Orgill Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mrs Julie Irving Headteacher Orgill Primary School Southey Avenue Orgill Egremont Cumbria CA22 2HH

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Short inspection of Orgill Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 15 November 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in March 2012.

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Short inspection of Orgill Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Many aspects of the school are now excellent.

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Short inspection of Orgill Primary School

Your values and principles are evident in the work of all staff as they aspire to provide the very best opportunities for the pupils at Orgill Primary School. You are determined that every child has the opportunity to flourish, no matter what his or her background or starting point. Your integrity and your passionate leadership are highly valued by all who know the school, including parents, pupils, staff and the local authority.

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Short inspection of Orgill Primary School

Pupils’ personal development and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are outstanding. Staff cultivate highly positive attitudes in pupils. Pupils want to succeed, they are very respectful of others and they really care for one another. Pupils behave well and are keen to learn. Pupils from Orgill are well on their way to becoming highly positive and valuable members of their communities.

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Short inspection of Orgill Primary School

Some aspects of teaching are excellent. Children develop quickly throughout the early years stage. By the end of Year 1, almost all pupils have made a highly successful start in learning phonics. Mathematics is well taught throughout the school, especially number work. Pupils in key stage 2 make progress quickly. The quality of teaching has not been consistently strong and so progress has slowed in some areas, but nevertheless is still good. In key stage 1, pupils have not made fast enough progress in reading and in writing. This is because pupils were not taught well enough how to understand what they were reading. They were able to read fluently, but did not fully comprehend what they were reading. This, in turn, limited the quality of their writing. This applied equally to all readers, including the most able and the least able.

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Short inspection of Orgill Primary School

There are no excuses at Orgill, just honest and accurate evaluations of how well the school is performing. You rightly identified the slowing of progress in key stage 1. You have now taken decisive action to improve the quality of teaching throughout key stage 1. It is too early to evaluate accurately the impact of these changes on pupils’ progress. Pupils’ progress throughout key stage 2 has been strong for some time. You are rightly confident that those pupils whose progress could have been faster across key stage 1 will catch up quickly. Overall, pupils make very strong progress.

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Short inspection of Orgill Primary School

You have successfully tackled all aspects identified at the previous inspection as in need of improvement. Pupils use computers throughout the curriculum. Tablets are now a key element in pupils’ systematic reading development, both at home and in school. Teaching has also improved. Marking is good and pupils respond well to teachers’ suggestions. Handwriting is of a good standard for most pupils. Pupils spell well because phonics teaching is so strong. Teachers plan lessons well, focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of pupils’ understanding. Planning for whole-school improvement is a strength of leadership.

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Short inspection of Orgill Primary School

You believe this is a critical aspect of the school’s work and you know how to use other agencies effectively to ensure that pupils are safe. When you have had concerns for a pupil’s safety, you have taken immediate, highly appropriate and effective action. Your staff are well trained to identify concerns and they know how to respond. Records are detailed and of high quality. Safeguarding procedures, including procedures to recruit suitable staff, are rigorous. This is an outstanding aspect of the school’s work.

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Short inspection of Orgill Primary School

Pupils are very well taught how to be safe in a wide variety of situations. For example, your team of pupil e-cadets works very well. These are pupils who are identified as being capable of supporting others when using computers and accessing the internet. Older pupils have stickers on their pencil cases, detailing simple guidance on how to be safe when online. Pupils look out for each other and older pupils show a very caring approach to younger ones in the vibrant and happy playground. Pupils will confidently confide in an adult if they have a concern. It is not surprising, therefore, that pupils feel safe.

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Inspection findings

 You have established a positive culture for learning which results in pupils being keen to attend school, enjoying their work and feeling secure and happy. Teachers constantly strive to improve their practice. You demonstrate high- quality leadership skills.  The governing body has recently reconstituted to reduce its numbers. This has resulted in fewer governors with a greater focus on supporting the school and holding you to account. The governing body is well aware of its strengths and aspects where it needs to improve its work. Governors are keen to participate in training and are making a valuable contribution to the constant improvement of Orgill Primary School.  You and governors have very high expectations of staff and you set high standards. Staff are expected to work hard and give of their best, and they do. They are highly supportive of your leadership.  Since the last inspection you have appointed a family support worker. This

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Inspection findings

person has had a considerable impact on pupils’ attendance, which is now better than the national average, on pupils’ safety and on helping parents engage more actively in their child’s education. The introduction of this role has removed some responsibilities from teaching staff, enabling them to focus more on teaching and learning.  Children make an excellent start to their education in the early years stage. This area is well resourced. Staff are well trained and know how to accelerate children’s development. Whatever their starting point, children leave this stage well prepared for key stage 1.  The quality of teaching throughout key stage 2 is also very strong and pupils make rapid progress. You identified a slowing of progress through key stage 1. You have implemented improvements that are intended to ensure that this area of the school improves quickly and provides an overall outstanding education.

