Corrie Primary School

Corrie Primary and Nursery School Cemetery Road, Denton, Manchester, M34 6FG

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Overall effectiveness

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

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

 The standards that pupils reach are not high enough and not all pupils make as much progress as they could.  Not all the teaching is good. It is not always matched to pupil’s abilities and does not extend their learning in all subjects.  In lessons, pupils do not always concentrate as well as they should because the teaching does not keep them interested.  The headteacher and senior leaders have not made all the improvements recommended in the last inspection report, particularly in mathematics.  The governors are not involved enough in checking on the standards that pupils reach and the progress that they make.  The policies for Special Educational Needs and the Early Years Foundation Stage are not up- to-date.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils know right from wrong. They get on well with each other and with adults and, through their charity and eco work, they show respect for the wider world. Pupils feel safe at the school.  The school provides a wide range of opportunities for pupils to take part in sporting activities and to go to concerts, plays, museums and art galleries. This provision makes a good contribution to pupils’ health and cultural development.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 18 lessons being taught by 12 teachers. One of the observations was conducted jointly with the headteacher. Inspectors also looked at pupils’ work, listened to pupils reading, and observed breakfast club, break and lunch time activities.  They held meetings with leaders and managers, with the Chair of the Governing Body, with representatives of the local authority and with a group of teachers. They also held a formal meeting with a group of pupils and spoke to many pupils in lessons and around the school. In addition, inspectors spoke to break-time supervisors and visiting staff.  The range of documents examined included: the school development plan; the school self- evaluation; documents relating to the safeguarding of pupils; minutes of governors’ meetings; and records of pupils’ attendance, exclusion and behaviour.  Twenty-one responses to Parent View were analysed, as well as questionnaires completed by 24

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Inspection team

Aelwyn Pugh, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Frances Farnorth Additional Inspector Marilyn Massey Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is a larger than average primary school.  It holds the International Schools Award and the Healthy Schools Award.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is well below average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and supported by the pupil premium is higher than average. (The pupil premium is additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families, and children who are looked after by the local authority.)  The proportion of pupils with special educational needs supported at school action stage is above average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is just below average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standard which sets the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of pupils who make better than expected progress and who achieve the higher levels in national tests by:  ensuring that teachers have high expectations of every pupil, particularly the most able  setting ambitious targets for all pupils in reading, writing and mathematics  conducting regular and detailed analyses of progress, so that timely action can be taken to help those pupils who are in danger of falling short of their targets.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching so that it is consistently good or better by ensuring that:  all lessons present appropriately demanding challenges for low, middle and high ability pupils, so that their interest is captured, their concentration is maintained and their progress is increased  all teachers ask probing questions to check on pupils’ understanding, to help them clarify their thinking and to identify and correct the errors that they are making  marking is used consistently to give pupils clear advice on precisely what they need to do to improve their work and to help them identify and correct errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of leadership and management by:  monitoring the quality of teaching and learning rigorously to ensure that more pupils are making better than expected progress and achieving higher levels of attainment  ensuring that all members of the governing body are trained to interpret performance data accurately, so that they can identify precisely how well pupils are achieving and where improvements in teaching and learning need to be made  ensuing governors monitor the impact on achievement of the provision made through pupil premium funding  updating the policies on Early Years Foundation Stage and Special Educational Needs, to ensure that they reflect the most recent developments nationally, and clarifying the policy for marking spelling, punctuation and grammar.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because pupils do not make consistently good progress in all subjects or in all ability groups. The most able make less progress than others. Across the ability range, few pupils make more progress than is expected of them. Progress in writing is not as good as in reading and boys’ progress is usually less than that of girls.  Pupils with special educational needs or disabilities make less progress than such pupils nationally.  In the lessons seen, the progress of pupils varied according to the quality of the teaching. Even in the better lessons, high and middle ability pupils did not make consistently good progress.  The school’s figures show that children enter the school with knowledge and skills that are below what is typical for their age, particularly in speaking and language skills. During the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, progress is variable. Over the last two years, the results of

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

the checks made on pupils’ knowledge of letters and the sounds they make (phonics) have been below average. Results at the end of Key Stage 1 have fluctuated but are now average.  At the end of Key Stage 2, too few pupils gain the higher grades in the national tests. Results in mathematics have varied. In 2012, they improved to just above average but the most recent unvalidated figures indicate that this improvement has not been sustained.  The school uses the additional government funding known as pupil premium on a range of appropriate activities. Pupils supported through this funding who left the school in the summer of 2013 were one term behind other pupils in reading and mathematics but were in line with them in writing . This was better than the previous year. The gap between the two groups is closing at a faster rate than across the country.  The lower ability pupils who were heard reading were making better progress at Key Stage 2

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The school’s own evaluations show that teaching is not consistently good. This was borne out during the inspection. Of the lessons seen, only half were good and none of them was outstanding.  Where teaching was good, teachers had a firm command of the subject, had high expectations of the pupils and adapted what was being taught to pupils’ needs and levels of understanding. They made skilful use of questions to help the pupils clarify their thinking. In a good mathematics lesson, groups of pupils were given measuring tasks of varying difficulty to perform. Some had to measure straight surfaces in centimetres. Others were asked to measure curved surfaces, or their arms and feet, and convert their answers into millimetres. When one boy mixed the two types of measurements, there was an amusing episode where the teacher suggested that he had ‘shrunk in the wash’. A discussion on why she thought this enabled the

