Ansdell Primary School

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

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Mrs Mandy Colligan Headteacher Ansdell Primary School Lansdowne Road Ansdell Lytham St Annes Lancashire FY8 4DR

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Short inspection of Ansdell Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 15 May 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 January 2014.

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Short inspection of Ansdell Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You lead a harmonious and welcoming school where pupils are encouraged to thrive. They develop as confident and polite children. This is because your carefully planned and engaging curriculum gives pupils many opportunities to develop their skills in different areas including sport and music. Your strong focus on well-being ensures that the needs of the most vulnerable pupils are met. You teach pupils to treat others with respect.

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Short inspection of Ansdell Primary School

You and your deputy headteacher lead an enthusiastic and skilled team of staff who are keen to do their best for each and every pupil. Leaders give staff the right support, training and opportunities to bring about improvements. For example, recent changes to how staff teach writing are having a positive impact. Middle leaders appreciate the opportunities you give them to develop areas of responsibility. They are taking the right steps to enhance pupils’ skills in subjects including science, history and geography.

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Short inspection of Ansdell Primary School

Governors share your high aspirations for the school. They attend very frequent training to keep their skills up to date. Governors meet with staff regularly and know the school well. Governors use their knowledge to make sure that standards continue to improve. They have kept a careful check on recent improvements to the teaching of writing.

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Short inspection of Ansdell Primary School

The vast majority of parents are positive about the school. Those who spoke to me at the start of the day or who responded to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, said that the school is caring and nurturing. Parents appreciate the many after-school activities that pupils take part in and the opportunities that pupils have to develop their skills across the curriculum. A typical comment described teachers as ‘dedicated, hardworking and committed to each and every child’s learning and well-being’.

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Short inspection of Ansdell Primary School

Those pupils I spoke to during the inspection said that the school is a happy place where ‘we know everyone’s name, like a family’. Pupils enjoy the many leadership roles you give them, including as digital leaders, eco councillors and sports leaders. Pupils spoke with pride about representing the school at sport and music events and competitions. They appreciate the engaging curriculum you have planned, including many extra-curricular clubs such as mathematics, cricket, judo and football. Through these opportunities, you develop pupils’ confidence, skills and resilience.

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Short inspection of Ansdell Primary School

Staff teach pupils to respect and value diversity and to care for others. This is reflected in pupils’ calm and considerate behaviour in class and around school. Pupils told me that bullying is very rare and that staff quickly deal with any misbehaviour.

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Short inspection of Ansdell Primary School

You have responded well to the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection. Since then, the quality of teaching has improved. You have strengthened leadership and management by ensuring that pupils’ progress in their learning is carefully checked. You have a clear picture of pupils’ performance and the quality of teaching. You use this information to plan the right steps for school improvement, including improving the progress that pupils make in writing at key stage 2. In lessons, teachers have clear expectations of what pupils should achieve and the amount of work they should produce.

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Short inspection of Ansdell Primary School

You were also asked to improve the teaching of writing, including in different subjects. Pupils’ work shows that they use their skills in grammar, punctuation and spelling in their writing and standards are rising. Pupils write at length and to a high quality. In 2017, the proportion of pupils attaining the expected standards in writing at the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2 was above national averages. The next step for the school is to make sure that improvements in writing are sustained so that pupils make faster progress in key stage 2. We agreed that in some classes pupils’ standards of writing are not as high in subjects such as science, history and geography as in their English lessons.

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Short inspection of Ansdell Primary School

Leaders place a high priority on keeping pupils safe and have made sure that safeguarding arrangements are thorough and of high quality. Leaders hold regular and appropriate safeguarding briefings and training for staff to keep them alert to risks and attentive to procedures. As a result, all staff have up-to-date knowledge of safeguarding. Leaders use the school’s website to give parents useful information about online safety. Pupil digital leaders remind their schoolmates how to keep themselves safe online. You ensure that the curriculum has opportunities for pupils to learn how to keep themselves safe in the wider community, including road safety, bike safety and fire safety.

