St Peter's Church of England Primary School

Age group 3 – 11 Inspection date(s) 20 – 21 March 2012 Inspection number 384865 St Peter’s Church of England Primary School Inspection report

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Unique reference number 105321 Local authority Bury Inspection number 384865 Inspection dates 20–21 March 2012 Lead inspector Jean Kendall HMI

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This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 which gives Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills (HMCI) the authority to cause any school to be inspected. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 3 – 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 270 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Bill Berry Headteacher Carol McLachlan Date of previous school inspection 24 May 2010 School address Whitefield Road Bury Lancashire BL9 9PW Telephone number 0161 7642017 Fax number 0161 7644284 Email address stpeters@bury.gov.uk 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

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after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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

Jean Kendall Her Majesty’s Inspector Doreen Davenport Additional inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out at no notice. Fourteen lessons were observed and all teachers were seen. Inspectors carried out a full scrutiny of pupils’ work in every class. They spoke to pupils in lessons and around the school, met with pupil representatives and listened to pupils read. They met with governors, staff and a local authority representative. Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at the school’s monitoring, self-evaluation, action planning and policies. Inspectors took account of the responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) in planning the inspection. The lead inspector met with a group of parents and carers.

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Information about the school

The school is larger than the average primary school. It has higher than average proportions of pupils who are from minority ethnic groups and who speak English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals fell in 2011 from above average to below average. The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is broadly average although a higher than average proportion are supported at school action plus or have statements. The Early Years Foundation Stage is provided through a morning and afternoon Nursery and a Reception class, located in an Early Years Unit. The school meets the government’s current floor standard for achievement at Key Stage 2 which sets the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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Information about the school

The school has undergone significant changes since its last inspection in May 2010 when it was judged to require special measures. There was an interim headteacher in post at the time of that inspection. The substantive headteacher took up post in September 2010. A deputy headteacher post was created and appointed to following that. A number of teachers have left the school and new teachers have joined. There is a new Chair of the Governing Body and several new governors. 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

In accordance with section 13(4) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures.

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Key findings

 The school is providing a satisfactory quality of education. Aspects of its work are good, including pupils’ behaviour and leadership and management. It is not yet good overall because there is some unevenness in pupils’ progress and attainment, particularly in writing and for higher-ability pupils. Inadequacies identified at the previous inspection have been fully tackled and pupils have made more rapid progress recently as improvements to teaching have become established. The school has a good capacity to sustain further improvement.

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Key findings

 Pupils make satisfactory progress across the whole school and good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Inadequacies that led to below average attainment in 2011 have been eradicated. Most pupils are now working at levels expected for their age, although attainment in writing lags behind.

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Key findings

 Teaching is satisfactory overall and there is some that is good. The learning environment has been transformed and classrooms are bright and stimulating. In the best lessons, teachers give very clear explanations and activities have just the right amount of challenge. Where progress is satisfactory rather than good, lessons lack this sharp focus.

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Key findings

 The behaviour and safety of pupils are good. They have positive attitudes to learning and are keen to do their best. However, opportunities for them to take responsibility for their own learning are limited in some lessons. Pupils feel safe and are happy to come to school. They make a good contribution, although there are limited opportunities for them to take responsibility as leaders.

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Key findings

 The headteacher provides good leadership and management of teaching and the school’s performance. Effective monitoring and professional development have developed teachers’ skills in delivering lessons using a range of teaching approaches. However, monitoring does not always have enough focus on 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

judging the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning.

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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?

■ Raise pupils’ achievement, particularly in writing and for more-able pupils, by:  ensuring all lessons provide pupils with clear explanations and criteria by which to measure their progress in learning  ensuring activities are precisely matched to pupils’ ability and prior learning to provide just the right amount of challenge  providing more opportunities for pupils to take responsibility for their learning, work independently and persevere with tasks.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

■ Build on the monitoring of teaching to evaluate its impact on pupils’ progress and to provide clear criteria for further improvement.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

■ Develop pupils’ roles and responsibilities around the school.

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Achievement of pupils

Children enter the Nursery with knowledge and skills that are mostly below those expected of children their age. Provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage has significantly improved, enabling children to make good progress across all areas of learning. Effective teaching and stimulating activities to promote independent learning are helping them to achieve in line with expectations for their age. Parents and carers who spoke with inspectors are pleased with the progress their children make in the Early Years Foundation Stage, stating that they are ‘always keen to go to school and happy when they return home’.

