Moons Moat First School

Moons Moat First School

Address: Cleeve Close, Church Hill, Redditch, Worcestershire, B98 9HR Unique reference number (URN): 116765

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Achievement Expected standard

Leaders focus on ensuring that pupils, including those with low starting points on arrival, typically achieve well. The proportion of pupils who meet the standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check is broadly in line with the national average. Pupils perform above the national standard in the Year 4 multiplication tables check. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities generally progress well from their starting points. Overall, pupils leave Year 4 usually being able to read, write and calculate to an age-appropriate standard.

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Achievement Expected standard

Across subjects, pupils generally secure the knowledge that they need to access future learning. In subjects other than English and mathematics, pupils are also able to recall key knowledge. They discuss the water cycle, the Romans and their artwork with enthusiasm. The school’s wider curriculum offer supports pupils to move to the next stage of their education.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Pupils learn a broad curriculum that is based on the national curriculum. Leaders have developed the curriculum significantly over the past few years, ensuring that learning is sequenced well. Whole-school teaching approaches are designed to support all pupils. For example, questions at the beginning and end of units help pupils think about the key knowledge that they are learning about. Teachers generally have the subject knowledge that they need to model concepts clearly.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Phonics is taught daily using clear and consistent routines. Teachers check regularly to ensure that pupils are learning the correct sounds. The books that pupils read are suitably matched to their reading development so that their reading skills progress well.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Teachers model learning and provide opportunities for pupils to work through examples together. Teachers prompt pupils to remember essential knowledge through flashbacks to previous learning. Staff make appropriate adaptations for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) so that they can learn alongside their peers. Pupils with SEND receive tailored support to help them to progress through the curriculum.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders support the quality of teaching through training and checks on how the curriculum is taught. Staff are refining approaches to handwriting to ensure consistency across the school. This work is starting to have an impact.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Inclusion is at the forefront of the school's work. Leaders get to know pupils and their families well. They care about them deeply. Well-established systems and procedures help leaders to accurately identify the barriers to learning that some pupils have. Teachers use assessments and observations of pupils to understand their starting points. Leaders ensure that swift and timely support is put in place. Leaders monitor the success of these support strategies and target adaptations carefully. Leaders instigated recent training to ensure that adaptations are targeted well to support pupils in lessons. As a result, teachers adapt their lessons effectively to ensure that pupils fully access the curriculum.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, who need a more specialised approach to learning, receive precise and individualised support in the ‘Launch Pad’. This purposeful provision enables pupils to progress well from their starting points. Leaders also work effectively with external professionals and act on advice about appropriate provision when needed.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The school’s pupil premium strategy is suitable and well applied. It accurately outlines the barriers that the school’s disadvantaged pupils face. Leaders use this additional funding carefully and in the best interests of pupils. This has a positive impact on the experiences of pupils who face disadvantage.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The pupils are at the heart of decision-making at Moon’s Moat. Leaders, alongside governors, are ambitious for the school and the community it serves. Their priorities reflect the local community and the barriers many pupils face. Visible leaders have established increasingly positive relations with the parent community by involving parents in the life of the school.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have a clear and accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and the areas that still need further work. They have identified issues within the school, planned for improvement accordingly and demonstrated impact across the school. They appreciate that some areas are not moving as quickly as they would like, but nevertheless have improved many elements of the school, such as building more consistent inclusive practice.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The committed governors are kept well informed about the school's performance. They offer effective support to the school leaders. Governors meet their statutory obligations dutifully. The school’s well-considered continuing professional development programme supports staff to maintain the skills and knowledge that they need to be successful in their roles. There is a clear desire to develop leaders for the future. Staff have responded positively to the changes leaders have made, and they are conscious that leaders take their wellbeing and workload into account.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils follow a coherent and well-considered personal, social and health education programme based on leaders’ inclusive vision for the school. All pupils receive age- appropriate relationships and sex education. The personal development programme ensures that pupils learn about positive relationships. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe, including online. They confidently discuss keeping information safe and managing online ‘friends’. Pupils are supported to learn how to stay safe in the local community. For instance, some pupils talk confidently about strategies for staying safe on the way home, and know how to get emergency help if they need it.

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Needs attention

Equality of opportunity and diversity is promoted effectively throughout the school. This means that most pupils learn to understand, appreciate and respect people’s differences, such as religion, culture or ethnicity, and to celebrate things that are common to all people. They understand that they may have different beliefs to those of their peers, and are respectful of this. Leaders ensure that disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities access these activities.

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Needs attention

Break and lunchtime clubs support pupils to build confidence in social interactions, for example emotional literacy support is provided for pupils that need help to manage their emotions. Pupils are confident that teachers will help them if at any time they are worried or have a concern.

