Bradshaw Hall Primary School

Bradshaw Hall Primary School Inspection report

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Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 15–16 May 2012 Inspection number 381363 Unique Reference Number 131554 Local authority Stockport Inspection number 381363 Inspection dates 15–16 May 2012 Lead inspector Christine Birchall

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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 360 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mike Fields Headteacher Christopher Bagnall Date of previous school inspection 30 January 2007 School address Vernon Close Cheadle Hulme Cheadle SK8 6AN Telephone number 0161 2827858 Fax number 0161 7187224 Email address headteacher@bradshawhall.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

Christine Birchall Martin Pye Additional Inspector Additional Inspector Terry Bond Additional Inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors observed 22 lessons and all class teachers. They talked to groups of pupils about their learning, and scrutinised the work in pupils’ books. In addition, inspectors held discussions with members of the governing body and staff. Inspectors observed the school’s work and examined a range of documentation, including the school’s records of pupils’ progress and achievement, evidence relating to leadership and management, monitoring and evaluation, and behaviour records and safeguarding processes. They also took into account the questionnaires returned by 118 parents and carers, pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

Bradshaw Hall is a larger than average-sized primary school. The proportion of pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds is higher than the national average, although few pupils are at an early stage of learning English as an additional language. The number of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is lower than the national average. The school has a specialist centre for 16 pupils with speech and language difficulties; the overall proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is broadly average. Pupils also have access to onsite before-and after-school care, which is not managed by the governing body. The school exceeds the current floor standards which set the government’s minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress. 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. It is not outstanding because the quality of teaching is not yet outstanding. There are some significant strengths, including a rich curriculum which contributes exceptionally well to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Key Findings

 Pupils’ achievement is good. Typically, most children join the school with knowledge and skills broadly in line with those expected for their age, and they make good progress throughout each key stage. By the end of Year 6, attainment is above average. Pupils with disabilities and those with special educational needs, including those in the resource base, achieve well because of the high quality of care and support they receive.

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Key Findings

 The quality of teaching is consistently at least good, with some which is outstanding. In the best lessons, teachers challenge and inspire pupils, so that they learn very well, both collaboratively and independently, although this not consistently the case. Sometimes teachers’ questioning is not sharp enough to check pupils’ understanding throughout lessons. Marking does not always provide sufficient guidance to help pupils to improve.

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Key Findings

 The behaviour and safety of pupils is outstanding. They enjoy coming to school, which is reflected in their above average attendance. School staff care for the pupils exceedingly well, and provide highly effective role models for exemplary behaviour. As a result, pupils treat each other with courtesy and respect, have excellent attitudes to learning, and are supportive of each other’s achievements. They understand risks and have a thorough understanding of how to stay safe.

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Key Findings

 Leadership and management are outstanding. The dynamic leadership of senior leaders ensures there are high expectations for all, and a drive for continuous improvement shared by all staff. Systems for monitoring and evaluation to improve performance, including teaching, are robust and effective. The curriculum and the incredibly vibrant learning environment contribute very effectively to pupils’ outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. All of this results in an outstanding capacity to improve.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of outstanding teaching by:  giving all pupils opportunities to reflect collaboratively on their learning in all lessons  ensuring that marking in all classes gives pupils useful feedback which will help them to improve their work  ensuring that all teachers’ questioning is effective in checking for understanding, to allow teaching to be adjusted to ensure that all pupils’ needs are met.

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Achievement of pupils

As a result of school leaders’ unrelenting drive to improve standards, there has been rapid improvement over time and the achievement of pupils is now consistently good. All pupils, including disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, enjoy their learning and achieve well in lessons as a result of careful assessment, thorough planning, and well- targeted support and intervention to remove barriers to learning. This applies equally to pupils who are based in the specialist centre, who achieve as well as other pupils. A very creative curriculum promotes enjoyment and enables pupils to make links between subjects, and to apply their skills in a range of contexts. Pupils co-operate well in lessons, are keen to succeed and to answer questions. Leaders have introduced ‘Discovery Workshops’, which allow pupils to explore and reflect on texts in depth, and as a result, standards in reading

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Achievement of pupils

are rising across the school. Parents and carers are rightly confident that the school enables their children to achieve their potential. Comments such as ‘The progress which my children have made from nursery to current day is amazing’, and ‘the children really enjoy themselves while reaching great learning targets’ are typical.

