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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Mr J Roper Headteacher All Saints C of E Primary School Churchill Street Heaton Norris Stockport Cheshire SK4 1ND

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design

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of the staff and pupils, during my visit on 19 January to look at work in art, craft and design.

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design

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.

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design

The evidence used to inform the judgements included interviews with staff and pupils, scrutiny of relevant documentation, analysis of pupils’ work and observation of five lessons; including in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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design

The overall effectiveness of art, craft and design is good

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Achievement in art, craft and design

Pupils’ achievement in art, craft and design is good.

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Achievement in art, craft and design

 From well below average starting points when children enter Nursery, they make good progress in their creative development. Although below average by the time they enter Year 1, the gap between their achievements and that for similar-aged children narrows well because of the interesting and varied opportunities provided and the careful assessment of their work.  By the time they leave Year 6 pupils’ attainment is similar to that found nationally and occasionally above, representing good achievement given their starting points. All groups of pupils make similar rates of progress because they are well-supported and encouraged by all adults.  Pupils’ display good behaviour and personal attitudes and apply themselves enthusiastically to their work; which they say they thoroughly enjoy.  Children in the Early Years foundation stage were seen thoroughly enjoying designing their own patterns on the computer, making 3d ‘stick-men’ in the

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Achievement in art, craft and design

style of Miro’s, ‘People and dog in the sun’, or investigating primary colours in the work of Matisse.  From often similar starting points in lessons, pupils confidently express their own ideas and responses; indeed they indicate that this is what they like best about art. They also say they enjoy drawing from observation, imagination and experimenting in the style of chosen artists they research.

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Quality of teaching of art, craft and design

The quality of teaching of art, craft and design is good

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Quality of teaching of art, craft and design

 Good relationships between teachers and pupils build pupils’ self-esteem successfully. Teachers enable pupils to talk articulately about their views of artists studied and their own developing work. For example, Year 4 pupils compared their work competently to the style and techniques used by the artist Kahlo.  Teachers are enthusiastic about the subject, plan lessons diligently, including careful planning for the development of skills and techniques.  Classrooms are well organised so pupils can work in groups, pairs or independently at appropriate times and teachers provide a thoughtful range of materials and tools, from which pupils can chose.  Formal assessment is being developed further. Currently, assessment opportunities are identified in all teachers’ plans. These, opportunities, along with pupils’ self and peer assessments and teachers’ ongoing feedback in lessons, make sure all pupils know how well they are doing and

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Quality of teaching of art, craft and design

help identify what they need to do to move their learning on quickly.  Sketchbooks are used across the school, although senior leaders know that more consistently effective use needs to be made of them.

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Quality of the curriculum in art, craft and design

The quality of the curriculum in art, craft and design is good.

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Quality of the curriculum in art, craft and design

 The curriculum is well planned to ensure there is always something to interest and excite pupils as well as to develop their skills and knowledge further. It also makes certain that pupils can develop and practice skills in a variety of linked subjects; such as pattern and symmetry in mathematics.  There is good coverage of work in two and three dimensional media, with a range of opportunities to work through direct observation and imagination.  The use of information and communication technology in art is developing well and pupils have good opportunities to experiment and achieve in image making through photography and a range of software.  An after-school art club provides additional support to pupils with particular talents in the subject.  Pupils have a satisfactory range of opportunities to visit galleries and work with local artists or craftworkers and plans are in place to improve this.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management of art, craft and design

The leadership and management of art, craft and design are good.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management of art, craft and design

 Senior leaders have successfully placed art, craft and design at the heart of the school’s cross-curricular approach to learning; in order to raise pupils’ aspirations, attainment, encourage risk-taking and build their confidence and self-esteem.  The coordinator is an expert-teacher in the subject and shares her good practice across the school, coaching, training, advising and modelling techniques and materials to pupils as well as the team. She keeps abreast of current practice through her work as a national lead teacher for children who have special gifts in art and through visits to local and national galleries.  Regular monitoring of art, planning and classroom activities ensures accurate identification of strengths in the subject and areas that could be better. A straightforward action plan has been developed to tackle the few remaining areas identified for improvement; such as refining formal

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

 embedding the good practice in the use of sketchbooks seen in some classes across the school  ensuring the developing cycle of formal assessment takes full account of the ongoing teacher, pupils’ self and peer assessments.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop art, craft and design 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 sent to your local authority and will be published on the Ofsted website under the URN for your school. It will also be available to the team for your next institutional inspection.

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