Hollin Primary School

Age group 3–11 Inspection date(s) 29–30 May 2012 Inspection number 377299 Unique Reference Number 105792 Local authority Rochdale Inspection number 377299 Inspection dates 29–30 May 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 214 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mike O'Hare Headteacher Elaine Hibbert Date of previous school inspection 19 May 2010 School address Waverley Road Middleton M24 6JG Telephone number 0161 6435148 Fax number 0161 6432968 Email address office@hollin.rochdale.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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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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Introduction

James Kidd Stephen Helm Additional inspector Additional inspector

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out with two days' notice. Inspectors observed teaching and learning in 17 lessons or part-lessons, taught by 10 members of staff. Meetings were held with parents, two groups of pupils, two members of the governing body, the local authority School Improvement Officer, curriculum leaders and senior staff. Inspectors observed the school's work, and looked at pupils’ workbooks, internal and external pupil progress data, school improvement planning and documentation in relation to safeguarding and child protection. They also scrutinised 84 questionnaires returned by parents and carers, as well as those completed by pupils and staff.

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Information about the school

This is a smaller than average-sized primary school. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is more than twice the national average. There is a well-below average proportion of pupils from minority-ethnic heritages and few pupils speak English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below that usually found. The school meets the current government floor standard which sets the minimum expectations for attainment and progress. Hollin Primary is a nationally-accredited Healthy School and an Investor in People. It also holds the Leading Parent Partnership Award and is a Professional Development School accredited by Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Education.

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Information about the school

There have been several staffing changes since the previous inspection, including the appointment of a new assistant headteacher. Hollin Primary is co-located with Newlands School, a primary special 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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Key Findings

 This is an outstanding school. High expectations, excellent levels of care, support and guidance and realistic challenge in the classroom for all groups leads to pupils in all key stages making exceptional progress in both their personal and academic development.

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Key Findings

 From exceptionally low skills for their age on entry to the Early Years Foundation Stage, pupils achieve outstandingly well in all areas of the school and reach well above-average attainment in both English and mathematics by the end of Year 6. Pupils’ skills in writing are also improving apace, but their progress in this subject in Key Stage 1 is not quite as good as it is in reading and mathematics.

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Key Findings

 Over time, the quality of teaching is outstanding and is characterised by accurate assessment of pupils’ progress, comprehensive lesson preparation and an overriding emphasis on raising standards. As a result, pupils are engrossed in their learning, take responsibility for their own progress and approach their studies with a maturity which belies their years.

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Key Findings

 Pupils show an immense pride in their school, in their classmates and in the adults who work with them. They also engage most warmly with pupils from the co-located special school. They behave exceptionally well in lessons, around the site and when representing the school outside its walls. They are adamant that bullying is extremely rare and that if it does occur, it is dealt with swiftly and effectively.

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Key Findings

 Outstanding leadership of teaching and management of performance at all levels ensure that the school plays a seminal role in promoting pupils’ self-esteem, in supporting their families and in raising the aspirations of the local community. The creative curriculum has an excellent impact on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and gives them many experiences they will never forget. Together with the sustained high attainment the school, therefore, has an outstanding capacity to continue its improvement.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

  Further accelerate pupils’ progress in writing in Key Stage 1.

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Achievement of pupils

Parents and carers speak with one voice about what the school does for their children and comment, ‘Our children settle really well into the school and are coming on leaps and bounds.’ All who returned the questionnaires are entirely positive about their children’s achievement in school. Indeed, pupils enter school in the morning with eagerness, looking forward to the activities of the day ahead. They enjoy their learning, are enthusiastic during lessons and are proactive in taking responsibility for their own progress. They benefit from a wide range of teaching methods, which meet their individual learning needs very closely indeed. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs learn every bit as well as their classmates and are equally as motivated during lessons. They, pupils whose circumstances make them potentially vulnerable, and those known to be eligible for free school meals are supported exceptionally well by the talented team of teaching assistants

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Achievement of pupils

and they thrive as a result. The gaps between their performance and the performance of other pupils are closing rapidly.

