Mauldeth Road Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Mauldeth Road Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

All pupils, including children in the early years, are happy, polite and respectful of others. They are sociable and interact kindly with one another.

Pupils told the inspector that they feel safe in school.

Leaders have high expectations for pupils' achievements. Pupils follow a broad and suitably ambitious curriculum.

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve highly.

Pupils understand and demonstrate the school's shared values of kindness, courtesy and cooperation. They are proud of their school, and they en...joy attending each day.

Pupils behave well during social times. Leaders deal with any incidents of bullying swiftly and competently. Children and pupils look forward to exploring learning outside and in the school's yurt.

Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school. They value how their children are cared for as individuals by staff.

Leaders have designed a wide range of activities to develop pupils' interests.

For example, pupils enjoy the different sporting clubs on offer, such as gymnastics and cricket.

Leaders ensure that pupils are well informed about their next steps at secondary school. For instance, former pupils returned to school recently to talk about their career paths during an 'aspirations week' for pupils in Year 5.

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

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum, which staff deliver well. In many subjects, including reading and mathematics, leaders are clear about what pupils need to know and the order in which it should be taught. However, in a small number of subjects, leaders have not identified the key knowledge that pupils should learn.

In these subjects, pupils do not secure as deep a body of knowledge as they do in other subjects.

Teachers use their strong subject knowledge to deliver the curriculum with clarity for pupils. They routinely check on pupils' understanding and swiftly tackle their misconceptions.

Staff do not introduce new concepts until they are sure that pupils have understood their learning. Any gaps that arise in pupils' knowledge over time are addressed quickly by teachers. As a result, the work that pupils produce is of a high quality.

They take care with their work, and they are eager to succeed.

Leaders have prioritised pupils' speech and language development from the Nursery class to Year 6. Children in the early years benefit from a carefully planned curriculum.

They settle well and are prepared effectively for the demands of Year 1.

Reading is the focal point of the curriculum. The abundance of high-quality texts on offer capture pupils' interests.

Leaders have succeeded in creating a school where pupils love to read. Children begin learning phonics in Nursery. Leaders have ensured that there is a consistent approach to the delivery of the phonics curriculum.

This helps pupils to read with confidence. Staff use assessment strategies well to identify those pupils who need further help. Those pupils who struggle with reading are given extra support from staff.

This helps them to catch up quickly. As a result, almost all pupils can read fluently and accurately by the end of Year 2.

Leaders quickly identify the additional needs that pupils with SEND may have.

Staff put in place effective support to help these pupils to successfully access the same curriculum as their peers. Parents of pupils with SEND spoke highly of the support that their children receive.

Leaders have carefully designed opportunities to widen pupils' experiences.

Pupils learn how important it is to respect and celebrate the differences between people. They are welcoming to all people, showing respect for those of race or religion different to their own. Pupils' achievements in extra-curricular activities are celebrated regularly in assembly.

Pupils learn about democracy, and they are keen to elect school councillors to represent their class.

Staff regularly remind pupils about the high expectations for behaviour. Consequently, learning in the classroom is seldom disrupted.

Strong and respectful relationships between staff and pupils contribute to the serene atmosphere in the school.

Staff told the inspector how leaders consider their well-being and workload. Staff feel supported, and they enjoy working at the school.

Governors are informed well about the quality of education for pupils. This helps them to hold leaders to account effectively.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have created a strong safeguarding culture. They have ensured that staff are trained effectively in how to spot the signs that may indicate that a pupil is at risk of harm. Staff know the procedures to follow for reporting any such concerns.

Leaders act on these concerns in a timely manner.

Leaders secure help from other agencies for those pupils and their families who may need it. Pupils learn about keeping healthy and what to do in an emergency.

They learn how to keep themselves safe online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of foundation subjects, leaders' curriculum thinking is not as well developed. In these subjects, leaders are not clear enough about the knowledge that they want pupils to know and remember.

As a result, pupils do not secure as deep a body of knowledge as they do in other subjects. Leaders should ensure that they are clear about the knowledge that pupils should learn so that pupils can build successfully on what they know already.

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 January 2014.