Wigan Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School

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

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Mr David Worthington Headteacher Wigan Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School Clifton Street Worsley Mesnes Wigan Lancashire WN3 5HN

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Short inspection of Wigan Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 14 February 2018, 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 October 2013.

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Short inspection of Wigan Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School

The leadership has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You, the governors and other leaders work closely together so that there is consistency in the drive to improve the school. You are all ambitious for the pupils and determined to improve their life chances. Together, you are achieving your vision that the school should be a place that develops and nurtures the whole child. Your staff are all proud to be at the school. Teamwork is strong, staff feel valued and morale is high, and pupils are making good progress.

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Short inspection of Wigan Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School

Governors have a very clear understanding of the school and they help to shape its strategic direction. They have developed the expertise to question school leaders incisively about the school’s performance, pupils’ personal development and the well-being of pupils and staff. They check carefully that actions taken, for example to improve progress in reading, writing and mathematics, are effective.

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Short inspection of Wigan Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School

At the previous inspection, boys’ writing was highlighted as an area the school needed to improve, along with punctuality and attendance, and a strengthening of the systems you used to check teaching and its impact on pupils’ learning. You have successfully improved all these areas.

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Short inspection of Wigan Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School

The gap between boys’ achievement and that of girls has narrowed. When we visited lessons and looked at pupils’ books, I did not see any significant differences between boys’ and girls’ attainment and progress. Staff monitor pupils’ attendance closely and they are vigilant in doing so. They follow up unexplained absences and check for patterns of attendance that might suggest an underlying issue. The breakfast club and the work your staff do with pupils and their families have led to a reduction in the number of pupils who are persistently late. Leaders’ checks on teaching and learning are thorough. Leaders follow up on areas for improvement to ensure that all staff are following the advice they have been given. You have successfully encouraged staff to observe and learn from each other. Carefully selected training for teaching and support staff is closely aligned to school priorities and staff’s individual needs. It has contributed to the pupils’ improved learning

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Short inspection of Wigan Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School

Parents and carers are extremely happy with the school. They say that their children feel valued, that they enjoy school and their strengths are nurtured. They very much appreciate the support they and their children receive. Every parent who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire or who spoke with the inspector would recommend the school to other parents.

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Short inspection of Wigan Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School

Pupils are very proud to be at the school. They and their parents talk very positively about the ‘growth mindset’ you are helping them to develop. Pupils explained this in relation to the system teachers use to give them feedback on their learning. They said that it is best to be ‘growing green’ because there is always something more to learn and you always learn from your mistakes. Parents say that their children remind them to think likewise when something goes wrong at home.

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Short inspection of Wigan Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School

Pupils behave well and show a great deal of respect for others. They say that the school is ‘a fun place to be’, and teachers ‘find funny ways to help you remember things’. You and the staff manage pupils’ behaviour well, even when, as in a small number of cases, it is particularly challenging. Systems for managing pupils’ behaviour are clear and staff implement them consistently well. The ‘lunch-bunch’ group is particularly successful in helping pupils who find it difficult to behave well during play and lunchtimes, or just need some quiet time to help them manage themselves. The number of exclusions is declining. It is clear from your records that you use exclusion only as a last resort and that you rigorously record the reasons for doing so.

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Short inspection of Wigan Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that records are detailed and of high quality. You regularly review and update procedures in response to changes in national guidance. Regular training ensures that all members of staff remain vigilant to the possible dangers facing pupils. Governors share your vigilance in checking that your staff know and implement all safeguarding procedures properly.

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Short inspection of Wigan Worsley Mesnes Community Primary School

Teachers help pupils understand how to keep themselves safe in and out of school, and online. You make sure that staff regularly remind pupils how to avoid danger and not to agree to do anything they feel uncomfortable about or know to be wrong. Pupils feel very safe in school. They are very confident that staff are always there for them. They say, ‘Teachers will always help you get past your problems and check that you are OK.’ Pastoral staff work very closely with pupils and their parents to ensure that pupils are safe and well looked after at all times.

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Inspection findings

 To assist in confirming that the school remains good, you and I agreed lines of enquiry to explore during the inspection. The first and second of these centred on the progress of pupils currently in the school in reading, writing and mathematics, and whether the improvements in 2017 were likely to be sustained.  You quickly identified why pupils’ progress in reading and mathematics had dipped slightly in 2017. This enabled you to target action precisely where it was needed, and pupils are making good progress.  You have ensured that there is a better range and quality of texts in the school and that pupils in key stage 2 have time to read each day. Pupils are not fully up to speed in all year groups, but staff have risen well to the challenge of helping them to read faster and prove they understand what they read.  As well as engaging boys in reading, the range of texts now available, including

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Inspection findings

in different subjects, is inspiring to boys and girls to write more and use a greater range of vocabulary. Several boys were keen to show how much progress they had made since last September. All pupils are proud of their writing and readily offer to share it with others in class.  Staff training to inform teaching in reasoning and fluency in mathematics means that teachers now consistently require pupils to explain how they arrive at their answers. Pupils very much enjoy the challenges involved in doing so, and their progress is increasing.  When required to solve problems in mathematics, pupils do not always read the question carefully enough or use their number skills well enough. Work is under way to address these issues. However, not all pupils have rapid enough recall of number facts, especially times tables, and they do not always choose the most efficient method of calculating. This means that they do not solve problems as

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Inspection findings

quickly as they could. Not doing so hinders them in test situations.  My final line of enquiry was to establish whether leaders and managers had the capacity to secure good progress in reading and mathematics and continue the overall upward trend in standards evident in the 2017 results.  I found that you and other leaders ensure that teachers challenge all pupils, from the least able to the most able, including disadvantaged pupils. You are all determined to help pupils do as well as they can, personally as well as academically. To this end, you have set ambitious but realistic targets for staff and pupils, which all are working hard to meet.  You have developed a rich and exciting curriculum for pupils which is assisting their good progress. The curriculum is imaginative and creative. It provides pupils with a wide range of experiences, in and beyond the normal school day, which helps them to develop well, personally and academically.

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Inspection findings

 Learning in different subjects is planned well to develop pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills, alongside subject-specific skills. This was particularly evident in the writing pupils had done in art about different artists, in geography, where they plotted temperature on graphs, and in science, where they collected and analysed information as they undertook scientific investigations. Displays of ‘mad science’ indicate pupils’ enjoyment of investigative work, an aspect of science upon which teachers place a strong emphasis.

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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

 in reading, the work already under way to improve pupils’ stamina, speed and comprehension skills is equally effective in all year groups  in mathematics, staff help pupils to recall number facts more rapidly and select the most efficient method of calculation to enable them to solve problems faster.

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

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Information about the inspection

I carried out the following activities during the inspection:

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Information about the inspection

 I met with you and the deputy headteacher, as well as with other members of staff with leadership responsibilities. I took account of the 13 responses to Ofsted’s questionnaire for staff.  I met with the chair of the governing body and two other governors, and with a representative of the local authority.  With you, I visited parts of lessons and looked at pupils’ books. I spoke with several parents as they brought their children to school. I took account of the 19 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents.  I observed pupils as they arrived at school, as well as at play and lunchtime. I also paid brief visits to the breakfast club and the ‘lunch-bunch’ group.  I met with a representative group of pupils formally and spoke with many others informally about their work and their life at the school. I also took account of the 17 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for pupils.

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Information about the inspection

 I examined a range of school documentation, including your analysis of pupils’ recent performance, the school development plan and your self-evaluation document.  I evaluated safeguarding procedures, including policies to keep children safe, and records of training and safeguarding checks, including those for first aid.

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