Milby Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Milby Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 17 July 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 October 2015.

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You, together with the leadership team and governors, continue to ensure that the school is caring, welcoming and attractive.

Parents, carers, staff and pupils were very positive about the school. All of the parents I spoke to were very happy. ...They said that staff and leaders were approachable, and that their children were happy and felt safe in school.

Some parents said how they and their children had been well supported in difficult circumstances. The majority of the parents who responded to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View, said that their children were happy and felt safe and that they would recommend the school. All of the staff who responded to Ofsted's online questionnaire said that they were proud to be a member of staff and enjoyed working at the school.

Pupils are friendly, polite and well mannered. They were very eager to speak to me at lunchtime and as part of a formal group. They told me that they were happy in school, had good friends and felt safe.

They said that bullying was very rare but if it did happen teachers quickly stopped it. Pupils said that they particularly enjoyed their topic work. Pupils spoke very knowledgably and articulately about this and other aspects of school life.

You, other leaders and governors have an accurate view of the school's strengths and areas which can be further developed. Governors know the school well and offer strong support and challenge. Leaders are ambitious for the school.

However, they are aware that there are still inconsistencies in the level of challenge offered to pupils to ensure that they achieve as highly as they can. Recent initiatives have been securely established in most year groups and have succeeded in raising standards and strengthening progress. At the previous inspection, leaders were asked to raise academic standards even higher and continue to improve the quality of teaching by ensuring that teachers always build on what pupils know and understand.

You have successfully introduced new practices to ensure that attainment and progress are carefully checked. Training for teachers and the moderation of pupils' work have developed staff's knowledge and understanding. You have also ensured that teaching assistants received training.

Staff now accurately assess pupils' starting points and work successfully as a team to support pupils' progress. Significant staff changes and absences have led to some inconsistencies in practice but you have taken action to make sure that teaching is consistently of a high quality. Leaders were also asked to ensure that all staff have the same expectations of how pupils will behave and what they will achieve in lessons.

You and your staff have reviewed the behaviour policy, developing a staged approach with clear expectations and consequences. It is consistently applied. Pupils know the rules and expectations, and think it is fair.

At the time of my visit, pupils' behaviour in lessons and on the playground was exemplary. Leaders were asked to strengthen systems for gathering information about children's starting points when they first join the school so that their progress could be checked with greater precision. Staff now carefully gather and analyse information from the many nurseries the children have attended and collate this with their own baseline assessments.

This results in a more accurate assessment of children's starting points. Staff use this information carefully to ensure that children make as much progress they are capable of. Safeguarding is effective.

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. The designated safeguarding leaders work effectively together and have established a strong culture of safeguarding across the school. All staff and governors are fully trained and receive regular updates.

You have put strong procedures in place to ensure that staff understand their roles and responsibilities and respond quickly to any concerns. The appointment of a pastoral support leader has supported vulnerable pupils and families. Leaders and staff know pupils well and seek support from outside agencies if required.

Child protection records are securely stored and all records are well documented. Leaders carry out all statutory pre-recruitment checks. Leaders and governors have undertaken training in safer recruitment.

Governors take health and safety seriously. They carry out regular safety checks. The site is secure and well maintained.

Notices around the school remind visitors and parents of safeguarding matters. You and the leadership team ensure that any pupils with medical needs are well supported. All staff follow the established routines for administering medicines or first aid.

Pupils told me that they learn how to keep themselves safe. They talked about stranger danger, and road and fire safety, including a mature understanding of the importance of regular fire drills. They spoke about their lessons in personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education and lessons on how to keep safe online.

Pupils knew about their personal rights and that they should speak to an adult about any worries. Inspection findings ? I looked at the curriculum offered to pupils. Leaders are reviewing the curriculum to ensure that pupils are able to develop the skills and knowledge they need to learn in depth.

You have supported subject leaders to review their areas of responsibility and map out the key areas of learning. You plan to build on the themed curriculum which is based on high-quality texts and discussing ideas before writing. The themes enthuse the pupils.

They enjoy the books they study, the writing opportunities and cross-curricular links. Pupils told me that they like to see their work on display. They said that this makes them feel proud and they find the displays 'inspirational'.

• You know that some subjects in the curriculum need to be strengthened. Subject leaders are ensuring that their subject plans include first-hand learning. They are also making links to visits and visitors to school.

You and the staff promote British values well. For example, pupils have opportunities to apply for roles and responsibilities in school and learn about a wide range of religions. ? I also looked at the quality of writing in key stage 1.

I wanted to know if pupils were helped to develop secure writing skills. Writing on display and in pupils' books shows that pupils write in many styles. Pupils enjoy writing at length.

They use varied vocabulary, a neat handwriting style and good punctuation. At the time of the inspection, pupils in key stage 1 were busy enjoying writing poetry. Standards have risen by the end of Year 2 as a result of actions taken by the leadership team to raise expectations.

• I also investigated how well pupils are challenged and supported to achieve as well as they can. Leaders have changed the way assessment information for groups of pupils is checked and analysed. Leaders use this information to identify any staff training needs and any areas of weakness in pupils' learning.

You and other leaders ensure that staff know what pupils have attained already and what they need to achieve next. Teachers pass on books to the next class teacher to continue to ensure that there is no slippage in standards. This is resulting in stronger progress for all groups of pupils.

Occasionally, tasks do not sufficiently challenge pupils. This limits their progress and they do not reach the higher standards of which they are capable. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? work continues to develop the curriculum in order to provide rich and memorable learning opportunities in all subject areas ? all staff consistently have high expectations of pupils and challenge them to make the progress of which they are capable.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Warwickshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Tina Willmott Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met with you and the deputy headteacher to discuss the school's effectiveness, school improvement planning and self-evaluation.

I also met with the chair of the governing body and four governors. I spoke with pupils at lunchtime and with a group of pupils from Years 2 to 5 in the afternoon. I also had a telephone conversation with a representative of the local consortium of schools.

We visited most classes together, observed pupils' learning, looked at their books and talked to pupils about their work. I spent time with you and other leaders looking at pupils' books to evaluate the quality of writing, and progress and standards in mathematics, science and theme books. I spoke to parents at the start of the school day.

I took account of the 69 responses to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View, and the 63 free-text comments. I considered 17 responses to Ofsted's online staff survey. There were no responses to the pupil questionnaire.

I discussed pupils' progress information and monitoring information with you. I scrutinised staff recruitment arrangements and the schools' safeguarding procedures and documentation. I studied governors' minutes and reviewed the school's website.

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