Manchester Mesivta School

Inspection Report Manchester Mesivta School

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134195 Unique Reference Number Bury LEA 282485 Inspection number 23 March 2006 to 24 March 2006 Inspection dates Mr Brian Sharples HMI Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Beechwood School address Secondary Type of school Charlton Avenue Voluntary aided School category Prestwich, Greater Manchester M25 0PH 11 to 16 Age range of pupils

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0161 773 1789 Telephone number Boys Gender of pupils 0161 772 9170 Fax number 165 Number on roll Mr I Shapiro Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr P Pink Headteacher Not applicable Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 282485 23 March 2006 - 11 to 16 24 March 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools and one additional inspector.

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Description of the school

The Manchester Mesivta School is a small voluntary aided school for boys based in Bury. It is an orthodox Jewish school which provides a dual curriculum of Jewish studies and secular education for boys aged 11-16. There are presently 165 pupils on roll. In order to deliver the demanding curriculum requirements, the school days are particularly long. This inspection focused only on the secular element of the school's provision. The school gained voluntary aided status in November 2004 and moved into brand new buildings in December 2005. The school serves a relatively small catchment area. The school site also hosts an independent sixth form which is franchised with a local further education college. The proportion of boys with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is below the national average, as is the proportion with statements of special educational need. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals or from minority ethnic groups is

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Manchester Mesivta School, 23 March 2006 to 24 March 2006

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Grade: 3

This is a satisfactory and improving school that provides good value for money. The majority of pupils enter the school with attainment levels that are in line with, or above, national averages. The overall standard of attainment and progress made by pupils across all year groups is good when compared with national averages. However, there is some outstanding performance, for example in mathematics at Key Stage 3. The quality of lessons across the school is varied, but satisfactory overall. Teachers make little use of varied teaching and learning styles and assessment procedures are not yet fully established or consistently applied in all subjects. Despite this, pupils make good progress because of their motivation and willingness to learn. The curricular provision is satisfactory but aspects such as the work based curriculum and the provision of vocational options are underdeveloped. The care, guidance, support and personal development of pupils are all good. Behaviour

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Grade: 3

is good overall and attendance rates remain well above national averages. The overall leadership and management of the school is satisfactory with some good features. The senior leadership and governors have managed the transfer from independent to voluntary aided status and the move to a new building very effectively. The headteacher provides strong leadership and direction, but too little of the leadership and management responsibilities are devolved to the deputy headteacher or middle managers. Development planning is not yet well developed across the school. The school generally knows its strengths and weaknesses well and the inspection agrees with most of its judgements. The governors are supportive of the school and know it very well. However, the governing body's structure and working procedures do not yet comply with all statutory requirements. The spiritual, caring and fully inclusive ethos of the school creates a supportive and

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Grade: 3

co-operative learning environment for all pupils. Parents and pupils are generally happy with the provision in the school. Assuming the school addresses the main areas for improvement then the capacity for this school to improve further is good.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure that the quality of development plans at all management levels is of consistently high quality and constructed in a way that enables a high standard of monitoring and evaluation. • Involve the deputy headteacher and middle managers more in areas in the wider roles of leadership and management. • Ensure that the working procedures of the governing body meet all statutory roles and responsibilities. • Improve aspects of curricular provision, especially opportunities for work experience and vocational choices. • Introduce a wider variety of teaching and learning styles and a greater focus on assessment for learning. 2 Inspection Report: Manchester Mesivta School, 23 March 2006 to 24 March 2006

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Grade: 2

Achievement and standards are good with some outstanding aspects. The majority of pupils enter the school with standards of attainment that are in line with, or above, the national average in English, mathematics and science. The change to voluntary aided status required the school to enter pupils for national Key Stage 3 tests. This took place for the first time in 2005. The standards in these national tests in 2005 for all three core subjects were above average and in mathematics were outstanding. Equally, the general certificate of secondary education (GCSE) results across the full range of subjects are good and 87% of students gained five or more A*-C grades. There is not yet enough year on year data available against which to measure trends and progress over time. However, the school does have some systems in place for monitoring pupils' progress effectively. These include half termly teacher assessments

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Grade: 2

in each subject and the analysis of Key Stage 2 National Curriculum assessment test scores. Analysis of this data shows that pupils make at least good progress in both key stages 3 and 4. The small number of students with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are identified and supported well and also make good progress during their time in school.

