All Saints CofE Primary School

All Saints CofE Primary School Devon Street, Farnworth, Bolton, Lancashire BL4 7PY

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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

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is a good school

 This is a good and improving school. The headteacher has a clear and focused vision and ambition for the school. All staff share this vision and there is a strong culture of high aspiration.  Leaders and governors have ensured that weak teaching has been addressed and as a result the quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved. It is now consistently good and teachers have high expectation of the pupils.  From very low starting points pupils make good progress. Provision for 2-year-olds is of a good quality and ensures that early skills are learned well. Good-quality teaching and provision ensure that children continue to make good progress across Nursery and Reception classes.  Governors know the school well and challenge and support senior leaders. They are fully committed to driving continued improvement.  Good progress continues across Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Pupils who have special educational

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This is a good school

needs or disability and those who have English as an additional language, particularly those new to the country, are well supported.  Behaviour is good and pupils are polite and well mannered. They have high aspirations and are keen to do well. ‘To be the best we can be’ is integral to the school’s work.  The curriculum is well planned and provides pupils with a good range of enrichment activities, trips and visitors to extend their experiences and personal development.  Pupils feel safe in school and know how to keep themselves safe. The school works with pupils to address stereotypes and develop their understanding of diversity.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils do not have enough opportunities to use and apply their mathematical skills to solve problems and develop their reasoning in mathematics or other subjects.  Marking across all classes and subjects is not of a consistently high quality in providing pupils with guidance on how to improve their work.  The tasks which teachers plan do not always meet the needs of pupils to develop their skills well enough, especially in reading.  Middle leaders’ action plans do not focus sharply enough on measuring the impact of their actions on pupils’ outcomes.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Continue to raise standards and accelerate progress by: – giving pupils more opportunities to apply their mathematical skills to a wider range of reasoning and problem-solving activities in mathematics and other subjects – ensuring that activities that teachers plan are always well matched to pupils’ needs, especially in reading – ensuring that the guidance pupils receive on how to improve their work is of a consistently high standard across all subjects and classes, in line with school policy.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Support pupils’ progress and further develop the skills of middle leaders by ensuring that action plans are more sharply focused on measuring the impact of actions on pupils’ outcomes.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The headteacher has a clear and focused vision of continuing to improve the school and its outcomes for pupils. She is well supported by senior leaders, staff and governors, who share this aim. As a result there have been improvements to the quality of teaching and to the outcomes of the vast majority of pupils.  There is high staff morale. The headteacher has established a very strong culture and a good staff team, who demonstrate positive ambition for continued success.  Information about pupils’ achievement is analysed very closely. This, accompanied by leaders’ and governors’ frequent checks on the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes, ensures that any potential underachievement is quickly identified and acted upon. Consequently, the school’s self-evaluation is accurate and identifies what need to be done to improve the school further.  Since the last inspection there has been a significant change to staffing and this has resulted in

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

consistency in the quality of teaching. Any weak teaching has been eradicated and pupils are benefiting from good-quality teaching which is improving their outcomes. Leaders have managed the planned absence of a number of teachers well so that there has been no distinguishable impact on the quality of teaching.  The systems to check on teachers’ performance are rigorous. Teachers are set challenging targets which are linked to school priorities and pupil performance. Reviews on how well teachers are meeting their targets are thorough and frequent, ensuring that any action is taken if necessary. Teachers who are early in their careers are well supported by senior leaders and other staff.  Training to develop teachers’ skills has been used effectively. A focus on developing pupils’ basic skills in literacy and numeracy has led to improvements in pupils’ outcomes. In addition, some staff have benefited from attending leadership courses, developing the leadership capacity within the school.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Close links with other schools within the cluster ensures that teachers have the opportunity to share their professional knowledge and moderate pupils’ work with each other. This ensures that judgements made about pupils’ achievement are robust and accurate.  Middle leaders contribute to school improvement planning. They are involved in checking on how well pupils are performing in their subjects and areas of responsibility and provide training and guidance for teachers. Consequently, middle leaders accurately identify the key areas for development. However, their action plans do not have a sharp enough focus on measuring the impact of these actions on pupils’ outcomes.  A review of the curriculum by staff and governors looked at the specific needs of its pupils. As a result the curriculum is well planned and contributes to extending pupils’ experiences beyond the classroom. Each topic has visits and visitors planned within it, as well as opportunities for drama, music and expressive