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Short inspection of Ansdell Primary School

Leaders have made sure that statutory checks are carried out on the suitability of staff to work with children. Governors check that the appropriate monitoring and filtering arrangements are in place for the school’s internet connection. You have taken effective actions to ensure that the school is a safe and secure place for pupils.

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Inspection findings

 The inspection focused on a number of key lines of enquiry, the first of which was the provision made for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. I found that leaders provide effective teaching for this group of pupils. Teachers work with parents and other professionals to identify pupils’ barriers to learning. Leaders ensure that staff give these pupils additional support which has a good impact on their learning and allows pupils to learn alongside their peers. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) and the school’s learning support mentor work closely to plan provision to match pupils’ various needs. Leaders check these pupils’ progress carefully to make sure that the support they receive is having the impact that it should.  The second key line of enquiry was to check how leaders are using additional funding to support disadvantaged pupils. You and your staff know these pupils

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Inspection findings

well and have a clear understanding of the barriers to learning that they face. You use additional funding effectively to enable disadvantaged pupils to receive further support for their learning, such as extra small-group tuition. You make sure that staff give disadvantaged pupils opportunities to develop their confidence and resilience, for instance through attending residential trips and taking part in extra-curricular clubs. Evidence from books and your checks on learning show that this group of pupils is making good progress.  The next key line of enquiry related to whether pupils are receiving a broad and balanced curriculum. Those pupils who I spoke to said that learning across the curriculum is interesting and challenging. Leaders carefully plan visitors and visits to enrich pupils’ learning, such as a Year 3 geography trip to Edinburgh. Pupils develop their skills very well across a range of sports, including netball,

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Inspection findings

swimming, cricket and football. The school has won many sporting competitions and pupils are rightly proud of these achievements. You have recently enhanced the school’s curriculum by organising a mental health week. Pupils spoke with eloquence about what they had learned, including strategies to deal with mental health issues. The curriculum that you provide for pupils is broad and balanced, developing their skills well across different subject areas.  The ‘Explorers Classroom’ enhances learning for pupils in Reception and key stage 1. A mixed-age group of pupils are enthusiastic about visiting the classroom each month to develop their learning. The learning environment in this area captures pupils’ attention so that they want to learn. For example, pupils were playing with cooperation and great excitement in the castle role-play area. Others had carefully painted their own coats of arms to decorate the bright and

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Inspection findings

attractive classroom. A trip to Clitheroe Castle had deepened pupils’ learning and fired their imaginations. Pupils were considering the advantages and disadvantages of castle features and using their knowledge to inspire their writing.  During the inspection, I found that subject leaders demonstrate a secure knowledge of the subjects for which they are responsible. They are determined to raise standards further across different areas of the curriculum. Subject leaders use their skills and knowledge to check pupils’ progress carefully and identify how teaching can improve further. They are currently developing ways to deepen pupils’ learning by focusing on the skills that pupils learn in subjects such as history, geography and science.

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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 sustain recent improvements to teaching writing in key stage 2 so that all pupils make good or better progress  in key stages 1 and 2, pupils’ writing in subjects such as science, history and geography reflects their standard of writing in English lessons  subject leaders enhance their roles so they have a greater impact on deepening learning across the curriculum.

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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 inspection, I met with you, your deputy headteacher, middle leaders and teachers. I met with the school’s SENCo. I also spoke to eight governors, including the chair of the governing body. I spoke to a representative of the local authority. I met with eight pupils from key stage 2 and spoke informally with other pupils during lessons. I visited classes with you and your deputy headteacher where I observed teaching and learning, looked at pupils’ work and spoke with pupils. I also heard pupils from Year 2 and Year 6 read.

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Information about the inspection

I took account of 84 free-text responses to Parent View, the Ofsted online questionnaire. I also met with parents before school. I looked at a range of documentation including the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plan, records of monitoring of teaching, minutes of governing body meetings and pupils’ behaviour logs. I evaluated safeguarding procedures, including policies to keep pupils safe, staff training records, safeguarding checks and attendance information. I undertook a review of the school’s website.

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