Midgley School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Midgley School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

The school motto 'learning, caring and growing together' underpins school life. Pupils enjoy learning at this friendly school. They care about others and the environment.

Everyone in school is proud to play an important part in the local village community.

Leaders have high expectations for every pupil. They have made sure the curriculum is broad and interesting.

This is evident in the many examples of pupils' work displayed around the school. Pupils are proud of their learning. They enjoy sharing it with their families at the weekly celebration assemblies.

Behaviour in l...essons and at break times is good. Pupils are keen to learn and get on well together. Relationships between pupils and adults are warm and positive.

Pupils trust the adults in school to help them if they have any worries. Pupils say that there is very little bullying or unkind name calling. They are confident that adults will sort it out if it does happen.

There are many opportunities for learning beyond the classroom. Leaders have reintroduced after-school clubs, starting with outdoor and sporting activities. Throughout the pandemic, pupils have benefited from the rich experiences provided by the forest school.

The eco team is working hard to help the school achieve the Eco-Schools Green Flag.

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

Leaders have planned the curriculum carefully to meet the needs of pupils in mixed-age classes. All pupils are able to study an appropriate breadth of knowledge for each national curriculum subject.

This includes those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

The curriculum journey begins in the early years. Children practise what they learn in lessons as they explore the stimulating environment.

They are well prepared for the curriculum in Year 1 and beyond. In mathematics and reading, teachers break learning down into small and well-sequenced steps. This helps pupils to build on what they already know and to remember more of what they learn.

It also helps teachers to identify and address gaps in pupils' knowledge. Leaders have not mapped out these small steps as consistently in the wider curriculum. They know this is the next step in helping pupils know and remember more in all subjects.

Teachers work hard to make sure everyone in school enjoys reading. Their enthusiasm is infectious. They read to pupils for pleasure whenever they get a chance.

The library and class reading areas are comfortable and inviting. There is a wealth of interesting books for pupils to enjoy. Children begin to match sounds to letters as soon as they start Reception Year.

They read books that match the sounds they know. As a result, they enjoy reading with confidence. Adults make sure pupils keep up in phonics lessons.

They give extra help throughout the day to help pupils remember more sounds. Some pupils, who fell behind during the pandemic, get extra help to catch up every day.

Pupils are confident in mathematics.

They say that what they already know helps them to learn more. Pupils in Year 6 explained how they were using their knowledge of algebra to enlarge shapes. Teachers check that pupils are keeping up by asking questions and asking pupils to explain how they know.

They make sure pupils get extra help if they are stuck.

Teachers bring learning to life by planning educational visits and bringing expert visitors into school. For example, pupils in Years 1 and 2 were fascinated when a historian showed them clothes and toys from the 1980s.

Pupils appreciate these experiences and say that they help them to remember important facts. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 were able to learn more about the vikings when they visited Lindisfarne on their residential trip. Some pupils explained what they had learned about Sikh culture and religion on their visit to a Gurdwara.

Pupils behave well in school and when they are representing the school in the outside world. The school receives many compliments about this. Pupils are active members of the local and wider community.

They enjoy taking part in many village traditions, including well dressing and the village fete. Pupils care about the problems faced by other people and raise money for many causes. When they heard that a nearby school had been badly damaged in a fire, they were keen to help.

The school council has been involved in the renovation of the local playground. They helped to put together the bid for funding and designed the new playground.

Staff are very proud of the school and are happy to work here.

They say they are well supported by senior leaders. They feel that senior leaders do all they can to make the staff workload manageable.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The procedures for checking, recruiting and training staff are thorough. Staff have regular safeguarding training. They know the signs to look out for and what to do if they have any concerns over pupils' welfare.

Leaders take prompt action to ensure pupils are safe, including enlisting the help of outside agencies when necessary.

Pupils are able to seek help if they have any concerns. They know they can speak to staff or post a worry in the 'worry monster'.

Pupils learn how to keep safe through assemblies and the PSHE and computing curriculum. These include themes such as internet safety and appropriate relationships.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In foundation subjects, leaders have not broken down the curriculum into small steps as effectively as they have in English and mathematics.

This leads to some variability in how well teachers identify gaps in knowledge and help pupils build on prior learning. Leaders should break down the knowledge and skills they want pupils to learn in all curriculum subjects consistently well.

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

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 6 January 2012.