Wheatley Lane Methodist Voluntary Aided Primary School

Wheatley Lane Methodist Voluntary Aided Primary School Wheatley Lane Road, Fence, Burnley, Lancashire, BB12 9ED

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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 Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils say with great enthusiasm that this is a welcoming and happy school in which to learn. It has strong partnerships with parents and the local community.  Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  Pupils achieve well and make at least good progress in Years 1 to 6 in reading, writing and mathematics.  The quality of teaching is good and at times outstanding. Pupils enjoy their lessons, which provide very well for their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. All groups of pupils feel very safe and included, and their parents unanimously agree with this.  Senior leaders and governors have ensured that the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement have continued to improve since the last inspection.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teachers do not consistently set work at the right level of difficulty to help all pupils achieve as well as they can.  Marking of pupils’ work in subjects other than writing does not consistently show them how to improve their learning further.  The skills of subject leaders are not used fully to check on the quality of pupils’ achievement in their subjects in order to contribute to raising standards and to share information with governors.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 15 lessons, one of which was a joint observation with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with senior leaders, subject leaders, members of the governing body, pupils and a representative of the local authority.  The inspectors checked school documents relating to safeguarding, looked at pupils’ work in their books, heard some pupils read and reviewed the ways in which the school checks on pupils’ learning.  The inspectors took account of the 29 parental responses received at the time of the inspection from the on-line questionnaire (Parent View), the school’s own parental survey and the staff questionnaires.

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Inspection team

Clare Henderson, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Allyson Ingall Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium (this is extra government funding to support children of armed forces families, pupils who are looked after by the local authority, and pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals) is below average.  The proportion of pupils who are disabled and those with special educational needs supported through school action is below average. The proportion supported through school action plus or a statement of special educational needs is below average.  Almost all the pupils are of White British heritage.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of excellent teaching so that pupils’ achievement is outstanding by ensuring that:  teachers always set work in lessons which is at the right level of difficulty to help pupils to achieve the best they can  marking of pupils’ work in all subjects consistently shows pupils how to improve their learning further.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of leadership and management to outstanding by providing subject leaders with more opportunities to check fully on the quality of pupils’ achievement in their subjects and to share this information with the governors.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Most children begin school with skills which are in line with those typically expected for their age. Because of the high quality of care and teaching they receive, they make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  Pupils achieve well in Years 1 to 6 in English and mathematics. Standards have continued to rise steadily in recent years. By the end of Year 6, in 2012, they were higher than the above average standards reached in 2011.They were significantly above average in reading and writing and above average in mathematics and especially high for the more able pupils.  Pupils known to be eligible for free school meals attain at least as well as pupils in other groups in the school in English and mathematics. This is because the school has spent extra funds well on, for instance, extra teaching of basic skills and support for pupils’ social and emotional needs.  Support for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is managed very well

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The achievement of pupils is good

by senior leaders and the special educational needs leader. They carefully check the progress of these pupils and organise high quality extra help for them. As a result, these pupils make good progress. Pupils make good rather than outstanding progress in their time in the school because teachers, in all year groups, do not always provide work that is closely matched to all pupils’ abilities and is, at times, too easy or too hard for them to consistently achieve as well as they could.  Standards in reading are at least good and at times outstanding. Younger pupils have a good understanding of letters and the sounds they make, so they are able to work out words of which they are unsure.  Pupils enjoy doing lots of reading, and read confidently in Years 1 and 2. Consequently, pupils in Year 1 achieved above the national average in the reading test in 2012 and by Year 2 exceeded the expected levels.  Older pupils talk with enthusiasm about their favourite books and authors. Year 6 pupils, in their

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The achievement of pupils is good

role of ‘Reader Leaders’ regularly listen to and read with the younger pupils. This provides them with added responsibilities which they willingly embrace.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Pupils make at least good progress in all year groups because of the good and at times outstanding teaching they receive. This view is strongly supported by parents and the pupils who say ‘teachers make learning fun’.  In the lessons where teaching is outstanding, work is set at the right level for pupils. For example, in a Year 6 mathematics lesson, pupils investigating co-ordinates successfully challenged each other to plot and explain extremely complicated patterns using the correct mathematical language. Pupils with different abilities within the class were given tasks at different levels of difficulty, so that all pupils made outstanding progress.  When questioning makes pupils think hard, they make outstanding progress. In the Reception class for instance, the story of a camel trying to get through the eye of a needle was used very successfully as a springboard into an outdoor investigation into tricky situations. As the children