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Achievement of pupils

Some children have less well developed early literacy skills when they enter the school. All children make good progress across the Early Years Foundation Stage, so that by the time they start in Year 1, the vast majority are reaching standards in reading, writing and mathematics which are at least in line with age-related expectations. However, reading skills are still lower than expected for age, for a significant number of children who have entered school with low starting points. Across Key Stage 1, pupils continue to make progress and the gaps between subjects are narrowing so that by the time they reach the end of Year 2, they are in line with age-related expectations in reading, writing and mathematics. Progress in Key Stage 2 continues to be good. Achievement in 2011 was particularly strong. Attainment was above the national average, including in reading, showing improvement on previous years. School tracking data shows that Year 6 pupils are on track to reach above

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Achievement of pupils

average standards, indicating that this improvement is being sustained.

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Quality of teaching

Teachers and teaching assistants work well together to provide a rich learning environment and to promote warm relationships which increase pupils’ confidence in their learning and allow them to thrive. One child commented that ‘Everyone in Bradshaw Hall is talented’. Parents and carers agree their children are taught well, making comments such as, ‘Inspirational teachers make school fun and interesting’. As a result, pupils achieve well in lessons and over time, and attainment continues to rise.

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Quality of teaching

Where teaching is at its most effective, pupils are totally absorbed in their learning and are able to demonstrate high levels of independence and maturity. In the Early Years Foundation Stage, ‘My learning journey’ booklets provide focused next steps in learning. There is a well-resourced and stimulating environment which enables children to move freely from activity to activity, and so promotes independence. In a Key Stage 2 English lesson, innovative approaches to teaching matched different priorities to the precise needs of particular groups. This enabled pupils to rewrite aspects of ‘The elves and the shoemaker’ in a range of different genres, and to explain their ideas confidently, secure in the knowledge that all their responses would be valued. Similar precisely-targeted teaching in a mathematics lesson enabled pupils to work collaboratively in groups to solve problems using a number of different strategies. They were then able to evaluate the accuracy of their

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Quality of teaching

answers as well as demonstrating awareness of the possible pitfalls. Inspectors observed examples of highly-focused learning experiences, with challenging questions and effective modelling of the use of language, leading to good progress in lessons for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. Reading to the ‘literacy dog’ (a real dog from within the community) was a highly effective strategy for motivating reluctant or less confident readers. The support for and teaching of those pupils who have particular speech and language difficulties effectively enables them to make good progress.

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Quality of teaching

In less effective lessons, teachers’ questions sometimes lacked focus. As a result, opportunities were missed to check pupils’ understanding and to use their responses to adjust teaching to meet the needs of all learners. Although all work in books was marked, there was some variation in the quality of marking. As a result, it did not always provide pupils with clear enough steps to improve their work.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Typically the behaviour of pupils is outstanding. All parents and carers feel that the school keeps their children safe. Pupils feel very confident that teachers care for them, and that they will always be able to get help if they need it. As one pupil put it ‘Everyone makes us feel safe. Every part of the school has a special warm feeling because people really care about each other’. The school’s consistent behaviour management expectations, and its ‘Golden aims’ and ‘Golden principles’ ensure that there are exceedingly high expectations of behaviour shared by adults and children. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. They understand about all types of bullying, but say that incidents are very rare and always dealt with well by teachers. Pupils enthusiastically participate in the extensive range of clubs and enrichment activities that the school provides.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils demonstrate high levels of maturity both in their attitudes to learning in the classroom, and in the way they behave during breaks and social time. They talk about the importance of friendship and respect, and demonstrate their understanding through their actions. As a result of very positive role modelling from all adults around them, they learn to treat visitors, staff and their peers with courtesy. They believe that adults will listen to their views, and so they are confident to express their ideas and engage in conversation with adults and fellow pupils in an open and friendly manner. They make exceptional contributions to the school and local community. For example they raise money for charities, and the school council has contributed to changes within the school, such as influencing the food available at lunchtime. They demonstrate a very good awareness of wider issues. For example, they talk in the playground about cycling to school to protect the environment,

