Moss Park Infant School

Moss Park Infant School Inspection report

p.1

106324 Unique Reference Number Trafford Local Authority 287485 Inspection number 16 °17 May 2007 Inspection dates Alan Hardwicke Reporting inspector

p.1

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

p.1

Primary Type of school Community School category 3 °7 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 210 School

p.1

The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Maureen Higson Chair Ms F Farnorth Headteacher 10 February 2003 Date of previous school inspection Moss Park Road School address Stretford Manchester M32 9HR

p.1

0161 8643636 Telephone number 0161 8643645 Fax number

p.1

3 °7 Age group 16 °17 May 2007 Inspection dates 287485 Inspection number .

p.1

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.

p.2

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.

p.2

Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

p.3

Description of the school

Moss Park is a smaller than average infant school. Most pupils come from White British backgrounds, although some 14 other ethnic backgrounds are represented in the school. A larger than average proportion of pupils have learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The number of pupils for whom English is an additional language is higher than average. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is lower than the national average. The school has the Inclusion Award, an ArtsMark Award, the Investors in People award and the Basic Skills Quality mark.

p.3

Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Moss Park Infant School, 16 °17 May 2007

p.3

Grade: 2

This is a good school. Its work in promoting pupils' personal development and well-being is outstanding. Pupils enjoy school and develop their personal and social skills very well. By the time they are in Year 2, pupils have developed a good understanding of healthy living. They enjoy the 'Wake Up, Shake Up' and 'Freddy Fit' activities, and understand the benefits of exercise and its effects on their bodies. The newly appointed school councillors are proud of their new role and have many ideas for improving the school. Positive and enjoyable activities such as these make very good contributions to children's enjoyment of school and learning. The Inclusion Award reflects the school's strong commitment and aims to ensure that everyone is fully included in its daily life. Children enter the Nursery with levels of attainment that are below average. They get off to a good start in the Foundation Stage and make good progress

p.4

Grade: 2

due to the well planned lively activities. Good progress continues through Years 1 and 2. Standards, as shown in the Year 2 assessments, have been consistently around the national averages since 2002 in all subjects. In 2006 standards improved to above average. Teaching and learning are good. Work is well planned and provides interesting, exciting activities which engage pupils of all abilities. Consequently pupils learn at a good pace and achieve well. Although work is marked regularly, teachers do not give enough guidance to pupils to help them improve their work. Furthermore, it is not always made clear what it is they are expected to learn and this makes it difficult for them to be fully involved in assessing their own learning. The good teaching of basic literacy and numeracy skills makes a good contribution to children's future economic well-being. The good curriculum is enriched well by visits, visitors and extra-curricular activities, which

p.4

Grade: 2

pupils enjoy. Pupils' artwork is of good quality and used well to create lively displays which ably reflect the school's achievement of the Artsmark award. The school has good links with other schools and outside agencies to promote pupils' well-being and enhance their learning experiences. Leadership and management are good. The school's self-evaluation is accurate, realistic and honest and provides a clear view of its strengths and where it could do better. The rigorous monitoring of performance leads to pupils' good progress and has secured good improvement since the last inspection. The school provides good value for money and is well placed to improve further.

p.4

What the school should do to improve further

• Improve the quality of marking so that it helps pupils to understand clearly the steps they need to take to improve their work. • Make it clearer to children what they are expected to learn in lessons and involve them more in checking their progress in their own learning.

p.4

Grade: 2

When children enter the Nursery they have a variety of experiences, but overall attainment is generally lower than expected for their age. Because the overall ability levels of the children entering the Nursery have been steadily declining, the school has done very well to maintain the same standards at the end of Year 2. Pupils also make good progress at all stages through 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Moss Park Infant School, 16 °17 May 2007 the school. By the end of Year 2 pupils reach broadly average standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Results in 2006 and particularly in science were higher than the national average, and the school attributes this to the good work done in practical science investigations. Pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds do particularly well, due to good quality support. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make similar progress to others. Pupils of all abilities

p.4

Grade: 1

Pupils' personal development and well-being is outstanding. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is also outstanding. The school's 'Golden Rules' very quickly help children to establish a very good understanding of right and wrong, and the norms of acceptable behaviour. Through art, poetry and music children develop their spiritual and cultural understanding. Visits, visitors and other activities reflect the cultural diversity in the local community very well. The school works hard to promote all aspects of healthy living and hence pupils develop a very good awareness of eating healthily and keeping safe. One child told an inspector 'Milk is good; it makes you healthy and is good for your teeth and bones.' Another said 'Exercise gives you oxygen and gets you warmed up.' At the end of a physical education lesson pupils felt their hearts beating quickly and could explain why. Pupils say they feel safe

p.5

Grade: 1

in school, enjoy their lessons and other activities, and understand who will help them if they are hurt or bullied. Displays around the school are stunning and promote a strong sense of pride in pupils' achievements, such as those showing 'Freddy Fit' activities and interactive science displays. Pupils learn to make positive contributions to the community by taking on responsibilities such as register and milk monitors, leading school prayers and operating the tape recorder in assemblies. Pupils are well prepared for the next stages in education through developing good basic skills. Attendance is satisfactory, and the school is taking positive steps to improve it further. The school's excellent promotion of all aspects of personal development results in pupils' outstanding behaviour.

