Waterloo Primary School

Waterloo Primary School Worthington Street, Ashton-Under-Lyne, Lancashire, OL7 9NA

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 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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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement.  For several years standards attained by pupils at the end of Year 6 in reading, writing and mathematics have been below average, and their progress has varied between subjects and year-groups.  The proportion of pupils attaining the higher levels at the end of Key Stage 1 and 2 in 2013 was below average in all subjects. Their attainment in reading at the end of Year 6 has been below average over time, and continues to be so.  Teachers do not always fully challenge pupils, or have high enough expectations of them.  Teachers do not always check the quality of pupils’ written work or the accuracy of their grammar, punctuation and spelling.  Pupils’ work in books is not consistently well marked and teachers do not always indicate to them how they can take the next steps in their learning.  Pupils have too few opportunities to read books from a wide enough range of authors or

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

writing styles.  Pupils’ behaviour is not managed consistently well by staff.  Governors do not yet have a precise enough understanding of how well the school’s performance compares to that of similar schools.  Subject leaders are yet to play a full enough role in sharing best practice, in marking for example, across the school.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils in Years 2 and 6 are making good progress in mathematics and are on track to achieve average standards by the end of the year.  Pupils’ progress in reading in Year 2 is good, as is their progress in writing in Year 6.  Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good and most pupils enter Year 1 with good skills and abilities.  Minority ethnic pupils and those entitled to pupil premium achieve well.  Teachers work well together and with teaching assistants. They are determined to make a difference for pupils, and to improve their school, so that it is good in all aspects.  The majority of pupils are courteous and well- mannered and say that they feel safe and enjoy school. Their attendance has been above average for several years.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 20 lessons or parts of lessons, as well as the teaching of small groups of pupils, and sessions aimed at helping pupils to learn to read. Two observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher.  Inspector listened to pupils read from Years 2, 3, 5, and 6, and held discussions with pupils from across the school. Pupils’ work in books was scrutinised during lessons and separately with the headteacher and deputy headteacher.  Fifteen responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) were taken into account, as well as 27 questionnaires completed by members of staff.  A meeting took place with a representative from the local authority School Improvement Service.  A meeting was held with six governors, including the Chair of the Governing Body.  Various school documents were examined. These included: external evaluations of the school's work, the school’s review of its own performance, records of the school’s checks on the quality

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Information about this inspection

of teaching, development plans, reports to the governing body, data on pupils’ progress, records of pupils’ attendance, behaviour records and safeguarding documentation.

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Inspection team

Lenford White, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Barbara Flitcroft Additional Inspector Marilyn Massey Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a much larger than average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action is above the national average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium funding is almost twice the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those children that are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is above average, as is the proportion who speak English as an additional language.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.  Since the previous inspection a number of staff have been appointed, including two newly

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Information about this school

qualified teachers, and the governing body had been reorganised and includes new members.  A breakfast club and after-school service operates from the site, both of which are subject to a separate inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching, so that it is good or better by:  ensuring that teachers always fully challenge pupils in their learning and have the highest possible expectations as to what they are capable of achieving  making sure that pupils’ work is marked consistently well and that teachers always indicate to pupils how they can take the next steps in their learning  making sure that teachers always check the quality of pupils’ grammar, punctuation and spelling, ensuring that it is of the highest possible standard.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise levels of achievement across the school, particularly in reading, by:  making sure that as many opportunities as possible are given to pupils to read books from a wide range of authors and writing styles.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that pupils’ behaviour, including in class, is managed consistently well by all members of staff.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:  ensuring that all governors have a precise understanding of how well the school performs in relation to others, and of what the school needs to do in order to become more effective  equipping middle managers and subject leaders to be even more effective in improving the quality of teaching and learning by providing greater opportunities for them to share best practice, in marking for example, across the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 For the last two years standards attained by pupils have been well below average at the end of Key Stage 2, and pupils’ progress has varied between year groups. This year pupils’ performance is much improved, particularly in writing and mathematics, although their attainment in reading is still below average.  Children enter the Early Year Foundation Stage with skills and abilities which are much lower than those typical for their age. They benefit from good teaching and learn in a simulating environment. As a result of this, they make good progress and the majority enter Year 1 with skills and abilities which are typical for their age.  Regular pupil progress meetings and well targeted support ensures that pupils for whom the school receives support through the pupil premium, including those entitled to free school meals make good progress and achieve well. Currently there are no gaps in achievement between

