Reedley Primary School

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

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Mrs Sarah Bell Head Reedley Primary School Reedley Road Reedley Burnley Lancashire BB10 2NE

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Short inspection of Reedley Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 19 April 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 March 2012

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Short inspection of Reedley Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Reedley Primary School supports its local community well and provides a good education for the children of the school.

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Short inspection of Reedley Primary School

Since you arrived in January 2016, you have established a clear vision for the school, building on previous success and strengthening the school further. Your energy, passion and determination to continue to improve the school are tangible. You have instilled clarity of purpose, a renewed energy among staff and high expectations for pupils.

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Short inspection of Reedley Primary School

Most parents who spoke to me or responded to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, are positive about the school and would recommend it to others. A number of parents appreciate the changes you have made since you arrived and say that it is ‘a really great school’.

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Short inspection of Reedley Primary School

All staff who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire are proud to be part of Reedley Primary School. They say that the school is very well led and they feel that the leaders of the school are ‘very inspirational’ and provide them with excellent training opportunities.

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Short inspection of Reedley Primary School

Pupils demonstrate extremely positive attitudes to learning in their lessons and around school. They say that they enjoy their learning at school and that their teachers help them to do their best. Pupils speak highly of the school. They said, ‘Everyone is caring and we all care for each other.’

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Short inspection of Reedley Primary School

The areas for improvement from your previous inspection have mainly been addressed.

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Short inspection of Reedley Primary School

A key area for improvement identified was to raise attainment in writing. Pupils now write with pride and present their work to a high standard. Teachers now use information about pupils’ previous learning well, planning interesting activities to inspire pupils’ written work. They also challenge pupils to write high-quality pieces across the curriculum. Results over time and evidence in the work of current pupils both confirm that an increasing proportion of pupils are working above the expected standard for their age. Work to improve the quality of teaching is well planned and teachers receive high-quality support and guidance to improve. Teaching is now challenging. You discussed with me your future plans to continue to improve this.

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Short inspection of Reedley Primary School

You have rightly identified that not enough pupils have achieved the expected standard in mathematics. At the end of both key stage 1 and 2 in 2016, pupils achieved below those of a similar age for the expected standard. Already, you have addressed this and new strategies are being embedded. Current attainment in mathematics and evidence in books of current pupils both confirm that pupils are beginning to work at a higher standard.

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Short inspection of Reedley Primary School

The leadership team have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose; records are detailed and of high quality. Pupils told me that they feel safe at school and I saw how much of a priority keeping children safe was to you. Your staff told me that ‘it is everyone’s duty to deal with safeguarding’. Staff clearly understand the procedures to follow if they are worried about a pupil’s welfare. The vast majority of the parents feel that you and your staff keep their children safe and they are well looked after.

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Short inspection of Reedley Primary School

All leaders play their part in ensuring that Reedley Primary School provides pupils with a safe environment by making sure that the site is secure. All doors can only be opened by an electronic fob. Staff and governor training is regular and up to date.

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Inspection findings

 The achievement of pupils at both key stages in writing is good. Handwriting and presentation is of a high standard. The proportion of pupils achieving age-related and higher than age-related expectations is above national averages. Leaders of the school have implemented a new policy for teaching writing effectively. Imaginative writing opportunities are planned throughout the curriculum. During my visit, the year 6 pupils were being taught letter-writing skills through a well- planned first world war cross-curricular project called ‘Trench Brothers’.  A key line of enquiry was to consider how effectively mathematics was being taught across the school, as in 2016 pupils at both key stages achieved the expected standard for those of their age. Since then, improvements to the teaching of mathematics have been made. The use of an external consultant and in-house training is having a positive effect on the pupils’ learning. Staff have

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Inspection findings

concentrated on improving the teaching of the key aims of the mathematics national curriculum, those of problem-solving, reasoning and fluency. When looking in your pupils’ mathematics books, it is clear that teachers are planning appropriately to raise standards. Current achievement in mathematics appears to be improving. However, as we discussed, achievement at the end of both key stages needs to be better.  In mathematics, teachers use ongoing assessments effectively to ensure that pupils are being set work that challenges them. I saw numerous examples of teachers using assessments that had a positive effect on helping pupils move on in their learning.  Professional development for staff in mathematics is a strength of the school. A well-planned and well-led approach by the leaders of your school is supporting staff to deliver teaching in mathematics which is appropriate, challenging and interesting for all pupils.

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Inspection findings

 At the end of key stage 1, not enough of your middle-ability pupils go on to achieve the higher standards compared to other schools nationally in reading and mathematics. You have taken decisive action in these areas. This has included incorporating more mathematical reasoning activities, increasing the challenge in pupils’ reading comprehension and improving your assessment arrangements to capture the progress of the pupils better. Teachers regularly challenge the key stage 1 pupils to think. This is evident when looking in the pupils’ books and observing the teaching. I know this has been a big focus of the leadership team and we agreed that this focus needs to continue.  Attendance has improved over time. In 2016, it was just above the national average. There is a robust approach to dealing with pupils’ absence from school. Rewards are made to pupils who attend well. These include fun events such as a

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Inspection findings

visiting ‘Magician Man’ and being presented with a special attendance badge at the end of the year. Leaders can show the positive impact that these strategies have had on the attendance of individual pupils. However, attendance still needs to be a focus of the school.  A key strength of Reedley Primary School is the quality of leadership shown by you and other leaders across the school to tackle the key priorities of the school swiftly. It is apparent that all of the senior leaders in school share the same high aspirations. Checks on the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning are thorough, especially in mathematics. Improvement plans plot a clear path ahead.  Governors are clear about the school’s priorities and are skilled at holding you and your leaders to account. Governors are very supportive of you and your leadership team and say that the new leadership team have brought a sense of

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Inspection findings

energy. Governors describe the school as ’vibrant’. They visit the school regularly to talk to the pupils and staff and to check on the progress of the areas for improvement. They have a good balance of skills and have recently undertaken a governing body review.

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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

 they continue to develop the consistency of approaches in the teaching of mathematics, to ensure that achievement improves throughout the school  more of the middle-ability pupils at the end of key stage 1 are challenged in their learning, so that more achieve the higher standards and achieve greater depth in reading and mathematics.

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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 Lancashire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During this short inspection, I met with you, senior leaders and four members of the governing body. I also spoke with the school improvement partner. Together we conducted a learning walk, visited classes and had the opportunity to speak with pupils and see their work. I listened to a number of pupils read and I also met formally with a group of pupils. I spoke with a number of parents at the school gates and took account of parents’ comments. There were 31 responses to Parent View. I scrutinised your assessment information, school improvement planning, the single central record and other safeguarding procedures and practices.

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