Clayton-le-Woods Church of England Primary School

Clayton-le-Woods Church of England Primary School Back Lane, Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley, Lancashire PR6 7EU

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Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Early years provision Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is a good school

 The headteacher, well supported by the acting deputy headteacher, provides clear and determined leadership. As a result of their actions, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved since the previous inspection.  Older pupils are shining role models for younger children in the school. Behaviour is good and is one of the reasons pupils make good progress in their learning.  Teachers’ strong subject knowledge allows them to plan interesting lessons that meet the needs of all groups of pupils. As a result, pupils say that they enjoy their learning.  Pupils’ attendance is above the national average.  Current pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  Governors know the school well. They ask challenging questions to hold leaders to account for the actions that they take.  Positive relationships between pupils and adults contribute strongly to learning across the school.

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This is a good school

Pupils say they feel safe and that teachers care for them.  Middle leaders play an increasingly effective role in checking on and improving the quality of teaching.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The early years requires improvement. This is because the learning environment does not provide a broad range of experiences that meet the needs of all groups of children.  In a small number of classes, expectations of what pupils can achieve in subjects such as history and geography are not high enough.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the early years provision by: – reviewing the learning environment, so that greater use is made of the outdoor provision, consequently broadening the curriculum and promoting children’s progress – ensuring that leaders provide suitable professional development for early years staff.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that all teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve in subjects such as geography and history.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The headteacher has successfully led the school through a difficult period of significant staffing turbulence. As a consequence of her determined leadership, the quality of teaching and the achievement of pupils has improved since the last inspection.  Regular checks on teaching enable senior leaders to pinpoint where strengths and weakness lie. Leaders’ feedback and advice is clear and helps teachers to reflect on and improve their classroom practice. Teachers’ professional development is given a high priority and links closely to the needs of the school. Consequently, teachers typically say that the work they do is valued and morale is good. However, school leaders are aware that the support they give to newly qualified teachers needs to be developed further.  Leaders make effective use of detailed assessment information to hold teachers to account for the progress that pupils make across the school. Actions to improve achievement are clearly mapped out and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

teachers know what is needed to bring about further improvements.  Middle leaders share the passion of the headteacher and acting deputy headteacher to continue to drive improvement across the school. They check the quality of teaching and lead improvements in their subjects effectively. Actions that are taken are robustly followed up to ensure that there is a positive impact on the quality of teaching. Middle leaders also regularly provide governors with detailed reports, ensuring that they are well informed.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness is promoted effectively through the carefully planned curriculum. Pupils in Key Stage 2 for instance, discuss the importance of asking difficult questions about their own religious faith and that of others. Art features prominently in the curriculum and examples of high-quality art, such as abstract drawings linked to the solar eclipse, were seen by inspectors during the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

inspection. The curriculum is further enhanced by a range of extra-curricular clubs, which include guitar lessons and a sewing club.  Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. They are taught about the difference between rules and laws and hold elections for the school council. Pupils take their responsibilities to help others seriously. They proudly raise money for a number of charities, including the sponsorship of a young boy in Mexico.  Arrangements to protect pupils and keep them safe are effective and are a strength of the school. All staff and most governors have undertaken training to keep pupils safe from the dangers of extremism and radicalisation. Checks to ensure that adults are cleared to work with children are carried out with diligence.  Senior leaders and governors ensure that pupil premium funding is used effectively. The progress of disadvantaged pupils is tracked in detail to ensure that pupils at risk of falling behind are quickly

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

identified. As a result, the achievement gap between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally has narrowed significantly since the previous inspection.  Sports funding is put to good use by school leaders. A specialist sports coach delivers lessons in physical education, enabling teachers to enhance their skills. A range of extra-curricular sporting activities, such as fencing, are also provided throughout the year. Pupils took part in a wide range of inter-school competitions in 2015 including triathlon and crown green bowling.  The headteacher, in her role as the leader of the provision for disabled pupils and/or those with special educational needs, ensures that the needs of this group of pupils are effectively met. Each pupil’s progress is checked diligently and interventions are put in place to ensure that they are given the support that their additional needs require. As a result, this group of pupils make good progress across the school.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The governance of the school – Governors are committed to build upon the improvements seen across the school since its previous inspection. They willingly give up their time to regularly visit the school and volunteer in a range of roles. One member of the governing body, for example, helps to organise the school council. – The governing body is kept well informed by regular and detailed reports from the headteacher. Furthermore, subject leaders present information at termly governors’ meetings, where they are robustly challenged and held to account for the impact of their actions. – Governors are not prepared to rest on their laurels and continue to strive for further improvements in the way they support and challenge the school. A recent audit, for instance, has enabled the governing body to closely match the skills of its members to positions on committees. The wide range of training undertaken has provided governors with the skills and knowledge to ask challenging