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

eligible pupils and their classmates in any subject, and they are on track to attain standards at least in line with those of similar groups of pupils nationally.  The achievement of most groups of pupils is improving. Meetings held each half term to review the achievement of pupils have been very effective in helping to ensure that disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are now making good progress from very low starting points.  The school’s work to ensure equality of opportunity is good. The school’s recent work to ensure that lessons and school activities are of as much interest to girls as boys has helped to ensure that this year girls’ performance is just as good as that of boys.  The performance of minority ethnic group pupils and those who speak English as an additional language is better than that of their classmates. Pakistani pupils, for example, outperformed their classmates and similar groups of pupils nationally in writing in 2013.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 This year high-attaining pupils have been supported really well, mainly with more challenging work in class. School data and inspection evidence confirm that several pupils are likely to attain the highest standards at Level 6 in reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils’ reading skills are in need of further improvement. Those who read to inspectors said that they enjoyed reading. However, they had a limited knowledge of different writers and writing styles. Less-able readers did not have a full range of strategies to help them to read unfamiliar words.  Pupils’ writing has really improved this year, especially in Key Stage 2. However, their progress is slowed by the fact that teachers do not always address incorrect spelling, grammar and punctuation.  Mathematics is improving across the school. This is because teachers have worked hard to provide opportunities for pupils to use their problem-solving skills across the curriculum and in

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching has improved since the previous inspection. However, it is not yet good enough to ensure that pupils make good and sustained progress across the school in all subjects.  Most teaching engages pupils and increasingly provides them with opportunities to learn effectively, and teachers and teaching assistants usually work well together to plan tasks and activities for pupils with different skills and abilities. However, teachers’ expectations as to how pupils should conduct themselves in class are not always clear enough. As a result of this, pupils sometimes shout out their answers, or talk at the same time as teachers. This slows down learning and sometimes means that teachers have to explain activities more than once because pupils have not been giving their learning their full attention.  Pupils made good progress when they were fully engaged and fully challenged to achieve as

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

much as they possibly could as was the case when pupils were working on a variety of problem- solving activities in a Year 6 mathematics class. ‘Team leaders’ took on their roles with gusto as they used a variety of methods to calculate the area of various shapes and were adept at providing help to their classmates so that they could do the same.  However, pupils are not always challenged in this way and their progress slows and their interest wanes when teachers do not have the very highest expectations as to what they can achieve.  All teachers ensure that pupils’ books are marked and up to date. Every pupil knows that ‘tickled pink’ is an encouragement for good work, and that ‘green for growth’, is a suggestion for improvement. However, teachers do not always indicate to pupils exactly how they can get better. As a result of this, too few pupils are able to say precisely what they need to do to

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

improve their reading, writing or mathematics.  In addition to this, teachers do not always pick up on pupils’ grammar, punctuation and spelling. The net result of this is that pupils’ skills in these areas are not as good as they should be.  Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good. Pupils learn in an attractive and well- organised environment. In conjunction with parents, teachers and teaching assistants celebrate children’s achievement through the use of ‘wow walls’, develop their social and communication skills well and provide many opportunities for them to cooperate, learn and share together.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ behaviour requires improvement. Pupils are polite, friendly and welcoming. They have generally positive attitudes to learning and try to do their best. However, when they are set work that is not matched well to their abilities, or when expectations as to how they should behave are not clear enough, they sometimes lose interest and are distracted.  Pupils’ behaviour in and around the school is usually good, and most pupils play together sensibly. Lunch times are orderly. Pupils respect the school premises and wear their uniforms with pride. Pupils say that they like coming to school, and enjoy learning and playing with their friends.  Pupils say that behaviour is usually good and that bullying is rare and always dealt with. Although most parents who completed the on-line survey (Parent View) agreed that behaviour is good, a sizable proportion disagreed. This was also the case with the school’s own surveys of

