Cheshire school told to improve as inspectors find "gaps in pupils' knowledge"

The headteacher of a Cheshire primary school says she remains "confident pupils will continue to flourish" despite inspectors calling for improvement. Ofsted visited Marlfields Primary Academy in Congleton over two days back in March.

The Waggs Road school, which caters for just under 200 children, was rated as 'requires improvement' overall having previously been judged as 'good' back in 2017. The inspection ruled that 'the quality of education' and 'leadership and management' needed to improve while the three other areas under scrutiny - behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and early years provision - were all deemed to be 'good'.

The recently-published Ofsted report states: "Pupils enjoy learning and feel happy in school. They value the warm, supportive relationships that they have with staff. Pupils told inspectors that staff ‘really care’ about how they feel. The pupils are very accepting of each other. The school has high expectations for what children should achieve in the early years, including those in the provision for two-year-olds.

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"This extends to subjects such as reading and mathematics, where pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well. However, the school is working to finalise its expectations for what pupils should learn in some curriculum subjects. The school does not ensure that pupils gain a deep body of knowledge in these subjects.

"Pupils behave well in lessons. The atmosphere in classrooms is calm and purposeful. Pupils strive to be the best that they can be. The school’s rules, ‘be safe, be ready and be respectful’, ensure that everyone understands what is expected of them."

It adds: "The school has designed an ambitious curriculum that is interesting to the pupils. In some subjects, the school is at an early stage of identifying the specific knowledge that pupils need to know. Consequently, teachers do not have enough guidance on what they should teach and when they should teach it. In these subjects, some lessons do not build well on what has come before.

"This leads to pupils developing gaps in their knowledge, or only gaining a superficial understanding of what they are taught. Staff deliver engaging lessons that pupils enjoy. However, in some subjects, the curriculum is not delivered as the school intends it to be. This means that, at times, the activities provided to pupils do not support them to learn as well as they could.

"Strategies to check how well pupils learn the curriculum are underdeveloped. This means that the school is not sure what pupils know and remember. In turn, the school is not well placed to address some of the knowledge gaps and misconceptions that pupils have.

"Most staff enjoy working at the school, and they are passionate about ensuring that pupils have a variety of experiences. However, some staff do not feel that their workload is considered effectively. Trustees and governors use their experience and knowledge to support and challenge the school. This includes to improve the quality of education that the school provides. However, they have not had sufficient oversight of some of their key statutory responsibilities."

In a letter to parents, headteacher Sandra Isherwood admitted that the inspection outcome wasn't a complete surprise. She wrote: "Through our own self-evaluation and other recent accountability measures we knew that in some areas of the new Inspection Framework we may not keep our existing grading of good."

The letter added: "Marlfields remains the same school today - under the new judgement - as it was as a ‘good’ school. We are confident pupils will continue to flourish and staff will continue to go above and beyond in their efforts to support children to achieve their full potential.

"We will take on the feedback from our latest inspection and we are happy to review the place that knowledge holds in our curriculum; however, we will continue to finalise our ambitious, exciting, and active curriculum that we have been recognised as having to give a broad and balanced offer to our pupils.

"Marlfields is a school that has served our local community for nearly 50 years. Our mission, in line with our vision, is not to achieve a single word judgement but to encourage children to develop a love of lifelong learning. We will continue to welcome our thriving groups of pupils through the doors of the school with big smiles and open hearts."

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