Accrington Benjamin Hargreaves Voluntary Aided Church of England Primary School

Benjamin Hargreaves CE Primary School Barnfield Street, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 2AQ

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Overall effectiveness

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

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Pupils make uneven progress throughout the school. They reach average standards in reading and writing in Year 6.  The quality of teaching requires improvement as inconsistencies lead to variable rates of progress, particularly in reading.  In some lessons, teachers do not make the best use of time or check pupils’ learning to offer help or make tasks harder. As a result, pupils do not make enough progress.  Teaching assistants do not always contribute well to the quality of learning in all parts of lessons.  The school’s website is out of date and does not provide parents, governors or the general public with the required information.  Leadership and management require improvement. Leaders’ plans are not sufficiently focussed on quickly raising pupils’ achievement or time limited to bring about rapid changes in the quality of teaching. Leaders do not effectively check the progress of different groups of pupils regularly enough.

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 The new subject leaders have not had opportunities to check the quality of teaching for themselves to bring about improvements.

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The school has the following strengths

 Standards reached at the end of Key Stage 2 are rising. Pupils’ attainment in mathematics is above average.  Teaching is good in the Early Years Foundation Stage and in Year 2 and is improving in Key Stage 2.  Pupils’ behaviour is typically good and nearly all parents agree. Pupils say they like school and feel safe.  The curriculum provides memorable experiences for pupils and the topics covered are interesting and relevant to pupils.  The headteacher and deputy headteacher are ensuring new ideas introduced, such as the clear marking code, are helping to improve teaching and raise pupils’ achievement.  Governance is good. Governors effectively challenge and support the school to improve.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 15 lessons and parts of lessons taught by seven teachers. In addition, they conducted some shorter visits to classes to check the quality of the curriculum and pupils’ learning during teachers’ planning, preparation and assessment time. One lesson was jointly observed with the headteacher.  The inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, subject leaders, the coordinator of provision for pupils with special educational needs including disabled pupils, the coordinator of the Early Years Foundation Stage, four members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of 32 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View), conversations with parents, written correspondence and the school’s own records of parents’ views.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a wide range of documentation, including

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Information about this inspection

safeguarding policies, school development plans, the school’s records of checks on the quality of teaching and samples of pupils’ work.

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Inspection team

Liam Trippier, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Gillian Burrow Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller than average sized primary school.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is below average.  The proportion of pupils with a statement of special educational needs and those supported at school action plus is below average.  An increasing but below-average proportion of pupils are known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in local authority care, children from service families, and children known to be eligible for free school meals.  A large majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds and other pupils come from a range of minority ethnic backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils speaking English as an additional language is average.  A small group of pupils regularly attends Broadfield School, which has specialised provision to support pupils’ physical development.

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Information about this school

 The school exceeds 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?

 Improve the quality of teaching in all subjects so that its impact on pupils’ achievement is at least good in every class by: - making sure teachers check pupils’ learning well in every lesson and change their teaching to precisely meet pupils’ needs - using lesson time well so that no opportunities are missed to promote good quality learning - ensuring teaching assistants contribute strongly to learning in all parts of lessons, including whole-class teaching time - planning activities to make all pupils think hard in every lesson - ensuring the comments teachers make in pupils’ workbooks are acted upon each day where appropriate - ensuring all pupils have the opportunity to read more regularly and develop a love of reading, especially those who find reading difficult - sharing the best practice in the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management to accelerate the rate of improvement by: - ensuring parents, governors and the general public have easy access to the information they are entitled to on a good quality website by 31 October 2013 - summarising regularly the achievement data of all pupils and the different groups of pupils the school serves, including more-able pupils, those eligible for the pupil premium and those who speak English as an additional language, to clearly identify future priorities - ensuring leaders’ plans focus on improving teaching and raising pupils’ achievement more quickly with measurable targets and precise timescales - involving subject leaders in checking and improving the quality of teaching.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Records of pupils’ achievement over the last three years indicate that it requires improvement. All pupils make uneven progress from their below typical individual starting points in the Reception class. Most pupils reach average standards in reading and writing and above average standards in mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2. Pupils who speak English as an additional language and/or are from a range of minority ethnic backgrounds, achieve similarly to other pupils.  Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage because they are taught well. They enjoy learning through activities which they choose by themselves and which are led by adults. Leaders have recognised the need to develop more exciting play opportunities through which children can better practise their reading, writing and mathematics skills.  Standards reached at the end of Key Stage 1 in 2013 tumbled and were below average in

