Livingstone Primary School

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

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Miss Rebecca Willard Headteacher Livingstone Primary School Valeside Mossley Ashton-under-Lyne Lancashire OL5 0AP

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Short inspection of Livingstone Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 8 March 2017, 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 November 2012.

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Short inspection of Livingstone Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have embedded an aspirational ethos throughout the school, which is underpinned by warm and supportive relationships. All members of the school community enthusiastically subscribe to the school’s motto: ‘Grow, learn, achieve together’. You and your leadership team have ensured that every pupil at the school receives the care and attention needed to thrive. You have established a welcoming, committed and deeply respectful school community. You and your leaders have ensured that members of staff share your unswerving commitment to providing the best possible education. Staff responses to the online questionnaire were overwhelmingly positive about all aspects of the school’s work. Staff appreciate your compassionate leadership and feel that the school is improving quickly. Responses to the parent questionnaire were equally positive, and it is

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Short inspection of Livingstone Primary School

clearly evident that parents value the positive impact that the school is having on their children. All respondents indicated that they strongly feel their child is happy at the school and that their child is taught well.

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Short inspection of Livingstone Primary School

You became headteacher in September 2014. Since that time, you have increased expectations throughout the school. All members of staff are accountable for their work. You have restructured the leadership team to create greater capacity and to ensure that all staff are well supported. You have also distributed leadership equitably so that all members of staff are empowered to make valuable contributions to developing the school. You have a deep and perceptive understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development. Your plans to improve the school are thorough and precise. You have accurately identified which areas need to be prioritised, and there is clear evidence to indicate that your team is having a positive impact on many areas of school performance. You have maintained strengths in behaviour and attendance, while improving outcomes throughout the school for all groups of pupils. You have inducted several new

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Short inspection of Livingstone Primary School

teachers since becoming headteacher, and these members of staff have brought an energy and vitality that have helped to sustain improvements to teaching.

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Short inspection of Livingstone Primary School

Your work with the Mossley and Carrbrook Schools’ Partnership has made a strong contribution to school improvement. Your staff have benefited from training opportunities provided through the partnership, and you have developed effective assessment procedures working collaboratively with other local schools. The local authority is very positive about developments in the school and is quick to acknowledge the positive impact of your partnership work.

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Short inspection of Livingstone Primary School

Your relentless drive to improve the school has been capably supported by the governing body. The new chair and vice-chair of the governing body lead with tact and determination. Governors ask perceptive and probing questions and rigorously hold leaders to account. They maintain a sharp focus on the progress being made by all groups of pupils to ensure that pupils are supported if they fall behind. A number of recent additions to the governing body have ensured that governors have the right blend of skills and experience to support leaders in different branches of their work. Governors share your aspirations for the school and have ambitious plans for future expansion.

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Short inspection of Livingstone Primary School

You have rightly identified the need to improve pupils’ writing as a key priority. Pupils’ progress in writing has been broadly similar to national averages, whereas progress in other areas has been quicker. You have therefore sought to transform teaching in this area over the last two years by adopting a more coherent and challenging approach. The impact of this work can clearly be seen this year. Pupils are writing with greater fluency and technical accuracy, and it is evident that pupils are making rapid progress. The majority of pupils have been inspired to become enthusiastic writers, and pupils speak confidently about technical aspects of their writing and what they need to do in order to become more accomplished writers. Despite this, leaders acknowledge that the development of writing needs to remain a key focus until recent improvements are embedded and pupils throughout the school are consistently making rapid progress in this area.

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Short inspection of Livingstone Primary School

You are keen to develop the teaching of science. Pupils’ attainment in science has been lower than in other subjects, and you have identified teaching as being weaker in this area. Pupils are not yet assessed effectively, nor is their progress tracked or monitored closely. As a consequence, leaders are unable to say with any certainty whether pupils are making strong progress in science. Pupils who spoke with the inspector were glowing about the work of the school. However, they did indicate that they would appreciate a greater focus on studying science. Leaders have already started to lay foundations for the development of science and will make it a priority in future plans to improve the school. Leaders have taken effective action to address areas that were identified as needing attention at the time of the previous inspection. They have introduced a number of mechanisms for sharing good practice, both internally and externally with other

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Short inspection of Livingstone Primary School

schools. They have developed the monitoring of teaching to provide leaders with an intimate understanding of which aspects require further development. As a result, the quality of teaching is consistently high, and this is leading to pupils making fast progress throughout the school.

