Ashton-on-Ribble St Andrew's Church of England Primary School

Ashton-on-Ribble St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School Tulketh Road, Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston, Lancashire, PR2 1EQ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.  Standards have risen rapidly since the last inspection and this trend is confirmed by the current data at every key stage.  Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage.  In Key Stage 1, pupils continue to make good progress and consistently reach standards that are above those expected for their age in reading, writing and mathematics.  In Key Stage 2, pupils make outstanding progress and consistently reach standards that are well above average.  The proportion of pupils in Year 6 achieving the higher levels in mathematics and, more recently, in writing is exceptional.  There is no gap in standards between pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are not.  The quality of teaching has improved since the last inspection. The percentage of outstanding teaching has increased considerably. Teachers, particularly in Year 6, have exceptionally high expectations of their

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

pupils.  Occasionally, pupils go over old ground in lessons rather than moving on quickly to new learning.  Relationships are excellent. Adults treat pupils with warmth, respect and courtesy. Pupils confidently model this behaviour with each other and with adults in the school. There are times, however, when lunchtime play is boisterous and is insufficiently supervised in a small part of the outside play area.   Pupils are attentive in lessons. They are enthusiastic learners and bring impressive initiative and effort to their work.  The school environment is very nurturing and supportive of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  School leaders provide clear direction for the acceleration of pupils’ future learning.  The school is supported and held to account by a very well led, dynamic and most effective governing body. Leaders and governors ensure that the school continues to move forward as

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement continue to improve.  Parents overwhelmingly agree that the school provides an outstanding education for their children.  Inspection report: Ashton-on-Ribble St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School, 11–12 February 2014 2 of 9

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors held discussions with groups of pupils, members of the leadership team, the headteacher, the Chair of the Governing Body and three other governors. The inspectors also spoke to a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 68 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View). They also spoke informally to parents as they brought their children to school.  The responses received from 46 staff to the inspection questionnaire were taken into account.  The inspectors listened to pupils read, spoke with them about their learning and scrutinised the work in their books.  The inspection team reviewed a wide range of documents, including safeguarding, school improvement, data on pupils’ current progress, leaders’ reports following lessons observations and the school’s records relating to behaviour and attendance.

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Inspection team

Prydwen Elfed-Owens, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Eithne Proffitt Additional Inspector Jim Bennetts Additional Inspector Inspection report: Ashton-on-Ribble St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School, 11–12 February 2014 3 of 9

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Information about this school

 The school is a larger than average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action is well below average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with statements of special educational needs is below the national average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support through the pupil premium is well below 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 who are looked after by the local authority.  The vast majority of pupils are of White British backgrounds.  The number of pupils joining and leaving school part-way through their education is slightly above average.  There is a breakfast club and an after-school club, both of which are privately run. These provisions are inspected separately. Reports for these provisions can be found at

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Information about this school

www.ofsted.gov.uk.  The school meets the current floor standards, which are the government’s minimum expectations for attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Refine teaching further by enabling pupils to move speedily on to tackle new tasks as soon as they are ready in lessons, rather than listening again to points they have already understood.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further strengthen behaviour and safety by ensuring closer supervision of pupils in all parts of the playground, particularly at lunchtime. Inspection report: Ashton-on-Ribble St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School, 11–12 February 2014 4 of 9

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 There has been a rapid rise in pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics over the past three years.  Children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Teachers place a strong emphasis on phonics (letters and sounds) within well planned and purposeful activities and so children are confident and well prepared, particularly to read and write, when they join Year 1.  In Key Stage 1, pupils continue to make good progress and consistently reach standards that are above those expected for their age in reading, writing and mathematics. Consequently, they too are especially well prepared for the next stage of education.  In Key Stage 2, pupils make outstanding progress and consistently reach standards that are well above average in English and mathematics.  The proportion of pupils in Year 6 achieving the higher levels in mathematics and, more recently in writing, is very high. Girls, in particular, do very well in mathematics, because governors with