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

arts. This contributes well to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  The school’s values of friendship, fellowship and hope are integral to its work. Pupils are taught about other religions as well as their own and have close links with the local church. Many pupils also attend mosque and appreciate the difference in these cultures. The school leaders ensure that pupils have a good understanding of life in modern Britain and what the rule of law is. Projects about government, the royal family and who makes decisions for this country support their understanding.  The local authority has provided the school with ongoing support and guidance, contributing to reviews on the quality of teaching and learning and providing training opportunities.  The school makes good use of its sports funding to provide pupils with a range of clubs and opportunities. Specialist coaches ensure that teachers also benefit from training. Pupils learn new skills

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

through sports such as tag rugby and uni-hockey. They commented on the regular opportunities they have to take part in inter-school competitions. Pupils understand how to keep healthy, including the importance of eating healthy meals.  Pupil premium funding is spent well to support disadvantaged pupils both in their academic development and also in improving their attendance, particularly in the early years. As a result, any gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers are small, which demonstrates the school’s determination to ensure equality for all.  The governance of the school – Governors are highly committed to the school and its continued improvement. They are passionate about ensuring that the pupils have the best opportunities to succeed they can and consider the best use of additional funding carefully. For example, they made the decision to increase staffing to support transition while some teachers are on planned absence.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

– Governors, as well as senior leaders, have been resolute in tackling underperformance of teachers, and are rightly confident that the quality of teaching has improved. Decisions about teacher’s pay are appropriately linked to their performance and responsibilities. – Governors are involved in evaluating the quality of teaching through visits to the school, meetings with subject leaders and checking on pupils’ work. Consequently, they have a very good understanding of strengths and areas of development within the school. – Governors attend training regularly. This ensures that they are up to date with the latest legislation and also extend their own skills and understanding.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. They are well managed and are checked regularly by the governor with responsibility for this area. This ensures that policies and procedures are adhered to and that staff understand their responsibilities. The recent safeguarding audit by the local authority

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

confirmed this good practice. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about how the school keeps their children safe and addresses any concerns they may have.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Since the previous inspection the quality of teaching has improved and it is now good. Observations of teaching and learning and scrutiny of pupils’ books show that teaching is of a good quality and pupils are making good progress from their different starting points.  Teachers have good subject knowledge and lessons are well planned. Pupils understand what is expected of them and the consistent use of success criteria across all classes and subjects enables pupils and teachers to check how well they have understood and responded to the task.  Teachers question pupils well and encourage them to think for themselves and consider the explanations for points of view. In a reading session pupils were asking each other questions related to the texts they were reading. This supported their comprehension of what they were reading and encouraged them to explain this to their partners. The teacher and teaching assistant’s questioning supported pupils in

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

developing this further.  Teaching assistants are deployed effectively and make an important contribution to the progress of the pupils with whom they work. As a result, those pupils with additional needs and those who have very little English when they start at school are well supported and make good and sometimes rapid progress.  In science pupils participate in a range of investigations and practical sessions. This allows them to learn first hand about different scientific concepts such as evaporation and how electricity works. Pupils are able to use their knowledge from previous learning well. In one session pupils were able to label the bones on a skeleton before moving to learning about muscles. A combination of practical activities and video clips extended their learning successfully.  Teachers pick up on pupils’ misconceptions well. In one session pupils were learning the correct use of an

