Setting

CfBT Inspection Services Suite 22 West Lancs Investment Centre Maple View Skelmersdale WN8 9TG T 0300 1231231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 01695 566855 Direct F 01695 729320 Direct email: gail.hill@cfbt.com

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Mr J Bruen Headteacher St Cuthbert's Catholic Primary School Wigan Thorburn Road Norley Hall Wigan Lancashire WN5 9LW

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Primary School Wigan, Wigan

Following my visit to your school on 10 June 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report on the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Primary School Wigan, Wigan

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in April 2013. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Evidence

During the visit, meetings were held with senior leaders, a group of nine pupils, three members of the Governing Body, a representative of the local authority, and a representative of the Archdiocese of Liverpool. Discussions focused on the actions taken since the last inspection. In addition, the school’s improvement plans were evaluated. A range of documentation including records of observations of teaching and learning and pupils’ work was scrutinised.

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Context

Since the inspection of April 2013 four members of teaching staff have given notice they intend to leave the school at the end of the Summer term 2013. Two have secured employment in other schools and two are retiring. In one class pupils are taught currently by a temporary teacher.

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Main findings

After the initial disappointment of the judgement of requires improvement, the headteacher, his senior leaders and the governing body have redoubled their efforts to secure improvements across the school. Their plans for improvement set high expectations of what needs to be achieved before the next section 5 inspection. Success is already evident with reading levels in Year 2 higher than this time last year by some margin. While in 2012 only 42% of Year 2 pupils achieved the nationally expected standard of Level 2B, 74% have done so this year. Particularly pleasing is the increase in Year 2 pupils who have attained the higher than expected Level 3 from 0% in 2012 to 20% now. Leaders’ keen focus on improving the reading skills of pupils is therefore paying dividends. As a result of teaching pupils in smaller groups for phonics (letters and the sounds they make), leaders are building up an accurate picture of the progress pupils are making in this area. This means, come

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Main findings

September 2013, all teachers will have an accurate baseline from which to challenge their pupils’ learning in phonics.

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Main findings

The school’s improvement plan includes clearly quantified targets for the proportion of pupils expected to make two sub-levels progress in reading, writing and mathematics. These targets are too broad. They do not take into account pupils for whom two sub-levels progress may be a challenge too far or those for whom two sub-levels are not challenging enough. Leaders and governors agree with HMI the setting of more bespoke targets could lead to progress exceeding national expectations rather than just meeting them.

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Main findings

Leaders and governors have not stood still since the inspection of April 2013. Work is underway in the Early Years Foundation Stage to create a more conducive environment for learning. In addition, senior leaders are judging accurately the quality of teaching and learning as a result of shared observations with an external consultant and the headteacher. These judgements would be even sharper if they included specific examples of how pupils have made, for example, good progress.

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Main findings

Governors are knowledgeable and supportive. They have begun to hold leaders to account further through the establishment of a monitoring committee. Likewise, as a result of regular pupil progress meetings, senior leaders are better holding teachers to account for the performance of their pupils. Pupils spoken with during this visit confirmed the April 2013 inspection’s view that behaviour was good. In particular, pupils were able to talk confidently about their enjoyment of school and communicate their good understanding of recent work covered in science and mathematics, for example how a complete circuit is made or how nine multiplied by twelve is calculated using the grid method.

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Main findings

Overall, senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection. Leaders should take further action to:

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Main findings

■ enable pupils to exceed national expectations in reading, writing and mathematics by ensuring the targets set for pupils are bespoke and challenging and based on the accurate assessment of progress to date.

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Main findings

Ofsted will continue to monitor the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

Leaders are making effective use of external support. For example, the member of staff responsible for the Early Years Foundation Stage has visited another school to observe good practice in this key stage. In addition an external consultant is assisting the headteacher in building up effectively the capacity of senior leaders to judge accurately the quality of teaching and learning. Both the local authority and the Archdiocese know the school well and have confidence in leaders’ ability to bring about the necessary improvements. This confidence is well placed.

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Additional input from HMI

■ HMI will advise the Chair of the Governing Body, via the headteacher, of examples in inspection reports where governors have held leaders to account for the performance of the school.

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Additional input from HMI

■ At a date to be arranged, HMI will in Autumn 2013 review with the newly established monitoring committee of the Governing Body opportunities to observe how effectively they are holding school leaders to account in order to ascertain what support and challenge members are giving to the school.

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Additional input from HMI

■ At a date to be arranged, HMI in Summer 2014 will:  undertake with senior leaders joint observations and a scrutiny of pupils’ work in order to ascertain the quality of teaching and learning across the school  evaluate with senior leaders how well their records of pupils’ progress are demonstrating pupils are making better than expected progress over the course of the year.

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Additional input from HMI

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children's Services for Wigan and as below.

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Her Majesty's Inspector

The letter should be copied to the following:

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Her Majesty's Inspector

 Appropriate authority - Chair of the Governing Body/Interim Executive Board  Local authority - including where the school is an academy  Diocese - for voluntary aided and voluntary controlled schools  The lead inspector.

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