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

boy to correct the error for himself.  This level of questioning was not widespread enough. Too often, teachers posed general questions and relied on the most confident pupils to supply the answers. They did not direct questions at the more reluctant pupils and did not use further questions to help pupils develop their ideas or to correct their misunderstandings. As a result, too little progress was made.  In some lessons, all the pupils were expected to complete the same task within the same time scale. As a result, low ability pupils never completed their work while the high ability pupils had to sit waiting for the others to finish. This led to a loss of concentration and low level disruption which again meant that not enough progress was made.  Examination of pupil’s books shows that work is marked regularly but the quality of marking varies. Some teachers keep closely to the school’s policy and give the pupils a clear indication of

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

how well they are doing and what they need to do to get better. Other teachers rely too heavily on ‘ticking’ the work and making positive comments, without showing the pupils how they might improve. There are few instances where pupils are asked to repeat a task. Even then, teachers do not always check that the work has been done and that it has improved. There is a lack of consistency in the way that teachers correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. This might result from a lack of clarity in the school’s marking policy.  In the lessons seen, teaching assistants made a strong contribution to supporting the learning of individuals or groups of pupils who needed additional help.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Around the school, pupils behave well. They cooperate with each other, are very polite and relate well to their teachers and other adults. However, in lessons, they can become distracted and lose concentration, especially when teachers do not involve them sufficiently.  Attendance has been too low but is improving and is now close to the national average. This is the result of a number of initiatives, including the breakfast club, weekly class competitions, regular reminders from the headteacher to parents and the successful work of the learning mentor.  The single central record confirming the suitability of staff to work with children is securely in place, as are safeguarding policies.  Only 21 parents completed the online questionnaire Parent View. A minority of those who responded expressed concerns about the safety of children and the way that the school tackles bullying. However, inspectors did not find evidence to substantiate these concerns.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The random sample of pupils who spoke to inspectors said that staff ‘will not tolerate’ bullying. Instances of bullying were rare and, when it did happen, it was dealt with effectively. This was borne out by the information in the school’s behaviour logs. Pupils said that they felt safe at the school and they understood how to keep themselves safe from harm in various circumstances, including when using computers. Parents and children are asked to sign a home-school agreement on the safe use of information technology.  In the past, the proportion of pupils excluded from the school for fixed periods of time has been higher than average. However, the school’s most recent figures show that the situation has improved considerably and is now in line with the average nationally.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because leaders have not succeeded in bringing about sufficient improvement since the last inspection, particularly in mathematics. Teaching is not consistently good and a small proportion of it is inadequate. Standards in writing still need to improve but pupils are being given increasing opportunities to apply their writing skills in a range of contexts, including writing blogs and articles for the monthly newsletter.  Until very recently, the local authority has had little involvement with the school. However, an independent consultant has provided appropriate helpful external perspective on the school’s progress.  The headteacher has an accurate view of the strengths and weaknesses of the school and has identified the right priorities for future development.  Middle leadership has undergone considerable change in a short time. The newly established

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The leadership and management requires improvement

team has a clear understanding of what improvements need to be made and what they need to do to bring them about. They have also developed appropriate plans for responding to the changes to the National Curriculum and relating these to the creative curriculum recently introduced into the school.  The school places a strong emphasis on pupil’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Through a consistently applied system of Golden Rules, pupils develop a very clear understanding of what is right and wrong. They relate well to each other and to adults, including visitors to the school. They show consideration for the wider world through raising money for charities and through their eco work. Groups of pupils regularly attend concerts and theatrical performances and visit museums and art galleries. There is a daily act of collective worship and local clergy lead celebrations of Christian festivals. Pupils study world religions but, apart from a

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The leadership and management requires improvement

visit to a Hindu temple, visits to places of worship other than Christian churches have been limited. The school’s inclusion policies recognise the need for further work in this area.  The school’s policies are, in most cases, clear and concise and are reviewed on a regular basis. However, the policies for Special Educational Needs and the Early Years Foundation Stage need to be updated and a number of policies, notably those relating to inclusion and equal opportunities could be brought together into one document.  The school has not yet received its allocation of primary sports funding but has clear plans to use it to give further support to the strong programme that already exists in the school. Sports coaches are employed to give pupils opportunities to make constructive use of break and lunch times by developing their physical skills and involving them in health promoting activities. The girls’ and boys’ football teams have been very successful in a number of local leagues and

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The leadership and management requires improvement

tournaments, as have the cheerleaders.  The school places a clear emphasis on ensuring that the opportunities it offers are equally available to all pupils. This is particularly evident in sporting activities and the remission arrangements, to ensure that all pupils can benefit from the instrumental tuition that is available.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is now fully constituted but attendance at some crucial meetings relating to the monitoring of attainment has sometimes been sparse. Governors have recognised the need to improve their understanding of data and have recently drawn up plans to acquire the Governor Mark award.  Resources are used well and the governors have a very clear plan for the phased upgrading of the building in a way which ensures that money is well spent.  There are appropriate systems in place for managing the headteacher’s performance and the governors have supported her in implementing the significant staffing changes that have been

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The leadership and management requires improvement

necessary to strengthen middle leadership.  The governors have been closely involved in deciding on the range of provision to be made through the additional pupil premium funding. However, they have tended to rely on the headteacher to inform them about the impact of that provision.

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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 106214 Local authority Tameside Inspection number 427359

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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 Community Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 342 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Lynne Smith Headteacher Naomi Cartledge Date of previous school inspection 21 June 2011 Telephone number 0161 336 4265 Fax number 0161 337 8568 Email address head@corrie.tameside.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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