Oswald Road Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Oswald Road Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a welcoming and nurturing school where pupils enjoy their learning. Pupils quickly become part of the school community and settle well. They were keen to tell the inspectors that one of the best features of their school is their teachers.

Pupils, including children in early years, are happy and safe at school.

The school has high expectations of pupils' learning. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are gaining from an ambitious and varied curriculum.

Pupils talk with enthusiasm about their work and live up to the s...chool's high expectations. They achieve well.

Pupils are kind and considerate towards each other.

Typically, classrooms are hives of activity. Pupils enjoy warm relationships with their teachers and support staff. Mostly, they listen carefully to teachers' instructions and do their best to work hard.

Pupils manage their own behaviour well.

Pupils relish taking on leadership roles in the school, including as eco-leaders and play leaders. Pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are encouraged to engage in a vast array of extra-curricular activities.

The school offers a wide range of activities that spark pupils' interest, including steel pans, creative writing club and the 'awesome art' club.

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

The school's curriculum is carefully designed to incorporate the knowledge, skills and wider experiences that the pupils at the school need. Careful thought has been given to what pupils are taught and the order in which pupils should build their knowledge.

All pupils, including pupils with SEND, access the same curriculum.

Across key stages, teachers deliver the curriculum well. In early years, children benefit from language-rich activities.

Across subjects, teachers break down learning into small steps to help pupils to acquire new knowledge easily. They plan regular opportunities to recap and reinforce pupils' learning. However, in some subjects, the assessment methods used to check what pupils know do not cover the particular knowledge that pupils have been taught.

This prevents teachers from identifying accurately, and building on, what pupils know and remember.

The school has made reading a high priority. It has selected a range of books and authors that reflect the diversity of pupils in the school.

This helps pupils to feel well represented and included. Older pupils are happy to talk about their favourite books and library visits. Reception children are taught phonics from the start.

This continues through key stage 1 with daily phonics lessons. This supports them to learn the sounds that letters represent quickly. Pupils, including pupils with SEND, are given reading books that match precisely the sounds that they have learned.

Pupils who need extra help to keep up with the school's phonics programme are quickly identified. The school ensures that they get the support that they need.

The school identifies the needs of pupils with SEND quickly and accurately.

Teachers are provided with up-to-date information on the additional learning needs of individual pupils. Additionally, teachers are provided with useful tools to help them adapt the delivery of learning activities effectively. This means that this group of pupils can access the same curriculum as their classmates.

Pupils with SEND take part in all the school has to offer.

Pupils behave well, and older pupils are excellent role models for younger pupils in the school. Pupils are caring towards each other and are respectful towards their teachers.

Everyone understands the rules and routines that should be followed.

Pupils' personal development is a high priority in this school. Pupils benefit from a plethora of learning activities relating to their cultural and moral development.

Pupils understand that everyone is unique and they celebrate different beliefs, faiths and cultures. There are ample opportunities for pupils to take part in educational visits linked to their learning. Pupils learn about the importance of keeping physically and mentally healthy.

In early years, children enjoy a wide range of activities that help foster their curiosity about the wider world.

The school has acted decisively to understand the impact of workload on staff's well-being. Consequently, the school has responded to staff's unique work pressures and taken steps to better support staff across the school.

This means that staff feel valued and are proud to work at the school. Staff said that they appreciate the open-door and transparent approach to working taken by the school. Governors support the school well.

The school actively participates in the wider community. It seeks to engage with parents and carers, charities and community organisations, such as Chorlton Good Neighbours, to contribute positively to school life. Parents are welcomed into school for activities such as play and reading sessions.

This helps the school and parents to work together in supporting pupils' learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, teachers' checks on learning do not cover the precise content that has been taught.

This prevents them from identifying accurately, and building on, what pupils know and remember. The school should ensure that assessment strategies are more precise so that teachers can build more effectively on pupils' prior learning and, in turn, help pupils to know and remember more.

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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in September 2018.