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Achievement of pupils

The pace of learning across the whole school is satisfactory over time and has become more rapid recently, as improvements to teaching have become established. Where it is most rapid, teachers build on pupils’ knowledge, experiences and interests to make learning meaningful. This was illustrated well in a Year 6 mathematics lesson where pupils applied their skills to solve challenging problems. Progress is slower in lessons where activities are not as precisely matched to pupils’ ability or they have limited time to practise their skills independently, particularly for higher-ability pupils.

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Achievement of pupils

Pupils in Year 2 are on track to achieve close to the national average in reading and writing and above average in mathematics. In Year 6 most pupils are achieving expected levels in their reading and higher than expected levels in mathematics, 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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Achievement of pupils

although attainment in writing lags behind. Effective intervention and support in class promote good progress for pupils with disabilities and those with special educational needs. There is a strong focus on language development across the whole school, which supports pupils speaking English as an additional language to make similar progress to their peers and achieve in line with similar groups nationally.

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Quality of teaching

Teaching is satisfactory and there is some good practice. Teachers have developed a broad range of approaches to keep pupils engaged in lessons. They use praise effectively to build pupils’ confidence and encourage their participation in question and answer sessions. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural skills are very well developed across the curriculum and through extra-curricular provision. In the most effective lessons, teachers provide clear explanations and explicit success criteria so that pupils can asses their progress in learning. Activities provide just the right amount of challenge to enable them to develop their skills independently. In a Year 4 lesson, for example, the teacher gave very clear success criteria for effective information writing based on pupils’ real life experiences. In Year 2, pupils enjoyed using alliteration in sentences and showed good levels of concentration because they

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Quality of teaching

were interested and challenged by the activity.

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Quality of teaching

The pace of learning is slower in lessons where pupils spend longer periods listening to the teacher, explanations lack clarity or activities are not at exactly the right level to enable them to practise their skills. Teaching is generally strong in mathematics, which has been a whole-school improvement focus. The teaching of writing is the current priority as pupils have some gaps in their writing skills. Pupils’ knowledge of structural features is generally good and their work is neatly presented. There are good opportunities to reinforce writing skills across the whole curriculum. However, their spelling and grammar are weaker and errors or misunderstandings are not always addressed. Pupils enjoy reading. Teaching helps them to work out unfamiliar words effectively but there are some missed opportunities to develop their comprehension.

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Quality of teaching

The headteacher has introduced effective systems to monitor pupils’ progress. This ensures that appropriate support is put in place for any pupils who are falling behind, those who need additional support with language and those who have special educational needs. There is a consistent approach to marking with helpful advice for improvement. Where it is most effective, teachers ensure pupils have opportunity to correct errors and consolidate learning on subsequent work. Inspectors agree with parents’ and carers’ views that teaching is ‘more exciting with many different activities and interesting visits’. Parents and carers appreciate being kept in touch with the children’s learning through homework but feel that it is sometimes repetitive and too time consuming. Inspectors agree that there could be more interesting ways to develop home learning. Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

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Quality of teaching

Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils’ behaviour is good. It has improved because teachers set clear expectations and pupils know and respect the school rules. They have positive attitudes to their work and try their best in lessons. On rare occasions when behaviour is inappropriate it is dealt with effectively by teachers. When pupils are able to work independently, they rise to teachers’ expectations, show sustained concentration and persevere with challenging tasks. Pupils generally have opportunities to answer questions and give their views but they have limited opportunities to take responsibility for their own learning in some lessons. They are keen to take on more responsibilities around the school and this is reflected by parents and carers, who would like to see children taking on leadership roles such as ‘friendship buddies’.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils are respectful, considerate and polite towards each other. They have well developed spiritual, social, moral and cultural skills. They enjoy learning and working collaboratively. Pupils from all backgrounds get on well together and contribute to the happy and welcoming school environment. They are interested in and show respect for different cultural traditions and religions. There was great excitement and wonder by all, when the eggs being incubated in the hall hatched into chicks.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Bullying or racial incidents are not a concern for pupils. They feel any incidents of any kind that might arise will be effectively dealt with by staff. They have a good understanding of moral issues and know how to keep themselves safe and healthy. Pupils feel behaviour is consistently good and the school’s secure safeguarding procedures help all pupils to feel safe. This is also reflected by parents and carers who said that ‘behaviour is not an issue but we can always talk to the headteacher if we have concerns’. This supports the view that behaviour is good over time. Pupils’ increased enjoyment of school is reflected in their improved attendance, which is currently above the national average. Persistent absenteeism has decreased following intensive support from the parent support worker and clear guidelines regarding the inappropriate taking of extended holidays during term time.

