Setting

CfBT Inspection Services Suite 22 West Lancs Investment Centre Maple View Skelmersdale WN8 9TG T 0300 1231231 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 01695 566934 Direct F 01695 729320 gtunnicliffe@cfbt.com www.cfbt-inspections.com

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Mr D Mussell Headteacher Great Harwood St John's Church of England Primary School St John's Street Great Harwood Blackburn Lancashire BB6 7ES

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England Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 23 and 24 March 2011, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings.

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England Primary School

The inspection was the third monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures following the inspection which took place on 25 November 2009.The full list of the areas for improvement which were identified during that inspection are set out in the annex to this letter. The monitoring inspection report is attached and the main judgements are set out below.

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England Primary School

Progress since being subject to special measures – satisfactory

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England Primary School

Progress since previous monitoring inspection – satisfactory

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England Primary School

Newly Qualified Teachers may be appointed subject to the following qualifications: No more than one Newly Qualified teacher.

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England Primary School

This letter and monitoring inspection report will be posted on the Ofsted website.

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England Primary School

I am copying this letter and the monitoring inspection report to the Secretary of State, the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children's Services for Lancashire.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection which took place on

 Increase the proportion of good teaching to ensure that pupils make good progress and attainment improves by:  ensuring that lessons are planned to include a range of activities that relate to the needs of all pupils  sharing the best practice in teaching more systematically.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection which took place on

 Establish a rigorous system for monitoring and evaluating provision and outcomes.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection which took place on

 Develop the role of the governing body in evaluation and in challenging the school to improve through additional training.

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The areas for improvement identified during the inspection which took place on

 Raise attendance by working with low attending pupils and their families. January 2011

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Evidence

The inspector observed the school's work, scrutinised documents and met with the headteacher, groups of pupils, senior teachers and a representative from the local authority. A telephone discussion was held with the Chair of the Governing Body.

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Context

Since the last monitoring inspection there have been no changes to the school’s staffing or to membership of the governing body

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Pupils' achievement and the extent to which they enjoy their learning

Observations during the inspection show that overall pupils’ attainment is rising steadily. The progress made by pupils in lessons is significantly improving. In the great majority of lessons seen, pupils make good progress in learning; this is much more consistent than seen previously. Scrutiny of pupils’ work in books reveals that, over the course of the current school year, the rate at which pupils learn is increasing and standards attained are rising. School data show considerable variation in both the standards attained by pupils and in the rate of progress across subjects and year groups. For example, pupils’ progress in science is significantly less than in reading, writing and mathematics. Additionally, the progress made by pupils in Key Stage 1 is much stronger and more consistent than that in Key Stage 2. Overall, evidence shows improvement to the rate of progress since the last visit and recent

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Pupils' achievement and the extent to which they enjoy their learning

acceleration due to increasingly consistent good teaching. As a result, standards are rising but remain low across the school due to the legacy of underachievement.

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Other relevant pupil outcomes

Leaders in the school are successfully improving the rate of attendance which is higher than at a comparable time in the last academic year. Also, the percentage of persistent absentees is reducing. The pupils say that there are many incentives offered by the school to reward good attendance and these are having a positive effect in encouraging them to attend fully.

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Other relevant pupil outcomes

Progress since the last monitoring inspection on the areas for improvement:  Raise attendance by working with low attending pupils and their families – good January 2011

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The effectiveness of provision

The quality of teaching and learning is significantly improving. Monitoring by the school’s leaders and the local authority shows an increasing percentage of good lessons. The vast majority of observations made since the last inspection visit were judged to be good. Evidence from this inspection confirms this improvement. This greater consistent good provision is seen in a number of key areas. First, teachers’ planning is sharper and more focused on what pupils will learn. The classroom learning environments display a wider range of subjects and especially notable is the prominence of science. Many captions and prompts help to reinforce pupils’ prior learning which is motivated by bright displays of pupils’ work. Overall, the level of challenge for pupils is much higher, though for the highest attaining pupils it remains too low at times. Teachers deliver lessons with increasingly skilful techniques. For example, in a science lesson the pupils’ imagination and interest was

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The effectiveness of provision

wonderfully captured by a `magic trick’ organised by the teacher. Two pupils poured water from one container to another down a piece of string without spilling any. The pupils looked on in awe and disbelief. As a result, the level of interest and questioning from pupils was excellent and their learning about surface tension was outstanding.

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The effectiveness of provision

The consistency of good quality teaching and learning has developed during the year. Outcomes are improving, but the rate of improvement remains satisfactory, rather than good. There is too much variation. For example, improvements to the leadership of and provision for science are rapidly bringing about an improvement in science teaching and curriculum provision, but the progress made by pupils since the last visit is relatively weak. More time is needed for the full impact of improvements to be seen.

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The effectiveness of provision

Progress since the last monitoring inspection on the areas for improvement:  Increase the proportion of good teaching to ensure that pupils make good progress and attainment improves – satisfactory

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The headteacher provides an increasingly clear steer to the school’s improvement plans and actions. He is successfully building a staff team who share his ambition to improve the school and who embrace change enthusiastically. As a result, the provision in the school is significantly improving. Curriculum leaders are providing more-rigorous monitoring of the provision and outcomes for pupils. They examine teachers’ plans, scrutinise pupils’ work, analyse data and consider the outcomes of lesson observations. They are beginning to evaluate these and report to the headteacher and governors. However, evaluations lack consistency and accuracy. The format of reports differs between subjects and some evaluations are overgenerous regarding pupils’ progress.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

The governing body provides improving support to the school. Further training has been undertaken and minutes of meetings show increasingly effective strategic support for the school. The governors’ school effectiveness committee has met once since the last January 2011

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Page5 monitoring inspection. Minutes of this meeting show some challenge to school leaders regarding the rate of pupils’ progress. The school’s self-evaluation is at an early stage of development. Reports from the School Improvement Partner and school leaders are yet to contribute to the current process of evaluating the effectiveness of the school’s work.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Overall, there is improving rigour to the systems for monitoring the school’s work but the extent, accuracy and impact of evaluations need urgent improvement.

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The effectiveness of leadership and management

Progress since the last monitoring inspection on areas for improvement:  Establish a rigorous system for monitoring and evaluating provision and outcomes – satisfactory  Develop the role of the governing body in evaluation and in challenging the school to improve through additional training – satisfactory

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External support

The local authority provides good support to the school through the advisory and consultant services. The level of support to the headteacher has been reduced in recognition of the improving capacity within the school’s leadership team. A range of monitoring and training activities have been provided by consultants. For example, scrutiny of pupils’ work has been completed and the outcomes used effectively to target staff training and intervention programmes for pupils. This is helping to improve the quality of teaching and the progress for pupils. The School Improvement Partner’s report following two visits in the autumn term shows a suitable dialogue with the headteacher about pupil outcomes for the year 2009/10. However, there is no evidence of sufficient challenge to the school’s self-evaluation which is overgenerous. Also, there is insufficient evaluation of the school’s performance in the autumn term about pupils’ progress, the school’s targets and the overall rate of

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Priorities for further improvement

 Immediately improve the rigour and accuracy of the school’s self-evaluation by: - ensuring consistency in the format and presentation of leaders’ reports to the governing body - increasing the level of challenge provided by the School Improvement Partner or other services in this regard - providing training for staff and governors to improve their skills and understanding of evaluating data against national comparisons - ensuring that staff and the governing body are fully prepared for the self- evaluation requirements of re-inspection.

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