Midfield Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Midfield Primary School continues to be an outstanding school.

The headteacher of this school is Dan Osborn.

The school is part of The Spring Partnership Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by joint chief executive officers (CEOs), Corinne Sheehan and Gulcin Sesli, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by John Cliff.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is an exceptional school that is at the heart of its community.

Leaders have made the school a nurturing place for both staff and pupils. In partnership with parents and carers, the school works very successfully to meet pupils...' needs. Staff are highly committed to improving the life chances of all pupils.

They know pupils and their families extremely well. Everyone at Midfield treats each other with high levels of respect.

Leaders have the highest expectations for pupils' achievement and behaviour, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

All staff want pupils to achieve their very best, and pupils consistently do. They excel in their learning across the subjects.

Pupils are polite and courteous.

Their behaviour around the school is calm and orderly. Pupils understand the school rules and follow them well, both inside and outside the classroom. At social times, pupils play well together and take turns.

Pupils have trusted adults who they can talk to. They know that adults will sort out any incidents of unkind behaviour. Bullying is not tolerated, and any rare incidents are dealt with swiftly.

Pupils are kept safe and feel happy here.

As they get older, pupils enjoy taking part in a range of school-wide leadership opportunities. These include being playground monitors, oracy ambassadors and members of the junior leadership team.

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

The school has constructed a high-quality, ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum that has been designed meticulously for the school's context. Learning has been broken down into small steps. Consequently, teachers know precisely what to teach and when.

This includes the important vocabulary that the school expects pupils to know and use across all subjects and year groups.

Staff carefully choose activities and resources that support pupils to learn and remember the curriculum. They use strong, expert subject knowledge to explain concepts and enthuse pupils about their learning.

Pupils are accurate and precise when talking about the subject content that they have learned. They make meaningful links across their learning in different parts of the curriculum, and this helps to deepen their understanding of subject content further. As a result of all this work, pupils are confident and articulate, with a highly secure understanding of what they have been taught.

Pupils achieve consistently well. They are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage in their learning.

Leaders prioritise the teaching of reading.

In early years, this begins with a strong focus on developing children's communication and language skills. The school has also prioritised the teaching of phonics. Staff deliver the ambitious approach to phonics effectively.

They have high levels of expertise and confidence in teaching phonics because of the regular high-quality training and development that the school provides. Children begin to learn phonics as soon as they begin in the Reception Year. Books are closely matched to the sounds that pupils are learning.

Leaders regularly check that the early reading curriculum is implemented well. They make sure that pupils learn to read quickly. Those who need additional support are identified promptly and the school puts in place the right help.

Pupils said that they enjoy reading a wide variety of books and speak excitedly about their favourite books and authors.

Leaders are ambitious for pupils who are disadvantaged and pupils with SEND, including those who attend the additional resourced provision. Leaders and staff work closely with parents, and other agencies, as well as pupils themselves.

Early identification and precisely targeted additional help from adults enable pupils with SEND to access the same curriculum as their peers.

Wider curriculum opportunities are carefully planned to enhance pupils' learning. Pupils are provided with a wide range of experiences that are designed to help them to develop their confidence and character.

For example, pupils take part in many educational visits to museums, theatres and places of interest. They learn how to be respectful and kind. Pupils gain age-appropriate knowledge about healthy relationships.

They enjoy the range of clubs on offer, such as swimming, choir and performing arts. They are well prepared to contribute positively to society as responsible, active citizens in modern Britain.

Pupils' attendance is a top priority, with the school taking a number of effective steps to reduce absence and ensure that pupils arrive to school on time.

Leaders ensure that staff are given enough time to fulfil their roles. All staff spoken to said that leaders are approachable. Staff, including early career teachers, are proud to work at this school and said that they feel valued by leaders.

They know that leaders, including the local advisory committee and trustees, care about their well-being and work–life balance.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Background

When we have judged a school to be outstanding, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains outstanding.

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 outstanding in November 2017.