St Chad's Church of England Primary School

Inspection of St Chad’s Church of England Primary School Rhodes Avenue, Uppermill, Oldham, Lancashire OL3 6EE

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected 22–23 October 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a happy and nurturing school. Pupils, staff, and parents and carers told us that the school is like a family. Pupils achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is at the heart of the village community. Pupils are regular visitors to church. They told us they love taking part in community events such as a choir festival and Saddleworth Olympics.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love school. They describe their teachers as kind. Pupils said staff give them lots of support and encouragement to achieve their very best. Pupils work very well to support each other with their learning. Staff make sure pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get the right help.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff care about pupils’ well-being. Pupils have someone to talk to if they are worried. They feel safe in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils get off to a flying start with their reading. Across the school, staff share a wide range of novels and books with pupils. Pupils are enthusiastic readers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Across all classes, pupils behave well. They are courteous and sensible. Pupils told us that bullying is very rare. They said that staff sort out misbehaviour.

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better?

The school has a strong Christian ethos. Pupils learn to be kind and helpful. They enjoy their leadership roles. Older pupils help at lunchtimes. Members of the school council show visitors around the school.

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better?

A strength of the school is the determination staff show to help all pupils succeed, including pupils with SEND. Staff give pupils with additional needs a very wide range of carefully planned support. Classrooms are arranged to help all pupils learn. For example, where needed, staff give pupils a quiet working area. A well-planned before-school club helps pupils with additional needs. A school counsellor provides pupils with help, when needed.

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better?

Leaders have developed a curriculum that helps pupils appreciate the world around them. In a whole-school topic about Africa, pupils enjoyed finding out about different countries and cultures. Pupils value differences. They learn about different religions, including Islam and Hinduism.

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better?

Pupils, including those with SEND, achieve well in mathematics. During a visit to Reception, children were practising counting and taking one away. Adults help children count different objects and to recognise numbers. Across the school, teachers give pupils lots of time to practise their skills. Pupils become accurate in their written calculations. Teachers plan learning that helps pupils to become confident problem solvers. 22–23 October 2019

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Leaders make sure that pupils across the school learn to read fluently and with good understanding. Pupils achieve highly in reading. Staff are well trained in teaching phonics. Leaders make sure that reading books are closely matched to pupils’ reading ability. Parents understand the importance of reading with their children at home.

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The school’s curriculum is broad and balanced. Leaders have taken steps to improve how well pupils learn over time. For example, in Spanish, the revised curriculum plans give pupils time to revisit vocabulary. Pupils learn grammatical differences between Spanish and English. Teachers make sure that pupils’ Spanish pronunciation is accurate. In geography, leaders have set out very clear expectations for what pupils learn across the school. The plans build on pupils’ previous learning. For example, pupils develop their mapping skills over time.

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In subjects other than mathematics and English, however, these improvements to the school’s plans are recent. Pupils struggle to remember in detail some of their previous learning. This is the case in history, geography, science and Spanish. Leaders are improving the checks that they make on pupils’ learning. This is to ensure that the revised plans are enabling pupils to learn more and remember more.

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In Reception classes, children play together well. They concentrate and show interest in what they are doing. During our visit, children were working as a team to build a tall tower of bricks. Pupils relish the time they spend in the forest area. Children explore the different texture of tree bark and soil. They use the wide space imaginatively. For example, children were making fairy swings using twigs and string. Others were using magnifying glasses to hunt for bugs. In the indoor and outdoor classroom areas, children have fewer opportunities to play and explore across different areas of learning.

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The trust places a high priority on staff well-being and staff training. Staff feel valued by leaders. Teachers appreciate the many opportunities they have to attend training and to work across the trust.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff receive regular training and updates. Staff know that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Leaders work closely with other agencies and professionals. This ensures that pupils and their families get support when needed. Leaders check staff recruited to work in school to ensure that they pose no threat to pupils.

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Safeguarding

Staff and visitors teach pupils about the risks that they might face in their everyday lives and when using technology. Pupils know that they should speak to an adult if they are concerned. They feel safe in school. 22–23 October 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have developed the school’s curriculum plans to improve pupils’ learning. Leaders need to check that curriculum plans across different subjects, including geography, history, science and Spanish, are having the intended impact in further strengthening pupils’ knowledge and understanding.  Leaders have taken steps to improve assessment activities to check teaching and learning across the curriculum. Leaders need to ensure that they know how well pupils are learning over time.  Leaders need to ensure that the indoor and outdoor classrooms in Reception provide more opportunities for children to play and explore, be active in their learning and to be creative.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 22–23 October 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10110521 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 St Chad’s Church of England Primary School converted to become an academy on 29 January 2015. When its predecessor school, St Chad’s Church of England Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged outstanding overall.  The trust appointed a new executive headteacher on 1 September 2019.  The school had a section 48 inspection on 9 March 2017.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We deemed the inspection a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with the chief executive headteacher, the executive headteacher and the assistant headteachers.  We held meetings with five trustees and the coordinator of the provision for pupils with SEND.  We checked the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures and the school’s single central record. We met with leaders, staff and pupils to check how effective 22–23 October 2019

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safeguarding is in school.  We met with parents at the school gate to seek their views. An inspector also spoke to parents at an after-school event.  We spoke to staff to seek their views of the school.  During the inspection, we met with groups of pupils from Year 3 to Year 6 and observed lunchtimes and playtimes.  We examined a range of documents. These included minutes of the trust meetings and safeguarding documentation.  History, mathematics, reading and Spanish were considered as part of this inspection. For each of these subjects, inspection activities included discussions with leaders, visits to lessons, discussions with teachers, scrutiny of pupils’ work and discussions with pupils about their learning. In reading, an inspector also observed a member of staff listening to pupils read. In geography and science, we looked at pupils’ workbooks and spoke to pupils and teachers.

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Inspection team

Elizabeth Stevens, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Doreen Davenport Ofsted Inspector 22–23 October 2019

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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