Maybury Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Maybury Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 25 April 2019, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings.

The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in May 2015. This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

This is a school that provides a high degree of care and commitment for pupils. You and your leadership team are ambitious and expect the best for the pupils you provide for. The school is well organised and there are clear routines in place..../>
Displays around the school demonstrate the high expectations you have of staff and pupils. You are passionate about your work and are committed to ensuring pupils receive a broad and interesting curriculum. Pupils have many opportunities to widen their experiences.

The opportunities pupils receive to enjoy music are an example of this. Pupils' success at local music festivals demonstrates that the teaching they receive is effective. Leaders use assessment information carefully to check how well pupils are achieving and act quickly to ensure that they help any pupils who are falling behind.

You and your leadership team have accurately identified what needs to be done to improve. You have detailed plans in place to make the necessary improvements to the school. You are ably supported by the assistant headteachers, who are reflective and forward-thinking.

The staff team are supportive of you. They welcome your support and appreciate that you consider their well-being as you continue to improve the school. Pupils enjoy excellent relationships with staff.

The overwhelming majority of parents would recommend your school to other families. Parents feel that their children are safe at school and that they enjoy the lessons you provide. In classrooms, pupils work with enthusiasm, focusing on their work throughout lessons and providing each other with good support.

Pupils are polite and courteous to visitors and are sensible when they move around the school. Following the last inspection, inspectors identified that teachers needed to ensure that pupils take more pride in how they present their work. You have provided teachers with guidance about how you would like pupils to set out their work.

Teachers and pupils use this consistently and work in books is well presented. Pupils have regular opportunities to practise their handwriting. The school's handwriting policy is used consistently by all staff.

As a result, pupils' handwriting in books is neat and legible. As pupils move through the school, their handwriting develops well. By the time pupils leave key stage 2, they are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

During your previous inspection, inspectors identified that pupils should have more opportunities to improve their spelling. You have reviewed the way you teach spelling and pupils now have more opportunity to discuss spelling patterns within English lessons. You have also changed the way that pupils are grouped for the teaching of spelling.

Teachers are now more aware of the individual needs of pupils. As a result, pupils' average spelling score, when they leave key stage 2, has increased and is now above the national average. Safeguarding is effective.

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding requirements are fit for purpose. As a result, staff are vigilant and know what they need to do should they have any concerns about pupils or the conduct of adults. You have thorough checks to ensure that newly appointed staff are fit to work with children.

Those responsible for governance provide you with appropriate challenge to ensure that your safeguarding procedures are adhered to. You have effective procedures for reporting concerns. The designated safeguarding leader uses this information to identify any patterns in the incidents reported so further action can be taken to support pupils.

Pupils say that they feel safe in school and also say that bullying is rare. They know that you will act swiftly if they come to you with any concerns. They know that their problems will be resolved.

Pupils speak with confidence when talking about how to stay safe online. You provide the pupils with a wide range of information about how they can stay safe through planned opportunities in the curriculum. For example, pupils in key stage 2 enjoy learning about road safety through the cycle training you provide.

Inspection findings ? The proportion of pupils reaching the higher standards in writing at the end of key stage 2 has been below the national average for the past two years. In 2018, the progress that pupils make across key stage 2 has been average. I wanted to find out what you are doing to ensure that pupils make better progress across key stage 2 so that more pupils reach the higher standards.

• The subject leader for English is knowledgeable about the subject. She checks the quality of teaching and learning frequently and provides staff with good support. The English leader has worked with colleagues from other academies in the trust to produce guidance.

Consequently, teachers know what is expected of pupils in each year group. She has reviewed the way writing is taught. Pupils in key stage 1 now spend more time focusing on developing their vocabulary and sharpening their basic skills in handwriting, grammar and punctuation.

This prepares pupils well for key stage 2, where they are expected to use these skills to produce longer, more complex pieces of writing. ? When we looked at the work in pupils' books, we found that, overall, pupils make good progress. Pupils get the opportunity to write for a wide range of purposes.

For example, pupils in Year 6 enjoyed developing their knowledge about witch hunters before writing a non-chronological report. Teachers in some classrooms give opportunities for pupils to edit and improve their work. Where this is done well, evidence of pupils' work shows that the quality of writing has improved and pupils are making good progress.