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

apostrophe. The teacher’s ongoing assessment of pupils’ accuracy of use and reinforcement of the learning ensured that pupils became more accurate in its use.  In some lessons pupils are given good opportunities to use their mathematical knowledge to solve problems and explain their answers. In a Year 6 lesson pupils worked well in teams to solve complex problems, showing that they could reason and apply their skills successfully. However, pupils do not have enough opportunities to use their mathematical skills to reason and solve problems in all classes and across subjects.  Pupils enjoy reading and understand the importance of reading regularly. School leaders have introduced a range of new strategies to support the development of pupils’ reading skills. These include more opportunities to practise comprehension skills, including across different subjects. This practice is teaching pupils the skills of answering different types of questions. However, in reading sessions the

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

activities teachers plan for different groups do not always match their needs well enough for them to improve their specific skills.  Marking across classes and subjects follows the school policy of using different colours to celebrate what pupils have done well and what needs improving. While some good examples give pupils clear guidance on how to improve, which is school policy, this is not consistent practice across all subjects or classes.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupil’s personal development and welfare is good. Pupils say that their school is ‘friendly’ and that overall everyone gets on. They say that the friendship bench is not often needed because everyone has friends.  Pupils say that they feel safe and secure in school. They have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe, including the importance of being safe when using technology and the internet.  Pupils are adamant that there is very little bullying and that racism is not something that happens at their school. They understand the different forms that bullying can take, including verbal and physical bullying. Pupils know that they can talk to any adult about things that concern them and are confident that any issues that occur will be swiftly dealt with.  The school works well with pupils to challenge stereotypes and address any misconceptions around the

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Personal development and welfare

understanding of words such as ‘gay’. Pupils have had assemblies and sessions on the meaning of such words and what homophobic bullying is. As a result pupils say that it is ‘OK to be different’. During the inspection an entertaining assembly challenging gender stereotypes about girls playing football brought home the message well.  Other activities, such as yoga, help pupils with their physical and emotional well-being. Some pupils benefit from a special programme to build their confidence and self-esteem. Support from other agencies and staff in school helps families of pupils who are newly arrived in the country to settle quickly.  Attendance and punctuality is given a high priority in school and the school has adopted a wide range of strategies to improve attendance and punctuality. Careful monitoring of attendance across school and partnership working with other agencies has led to improvements in attendance. Attendance for children

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Personal development and welfare

in the early years, in particular, has been a focus. The use of passports for younger children and the breakfast club have made a positive difference to their attendance. However, this remains stubbornly below the national average.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are well mannered and polite and show confidence when speaking to one another and adults. They are rightly proud of their school and say that behaviour is good. Older pupils recognise that since the behaviour system changed, behaviour has improved and there are fewer incidents of poor behaviour.  Pupils behave well around school and in the dining room. Younger pupils are encouraged to eat their meals. Older pupils say these are healthy, with vegetables and salad on offer. Pupils are able to access a range of activities at lunchtime, including indoor clubs, which has had a positive impact on behaviour.  Pupils live by the school motto of ‘to be the best we can be’ and have high aspirations. The work of the school in extending pupils’ knowledge of jobs though career talks has contributed strongly to this. Pupils have opportunities to mix with pupils from other schools, including a school in a diverse context, which

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Behaviour

enhances their understanding of different cultures.  Pupils have a range of responsibilities which they take seriously. Members of the school council have a bullying and suggestions box so they can look at and address any concerns raised by others. Some older pupils have recently become subject ambassadors and visit classes to find out what is being learned in the subject they are ambassadors for and what pupils like about it.  Pupils’ good behaviour has a good impact on their learning. Those pupils who have behavioural needs are well supported so that their behaviour does not impact on the learning of others. Occasionally in some classes a few pupils can be distracted when the tasks do not engage them fully because they are too easy or too hard.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Outcomes for pupils currently on roll in the school are good. From their different starting points pupils make good progress. This is evidenced by work in their books and in observations of lessons which show work of a good standard which is well presented and indicates teachers’ high levels of expectation.  Pupils have high aspirations and expectations of themselves, which is evident in the quality and presentation of work which is produced in most classes and subjects and has led to improved outcomes since the last inspection.  The proportion of pupils reaching a good level of development and the number of pupils reaching the expected standard in the phonics check has continued to improve. This is as a result of good teaching. Phonics (letters and the sounds that they make) is taught well and pupils develop a good understanding of how sounds are formed and how these subsequently form words. This is having a positive impact on