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

expertise in this area are determined that they should not follow the national pattern of doing less well than boys in this important subject. Leaders make sure that girls are enthused by mathematics and are motivated to succeed by the engrossing tasks they enjoy.  Pupils’ progress in writing throughout the school is consistently much faster than expected. In Year 6, pupils are able to use sensitive language with exceptional depth of emotion. For instance, their response to a short video portraying human loss was memorable. It easily surpassed the emotional maturity to be expected in pupils of their age.  Pupils’ attainment in reading is well above average. In the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1, pupils’ understanding of phonics has improved significantly over the last year with the introduction of a new strategy. In Key Stage 2, pupils develop a high level of independence, impressive fluency and an enjoyment of books.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils’ numerical skills and mental arithmetic are highly developed. Their mathematical skills are outstanding. Overall, pupils develop into extremely enthusiastic and able mathematicians through regular sessions in which they apply their skills to problem-solving and through voluntarily attending extra-curricular mathematics clubs.  Pupils eligible for support through the pupil premium, including those known to be eligible for free school meals, also make excellent progress across the school. Consequently there is no gap between their attainment in English and mathematics and that of other pupils in the school. Leaders ensure equality of opportunity for all groups of pupils.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make excellent progress, similar to that of their peers. In the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 assessments in 2013, on average these pupils made significantly better progress than their peers nationally.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The most-able pupils thrive on the diet of daily challenges they are set. This group of pupils achieves equally as well as others in the school and makes outstanding progress in reading, writing and mathematics. The number of pupils reaching level 3 in Key Stage 1, and levels 5 and 6 in Key Stage 2 in 2013 was well above the national average.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The quality of teaching has improved considerably since the last inspection.  Work in pupils’ books, the outcomes of the school’s checks and the lessons observed during the inspection, confirm that the impact of teaching over time is outstanding.  Teachers place great emphasis on providing all groups of pupils with work which enables them to take their next steps in learning and clearly demonstrates the school’s very strong commitment to equality of opportunity. Consequently, pupils, whatever their gender or starting points, make outstanding progress. Inspection report: Ashton-on-Ribble St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School, 11–12 February 2014 5 of 9

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers have high expectations of their pupils, particularly in Year 6. This spurs pupils on to reach higher than expected standards for their age, especially in mathematics and, more recently, in writing.  Relationships are of the highest quality. Pupils take their lead in this from the strong models provided by adults. This was particularly evident in their welcome and readiness to engage in conversation with the inspectors.  Teachers consistently build on prior learning. An example of this was seen in Year 4 when pupils writing a newspaper article were encouraged to think of a variety of reasons from their prior learning to present a case, both for and against building a modern by-pass over some Roman ruins. Occasionally, learning slows when pupils spend too much time on tasks that they have already mastered, rather than moving on quickly to new learning.  There is a key focus on making sure that children in the Early Years Foundation Stage can

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

accurately recognise or sound out new vocabulary and so develop into confident and enthusiastic readers and writers.  Teachers’ subject knowledge is excellent and they use a wide range of resources, including displays, books, interesting artefacts and interactive technology to make learning absorbing for pupils.  Teachers promote in their pupils a very positive attitude to work through imaginative and well planned lessons. This means that pupils concentrate hard on what they are learning and so make rapid progress.  Effective questioning from teachers and other adults helps pupils to explain their reasoning and to develop ideas, as observed in a Year 5 guided reading session on the book pupils were studying as a group. The teacher asked the class about the nature of the characters and to predict what would happen later in the book. This aided pupils’ understanding and enjoyment of the text.  Teaching assistants are particularly well deployed to support individual pupils’ learning needs.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

Furthermore, their specific expertise is used to enhance pupils’ learning by leading some sessions. For instance, a classroom assistant led a Year 5 sports session in the playground and demonstrated with expertise the required ‘tackling’ skills. She moved swiftly from one new skill to another, ensuring that pupils made excellent and enjoyable progress. 

