Cheadle Catholic Junior School

Cheadle Catholic Junior School Inspection report

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Age group 7–11 Inspection date(s) 06–07 March 2012 Inspection number 377356 Unique Reference Number 106112 Local authority Stockport Inspection number 377356 Inspection dates 6–7 March 2012 Lead inspector Judith Tolley

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 340 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Brendan O'Shea Headteacher Christine Robinson Date of previous school inspection 1 December 2008 School address Conway Road Cheadle Hulme Cheadle SK8 6DB Telephone number 0161 4853754 Fax number 0161 4828106 Email address headteacher@cheadle-jun.stockport.sch.uk You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child's school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when.

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

Judith Tolley Zahid Aziz Additional inspector Additional inspector David Halford Additional inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors observed 24 lessons, including joint observations with the headteacher, and saw 12 teachers. These included short visits to small-group work and guided reading sessions across the school, led by teachers and trained assistants. Meetings were held with groups of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and school staff, including senior and middle managers. The inspectors scrutinised pupils’ work, observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including the school development plan and the school’s analysis of pupils' progress. They also analysed 152 parents’ and carers’ questionnaires and others completed by pupils and staff. No responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) were available when planning the inspection.

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Information about the school

Cheadle Catholic Junior School is larger than the average primary school. Pupils are predominantly of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils who are disabled and those with special educational needs is lower than average. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is low. The school meets current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress. The school holds a number of awards including Activemark, the Eco-School silver award and Healthy School status. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Key Findings

■ This is a good school. By the end of Year 6 attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is high and pupils’ achievement from their starting points is good. High standards have been maintained over the last three years. Pupils enjoy reading and most read a variety of texts with fluency and understanding. The school is not outstanding because, although teaching and learning are good and there are pockets of outstanding practice, there remain some inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. In particular, in some lessons opportunities are missed to meet precisely the needs of groups of differing ability and accelerate their progress.

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Key Findings

■ Teaching is good. The school provides effective support for those pupils who are disabled and those with special educational needs, tailored closely to their needs. Teachers use themes imaginatively so that pupils are engaged and excited by activities. The emphasis on writing and on problem solving across the school effectively increases pupils' confidence and develops their communication and social skills. Although assessment information is used effectively to plan next steps, it is not always used precisely enough in lessons, so that on occasions some pupils find work too easy or too difficult. Teachers usually give good guidance to pupils about how to improve their work but the very good practice evident in marking in English is not consistent across all subjects.

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Key Findings

■ Behaviour is good. Pupils typically behave well in lessons and say that learning is fun. Attendance is above average. Pupils have very positive attitudes towards learning, work well with others and are courteous and polite. They say they feel safe in school.

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Key Findings

■ The headteacher, senior staff and the governing body monitor the school’s work closely and provide clear direction. Actions taken to address weaknesses identified at the last inspection have proved successful, providing a clear indication of the school’s good capacity to improve further. The monitoring and performance management by the senior leadership team have had a positive impact upon improving the quality of teaching and learning and the use of assessment. Although subject specialists provide good advice and support, their role in leading and developing teaching in their subjects and in curriculum planning is not fully developed.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

■ Improve the quality and consistency of teaching to that of the best by:  using assessment information more effectively in lesson planning to meet the needs of groups of differing ability within classes more precisely  improving the quality and consistency of the written guidance pupils receive so that they know exactly how to improve their work in all subjects, and involving pupils themselves in deciding how to improve their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

■ Further develop the role of subject leaders in driving improvement in the teaching and learning of their subjects across the whole curriculum.

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Achievement of pupils

Parents and carers have very positive views about the school and agree with inspectors that achievement is good. Many pupils join the school with attainment which is above average in relation to that expected for their age. Pupils make good progress in relation to their starting points. Boys and girls achieve equally well and gaps in the performance of different groups of pupils have closed so that there is no significant difference in the achievement of different groups. As a result of well- tailored intervention programmes and individual support for pupils who are disabled and those with special educational needs, these pupils make good progress and are able to participate fully in activities alongside their classmates.

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Achievement of pupils

By the end of Year 6 pupils' attainment in English and mathematics is high. Attainment in reading in Year 6 is also high. Most pupils read a variety of texts fluently and with understanding. They skim and scan for information, identify how authors and poets use literary devices for different effects and use these effectively in their own writing. Most pupils apply their mathematical skills confidently to solve problems. Although, when they join the school, the quality of most pupils’ writing is above average in many aspects, it is hampered for some by inaccuracy in spelling and by the quality of their handwriting. Some younger pupils sometimes have difficulty with spellings because of insecure knowledge of letters and sounds. However, as a result of the emphasis the school places upon bridging these gaps in pupils’ learning, this is rapidly remedied. Nonetheless, pupils are less skilled at applying their writing skills in subjects other than English.

