School loses ‘good’ rating despite ‘calm and welcoming’ environment

A school in Oldham has lost its ‘good’ Ofsted rating despite the watchdog praising its ‘calm and welcoming’ environment.

Mayfield Primary School in Derker was told it ‘requires improvement’ because teaching is ‘not as effective as it could be’.  

Some pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) ‘struggle’ with learning because teachers aren’t always equipped to deal with their needs, according to inspectors.

The school, which has just under 400 pupils aged three to 11, was inspected in June. The recently published report emphasised how ‘happy’ pupils at Mayfield are. 

Ofsted inspector Claire Cropper wrote that pupils develop ‘strong friendships’, are ‘polite and respectful’ and that kids thought ‘staff make learning fun and help them if they find anything difficult’. 

She added that pupils benefitted from a ‘wide array of activities’, such as practising ‘working through business challenges’ in a team, which prepared them for future learning and life. 

The school, which is headed by Mark Couper-Barton has an ‘ambitious’ curriculum, according to Ofsted. But some kids were being let down as the school did not find and address all ‘barriers to learning’ that some pupils face. 

In particular, Cropper was concerned about pupils with SEND, stating: “The school does not make sure that the needs of some pupils with SEND are accurately identified. This means that some pupils with SEND struggle to access the curriculum because, for these pupils, their teachers are unsure how best to support them.” 

The new rating is a downgrade compared to the ‘good’ rating Mayfield received in their last inspection six years ago, after joining Cranmer Education Trust in 2016. Before converting to an academy the school had a track record of ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’ gradings going back to 2000.