All Saints CofE Primary School

All Saints CE Primary School Devon Street, Farnworth, Bolton, Lancashire , BL4 7PY

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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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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement.  Improvements in pupils’ achievement overtime are not yet consistent.  Too many pupils are leaving school at the end of Year 6 without having reached the expected standards for their age.  Teaching has not always been good enough to move pupils’ learning on quickly, especially in KS1.  Teaching does not always make use of the school’s assessment information to challenge fully or stretch pupils to think hard, apply their learning and work confidentially on their own.  Some lessons move along too slowly, failing to engage and interest all pupils fully.  Teachers do not always ensure that pupils are fully aware of what they will learn in lessons, and do not always check on how much they have understood when lessons end.  Opportunities for pupils to gain confidence when speaking in class are too few.

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The school has the following strengths

 Boys’ achievement in mathematics is good, so that by the end of Year 6 their attainment is above the national average.  The headteacher, senior leadership team and governors are determined to improve pupils’ achievement, experience and lives. For instance, the school has improved and remodelled its Early Years Foundation Stage play area.  All staff are relatively new to the school, but they are very supportive of it and what it is aiming to achieve.  Attendance has improved significantly since the last inspection, and the vast majority of pupils are excited about their learning.  Parents are overwhelming positive about the school and regularly take advantage of adult learning opportunities. They are happy that their children enjoy school and are safe.  The school’s partnership with a local outstanding school enhances the practices and experiences of staff and pupils successfully.

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Information about this inspection

 Twelve lessons, as well as small-group activities, parts of lessons, and phonics sessions (on the links between letters and the sounds they make), were observed. Two joint observations took place with the headteacher.  Inspectors listened to pupils read from Years 2, 3, 4, and 5, and held discussions with pupils from across the school.  Pupils’ books were scrutinised in lessons and with the headteacher and deputy headteacher.  There were too few responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) to consider. Inspectors scrutinised the school’s own surveys of parents’ and pupils’ views and held informal discussions with parents at the beginning of the school day.  A meeting was held with a representative from the local authority school improvement service, and the views of 18 members of staff who completed the inspection questionnaire were taken into account.  A meeting was held with two governors, including the Vice-Chair of the Governing Body, and a

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Information about this inspection

separate meeting was held with a parent governor.  Various school documents were examined. These included various school action plans, data on pupils’ progress, monitoring records of the quality of teaching, external school evaluations, minutes of the governing body meetings, the school’s development plan and review of its own performance, records of pupils’ attendance, behaviour records and safeguarding documentation.

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Inspection team

Lenford White, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Anthony Buckley Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action is broadly average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus, or with a statement of special educational needs is just below average.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives additional funding through the pupil premium is significantly above the national average. (The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and those children that are looked after by the local authority.)  The vast majority of pupils is from minority ethnic groups and speaks English as an additional language.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  The school offers a breakfast club and after-school clubs.

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Information about this school

 A significant number of children enters the school part way through the academic year. Many of these have little or no English.  No members of staff have been at the school for longer than three years, and all Key Stage 1 staff have been appointed since the last inspection.  Since the last inspection several new members of staff have joined the school, including all Key Stage 1 teachers and a newly qualified teacher in the Nursery. The school has improved and remodelled its Early Years Foundation Stage play area.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching, especially in Key Stage 1, so it is at least good or better by:  helping pupils to learn by themselves and to become less dependent on direct help from adults  ensuring that all lessons move along at a brisk pace, engaging and interesting all pupils  ensuring that all pupils are aware of what they will learn in lessons and that teachers fully check their understanding at the end of lessons  ensuring that assessment information is used consistently to plan lessons which include challenging tasks and questions that stretch all pupils to think hard and apply their understanding  providing more opportunities for pupils to develop confidence in speaking in class, and working independently.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise levels of achievement by establishing a sustained pattern of year-on-year improvement across all subjects by:  creating more opportunities for potentially higher-attaining pupils to do longer pieces of written work by themselves, especially in Key Stage 1  strengthening the focus on developing pupils’ writing and reading, across the school, by stepping up current initiatives and providing as many opportunities as possible for pupils to develop and practise their reading skills.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children enter Nursery with skills and abilities which are significantly below those expected for their age. The vast majority has English as an additional language. Children’s skills in language, literacy and communication are especially weak. Most children make good progress through the Early Years Foundation Stage, although only one third achieves a good level of development by the time they reach Year 1.  Progress in Key Stage 1 is variable, and attainment has been significantly below the national average in reading and mathematics for a number of years, with writing being particularly weak. This is, in part, due to unsettled staffing and a high number of new arrivals from various parts of the world entering the school mid-term unable to speak English.  Well-established procedures for monitoring the performance of all groups of pupils enable the school to provide additional support when it is needed. As a result of this, the majority of pupils

