Mayfield Primary School

Inspection of Mayfield Primary School Mayfield Road, Derker, Oldham, Greater Manchester OL1 4LG

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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 Previous inspection grade Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The headteacher of this school is Mark Couper-Barton. This school is part of the Cranmer 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 (CEO), Julie Hollis, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Janet Gregory. 18 and 19 June 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at school. They develop strong friendships and enjoy spending time with each other. Pupils said that staff make learning fun and that they help them if they find anything difficult.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils value the wide range of opportunities that the school provides for them. These include a variety of clubs and roles of responsibilities that help pupils to develop new skills and to build their self-confidence. For example, pupils learn how to work as part of a team through business challenges. Older pupils show younger pupils how to become a ‘Mayfield Marvel’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children in the early years achieve well. They quickly learn that cooperation and consideration enable everyone to enjoy their learning and play. These positive attitudes provide a firm foundation for pupils’ behaviour as they progress through the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite and respectful. Those who find it difficult to manage their own behaviour benefit from the support of skilled staff. The school is a calm and welcoming place as a result.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school expects pupils to achieve well. To this end, the school has devised an ambitious curriculum. However, some pupils do not achieve as well as they should. This is because the delivery of the curriculum is not as effective as it could be. Added to this, the school has not fully identified or addressed some of the barriers to pupils’ learning.

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better?

Since the time of the previous inspection, the school has focused on ensuring that pupils are better prepared for secondary school by the end of Year 6. For example, the school has been successful in making sure that pupils attend school more regularly than they did in the past. The number of pupils who are persistently absent from school has reduced considerably in recent years.

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better?

Those responsible for governance know the school and the community that it serves well. They support staff effectively in their work. There is a tangible sense of common purpose. However, some pupils do not achieve as well as the school hopes.

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better?

The school has redesigned its curriculum in recent years to ensure that it is ambitious and that pupils are ready for the next stages of their education. Teachers are clear what pupils are expected to learn as they progress from the Nursery Year to Year 6.

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better?

Teachers typically deliver the agreed curriculum with fidelity. However, there are inconsistencies in how well teachers adapt the delivery of the curriculum to meet 18 and 19 June 2024

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individual pupils’ needs, including some pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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The school does not ensure that teachers check carefully enough that pupils’ knowledge is secure before moving on to something new. Furthermore, there is inconsistency in how well teachers support pupils to rehearse and embed their learning. Despite this being customary practice in the early years, the school does not ensure that it continues as pupils move into Year 1. Consequently, some pupils have weaknesses or undetected gaps in their knowledge as they progress through the school, including in reading.

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Reading is central to the school’s revised curriculum. High-quality texts are used throughout the school to support pupils’ learning.

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Children successfully learn how to read using phonics in the Reception Year. They are well prepared for this learning through the wide range of stories, songs and rhymes that staff introduce them to in the school’s Nursery class. As a result of this strong start, most pupils develop secure phonics knowledge by the end of Year 1. These pupils develop fluency through practising with books that contain the sounds that they know.

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The school provides additional support for pupils who find reading more difficult. However, a lack of accuracy in identifying the sounds that these pupils do not know hinders staff from providing the most effective support in the first instance. These pupils often continue to struggle to be able to decode unfamiliar words in key stage 2. This limits their ability to access the rest of the curriculum with ease.

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The school does not make sure that staff accurately identify the wide range of SEND that pupils at the school experience. This makes it more difficult for teachers to provide the most effective support for these pupils to access the curriculum. As a result, some pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they could.

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The school supports all pupils well in their personal development. Pupils learn how to develop safe and healthy relationships, including when they are online. They find out about people’s views, lives and beliefs that might be different to their own. Pupils understand the importance of equality and what they can do to make sure that other people’s opinions are valued and listened to. These attributes prepare pupils well for living in a modern and diverse society when they are older.

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Strong relationships permeate all aspects of school life. Pupils behave well in class and as they move around the school.

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There are positive relationships between staff and those responsible for governance. Members of the trust and the local governing board check that new policies and procedures do not become overburdensome for staff. 18 and 19 June 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers do not consistently identify and address gaps in pupils’ knowledge well enough, including in reading. This results in some pupils struggling to make sense of new information. The school should ensure that teachers check and take account of what pupils already know so that all pupils build up a rich body of knowledge that prepares them well for their next stages of learning.  There is variability in how well teachers support pupils to practise and apply new learning to ensure that it is firmly embedded. As a result, some pupils struggle to recall key information. The school should support staff to improve the delivery of the curriculum so that pupils can acquire and secure knowledge over time.  The school does not make sure that the needs of some pupils with SEND are accurately identified. This means that some pupils with SEND struggle to access the curriculum because, for these pupils, their teachers are unsure how best to

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

support them. The school should equip teachers with the knowledge that they need to recognise and meet the differing needs of pupils in the school.

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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). 18 and 19 June 2024

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School details

Date of previous inspection 14 June 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Cranmer Education Trust.  The number of pupils on roll school has increased considerably since the time of the previous inspection.  The school does not make use of alternative provision for pupils.  A new chair of the local governing body has been appointed since the time of the last inspection.

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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 educational provision. 18 and 19 June 2024

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 This was the first routine inspection that 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 spoke with the headteacher and other leaders in the school. An inspector also spoke with members of the trust, including the chair, and the local governing body, including the chair.  An inspector spoke with the CEO of the trust.  An inspector spoke with a representative of the local authority.  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 culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  An inspector observed pupils from Years 1 to 3 reading to a familiar adult. She

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also listened to pupils reading from other year groups.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, geography, history, and design and technology. They spoke with the leaders of these areas of the curriculum. They also visited lessons, looked at examples of pupils’ work, held discussions with teachers and talked with pupils.  Inspectors also spoke with pupils and teachers about their learning in other subjects.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour at breaktimes and lunchtimes. They observed pupils’ behaviour as they moved around the school. An inspector also scrutinised leaders’ records of pupils’ behaviour.  An inspector visited the school’s breakfast club.  Inspectors spoke with groups of pupils about their experiences at school.  Inspectors spoke with parents and carers as they brought their children to school.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-

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text responses. They also considered responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for staff and for pupils.

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Inspection team

Claire Cropper, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Joan Grant Ofsted Inspector 18 and 19 June 2024

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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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