Moston Fields Primary School

Inspection of Moston Fields Primary School Brookside Road, Moston, Manchester M40 9GJ

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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 24 and 25 September 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy being part of this warm, friendly and diverse school community. They readily welcome new arrivals to the school. This includes pupils who join the school at various points after the early years, many of whom speak English as an additional language. Pupils are quick to celebrate differences between themselves and others. They are encouraged to become considerate and tolerant young people.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils live up to the school’s high expectations for their behaviour by being ready, respectful and safe. They listen carefully and typically stay focused on their learning. Pupils look forward to weekly assemblies where they are keen to be nominated for pupil of the week or of the term. They wear their brightly coloured sweatshirts with genuine pride to celebrate this achievement.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school wants pupils to be ready to fulfil their dreams and aspirations. It has redesigned its curriculum to ensure that it is suitably ambitious for pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). An increasing number of pupils now meet the school’s raised expectations for their academic success. However, weaknesses in the previous curriculum mean that some pupils do not achieve as well as they could. They are not as well prepared for the next stage of their education as they should be.

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

The school has experienced recent instability in staffing, including in leadership. Despite this, it has continued to maintain strong and positive relationships at every level. For example, the school has prioritised staff workload by ensuring that staff are given time to complete additional tasks. This has helped staff to feel valued, despite the current period of rapid school development.

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

Several members of the governing body are new to their roles. Long-standing governors have ensured that newer members have the knowledge and expertise that they need to hold the school to account and to provide support when necessary.

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

The school has improved subject curriculums. They are logically ordered to help pupils to build their knowledge over time. Teachers are increasingly skilled at spotting and addressing pupils’ errors during lessons. However, at times, staff in the early years do not design learning sufficiently well to reinforce or extend children’s knowledge and vocabulary. As a result, some children are not as equipped as they should be to embrace the challenges of the Year 1 curriculum.

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

The school is in the process of refining its assessment systems in several subjects. This prevents some teachers from accurately identifying and addressing gaps in pupils’ knowledge. Despite the school’s recently strengthened approach to improving pupils’ attendance, many pupils are frequently absent from school. This further hinders how well these pupils build their knowledge over time and prevents them from achieving as well as they should. 24 and 25 September 2024

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The school identifies the additional needs of pupils, including those with SEND, quickly and accurately. Pupils with more complex needs, who spend part of their day learning in the school’s Willow and Walnut classes, benefit from well-tailored support to help them access learning effectively. Nonetheless, pupils with SEND experience the same shortcomings in the delivery of the curriculum as their peers. This means that some pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they should.

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The school’s approach to teaching reading has improved considerably. Reading is a priority within the curriculum, including in the early years. For example, staff ensure that high-quality texts link well to the different topics that pupils study. Pupils said that they enjoy reading and listening to their teachers read to them regularly. Despite these improvements, some pupils have considerable gaps in their reading knowledge. The school has taken action to identify and address these gaps. This means pupils who have fallen behind in the phonics programme are beginning to catch up with their peers.

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The school supports pupils well to recognise and regulate their emotions. Pupils behave well and have positive attitudes to their learning. They blossom in terms of their social and emotional development.

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The school is keen to extend pupils’ learning beyond the academic. A wide range of clubs and educational visits broaden pupils’ experiences and capture their interests and talents. Pupils are proud of their leadership responsibilities, such as being members of the school council. They prize the school’s approach to teaching them about their rights and responsibilities. Pupils gain a mature understanding of the world around them and are well prepared to grow up in modern and diverse Britain.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In several subjects, weaknesses in the previous curriculum mean that pupils have gaps in their learning that teachers do not identify and address consistently well. This means that pupils, and children in the early years, are introduced to new concepts when previous learning is not secure. The school should ensure that gaps in learning are identified, and that pupils are helped to catch up.  The activities that staff provide for children in the early years are not of a sufficiently high quality to enable children to learn well across the curriculum. This means that children in the early years do not make the progress they should. The school should support staff to engage children in well-chosen activities that sustain their thinking and deepen their knowledge and understanding. 24 and 25 September 2024

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 Some pupils’ attendance is not good enough. This causes gaps in learning to widen further. The school should build on their emerging strategies to secure good attendance, so that pupils attend school regularly.

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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

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Stephen Shankland (Acting Headteacher)

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School details

Website www.mostonfieldsprimaryschool.co.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 24 and 25 April 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 At the time of this inspection, the school was being led by an acting headteacher and an interim executive headteacher. There have been a number of other changes to leadership roles since the school was last inspected.  There have been several changes to membership of the governing body since the school was last inspected, including the appointment of a new chair of governors.  The school does not make use of alternative provision for pupils.  The school provides a breakfast club and after-school provision for pupils.

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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 provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 24 and 25 September 2024

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s educational 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 spoke with the interim executive headteacher, the acting headteacher and other leaders in the school. An inspector also spoke with a group of governors, including the chair of the governing body.  An inspector spoke with a representative of the local authority.  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.  An inspector observed pupils from Years 1 to 3 reading to a familiar adult.

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in English, including early reading, mathematics, science, history, and art and design. They spoke with the leaders of these areas of the curriculum. Inspectors also visited lessons, looked at examples of pupils’ work, held discussions with teachers and talked with pupils.  Inspectors also considered the curriculum in some other subjects. They spoke with pupils about their learning in these subjects and reviewed a sample of pupils’ work.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour at breaktimes and lunchtimes and when they moved around the school. An inspector scrutinised leaders’ records of pupils’ behaviour and attendance.  Inspectors spoke with parents and carers as they dropped their children off at school. Inspectors also considered responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff.

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 There were no responses to the online survey for pupils. However, inspectors spoke with groups of pupils about their experiences at school.  An inspector visited the school’s breakfast club.

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Inspection team

Jackie Stillings, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Steve Bentham His Majesty’s 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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