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Outcomes for pupils are good

their early reading and writing skills.  In 2014 the standards at Key Stage 1 and 2 improved so that they were closer to national figures, particularly in writing and mathematics. In that year the majority of Year 6 pupils made the progress expected of them and a good proportion did better than this.  In 2015 the published data suggested a decline in standards at the end of Key Stage 1 and 2. However, there are a number of factors which contributed to this. A significant number of pupils in each cohort had special educational needs and there were a number of pupils who were new to the country who started in Year 2 and Year 6. Interpretation of published data therefore took account of the school’s own information on pupils’ outcomes.  Of Year 2 pupils, in 2015 a fifth had additional needs and a number of pupils arrived from other countries. These pupils made good progress from their starting points. Other pupils reached standards which were

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Outcomes for pupils are good

similar to those found nationally and in some cases were above national standards. These results represent good progress from starting points which were significantly below those typical for their age.  Pupils in Year 6 in 2015 had been subject to turbulence in staffing over time, including periods of weaker teaching, which affected their rates of progress. In the period since the last inspection pupils made good progress because of good teaching. However, this didn’t completely address prior weaknesses in teaching for all pupils. In addition a third of the pupils had special education needs and there were a number who were newly arrived to the country. This had a negative impact on overall standards, in reading, writing and mathematics.  For other year groups in the last academic year school information shows that the vast majority of pupils made good progress from their different starting points in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 The school tracks closely the progress of pupils who have special educational needs or disability. These pupils make good progress from starting points which are often very low. This is because interventions are timely and pupils receive effective support, both in school and from external agencies in partnership. Small steps of progress are checked, which all staff are able to measure using a bespoke system in which they have been trained.  Disadvantaged pupils make good progress. Funding is used appropriately to provide additional staffing and support. Across school, disadvantaged pupils attain as well as and sometimes better than their peers. Their rates of progress are similar in reading, writing and mathematics. Although published data at the end of Year 6 do not reflect this picture, this is due to the large proportion of disadvantaged pupils who also have special educational needs.  The most-able pupils make good progress because activities are well matched to their needs. Leaders

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Outcomes for pupils are good

have introduced some additional provision to further challenge these pupils.  Pupils who have English as an additional language, and in particular those who arrive new to the country other than at the normal starting time, make good and sometimes outstanding progress. Some of these pupils only stay in the school for a short period of time, but the school provides good levels of support to enable them to access the curriculum and develop their skills well.  Attainment and progress in writing is a strength across the school. Books and displays show that pupils have high standards of presentation. They are able to write for different audiences and in different subjects, showing increasing development in the use of vocabulary and punctuation. Leaders recognise that reading outcomes are not as strong and have identified actions to address these. Pupils who were listened to reading enjoy reading and talk about different authors, particularly the author

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Outcomes for pupils are good

of the month. Older pupils read with increased fluency and use strategies to help when they don’t understand the meaning of words, such as ‘therapeutic’. The teaching of comprehension skills has been a recent focus and evidence shows that this is improving pupils’ understanding of different ways of answering questions. However, planned tasks don’t always move their skill development on well enough.

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Early years provision is good

 The leadership and management of the early years are good. Leaders have accurately identified the priorities for improvement and put in place actions to improve them, including actions to improve the attendance of children in the early years.  The introduction of a two-year-old provision 12 months ago has led to improvements to the development of children’s skills. This is particularly evident in the development of early literacy and numeracy skills and children’s self-help and independent skills.  The two-year-old provision provides pupils with a safe and welcoming environment where they can explore and try out activities with support from the adults. On inspection, children were observed playing football, ‘fixing’ things with tools and trying out mark-making activities; a couple of children were helping each other to pump water to get it to travel down guttering. Adults intervened when necessary and