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Achievement of pupils

In lessons learning is good and pupils participate enthusiastically in activities, especially when working with a partner or a small group to explore ideas and solve problems. In a Year 5 English lesson pupils displayed great interest and enthusiasm, working collaboratively to piece together evidence from a crime scene linked to ‘The Highwayman’ they had been reading, and to produce a newspaper report based on their conclusions. Pupils respond positively to frequent opportunities they are given to explore ways of solving problems and confidently explain their conclusions to the rest of the class, having discussed their ideas with a partner.

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Quality of teaching

Parents and carers say that teaching is good. Inspection findings endorse this view, although there remain some minor inconsistencies across the school. Display is used effectively to stimulate pupils’ interest, support their learning and celebrate their achievements. Teachers give clear demonstrations and explanations so that pupils rapidly understand new ideas. Teachers and teaching assistants are skilful in their use of questioning to support and extend pupils’ thinking both in whole-class activities and in small-group work. Pupils, including the youngest, are frequently asked to share and explain their thinking to others. This effectively develops their speaking and listening skills and promotes their respect for the views of others. For instance, in a Year 5 mathematics lesson, pupils were asked to demonstrate and explain their strategies for checking a supermarket bill to the rest of the class. This

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Quality of teaching

they did clearly and confidently and weighed up the advantages and disadvantages of the different methods proposed. Teachers use the curriculum well so that in most lessons imaginative activities engage and excite pupils’ interest. This promotes pupils’ confidence and enjoyment in learning. Teachers encourage pupils to work together collaboratively and to respect one another’s views. Pupils have frequent opportunities to practise their reading and writing in a variety of contexts but opportunities are sometimes missed to practise their mathematical and scientific skills across the wider curriculum.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers use assessment information effectively to place pupils in teaching groups and to plan pupils’ next steps but do not always plan in sufficient detail for groups of differing ability within lessons. On occasions, resources provided lack the guidance some lower-attaining pupils need so that they do not always manage to complete the tasks in the time allowed. Higher-attaining pupils are not always given the challenge they need to produce their best work. Marking is regular and usually gives good guidance about how to improve. However, the very thorough marking to improve writing in English is not always found in other subjects. Pupils often evaluate each other’s work and know how they are getting on but are not involved in deciding how to improve their work.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Behaviour is good. Parents, carers and pupils are confident that any poor behaviour is dealt with effectively and promptly. The school has an effective system of rewards and sanctions. Pupils typically behave well in lessons and around the school. They say learning is fun and they are enthusiastic about their learning and their reading. They enjoy school and attendance is good. They have very good relationships with each other and are courteous and polite. Pupils display high levels of concentration and, when working in pairs or groups, organise themselves swiftly and without fuss. In a Year 6 lesson pupils worked together in pairs and small groups to explore their reasons for preferring one Elizabeth Jennings poem over another. This they did in detail and with enthusiasm, resulting in insightful explanations about the effectiveness of the imagery used which had affected their decisions. In the few

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

instances where pupils lose interest or become restless it is usually because the pace of learning slows or they have to wait too long to begin activities.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils know how to stay safe and healthy and have a good understanding of the risks to which they may be exposed, both within and outside of school. Pupils display enjoyment in the daily ‘Wake Up, Shake Up’ activities and know the importance of a healthy diet, as the popularity of fruit and salad at lunchtime illustrates. Incidences of bullying are rare and parents, carers and pupils express confidence in the school’s systems for dealing with occurrences. There were no racist incidents recorded in the last two years and there were no instances of cyber-bullying. Pupils are proud of their school and their achievements, such as creating a house system and helping younger pupils to settle into the school. They take responsibilities seriously, for instance as school councillors, members of the Eco Group, playground leaders and as buddies for younger children.

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Leadership and management

The headteacher, strongly supported by the deputy, provides very clear educational direction, based firmly on a rigorous analysis of pupils’ progress, close monitoring and an accurate evaluation of the school’s work. Members of the governing body play an active part in the school’s self-evaluation, monitoring and improvement- planning processes. Strategies to improve the quality of teaching, such as joint planning across year groups, have proved successful in sharing good practice and in achieving a good level of consistency in curriculum planning. Although subject specialists use their expertise to good effect in helping to plan the curriculum, they are not fully involved in driving improvement in the teaching of their subjects and spreading the best practice which exists across the whole school. As a result, minor inconsistencies in teaching remain. Safeguarding procedures meet requirements, policies are regularly reviewed by the governing body and staff are kept up to date

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Leadership and management

with training. Issues from the previous inspection have been tackled successfully.