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The quality of teaching is good

explored shape and space and were creative and imaginative in their thinking, their reasoning and language skills were extended very well.  When teaching is less than outstanding, pupils are occasionally given tasks that are either too easy or too difficult for them to achieve as well as they could.  Marking and regular homework are generally used well to help pupils to improve their work. The quality of marking is at its best in writing as pupils are clear as to how to improve their work; they act on the advice given, often assessing their own and classmates’ work, and writing comments to the teacher. However, this good practice is not used consistently across all subjects.  Teachers make a strong contribution to the excellent provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. High quality teaching of art, French, music and sport, for example, gives pupils an excellent range of experiences and skills which prepare them well for their future

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The quality of teaching is good

lives.  The teaching for pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding is managed well, with good use of specialist support staff. This ensures that these pupils achieve well and, for some, achieve better in their learning than other groups of pupils in the school.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are well supported. The adults who support them work very effectively with class teachers to make sure that these pupils make good progress.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils are extremely friendly, considerate and confident. They are proud of their school and are very keen to say how much they enjoy school. This is reflected in their above average attendance.  Parents unanimously agree that the school is a very welcoming and friendly place. Pupils told inspectors that all the children get on well together. School leaders successfully create an atmosphere in which all pupils are included in the life of the school and feel valued.  Pupils are extremely keen to learn and want to do well. They have excellent attitudes to learning, work well in lessons often without help from the teacher, and make at least good progress, particularly when work is matched exactly to their learning.  Behaviour around school is exemplary, and pupils treat adults and each other with respect. School records show that behaviour is typically excellent over time. Pupils’ genuine enjoyment of

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

school has a positive effect on their good achievement.  Pupils have an excellent understanding of the different types of bullying and say staff have dealt very swiftly and effectively with the few incidents which have occurred in the past.  The school’s behaviour code is well known by pupils, and is rarely broken because pupils and staff have drawn up the rules together. Poor behaviour, racist incidents and pupil exclusion from school is unknown.  Praise and reward assemblies provide them with excellent opportunities to give and receive praise and to reflect on their own and on the feelings of others. Pupils say teachers and support staff have helped them to understand how to take care on the road or when using the internet.  Pupils willingly take part in a wide range of activities which allow them to present their opinions and bring about change. School and eco councillors, and another, the ‘seedlings and gardeners’

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

scheme, where Year 6 pupils take a Reception class child into their care when they begin school, are examples of these excellent opportunities.  Strong links with parents and opportunities for them to learn how the staff teach reading and how they can help with reading at home, as seen during the inspection in Year 1, strengthen the partnership with parents. In turn, this adds to children’s confidence and enjoyment of school very well.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school is well led by the senior leaders. Together with the governing body, they check to make sure their plans for improvement are working and enjoy the support of staff, who say ‘we work well as a team’.  Strong leadership, accompanied by a close partnership with the local authority, has ensured the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement has improved well since the last inspection.  Targets set for teachers concentrate on raising pupils’ achievement, and are well linked to training and to teachers’ salary progression.  School leaders regularly check the quality of teaching and pupils’ learning and, because of this, standards in English and mathematics have continued to rise since the last inspection. However, the school has not always made the best use of subject leaders to check on pupils’ learning in their subjects so that they can contribute more to pupils’ achievement.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development exceptionally well.

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The leadership and management are good

Pupils have a clear sense of right and wrong, and show concern for others, for example, through fundraising. Their learning and enjoyment of school is greatly enriched by residential visits, sport, artistic opportunities and clubs outside the school day.  Senior leaders and staff work effectively to prevent discrimination and ensure that all pupils have equality of opportunity to enjoy the full curriculum.  Arrangements for safeguarding pupils and child protection procedures fully meet statutory requirements.  School leaders have strong relationships with parents who say they are well informed about the work of the school because of regular newsletters and the highly informative website. As a result, parents are very supportive of the school.  The school has strong links with the local community and social services this ensures that the differing personal needs of all pupils are met very well.  The governance of the school:

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The leadership and management are good

 Governors are well informed and have received training to ensure that they have the necessary skills to carry out their roles. They know the key strengths and weaknesses of the school. They are fully aware of how the pupils are achieving compared with other schools nationally, although they are not as well informed about the achievement of pupils in all the subjects they study because they receive too little information from subject leaders. The headteacher is held to account with rigorous performance targets. Governors are fully aware of the performance of staff and their pay levels. In conjunction with the headteacher, they manage the school’s finances efficiently, including the use of pupil premium funding .

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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 119702 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 401863

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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 203 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Dave Roberts Headteacher Amanda Kroukamp Date of previous school inspection 5 November 2009 Telephone number 01282 617214 Fax number 01282 605765 Email address head@wheatleylane.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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