Mossfield Primary School

Mossfield Primary School Inspection report

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105925 Unique Reference Number Salford Local Authority 287367 Inspection number 25 °26 June 2007 Inspection dates Julie Price Grimshaw Reporting inspector

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

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Primary Type of school Community School category 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 281 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Mr L Duffy Chair Mr David Magee Headteacher 27 January 2003 Date of previous school inspection Mossfield Road School address Swinton Manchester Lancashire M27 6EH

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0161 9212160 Telephone number 0161 9212165 Fax number

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3 °11 Age group 25 °26 June 2007 Inspection dates 287367 Inspection number .

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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 three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This is a larger than average primary school which serves an area of some social and economic deprivation. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is well above the national average. The number of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is below average. The school's population is mostly White British, with a small proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups. Over recent years there has been some instability due to fluctuations in pupil numbers. This was largely as a result of the school taking pupils from a nearby school that had closed. At the time of the inspection, the headteacher had been in post for just under one year.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Mossfield Primary School, 25 °26 June 2007

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Grade: 3

Mossfield Primary provides a satisfactory quality of education. It is an improving school. Following a period of some instability over recent years the school is now becoming more settled and managers are beginning to identify priorities for taking the school forward. There is already evidence of considerable success in some areas, such as improvements to pupils' behaviour. In other areas, initiatives are at an early stage of implementation, and the full impact of this work has yet to be seen. Overall, standards and achievement are satisfactory. Children enter Nursery with standards that are below those expected for their age. They make good progress during the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 as a result of effective teaching and support, and by the end of Year 2 attainment is broadly in line with the national average. During Key Stage 2, pupils make satisfactory progress; by the end of Year 6, standards are usually average, although the 2006

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Grade: 3

national test results showed that pupils' achievement was lower than in previous years. The school has been quick to respond to this and has started to implement some strategies to improve standards and achievement, particularly in literacy; however, it is too early to see the impact of this work reflected in improved results in national tests. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Teachers promote a positive learning environment, and pupils have good attitudes towards their work. Nevertheless, a lack of pace and insufficient challenge is evident in some lessons, and this limits the progress made by pupils, particularly the most able. Marking of pupils' work does not always make clear what they need to do next in order to improve. The school has now started to use the results from assessments to calculate how much progress pupils have made. However, this process has not yet been translated into clearly communicated targets to help pupils improve their work.

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Grade: 3

Pupils' personal development is good; the school is working well to promote healthy lifestyles, and has recently received the Healthy Schools award. The school works well in partnership with outside agencies in order to promote pupils' well-being. The quality of pastoral care is very good; teachers and support assistants work very well together in order to provide high quality care for pupils. The curriculum meets all statutory requirements, and is enriched by a range of extra-curricular activities. Although provision for information and communication technology (ICT) has improved since the last inspection, the school is still under-resourced in this area and this limits pupils' development of computer skills. This issue is currently being addressed, and acquisition of new resources is imminent. Since September 2006, the new headteacher has made good progress in establishing the foundations for further school development. The school's self-evaluation includes an accurate

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Grade: 3

and thorough assessment of the current provision, and shows that managers have a realistic view of the school's main strengths and weaknesses. While documented improvement planning identifies a range of priorities, there is insufficient focus on addressing the relative weaknesses in the quality of teaching and learning across the school. Parents are happy with the school's work and have confidence in the management team. The school has addressed the issues raised during the previous inspection and demonstrates sound capacity for further improvement. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Mossfield Primary School, 25 °26 June 2007

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure that lessons effectively meet the needs of all learners by including activities that are sufficiently challenging for pupils. • Implement a consistent approach to marking and academic guidance so that all pupils are fully aware of what they need to do in order to improve their work. • Refine improvement planning so that it is sufficiently focused on improving teaching and learning. A small proportion of schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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Grade: 3

Children enter Nursery with skills that are below those expected for their age, particularly in language and literacy. They make good progress in the Foundation Stage and by the time they enter Year 1 standards are broadly average. Pupils continue to make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics throughout Years 1 and 2. National test results for Year 2 in 2006 were slightly above average and were higher than those achieved in 2005. Pupils in Years 3 to 6 make satisfactory progress. Prior to 2006, standards in Year 6 were broadly average. However, performance dipped in 2006, especially in English where pupils' achievement and standards were lower than expected. Currently, standards and achievement are improving, particularly in English, as a result of recently implemented strategies. Nevertheless, a lack of challenge in lessons results in the rate of progress being slowed, particularly for the most able pupils.

