Horwich Parish CofE Primary School

Horwich Parish CofE Primary School Church Street, Horwich, Bolton, Lancashire, BL6 6AA

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Early years provision Good 2

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Pupils’ achievement requires improvement because progress varies, with some that is below the expected rate, especially in writing and mathematics.  The school’s leadership and management require improvement because school leaders and the governing body do not ensure that classes and groups of pupils make consistently good progress in all subjects.  Pupils enter Key Stage 1 with above average skills and knowledge, but maintain these standards in Key Stage 1, rather than improving them further.  The quality of teaching requires improvement because it is not consistently good or better across the school and in different subjects.  Teaching does not take enough account of what pupils know and can do currently in order to help them make good progress.  Performance management systems are not sufficiently robust. They do not take enough account of the data collected by the school on pupils’ progress over time and within the different

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

subjects to hold teachers to account.  The governing body does not challenge leaders strongly enough for the variation in pupils’ progress.

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The school has the following strengths

 Children in the early years make good progress and develop skills and knowledge by the end of Reception that ensure they are ready to start Year 1.  Pupils say that they feel safe in school and have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe, especially when using the Internet.  Pupils behave well and show respect for each other and for the adults who work with them. They have good attitudes to learning and are keen to come to school, as shown by their above average attendance.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors gathered a range of evidence to judge the quality of teaching over time, including looking at the school’s own progress data, pupils’ work in books and observing lessons.  The inspectors observed part-lessons taught by 14 different teachers. Of these, two lessons were observed jointly by an inspector and the headteacher. In addition, the lead inspector observed the headteacher giving feedback to staff.  The inspectors met with two groups of pupils, talked to pupils informally at break and lunchtime and listened to pupils reading. Inspectors observed the teaching of reading through phonics (the sounds that letters make) and talked to Key Stage 2 pupils about how the school helps them to read.  Meetings were held with members of the governing body, including the Chair of the Governing Body. Meetings were also held with senior leaders, subject leaders and teachers.  The inspectors took account of parents’ views from the 67 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent

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Information about this inspection

View). In addition, one inspector talked to several parents prior to the start of the school day.  Inspectors also took account of the 35 responses to the staff questionnaire completed during the inspection.  The school’s work was observed and the inspectors looked at a number of documents, including safeguarding records, the improvement plan, the school’s data for tracking pupils’ progress, reports on the quality of teaching and teachers’ planning.

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Inspection team

Andree Coleman, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than average-sized primary school.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is average.  Most pupils are of White British heritage and very few pupils speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below average. These are pupils supported through pupil premium funding, which is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those children who are looked after by the local authority.  Children in the early years attend full time in the Reception class.  In 2014, the school met the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6 .

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching to raise standards, particularly in writing and mathematics by:  implementing consistently rigorous procedures to assess what pupils know and can do  ensuring that information about what pupils know and can do already is used to plan lessons which help them to improve their skills and knowledge rapidly  ensuring teachers’ have high expectations of the quality, content and presentation of pupils’ work and of pupils’ progress  ensuring that teachers respond to pupils’ achievement in lessons and move them on to more challenging work if they have grasped the initial skills or concepts successfully, especially in mathematics  sharing the good practice in teaching that exists within the school  increasing guidance to pupils and giving them regular opportunities to respond to teachers’ marking so that they can improve their own work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of the school’s leadership by:  using the data collected about pupils’ progress to take action quickly to bring about improvement  ensuring that teachers’ performance management systems are effective in bringing about an improvement in the quality of teaching and in the progress pupils make  using data more effectively in the evaluation of the school’s performance to ensure that the school’s view of its own performance is accurate  ensuring that monitoring is rigorous in order to ensure that the quality of teaching is consistently good in every class.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of the governing body so that careful account is taken of the progress of different classes and groups and in different subjects across the school in order to hold leaders and teachers to account for the progress that all pupils make.

