Great Malvern Primary School

Inspection of Great Malvern Primary School Lydes Road, Malvern, Worcestershire WR14 2BY

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Inspection dates: 24 and 25 September 2024

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

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The head of school is Emma Grace. This school is part of the Mercian Educational Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Dafydd Lawday, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Sharon Tilki. There is also an executive headteacher, Sarah Green, who is responsible for this school and one other. 24 and 25 September 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Since the last inspection, the school has not acted effectively to support pupils’ achievements. As a result, standards have fallen. In the last two years, the outcomes that pupils achieve in national curriculum tests have declined. Recently appointed leaders have introduced strategies to stem the decline of standards. These are effective and are beginning to have a positive impact on pupils’ learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school now have high expectations for pupils. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). These expectations are now more routinely realised.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at this school are a delight. They are welcoming, friendly and want to learn. They enjoy coming to school and do their best in lessons. Warm and respectful relationships between adults and pupils are commonplace. Pupils behave well and the school is calm and orderly. They are confident that their teachers will deal with any issues quickly and effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from an extensive range of activities that develop their personalities and further their interests. The activities include trips, visits, external visitors, competitions and assemblies. Pupils value the many opportunities that they otherwise may not have.

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

The curriculum is suitably broad and balanced. It provides pupils with learning opportunities in a wide range of subjects. The curriculum in core subjects clearly identifies what pupils should learn and in what order. However, this is inconsistent in other subjects. Where this occurs, the curriculums do not always identify well enough what teachers should teach, what pupils should learn, and in what order. Some subject leaders lack the skills and expertise to improve their curriculums effectively. As a result, learning sometimes is not sequenced as well as it could be and pupils’ learning slows.

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

Staff have strong subject knowledge to support the delivery of the curriculum. However, staff do not always pick up on the errors pupils make or address their misconceptions. In some cases, teachers’ checks are not helping them to identify and prioritise the gaps in knowledge that pupils have.

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

Reading is now a priority. Pupils enjoy their daily reading sessions and story time. Effective teaching of the phonics scheme helps pupils to increase their reading fluency. This is generally effective, and more pupils are beginning to read at an age appropriate for them, especially in key stage 1. Pupils who struggle to read are supported well most of the time. As yet, the school does not effectively support older pupils in key stage 2 who require further support with their phonics knowledge.

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

Support for pupils with SEND is improving. Staff have a clear understanding of how to identify the needs of pupils. Those that require extra help get what they need. However, this is not consistent. Some staff lack the knowledge and expertise of how best to enable 24 and 25 September 2024

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all pupils to learn. At times, adults do the work for pupils, which slows their learning and creates dependency.

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Pupils behave well. Lessons are free from disruptions. Relationships between pupils and adults underpin all that happens here. The school has established a strong provision to enhance pupils’ personal development. Pupils regularly enjoy extending their learning beyond the classroom. Pupils speak passionately about the clubs and visits on offer. Lessons to build pupils’ character help them to learn about life in modern Britain. Pupils are well prepared for their next steps.

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The curriculum in the early years is not always as well structured as it could be to ensure children get off to the strongest start. This is because it does not indicate clearly what children should be learning. This means that children are sometimes busy without actually learning. Children enjoy playtime in the outside spaces. Yet, some outside spaces are not as well developed as they could be to support children’s learning. Staff quickly get to know the children and forge warm relationships with them. Children quickly become used to the daily routines of school life.

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The trust has been slow to address the school’s shortcomings. This is no longer the case. There is new drive with many strategies in place to improve the school. As yet, the trust is not always clear on the impact of the changes. This is because they have not yet established a routine system to check on what works and what does not.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some subject leaders are learning how to discharge their role and responsibilities for designing and monitoring the effectiveness of their subject curriculum. As a result, the curriculums in some subjects are not sufficiently well designed to ensure teachers receive the information they need to teach well. The school should ensure that all subject leaders develop their knowledge and understanding so they can effectively fulfil their roles.  Assessment is not always used consistently. Some teachers do not know what gaps in knowledge persist so are not able to adapt their teaching and pupils’ learning slows. The school should ensure that all staff use assessments consistently well to identify what pupils can do and have learned.  Not all staff support pupils consistently well, including pupils with SEND. At times, pupils do not do as well as they could. The school should ensure that all staff have the

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

knowledge and skills to effectively support all pupils’ learning. 24 and 25 September 2024

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 The curriculum in the early years does not always set out the precise knowledge children need to know and learn. This means that staff are not always clear on what to teach and when. The school should ensure that the early years curriculum makes clear the learning, skills and knowledge children should know.

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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). 24 and 25 September 2024

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 11 and 12 June 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a larger than average-sized primary school. It is part of the Mercian Educational Trust.  The head of school was appointed in April 2024 and the executive headteacher commenced her role at the school in September 2024. She now spends most of her time at this school.  The school runs a daily breakfast club.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form 24 and 25 September 2024

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provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024, will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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.  Inspectors met with the executive headteacher, head of school and other senior leaders. The lead inspector held a meeting with the local governing body, including the vice chair of governors. Meetings were held with representatives from the trust, including the chair of the board, chief executive officer and the trust director of education. Inspectors met with curriculum leaders, early career teachers and the special educational needs coordinator.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, art and design, history and science. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum

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with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors visited the early years for each of the deep dives.  An inspector listened to pupils read to a familiar adult.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour and interactions during lessons and at break and lunchtimes and spoke to many pupils during the inspection.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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.  Inspectors spoke to parents at the school gate to gain their views about the school.  Inspectors took account of the parent free-text comments and the responses on Ofsted Parent View. Inspectors also considered the responses to the pupil and staff surveys.

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Bianka Zemke, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Stuart Grimes Ofsted Inspector 24 and 25 September 2024

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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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