Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0300 123 1231 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mrs K Partridge Headteacher St Luke’s Church of England Primary School Eccles New Road Salford Greater Manchester M5 5NX

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education (PE)

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of the staff and pupils, during my visit on 13 January 2011 to look at work in PE.

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education (PE)

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified in the main text without their consent.

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education (PE)

The evidence used to inform the judgements included: interviews with staff and pupils; scrutiny of relevant documentation; analysis of pupils’ reports; and observation of three lessons, a morning exercise session and the playground at lunchtime.

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education (PE)

The overall effectiveness of PE is good.

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Achievement in PE

 Pupils develop a good range of skills in a wide variety of activities. They have a well-developed understanding of how to keep healthy and safe. Girls and boys, those from minority ethnic backgrounds and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities make similar progress. The needs of the most able and talented pupils are met well.  Pupils demonstrate outstanding leadership skills when taking responsibility for playground activities and officiating the games of younger pupils. The organisation of the playground, by the pupil leaders, at lunch and playtimes is excellent and it is a hive of happy and productive physical activity.  Pupils have highly positive attitudes to PE and sport. They enjoy lessons a great deal, behaviour is outstanding and a high proportion takes part in extra-curricular activities.

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Quality of teaching in PE

 Teachers, assistants and coaches communicate the value of the subject clearly to pupils. Through well-focused questions they place good emphasis on pupils understanding the impact of exercise on their fitness and health. Good focus is given to developing and using correct technical language.  Pupils say lessons are fun and challenging and that they learn a great deal. In most lessons, activities are planned well to ensure that pupils are highly engaged, physically active and learning new skills at a good rate.  Visiting coaches provide good specialist subject knowledge and they support the development of skills across a range of activities. Occasionally, lessons are not organised well enough to ensure sufficient physical activity and opportunity to practise and improve skills.  Assessment systems are satisfactory and improving. Pupils’ progress against National Curriculum criteria are assessed frequently. Pupils know

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Quality of teaching in PE

what they are aiming to achieve in each lesson but are less clear about what they should be achieving in the long term and the steps they need to take to get there.

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Quality of the curriculum in PE

The quality of the PE curriculum is good.

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Quality of the curriculum in PE

 The curriculum is well-balanced and includes a wide range of activities that pupils enjoy. Links with the local school sport partnership and many local sports clubs have helped to broaden the range of activities that is offered. A high proportion of pupils enjoy a wider range of extra-curricular activities and sporting competitions.  Staff follow a planned commercial scheme of work that is suitably adapted to fit in with the school’s development of a creative curriculum.  All pupils have at least two hours of physical activity each week and a good proportion experience at least three hours.  Opportunities for physical development in the Early Years Foundation Stage are not yet fully exploited, particularly where there are current temporary restrictions on outdoor space.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in PE

The effectiveness of leadership and management in PE is good.  The subject leader is highly enthusiastic, sets high expectations and encourages a strong commitment among staff to improve provision and good achievement. The subject has a positive profile across the school.  Positive relationships are well established with the school sport partnership, helping to enhance the breadth of the curriculum for pupils, to provide useful professional development for staff and to keep staff and leaders abreast of current developments in the subject.  A secure cycle of monitoring, review and improvement planning is in place and all staff contribute to the process. It results in well-focused actions and improvements, for example, to the breadth of the curriculum. Pupils are consulted, teachers’ planning scrutinised and lessons are observed. Monitoring of external provision has been more limited but is developing

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Effectiveness of leadership and management in PE

and leading to improved provision, for example in the organisation of swimming for pupils in Key Stage 2.  Systems to assess and record pupils’ progress are in place and continually improving. Information on pupils’ progress is not always analysed closely enough to fully identify strengths and areas for improvement within outcomes and provision.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 extending the monitoring and evaluation of external providers to ensure that all lessons meet the school’s high expectations  making better use of assessment to identify areas for improvement and evaluate the impact of actions taken on pupils’ outcomes  involving pupils more in assessing their own and each others’ progress and setting targets for improvement so that they know their next steps in learning  providing more extensive opportunities for physical development for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage, particularly outdoors and for gross motor skill development.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

I hope that these observations are useful as you continue to develop PE in the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

As I explained previously, a copy of this letter will be published on the Ofsted website. It may be used to inform decisions about any future inspection. Except in the case of academies, a copy of this letter is also being sent to your local authority.

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