St Mary's Church of England Aided Primary School, Prestwich

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 12 February 2025

St Mary's provides a nurturing environment, where pupils feel welcomed, valued and included. Pupils have extremely positive relationships with others. This creates an atmosphere of mutual respect among staff and pupils. Pupils' behaviour is exemplary. They actively resolve differences that arise between themselves on the playground. Older pupils are thoughtful members of the school community. They are strong role models for younger pupils. Children in the early years settle well and approach their learning with curiosity and enjoyment. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), respond well to the high expectations that are set for their learning. This is evident in many subjects across the curriculum. It is especially true in the high proportion of pupils who meet the expected standard in the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1. Pupils enjoy a wide range of high-quality activities that enhance the wider curriculum. There is an extremely well-considered approach to developing pupils' leadership skills. This enables older pupils to take on roles that develop their sense of responsibility and citizenship. Pupils also enjoy exciting tasks, such as designing and creating their own products as part of an enterprise project that aids their personal development.

What the school should improve

• In a small number of subjects, and in some aspects of the early years curriculum, the school has not identified clearly enough the key knowledge that it wants pupils and children to learn. As a result, pupils' recall of their learning is not as strong as it is in other curriculum areas. The school should be more specific about the content of the curriculum in these subjects to help pupils to know and remember more.
• In some subjects, the arrangements to assess what pupils know are not clear enough. As a result, teachers do not have the information that they need to check on whether pupils have remembered the intended learning. As such, there are gaps in some pupils' recall of key knowledge. The school should ensure that there are more effective assessment arrangements in place to help teachers to develop pupils' understanding even further in these subjects.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)