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Needs attention

Leaders encourage pupils to gain independence, for example through the pupil leadership roles. Digital leaders and reading leaders confidently help to keep the school maintained and tidy. They take pride in their roles. Pupils are appreciative of the effective pastoral support that is in place. They speak about calm spaces, ‘good morning’ transitions and the ‘backpack’ approach.

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Needs attention

Pupils are well-prepared for their next stage in education. A transition programme is in place to support pupils as they move to middle school that helps pupils overcome any anxiety they may have.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Leaders have high expectations of pupil attendance. They work closely with parents to break down the barriers to school attendance. However, attendance remains below the national average, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils. Too many pupils are persistently absent. Leaders recognise this and have recently developed strategies to improve attendance. They encourage pupils to attend more often, and most pupils say they want to come to school. However, leaders’ actions have not impacted sufficiently to increase attendance rates.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Most pupils enjoy learning and behave well in the classroom. In the playground, pupils play together, generally showing kindness and respect. Pupils are clear that bullying is uncommon, and they trust staff to act on any concerns that they have. Leaders have put carefully considered pastoral support in place. This helps pupils to control their emotions, including pupils with SEND and/or other vulnerabilities. Generally, pupil behaviour is improving over time. However, not all staff manage behaviour with a consistent approach. This leads to pockets of poor pupil behaviour. Leaders are acutely aware of this and continue to support staff to improve pupils’ behaviour.

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Early years Needs attention

Leaders have rightly identified that the quality of early years provision is inconsistent at Moon’s Moat. In the best examples, children gain from high-quality interactions with adults that help children to learn and think deeply. However, too often, adults do not support children with careful questions that help them progress.

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Early years Needs attention

The curriculum for early years outlines clear start points and end points. At times, however, the staff do not carefully plan activities that focus on the key knowledge that children need to learn. As a result, sometimes children play happily but do not gain the knowledge that they need.

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Early years Needs attention

Children are well cared for. They develop caring, trusting relationships with adults in a nurturing, inclusive environment. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and other vulnerabilities generally get the support that they need to access the curriculum and progress well from their starting points.

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Early years Needs attention

Reading is taught well in the early years. Phonics lessons help the children to learn to read from the outset. Books are carefully matched to the children’s learning most of the time. Some children in the early years do not achieve as well as they could across the areas of learning, which means that they are not as well prepared for key stage 1 as they could be.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Leaders have an inclusive and caring vision for Moons Moat. Pupils are safe. They have adults that they know they can talk to if they have any concerns. Most relationships between pupils and staff are warm. Pupils readily share their enjoyment of learning, discussing the knowledge and facts that they have learned. Many educational trips enrich the curriculum. For example, the residential trip in Year 4 enhances pupils' confidence and resilience. Pupils enjoy the space that the school has on its grounds and the forest area where pupils learn about nature and build independence skills.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Regular attendance is celebrated by school staff. However, not enough pupils attend this school every day. Attendance is low and remains an area that leaders need to strengthen. Pupils benefit from the pastoral support that encourages attendance at school. School leaders work with families to help overcome barriers to attendance.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils are known well as individuals. Staff quickly identify their needs. Staff provide high levels of support to address any barriers to learning that pupils may have. Teachers adapt tasks and make careful adjustments so that lessons are accessible. The purposeful ‘Launch Pad’ provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities provides an inclusive and welcoming learning environment for pupils. Pupils typically progress well from their starting points.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Most pupils behave well and listen to their teachers. Pupils are well supported by members of staff to behave positively. Typically, pupils make secure progress through the curriculum.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

In early years, children follow a broad curriculum and are generally happy. However, inconsistencies in teaching mean that children are not learning as well as they could do. Some planned activities do not support learning well enough.

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Team inspectors:

Janice Wood, Ofsted Inspector Maggie Spence, Ofsted Inspector

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that early years staff consistently maximise learning opportunities for children through purposeful activities and high-quality interactions linked to intended learning outcomes. Leaders should ensure that their attendance strategy is having the intended impact to raise pupils’ attendance rates and take swift action where needed.

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About this inspection

The chair of the board of governors in this school is Roger Hill.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with school leaders during the inspection. They held meetings with the headteacher, teachers and pupils. They looked at pupils' work and books. They also talked to pupils and staff to gather information about school life.

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About this 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.

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About this inspection

Inspectors considered responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, and free-text comments.

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About this inspection

The school currently uses no alternative provision.

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About this inspection

Headteacher: Karen Crawford The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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national average

2024/25 (3 term) 14.8% 13.0% Close to average

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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