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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 management may be improved.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders have not been rigorous enough in their use of data on pupils’ progress. Where progress has been identified in some classes and subjects as being average or below average, not enough has been done to accelerate it to ensure that pupils make good progress over time.  Leaders’ management of the quality of teaching has not been effective in ensuring that all teaching is consistently good. Although there are instances of where teaching is good, as demonstrated by the progress that some pupils make, for example in Year 6 and in the Reception classes, this is not consistent across all classes and subjects. Standards have risen steadily in reading by the end of both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 as the result of improved teaching, but standards in mathematics and writing across the school are more variable and have declined gradually by the end of Key Stage 2.  Leaders track the progress of classes and groups of pupils, such as disadvantaged pupils, disabled pupils

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The leadership and management requires improvement

and pupils with special educational needs, to try to ensure that they have equal opportunities to succeed. However, across the school the progress of groups within different classes varies; their achievement is inconsistent and requires improvement.  The school’s strengths and areas for development have been identified correctly by school leaders and this information has been shared with the governing body. However, action to bring about improvement has been not been effective in all classes and subjects. School leaders have an overgenerous view of the school’s performance.  School leaders and governors target the pupil premium funding clearly and know how it is being spent to best support disadvantaged pupils. By the end of Year 6 last year, disadvantaged pupils had made more progress from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2 than other pupils in reading, writing and mathematics. Currently, there is variation in the progress of disadvantaged pupils across the school, with some making

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The leadership and management requires improvement

quicker progress than other pupils and some making slower progress.  Subject leaders have worked to make appropriate changes to the school’s curriculum. Changes have been made to the way pupils are assessed, but the quality of teachers’ assessments of pupils’ skills and knowledge varies from class to class. Subject monitoring reports do not take enough account of pupils’ progress over time.  The curriculum is broad and balanced and pupils have the opportunity to study musical instruments, such as the guitar and violin. The school has planned effective activities to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain successfully. Pupils in Key Stage 2 talk knowledgeably about the features of democracy and how they have elected pupils to the school council.  The school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils meet statutory requirements. Staff training is up to date and pupils are cared for well.  The school has made effective use of the new primary sport funding and has evaluated the impact of this

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The leadership and management requires improvement

spending. Pupils have more opportunities to take part in a greater range of sports. Specialist coaches have been employed to develop teachers’ knowledge and to help pupils reach the performance levels of which they are capable. The school teams have had considerable success in local sporting competitions.  Leaders have been effective in creating a culture where good relations are fostered and discrimination is not tolerated, pupils behave well and attend school well.  Since the last inspection, the school has had light-touch support from the local authority. The local authority has noted the variation in pupils’ progress across the school and has made appropriate recommendations and offers of support. This direct support has not been taken up by the school.  The governance of the school:  The governing body has an overgenerous view of the school’s performance and the quality of teaching. Data produced by the school to show pupils’ progress have not been used to identify where progress

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The leadership and management requires improvement

needs to accelerate and to check on the impact of actions to improve.  Performance management arrangements for teachers are insufficiently rigorous and do not take account of pupils’ progress over time. Not enough is done to tackle underperformance swiftly and the evaluation of evidence to decide whether to reward teachers’ good performance does not take enough account of evidence from data and from pupils’ books.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils behave well in class and around the school. They join in well with activities and are proud of their roles in school, such as being members of the school council.  Pupils say that they get on well together and enjoy their activities. Children in Reception told an inspector that they enjoy coming to school. A large majority of parents agree that their child is happy in school.  Pupils understand about the different types of bullying, such as cyber-bullying. Pupils say that bullying of any kind is extremely rare and they have great confidence that adults will help them resolve any concerns.  In most classes, pupils’ attitudes to learning are very good and in some, attitudes are exemplary. For example, a small group of older boys was observed by an inspector and, inspired by their teacher’s enthusiasm, they showed a strong ‘can do’ attitude to tackling difficult work.

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Behaviour

 In some classes pupils take great pride in their work and this often shows in the care they take in presenting their work. Pupils’ behaviour is not outstanding, because not all pupils take such great pride in their work or show exemplary attitudes to learning.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say that they feel safe and most parents confirm this view.  Pupils say that they learn about how to keep themselves safe. In particular, pupils are knowledgeable about how to use the Internet safely. A very effective assembly seen by an inspector ensured that even younger pupils in Key Stage 1 are able to understand potential dangers and can say what they would need to remember about using the Internet safely.  Pupils enjoy school and attendance rates are above average.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching requires improvement and results in variation in pupils’ progress over time.  Teaching is more effective in reading than in writing and mathematics. Key Stage 2 pupils report that reading sessions with their teacher help them to learn to read well.  In writing, assessment information is not always used well to plan work which helps pupils of various abilities to make rapid progress. Where the school has identified pupils’ individual targets to work towards, not all pupils use these to ensure that they make good progress.  In mathematics, the teaching does not always enable pupils to move on to work that is more challenging to deepen their knowledge and understanding if they have grasped the initial concepts easily.  The quality of teachers’ assessment information on pupils’ skills and knowledge varies greatly from class to class, especially in writing and mathematics. In some classes, the information is specific and detailed

