West Street Community Primary School

West Street Community Primary School Inspection report

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Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 12–13 March 2012 Inspection number 379745 Unique Reference Number 119174 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 379745 Inspection dates 12–13 March 2012 Lead inspector James Kidd

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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 Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 157 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Ian Graham Headteacher Sarah Burtoft Date of previous school inspection 19 November 2008 School address West Street Colne BB8 0HW Telephone number 01282 865840 Fax number 01282 863542 Email address head@weststreet.lancs.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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You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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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

James Kidd Clarice Nelson-Rowe Additional inspector Additional inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors observed 12 lessons or part-lessons taught by six members of staff. They also visited the nurture group in the ‘Sparkle Room’. They held meetings with three groups of pupils, three members of the governing body, including a parent member, a representative of the local authority, academic and pastoral staff and the senior leadership team. Inspectors took account of the responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection, observed the school's work, and looked at school improvement planning, internal and external pupil progress data and reports written by the School Improvement Partner. They also scrutinised 42 questionnaires completed by parents and carers, as well as those returned by pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

This is a smaller than average-sized primary school with fewer girls than boys. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is more than twice the national average. The percentage of pupils from minority ethnic groups is high but there are few pupils who speak English as an additional language. There are a broadly average proportion of disabled pupils or pupils with special educational needs, but an above average proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs. More pupils than average join or leave the school other than at the usual times. The school met the government floor standard in 2011, which set the minimum expectations for learning and progress.

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Information about the school

West Street Community Primary is a nationally-accredited Healthy School, holds the Activemark for its work in physical education and has the Financial Management Standard in Schools. There have been several staffing changes since the previous inspection, including the appointment of two new assistant headteachers. 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 satisfactory school which is improving apace. Areas for improvement from the previous inspection have been tackled successfully and, as a result, pupils’ attendance is higher and their progress is beginning to accelerate. It is not a good school because both achievement and teaching, although improving, are satisfactory over time.

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Key Findings

 Although still below average by the end of Year 6, attainment has improved year-on- year since 2009. This represents satisfactory achievement overall, given children’s low age-related skills on entry to the Nursery. Boys’ skills in writing are improving, but their attainment in this area lags behind that of girls. Focused support by committed teaching assistants means that disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make good progress in their studies.

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Key Findings

 The quality of teaching is satisfactory but strong leadership of teaching and management of performance by senior leaders continue to have a positive impact: there is now no inadequate practice and an increasing proportion of good and outstanding teaching. The school recognises, however, that the high levels of pupils’ independence in learning, noted particularly in Reception, are not always transferred into Key Stage 1.

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Key Findings

 Pupils are proud of their school and feel safe within it. They behave well in lessons, around the site and when representing the school outside its walls. They have a good understanding of the many different forms that bullying can take and say that such behaviour is rare. Relationships between pupils and between pupils and the adults who work with them continue to be a major strength.

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Key Findings

 The inspirational headteacher and talented senior team lead by example and there is a clear, shared vision among all staff for how the school is to develop. Self-evaluation is both honest and accurate and the school has a good capacity to sustain its improvement.

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Key Findings

Schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory may receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Continue to improve boys’ attainment in writing by: - giving them more opportunities to talk about their work before they put pen to paper - embed opportunities for sustained writing across all subjects of the curriculum, through themes which engage boys more in their learning - further developing activities with parents and carers to help them support their children with writing.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Continue to improve teaching so that so that all is consistently good or outstanding by: - providing more opportunities for staff to coach each other and to share good and exemplary practice across the school - ensuring that pupils in Key Stage 1 learn as independently as children in Reception, facilitating more rapid pupil progress.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils are generally fully engaged in their lessons and treat their peers and the adults who work with them with dignity and respect. They enjoy learning and enter their classrooms eager for the challenges of the day ahead.