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Leadership and management

The extremely strong leadership of the headteacher is well supported by the deputy headteacher, and they demonstrate a conviction that all children can achieve fully, which is shared by all the staff. One parent commented that ‘The headteacher is very passionate about the school and appears to have a great relationship with his staff’. Leaders have an extremely accurate view of the strengths and areas for development of the school, and the school action plan is highly focused and well prioritised. The governing body fully understands the direction in which the school is travelling, and is very effective in both supporting school leaders and holding them to account fully. Safeguarding requirements are fully met, with a named governor with responsibility for rigorously monitoring the school’s processes. Systems for monitoring the quality of teaching are extremely robust, and well linked to performance management. Outcomes from monitoring lead to tailored professional

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Leadership and management

development for all staff, and as a result, the quality of teaching has improved strongly to at least good. The literacy and numeracy coordinators are empowered to develop creative approaches to teaching and learning, these have been shared with all staff, and they are closely involved in monitoring the impact. Consequently, attainment in English and mathematics is rising rapidly.

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Leadership and management

Systems for tracking the achievement of pupils are very detailed and accurate. These enable teachers to provide very effective focused and targeted support in order to ensure that all pupils make the maximum progress. Parents and carers express confidence that the staff work well with them to support their children, and additional support is provided from a number of services from outside the school where necessary. The school takes exceedingly effective steps to promote equality and to tackle discrimination. The outstanding curriculum provides extensive opportunities for pupils to learn through first-hand experiences, and is underpinned by a carefully planned wide ranging programme of trips and visits, or talks from visitors. As a result, pupils learn to apply their knowledge and skills in a very wide range of contexts. The curriculum is extensively enriched by an extremely wide range of extra-curricular clubs and opportunities, particularly for music and sport, which contribute

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Leadership and management

very effectively to pupils’ outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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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 54 42 2 2 Primary schools 14 49 32 6 Secondary schools 20 39 34 7 Special schools 33 45 20 3 Pupil referral units 9 55 28 8 All schools 16 47 31 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 to 31 December 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

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

Floor standards: the national minimum expectation of attainment and progression measures

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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 Bradshaw Hall Primary School, Cheadle, SK8 6AN

 I am writing to thank you all for the warm and friendly welcome that you gave the inspection team when we visited your school to see how well you were learning. It was a pleasure to talk to you, and we really enjoyed our conversations and listening to your very positive views about your school.

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Inspection of Bradshaw Hall Primary School, Cheadle, SK8 6AN

We judge Bradshaw Hall Primary School to be a good school, with some features which are outstanding. We were particularly impressed with your mature behaviour and the respect you showed for your teachers and each other. It was lovely to see how much you enjoy school and your very positive attitudes to your learning; as well as the pride that you take in both the school and your work. Staff take care of you extremely well, and you obviously feel very safe around school as a result.

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Inspection of Bradshaw Hall Primary School, Cheadle, SK8 6AN

The teaching in your school is good and this is why you all make good progress. The school leaders and managers run your school exceedingly effectively. They know what is good about the school and what needs to be improved, and they are taking effective actions to bring about improvements. In order to make your school even better, we have asked teachers to make sure that you always have opportunities to work together in lessons, and that they ask clear questions to help them to check that you all understand. We have also asked them to make sure that all marking tells you what you need to do to improve your work.

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Inspection of Bradshaw Hall Primary School, Cheadle, SK8 6AN

I wish you all the very best for the future.  Yours sincerely

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Inspection of Bradshaw Hall Primary School, Cheadle, SK8 6AN

Christine Birchall 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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