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are attentive and well behaved in lessons. For most of the time in lessons, they are enthusiastic learners and bring impressive initiative and effort to their work.  Pupils enjoy coming to school and they say that good behaviour is typical of their school. This is confirmed by school records and parents’ views in response to the on-line questionnaire.  Relationships between pupils and adults are first class. Pupils are extremely polite and well mannered and are very welcoming to visitors. Pupils are confident and articulate.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils have a good awareness of how to keep safe, for example, in relation to e-safety, road safety and water safety. They say that they feel very safe and happy in the school. Parents’ views confirm this and pupils’ improved attendance is further testament to this.  Pupils feel very well cared for and respected by all the adults and know they can go to anyone

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

should they need help.  Pupils listen very well to each other. They are fully involved in their tasks and keen and enthusiastic in their learning. This is an outstanding characteristic among pupils in Year 6 in particular, where pupils thrive on the very high standards of achievement expected of them by adults.  The school environment is very nurturing and supportive of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. As a consequence, they develop excellent spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding. Inspection report: Ashton-on-Ribble St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School, 11–12 February 2014 6 of 9

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Occasionally, a lack of direct supervision by adults on a small part of the playground leads to a few examples of overly boisterous behaviour.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher, senior leaders and governing body share very high expectations and are dedicated to accelerating the learning of pupils of all abilities still further. Consequently, the school has improved its overall effectiveness to be ‘outstanding’, rather than ‘satisfactory’, as judged at the time of the previous inspection. Leaders are well placed to sustain this improvement.  The headteacher provides outstanding leadership. Staff are fully supportive of her vision and they work together very effectively as a team. As a result, standards continue to rise rapidly throughout the school.  The outcomes of the school’s checks on the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievements are used effectively to shape the school’s improvement plan and reward teachers’ exceptional performance. As a result, the proportion of outstanding teaching has increased considerably since the last inspection, leading to pupils reaching well above average standards by the end of

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The leadership and management are outstanding

Year 6 in reading, writing and mathematics.  Since the last inspection, an assessment coordinator has been allocated to track carefully pupils’ progress. Through this development, subject and middle leaders work together closely to make sure pupils are reaching their potential.  The proportion of outstanding teaching has increased considerably since the last inspection. Teachers have very high expectations of their pupils, especially in Year 6, and set them very challenging tasks. This is accelerating the rate of pupils’ learning still further.  The broad and rich curriculum ensures that pupils enjoy a variety of first-hand experiences which effectively stimulates their enjoyment of learning such as out-of-school visits and visitors into the school. This includes using governors’ expertise and interests, for instance, in mathematics and sports.  The funding available to promote pupils’ greater participation in sport is used well to enhance

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The leadership and management are outstanding

pupils’ physical health and well-being, including healthy eating on a small budget. To this end, the school has provided fitness sessions and healthy cooking sessions, and ensured that pupils, staff and parents can access a DVD on the school website to encourage these good habits. It has also prioritised advanced techniques for the most able and talented pupils in swimming.  The local authority knows the school well and provides appropriate challenge and support. This has been particularly effective in enabling the most-able pupils to reach the standards of which they are capable.  The governance of the school: - The governing body is well led, dynamic and very effective. Governors are committed to the school and have a very good understanding of pupils’ progress. They provide robust challenge to leaders and methodically hold the school to account. There are a number of examples where this has influenced pupils’ achievements very positively, for instance in reading in the

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The leadership and management are outstanding

Early Years Foundation Stage and in Year 6, where girls reach exceptionally high levels in mathematics. - Governors participate fully in checks on the school’s performance, including reviewing school data and the progress of staff against their individual targets. They make sure that staff only progress through the pay levels when their pupils do well enough. - The governing body is fully aware of the impact of the pupil premium fund and knows the impact of this money on the progress of pupils who are eligible for support through this funding. Governors are sharply aware that pupils’ participation and enjoyment in sporting activities is increasing as a result of the opportunities provided by the primary school sport funding. - Governors ensure that safeguarding procedures meet requirements. Inspection report: Ashton-on-Ribble St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School, 11–12 February 2014 7 of 9

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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. Inspection report: Ashton-on-Ribble St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School, 11–12 February 2014 8 of 9

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School details

Unique reference number 119602 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 430972

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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 415 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair James Nash Headteacher Susanne Hesketh Date of previous school inspection 19 June 2012 Telephone number 01772 726729 Fax number 01772 733079 Email address admin@st-andrewscofe.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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