a school not in a category of concern of Peel Hall Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Stephen Lawler-Smith Headteacher Peel Hall Primary School Greencourt Drive Worsley Manchester M38 0BZ

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Primary School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 23 April 2025, on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and took place because the school meets the monitoring threshold as set out in the Monitoring Inspection Handbook .

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Primary School

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school’s key and (where applicable) provision judgements, but to identify and report on the school’s progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school’s previous graded inspection.

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Primary School

During the inspection, I discussed with you, other senior leaders, governors, and the local authority the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I visited lessons, spoke with pupils, met with staff, looked at curriculum documentation and pupils’ workbooks, and spoke with parents and carers. I also reviewed the single central record and the school improvement plan. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but some aspects of the

The school should take further action to:

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but some aspects of the

 ensure that pupils have the writing knowledge that they need for the next stage of their education  ensure that the most important key knowledge that pupils need to know in subjects other than English and mathematics is identified clearly for teachers.

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Main findings

Since the previous graded inspection, the school has made changes to leadership roles to accelerate the pace of improvement within the school. For example, it has increased senior and middle leadership capacity to provide support and coaching for staff to aid developments in teaching and learning. The school has appointed an attendance and safeguarding leader to the senior leadership team to further strengthen its work in these areas.

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Main findings

The school is taking effective action to tackle the weaknesses identified at the previous inspection. Governors and leaders at all levels have kept a sharp focus on what matters and have spent their time and energy wisely putting the right building blocks into place to bring about positive changes that can be sustained over time.

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Main findings

The quality of education that current pupils receive is improving. The school has developed its curriculum offer to ensure that it is ambitious and matches the scope and ambition of the national curriculum. Through well considered training and support, the school has further strengthened its work to ensure that the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified and met swiftly. This includes for those pupils who attend the newly established specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND.

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Main findings

The school has maintained the effective approach to the teaching of early reading that was highlighted at the previous inspection. In 2024, the proportion of Year 1 pupils meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check was significantly below the national average. The school has identified the reasons for this outcome and a number of improvements have been made. For example, it has improved the support that staff receive through regular phonics coaching sessions. The school has also introduced targeted reading and phonics support for pupils who struggle to read. As a result, pupils are supported to improve their fluency so that they experience success when reading. This is helping an increasing number of pupils to read confidently and fluently.

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Main findings

The school has identified that, due to weaknesses in the previous curriculum, some pupils have gaps in their writing knowledge. Improvements have recently been implemented to address this issue. These developments include a focus on letter formation, spelling and the accurate use of punctuation and grammar. However, errors in pupils’ handwriting, spelling and grammar are frequent and sometimes go unchecked. Consequently, some pupils continue to repeat these errors.

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Main findings

The school has clarified what pupils will learn and when they will learn the content across subjects beyond English and mathematics. However, the effectiveness of these curriculums is varied. This is because the school is at the early stages of making it clear exactly what pupils should know and understand in these subjects. At times, this leads to teachers focusing on activities rather than designing learning that enables pupils to gain the key knowledge that sets a firm foundation for later learning. This, in turn, means that because teachers are unsure about precisely what pupils should know and understand, they are not able to identify what pupils have learned. While pupils learn important facts, they are less able to develop subject-specific skills.

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Main findings

Governors have acted to gain assurances about the actions that the school is taking to improve. They hold the school to account and provide appropriate support and challenge. Workload and well-being have not been lost in the focus on improvement. Staff recognise that the pace of change has increased the demands placed upon them. That said, staff appreciate the school’s actions to support their workload. For example, subject leaders have benefited from a programme of professional development. This helps them to carry out their roles with increasing confidence.

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Main findings

Since the previous inspection, the school has identified attendance as a further area to improve. The school takes swift, effective action to reduce absence levels. As a result, the proportion of pupils who miss large chunks of their education is declining. In addition, the impact of the school’s focus on embedding the raised expectations for behaviour identified at the previous inspection is evident in the improving behaviour of pupils across the school.

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Main findings

The school is making the most of the external support available. Productive partnerships with external agencies, including the local authority, has ensured that staff receive the right help at the right time. This is helping the school to improve the quality of education that current pupils receive.

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Main findings

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of governors, the Department for Education’s regional director and the director of children’s services for Salford local authority. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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