Stalmine Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Stalmine Primary School Mill Lane, Stalmine, Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire FY6 0LR

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Outcome

Stalmine Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel happy and safe at this school. They enjoy the many activities that their teachers provide for them. For example, pupils take part in a range of clubs, including judo, film club and football. The school lies at the heart of the community and pupils are fully involved in village life. For instance, pupils designed the speed awareness posters in the village. They take part in village events, such as the lantern festival.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils new to the school make friends quickly. All are welcomed and treated with respect. Pupils like their teachers, and described them as kind and helpful. Pupils try their best in lessons. They meet the high expectations that leaders have for them. They play well together at playtimes. Leaders take decisive action to ensure that should bullying occur, it is dealt with promptly and appropriately.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders are determined that all pupils will achieve well, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils work hard and are well prepared for their next steps.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know that they can share any worries or concerns with their teachers. Pupils are well supported with their health and well-being. They learn techniques to relax, for instance through yoga and reflection. Pupils benefit from access to a school counsellor, if needed.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders provide pupils with a well-balanced and carefully organised curriculum. Subject leaders have given thought to the important knowledge that pupils need to learn. For example, in art and design, the subject leader has identified which important artists pupils will find out about. Leaders have set out the steps in learning that pupils should make in order to build their knowledge securely. Subject leaders have started to consider how learning in the foundation stage will support children in their later learning. That said, in some subjects, these steps in learning from the foundation stage are not fully developed. 25 January 2023

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Teachers have benefited from a range of training to enhance their expertise in delivering the curriculum. This training ensures that teachers have appropriate knowledge and expertise across subjects.

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Pupils described to inspectors what they have learned with confidence and in detail. For example, pupils talked about how they develop their mathematical knowledge and how they use this to solve problems. Pupils’ workbooks show that they progress through the curriculum well in different subjects. However, pupils sometimes produce work that is careless or untidy in presentation. Leaders’ steps to address this are at an early stage.

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In lessons, teachers are skilled in checking how well pupils remember important knowledge. Staff ask questions to identify where pupils need more support. Teachers make sure that pupils do not move on to new work too quickly, including pupils with SEND. The support that teachers provide to pupils is effective in helping them to understand aspects of the curriculum that they find tricky. In some subjects, leaders make regular checks to ensure that the curriculum is well delivered and that pupils are achieving well across year groups and key stages. In other subjects, subject leaders are less established in their roles. They have had less opportunity to check on the implementation of the curriculum, and its impact, in their subject.

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Leaders have placed reading at the heart of the school’s curriculum. Teachers share a wide range of books, stories and poems with their classes. Pupils enjoy borrowing books from the school’s ‘little library’. In the early years class, teachers make story times exciting and fun for children. Pupils read with fluency and understanding. They read for pleasure.

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Children start learning phonics from when they begin in the Reception Year. Teachers check each day to make sure that pupils are remembering their phonic knowledge. Staff provide effective daily support for any pupils who need additional help to keep up with their learning. The books that pupils take home are matched closely to the sounds that they learn in class. This helps pupils to practise their phonics and read with accuracy.

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Leaders work with parents, carers and a range of professionals to ensure that pupils with SEND are identified quickly and accurately. In lessons, staff give pupils the support that they need to access the same curriculum as their peers. Staff are skilled in supporting pupils’ emotional and social needs. Pupils with SEND take a full and active part in all that the school has to offer.

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Pupils understand and are keen to follow the school’s values, ‘ready, respectful, safe’. Children in the early years play cooperatively. They enjoy playing and exploring together. Pupils across the school listen attentively to their teachers. Low-level disruption is rare. This helps everyone to concentrate and get on well with their learning.

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Leaders have put in place a range of opportunities for pupils to develop personally. House captains help with important decisions about school life, such as choosing playground equipment. Pupils develop as kind and active citizens. They organise charitable events. Pupils find out about and celebrate diversity. For example, they learn about different religions and different families. 25 January 2023

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Governors know the school well. They visit regularly and keep a careful check on important aspects of leaders’ work, including the curriculum and provision for pupils with SEND. Governors provide an effective balance of challenge and support to leaders.

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Staff enjoy working at the school. They said that leaders are considerate of their workload and well-being when making decisions.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders provide staff with regular safeguarding training. Staff are alert to possible signs of abuse. Staff report any concerns to leaders quickly. Safeguarding leads follow the latest government guidance when dealing with any safeguarding concerns. Leaders work closely with a range of external agencies to protect pupils, where needed. They ensure that pupils and their families get the support that they need.

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Safeguarding

Through the curriculum, pupils find out about how to keep themselves safe. For example, pupils learn about safe and respectful relationships. They find out about the dangers that they may face in the wider world, such as drugs and alcohol.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, subject leaders have not fully considered the knowledge that children need to develop in the early years to be prepared for later learning. This means that in these subjects, sometimes, pupils do not build their learning in a well-ordered way as they move from the early years into Year 1. Leaders should ensure that subject leaders develop their understanding of the steps in learning that children need to make in the early years to build firm foundations for later learning.  Occasionally, teachers’ expectations of pupils’ work are not high enough. This means that the presentation of some pupils’ work is not of a high quality. Leaders should ensure that their high ambitions for pupils are fully reflected in the presentation of the work that pupils produce.  Some subject leaders are newer to their roles and have not fully developed their expertise. For example, they have not had enough opportunities to closely monitor the

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

implementation of their subjects. Leaders should support subject leaders to continue to develop their expertise in leading their subject areas. 25 January 2023

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in October 2013.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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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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. 25 January 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Joanne Hughes-Hutchings

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School details

Date of previous inspection 20 March 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Leaders do not make use of alternative provision.  There has been a change in headteacher since the previous inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and art and design. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors observed pupils reading to a familiar adult. Inspectors also spoke to subject leaders, looked at curriculum organisation and looked at samples of pupils’ work in some other subjects.  Inspectors spoke with pupils about school life, including behaviour. 25 January 2023

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 Inspectors held meetings with a range of staff, including the headteacher and the school’s special educational needs coordinator. They met members of the governing body. They spoke with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including free-text responses. They spoke with parents at the start of the school day.  Inspectors also considered the responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for staff. They took account of the responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for pupils.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation about safeguarding. They spoke with staff to understand how they keep pupils safe. They reviewed the school’s record of checks undertaken on newly appointed staff.  Inspectors spoke with a range of staff to discuss leaders’ support for them.

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Inspection team

Elizabeth Stevens, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Moira Loftus Ofsted Inspector 25 January 2023

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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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