St Thomas CofE Primary School

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

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Mrs Judith Jones Headteacher St Thomas CofE Primary School Hodnet Drive Ashton-in-Makerfield Wigan Lancashire WN4 8PQ

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Short inspection of St Thomas CofE Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 6 March 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 December 2013.

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Short inspection of St Thomas CofE Primary School

Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I have identified some priorities for improvement which I advise the school to address. In light of these priorities, the school’s next inspection will be a full section 5 inspection. There is

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

You provide clear and effective leadership for the school. You acknowledge that progress in reading and writing has not been good enough over the last three years. You have put plans in place to address this and your analysis of the performance of pupils currently at the school shows that these are leading to improvements.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Parents and guardians hold you in very high regard, as was evident in their comments to me and in their responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View. You are very well supported by a dedicated and hard-working deputy headteacher and a committed group of middle leaders. Morale in the school is very high. Every response to the staff questionnaire was highly positive, with all staff saying that they are proud to work at the school. A distinctive feature of your school is the warm, friendly atmosphere, where staff and pupils relate very well to each other and treat each other with respect. Little wonder that so many parents referred to it as a family.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

The pupils behave very well in and around the school and take pride in the attractive environment provided for them. The great majority of pupils work with concentration and enthusiasm. I was impressed to see how responsibly pupils behave and how hard they work when not being directly supervised by the teacher. This was as evident in the early years as it was in Year 6.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

The governors are committed, skilled and knowledgeable. They pay regular visits to the school to talk to pupils and visit lessons, to check on how well the priorities for improvement are being addressed. They provide the right balance of support and challenge to you and your staff. The governors make appropriate use of the additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils and develop physical education (PE) and sport in the school. The pupils who spoke to me were very enthusiastic about the range of sporting activities available to them. However, the plans for PE and sport do not include clear targets against which to assess the precise impact of the additional funding.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

The school’s curriculum covers all the subjects of the national curriculum, enriched by a range of extra-curricular visits and activities. The world book day that was taking place during the inspection generated great excitement among the pupils. It was also interesting to see how, when learning about history, pupils drew on a recent visit to Chester to write letters and dialogues conveying the feelings of Roman soldiers posted far from home. You place considerable emphasis on developing pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. A clear set of values underpin relationships at your school. However, the pupils I spoke to said that they had never visited any places of worship other than Christian churches. You told me that pupils’ experiences tend to be limited to White British culture. We agreed that they would benefit from meeting people from a wide range of faiths and cultures, to extend their understanding of life in modern Britain.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

At the time of the last inspection, leaders were asked to: raise the achievement of the most able pupils; give pupils consistent advice on how to improve their work; ensure that teaching assistants are used well in lessons; ensure that improvement plans are more precise; and ensure that middle leaders use the data on progress to raise pupils’ achievement. With the exception of the first of these areas, you have been successful in making the necessary improvements.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Since the last inspection, the proportions of 7- and 11-year-olds in your school who reach the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics have generally been above national averages. However, in reading and writing, too few pupils, particularly the most able, achieve the higher standards. Progress in reading and writing has also been too variable. In reading, it was below average in 2017 and significantly below average in the previous two years. In writing, it has been significantly below average for three years. Your plans show that you are addressing these areas, particularly where writing is concerned. However, it is too early to be able to assess the precise impact of this work.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

You have developed a clear policy to ensure that teachers provide pupils with regular written and oral advice on how to improve their work. Staff are applying this policy consistently and pupils know what is expected of them.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

You have provided joint training for teaching assistants and teachers, to ensure that they have a shared understanding of the learning required in each subject. You have also reorganised the way that staff are deployed. This ensures that teaching assistants take an active role in every lesson and work with pupils across the full range of ability. Visits to classrooms showed that this approach is working well and pupils receive timely support and help.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Your improvement plans now include precise targets. Through regular reviews, senior and middle leaders check on progress towards achieving these targets. Staff also make good use of the ongoing assessments in classrooms. In Year 2, for example, a group of readers were working on retrieving information, making inferences and learning new vocabulary. Drawing on their analysis of past performance, the teacher and teaching assistant adapted the tasks and questions to ensure that individual pupils focused on the particular areas that they most needed to improve.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

All the parents and staff who responded to the online surveys were confident that children are safe at school. All the pupils I spoke to also said that they are happy and safe there. They said that bullying is rare. When it does happen, it is dealt with quickly and effectively. They had not experienced any name-calling and they said that there is no racist bullying in the school. If they have any worries, they contact their teachers, who always provide the help they need. All pupils learn to swim, so that they are safe in and near water. They know what to do and where to go in the case of a fire because of the regular practices that take place. They learn how to keep themselves safe near roads and railways. They also know how to keep themselves safe when using the internet or social media. Every module in computing starts with a reminder about e-safety.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

The school has rigorous systems for checking on the suitability of adults to work with children. The site is secure and access to the building is carefully controlled and monitored. All staff and governors have received the appropriate training on safeguarding. The staff I spoke to knew what the possible signs of abuse were and what they should do if they had any concerns about a child’s welfare. You work closely and successfully with a range of agencies to provide support for families and children who need extra help.

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Inspection findings

 Given the disappointing progress figures for English and the fact that too few pupils reach the higher standards, we discussed what you and your colleagues are doing about this. You were able to show me that you have recognised the need to improve these aspects and have put plans in place to bring this about.  Results in the early years have generally been above average since the last inspection. I was interested to know if the good level of performance is being maintained. You provided me with convincing evidence that it is.  The phonics results at the end of Year 1 have been above average for the last three years. I was interested to know whether these good standards are being maintained. The pupils I heard reading in Year 1 were able to apply their phonics skills confidently to decipher unfamiliar words. They read with fluency, expression and understanding. Therefore, the good standards are being maintained.

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Inspection findings

 In 2015 and 2016, attendance and persistent absence of pupils entitled to free school meals were in the worst 10% of schools nationally. The small number of disadvantaged pupils in the school leads to their absence figures being exaggerated. You showed how they are skewed further when several siblings in the same family have long-term absences. Attendance figures overall and for specific groups of pupils are now broadly average or better.  We agreed that pupils would benefit from more opportunities to meet people from a wider range of cultures and faiths, to improve the curriculum further.  The governors also agreed that the plans for PE and sports funding would be improved by including clear criteria for assessing the impact of the additional funding for this area.

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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

 progress in reading and writing improves, so that it is at least in line with the national average  the proportions of pupils, particularly those of high ability, who attain the higher standards in reading and writing increase to be at least in line with national averages  pupils have more opportunities to meet people from a wide range of faiths and cultures, to extend their understanding of life in modern Britain  the plans for PE and sport include clear targets which can be used to assess the precise impact of the additional funding.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Liverpool, 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 held meetings with you and the deputy headteacher to discuss your self- evaluation, as well as safeguarding, behaviour and attendance. I met three governors, including the chair and vice-chair of the governing body, and spoke to representatives of the local authority and the diocese. I also discussed the organisation of the curriculum with three middle leaders. You and I visited classrooms to observe teaching and look at books. I met a group of eight pupils, chosen at random from Years 3 to 6, and spoke to staff and pupils while they worked and around the school. I also listened to pupils reading, in a small group and in classrooms. I spoke to 14 parents as they brought their children to school. I examined the 33 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and the 13 responses to the staff survey. I examined a range of documentation, including your self-evaluation and school improvement plan.

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