Mansfield Woodhouse school is meeting the standards set by Ofsted

St Edmund’s Primary & Nursery School on Church Hill Avenue, was rated as ‘meeting the expected standard’ in achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, leadership and governance and personal development and wellbeing.

However, inspectors felt the school still ‘needs attention’ when it came to early years and inclusion.

In their report, inspectors said: “In this school every pupil feels welcomed, cared for, safe and that they belong.

"This is largely due to the warm, compassionate relationships that staff develop with pupils as a priority.

“Pupils are eager to arrive each morning and appreciate a ‘high five’ from leaders at the gate.

"The school has high expectations for pupils’ behaviour and staff support pupils well with consistent routines.

"Pupils do their best to follow the school’s ‘sixcess’ values which they know by heart.

"Playtimes are happy as pupils respect each other and get on well.

"Unkindness or hurtful behaviour, such as bullying, is generally rare.

“Pupils enjoy learning and feel teachers make their lessons fun.

"Teachers typically teach the school’s ambitious and engaging curriculum well.

"As a result, pupils reach the standards expected for their age overall.”

On achievement, inspectors said pupils ‘talk enthusiastically about their learning in subjects’, they are ‘developing appropriate knowledge’ and can make ‘sound connections between current and earlier learning and their written work clearly shows this knowledge’.

They noted attendance has improved over the past two years to be close to national averages overall, including for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, due to leaders keeping close track of pupils’ attendance and alerting families when there is a concern.

However, they added that leaders are ‘not analysing their information precisely to help regain higher, pre-pandemic levels of attendance’.

On the curriculum, inspectors praised the ‘breadth of engaging experiences, such as visits from authors and practical work, bring the curriculum alive’ while keeping ‘appropriate emphasis on the essential knowledge that pupils should gain’.

They added that teachers are ‘knowledgeable and deliver the curriculum well’.

Inspectors also praised leaders’ ‘ambitious vision for the school’ and how it provides a ‘thoughtful personal development programme’ for pupils.

In early years, which inspectors said needed attention, the report said: “Staff do not deliver the new early years curriculum consistently.

"While many interactions with children help move their learning forward, there is too much variation.

"Leaders have introduced a new approach to check children’s learning but currently, staff do not use this information sufficiently well to adapt the provision to address gaps in children’s development.”

On inclusion, which also ‘needs attention’, inspectors said: “The school has not identified pupils’ needs and barriers to learning quickly and accurately enough.

"Leaders have not checked thoroughly the impact of the additional support they provide.”

The report noted that leaders recognised this and changes were underway but these were ‘in the early stages of implementation’.

On what the school needed to do to improve, inspectors said: “Leaders should complete and embed the new systems and processes that support inclusion, and communicate their pupil premium strategy effectively.

"Leaders should embed the recent improvements in the early years provision and ensure staff deliver the curriculum consistently well.

"Leaders should ensure that staff make more effective use of assessment information to adapt the curriculum and teaching, ensuring they quickly address any gaps in knowledge.

"Leaders should analyse and evaluate the effectiveness and impact of the school’s work, particularly on vulnerable groups of pupils.”

Anthony Brandy-Webb, head teacher, said: “We’re making strides, we’ve got a whole new leadership team in place and I think the Ofsted report would summise that we’re on a journey.

"There weren’t any surprises, we evaluated the school where we thought it was and Ofsted agreed with us.

"So we’re really happy with the outcome but we know there is work to some in areas.

"Overall though, being a Church of England School, what we’re incredibly proud of, and what the inspection recognised, is that we’re caring, welcoming school with happy and respectful pupils with strong relationships and we’re improving outcomes.

"The inspection commented on the committed staff team we have and that we have a lot of ambition and integrity and the inspectors saw that the school knows itself well and we’re moving forward with clarity and purpose.

"Overall, it was a very positive experience.”