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Grade: 2

Pupils are overwhelmingly positive about their school. They are friendly, act sensibly and are eager to take responsibility. They cooperate well in the many shared activities planned for them. They say that they feel safe and well cared for because staff deal effectively with any problems, such as bullying. Pupils have good attitudes and are very appreciative of the help provided by staff. They behave well; they work and play together harmoniously and form good relationships with adults and with each other. A very small minority, however, still have difficulty in sustaining concentration and cooperating with others. Attendance has improved since the last inspection and is now satisfactory. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is satisfactory. Effective citizenship education enables pupils to develop good awareness of society and of the needs of others. The newly formed school council is beginning to give pupils good experiences of working

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Grade: 2

together for the benefit of the school community. For instance, they have detailed plans to improve the playground facilities and install benches for a quiet area. Pupils know how to make healthy lifestyle choices and how to stay safe. They are adequately prepared for the next stage of their education and for the world of work. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Mossfield Primary School, 25 °26 June 2007

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Grade: 3

Good relationships between adults and pupils are a strong feature of all lessons. Teachers are very caring towards their pupils and are skilled in managing behaviour. Most staff use interactive whiteboards effectively in order to enhance learning. A minority of lessons are briskly paced and feature activities that are well matched to pupils' needs. However, many lessons do not include an adequate level of challenge, particularly for the most able, and this limits the progress made by these pupils. There is significant variability in the quality of teachers' marking; in many cases, pupils do not receive enough guidance on what they need to do in order to improve their work. Support staff are deployed effectively and help pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities to make satisfactory progress.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum meets the needs of most learners effectively. There is an appropriate focus on the development of pupils' literacy and numeracy skills. Although provision for ICT has improved since the last inspection, the school is correct in judging that limited resources restrict opportunities for pupils to develop skills in this area. Specialist input from sports coaches and skilled musicians enhances teaching and learning in physical education and music. There is a good range of popular extra-curricular activities, all of which are well attended by the pupils. These include sports sessions designed specifically for pupils who have low fitness levels. Although there is currently limited provision for gifted and talented pupils, the school has established links with the local high school and, as a consequence, there are opportunities for older gifted and talented pupils to engage in a range of enrichment activities.

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Grade: 3

The provision for care, guidance and support is satisfactory with some good features. Systems for pastoral care are very good. Staff are strongly committed to pupils' welfare and offer high quality care and support to pupils. Partnership working with parents and other agencies ensures that vulnerable pupils and those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities receive the help they need to make satisfactory progress. Child protection and health and safety procedures are in place. Although improvements have been made to systems for tracking pupils' progress, systems for assessment and setting targets are not yet fully embedded. Consequently, pupils are not sufficiently aware of their targets for development and do not fully understand what they need to do to improve their work.

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Grade: 3

The recently appointed headteacher has made a good start in building an effective team, with the aim of taking the school forward and raising pupils' achievement. Strategies designed to improve pupils' behaviour, attendance and punctuality have been successful. A number of other initiatives, such as the development of a whole-school approach to assessment and pupils' 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Mossfield Primary School, 25 °26 June 2007 targets, are still at an early stage, and it is too soon to judge the impact of this work on pupils' standards and achievement. The senior management team is in the process of establishing a corporate vision for the school's future. The roles of middle managers, such as subject leaders, are currently underdeveloped. The school has rightly identified this as a priority for development, and has started to make progress on this issue by clearly defining roles and responsibilities and planning a programme

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Grade: 3

of monitoring across all subjects. The school's self-evaluation is accurate in judging the effectiveness of all aspects of the provision. However, improvement planning shows that there is a lack of sharply focused success criteria and limited emphasis on establishing teaching of a consistently high quality. Over the past year, some progress has been made in establishing rigorous systems for monitoring the quality of teaching and learning, but these procedures are yet to be fully embedded. Governance is satisfactory and improving. The governing body fulfils all statutory responsibilities; its members are beginning to become more involved in the day-to-day life of the school and there are firm plans to consolidate links with teaching staff responsible for subject areas. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Mossfield Primary School, 25 °26 June 2007 .

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Mossfield Primary School, 25 °26 June 2007

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

3 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

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

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and interests of learners?

3 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Mossfield Primary School, 25 °26 June 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Mossfield Primary School, 25 °26 June 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you very much for making us feel so welcome in your school. We really enjoyed talking to you, hearing your views and watching you learn. We think that Mossfield is a satisfactory school with some good features, and we can see that a number of things have improved since the school was last inspected. We are especially pleased that attendance and punctuality have improved. Another thing that impressed us was your behaviour; almost all of you behaved very well, both in the classrooms and around school, and it was really nice to see some of you helping each other. Only a very small number of pupils didn't behave well, and we thought that the staff were very good at dealing with this. In fact, all the staff are very caring towards you, and you told us how much you appreciated this. You seemed to know a lot about healthy lifestyles, and it was great to see that so many of you are involved in sports activities. The new school council is beginning to do some good work in

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

representing your views; you already have plans to improve parts of the playground. We're glad that you enjoy the various clubs and activities that take place after school; I thought that your singing was very good indeed! You told us that you enjoy lessons best when there are a variety of activities that encourage you to think hard, and this makes learning fun. We could see that you work well and make good progress in lessons like this. We have asked the school to think about how they can make sure that you are all given work that is at just the right level for you, so that you work hard and make the best possible progress. Some of you were not sure about your targets and what you needed to do in order to improve, so we have also asked the staff to make sure that you all receive good quality feedback on your work. Of course, you have an important part to play here, by making sure that you listen carefully to your teachers' advice on how to improve, and

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

by always trying to produce the best work that you possibly can. Your headteacher has not been at the school for very long, but we know that he and the staff are very keen to make sure that you all achieve well and reach your full potential. We wish you all the very best for the future. 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Mossfield Primary School, 25 °26 June 2007

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