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Grade: 2

The personal development and well-being of pupils is good overall, although the school's self-evaluation judged it to be satisfactory. Pupils feel safe in and around school. They have no concerns about bullying and know what to do if they feel worried. Pupils' behaviour is generally good, often outstanding, except in those lessons where the teaching fails to capture and hold their interest. Attendance rates are well above average. Relationships between pupils and staff are excellent. There is a healthy eating culture in the school. The pupils' school council has helped to bring about some improvement to the school's organisation, for example, the introduction of a short afternoon break on Fridays. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. It is fostered particularly well through the strong spiritual and caring ethos which pervades the school community. Pupils make a good contribution to the local community, for example, by

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Grade: 2

fundraising for local charities. Pupils are well prepared for life beyond school through their effective learning in the basic skills of literacy and numeracy. The school is aware that pupils' knowledge and understanding of the world of work and the use of information and communication technology (ICT) skills are underdeveloped and has plans to improve this. 3 Inspection Report: Manchester Mesivta School, 23 March 2006 to 24 March 2006

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Grade: 3

The overall quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. This differs from the school's self-evaluation which judged it to be good. The quality of lessons observed covered the full range from outstanding to inadequate but many were either satisfactory or good. Most of the teaching is very traditional and formal in nature. Teachers take few risks in their teaching with little variety in teaching and learning styles and pupils have few opportunities to develop as independent learners. For example, teachers are not yet using the school's excellent ICT provision to best effect in lessons across the curriculum. The good progress and standards that pupils achieve are largely a result of their motivation and extremely positive attitude to learning. Teachers generally have a secure command of their subject. Their expectations of what the pupils can achieve are high and pupils respond accordingly. Teachers set challenging work and

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Grade: 3

expect that pupils can cope well. Their class control and ability to enthuse the pupils is generally good but there are exceptions. Lesson planning varies in quality. Some of it is very superficial. The marking of pupils work is also very variable in quality. At its best, it is extremely thorough and provides pupils with helpful and constructive comments but this is not yet the case in all subjects. Pupils with learning difficulties are well monitored and receive some good support from learning support assistants, form learning mentors and sixth form volunteers. The school is aware that assessment procedures such as marking of work and pupil target setting are not yet well established or used consistently. Pupils are assessed at least every half-term, but there is inconsistent use of National Curriculum levels. There is no individual target setting by subjects and pupils do not know how well they are doing in terms of national standards.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum provision is satisfactory overall. It matches well the religious status of the school community, with its heavy weighting to Jewish studies. However, it also reflects the stage the school has reached in its journey from independent school to voluntary aided state school. The basic skeleton of the National Curriculum is now in place but there are strands where the pupils are still only receiving the bare minimum entitlement and some of this is very recent. For example, design and technology is becoming well established across the school but music and art are presently only offered in Key Stage 3. Similarly, citizenship now has a firm footing in Key Stage 3 but is delivered only in a minimal, cross curricular way with the older year groups. ICT provision is much improved since the move to the new school and is slowly being applied to subjects across the curriculum. Work experience and vocational provision

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Grade: 3

are both at an early stage of development. Subject departments are beginning to bring Key Stage 3 schemes of work more into line with the national curriculum programmes 4 Inspection Report: Manchester Mesivta School, 23 March 2006 to 24 March 2006 of study. Science has made the most progress in this respect. The curriculum is enriched in a number of ways. This includes choir, chess club, swimming, visits abroad and an annual adventure camp. There are few after school activities because the boys work such a long day on their subject studies.

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Grade: 2

The school's provision for the care, guidance and support for pupils is good. Pupils are positive about the care they receive from the school. A very remarkable mutual respect permeates the whole school and the positive relationships it generates make pupils feel happy and secure. Pupils say that they find their teachers very helpful and very friendly, but also strict. The academic progress of pupils is monitored well. Reports to parents are full of useful detail about pupils' progress, but not yet as clear as they need to be on how pupils are achieving in comparison with national standards. Arrangements for the safeguarding of pupils are thorough. Security of the school site is good. There are good arrangements for the regular reviews of children with learning difficulties and their individual learning plans are of good quality. Links with support agencies, other schools and with the community are good.