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

makes at least good progress through Key Stage 2. For example, in 2013 all pupils made expected progress in reading and writing and approximately half made better than expected progress. Progress in reading was not as good. However, it is improving as indicated in the national screening checks in Year 1, and Year 2 of pupils’ knowledge of letters and the sounds they make.  The school’s introduction of trained reading buddies (pupils), its new library, training for parents, and ERIC (everyone reading in class) are all helping to improve reading across the school. The school’s own tracking data shows that these initiatives are working. Early indications are showing that pupils are making at least good progress in all subjects in most year-groups.  The school makes good efforts to ensure quality of opportunity, as a result of which there are no significant gaps between boys and girls at Key Stage1. In Key Stage 2, the school celebrated the

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

boys’ success in mathematics in 2013, and now have good plans in place to help girls match the achievement of boys.  The progress of pupils entitled to support through the pupil premium is closely monitored. Consequently, they are currently around two terms behind their peers in school and catching up fast.  Tailored support and small-group teaching activities ensure that disabled pupils and those with special educational needs achieve well in all subjects. All such pupils made expected progress in 2013.  The overwhelming majority of pupils from ethnic minority groups and those who speak English as an additional language make good progress in writing and mathematics.  The school’s detailed programme of activities for the most-able pupils, including flexible programmes for English and mathematics, ensures that their achievement is at least good.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The majority of lessons observed during the inspection was good, with some requiring improvement, and some outstanding. Over time teaching has not been good enough to raise standards for pupils. However, recent improvements in teaching are evident and pupils’ progress is speeding up.  In the best lessons, teachers plan activities which are interesting and engaging, encouraging pupils to participate fully in their learning. This was the case in a good, fast-paced Year 4 English lesson where pupils took great delight in questioning a classmate who had an ethical dilemma having ‘stolen’ a balaclava from a gang member. Pupils skilfully questioned the ‘thief’, demonstrating a good understanding of rhetorical questions, empathy and of writing a series of events in time order. However, not all lessons move along at a brisk pace, or engage and interest all pupils in this manner.  At the start of lessons most teachers share learning objectives and discuss with pupils what they

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

will learn. However this is not consistent and teachers do not always check pupils’ understanding fully at the end of lessons.  The quality of marking is good overall, especially in Years 3, 4, and 6, where all teachers clearly indicate to pupils how they can take the next steps in their learning. Pupils are very accustomed to responding to teachers’ written comments, and improving the quality of their work. However, there are some inconsistencies with marking in Key Stage 1, but this is rapidly improving.  The vast majority of pupils, particularly in Key Stage 2, knows how well they are doing in their learning, and can say exactly what they need to do to improve.  In the best lessons teachers plan lessons which include challenging tasks and questions that stretch all pupils to think hard and apply their understanding. This was the case in an outstanding Year 6 mathematics lesson where pupils were engaged in a range of activities linked

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

to scaling up and down ingredients for a recipe. The most-able pupils were stretched well and worked independently in devising a ratio puzzle, and less-able pupils were supported by two teaching assistants who encouraged them to work things out for themselves. As a result of this well-planned lesson, all pupils made at least good progress.  However, not all lessons meet the needs of all pupils, or encourage them to be independent in their learning. This was the case in a Key Stage 1 mathematics lesson which required improvement because the pace of learning was too slow, and the teacher failed to engage pupils of different abilities and so pupils’ rate of learning slowed. Few examples of pupils speaking to the whole class were observed during the inspection, and occasionally pupils are over reliant on adults to support them in their learning and lose confidence in their own decisions.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The overwhelming majority of pupils says that they love their school, friends, learning and teachers. As one Key Stage 1 pupil commented, ‘this is a great school, I would recommend it to anyone’.  Pupils thrive on responsibility. For example, school monitors fully appreciate the importance of checking on behaviour, and noting it down, during lunch times. Years 4, 5 and 6 reading buddies are trained exceptionally well. When they listen to their less-able classmates read they check on their understanding, discuss story lines and help them to use dictionaries to find and define unfamiliar words.  The vast majority of pupils is of the opinion that behaviour is good most of the time, and that bullying is rare. All parents that spoke to inspectors were of this view. The school’s own surveys of parents’ views reveal that no parent is concerned about bad behaviour and that all are of the opinion that their children are safe at school. All staff who completed the inspection survey were