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Short inspection of Livingstone Primary School

Your work to safeguard pupils is robust. As the leader of safeguarding, your commitment to creating a culture of vigilance has ensured that all members of staff take their safeguarding responsibilities very seriously. You have increased capacity within the designated safeguarding team by ensuring that your deputy headteacher and learning mentor have received enhanced training. You have also ensured that all members of staff receive regular training to help them to remain attentive to any potential signs of abuse or neglect. Referrals are made to external agencies with an appropriate sense of urgency and, at times, you have had to demonstrate tenacity to ensure that children in your care receive the help and support that they need. You have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that records are thorough and precise.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils who left Year 6 for secondary school last year made exceptionally strong progress with their reading. They also made faster progress in mathematics than was the national average, due to improved teaching in this area since the last inspection. Attainment was also high in grammar, punctuation and spelling. Pupils’ progress by the end of Year 6, however, was only in line with national averages in writing. Outcomes at the end of key stage 1 were positive and compare favourably to national figures.  Disadvantaged pupils are making faster progress throughout the school, and there is clear evidence that differences in achievement between disadvantaged pupils and others are quickly diminishing. You ensure that the pupil premium funding is spent wisely to tackle identified barriers to achievement. You have maintained a relentless focus on improving teaching to ensure that pupils of all abilities are challenged. You have accompanied this approach with the

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Inspection findings

introduction of a number of shrewd interventions that provide effective support for pupils who are at risk of falling behind, and this has helped to accelerate the progress made by disadvantaged pupils.  Performance in national tests last year indicated that girls had made slower progress than boys in some areas. Reassuringly, leaders were able to present information about current progress that clearly indicates that this is not a pattern throughout the school. Leaders are mindful of this historic discrepancy and maintain a close focus on the performance of both genders when tracking pupils’ progress. Current information indicates that both boys and girls are making strong progress throughout the school.  Children have made faster progress in the early years since the previous inspection. Many children join the Nursery or Reception Year with knowledge and skills typically below their chronological age. However, the proportion of children

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Inspection findings

reaching the expected standard by the end of the early years has increased rapidly and is now in line with national averages. Children have made faster progress because adults have higher expectations of what they can achieve. Children’s progress in the early years is now monitored closely to identify children who need extra challenge and those requiring greater levels of support. You have invested time and money in improving the outdoor provision, and this is also helping children to make faster progress.  Leaders have ensured that children who are looked after by the local authority are supported particularly well. Plans to support these pupils are thorough and focused on achieving aims that will make a real difference to their life chances. The designated teacher works closely with these children looked after and ensures that the wishes of these children are the driving force behind plans for future action. Carers of these children are exceptionally positive about the work

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Inspection findings

of the school in this area.  The school’s work to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong. The school’s active promotion of fundamental British values is exemplary and permeates much of the school’s work. One pupil, for example, spoke authoritatively about how they had been learning about the origins of democracy as part of their study of ancient Greece.

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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

 improvements to the teaching of writing are embedded so pupils continue to make faster progress in writing  the teaching of science is developed, and systems to assess and track pupils’ achievement in this area are introduced to enable pupils to make faster progress in science.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Tameside. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

 The inspector undertook ‘learning walks’ with you to observe teaching and learning throughout the school.  Meetings took place with you, members of staff, members of the governing body, a representative from the local authority and groups of pupils. I also spoke with the school’s improvement partner who has worked with the school for a number of years.  Informal discussions were held with pupils to gather their views on behaviour and learning.  The inspector worked with the deputy headteacher to scrutinise the work in pupils’ books.  The inspector examined a range of supporting documentation, such as the school’s self-evaluation and development plan.  The inspector took into account 10 responses to the staff questionnaire. There were no responses to the pupil questionnaire. He also considered 22 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online parent questionnaire, and 20 comments made by parents through Ofsted’s free text service.

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Information about the inspection

 The inspector looked closely at the school’s website.

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