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Grade: 3

This is satisfactory with some good features. The headteacher provides strong leadership and knows the school well, but retains too much direct control and insufficient responsibility is devolved to senior staff and middle managers. The school's recently produced development plan identifies the right activities to move the school forward. However, it is too inconsistent and imprecise to be used to monitor progress effectively. Other development planning is limited and no development plans currently exist within departments. The school has some effective procedures in place for monitoring the quality and standards of provision across the school by both senior staff and heads of department. These include data analysis and regular reporting procedures. The headteacher provides regular reports and reviews to governors and to the weekly staff meetings. Heads of department monitor the quality of provision and standards in their subject areas

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Grade: 3

through informal and/or formal meetings with colleagues and the analysis of test data. The self-evaluation form was written by the headteacher following some discussion with staff. A small number of governors saw the self-evaluation form in draft format and provided feedback, but their involvement was limited. The leadership of the school generally knows its strengths and weaknesses well and the inspection team agree with the majority of their judgements. 5 Inspection Report: Manchester Mesivta School, 23 March 2006 to 24 March 2006 There is a performance management system in place for all teachers, each of whom has an agreed job description and targets for the current academic year. At present, all teacher appraisals are carried out by the headteacher. There is currently no performance management system for the headteacher. The school leadership gives a high priority to ensuring that all pupils achieve the

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Grade: 3

highest possible standards. The senior management team and governors have rightly prioritised their recent efforts on: the transition of the school from independent to voluntary aided status, overseeing the new building programme and the move from the previous building to the new site. They have all carried out this work effectively and efficiently. The new school provides an outstanding teaching and learning environment for the staff and pupils. The governors are a well established and often long-serving body of people who are dedicated to the school and know it well. At present, the committee structure of the governing body has not been formalised and the minutes for governing body or committee meetings lack formality or reference to points for action. The governing body has yet to meet all its statutory obligations. The school budget is well managed by the governors and headteacher and funding has been used efficiently to ensure that teaching and learning resources around the

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Grade: 3

school are good. The school provides good value for money. A significant number of parents who responded to the questionnaire believe that the school is led and managed well. 6 Inspection Report: Manchester Mesivta School, 23 March 2006 to 24 March 2006 .

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Grade: 3

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 Inspection Report: Manchester Mesivta School, 23 March 2006 to 24 March 2006

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Inspection judgements

16-19 School Overall Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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Inspection judgements

NA 3 How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? NA 3 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA NA The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA NA Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Inspection judgements

Achievement and standards NA 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Inspection judgements

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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Inspection judgements

Personal development and well-being NA 2 How good is the overall personal development and well-being of the learners? NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 1 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 3 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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Inspection judgements

The quality of provision NA 3 How effective are teaching and learning in meeting the full range of the learners' needs? NA 3 How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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Inspection judgements

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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Annex A

Leadership and management NA 3 How effective are leadership and management in raising achievement and supporting all learners? NA 3 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 3 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 3 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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Annex A

The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them The extent to which learners make a positive contribution Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the

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Annex A

wider community The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams Yes Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form Yes Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for welcoming us to your school. We thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to talk with you about your work and to listen to your views about the school. We have decided that Manchester Mesivta is a satisfactory and improving school. We also recognise that you, along with the teachers, parents and governors are all proud of the school and are working hard to see it become even better. What we liked most about your school - The new buildings and pleasant working environment in which you learn. - Your very good behaviour and polite manners around school. - The interest you show and good progress you make in lessons. - The good standards you achieve during your time at school and in public examinations. We were particularly impressed by your results in mathematics at Key Stage 3. - The spiritual and caring ethos which surrounds everything about the school. - The good care, guidance and support available for you.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

- The good relationships between yourselves and with teachers. - The interest your parents show in the school. What we have asked your school to do now - Make sure that all the development plans are of a consistently high quality and written in a way that enables all aspects of the school to move forward. - Make sure that other staff including the deputy headteacher and core subject leaders take a larger role in managing and leading the school. - Make sure that members of the governing body carry out all the things they are legally required to do. - Make sure that you have opportunities for work experience and an opportunity to choose more work related courses if they are relevant to you. - Improve the quality of teaching and learning by using a wider variety of teaching and learning styles and a better focus on how your work is assessed and recorded. The inspection team hope you are pleased with the things we have said about your school and

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

are proud of what you, your staff, governors and parents have achieved. We found our two days in the school to be a most delightful experience.

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