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

of the opinion that behaviour is good in lessons and around the school. However, some older pupils indicated that they had experienced bullying and that teachers were not always able to identify this because ‘it can be done verbally, and in a language that they don’t understand’.  Pupils are aware of most forms of bullying, including racism which they define as ‘when someone calls you because of the colour of your skin and makes you feel sad’. All pupils said that they would always talk to an adult if they had any concerns and indicated that they were confident that any such concerns would be taken seriously and dealt with promptly.  Older pupils have a good understanding of cyber-bullying which they say is something that can happen on the Internet or on a mobile phone. When pupils were asked to think about the advice that they would give to Key Stage 1 pupils about staying safe on the Internet they all agreed

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

that ‘you should always log off, never post pictures of yourself wearing school uniform and never open spam messages because they might contain a virus’.  Pupils have a good understanding of how to stay safe, developed through the work of the school learning mentor and listening to the advice of the many visitors who address the whole school through assembly on issues relating to, for example, fire and water safety.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leadership and management are not yet good because pupils’ overall achievement is not yet good and teaching is not yet consistently good. However, there are many aspects of the headteacher’s leadership that are of the highest quality. The senior leadership team, all staff and governors are very positive about their school and tackle challenges head on. This is exemplified by how the school manages the high volumes of pupils with no English joining the school mid- term from, for example, Russia, Eastern Europe and various African countries.  The senior leadership team and governors are doing all they can to incentivise and attract the best teachers to fill vacant posts. Although all current staff are relatively new, many having been recruited since the last inspection, all are well-trained and committed to doing their best for the pupils. Teachers and teaching assistants say that they enjoy working at the school and that the

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The leadership and management require improvement

mentoring and induction they receive enables them to settle into the school quickly.  The school is keen to ensure that it learns from good practice in other schools, which is best exemplified in its ‘reciprocal relationship’ with a number of schools, the local authority and the local further education college as part of the All Saints Church of England Primary School Partnerships. The school has shared its good practice through, for example its Year 5 pupils performing an Eid Ul-Adha assembly, and Years 2 and 5 pupils have benefited from an arts project with a local secondary school which resulted in a Picasso-style exhibition.  Teachers’ performance is monitored at least on a termly basis. A close scrutiny of the school’s records of teacher observations reveals that many teachers have improved from requiring improvement to good or better over the last year.  Performance management is clearly linked to class, school and personal targets. A scrutiny of

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The leadership and management require improvement

governor minutes reveals that teachers, for example, are awarded pay awards only after they have met their targets.  All aspects of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are strong. Pupils work exceptionally well together and respect each other’s religions and traditions. The curriculum is further developing to ensure that pupils are given every opportunity to practise and develop their reading, writing and mathematics skills across a broad range of subjects, including religious education, science and history.  The school has an exceptionally strong relationship with the local authority. Most recently it has been supported in a full review of services, including assessing the quality of teaching.  Safeguarding procedures are followed closely and meet requirements .  The governance of the school:  Meetings with governors and a full scrutiny of governors’ minutes revels that they are very

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The leadership and management require improvement

experienced and knowledgeable about their school, and that the school is well-respected within the local community. Governors are aware that overall the current quality of teaching is good, but that this is yet to impact fully on outcomes for pupils. They know this because they regularly visit the school and are encouraged to go into classes and engage with pupils and teachers. Governors are very active and have a broad range of skills to offer the school with regard to, for example, meeting pupils’ special educational needs. Governors are up to date with their training. They know that small-group teaching activities are raising levels of achievement for those entitled to support through the pupil premium, because they receive regular reports and check data on pupil performance. The school’s sport and physical education grant is used to buy in specialist support from the local authority. Teachers are

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The leadership and management require improvement

currently benefiting from informal training from experienced sports coaches, which is in the process of being formalised.

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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 105238 Local authority Bolton Inspection number 426080

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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 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 231 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Anthony Slack Headteacher Jo Briggs Date of previous school inspection 7 February 2012 Telephone number 01204 333083 Fax number 01204 333085 Email address office@all-saints.bolton.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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