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Achievement of pupils

Children enter the Nursery with exceptionally low age-related skills in all areas of learning. They make outstanding progress in both Nursery and Reception and by the time they enter Year 1, they are fully prepared for the challenges ahead. Their progress in personal, social and emotional development in particular is quite remarkable. This outstanding progress continues across the rest of the school and, although pupils’ progress in writing in Key Stage 1 is not quite as impressive as their progress in reading and mathematics, the achievement of all groups is outstanding overall. Pupils’ attainment in reading is broadly average by the end of Year 2. By Year 4, pupils make extended comment and use words such as ‘petrified’ and ‘disrespectful’ when describing a character based on the events in a story. Similarly, by Year 6, ‘mathletes’, pupils have completed the Level 6 mathematics paper, offer high-quality

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Achievement of pupils

support to their peers when deciding upon the most effective ways to solve complex division problems. By the end of Year 6, pupils reach well above average attainment in reading, writing and mathematics, and results in 2011 were the best in the school’s history, with standards in mathematics a particular strength. Lesson observations, scrutiny of pupils’ work and the school’s own tracking of progress demonstrate that pupils in the current Year 6 class are on track to meet and even exceed their challenging targets and to reach standards which are even higher.

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Quality of teaching

All parents and carers who responded to the questionnaire are entirely satisfied with the quality of teaching their children receive. Teaching is, indeed, outstanding and a typical pupil comment is, ‘Our teachers make learning fun but they also ask us questions which really make us think. We often have to work things out for ourselves.’ From as early as the Nursery, children explore and experiment for themselves, in the colourful classrooms and in the vibrant outdoor area, comprising so many different learning experiences. In all classes, teachers and support staff have high expectations of what their charges can achieve and the teaching of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is very impressive indeed. The teaching of reading is a major strength. Lesson preparation is based on an accurate evaluation of pupils’ prior learning and, in turn, on the delivery of activities and methods which meet their needs closely and which facilitate the best possible progress.

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Quality of teaching

Lessons are a hive of activity and include relentless challenge for pupils of all levels of ability. Pupils have so many opportunities to take control of their own progress and, when working in pairs and in groups, to act as extra learning resources for each other. Pupils are, therefore, fully engaged in lessons and are also delighted when their classmates succeed. They make positive comments about the creative curriculum, how it helps them to see the links between the subjects they study and how it fires their imagination. Teaching has an outstanding impact on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and enables them also to consider moral and ethical issues. As a consequence, pupils think before they speak and their extended comment is invariably supported by reasons for their opinions.

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Quality of teaching

In almost all lessons, a Year 5 literacy session in which teaching was outstanding, for example, pupils are proactive in their learning, use the ‘working walls’ to help them and discuss their learning with their classmates. They assess the quality of their own work and also evaluate the work of their peers. In doing this, they treat each other with dignity and respect saying, ‘Thank you for reading that to me. I really liked the adjectives, similes and metaphors you used.’ Pupils are justifiably proud of what they achieve, for example when writing phrases such as, ‘Colourful and magical, the planets hovering like scoops of ice cream as they orbit the sun...’ and ‘sprinkling life to luminous planets .... diamond pearls hanging from a branch.’

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils demonstrate an admirable social conscience in their support for their peers, for younger pupils, for the local community and, through their extensive charity work, for people less fortunate than themselves. They are polite and welcoming to visitors and are delighted to show them round school and to talk to them about the work they are doing. They are engaged in all aspects of the school’s life and value the many opportunities they have to meet and work with the pupils from the co-located Newlands School, during choir performances for example. They believe, quite rightly, that they are very well prepared for the next stage in their education and that the school does all it can to raise their aspirations of what they can achieve in the future.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils feel very secure in school and have a quite perceptive awareness of how they can keep themselves safe. They talk confidently and accurately of ‘stranger danger’, of the importance of road and fire safety and of how to use the internet safely. Moreover, they have an untypically wide knowledge of the nature of bullying in all its forms, including prejudiced-based and cyber-bullying. They are of the view that bullying is very rare indeed in school and that if it occurs, it is dealt with rapidly and most effectively. They take a wide range of responsibilities in school, as school councillors, librarians, sports leaders and members of the Eco Group. They evaluate the success of the creative curriculum and offer their views as to how the school can improve further.

