Newburgh Church of England Primary School

Age group 4-11 Inspection date(s) 24-25 May 2011 2011 Inspection number 363904 Newburgh CofE Primary School Inspection report

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Unique Reference Number 119482 Local Authority Lancashire Inspection number 363904 Inspection dates 24-25 May 2011 Reporting inspector Tony Painter

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This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 under pilot arrangements; it was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act .

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Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4-11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 88 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Tony Richardson Headteacher J A Reynolds Date of previous school inspection 29 Jan 2008 School address Back Lane Newburgh Wigan WN8 7XB Telephone number 01257 462916 Fax number 01257 462916 Email address head@newburgh.lancs.sch.uk Inspection report: Error! Reference source not found. Newburgh CofE Primary School, 24-25 May 2011 2 of 12

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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. 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

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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’. Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann's Square Manchester M2 7LA

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T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk Inspection report: Error! Reference source not found. Newburgh CofE Primary School, 24-25 May 2011 3 of 12

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Introduction

Two additional inspectors carried out this pilot inspection. They observed different aspects of the school’s work including approximately four hours of teaching in all classes in the school. In addition they held discussions with governors, groups of pupils and staff and scrutinised a range of documentation including that relating to safeguarding practices, the school’s self-evaluation and development planning. They examined the school’s assessment records and evaluated questionnaire responses from pupils and staff as well as 61 questionnaires completed by parents and carers.

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Information about the school

This is a smaller than an average-sized primary school set in a rural area. Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds with a very small percentage of pupils from minority ethnic groups. A low proportion of pupils are known to be eligible for free school meals. The percentage of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is well below average although there is a broadly average proportion with statements of special educational needs. The school has gained a number of awards including Healthy School status, International School and a Learning Excellence award for innovative teaching. The school has exceeded government floor targets in each of the last three years.

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Information about the school

A voluntary group, Newburgh All Round Care, manages the Nursery and before- and after-school care in the school, which are subject to separate inspection. Inspection report: Error! Reference source not found. Newburgh CofE Primary School, 24-25 May 2011 4 of 12

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Information about the school

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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Behaviour and safety 1

Does the school adequately promote the pupils’ well-being? Yes Does the school adequately promote community cohesion? Yes Does the school provide value for money? Yes

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Key findings

 This outstanding school has made substantial strides since the last inspection. It has established an extremely cohesive community that ensures pupils’ safety and promotes all aspects of their personal development highly effectively. The success is seen in pupils’ outstanding behaviour and their excellent preparation for future learning.

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Key findings

 High-quality provision sustains pupils’ excellent achievement. Throughout the school most pupils far exceed the nationally expected rates of progress and reach challenging targets. By the end of Year 6 overall levels of attainment are well above average.

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Key findings

 Outstanding teaching ensures, consistently, extremely well-paced learning in lessons and pupils gain skills and knowledge at a rapid rate. Teachers’ very high expectations and tangible sense of enthusiasm motivate and inspire pupils to try their hardest. Very effective recent actions give pupils many opportunities to apply their developing skills to learning in a wide range of subjects.

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Key findings

 Teachers use the school’s accurate assessment systems very effectively to plan tasks sharply matched to the abilities of all groups of pupils. They ensure sensitive and effective support for any pupils in danger of falling behind. Teachers use their detailed personal knowledge of each individual pupil to quickly and effectively amend tasks during lessons and ensure a very effective pace of learning for all.

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Key findings

 Teachers very carefully analyse assessment information and set challenging targets above the nationally expected rates. However, the current recording systems are not clear about progress towards these higher targets. Inspection report: Error! Reference source not found. Newburgh CofE Primary School, 24-25 May 2011 5 of 12

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Key findings

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

 The whole staff team is committed to realising the headteacher’s very clear vision of excellence for the school and the pupils. Staff and governors work together very effectively to ensure success and continued improvements. Outstanding leadership and management are clear in the rigorous monitoring that ensures consistently sustained high-quality provision and pupils’ great successes.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Refine the assessment recording system to show with greater clarity how pupils are making progress towards the school’s own ambitious targets for them.

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Main report

The school has a very strong, positive atmosphere and the governing body and all staff take great pains to ensure pupils’ safety. Mutual respect at all levels is the foundation of pupils’ excellent spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils have very positive approaches and cooperate and support each other extremely well from an early age. Their enjoyment of learning is evident in all their activities; their behaviour is exemplary in lessons and around the school and attendance is high. The school uses positive strategies to promote good behaviour and prevent bullying that are clearly very successful. Pupils report that bullying is extremely rare and all consider that behaviour in the school is good. This reflects their very good social and moral development; pupils get along very well together and have a keen sense of right and wrong. They understand how to keep themselves safe and feel very confident that they would receive good support if any problem

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Main report

were to arise. Similarly, parents and carers are particularly supportive of the ways that the school ensures good behaviour and keeps their children safe. The school records any incidents carefully and these confirm that day-to-day behaviour is consistently of the very high quality seen during the inspection.