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

enough to identify what pupils can do already and what they need to do next. This information is used to plan the learning in lessons to ensure that pupils make good progress. This is not the case in every class.  Some teachers have high expectations of the quality and quantity of pupils’ work, but this is not consistent across the school.  The school’s marking policy is not followed fully in every class. Some teachers do not give as much guidance to pupils as other teachers do as to how they can improve their work. In addition, pupils are given too few opportunities to act upon the guidance they receive through teachers’ marking in order to improve their own work.  The effective teaching of phonics in the early years and Year 1 ensures that a slightly greater percentage of pupils attain the required standard in the Year 1 phonics screening than is the case in schools nationally.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ progress is not consistently good across Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 and in all subjects. Children in the early years make good progress in all areas of learning.  Pupils in Year 2 achieved above average standards in reading and mathematics and average standards in writing in 2014. From above average starting points at the end of the early years, this represents average, rather than good, progress.  There are some examples of disabled pupils and pupils with special educational needs making good progress as the result of specific support to help them overcome their difficulties. They make good progress in reading and in phonics. Records of Year 2 pupils receiving extra support in phonics show accelerated progress. Progress is slower for disabled pupils and pupils with special educational needs in writing and in mathematics.  In 2014, the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 was about two terms behind that of other pupils

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

in school and other pupils nationally. However, their progress was greater from Key Stage 1 to Key Stage 2 than for other pupils nationally, indicating that the attainment gap had been narrowed. Currently, the progress of disadvantaged pupils varies considerably across the school, with less progress being made in writing and in mathematics than in reading.  In 2014, progress rates for the most-able pupils by the end of Key Stage 2 were lower than for other pupils. A greater proportion of the most-able pupils achieved above average standards in reading at the end of Key Stage 2, with a broadly average proportion in mathematics and in the English grammar, punctuation and spelling test. A below average proportion of the most-able pupils achieved above average standards in writing. In 2014, at the end of Key Stage 1, a greater proportion of the most-able pupils achieved above average standards in reading and in mathematics than did so nationally in 2014. A slightly

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

smaller proportion of the most-able Key Stage 1 pupils achieved above average standards in writing.  Year 6 pupils achieved broadly average standards in the national tests in 2014 in writing, mathematics and English grammar, punctuation and spelling. These pupils achieved above average standards in reading. From below average starting points at the end of Key Stage 1, a greater percentage of pupils made the progress expected of them compared with pupils nationally. In addition, a greater percentage of pupils made more progress than expected of them than the proportion of pupils nationally. However, progress rates for Years 1 to 5 in writing and in mathematics were not as rapid as for Year 6 last academic year. For example, progress in writing was below average in four year groups. Currently, this year there is still considerable variation in pupils’ rates of progress, with some groups in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

making little or no progress in the first term, especially in writing and mathematics.

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The early years provision is good

 The overall effectiveness of the early years is judged as good because consistently good progress is made by children in the early years as the result of good teaching and leadership.  Children enter the early years with skills and knowledge that are broadly typical for children of their age. They make good progress and almost 75% achieve a good level of development (the skills which ensure that they are ready to start Year 1) at the end of the Reception year. In 2014, 60% of children nationally achieved a good level of development.  The provision and teaching is at the right level to ensure that children make good progress. An exciting and challenging outdoor area supports children’s physical development and an above average proportion of children achieves at least the expected level in their physical development, with about 25% achieving an above average level.  Children are making a good start in learning to write and their written work shows good progress. They

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The early years provision is good

are developing good reading skills, too. An example of this was seen by an inspector when one boy read a book about dinosaurs without a single mistake, reading words such as ‘fierce,’ ‘meek,’ ‘strong’ and ‘tiny’. In addition, he was able to explain what these words meant.  Children are happy and settled. They behave well and are keen to learn. They show good levels of independence, such as in using the computers or making their own snacks. They particularly enjoy making cheese sandwiches to have as their snack.  Good leadership ensures that pupils make progress as the result of effective teaching and learning activities which meet their needs.

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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 failing

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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.

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School details

Unique reference number 105233 Local authority Bolton Inspection number 448288

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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 397 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair David Pritchard Headteacher Alan Beedie Date of previous school inspection 24 March 2010 Telephone number 01204 333147 Fax number 01204 333148 Email address worthingtonb@horwich-parish.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 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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