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

reading, writing and mathematics. More-able pupils did not reach the higher levels they should have. In Key Stage 1, pupils’ progress requires improvement because the quality of teaching is highly variable and reading is not taught particularly well. Pupils use their knowledge of letters and the sounds they make (phonics) to read words successfully but pupils do not always read often enough and books are occasionally too hard for them.  Pupils make good progress in writing and mathematics in Key Stage 2 because teaching is improving. Pupils generally read well in Key Stage 2 and they make expected progress. They benefit from taking books from the school library and they have a good knowledge of authors and the books they write. However, some pupils in Key Stage 2 do not read regularly enough.  More-able pupils make similar progress to other pupils in the school but the Year 6 pupils in 2013 made good progress and reached above-average standards.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils have equality of opportunity to learn. The school uses the additional pupil premium funding to support those known to be eligible for free school meals. As a result, the gap in their attainment in English and mathematics is narrowing and is currently just over two terms behind other pupils in the school. Pupils benefit from effective small-group teaching that meets their needs well. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs also make expected progress but some do better than this as a result of focused teaching and access to facilities at a good special school.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching is inconsistent. Consequently, pupils make uneven but overall, expected progress across the school. There is little outstanding teaching and not enough is consistently good.  In lessons that require improvement pupils make only adequate progress. Teachers do not always check pupils are learning quickly and some tasks are not hard enough and so do not fully meet pupils’ needs. For example, in mathematics lessons, pupils often complete too many simple calculations correctly and do not have the opportunity to extend their thinking by using and applying their skills to ‘real life’ mathematical problems during the lesson.  Some lessons are not well organised and learning time is wasted collecting resources and pupils’ belongings. Some areas and classes in Key Stage 1 are not well organised or equipped which limits pupils’ opportunities to practise reading, writing and mathematical skills effectively.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching assistants make a variable contribution to pupils’ learning. During whole-class teaching time, their role is sometimes underdeveloped and, instead of helping pupils to learn, they wait quietly while the teacher teaches the class. When they are deployed well, they provide pupils with good quality oral feedback and strong guidance in all parts of lessons.  The quality of work in pupils’ workbooks is improving in most classes. Most pupils present their work neatly and respond well to their teachers’ useful marking comments and development points. However, not all pupils are given the time to do this and some teachers’ comments are not followed up by the pupils. In some workbooks there are too many worksheets. As a result, pupils do not have the chance to set out work for themselves or extend their ideas beyond the photocopied page.  Standards reached at the end of Key Stage 2 are rising, particularly in mathematics, due to the

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

effective organisation and quickly improving quality of mathematics teaching.  When teaching is good, pupils learn well, quickly and make good progress. Teachers ensure that tasks are hard enough, interesting and fun. For example, in a good literacy lesson in Year 2, pupils responded exceptionally well to the teacher’s questions to elicit their thoughts about a character’s feelings and enjoyed working together with their classmates to animatedly discuss feelings of fear and frustration. The teacher ensured all pupils learned well by effectively checking progress at regular points in the lesson.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ attitudes in lessons are typically positive and they enjoy learning when they are able to work with a partner or are challenged to complete a project independently on a subject of interest. Pupils’ good behaviour over time and the positive relationships they have with each other and with staff contribute well to the improvements in their rates of progress.  Pupils usually conduct themselves very well around the school building and site at different times of the day including lunchtimes. They are well supervised and only on very rare occasions does the standard of behaviour slip because adults’ expectations of conduct are not made clear to the pupils. School-held records show that behaviour is typically good and there have been no serious incidents of unacceptable behaviour for many years.  Pupils appreciate the clear code for promoting good behaviour and understand it well. Through a range of assembly themes and topics and through the school’s curriculum they are guided well.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

