St Gabriel's Church of England Primary School

St Gabriel’s Church of England Primary School Tonge Roughs, Aspinall Street, Middleton, Manchester, M24 2BE

p.1

Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Good 2

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Over time, pupils make good progress from their starting points. They reach standards that are average in reading and writing and above average in mathematics. For the past two years, progress has been outstanding in mathematics.  Disadvantaged pupils are making good progress throughout the school. Gaps in attainment are closing between these pupils and others both in the school and nationally.  Teaching is good. There is a positive climate for learning and the work set for pupils is interesting and helps them learn well.  Teaching assistants are highly skilled and support pupils’ good learning in class and in small group activities outside the classroom.  Children in the early years make good progress due to good teaching and leadership. This leads to them being highly motivated and well behaved.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe is outstanding. All pupils say they feel safe in school and are cared for well. They say they enjoy school.

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

Parents and staff agree with the pupils. Behaviour is good and lessons flow smoothly.  Leaders, managers and governors are ambitious for pupils. They have developed a stimulating learning environment and set a clear direction for the school. As a result, the quality of teaching and achievement are good and improving.  The curriculum makes a strong contribution to the personal development of pupils due to highly effective opportunities to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

p.1

It is not yet an outstanding school because

 There is not yet enough consistently outstanding teaching in all subjects throughout the school.  Advice provided in pupils’ books is not always precise enough to ensure they know what to do to improve their work and make better progress.  Leaders and managers have not effectively checked the quality of English grammar, punctuation and spelling across the school. As a consequence, standards are below average in this area.  Leaders do not always ensure that existing outstanding practice is shared across the school.

p.1

Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in 11 lessons taught by 8 teachers. Two observations were undertaken jointly; one with the headteacher and another with the deputy headteacher. Each inspector also spent time looking at behaviour and pupils’ work in class in a range of activities.  Inspectors spoke to two groups of pupils about their learning in lessons and their safety in the school. Inspectors also listened to two groups of pupils reading.  Meetings were held with the Chair of the Governing Body and four other governors. Meetings were held with school staff, including middle and senior leaders.  Inspectors also looked at the school’s review of its own performance, its development plan, school policies and the minutes of governors’ meetings. Inspectors also considered a range of documentation in relation to child protection, safeguarding, behaviour and attendance.  Inspectors looked at pupils’ work in lessons and scrutinised samples of pupils’ books.

p.2

Information about this inspection

 Inspectors analysed the 18 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View). There were also 21 questionnaires completed by staff which were considered by inspectors. Inspectors also looked at parents’ responses to recent school questionnaires. In addition, an inspector spoke informally with parents at the start of the school day.

p.2

Inspection team

James McGrath, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

p.2

Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of disadvantaged supported by the pupil premium is well above average. The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of disabled students and those who have special educational needs is above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  The school is strongly committed to children’s rights and is working towards the United Nations’ Rights Respecting School award.  There have been significant changes in teaching staff and in leadership since the previous inspection.  The headteacher was appointed in September 2010 and the deputy headteacher in September 2014.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that more is outstanding and progress throughout the school is outstanding in all subjects by making sure :  the advice given to pupils in their books is more precise and tells them clearly what they have to do to improve  pupils move on swiftly with their tasks as soon as they are ready  questioning is used consistently well to draw out pupils’ understanding and to deepen their knowledge.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the impact of leaders and managers by ensuring that:  there is more rigorous checking of the standards pupils are reaching in English grammar, punctuation and spelling  existing outstanding practice is shared more widely across the school.

p.3

The leadership and management are good

 Leaders and managers, including governors, share a common sense of purpose and commitment to sustained improvement, as do the teachers. This has led to good teaching and pupils making good progress throughout the school.  Leaders have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Their plans for improvement correctly identify the main priorities for the school and, as a consequence, pupils’ learning is good and improving.  Since the previous inspection, systems to check pupils’ progress have improved and leaders are taking effective action to improve achievement. For example, the additional support provided for disadvantaged pupils had a strong impact on their achievement during the last academic year.  Leaders have not checked the quality of teaching and learning in English grammar, punctuation and spelling as rigorously as they have in reading, writing and mathematics.  The systems for checking the performance of teachers are robust. Staff say that performance

p.4

The leadership and management are good

management has clearly identified what they need to do better and that leadership has provided training that has helped them improve their practice. However, there are not enough opportunities for teachers to share existing outstanding practice to ensure that in all subjects and year groups there is consistently high-quality teaching.  A performance review for all other staff identifies training opportunities for them to improve their work and to meet their career aspirations. This is a good example of the school’s commitment to equality of opportunity for all.  The primary school sports funding is used well and has increased participation in sport. Pupils are enthusiastic about sport with many playing table tennis and other games in the early morning breakfast club and after school. Links with the local football club helps boys and girls to develop their football skills. Pupils are keen to play sport and they are successful in inter-school competitions particularly in football