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

questions of the senior leadership team and ensure that their actions are effective.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved since the previous inspection. Teachers enthuse pupils who say that they enjoy their learning. Children showed a love of their learning, for example in a Year 1 lesson about the Great Fire of London. Due to well-planned activities, by the end of the lesson they were able to recall a number of interesting facts about how the fire started.  Positive relationships between pupils and teachers underpin learning throughout the school. In a Key Stage 1 mathematics lesson, for example, the class teacher sensitively and patiently supported pupils who found their learning challenging. As a result, by the end of the lesson, their confidence had grown and learning had moved forward strongly.  Teachers’ strong subject knowledge contributes to rapid progress in some lessons. In a Year 1 lesson, for instance, adults supported pupils effectively to develop their phonics (the sounds that letters make) skills

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

by using ‘Fred’ the puppet monkey to explain the sounds some letters make when they are blended together.  Some teachers use questions well to encourage pupils to think more deeply about the subjects they are studying. In a Year 6 writing lesson, the class teacher posed questions to pupils that required them to use inference and deduction about the evolutionary scientist Alfred Russell Wallace. As a result, pupils were able to deepen their understanding in preparation to write biographies.  Teachers use marking and feedback well to plan their next lessons and to guide pupils towards improving their work. Pupils are given time to respond to teachers’ comments and extend their learning where further tasks have been set. As a result, pupils have a good understanding of what they need to do to improve the quality of their work.  Expectations of what pupils can achieve are generally high. Teachers plan work that meets the needs of

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

most pupils, including the more able. However, in a small number of classes, expectations of what some pupils can achieve in subjects such as geography and history are too low. As a result, learning for a small number of pupils is faltering in some subjects, as the work given to them does not provide sufficient challenge.  Teaching assistants play an important role in supporting pupils’ learning. In most lessons they work in partnership with the class teacher to ensure that all groups of pupils make progress. In one lesson, for example, the teaching assistant skilfully directed pupils towards solving multiplication problems by using practical resources. As a consequence, this group of pupils, who found the task challenging, made good progress during the lesson.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils arrive at school calmly and with an enthusiasm to start learning. From the moment they enter their classrooms in the morning, most pupils settle quickly to work and use their time well to consider feedback from teachers in their books.  Older pupils at the school shine. Year 6 pupils, in particular, are excellent role models for other children in the school. They discuss difficult issues, such as racism, with maturity and set a strong example of how to behave in all areas of the school.  Confidence and self-esteem are promoted strongly across the school. Celebration assemblies recognise weekly achievements. Pupils are proud to wear the ‘blue jumpers’ that are awarded in recognition of ‘manners and merits’.  Pupils are proud of the opportunities they have to contribute to their school community by undertaking roles of responsibility. ‘Guardian angels’ from Key Stage 2 are held in high regard by the younger pupils

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Personal development and welfare

whom they help during lunch and playtimes. Pupils who are members of the school council raise money to benefit the whole school and have been successful in helping to purchase a trim trail, tyre park and benches since the previous inspection.  Pupils generally have a good understanding of the different forms of bullying and those who spoke to inspectors say that incidents of bullying are rare. However, a small number of younger pupils are not clear in their understanding of what bullying is.  Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep safe. Leaflets designed by older children, for example, are displayed in the computer room and remind pupils about safety when using the internet.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Respect and tolerance, irrespective of gender or background, are evident across the school. Pupils play well with one another on the playground. They greet each other and adults warmly as they move around the school and show exemplary manners by politely holding doors open for each other.  The good behaviour of most pupils in lessons contributes strongly to the progress that they make. In a Year 2 mathematics lesson, for example, pupils were captivated by their teacher when posed with a problem to solve at the end of the lesson. Their very positive behaviour, due to the high expectations of their teacher, helped to ensure that their learning continued until the very end of the lesson.  Attendance is given a high profile at the school. Leaders work closely with families to support them to get their children to school when they may be facing difficulties. As a result, pupils’ attendance is above that

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Behaviour

seen nationally and there are very few pupils who miss school often.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 The quality of work in pupils’ books, learning observed in lessons and assessment information provided by the school all show that pupils currently in the school are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  The proportion of pupils who made expected progress in 2015 in writing was below that seen nationally. However, the writing books of current pupils show that they are making strong progress. Teachers plan lessons that build skills in areas such as sentence construction so that pupils are well prepared to apply these to their extended writing.  In mathematics, teachers use what they know about pupils’ understanding to plan lessons that challenge pupils of all abilities appropriately. Calculation methods are explained clearly. Consequently, pupils’ understanding of mathematical ideas is strong and they are able to confidently tell their teachers how they calculate and solve problems.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Pupils’ achievement in reading across the school is good. Most of the younger pupils that inspectors heard read shared their love for books and were able to use their phonics knowledge to read difficult words. The school has invested funding in purchasing a large number of books to interest boys. Nonetheless, a small number of boys who inspectors spoke to said that they did not find reading enjoyable. Furthermore, a small number of older pupils who read to inspectors were not able to apply their phonics skills to read more challenging words. Middle leaders and teachers are aware of this issue and a range of support is in place to support those pupils who do not reach the expected standard in the phonics screening test. In lessons, older pupils are able to put their reading skills to effective use, for example in Year 6, to research the lives of famous scientists.  When they leave Year 2, pupils are well prepared for Key Stage 2. In 2015, the proportion of pupils