p.5

Grade: 2

Teaching is good with some strong features. Teachers know their pupils well and establish very good working relationships. They manage pupils' behaviour well, so promoting a positive climate for learning. Teachers use praise, encouragement and positive discipline to get the best from everyone. Questions are used well in some lessons and in particular to extend and challenge the more able pupils. In the Foundation Stage children benefit from a creative and stimulating learning environment. They have a range of exciting learning opportunities, helping them to make good progress. Where whiteboards are available, teachers use them well to motivate and engage pupils. 'Talking partners', cooperative group work and a range of learning styles are all used well to add interest and enjoyment. Work is well matched to pupils' abilities, including those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language. In the best lessons

p.5

Grade: 2

seen pupils were engrossed in their work, and very well supported by teachers and support staff, who worked very effectively together to ensure a good pace of learning. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Moss Park Infant School, 16 °17 May 2007 Work is well presented and marked carefully, although not enough guidance is given to pupils to tell them how they can improve. There is also some inconsistency in the way learning objectives are shared and reviewed. At the start of lessons not all teachers make it clear enough what it is they expect the children to learn.

p.5

Grade: 2

The curriculum is good and meets statutory requirements. An extensive range of visits and visitors enriches and enhances the curriculum, and promotes good learning in the arts, science and humanities. Pupils enjoy French, Spanish and sport activities provided in the after-school clubs. Strong links with a local secondary school are helping to raise already high standards in the arts. The 'Big Writing' initiative has been introduced and is beginning to impact on writing standards. The school recognises the benefits of the Foundation Stage curriculum and has begun to use a topic-based approach for the older children in other year groups. Information and communication technology (ICT) is used effectively to promote learning in other subjects. The school has made changes to numeracy ahead of the new national framework, to improve progress in mathematics. Class discussions and the effective programme for personal, social,

p.6

Grade: 2

health and citizenship education contribute to the exemplary behaviour displayed by pupils and their strong awareness of keeping safe.

p.6

Grade: 2

The inspection judgement differs from the school's, which judged this aspect as outstanding. This is because although the care and support aspects are both very strong, there are shortcomings in the academic guidance given to pupils. The care which the school gives to all its pupils is outstanding. Many staff have worked in the school for long periods. They know local families well and have longstanding links with outside agencies which are very well used to ensure that all pupils receive the support they need to help them make good progress. Pupils are well supported so that they can achieve their best. As a result of the outstanding care and support given, pupils feel secure and well cared for, enjoy coming to school, and make good progress in all areas. Teachers and other adults work well together to promote pupils' health and safety. Arrangements for safeguarding children are in place and meet current government requirements. Pupils reach challenging targets, but

p.6

Grade: 2

at present are insufficiently involved in assessing their own performance and have too little awareness of their targets, and how to improve their work.

p.6

Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. The headteacher sets clear expectations, with a firm focus on raising standards and helping pupils to do well and achieve their best. Senior managers work very well together as a team to improve the school's provision. Performance is exceptionally well monitored, evaluated and subsequent action is taken to meet challenging targets. This also enables managers to promote the outstanding gains pupils make in their personal development and well-being. There is outstanding promotion of equality of opportunity, as witnessed by the school's Inclusion Award. Since the last inspection the senior leaders have 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Moss Park Infant School, 16 °17 May 2007 made good improvement in tackling the issues raised, namely, the balance of time for the different subjects and the use of ICT across the curriculum. Parents view the school very favourably. Surveys show that parents' views are overwhelmingly positive. They are pleased

p.6

Grade: 2

that their children are happy at school, well cared for and that they make good progress. Governors fulfil their role effectively, act as critical friends of the school and are actively developing their involvement through links to different aspects of the curriculum. The school development plan is carefully thought through and identifies the key priorities for improvement but at present it only covers the current school year. The school is working on this to provide a longer-term view of its development. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Moss Park Infant School, 16 °17 May 2007 .

p.7

Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Moss Park Infant School, 16 °17 May 2007

p.8

Inspection judgements

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

p.9

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 1 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

p.9

Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 2 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

p.9

learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The behaviour of learners 3 The attendance of learners 1 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 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

p.9

and interests of learners?

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

p.9

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: Moss Park Infant School, 16 °17 May 2007

p.9

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: Moss Park Infant School, 16 °17 May 2007

p.10

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

On behalf of the inspectors I would like to thank you for welcoming us to your school and telling us about all the interesting things you do. Moss Park is a good school where all the teachers and other adults work hard to make your lessons exciting and enjoyable. Because you like your lessons and work hard, most of you do well in your work. You know how healthy eating and exercise are good for you. You told us you enjoy the visits you go on, and the visitors who come into school. Your mums, dads and carers think that your school is good, and we agree with them. You understand the 'Golden Rules', and so you know how to behave excellently, in lessons and around the school. There are lots of ways you help around the school, such as being a school councillor or a register monitor. You also raise money to help people who are in trouble or less fortunate than yourselves. All these things make your school a good place in which to work.

p.11

Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

We have asked your teachers to help you do even better and reach higher standards, by telling you what you need to do next to improve your work. When they mark your work we want them to tell you how you can do better. You can help too, by thinking about how you could do even better, and whether you are working as hard as you can. 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Moss Park Infant School, 16 °17 May 2007

p.11