p.4

The leadership and management are good

and rounders.  The curriculum provides many good creative opportunities for pupils and has a strong emphasis on reading, writing and mathematics. When designing the curriculum, teachers take into account a range of questions posed by pupils and things that pupils would like to find out. This gives pupils a strong interest in the work that is planned for them.  Spiritual, moral, social and cultural education makes a strong contribution to pupils’ personal development. Pupils have a strong sense of right and wrong and care for each other very well, including those children in early years. British values are promoted well through assemblies and the developing work on the rights of the child. As a result, pupils are being well prepared for life in modern Britain.  The local authority provides effective support for this good school. It has challenged the school effectively through regular meetings and reviews on the quality of teaching to ensure that achievement is improving.

p.4

The leadership and management are good

The local authority has established a partnership between the school and nine other schools to begin to share highly effective teaching and leadership practices.  The governance of the school:  Governance is a strength of the school. Governors have a good understanding of how well the school is doing. They visit the school to see the work of the pupils and teachers. They are clear about the progress being made by the pupils and how it compares nationally and locally.  They challenge and support the headteacher very effectively and know that pupils’ achievement and the quality of teaching are improving. Governors work closely with the headteacher to influence the priorities in the school’s improvement plan.  They have a good range of skills and use them well to check the school’s budget and the impact of the use of pupil-premium funding on the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. Governors understand the

p.4

The leadership and management are good

arrangements linking teachers’ performance to pay and use their responsibilities well to hold leaders and teachers to account for their work.  They are exceptionally skilled in ensuring that children are kept safe. The school’s arrangements for safeguarding meet statutory requirements.

p.4

Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are keen and eager to learn and follow the instructions of their teachers very well.  Pupils have developed good social skills and welcome visitors. They are courteous and confident when explaining their work to adults.  They treat each other and all of the adults in school with great respect. The school is working with pupils to gain the United Nations’ Rights Respecting School award. This has strengthened pupils’ understanding of their rights and the responsibilities that come along with those rights. They accept these responsibilities well and, as a result, pupils say behaviour has improved.  Pupils play well together at breaks and lunchtime using the ‘trim trail’ and other equipment purchased by the school and designed by the pupils. They are very active and treat each other with care and consideration.  Pupils take great care with the school’s environment. They appreciate the improvements leadership and

p.5

Behaviour

their teachers have made to the school learning environment both inside and outside the classroom. The school council assisted the headteacher in designing new play equipment and a ‘theatre stage’ for the playground.  Children in Nursery and Reception play well together. Older pupils enjoy the responsibility of looking after the youngest pupils in school.  Many pupils enjoy themselves at the early morning breakfast club and after school sessions. They play well together and help each other with their reading and writing.

p.5

Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding.  Child protection procedures are extremely thorough. Staff are highly trained and the school is exceptionally rigorous in following up any matters that might be reported as a cause for concern.  All pupils say they feel safe and happy in school.  The school’s work to ensure pupils attend well has rapidly reduced the number of pupils who are regularly absent from school. This makes a strong contribution to the safety of pupils.  Pupils are clear about what constitutes bullying, including cyber-bullying, and know what to do should it ever occur. Pupils say that bullying is very rare and school records confirm this.  Pupils are acutely aware of how to keep themselves safe when using the internet as the school teaches them well. Visits from the local police force and the fire brigade, along with training in road and cycle safety, make a strong contribution to pupils knowing how to keep themselves safe.

p.5

Safety

 Parents told inspectors that their children enjoyed school. Staff and parents are overwhelmingly confident that children are safe, happy and well looked after.

p.5

The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is good overall with some that is outstanding.  There is not enough consistently outstanding teaching throughout the school to ensure that pupils make outstanding progress in all subjects.  Good relationships and the way praise is used to encourage and motivate pupils is a strong feature in all lessons. As a result, pupils work hard and do their best.  Interesting work is set and it captures pupils’ imagination and motivates them well. For example, pupils spoke enthusiastically about writing letters, both in French and English, to children in Zimbabwe and linking their visits to a mosque and a temple to writing in Religious Education lessons.  Explanations are clear and pupils usually set to work on their tasks quickly making progress that is at least good and sometimes even better. There are a few occasions when pupils know what to do and yet have to listen to over-long explanations. This slows their progress.