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Behaviour and safety of pupils

Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and at break and lunchtime is outstanding, and has been for several years. They make an exceptional contribution to their own learning and respond enthusiastically and very responsibly to opportunities to work independently and collaboratively. The school is a haven of calm and pupils show the utmost respect for the buildings and for the school environment. Attendance continues to be above average and pupils are invariably punctual to school. All parents and carers who returned the questionnaires believe their children are safe and that they are very well looked after. One comment was typical of many: ‘Our children are made to feel welcome and settle in quickly. We have no worries leaving them in the care of the school.’

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Leadership and management

Inspirational leadership from the dedicated headteacher, supported by the committed senior team, all of whom lead by example, ensure that there is a clear vision for the school’s development. This vision, to raise the aspirations of pupils, their families and the whole community is shared by all. It serves to provide pupils with teaching, a curriculum and support which enable them to make the best possible progress both personally and academically. There is a strong emphasis on the continuous improvement of teaching and performance and the provision of a range of professional development courses, founded on agreed school priorities. Governance is outstanding. Members support and challenge the school in equal measure and have an excellent understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development. Excellent teaching, exceptional pastoral care and outstanding achievement have led to well-above average attainment and first-class behaviour and

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Leadership and management

engagement in learning. The school, therefore, has an outstanding capacity to sustain its considerable improvements since the previous inspection.

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Leadership and management

Middle leadership, too, is of a high quality and the curriculum teams evaluate in detail all aspects of performance in the areas for which they responsible. As a result, pupils find the curriculum enormously interesting, believe lessons are fun and speak highly of the cross- curricular events, ‘Science Week’ and ‘Enterprise Week’ to name but two. Many activities are conducted jointly with the co-located school and pupils have many opportunities to engage with the pupils from Newlands. The curriculum is broad and balanced, enables pupils to reinforce their literacy and numeracy skills in all subjects and has an outstanding impact on their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils celebrate the successes of cultures and religions which are different to their own, enjoy the many musical activities on offer and are fascinated by the thought-provoking assemblies which enable them to consider

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Leadership and management

a variety of ethical and moral issues. The curriculum in the Early Years Foundation Stage provides an excellent balance between adult-led activities and activities which children can choose for themselves.

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Leadership and management

The school has excellent relationships with parents and carers, as evidenced by the prestigious Leading Parent Partnership Award. Parents and carers benefit from a range of educational workshops, which help them to support their children’s learning at home. The school has a cohesive approach to ensuring equality of opportunity for all and rejects discrimination in all its forms. Child-protection and safeguarding policies and practice are exemplary, regularly reviewed and fully meet current 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 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 academ y 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 Hollin Primary School, Middleton, M24 6JG

Thank you for the warm welcome you gave to the inspection team when we visited your school recently. We are particularly grateful to those of you who gave up your time to talk to us and also to the pupils in Years 2 and 6 who read to us on the second day. A special ‘thank you’ goes to the choir who sang so beautifully during assembly. Would you, on our behalf, please thank the pupils from Newlands who are also members of the choir? What follows is the letter I promised to write to you.

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Inspection of Hollin Primary School, Middleton, M24 6JG

Hollin Primary is an outstanding school. You receive excellent teaching and, because you work so hard and enjoy the many activities in the creative curriculum, you make outstanding progress in your studies and reach standards in Year 6 which are well above what we usually find. Your behaviour is excellent, you are very kind to each other and are always willing to take care of your classmates and of younger pupils. You have many responsibilities in school and are always willing to offer your views as to how lessons can be even more interesting. You enjoy the many trips and visits you have and you told us that you will never forget them. You feel secure in school and have a very good awareness of how to use the internet safely. You know about the dangers in all forms of bullying and you took part in a project with one of the local high schools about cyber-bullying. You believe bullying hardly ever happens in

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Inspection of Hollin Primary School, Middleton, M24 6JG

your school, but that if it does, the adults deal with it very quickly. Indeed, the support you receive from all the grown-ups who work with you is excellent.

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Inspection of Hollin Primary School, Middleton, M24 6JG

Your headteacher and all the other staff are always trying to make the school even better for you. We want to support them in doing this so we have asked them to help pupils in Key Stage 1 to make even more progress in their writing.

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Inspection of Hollin Primary School, Middleton, M24 6JG

Thank you again for your kindness and your courtesy. You made a marvellous contribution to the inspection and we wish you well for the future.

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Inspection of Hollin Primary School, Middleton, M24 6JG

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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