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Main report

Pupils’ starting points on joining the school are generally above those found nationally for their age. They make sustained progress throughout the school and their achievement is outstanding. Through each year, the large majority of pupils make progress at well above the nationally expected rates. Progress in many lessons is extremely rapid with pupils excitedly applying their skills to new and challenging situations and tasks. They work hard and concentrate well, frequently making positive comments about their enjoyment of challenge. The school’s promotion of language skills has an obvious impact as pupils offer thoughts and opinions with great confidence in response to teachers’ questioning. Recent successful moves to broaden the curriculum have introduced greater opportunities for pupils to take creative and investigative approaches to learning. They develop strong personal skills Inspection report: Error! Reference source not found. Newburgh CofE Primary School, 24-25 May 2011 6 of 12

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Main report

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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Main report

of independence and cooperation while applying their basic skills to challenging activities that very effectively broaden their cultural understanding.

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Main report

Early Years Foundation Stage children in the Reception/Year 1 class learn very well. The close link between the class and the community-managed Nursery, which shares some accommodation and resources, enhances their progress well. Joint planning and consistent approaches ensure all children settle very quickly and get off to a very good start. A wide range of activities with a strong thematic focus successfully motivate children in their communication skills and their personal development. Their progress in all aspects of their development is rapid and the flexible approach taken by all staff meets individual needs very successfully.

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Main report

The school has taken significant steps to accelerate pupils’ development of reading skills. Pupils throughout the school join several simultaneous small groups that allow staff to support and nurture their particular levels of development. Staff use a wide range of effective approaches to build knowledge and understanding of sounds and letters. Those pupils who no longer require this focused approach have challenging opportunities during these periods that develop and extend their higher literacy skills. This approach is proving very successful; pupils develop above-average reading skills by the age of six that are a significant positive factor in their learning through school. By the time pupils leave the school reading skills are high.

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Main report

There are positive trends of progress and attainment in all parts of the school and of all groups of pupils. Effective strategies support any pupils that may be in danger of slipping behind. Very detailed reviews of pupils’ progress quickly identify any pupils who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities and target effective strategies to address all concerns. These processes are extremely effective in closing the gaps and over time the achievement of such supported pupils is high. Most reach or exceed the nationally expected levels by the time they leave the school.

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Main report

Pupils’ overall attainment by the end of Year 6 is well above the national averages with particularly high proportions of pupils reaching the higher Level 5. Highly effective actions are maintaining this trend, despite inevitable year-on-year variations that come from the differing and frequently small groups of pupils involved. The school has very successfully addressed and resolved relative differences between achievement in mathematics and English through a focused approach to improving pupils’ mental arithmetic skills. Lesson observations show pupils confidently using a wide range of strategies in their mathematics problem solving with many showing very rapid recall of number facts. This has led to much improved mathematics attainment by the end of Year 6, in line with the school’s high results in English.

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Main report

Teaching is consistently good and much is outstanding. Many effective aspects of lessons throughout the school consistently give pupils confidence and lead to fast- paced learning. For example, extremely good relationships and highly effective organisation mean that pupils follow teachers’ clear instructions quickly and no time is lost. Teachers’ high expectations and enthusiastic approaches create lessons that frequently buzz with excitement, capturing pupils’ attention and leading to high levels Inspection report: Error! Reference source not found. Newburgh CofE Primary School, 24-25 May 2011 7 of 12

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Main report

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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Main report

of enjoyment and application. In many opportunities throughout the school pupils reflect deeply and thoughtfully on their experiences and how these relate to their growing knowledge of the world.

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Main report

Teachers make very good use of their assessments of pupils’ learning to match tasks very closely to the differing needs of groups of pupils at different ability levels. Many lessons show further successful refinement of tasks to meet the specific needs of individuals or very small groups of pupils. Pupils fully recognise this and comment positively on how lessons are set ‘at just the right level’. Additionally, teachers use their deep knowledge of individual pupils to quickly and effectively adapt work during lessons if they recognise that any aspects of learning require more or less attention for some pupils. Marking is positive and generally constructive in giving pupils a clear idea of what they need to do to improve. Later work usually follows this up and indicates the effectiveness of the process. Pupils are very clear about their own targets and how they can produce better work.

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Main report

The school has taken very effective steps to improve the quality and use of assessment throughout the school. As a result, there is very clear and accurate information about how well all pupils are doing that is used to set challenging targets, based on pupils making progress above the nationally expected rates. However, the school’s recording systems are based on progress in line with the national rate and, therefore, do not readily identify where progress may be above this but has fallen below that set by the school. The school very effectively promotes equality and tackles discrimination. Through frequent and rigorous analysis of information staff quickly identify and tackle any concerns, including any possible incidence of inequality of opportunity or where groups of pupils require additional resources. For example, the school recently set up provision to broaden and extend the learning of a small group of pupils showing very strong aptitudes in mathematics.

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Main report

The school has taken very effective action to support the individual needs of potentially vulnerable pupils and ensure their successful progress and achievement.

