Marton Manor Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Marton Manor Primary is a friendly and inclusive school.

Pupils say that they are happy and safe here. New leaders are starting to make changes which are focused on improving the school.

Pupils' behaviour and attitudes to their learning are positive.

Pupils listen well in lessons and enjoy learning. Bullying is rare. However, at social times of the school day, behaviour can be boisterous.

New leaders have recently introduced new systems to ensure that all staff deal with any incidents of inappropriate behaviour consistently and effectively.

Leaders and staff have high expectations for pupils. They are determined to ensure that all pupils, in...cluding those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), both in the main school and in the specialist resource provision, can succeed.

However, there is still much to do to ensure that the newly developed curriculum, for all subjects, is detailed enough to support teachers to adapt learning to meet the needs of all pupils.

Difference and individuality are valued at this school. Pupils are encouraged to develop understanding and empathy for others.

New leaders are looking for further opportunities to link learning about the wider world to the curriculum. They aim to enhance pupils' personal development by providing further enrichment opportunities in the future.

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

Recently, there have been a number of changes to leadership and staffing.

New leaders recognise that the curriculum lacks detail in several subject areas. They are currently working with leaders from the multi-academy trust (the trust) to make much-needed improvements.

In some subjects, leaders have started to create a detailed and ambitious curriculum.

They have identified the important knowledge they want pupils to know and remember. Leaders are focusing on supporting teachers to plan and adapt lessons to help all pupils, including those with SEND, to learn effectively. This work is at the earliest stages in many subjects.

Many subject leaders are new to their roles and do not know the curriculum well. They do not routinely check how the curriculum is being taught. As a result, pupils are not achieving as well as they could in some lessons.

Assessment of pupils' learning is not clear. This means that teachers do not sufficiently adapt learning to enable all pupils to succeed.

In subjects, such as mathematics and reading, pupils in key stage 2 achieve well.

However, leaders are refining the curriculum further to ensure that teachers have enough support to plan lessons that help pupils build learning over time.

Children in the early years get off to a great start. They thrive due to the caring and skilful support they receive from all staff.

Routines are well established. Staff focus on language development frequently with children. They are encouraged to talk about their learning, both to adults and to each other.

Children listen to stories daily. They explore their thoughts and ideas about the world through well planned, exciting learning opportunities. Learning does not align closely to other subjects across the school.

This, in part, means that learning does not always build over time as children move into Year 1 and beyond.

Early reading is an important priority in the school. Children in Nursery are encouraged to listen to sounds and describe them using ambitious vocabulary.

In Reception, staff use the school's chosen phonics programme, with some consistency, to teach children to read. Children practise using books that are usually well matched to their ability. However, leaders recognise that they need more resources to ensure that this is the case for all pupils.

Pupils who are finding reading more difficult have regular 'catch up' lessons with teachers. This is helping them to improve quickly.

Leaders are highly ambitious for pupils with SEND.

They ensure that staff are trained to give experienced and skilled support to pupils. The additional resource provision for pupils with complex learning needs provides a caring and nurturing environment. Leaders focus on ensuring that learning meets the needs of the pupils and also helps to prepare them for life in the future.

Pupils have opportunities to take part in sporting clubs and support a range of different charities. The personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education curriculum teaches pupils about important aspects of life in modern Britain. Leaders recognise that some important PHSE education learning is not secure for some pupils.

Where learning is not remembered, it is, in part, because the curriculum planning is not always coherent or well sequenced.

Historically the trust board and local governing body have not challenged leaders sufficiently or held them to account well enough. Trustees need to evaluate the information they receive to ensure that it gives them an accurate reflection of the school.

The trust is currently brokering a merger to improve wider school leadership in the future.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

New leaders have worked swiftly to improve the culture of safeguarding practice.

They have ensured that all staff have had relevant training. As a result, staff understand both local and national risks well. Leaders act on concerns swiftly.

However, systems to record behaviour, attendance and safeguarding are not robust enough. This does not place pupils at risk of harm, but there is a need for this aspect of safeguarding to be strengthened.

Pupils have an age-appropriate understanding of areas such as online safety.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, the important knowledge that leaders intend for pupils to learn has not been fully identified. This means that pupils' learning does not build progressively from the early years to Year 6. Leaders should ensure that they have identified the important knowledge they want pupils to know and remember and that this is planned progressively for all subjects.

Furthermore, teachers should then assess pupils' learning effectively, to ascertain if they are knowing and remembering more of the curriculum. ? The implementation of the curriculum is variable across subjects and classes. Some teachers do not adapt learning to meet the needs of all pupils.

This means that some pupils cannot access learning or do not make strong progress. Leaders should ensure that teachers understand and plan to meet the needs of all pupils in lessons. ? Many subject leaders are very new to their roles and do not have sufficient understanding of their curriculum areas.

This means that they are not effectively monitoring how well pupils are learning. They do not always know what is going well or where teachers need more support. Leaders must quickly identify where there are inconsistencies with teaching and/or where teachers need help to implement the curriculum as they intend.

• Newly introduced systems to record concerns about behaviour or safeguarding are not fully understood or used by all staff. This means that not all issues are known about or dealt with effectively. Leaders must ensure that there are robust systems to record safeguarding concerns, and that staff understand them and use them to follow up issues in a timely manner.

• The trust board and local governing body have not sufficiently held leaders to account for school improvement. This has led to decisions being made which have not ensured that all pupils receive a good quality of education. The trust board and local governing body must ensure that they are fully informed about school improvement decisions and assure themselves that the information they receive is accurate.