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Leadership and management

The curriculum is good and ensures a suitable balance of activities. Although in lessons there are some inconsistencies in matching work to ability, overall the curriculum meets the needs of pupils well, including those pupils who are disabled and those with special educational needs. As a result, the promotion of equality of opportunity for success is good. The focus on reading and writing, together with the development of an imaginative curriculum, has had a positive impact upon pupils’ progress as well as on their enjoyment and independence as learners. Although pupils have frequent opportunities to practise their writing and reading in a variety of contexts, opportunities are missed to practise their scientific and mathematical skills in topic work. A wide range of activities, such as themed weeks and days devoted to specific subjects, broaden pupils’ experience significantly and lead to an enthusiasm

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Leadership and management

for learning. Visitors and visits, including a residential visit as well as opportunities to work with artists and writers, are all greatly valued by pupils and enrich the taught curriculum. Pupils learn to reflect and appreciate their own skills and the skills of others. The school has a firm stance with regard to any form of discrimination. Pupils celebrate others’ diverse talents. This reflective approach, together with collaborative work, is very successful in increasing pupils’ confidence and promotes their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils' needs. Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well. Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils. Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Nursery schools 46 46 8 0 Primary schools 8 47 40 5 Secondary schools 14 38 40 8 Special schools 28 48 20 4 Pupil referral units 15 50 29 5 All schools 11 46 38 6

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements have been introduced from 1 January 2012. This means that inspectors make judgements that were not made previously.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 August 2011 and represent judgements that were made under the school inspection arrangements that were introduced on 1 September 2009. These data are consistent with the latest published official statistics about maintained school inspection outcomes (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ).

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

The sample of schools inspected during 2010/11 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Primary schools include primary academy converters. Secondary schools include secondary academy converters, sponsor-led academies and city technology colleges. Special schools include special academy converters and non-maintained special schools.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning and development taking account of their attainment.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils' work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Behaviour how well pupils behave in lessons, with emphasis on their attitude to learning. Pupils' punctuality to lessons and their conduct around the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving based on its self-evaluation and what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the governors and headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school's overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils' attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Safety how safe pupils are in school, including in lessons; and their understanding of risks. Pupils' freedom from bullying and harassment. How well the school promotes safety, for example e-learning.

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to share with their children. It describes Ofsted's main

findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Cheadle Catholic Junior School, Cheadle, SK8 6DB

I would like to thank you all for making us so welcome when we visited your school recently. We really enjoyed talking to you and listening to some of you read. You told us how much you enjoy your learning and how proud you are of your school. We agree with you. You go to a good school. It's an exciting place to learn with lots of things to do. We were very impressed by your good behaviour and the way you get on with each other and adults in your school. We think that you all make a really important contribution to your school through the school council, the Eco Group and as buddies for younger pupils.

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Inspection of Cheadle Catholic Junior School, Cheadle, SK8 6DB

You make good progress and your attainment is high in English and mathematics. Your teachers work very hard to make lessons interesting and fun and their teaching is good. We were particularly impressed by how well you read and you told us how much you enjoy your reading. We did notice that on occasions in lessons some of you find work too easy or too difficult so we have asked the teachers to make sure you are always given the right amount of challenge or support so you can always achieve your best. We think that you get some really good guidance about how to improve your writing in your English books so we have asked teachers to make sure you are given the same good guidance in other subjects as well. You can help by deciding for yourselves how you could improve your work. We noticed that you get the opportunity to practise your writing and reading in your topic work and this is helping you to improve your work in English. We have asked the teachers to find

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Inspection of Cheadle Catholic Junior School, Cheadle, SK8 6DB

ways that you can practise your mathematical and scientific skills in other subjects too. We have also asked the teachers to continue to work together to make sure all lessons are as good as the best. You told us that the staff look after you very well and we agree. The headteacher and staff are working very hard to make your school even better. You can help by continuing to work hard. We wish you every success for the future and hope that you continue to enjoy your learning.

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Inspection of Cheadle Catholic Junior School, Cheadle, SK8 6DB

Judith Tolley Lead inspector procedures set out in the guidance 'Complaining about inspections', which is available from Ofsted's website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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