St John's Stonefold CofE Primary School

School report St John's Stonefold CofE Primary School Rising Bridge Road, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 2SW

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Standards in English and mathematics have improved significantly over the past two years and are currently well above average.  All groups of pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  The learning resources and teaching in the Reception class, identified as weak at the time of the last inspection, have been transformed. Teachers organise the classroom and equipment to provide exciting and interesting learning activities which help children learn well. As a result, children in Reception make strong progress in all of the areas of learning.  Teaching and learning are consistently good throughout the school and are outstanding in some classes.  Lessons are almost never disrupted by poor behaviour. Pupils say they feel very safe and bullying is rare. Excellent relationships in lessons create a climate in which pupils’ learning can flourish.  The headteacher and deputy headteacher

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

blend their skills to provide excellent leadership which has had a major impact upon improving standards in a short time.  The quality of teaching and pupils’ work is rigorously checked. Teachers and other adults are held to account by senior leaders and knowledgeable and skilled governors and are given good guidance on how to improve their teaching. As a result, both the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement are improving.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils’ progress in reading in Key Stage 2 is not as good as in other subjects.  There is not enough outstanding teaching.  Not all pupils understand clearly enough what they must do to improve their work so it reaches the highest levels.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection was carried out by one additional inspector.  The inspector observed eight lessons or parts of lessons, including one joint observation with the headteacher. Short visits were also made to classrooms and the inspector listened to pupils read.  Meetings were held with pupils and other opportunities were taken to talk with pupils on the playground. Meetings were also held with members of the governing body, one representative from the local authority and members of staff including senior leaders.  The inspector observed the school's work and looked at a range of documents including data on pupils' progress, school development plans, documentation relating to teachers’ performance over time and records relating to pupils' behaviour and safety.  The inspector took account of 12 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and the results of the school’s own parental and questionnaires completed by staff.

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Inspection team

John Dunne, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 St John’s is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action is broadly average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average. There are currently no disabled pupils on roll.  The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium (additional funding for children from service families, those in the care of the local authority or those known to be eligible for free school meals) is below average.  Pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2 are taught in three mixed-age classes.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups who attend the school is well below average, as is the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which is the minimum expected for pupils’ attainment and progress.  Stonefold Sharks is a before- and after-school club which operates in the school building, but is

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Information about this school

not managed by the governing body and is inspected separately.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the amount of outstanding teaching by:  ensuring that all teachers give Key Stage 2 pupils targets which they understand  telling them regularly in their marking how to improve their work so it reaches a higher level  making sure that when marking shows that pupils have not fully understood something, they are given time in lessons to reflect and act on the feedback so that they can learn from their mistakes.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the proportion of pupils making good progress in reading by providing further training to improve teachers’ subject knowledge and understanding of how to teach reading to the highest levels more effectively.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children currently enter the school with skills and knowledge that are broadly in line with that expected for their age. Significant improvements in equipment and teaching in Reception have enabled standards to rise rapidly. As a result, children are now joining Year 1 with skills and knowledge that are above average in all of the areas of learning.  Children in Reception have skills to work on their own which are beyond their years. For example, in one lesson a boy was able to pretend to order a take-away pizza for the inspector, following a complex set of tasks; finding out what was wanted and the correct phone number, accurately recognising the numbers to use and correctly sequencing questions and answers to complete the task.  In Key Stages 1 and 2 standards are rising at a much faster rate than seen nationally. By the end of Year 6, standards in reading, writing and mathematics are well above average. Current

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The achievement of pupils is good

work and lessons seen show that pupils in all years are continuing to make good progress from their starting points.  The proportion of pupils making more than the expected rate of progress from their starting points in mathematics and writing is high, with almost twice as many reaching the higher levels than seen nationally. A smaller proportion reaches above expected levels in reading.  Parents are highly involved in fostering their children’s love of reading by listening to them read at home, as seen by the many comments in pupils’ reading diaries. The home-to-school books in the Reception class are an example of exemplary practice in engaging parents in children’s learning.  The school ensures that pupils with additional needs are very quickly identified and provides excellent support to help them succeed. As a result, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs also achieve well, attaining standards above those of similar pupils nationally.

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The achievement of pupils is good

Pupils from minority ethnic groups achieve equally well as others.  Scores from tests clearly show that the attainment of pupils supported by the pupil premium is improving and is above that of similar pupils nationally, indicating that the gap between these pupils and others is closing.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching at St John’s has improved significantly. It is consistently good and sometimes outstanding, resulting in good levels of achievement. This is particularly apparent in the Reception class where children are making rapid gains in learning.  In a mathematics lesson, outstanding teaching and skilfully planned activities enabled pupils to successfully complete work on calculations which were at least a year ahead of expected levels for their age. The pupils found the tasks so interesting, it inspired them to work for long periods, trying out different ways to solve the highly challenging problems. In this mixed-aged class, the work was skilfully adapted for pupils working at different levels and so pupils of all abilities were being ‘stretched’. The pace of the lesson was brisk and it built strongly upon what pupils had already learnt. The teacher and teaching assistant used sharply focused questioning which made

