Goosnargh Oliverson's Church of England Primary School

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

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Mrs Helen Sant Headteacher Goosnargh Oliverson’s Church of England Primary School Goosnargh Lane Goosnargh Preston Lancashire PR3 2BN

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School

Following my visit to the school on 14 May 2019, 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 May 2015.

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School

Governors have maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. This is particularly commendable since there have been many recent changes in leadership, both temporary and permanent. You, as headteacher, have returned after a year when you were seconded to another school. There is currently a vacancy for the post of deputy headteacher. The roles of assistant headteacher and of leader of the early years provision are both temporary appointments. The special educational needs coordinator took up their role three weeks ago.

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School

Throughout the past two years you, and in your absence the acting headteacher, have ensured that the pupils have continued to experience good teaching, have been safe, have developed well and have been happy. It is also evident that currently other leaders lack experience in their roles. This is not affecting pupils’ welfare or learning because you are very effectively managing to support leaders in developing their skills while fulfilling all of your other responsibilities.

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School

Parents and carers, pupils and others associated with the school say its most remarkable feature is the promotion of pupils’ personal development. This aspect is indeed especially strong. Starting with the youngest children in Reception, and throughout the school, pupils are encouraged to develop highly positive attitudes to themselves and others. The school’s ethos ensures that all pupils feel valued and safe. They are evidently happy. Behaviour around the school and in classrooms is of the highest standard. The quality of teaching is good across the school. There are some significant strengths. Children develop quickly in Reception and throughout key stage 1. The teaching of English has been strong for a number of years and mathematics is catching up quickly. Leaders have developed a very effective curriculum for French and this is taught extremely skilfully. Consequently, levels of attainment in French

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School

for pupils leaving Year 6 are very high.

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School

Leaders have made very good progress in addressing areas that were identified at the last inspection as in need of improvement. Teachers have much higher expectations of the standards they expect from their pupils and in particular of the presentation of their work. Pupils now take much greater responsibility for refining and improving their work.

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School

The pupils’ desire to care for one another and their acceptance that they have an important role to play in the welfare of others is the key factor in ensuring that they are safe. The school’s open and supportive culture ensures that relationships between staff and pupils are very positive. Pupils trust staff. They will confide in them if they have any concerns about themselves or indeed other pupils. Safeguarding training is of good quality, up to date and frequent. All staff are confident that they know when and with whom they should raise concerns about the safety or welfare of a pupil. The designated member of staff for leading safeguarding manages procedures and processes well. Record-keeping is informative. Leaders ensure that all safeguarding arrangements, including those for recruiting only suitable staff, are fit for purpose.

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Inspection findings

 Very capable leadership of the early years provision over a number of years has helped to develop a very strong team of adults who are dedicated to helping the children both develop and learn quickly. Consequently, children in Reception make very strong progress across all aspects of their learning. Of particular note is the quality of teaching of phonics. Towards the end of the Reception Year, most children are beginning to write sentences about their plans and intentions for the day. You have ensured that the high quality of leadership is being maintained during the temporary absence of the early years leader.  Senior leaders and teachers have, with great success, invested heavily in the improvement of teaching writing and reading. Building on the successful start which pupils experience in learning phonics, teachers across key stages 1 and 2 engender an enjoyment of reading. Pupils read widely and for at least half an

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Inspection findings

hour every day, including at weekends. Improved reading has helped pupils write very well. Teachers have also placed considerable emphasis on ensuring that pupils develop a good understanding of grammar and that they constantly extend their vocabulary. They have developed pupils’ ability to evaluate the quality of writing. They have achieved this through a wide range of strategies, including requiring pupils to frequently edit each other’s work. Pupils make strong progress in English throughout the school.  Pupils’ progress in mathematics is improving because there has been a recent focus by all staff on how to teach mathematics more effectively. There is some very strong teaching of mathematics in some classes. Currently, pupils are mastering the basics very well. This has improved their confidence when manipulating numbers quickly. They have a good understanding of all the building blocks of mathematics, including geometry and algebra. However, there

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Inspection findings

are too few opportunities for pupils to apply mathematical reasoning to solve problems and this is preventing mathematics learning from being very strong.  Careful consideration has been given to how best to teach the curriculum for modern foreign languages to Goosnargh pupils in key stage 2. There is a clear understanding of how to build pupils’ skills and understanding. This structure and very good teaching have enabled pupils to attain very high standards at the end of key stage 2. The most able pupils show a very good grasp of French grammar and punctuation. They can use this, together with a wide French vocabulary, to write coherent and useful paragraphs in French.  Leaders and teachers have not given the same attention to how best to teach other subjects. So, although pupils generally learn well in these, they do not learn as well as they do in English, mathematics or French.  With good support all groups of pupils learn well, including those that are

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Inspection findings

disadvantaged and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.  You and governors place great importance on promoting pupils’ personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and their high levels of confidence and self-esteem. The school’s culture and ethos achieve this with great success. The extensive range of enriching activities are a cornerstone of this excellent aspect of the school. Opportunities are carefully selected to ensure that there is a systematic progression in developing these attributes. All staff ensure that individual pupils do not miss out on any activity and every effort is made, successfully, to include every pupil. As a result, pupils are caring and responsible. They are self-assured, principled, healthy and resilient. All pupils develop a very good understanding of cultures other than their own. They are happy and enthusiastic learners.

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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

 inexperienced leaders and those new to their post develop to become as effective as the most senior leaders in the school  pupils learn as well in all subjects as they do in English, mathematics and French.

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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 Blackburn, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Lancashire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely

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Information about the inspection

Throughout the inspection, I discussed with you and other leaders many aspects of your school. I visited classes. I scrutinised the work pupils have undertaken since the start of the year. I met with six members of the governing body and spoke with a representative of the local authority and of the diocese. I spoke with pupils during their break. I scrutinised school documents including safeguarding checks, child- protection information and information about pupils’ achievement. I met with six teachers and spoke to others in their classrooms. I received 22 comments from parents sent by text and took account of 22 responses parents made on Parent View, an online survey available to parents. I took account of 14 staff responses to a survey of their views and the responses of 71 pupils to their survey.

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