Clayton-le-Woods Manor Road Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Clayton-le-Woods Manor Road Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is an extremely caring, inclusive and supportive school where all pupils learn. Pupils were keen to tell the inspector that one of the best features of their school is their teachers. Pupils, including children in the early years, are happy and safe at school.

Leaders and staff have high expectations of pupils' behaviour and achievement, including those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils live up to these expectations. They make excellent progress in the curriculum subjects.

Staff know pupils well and inspire confidence ...in them to give their best.

The school is a calm place where pupils are well behaved. Classrooms are typically hives of activity where pupils enjoy contributing to lessons.

Pupils know what bullying is and say that it does not happen often at this school. Leaders take the rare incidents seriously and take suitable action to resolve them.

Pupils love the outdoor space around the school.

Children in the early years enjoy planting seeds, growing fruit and playing in the mud kitchen. Older pupils love the outdoor 'chill out' zone. Pupils benefit from a vast array of extra-curricular clubs, trips and visits.

For example, they talk with relish about judo club, cookery club and sporting competitions against other local schools.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum for pupils. They have set out the essential knowledge and skills that pupils should learn.

Learning is thoughtfully sequenced and teachers implement the curriculum effectively. Teachers adapt the curriculum so that learning is well matched to the needs of pupils. As a result, pupils achieve highly.

Teachers expertly deliver the curriculum through activities that spark pupils' interests and match the intended curriculum outcomes. Pupils, including the most able, are regularly challenged to deepen their learning through thoughtfully designed activities. In lessons, teachers constantly check that pupils understand the concepts and methods being taught.

This means that they can swiftly address any misconceptions before moving on to new learning. However, in some subjects, teachers' checks do not cover the precise content that pupils have learned over time. This prevents them from identifying accurately, and building on, what pupils should know and remember.

Pupils treasure reading. Younger pupils, together with staff, parents and carers, regularly visit the library. This helps to foster a love of reading right from the very start.

Older pupils talk enthusiastically about their favourite books and authors. Many are reading ambassadors and relish taking part in activities such as 'the masked reader' and book swaps. They value their teachers regularly reading to them.

Leaders have placed a high priority on the development of the reading curriculum. This starts as soon as children join the school as three-year-olds. There is a consistent and rigorous approach to teaching phonics.

Leaders have trained all staff to deliver confidently the school's phonics programme. They have high expectations of the phonic knowledge pupils will acquire at key points from Reception to Year 2. Pupils enjoy reading books that are matched accurately to the sounds that they know.

Those who find reading more difficult are quickly spotted and given help to catch up.

Leaders have established rigorous approaches to identify the needs of pupils with SEND. They develop suitable support plans for these pupils, which staff implement effectively.

Teachers are adept at adapting the delivery of the curriculum. For example, they introduce topics and important vocabulary to small groups of targeted pupils before the lesson and revisit the content after the lesson. This helps to ensure that pupils with SEND access the same curriculum as their peers and that their needs are met effectively in the classroom.

Pupils are polite and well mannered. They manage their own behaviour well and learn to work independently. Adults ensure that rules are fair and consistently applied.

Children in early years listen attentively and engage in their learning. Older pupils are excellent role models for younger pupils in the school. Pupils value school and they attend well.

The school's curriculum extends beyond the academic and provides well for pupils' broader development. The personal, social and health education curriculum is well sequenced. This curriculum is enhanced through assemblies, external visitors and themed weeks across school.

Staff successfully promote pupils' understanding of equality and diversity. Pupils learn about the importance of keeping physically and mentally healthy. There are a range of roles that pupils can carry out which develop their sense of responsibility, such as eco-councillors and school and rights councillors.

Staff feel valued, and morale is high. They are highly appreciative of leaders' efforts to help to manage their workload and look after their well-being. They told the inspector that they love working at the school because they work collaboratively.

They said that the leaders' door is always open. Those responsible for governance have clear oversight of the school and support leaders in making decisions in the best interests of pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have clear policies and procedures in place to safeguard pupils. Leaders know the school community, pupils and families well. They are alert to the local and contextual risks that pupils may face.

Leaders ensure that staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities.

Leaders provide regular training for staff and governors. As a result, staff know how to spot pupils who may be at risk of harm.

They report concerns about pupils. Leaders respond quickly to those concerns and make referrals to outside agencies when required.

Pupils said that they feel safe in school.

They know who they can speak to if they are feeling worried or anxious. They are clear on how they keep themselves safe in school, in the local community and online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, teachers' checks do not cover the precise content that pupils have learned over time.

This prevents them from identifying accurately, and building on, what pupils should know and remember. Leaders should ensure that assessment strategies are more refined so that teachers can build more effectively on pupils' prior learning and, in turn, help pupils to know and remember more.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2014.