Older pupils particularly enjoy helping the younger ones at playtimes and to settle into school at the start of the term.  Pupils say they feel safe in school and nearly all parents agree. Pupils know about the different forms of bullying and say that it is not an issue in the school. They know that if they have any concerns these can be raised with staff who will help them. Pupils also know how to stay safe near roads and when using the internet and are taught about the dangers of fire.  Pupils say they like coming to school and their above-average rates of attendance reflect this. The school promotes good attendance effectively and parents play their part too and make sure their children attend well.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because there is still not enough good and outstanding teaching. The school’s view of its own performance is a little over-generous but appropriate priorities have been identified to improve the consistency and quality of teaching and to further raise achievement. Leaders’ actions have brought about some improvements so that standards at the end of Key Stage 2 are rising, particularly in mathematics.  Not all teachers address the development points provided for them by leaders. Leaders conduct a suitable range of activities to check teaching, including scrutinising pupils’ workbooks, but these checks are not frequent enough to ensure rapid improvement. Teachers have insufficient opportunities to see the best practice in the school.  Leaders’ plans to improve the school do not provide a clear timescale to deliver or check the effectiveness of actions linked to the school’s priorities. There is insufficient focus on pupils’

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The leadership and management requires improvement

achievement to measure the success of actions accurately. These also contribute to the uneven rates of progress pupils make and the inconsistencies in teaching.  Most middle leaders are new to post but have conducted some activities to check pupils’ achievement in their subjects and areas such as checking the quality of work in pupils’ workbooks, analysing achievement data and checking teachers’ lesson plans. However, they have not yet had the opportunity to see teaching for themselves to identify areas for development or training and where to focus their support precisely.  Performance management procedures are well established and teachers’ targets are based upon the most important school priorities. Leaders’ expectations for teachers’ performance are ambitious and linked to the government’s nationally expected standards for teachers. Teachers are held to account for the progress pupils make in their classes at regular pupil progress

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The leadership and management requires improvement

meetings which contributes to the improvements made in most classes.  Leaders ensure that the school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet requirements.  The school has used the new primary school sport funding well to ensure more pupils access sports activities that lead to healthy lifestyles and to enhance the teaching of physical education and pupils’ physical skills. The school has appointed a sports coach who ensures pupils’ participation in lessons and sports clubs is good.  The curriculum equips pupils with the necessary skills, knowledge and understanding to prepare them for the next stage of their education. Pupils enjoy a good range of interesting themes and topics such as ‘Fantasy Worlds’ and ‘The Rich and Famous’ which set pupils’ learning in an exciting context to stimulate their imagination and curiosity. Leaders recognise that the curriculum at the start of Year 1 should be modified to meet the needs of pupils who require

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The leadership and management requires improvement

more play-based tasks to quickly improve their skills, knowledge and understanding.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well throughout the school, both in and out of lessons so that pupils work and play well together. Pupils experience a wide range of visitors and educational visits that provide them with opportunities to appreciate nature, art, healthy living and to understand the importance of being a good citizen.  Relationships with parents are typically positive and all parents who responded to the online questionnaire (Parent View) would recommend the school to other parents. Weekly newsletters and half-termly curriculum letters are sent to parents and policies are available upon request to make up for the lack of up-to-date information available on the school’s website.  The school has an effective partnership with the local special school to enhance learning for

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The leadership and management requires improvement

identified pupils. Links with organisations such as social care and health services are strong and reflect the school’s caring ethos. Links with other schools to improve teaching are currently being established and a suitable partner school has been identified by the local authority.  Local authority support is effective. The local authority has an accurate view of the school’s position and has helped to bring about improvements in the last year, particularly with governance.  The governance of the school:  Governance has improved significantly since the last inspection. Governors understand the school’s current position well because they check the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ progress for themselves. They receive good quality information from the headteacher on the leadership of teaching and the management of staff performance and provide significant challenge to her and other leaders to ensure the school improves. Governors are

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The leadership and management requires improvement

well trained and take full advantage of the local authority governors’ training package.  The governing body ensures statutory duties of safeguarding and equality of opportunity are met. For example, governors check safeguarding policies are up to date and know well how different groups of pupils are achieving, including those pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium.

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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 119441 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 428867

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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 165 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Kathleen Jones Headteacher Julie Nicol Date of previous school inspection 26 March 2012 Telephone number 01254 232130 Fax number 01254 232130 Email address bursar@benjaminhargreaves.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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