St Luke's CofE Primary School

St Luke’s CE Primary School Albion Street, Chadderton, Oldham, Lancashire, OL9 9HT

p.1

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

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement.  Standards at the end of Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 in reading, writing and mathematics dipped following the previous inspection to below average.  Too few pupils make good progress from their starting points, especially in writing and for those pupils who find learning difficult.  The quality of teaching requires improvement because it does not always take into consideration the different starting points of pupils. Consequently, pupils’ progress is uneven. Pupils from lower starting points are capable of making more progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  In written work the accuracy of spellings for many pupils in school is below that expected for their age, especially in Key Stage 2.  Pupils’ vocabulary used in their written work does not develop quickly enough throughout the school. In addition, they do not write enough across many different subjects. This

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

limits the scope of some of their writing.  In some lessons, teachers do not always make it clear enough to pupils their expectations of good behaviour. As a result, in some classes pupils take time to settle to their work.  Leadership and management require improvement as not all the actions taken have resulted in consistently good teaching.

p.1

The school has the following strengths

 Good leadership by the headteacher with support from a knowledgeable governing body has brought staff together to halt the apparent decline and implement improvements to teaching and pupils’ achievement.  Teaching and progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and in Key Stage 1 mathematics are good.

p.1

Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 13 lessons or parts of lessons. They listened to pupils reading in Key Stages 1 and 2.  Meetings were held with senior and middle leaders, including subject leaders and the special educational needs coordinator. Inspectors met with four members of the governing body, pupils and a representative from the local authority.  There were insufficient responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) for inspectors to be able to take into account. Questionnaires completed by 19 members of staff were also taken into account.  Inspectors observed the work of the school and reviewed various documents, including the school’s view of its effectiveness, tracking of pupils’ progress, pupils’ books and the performance management of staff. Documents relating to behaviour, attendance, school development and safeguarding were also considered.

p.2

Inspection team

Robert Pye, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Emma Jackson Additional Inspector

p.2

Information about this school

 This is a smaller than average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium is above average. The pupil premium is additional funding to support pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and those children who are looked after by the local authority.  There are an above average proportion of pupils from different minority ethnic groups compared to national averages. These are mainly of Bangladeshi and Pakistani heritage.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs supported through school action is lower than average.  The proportion of pupils with a statement of special educational needs or supported at school action plus is broadly average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ progress and attainment.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching to be at least good in order to raise standards and accelerate progress, especially that of the least able, in writing by ensuring that:  work is neither too hard, easy or too difficult and ensure that pupils, especially those at lower starting points, make more rapid progress  providing all pupils with frequent opportunities to introduce a wide range of enriched vocabulary into their written work so that it becomes more interesting and meaningful to the reader  ensuring that all pupils can apply their writing skills with equal quality across different subjects areas, in order to write with different purpose and style  teachers’ marking in Key Stage 2 identifies appropriate spelling errors and ensures that pupils have opportunities to correct these in order to improve the quality of their work.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ motivation to produce their best work at all times in lessons by:  making sure that all teaching sets clear expectations of good behaviour and encourages pupils at all times to manage their own behaviour well.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management to accelerate the rate of improvement by:  setting realistic but challenging timescales in which to improve the quality of teaching to that of good or better.

p.3

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Results of the national tests for Year 6 and the school’s assessment data all indicate that the progress in reading and mathematics improved sharply in 2013 to broadly average. However, prior to this, standards have been well below the national average. The most-able pupils and those from Bangladeshi and Pakistani origins make similar progress to that found nationally.  Standards at the end of Key Stage 1 are below average overall. They improved sharply in 2013 to those similar to the national picture. Pupils make the expected progress in reading and writing and good progress in mathematics up to this point.  Achievement in writing is also improving throughout the school, but the progress of pupils from lower starting points or those who have special educational needs is still variable and requires improvement. Likewise in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, pupils’ work shows that they do not yet spell as accurately as they should for their age.

p.4

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children join the school with skills that are typically well below those expected for their age. Aspects of numeracy and speech and language are particularly low. They make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage. This means that by the end of Reception most children’s skills are much closer to, although still below, the standards expected for their age.  Teachers actively encourage pupils to read at home for pleasure as well as purpose. Pupils’ knowledge of letters and the sounds they make (phonics) is improving at a pace as a result of changes made to how these skills are taught. Consequently, pupils are reading words more successfully and discuss their books with increasing confidence.  Although boys make similar progress to the girls they have not reached the same levels of attainment in the past. Data provided by the school strongly indicate that this gap is closing quickly.  In the past, pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding lagged behind that of similar

p.4

The achievement of pupils requires improvement

pupils nationally by up to a year. Additional funding from the government has been used wisely to provide a range of catch-up programmes. As a result, this group is making better progress and the attainment gap has closed in reading and mathematics and is closing rapidly in writing.  Pupils already enjoy the regular sporting opportunities provided. The primary school sports funding is enabling this provision to be extended further. For example, all pupils took part in a recent inter-house cross country competition.

