to adults’ instructions. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite and respectful towards staff and each other. They value the house point system and ‘Moorland Marvels’ certificates in recognition of positive contributions to school life. Pupils respond very well to the newly developed curriculum. They enjoy their learning. However, despite recent improvements, some curriculum subjects are not yet securely embedded. This means pupils do not yet learn as well as they should.

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better?

The curriculum has not yet impacted on pupils’ learning effectively in some areas. The school has worked closely with the trust to develop the curriculum, and this is already having a positive impact. However, while the school has identified the precise knowledge pupils will learn, pupils in key stages 1 and 2 do not yet build their knowledge and vocabulary securely. Staff do not check what pupils know precisely enough. This leaves pupils with gaps in their knowledge and understanding.

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better?

The school is ambitious for all pupils to be successful in their reading. Staff deliver the phonics scheme increasingly well. Children learn to read from the start of early years and are beginning to move through the phonics programme successfully. If any pupils fall behind, they receive support to help them to catch up. However, reading books that pupils take home are not always closely matched to the sounds they have learned, and adults do not listen to pupils read often enough to check this. As a result, some pupils are not learning to read as well as they should.

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better?

Pupils’ have very positive attitudes to their learning. If pupils need support with managing their behaviour, they receive this thoughtfully and effectively. Staff have high expectations. They apply the behaviour policy consistently and fairly. Suspensions are used rarely but appropriately. The school works with one alternative provider to help pupils be increasingly successful in their school lives. Over time, this has supported improvements to behaviour well overall. Pupils feel safe and are very happy. Staff know pupils and their families exceptionally well. Most pupils attend regularly. However, a small number of disadvantaged pupils still do not attend school 5 and 6 December 2023

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as often as they should. The school is working hard to address this and should continue to maintain this as a focus area.

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The school is ambitious for pupils with SEND. Staff check what pupils with SEND know and help pupils to achieve ambitious and precise targets. Staff training is highly valued and matched to pupils’ needs, such as specific support for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs. The curriculum is adapted carefully to help pupils with SEND achieve as well as their peers. This starts well in early years and continues throughout the school.

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In early years, staff prioritise communication and language effectively. Adults interact with children wonderfully, with warmth and a clear focus on building children’s vocabulary. The learning environment is used well. Staff support children with new learning through careful prompts and creative resources. This helps children to understand new language quickly and securely. Early reading and early mathematics are taught systematically and are already having a positive effect on children’s learning. Overall, children in the early years are achieving well.

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Leaders are passionate and committed to the school. The school has a very clear understanding of its strengths and areas for development. Trustees and governors are highly reflective about the recent positive improvements to the curriculum and the school overall. All staff value the school’s efforts to help them manage workload. This impacts on learning in the classroom positively. Parents are supportive and recognise the positive recent changes and how these are beginning to have an impact on how well pupils are learning. All stakeholders are united in their drive and ambition to improve outcomes for pupils at the school and realise the ambitious vision that the school has.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some of the books that the weakest readers take home to help them learn to read are not precisely matched to the sounds that they have learned, and pupils do not always read to adults regularly enough. This means that some pupils do not progress in reading as quickly as they should. The school should ensure that staff check how well pupils are learning to read and provide reading books that help pupils to develop accuracy and fluency more effectively.  While recent changes to the curriculum are having a positive impact, pupils’ outcomes are not yet consistently good enough. The school must implement the curriculum effectively and ensure that staff check what pupils have learned so that pupils build on their prior knowledge and learn well across all subjects. 5 and 6 December 2023

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 The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are persistently absent is too high. As a result, these pupils do not have the opportunity to take part in all of the opportunities that the school offers. The school should continue to ensure that its efforts result in swift action to help those pupils most at risk to attend school regularly.

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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’ 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). 5 and 6 December 2023

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Moorland Primary School opened as a sponsor-led academy on 1 September 2019 as part of Campfire Education Trust. When its predecessor school, also called Moorland Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be inadequate overall.  The school currently uses one registered alternative provider.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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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. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 5 and 6 December 2023

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 Inspectors met with senior leaders, staff, pupils and representatives of the board of trustees, including the chair. The lead inspector also spoke with the chief executive officer and members of the local governing body.  The inspection team carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history and geography. They discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, teachers and pupils, visited lessons and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors considered responses to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire. They also took account of the responses to the confidential staff questionnaire, as well as the views of pupils that were gathered throughout the inspection and through the pupil questionnaire.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: 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

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culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.

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Inspection team

Carl McCarthy, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Mineza Maher Ofsted Inspector 5 and 6 December 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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