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Main report

The headteacher has established a very clear vision for the school’s improvement. She has conveyed her immense ambition for both staff and pupils and has built a strong and effective team around her. As a result, staff at all levels and the governing body have worked together extremely well to enhance provision and to raise levels of progress for all pupils since the last inspection. Extremely rigorous and accurate monitoring and self-evaluation have identified the right issues for development with clear plans for action. Developments are supported closely by well- targeted professional development which has allowed staff to improve their teaching and play increasing leadership roles at levels at which they feel confident. The substantial progress made indicates the school’s outstanding capacity to refine, improve and maintain its strengths. Inspection report: Error! Reference source not found. Newburgh CofE Primary School, 24-25 May 2011 8 of 12

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Ofsted invited all the registered parents and carers of pupils registered at Newburgh CofE Primary School to complete a questionnaire about their views of the school. In the questionnaire, parents and carers were asked to record how strongly they agreed with 13 statements about the school. The inspection team received 61 completed questionnaires by the end of the on-site inspection. In total, there are 88 pupils registered at the school.

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Statements Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Total % Total % Total % Total % Q1 My child is happy at school 46 77 14 23 0 0 0 0

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q2 My child feels safe at school 53 87 8 13 0 0 0 0

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q3 The school helps my child to achieve as well as they can 34 56 26 43 1 2 0 0

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q4 The school meets my child’s particular needs 35 57 25 41 1 2 0 0

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q5 The school ensures my child is well looked after 49 80 12 20 0 0 0 0

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q6 Teaching at this school is good 42 69 18 30 0 0 0 0

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q7 There is a good standard of behaviour at this school 43 70 18 30 0 0 0 0

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q8 Lessons are not disrupted by bad behaviour 35 57 26 43 0 0 0 0

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q9 The school deals with any cases of bullying well 29 48 24 39 2 3 0 0

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q10 The school helps me to support my child’s learning 30 49 29 48 2 3 0 0

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q11 The school responds to my concerns and keeps me well informed 35 57 24 39 2 3 0 0

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

Q12 The school is well led and managed 43 70 17 28 0 0 0 0

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted’s questionnaire

The table above summarises the responses that parents and carers made to each statement. The percentages indicate the proportion of parents and carers giving that response out of the total number of completed questionnaires. Where one or more parents and carers chose not to answer a particular question, the percentages will not add up to 100%. Inspection report: Error! Reference source not found. Newburgh CofE Primary School, 24-25 May 2011 9 of 12

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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 48 6 0 Primary schools 6 47 40 7 Secondary schools 12 39 38 11

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

Sixth forms 13 42 41 3 Special schools 28 49 19 4 Pupil referral units 14 45 31 10

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements were introduced on 1 September 2009. This means that inspectors now make some additional judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2010 to 31 December 2010 and 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. Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100. Sixth form figures reflect the judgements made for the overall effectiveness of the sixth form in secondary schools, special schools and pupil referral units. Inspection report: Error! Reference source not found. Newburgh CofE Primary School, 24-25 May 2011 10 of 12

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning, development or training.

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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

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving. Inspectors base this judgement on 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 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. The following judgements, in particular, influence what the overall effectiveness judgement will be:  The achievement of all pupils.  Behaviour and safety.  The quality of teaching.  The effectiveness of leadership and management. and taking into consideration  how well the school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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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. Inspection report: Error! Reference source not found. Newburgh CofE Primary School, 24-25 May 2011 11 of 12

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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 Newburgh CofE Primary School, Wigan WN8 7XB

I would like to thank you all for making the inspectors so welcome when we came to your school. Special thanks must go to those of you who gave up time to talk to us about your work and how you enjoy school. You were all very sure that your school is ‘brilliant’ and really helping you to learn well and we certainly agree. You all work extremely hard in school and are rightly proud of what you achieve. Most of you know just what you need to do to get even better. Your behaviour is first class and you all get on really well with each other.

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Inspection of Newburgh CofE Primary School, Wigan WN8 7XB

Yours is an outstanding school. The headteacher, all the staff and the governing body are extremely good at making sure that you are safe and very well cared for. We can see that all of the staff have worked hard to help you learn better and it is proving successful. We saw how much you enjoy your lessons and how keen you are to learn. It is no wonder that all of you, including the youngest children, are making outstanding progress.

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Inspection of Newburgh CofE Primary School, Wigan WN8 7XB

One reason for our visit was to see if we can help your school to improve further and we have identified one thing. We have asked your school leaders to make some changes to the way they check how well you are doing so that there is no chance of anyone falling behind the rapid progress that pupils in this school usually make.

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Inspection of Newburgh CofE Primary School, Wigan WN8 7XB

I hope that you will help by continuing to do your very best in all you do.

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Inspection of Newburgh CofE Primary School, Wigan WN8 7XB

Tony Painter Lead Inspector Inspection report: Error! Reference source not found. Newburgh CofE Primary School, 24-25 May 2011 12 of 12

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Inspection of Newburgh CofE Primary School, Wigan WN8 7XB

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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