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The quality of teaching is good

pupils think deeply about how to solve the complex problems they were working on.  Although consistently good, not all teaching is as strong as this and senior leaders and governors have clear strategies for sharing the best practice.  Learning activities are imaginative and at times, inspirationally planned and a wide range of trips enrich learning. As a result, a multitude of pupils were very keen to tell the inspector how much they enjoyed almost all of their lessons.  Teachers develop basic skills, particularly speaking and listening and writing, very well across a wide range of subjects.  Teachers put on a wide range of out-of-school activities covering an extensive range of musical, artistic, sporting and skill-based events and the majority of pupils take part. These exploit pupils’ curiosity, build their self-confidence and strongly promote their spiritual and cultural development.  Pupils often have to assess their own work and the work of others and this contributes well to

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The quality of teaching is good

their understanding of how to improve.  Most work is marked very effectively and much marking is exemplary, clearly indicating where pupils have demonstrated successful learning and pointing out how they can do better. However, not all pupils act upon the guidance given because there is not always sufficient time set aside for pupils to work on the improvements or rectify the mistakes identified.  Pupils have personalised learning targets. However, they do not have a clear understanding of the levels they are working at and their books do not record what level they are currently working at and what they need to do to take their learning to a higher level.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Lessons are so interesting that misbehaviour in lessons almost never happens because pupils are so keen to get on with their learning.  The way in which pupils interact harmoniously is a strength of the school and provides a highly positive atmosphere where learning can flourish.  Pupils’ ability to work on their own for extended periods and exceptionally well in groups makes a significant contribution to their good learning.  Parents, pupils and staff expressed highly positive views about standards of behaviour in lessons and around school and this matched the good behaviour observed throughout the inspection. Pupils described the school as being like a family where everyone gets on well.  Pupils say that they feel very safe and greatly enjoy school.  Pupils have an excellent understanding of how to keep themselves safe, including how to keep safe when using new technologies, such as the Internet and social media sites.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 There is almost no evidence of bullying, and parents and pupils express confidence in the school’s systems for dealing with such occurrences should they arise. Pupils are well informed about different types of bullying that they may come across.

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The leadership and management are good

 Following the last inspection in March 2011, senior leaders identified that standards were not high enough and that the organisation and teaching in the Reception class were not good.  With strong support from the local authority, a series of measures was rapidly put in place to bring about improvements. Examples of excellent practice from outstanding schools were identified and introduced for the Reception children. Outside experts were consulted to help teachers improve their teaching skills. The governing body was re-structured and members rigorously checked on how effectively the school was raising standards. Any teacher whose performance was not up to scratch was given intensive training. If this did not work, further rigorous steps were taken to ensure that any inadequate teaching was eliminated.  These measures have been effective and standards in the Reception class and overall in Key Stages 1 and 2 are now well above average and rising. Everyone is working really well together

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The leadership and management are good

with a shared vision of driving up standards.  Pupils falling behind, those needing extra help and those with special educational needs are quickly identified and highly effective plans are in place to give extra support where needed.  Performance management of staff is linked to improvements in standards for the pupils they teach. All adults have clearly understood targets for improvement supported by plans for their further training.  Although the school has good teaching and has rising standards, senior leaders and governors are clear that there is much still to do. They have identified areas for improvement in their development plans, with clear measures of how they are going to deal with them, for example, with extra training to improve teachers’ skills to teach reading to the highest levels. This shows the school’s good capacity to improve further.  The effectiveness of the school’s systems for promoting equality and tackling discrimination is

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The leadership and management are good

evident in the excellent relationships and the way all groups of pupils achieve well.  There is an extensive range of enrichment activities and trips to extend learning and good opportunities for improving pupils’ basic skills across a range of subjects. The curriculum also includes a wide range of activities to effectively promote pupils' spiritual development through music, poetry and religious education lessons, where pupils have to think deeply about issues affecting society and develop a good understanding of cultural diversity.  All statutory responsibilities for safeguarding are met.  The governance of the school:  The governing body includes highly committed members with the necessary skills needed to check data about pupils’ progress. Members have an excellent understanding of the effectiveness of teachers’ skills, their performance management and how this is linked to additional pay to improve standards. They have supported the headteacher to use pupil

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The leadership and management are good

premium funding wisely to employ well-targeted additional staffing. The expertise of the governors is developed well through training sessions relating to supporting school improvement.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 119453 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 405863

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 102 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Roger Smith Headteacher Stephen Oldfield Date of previous school inspection 30 March 2011 Telephone number 01706 216706 Fax number 01706 230682 Email address head@st-johnsstonefold.lancs.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', 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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School details

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 and as part of the inspection.

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School details

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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School details

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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School details

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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School details

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

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