p.5

The quality of teaching is good

 Pupil’s work is marked regularly. Most marking is of high quality and provides clear and precise guidance for pupils to improve their work. Pupils respond well to improve their work. Occasionally, the advice given is not precise enough to make sure pupils to know exactly what to do to improve their work.  Generally, questioning is used skilfully to search out pupils’ knowledge and to deepen their understanding.  Reading, writing, communication and mathematics are taught well. There are many opportunities for pupils to use these skills in subjects other than English and mathematics. Spelling, punctuation and grammar are not always checked well enough for pupils to make accelerated progress and reach average standards in these areas.  Highly-skilled teaching assistants make a good contribution to pupils’ learning in all subjects. They work skilfully with individuals or groups of pupils, both inside and outside the classroom.

p.5

The achievement of pupils is good

 Achievement is good and has been improving well over time because of improvements in the quality of teaching.  An analysis of pupils’ work, and information provided by the school, shows that pupils throughout Key Stages 1 and 2 are making good progress. Children in early years are also progressing well.  Standards have been improving year on year in Key Stage 1. They are average in mathematics and writing and above average in reading. These improvements are because children are now better prepared for the start of Key Stage 1 than previously and teaching in the key stage has improved due to good leadership and management.  At Key Stage 2, standards in reading writing and mathematics have been improving over the past four years. For the past two years, progress in mathematics has been outstanding with progress in reading and writing good. In 2014, standards by the end of Year 6 were above average in mathematics and average in

p.6

The achievement of pupils is good

reading and writing. Standards in English grammar, punctuation and spelling were below average.  There are a large number of disadvantaged pupils in school. They are making good progress due to the effective use of additional government funding, the pupil premium, which is providing extra teaching support for these pupils.  In September 2013, pupil premium funding was used to provide extra support for disadvantaged pupils. Pupils in Year 6 benefited considerably as they had made outstanding progress in mathematics, reading and writing by the time they left school. Gaps in attainment are closing rapidly. Disadvantaged pupils reached the same standards as their peers in reading and mathematics. They were a term behind their peers in English grammar, punctuation and spelling and sixth months behind in writing. In comparison to national attainment for those not considered to be disadvantaged, they were at the same standard in

p.6

The achievement of pupils is good

mathematics, half a year behind in reading and writing and a year behind in English grammar, punctuation and spelling.  Good leadership and skilful support by teachers and teaching assistants is helping disabled pupils and those with special educational needs to make the same good progress as others pupils in the school.  The most able pupils in the school make good progress. In 2014, in comparison to similar pupils nationally, their overall standards were slightly higher. Currently, their attainment in mathematics is much better than others nationally because of the additional support they receive in small group sessions.  Improved teaching of reading skills has led to pupils’ reading improving throughout the school. In the two most recent screening checks for reading at the end of Year 1, pupils’ skills in linking letters and sounds to read words were above those expected nationally. Pupils are encouraged to read regularly at home and

p.6

The achievement of pupils is good

the school checks this well. Governors have allocated a significant amount of money to purchase new books and there is a well-designed library in a part of the school that all pupils pass though regularly. Pupils are keen and eager to read and as a result more books are now borrowed from the school library.

p.6

The early years provision is good

 Children are safe and happy in Nursery and Reception because they know what is expected of them and respond exceptionally well. Adults know the needs of the children well and give them good care and attention.  Good opportunities are planned for children to learn through play and exploration both indoors and outdoors. Teaching is good and activities are planned to interest children. For example, children have been learning about hedgehogs and explained that ‘this is because we rescued a hedgehog.’ They were engrossed in their learning and knew how to care for a hedgehog. This was skilfully linked to caring for each other and anti-bullying week.  When joining the school, the vast majority of children have skills that are below those typical for their age, with some children significantly below. There are particular weaknesses in children managing their feelings and behaviour, in making relationships, in mathematics and literacy when they join Nursery. Children

p.6

The early years provision is good

make good progress so that by the end of the Reception Year they are well prepared for their next stage of learning. Children’s feelings and behaviour develop rapidly and is now impressive. This helps them socialise well and work together in groups.  Those children with disabilities or special educational needs as well as disadvantaged children make good progress due to the good support they receive.  Leadership in the early years is good. Adults are well deployed to support the needs of all groups of children. Parents are very positive about early years. They know how well their children are doing as they see work in ‘learning journals’ regularly. Teachers ‘meet and greet’ parents ever day and discuss their children’s learning with them.

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 failing

p.8

Grade Judgement Description

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.8

School details

Unique reference number 105808 Local authority Rochdale Inspection number 448303

p.9

School details

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

p.9

School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 226 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Janet Bailey Headteacher Karen Race Date of previous school inspection 26 April 2010 Telephone number 0161 6539587 Fax number 0161 6430497 Email address head@stgabrielsce.rochdale.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 .

p.9

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.10

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.10

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

p.10

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.10

School details

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

p.10