Setting

Mrs Cole Headteacher Pool House Community Primary School Kidsgrove Preston Lancashire PR2 7BX

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Primary School

Following my unannounced visit to your school on Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 November, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings.

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Primary School

This monitoring inspection was conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 and in accordance with Ofsted’s published procedures for inspecting schools with no formal designation. The inspection was carried out because Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector was concerned about the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements.

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Evidence

I scrutinised the single central record and other documents relating to safeguarding and child protection arrangements. I met with you, the assistant headteacher, the designated person for child protection, 11 pupils, five parents, one governor, a representative of the local authority and two groups of staff. I also spoke with pupils at break, a small number of parents delivering or collecting their children from school, and held a telephone discussion with the Chair of the Governing Body.

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Evidence

I also scrutinised attendance records and governors’ minutes. Together we toured the school looking at samples of pupils’ work in each class.

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Evidence

Having considered the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Evidence

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Context

The school is smaller than other primary schools in England. There are 150 pupils on roll. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups or who speak English as an additional language is small. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is higher than that found nationally. The proportion of pupils included in the register of special educational needs and/or with statements varies from class to class but is generally about average.

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Main findings

Pupils, at this time, are safe in your school. You have developed a culture where pupils and parents are confident to come to you or your staff if they have concerns about anything. Parents who spoke to me reported that their children had been helped to settle in or had been supported in their learning and development. Pupils’ confidence in school is evident in their improving levels of attendance. Where pupils are absent from school you rightly expect parents to notify the school office why this is the case. When contact has not been made, your office staff call parents to find out why their child is not present.

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Main findings

During my visit to the school, pupils were keen to learn and were confident to speak with me. They were polite and courteous to staff and each other. The behaviour of pupils during my visit was good. Work in their books shows they consider everyday risk and danger regularly, including how to keep safe while looking at the internet, for example. Staff morale is high and they are very supportive of you and your leadership team.

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Main findings

Levels of supervision around school, including at break and lunchtimes, contribute well to pupils’ safety and enjoyment of school. Mid-day assistants spoken with knew what to do if a pupil reported concerns. Teachers and teaching assistants were equally clear about such procedures.

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Main findings

Checks on the suitability of all staff to work in school take account of the most recent requirements. The child protection policy has also been reviewed to take account of recent requirements, for example those relating to preventing radicalisation. This clear, thorough policy is due to be accepted by governors in early December 2015. Discussions with pupils plus their work on display and in books indicates that they have a good understanding of key features of life in modern Britain – tolerance, for example. They also demonstrate a good understanding of the component nations of Britain. This is illustrated by Year 5’s consideration of the Declaration of Arbroath and the influence of Dafydd ap Gruffydd on Scottish and Welsh history respectively. We agreed, though, there is scope to promote through images and displays different faiths, cultures and role models from the society in which we live.

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Main findings

You have also revised the way incidents and concerns are reported to you and to the designated person responsible for child protection. These now require staff to be much clearer about the nature of any concern, action taken, and what has happened as a result. This is a good improvement on arrangements previously in place. All staff spoken with were confident that they could identify issues and when reported, they would be dealt with effectively by you, your assistant headteacher and by the designated person. Also improved is the way you and your staff report any incidents of racist or homophobic behaviour. We agreed that these systems, relatively new in place, require careful and regular checking by leaders and governors to ensure that they are applied consistently by all staff, whatever their role, across the school.

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Main findings

During my visit we considered the school’s website. It is bright and welcoming but does not include all the information required by law concerning governors and the impact of pupil premium funding. You assured me that these aspects would be addressed by the end of this term.

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External support

The local authority has, over time, supported your efforts to keep pupils safe. Officers have, for example, given advice concerning changes in legislation. More recently, in November 2015, the local authority supported your drive to improve attendance by carrying out a review. As a result of the information this has given governors and yourself, you have written to parents reminding them of the importance of good attendance. As reported elsewhere in this letter, your efforts are paying dividends – attendance is improving.

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Priorities for further improvement

– check regularly their revised systems for recording concerns and incidents of homophobic and/or racist language and report the impact of actions taken to reduce the number of incidents

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Priorities for further improvement

– ensure the school’s website is compliant with statutory requirements by the end of term (autumn 2015) and reviewed on a regular basis

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Priorities for further improvement

– consider ways, through images and displays for example, of promoting the different faiths, cultures and role models from the society in which we live.

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Priorities for further improvement

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Lancashire local authority. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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