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

parents’ views and with the views of parents who spoke to inspectors. The vast majority of staff are of the opinion that behaviour is good.  The school records all incidents of poor behaviour. A full scrutiny of behaviour logs reveals that any incident of poor behaviour is properly investigated and swiftly dealt with, and that such incidents have decreased over time.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure requires improvement. Most pupils who spoke to inspectors said that they would be confident in going to any adult if they had worries or concerns. However, although pupils are aware of most forms of discrimination-based bullying, such as racism, which they say never happens in school, they are less aware of the harm that homophobic name-calling can cause.  Pupils are well aware of the potential dangers of using the Internet. They know that cyber- bullying can take place on mobile phones and on hand-held games and that personal

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

information should never be shared while ‘on line’.  Pupils know about dangers and risks because they have regular visits from members of the police and fire services and ChildLine. They are taught about the dangers of alcohol and drugs through their personal, social and health education curriculum.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher is determined to make the school more successful. Supported by the senior leadership team, all staff and governors, she has worked hard to improve the quality of teaching since the previous inspection. However, the impact of actions taken to improve standards, particularly over the last year, is yet to be fully realised.  Middle leaders, including subject coordinators, are very enthusiastic in their roles. They are appreciative of the training that they have benefitted from and of opportunities they have had to see good practice in other schools. However, many are new to post and their work to improve the quality of teaching and learning by, for example, sharing best practice in marking, is still developing.  Effective systems are in place for checking the performance of staff, who are set challenging targets. However, leaders are aware that although pupils’ progress is good in some year groups,

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The leadership and management requires improvement

it is not yet consistently so across the school. They are also aware that although the teaching of phonics is improving, there is more to be done to improve pupils’ achievement in reading.  The curriculum engages pupils well through providing opportunities for them to visit archaeological digs, science fairs and local places of interest. Mathematics and writing are promoted well across the curriculum. However, more needs to be done to enable pupils to practise their reading skills in subjects other than English.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Pupils from a wide range of cultural backgrounds learn together in a very harmonious community and are respectful towards each other. The school’s work with resident artists has helped pupils to produce high quality art work and visitors to the school from other cultures, and visits to various places of worship have enhanced their understanding of different religions.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Pupils regularly participate in a wide range of extra-curricular activities and say that they are especially fond of choir, football, hockey and multi-skills.  The relationship between the school and the local authority is good. Senior leaders indicate that support in developing middle managers in their role, providing training opportunities for governors and reviewing the quality of teaching and learning have all helped the school to move forward since the previous inspection.  Safeguarding arrangements are good and meet current requirements.  The governance of the school:  Governors are very committed. However, their understanding of how pupils’ standards of achievement compare with those of other schools is still developing, as is their understanding of exactly what the school needs to do in order to become more effective. Governors are known by staff and pupils because most of them, including the Chair of Governors, spend time

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The leadership and management requires improvement

in school. They know that the quality of teaching has improved and reward teachers only if they can demonstrate that they have hit their targets and helped to improve standards for pupils.  Governors ensure that the new sport fund is used effectively to provide wider opportunities in sport for pupils in gymnastics, for example and to develop teachers’ skills in teaching physical education. They know how the pupil premium fund is being spent, and that the small-group teaching activities that it supports are making a significant contribution to the good achievement of eligible pupils.

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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 106211 Local authority Tameside Inspection number 442346

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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 413 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Barbara Hay Headteacher Lesley Ironmonger Date of previous school inspection 28 November 2012 Telephone number 0161 3301280 Fax number 0161 3391032 Email address admin@waterloo.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 and 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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