Urmston Primary School

Overview

Urmston Primary School is described as a place where pupils are fond of their education and strive to uphold values such as happiness, respect, and resilience. Leaders have successfully forged strong, trusting relationships with families, creating an environment where pupils feel safe and supported. The school has made considerable improvements to its curriculum, ensuring it is suitably ambitious and logically ordered to support pupil learning.

Strengths

• The early years provision is rated Outstanding, with children receiving an "exceptionally strong start" through well-structured phonics and reading programmes.
• Staff use assessment strategies skilfully in the main to check learning, particularly in the early years where they quickly reshape provision to address gaps.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified early and supported to learn the same ambitious curriculum as their peers.
• Behaviour is calm and orderly, with leaders maintaining high standards and dealing effectively with the "very rare incidents of bulling".
• Governors offer appropriate challenge and ensure leaders put pupils’ best interests at the heart of decisions, while staff benefit from high-quality professional development.

Areas to improve

• In a small number of subjects, teachers do not use assessment strategies sufficiently well to identify pupils’ misconceptions quickly enough, hindering some from connecting new learning with prior knowledge.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with staff being vigilant for signs of risk and pupils confident that they can turn to adults if worried.