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Leadership and management

The new headteacher is providing good leadership to move the school forward and she has a clear vision to secure further improvement. She is capably supported by the new deputy headteacher and all staff are committed to securing improvement. Subject leaders’ roles are developing well with good opportunities to develop subject knowledge and leadership skills through professional development. They have an increased role in monitoring and all have completed a subject action plan for improvement. The Governing Body has been strengthened with additional governors, a new Chair and training and development to develop their skills. It has a good understanding of the school’s performance and a range of expertise and skills to secure further improvement. The collective, determined drive of all staff and governors has ensured that inadequacies identified at the last inspection have been firmly tackled. Teaching has improved and achievement is rising. The improvements

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Leadership and management

to teaching and good leadership at all levels provide the school with a strong 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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Leadership and management

capacity to sustain further improvement. Parents and carers who spoke with inspectors were positive about the changes that have taken place and feel well informed.

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Leadership and management

There are good systems to track pupils’ progress and teachers know what is expected for pupils in their class. Monitoring of teaching and self-evaluation identify key strengths and the most important priorities for further improvement. Effective performance management and good quality professional development have improved teachers’ skills in delivering lessons. However, monitoring does not always give clear criteria for improving pupils’ progress in lessons from satisfactory to good and from good to outstanding.

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Leadership and management

The school effectively promotes equality of opportunity and tackles discrimination. Pupils’ needs and progress are closely monitored so that appropriate support can be put in place where it is needed. Pupils speaking English as an additional language receive good support to develop their language and access the full curriculum. There are effective interventions in place to support vulnerable pupils, those with disabilities and those with special educational needs. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well in all aspects of the school’s work. Pupils have high levels of cultural awareness and respect for differences. They are developing effective social skills and have good understanding of moral issues. The curriculum is satisfactory because curriculum development has not been a priority for the school, given the need to focus on raising pupils’ achievement in core subjects. It meets the

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Leadership and management

needs of most pupils and prepares them adequately for the next stage of their education. It is being reviewed in the near future. There are many interesting extra- curricular opportunities that enrich pupils’ experiences. The school’s strategies to safeguard pupils fully meet statutory requirements and include robust recruitment procedures and thorough assessment of risks.

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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. 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 ). 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. 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

Attendance the regular attendance of pupils at school and in lessons, taking into account the school’s efforts to encourage good attendance.

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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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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted’s

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of St Peter’s Church of England Primary School, Bury, BL9 9PW

Thank you for your warm welcome when inspectors came to your school recently. We were really pleased to see that your school no longer requires special measures. It is providing a satisfactory education. Some aspects are good, including leadership and management and your behaviour.

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Inspection of St Peter’s Church of England Primary School, Bury, BL9 9PW

Your new headteacher and all staff have worked hard to create a happy and stimulating learning environment. The school is improving well and has a strong capacity to sustain further improvement. Teaching is mostly satisfactory and there is some that is good. We found that teachers use a range of approaches to make lessons interesting.

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Inspection of St Peter’s Church of England Primary School, Bury, BL9 9PW

Your behaviour is good. It is clear that you are keen to do your best and are considerate towards each other. Everyone feels safe and happy to come to school. You make satisfactory progress across the whole school and children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress. You are doing much better in mathematics now. Well done!

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Inspection of St Peter’s Church of England Primary School, Bury, BL9 9PW

We have agreed some areas that require further improvement. ■ We have asked your teachers to make sure you all make the best possible progress by:  giving you clear explanations in lessons  making sure activities have just the right amount of challenge for you  giving you more time to work independently on interesting tasks. ■ We think you could take on more leadership roles around your school, as you are so sensible and well behaved. ■ We have asked your school’s leaders to check more closely on how well teaching helps you learn.

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Inspection of St Peter’s Church of England Primary School, Bury, BL9 9PW

You have played an important part in improving your school and staff have worked extremely hard. You have a lot to celebrate! I would like to wish you all every success for the future.

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Inspection of St Peter’s Church of England Primary School, Bury, BL9 9PW

P.S. I hope the chicks are doing well and you are looking after them. It was wonderful to see them hatching from their eggs. 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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