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Outcomes for pupils are good

achieving the expected level for their age in reading, writing and mathematics was above the national average. The proportion reaching above the expected level in writing was almost double that seen nationally.  The achievement of the relatively low proportion of disadvantaged pupils is tracked carefully by school leaders. Assessment information shows that most pupils in this group are making at least expected progress with many pupils making progress above that expected from their starting points. The achievement gap at the end of Key Stage 2 compared to other pupils nationally has approximately halved since the previous inspection.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make progress that is at least in line with other pupils. This is because expectations of what they can achieve is high and the support they are given is well matched to their specific needs.  The use of specialist sports coaches and a range of extra-curricular activities contribute well to pupils’

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Outcomes for pupils are good

achievement in other subjects. However, in a small number of classes, achievement in subjects such as history and geography is not as strong. This is because the work that is planned for pupils does not always match their needs.

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Early years provision requires improvement

 Despite significant improvements in the proportion of pupils achieving a good level of development since the previous inspection, the early years provision requires improvement because the environment does not fully meet the learning needs of all of the children. Some areas of the classroom do not enthuse children to undertake independent learning activities. The computer area, for example, was not used by children when inspectors visited lessons, as this area was untidy and held little attraction. As a consequence, some children are not currently making good progress in using this technology.  The outdoor learning area has not been used effectively this term to provide a broad range of interesting, exciting and challenging experiences. This means that children are not currently making as much progress as they should in areas such as physical development and being imaginative.  In 2015, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development was broadly in line with that

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Early years provision requires improvement

seen nationally. This represents a significant improvement from the time of the previous inspection and consequently children in 2015 were well prepared for their transition into Key Stage 1.  Adults use questioning effectively to facilitate discussion, move learning forward and promote discussion. Boys’ learning, for example, accelerated rapidly when the teaching assistant encouraged them to consider balance, height and width when they were building towers in the construction area.  Children are well behaved and listen carefully to their teacher. During a discussion about firework safety, for example, children used the class teddy bear to take turns to speak and listen attentively to one another.  Activities are planned to link with children’s interests and current topics. Children enjoyed holding their own birthday party in the role play area as they had been inspired by their learning about celebrations.

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Early years provision requires improvement

Other activities, such as counting numbers linked to fireworks, also help children to develop their mathematical skills.  Children are well supervised by adults within the provision and consequently are kept safe.  Leadership of the early years has been affected by recent absence. However, a new action plan has been written to address the issues of improving the environment, as well as to further support the training of early years staff. This is at the early stages of implementation.

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School details

Unique reference number 119468 Local authority Lancashire Inspection number 10002244

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School details

This inspection 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 5–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 174 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair John Barnes Headteacher/Principal/Teacher in charge Sue Pennington Telephone number 01772 335030 Website www.clayton-le-woods.lancs.sch.uk/ Email address head@clayton-le-woods.lancs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 16 October 2013

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Information about this school

 Clayton-le-Woods is a smaller than average primary school.  The proportion of pupils who come from minority ethnic groups is low.  The proportion of pupils for whom English is not or believed not to be their first language is below the national average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium funding is below the national 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 pupils and those with special educational needs is below the national average.  The school runs a breakfast club and an after-school club which is open to all children every day.  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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Information about this school

 Since the last inspection a new acting deputy headteacher has been appointed. There has also been a substantial turnover of teaching staff.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed lessons in each class of the school, including two joint observations with senior leaders.  Discussions were held with senior leaders, members of staff, seven representatives of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors examined a wide range of documentation, including that relating to safeguarding, behaviour and attendance, school improvement planning, assessment information and reports on the quality of teaching.  Inspectors spoke to pupils informally during the school day and observed them during playtime, lunch, and before and after school. They also met formally with a group of pupils to chat about their learning and behaviour and safety.  Inspectors heard several children read.  A range of pupils’ book were checked jointly with senior leaders from the school.  Inspectors spoke to a small number of parents at the start of the day. They also took account of the 60

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Information about this inspection

responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View). Inspectors also took note of the nine responses they received to the inspection questionnaire for school staff.

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Inspection team

Martin Bell, Lead Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Sue Eastwood Her Majesty’s Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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

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