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Achievement of pupils

The school’s emphasis on promoting pupils’ skills in reading through regular phonics sessions is bearing fruit. By the end of Year 2, attainment in reading is approaching national expectations and by the end of Year 6 it is broadly average. In both key stages, levels of fluency and expression are improving and pupils are becoming more adept at pronouncing complex words. On occasions, however, pupils do not always understand the full meaning of what they are reading. The proportion of pupils reading independently and for pleasure is increasing.

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Achievement of pupils

Children’s skills on entry to the Nursery are generally much lower than those expected for their age, particularly in personal development and in communication, language and literacy. They make satisfactory progress overall in the Early Years Foundation Stage setting, but progress in the Reception class is accelerating, as a result of a good balance between teacher-led and child-initiated learning. Attainment by the end of Year 6 has improved significantly over the past three years. It remains below average, but the 2011 Key Stage 2 results were the best in the school’s history. Pupils’ achievement is, therefore, satisfactory, but demonstrates sustained improvement since the previous inspection. Although improving, boys’ attainment in writing is lower than that of girls but the school could increase opportunities in lessons for boys to test out their ideas with their classmates before they begin their assignments.

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Achievement of pupils

Small group and individual support sessions led by skilled teaching assistants are having a positive impact on the learning of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. As a result, these pupils make good progress and achieve well. Another positive impact of this close support is the narrowing of gaps in performance of different groups, those whose circumstances make them potentially vulnerable, for example, compared to all pupils nationally. Parents and carers have a justifiably positive view of the progress their children are making and comment, ‘The school has helped my child’s learning a great deal. They receive exactly what they need.’

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Quality of teaching

The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall but is improving strongly, with an increasingly higher proportion of teaching which is good or outstanding. Leaders are now concerned to develop coaching activities and to provide more opportunities for staff to share good and exemplary practice across the school. All parents and carers who returned the questionnaires are entirely satisfied with the teaching their children receive. Good relationships, realistic challenge for all groups and high expectations of what pupils can achieve are the hallmarks of teaching across the school. In the best lessons, an outstanding session in the Reception class, for example, children often take the lead in initiating learning activities, often answering the telephone in the ‘hairdressing salon’. The school recognises, however, that this high level of independence in learning is not always transferred to classes in Key Stage 1. Opportunities to facilitate better progress, therefore, are sometimes missed.

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Quality of teaching

Assessment is thorough and marking gives pupils accurate advice on how they can improve their work.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers’ questioning in class often requires pupils to think more deeply about the subject- matter and to justify their answers with extended comment. On occasions, however, there is too much teacher direction and pupils do not always benefit from activities which meet their learning needs closely enough. Nonetheless, when given opportunities to find things out for themselves, pupils in Years 3 and 4 researching the Titanic disaster, for example, set to with a will and surprised themselves at what they have achieved.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching has a sound impact on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and promotes pupils emotional development strongly. There are, however, insufficient opportunities within the planned curriculum for boys to practise their writing in all subjects and particularly through themes which engage them in their learning. Both teaching and the curriculum are complemented well by a range of workshops to give parents and carers advice on how they can help their children with their learning. Currently, the school is planning sessions to advise parents and carers how to support their children with writing.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

All pupils interviewed and all parents and carers who returned the questionnaires have understandably positive views about behaviour and safety. Pupils, for example, have a keen awareness of what makes an unsafe situation and how they can keep themselves secure. They talk convincingly of ‘stranger danger’ and of how they must use the internet safely. They also point to the older pupils who support them and to the teachers and other staff who, they say, ‘Are always there if we need them’. Pupils support for each other is apparent as early as the Reception class, where children introduce their friends to visitors and are patently proud of the successes of their classmates. They play together happily, share willingly and tidy up the room collaboratively with a skill which belies their years. Parents and carers speak with one voice about the good care, guidance and support their children receive and a typical comment is, ‘Staff do everything possible to ensure our children