However, this is not yet used effectively in some classrooms. Work in pupils' books shows that activities are well matched to the needs of most groups of pupils. However, in some classes, we found that there were occasions when the most able pupils were not sufficiently challenged.

You agree that this is an important area for development. ? In 2018, the proportion of pupils reaching the higher standards in mathematics was below the national average in both key stage 1 and key stage 2. The progress that pupils made across key stage 2 was average.

During your previous inspection, inspectors identified that teachers needed to plan activities more carefully to provide all pupils, including the most able, with work that is challenging. I wanted to find out what you have done to ensure that pupils make better progress in mathematics and that more pupils reach the higher standards by the time they leave your school. ? The mathematics leader has worked closely with colleagues in the local area to develop her knowledge of mathematics.

She has used this training to work alongside staff to plan activities and provide useful advice. The mathematics leader works alongside teachers who are new to the school to ensure that they understand the school's approaches and provide a consistent approach in their teaching. Leaders use assessment information well to identify gaps in pupils' learning.

Teachers use this information to plan activities that help pupils to overcome any gaps in their learning and consequently, pupils' progress improves. ? Teachers use equipment effectively to help pupils to understand tricky mathematical concepts. Teachers use questioning well to encourage pupils to explain their answers so that they have a deeper understanding of number.

Evidence of work in books shows that pupils receive a broad mathematics curriculum. Pupils have good opportunities to use the skills they are taught to solve problems and to develop their ability to reason. Books show that most groups of pupils now make good progress.

However, in some classes, the most able pupils are not sufficiently challenged. This limits the progress that they make. You recognise that this remains an important area for improvement.

• The proportion of children reaching a good level of development in the early years has been below the national average for the past three years. I wanted to check what you have done to ensure that more pupils reach this level. ? Most children enter the school with skills that are below those normally expected for their age and, overall, they make good progress.

As soon as children enter the school, teachers carry out checks to identify the individual needs of children. Evidence of children's work shows that these checks provide an accurate picture of their starting points. The early years team continue to check, regularly, the attainment and progress of pupils throughout the year.

This information is used to make adjustments to the classroom environment, to inform teachers' planning and to decide how groups of children are organised. There are good systems in place to share information about children as they move into Year 1. Towards the end of their time in the early years, children have opportunities to spend time in the Year 1 classroom to get to know their new teacher.

Leaders and teachers have formed good relationships with parents and families. There are a number of opportunities for parents and carers to visit the school to find out about their child's education. ? The classroom environment is well organised and provides opportunities for children to enjoy a broad curriculum.

When adults support individuals and groups, their interactions help children to learn. Adults ask questions that guide children's thinking and they encourage children to focus on their work. However, independent activities are sometimes not planned well enough.

Some activities lack purpose and this means that children spend too much time carrying out tasks that do not extend their learning. Activities do not always meet the needs of the most able children in the Reception year and this means that their learning slows. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? all teachers plan work that is sufficiently challenging for the most able pupils in writing and mathematics so that more pupils reach the higher standards ? all pupils are given opportunities to further improve their writing so that final pieces of writing are of a higher standard ? in the early years, independent activities are planned more carefully so they are purposeful and provide appropriate levels of challenge for all groups of children.

I am copying this letter to chair of the board of trustees and the chief executive officer of the multi academy trust, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Kingston Upon Hull City Council. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Jaimie Holbrook Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met you and other senior leaders and explained my lines of enquiry.

I also met with a member of the governing body, representatives from the multi-academy trust, the subject leaders for English and mathematics, the early years leader and the designated safeguarding leader. There were 38 responses to Ofsted's online survey, Parent View, and no free-text comments. There were 18 responses to Ofsted's questionnaires for staff and 16 responses from pupils.

I reflected carefully on these responses. We visited classes together in key stage 1 and key stage 2. I observed pupils' behaviour in lessons and looked at samples of pupils' work.

I viewed a range of documents, including leaders' evaluation of the school's current performance and its plans for further improvement. I considered a number of policy documents, including those for safeguarding. I examined the school's website to check that it meets statutory requirements on the publication of specified information.