p.4

The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because it is not consistently good or better. Although teachers are more skilled at using information about pupils’ starting points to plan different activities, these are not always pitched at the right level to meet the wide range of needs in each class. This is particularly the case for pupils who have lower than average starting points.  Throughout the school teachers are encouraging pupils to speak about their work with partners in order to promote language development. This is helping to improve standards in writing. However, teachers do not introduce pupils to enough new words that would add more meaning and interest to their work. In addition, teachers do not always provide enough opportunities for pupils to practise quality writing across different subjects in order to further develop their writing.  There have been significant changes to the way reading is taught. This has included the

p.4

The quality of teaching requires improvement

teaching of phonics with associated signing for sounds made in Key Stage 1 classes. This has led to a sharp improvement in the pupils’ reading capabilities and is also improving their abilities to spell more accurately. However, there remains a legacy of inaccurate spellings across Key Stage 2 that is yet to be addressed sufficiently well through identification in marking and by ensuring pupils have sufficient opportunities to make corrections.  There is a good balance of teacher and child-led activities in the Reception class and adults are effective at helping children explore and find things out for themselves.  When teaching is good, pupils learn well, quickly and make good progress. Teachers make sure tasks are always pitched at the right level to meet the wide range of abilities found within each class. For example, in a Year 3 lesson, pupils worked diligently in ability groups to solve problems relating to fractions. The skilled teaching assistant supported pupils at a lower-ability

p.4

The quality of teaching requires improvement

level well through practical activities to ensure they made the same progress as their peers. Likewise, the teacher ensured that all pupils learnt well by checking progress at regular points in the lesson.  The introduction of purposeful intervention work designed to improve reading and mathematics has had a significant impact on the progress of many pupils within school at risk of falling behind. These are tailored to the individual pupil and led well by trained teaching assistants.

p.5

The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ behaviour requires improvement because in some lessons, when activities are not matched well enough to pupils’ varying needs and abilities, some pupils lose concentration and interest in learning, and their behaviour becomes restless. Where teaching is good, however, pupils want to learn and they remain focused on their work.  Around school pupils are polite and courteous. They wear their uniform with pride and move sensibly and show care for each other.  The school’s behavioural records show that exclusions are rare, but last year there were several incidents of poor behaviour. These were managed effectively by staff, significantly reducing the frequency of such incidents. However, in some lessons, teachers do not always make it clear enough to pupils their expectations of good behaviour. As a result, in some classes pupils take time to settle to their work.  Pupils and parents are positive about the overall behaviour in school. Pupils report that incidents

p.5

The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

of bullying and all forms of harassment are rare and that if they occur they are dealt with swiftly and appropriately by teachers.  Pupils say they feel safe and have a good understanding of how to stay safe and healthy. They have a good, common sense approach to keeping themselves safe because they learn about managing risks they may come across outside of school.  Excellent home-school relationships set up in the Early Years Foundation Stage have been instrumental in ensuring that attendance rates at school have improved significantly to above average.

p.5

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Senior leaders have risen to the challenge and are fully involved in driving improvement and checking to see their work is making a difference to teaching. Planned action to improve standards resulted in improvements in both Key Stage 1 and 2 in 2013. However, it requires improvement because leaders did not act quickly enough to prevent the apparent dip in achievement following the previous inspection.  In the past, expectations of teachers by leaders, including middle leaders were not high enough to ensure consistently good progress throughout the school. The systems to manage the performance of teachers have been overhauled and are now thorough. Teachers receive clear targets to help them improve and training is carefully matched to individual need. Expectations are now much higher and pay rewards are now linked to the positive difference teachers are making to pupils’ achievement. Nevertheless, support offered by the leadership team does not

p.5

The leadership and management requires improvement

identify clearly enough the time expectation in which improvement should take place.  The curriculum requires improvement. This is because the needs of pupils at lower starting points are not fully met and the contribution it makes to pupils’ moral, social and cultural development is not yet good. However, pupils enjoy a range of visits and additional activities that are provided. It promotes spiritual development well through assemblies and music provision.  Leaders work to promote equality of opportunity and make every effort to ensure that the needs of all groups of pupils are addressed. However, progress for pupils at lower starting points is still behind that of other pupils. The school has also provided additional provision in the form of teaching assistants and resources for those on the pupil premium funding, this has led to a narrowing of the attainment gap for this group in all year groups.

p.5

The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders ensure that the school’s arrangements for safeguarding meet requirements.  The school has brokered its own support from outside the local authority, for school improvement.  The governance of the school:  Governance is good. Governors have a good knowledge about how well the school is performing and have been instrumental in driving improvement through monthly standard meetings with the senior leadership team. Teaching has been evaluated in the light of rates of pupils’ progress over time in comparison with national figures. Governors measure the impact of new initiatives, such as interventions using the pupil premium money. They help formulate plans for school improvement and link this to their robust management of the headteacher’s performance. Finances are managed and take full consideration of the grant to promote physical education and sports. There are plans to use a specialist from the local high school to

p.6

The leadership and management requires improvement

work alongside staff in order that new sporting arrangements can be sustained.

p.6

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

p.7

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.

p.7

School details

Unique reference number 105708 Local authority Oldham Inspection number 426307

p.8

School details

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

p.8

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 212 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Margaret Hughes Headteacher Ian Walsh Date of previous school inspection 26 January 2011 Telephone number 0161 770 8404 Fax number 0161 633 7610 Email address info.stlukes@oldhamlea.org.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 .

p.8

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.

p.9

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

p.9

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

p.9

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’.

p.9

School details

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

p.9