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

receive the support they need and they keep them safe.’ The nurture group, which meets in the ‘Sparkle Room’ and which is run sensitively by a well-qualified team of teaching assistants, is just one example of how effectively the school promotes pupils’ social and emotional well-being. Pupils in the setting are delighted to show visitors their work on display and to explain to them the topics they are studying.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils have a good understanding of the many different forms bullying can take, including cyber-bullying and name-calling as a result of prejudice. The school is most certainly a racially-harmonious community and pupils represent and celebrate a wide range of cultures, traditions and religions. They comment that bullying does happen, but, in their words, ‘only once in while’, and that when it does occur staff treat it seriously and tackle it effectively.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils behave well in lessons, around the school environment and also when on educational visits. Attendance has improved markedly since the previous inspection. It is now just above average and rising.

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Leadership and management

Principled leadership from the headteacher and senior team and active support from the well-informed and challenging governing body ensure that staff at all levels of responsibility and experience have the same overriding objective: to provide each individual pupil, irrespective of their abilities and circumstances, with activities and support which promote their personal, emotional and academic development. Indeed, as a result of accurate self- evaluation, effective professional development and well-founded action plans for improvement, the school has emerged successfully from a challenging period of instability in staffing. Moreover, there have been marked improvements in teaching, achievement, attendance, and provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage. However, the school rejects complacency and ongoing improvement is the order of the day with clear evidence of capacity for this to be sustained. Staff work well as a team and challenge each other to

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Leadership and management

The creative curriculum is developing well. It is broad and balanced and the vast majority of parents and carers who returned the questionnaires believe, quite rightly, that it helps their children to develop their skills in communication, reading, writing and mathematics. There is a wide range of well-attended enrichment and extra-curricular activities and pupils speak highly of the many clubs to which they can belong, the ‘Glee Club’ and street dancing club to name but two. The curriculum has a good impact on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and the well-thought-out assembly programme encourages pupils to think deeply about the world and their rights and responsibilities within it. It also ensures that they see the value of working together and how this can benefit everyone. In the same way as the pupils have a high regard for their school, staff are proud of West Street too. A

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Leadership and management

member of the administration team spoke for many with the words, ‘West Street has a heart!’

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Leadership and management

The school rejects all forms of discrimination and promotes equality of opportunity seriously and well. Safeguarding and child protection policies and practice are fully in place, ensure that pupils are safe in school and meet current government requirements.

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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 West Street Community Primary School, Colne BB8 0HW

Thank you for the lovely welcome you gave us when we came to inspect your school recently. A special ‘thank you’ goes to those of you who came to talk to us on Monday lunchtime and to the members of the ‘Sparkle Room’ who chatted with us in the afternoon. You were all very friendly and polite and we enjoyed watching you learn. Here is the letter we promised to write to you, to tell you what we found.

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Inspection of West Street Community Primary School, Colne BB8 0HW

West Street gives you a satisfactory education, but it is improving all the time. Your attendance is now much higher than it used to be and the standards you reach in your work are getting better and better. We have asked your teachers to give boys in particular more chances to talk about their work before they begin to write, so that their writing becomes as good as the girls’! We also think it would be a good idea if all of you had more opportunities to write in every subject you study.

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Inspection of West Street Community Primary School, Colne BB8 0HW

You behave well in lessons and around school and you take good care of each other. You told us that the grown-ups who work with you look after you well too and you are certainly right about that! The teaching you receive is satisfactory but this is getting better too. To keep this improvement going, we have asked your headteacher and all the other staff to share their ideas with each other and also to help those of you in Key Stage 1 to find more things out for yourselves. We are sure you will want to do this.

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Inspection of West Street Community Primary School, Colne BB8 0HW

We know that you are very proud of West Street and we hope that will continue to come to school as often as you can. Thank you again for your kindness to us and congratulations on your marvellous singing of ‘Bridge over Troubled Water’ in assembly on Monday. Please keep working hard and looking after each other.

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Inspection of West Street Community Primary School, Colne BB8 0HW

James Kidd 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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