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Inspection findings

 Disadvantaged pupils make equally strong progress when compared to other pupils nationally. The progress made by the large proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is also strong. Teachers’ knowledge of pupils’ individual strengths and needs helps them to target work at the right level of challenge, so pupils make progress quickly. Teaching assistants play a critical role in both supporting individual pupils and leading teaching of small groups. This approach is particularly successful in the excellent teaching of phonics.  Mathematics is generally well taught throughout the school. Pupils develop a very strong understanding of number work from a young age. The concepts are reinforced as they move through the key stages. Within mathematics classes, pupils are not given enough opportunities to apply these skills in practical and problem-solving situations. These skills are developed to some extent, however,

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Inspection findings

in other subjects. In geography and science, for example, pupils will analyse graphs to glean key information.  Your recently introduced scheme to improve reading further is being adopted enthusiastically by pupils. They like being able to ‘blog’ comments and reviews about books they have read. They also enjoy the idea that their peers will read their blogs, which often leads to conversations about a particular book. The system also makes it easier for parents to work with their children with reading at home.  Overall, teaching is very well led and by a very capable senior leadership team.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. This aspect of the pupils’ education is evaluated and planned for as systematically and thoroughly as their academic development. Teachers know their pupils very well, and so can easily pinpoint how to develop their personal skills. Pupils aspire to be

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Inspection findings

school ambassadors and can only become one if they meet very demanding criteria. The ambassadors are excellent role models for other pupils.  Activities that enrich the curriculum are also carefully targeted to improve pupils’ academic and personal development. Last year the school was highly successful in the national ‘Rock Challenge’. Forty pupils from Year 3 to Year 6 produced and presented a short stage performance based on ‘Star Wars’. They focused on the themes of difference, respect and tolerance.  Pupils have very positive attitudes to their work. In class, they concentrate well and work enthusiastically. Pupils’ movement around the school is calm and orderly. Once outside at breaktimes, they just have fun. They play games, they socialise well and they relax after working hard in lessons. They are happy.  Some pupils need considerable support to behave well, and they receive this support. For these pupils, their behaviour improves over time. They know what is

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Inspection findings

expected of them and generally respond positively to these high expectations of behaviour. Skilled staff help these pupils understand the consequences of any examples of poor behaviour.  The local authority’s school support staff recognise your skilled and successful approach to leading schools. They asked you to support a local primary school that was not performing well and you were instrumental in improving the education provided by that school.  Pupils and parents are highly supportive of your work and of the school more widely. They recognise the considerable strengths of the school. They value the balance between strong academic progress, excellent personal development and pupils’ happiness and increasing confidence.  Members of the local community also recognise the school’s success in educating pupils with a wide range of talents and needs. Consequently, you accept a large number of pupils onto your roll throughout the year.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 achievement in key stage 1 is as strong as it is in other stages by improving pupils’ writing and comprehension skills. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Cumbria. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

 Much inspection activity focused on:  pupils’ progress in different key stages  pupils’ achievement, including the achievement of different groups, across all subjects  how well pupils are protected from risks.  I considered the breadth of pupils’ experiences and the extent of their personal development.  In addition, I considered to what extent all levels of leadership have sufficient capacity to improve the school further.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I held meetings with you and the assistant headteacher, a group of pupils and three members of the governing body. I met with a group of teachers and a group of senior leaders. I spoke with a representative of the local authority. School documents were scrutinised, including: safeguarding checks, information about pupils’ achievement and records of checks on the quality of teaching. I also visited classrooms with you to speak with pupils, look at their books and observe their learning. I examined child protection information. I took account of 47 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View. I took account of responses from 28 pupils and 18 staff to inspection surveys. I also considered the views of six parents who wrote to me.

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