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Early years provision is good

modelled language to the children, encouraging them to speak rather than gesture.  Children enter the early years at a number of different points, from two-year-old provision through to the Reception class. All the children enter the setting with skills which are below those typical of children of their age and a significant proportion enter with skills which are significantly below those typical for their age across all areas of learning.  Leaders recognise that children may have very little English when they arrive and that their experiences can be limited. Consequently, the provision and activities are planned to develop their awareness of the wider world. The topics chosen each half term enable staff to develop children’s breadth of experience, which is extended, for example, by visitors to school, by trips to the local park and by looking at giant insects. By giving all year groups, including early years, improved access to the outdoor learning

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Early years provision is good

environment, through, for example, den making and working with habitats, the school benefits children’s learning.  Leaders track children carefully to ensure that they are making progress and that any additional needs are swiftly identified and acted upon. The complexities of children arriving at numerous different points means that the impact of actions on children’s progress is not always checked frequently enough.  The proportion of children reaching a good level of development had improved since the last inspection. Children make good progress from their different starting points because of good teaching and support. However, the proportion reaching the good level of development is still below the national average and not all children are ready for Year 1. Additional staffing funded through pupil premium funding and a curriculum designed to support their learning in Year 1 ensures that these children’s transition to Year 1 is

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Early years provision is good

effectively managed.  Pupil premium funding is also used to provide an early-morning club with a focus on writing. This is having a positive impact on developing these skills. Another programme is being used to develop children’s speaking and listening skills in the early years.  Phonics is taught well across early years and children from Nursery and Reception, as well as pupils from Key Stage 1, have daily sessions based on their stage of learning. Effective modelling by teachers and teaching assistants ensures that children are taught the correct way of speaking a sound and are able to put sounds together successfully as they develop their skills.  In the early years pupils benefit from good questioning which supports children’s development. In a numeracy session children were learning to count money and work out the value of what they had. One group had to determine whether they had enough to buy an item. Skilful questioning supported the

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Early years provision is good

children in being able to count their coins and work out if they needed one more or less.  Children behave well in the setting and are able to share resources with one another. Occasionally when they are not as engaged in what they are learning they can become distracted.  Parents are encouraged to be involved in their child’s learning and parents are able to stay each morning to help their child to complete activities. Parents are also encouraged to share stories and rhymes in their home language, which develops children’s understanding of other cultures and diversity.

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School details

Unique reference number 105238 Local authority Bolton Inspection number 10002279

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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 2–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 271 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Anthony Slack Headteacher Katie Hague Telephone number 01204 333083 Website www.all-saintsprimary.bolton.sch.uk/ Email address office@all-saints.bolton.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 26–27 November 2013

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Information about this school

 All Saints CofE Primary School is similar in size to the average-sized primary school.  The majority of pupils are from minority ethnic groups, and the majority are of Pakistani heritage. A large proportion speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils or those with special educational needs is similar to the national average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is above 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 who are looked after by the local authority.  The proportion of pupils who start or leave school at times which are different to the normal times is above the national average. A large proportion of these pupils arrive from other countries with little or no English.  The school meets the government’s current floor standard, which is the minimum expectation for pupils’

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Information about this school

attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  Since the last inspection there has been considerable staff turbulence and change, including to senior leadership. The headteacher was appointed from Easter 2014. A significant proportion of teaching staff have been appointed since the last inspection and a number of staff were absent during the inspection due, mostly, to planned absence.  A two-year-old provision was opened 12 months ago and is adjacent to the early years classes.  The school runs a breakfast club for its pupils. This was visited as part of the inspection.  There is a private breakfast and after-school club on site which is subject to a separate inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed a range of lessons or parts of lessons and also looked at pupils’ work.  The inspectors listened to pupils from four different year groups reading, and talked with them and other groups of pupils about their lessons and school life.  Meetings were held with the head teacher, senior and middle leaders, representatives of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  The inspectors observed the school’s work and scrutinised documentation relating to pupils’ progress and to school management, including the arrangements to ensure that pupils are kept safe.  The inspectors spoke to parents, took account of the five responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View) and the school’s consultations with parents. The views of staff were also taken in to account, informed by the 22 returns to the Ofsted questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Vanessa MacDonald, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Michelle Beard Ofsted 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

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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