St Clement's CofE Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: St Clement’s CofE Primary School Abbey Hey Lane, Higher Openshaw, Manchester M11 1LR

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Inspection dates: 14 and 15 January 2025

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Outcome

St Clement’s CofE Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including children in the early years, are happy at this caring school. Everybody feels welcome, irrespective of any differences. The school is aspirational for pupils’ achievement, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils appreciate the way that the adults help them to work hard and achieve well. They respond positively to this challenge.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ well-being is a high priority. Staff form strong relationships with pupils and their families. Pupils are kind and polite. They behave well during lessons and at playtimes. They follow well-established routines, listen carefully to staff and move quietly around the school so as not to disrupt other classes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are taught to make a positive contribution to the school through various leadership roles, for example as representatives on the ethos council and as reading champions. They demonstrate compassion when supporting good causes within and beyond their school community. For instance, pupils organised donations to a food bank during harvest.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides pupils with a rich diet of wider opportunities, such as sports competitions and educational visits, which enrich their learning and raise their aspirations. During the inspection, older pupils spoke with enthusiasm about travelling by train to a residential experience in London.

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

Since the previous inspection, the school has reviewed some curriculum subjects. Teachers now know what to teach and how to teach subject content in each subject. 14 and 15 January 2025

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Pupils in each class benefit from the curriculum being delivered well. In most subjects, teachers know what pupils have learned previously and help them to build on this knowledge. For example, children in the early years gain a strong sense of number, and this understanding is further developed across the school. Current pupils are achieving well.

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Staff value the support and guidance that they receive. This ensures that they are confident in delivering the various subject curriculums. Staff also value the school’s commitment to reducing their workload. This helps staff to fulfil their roles effectively and supports their well-being.

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Within lessons, teachers check pupils’ understanding effectively to find out how well they are learning. This helps them to identify and address pupils’ misconceptions as they happen. Pupils can explain their current learning, such as the evolution of giraffes in science. Children in the Nursery class were able to identify foods that different bears might eat. However, the school’s approaches to help pupils retain key knowledge successfully over time are at an early stage of development in some subjects. In these subjects, pupils do not build their knowledge as well as they could.

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The school swiftly identifies the additional needs of pupils, including those with SEND. The school provides these pupils with the extra support that they need. This helps pupils with SEND to feel included, overcome obstacles to their learning and achieve well.

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Reading is a high priority. Pupils read a wide range of literature and enjoy class texts that are selected to support their learning in other subjects. In the early years, staff share stories and rhymes with children to develop their language and communication skills. The phonics programme is taught consistently well. However, the proportion of pupils who met the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check was below average in 2024. This is not typical. The school has responded suitably to this dip in the results. For example, it is providing additional support to those pupils who need more help to read to help them build their phonics knowledge securely. Reading champions are very proud of their role in promoting a love of reading across the school. Most older pupils read with accuracy and independence.

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The school prioritises pupils’ attendance. It takes swift and effective action to provide support for pupils and their families where attendance issues are identified. As a result, pupils’ rates of attendance are improving.

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The provision for pupils’ wider development is a priority. The school enriches pupils’ learning by ensuring that they experience a wide variety of inspiring activities each year. These include opportunities to explore their world and develop their enterprise skills. Pupils participate in creative and competitive activities. Many experiences bring all these benefits together, such as visits to theatres and museums.

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Pupils gain an age-appropriate understanding of different relationships. They have a well- developed understanding of equality and diversity and fundamental British Values. Pupils show empathy and respect for others. 14 and 15 January 2025

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Governors offer effective support and challenge to the school. The school knows pupils and their families extremely well. The school, including those responsible for governance, has responded well to changes in its context, such as an increase in the number of pupils who join or leave the school midway through the academic year.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the opportunities to recap and recall previous learning are at an early stage of development. This means that pupils are less confident in recalling what they have been taught in the past. The school should ensure that there are greater opportunities for pupils to revisit their earlier learning so that they have secure foundations on which to build new learning.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in February 2020. 14 and 15 January 2025

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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). 14 and 15 January 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 11 and 12 February 2020, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school runs its own breakfast club for pupils.  This school is a Church of England primary school in the Diocese of Manchester. The last section 48 inspection of schools with a religious character took place in June 2024. The next section 48 inspection is expected no earlier than the 2028/29 academic year.

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Information about this inspection

 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. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  The inspector spoke with the headteacher and other senior leaders. He spoke with leaders responsible for some curriculum subjects, personal development, attendance and the provision for pupils with SEND. 14 and 15 January 2025

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 The inspector spoke with members of the governing body.  The inspector also spoke with a representative of the local authority.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: 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.  The inspector visited a sample of lessons, looked at examples of pupils’ work and spoke with pupils about their learning. The inspector also observed some pupils from Years 1 to 3 reading to a familiar adult.  The inspector spoke with two groups of pupils who hold pupil leadership positions in the school about their roles and their views of the school.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and around school. He also observed pupils while they played outside at lunchtime.

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 The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. He also met with parents and carers before the start of the school day.  The inspector also considered the responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil online surveys.

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Inspection team

Ian Shackleton, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 14 and 15 January 2025

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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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