St John's Church of England Primary School, Hindley Green

Inspection of a good school: St John’s Church of England Primary School, Hindley Green Atherton Road, Hindley Green, Wigan, Lancashire WN2 4SD

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Outcome

St John’s Church of England Primary School, Hindley Green continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a caring, supportive school where pupils play and learn well together. Pupils feel safe and happy here. They enjoy coming to school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from leaders’ increasingly high expectations of what they can achieve. Parents and carers, including parents of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), value the support that their children receive. Pupils, including pupils with SEND, achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn about the importance of tolerance and equality. This helps them to be considerate of everyone’s differences. Pupils are kind to each other and they behave well. Pupils understand that bullying is not welcome at St John’s. If it does happen, pupils are confident that staff will listen to their concerns. Any incidents are dealt with well by staff so that they do not continue.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ learning is enriched by a wide variety of trips and activities. For example, pupils spoke about how much they had enjoyed taking part in adventurous residential visits and singing on stage at a local arena. Older pupils support their younger peers by organising games. Pupils enjoy celebrating each other’s successes in assemblies.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders ensure that in terms of extra-curricular clubs, there is something for all pupils to enjoy. For example, pupils spoke excitedly about martial arts club and having the opportunity to learn to swim.

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

Leaders have ensured that the curriculum for pupils, including children in the early years, is suitably ambitious. Leaders have carefully thought about the building blocks of knowledge that they want pupils to learn. In most subjects, this is helping pupils to learn 2 and 3 February 2023

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more and achieve more highly than they did in the past. However, in a small number of subjects, leaders are less clear about the order in which pupils should encounter this knowledge. On occasion, this hinders teachers in designing learning for pupils and makes it harder for pupils to link new knowledge with earlier learning.

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In most subjects, teachers are equipped to deliver curriculums confidently and with sufficient expertise. For example, they use their secure subject knowledge to explain the meaning of new subject vocabulary clearly. In lessons, teachers check regularly whether pupils’ earlier learning is secure. They use this information to adapt their teaching so that pupils can revisit learning that they have not fully grasped.

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Leaders have taken appropriate steps to prioritise reading. Pupils read widely and often. For instance, pupils in key stage 2 were keen to speak about their favourite authors and the novels and poems that they had recently enjoyed reading.

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Leaders have ensured that the phonics programme is designed well. In the Reception class, children get off to a strong start by learning phonics from the beginning of the year. Throughout key stage 1, teachers ensure that pupils read books that are matched well to the sounds they already know. This helps pupils to become confident readers.

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Leaders have ensured that older pupils who have gaps in their reading knowledge receive the support that they need to help them catch up. Most teachers and teaching assistants are trained well in teaching pupils to read. However, from time to time, a small number of staff use strategies that are less helpful to pupils.

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Leaders accurately identify any additional needs that pupils have. Leaders ensure that pupils with SEND receive the help that they need to learn well. This includes making sure that teachers understand the best ways to support these pupils. Pupils with SEND access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers and they achieve well.

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Pupils listen attentively in lessons and conduct themselves well around school. They learn routines in Reception which they continue to follow as they grow older. This ensures that school is a calm and orderly place. Disruption to learning is rare.

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Leaders provide opportunities for pupils to be involved in wider aspects of school life. For example, pupils elect members of the school council who help to design rules for outdoor play activities. Other pupils learn about independence and responsibility by taking their turn on office duty.

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Trustees and governors ensure that leaders receive an appropriate balance of challenge and support. Staff are proud to work at the school. Mostly, staff feel that leaders do all they can to support them with their workload and look after their well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have created a strong culture of safeguarding. They have ensured that staff 2 and 3 February 2023

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receive regular and appropriate training. This helps them to stay alert to the signs that may indicate that a pupil is at risk of harm.

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Leaders have formed strong links with external partners such as the local authority. Leaders persevere to make sure that external agencies provide the support that these pupils need.

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Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe. Leaders ensure that this is relevant to their local community. For example, pupils learn about water safety and the dangers of busy traffic.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a small number of subjects, leaders are still finalising their curriculum thinking. This means that in these subjects, teachers are not sufficiently clear about what they should be teaching and when this content should be taught. This hinders pupils’ learning. Leaders should ensure that they are clear about what they want pupils to know, and in what order teachers should deliver this learning.  At times, a small number of staff do not implement the phonics programme as effectively as leaders intend. This hinders some pupils from becoming fluent and confident readers as quickly as they should. Leaders should ensure that these staff receive appropriate training and the support that they need to deliver the phonics programme faithfully.

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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 predecessor school, Hindley Green St John’s Junior and Infant School, to be good in November 2012.

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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. 2 and 3 February 2023

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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. 2 and 3 February 2023

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School details

Website www.hindleygreensaintjohns.wigan.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 19 September 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of Quest, a Church of England multi-academy trust.  The school is part of the Diocese of Liverpool. The most recent section 48 inspection took place in December 2016.  Leaders make use of one unregistered alternative provision for a very small number of pupils.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector completed deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. He met with subject leaders, visited some lessons, reviewed pupils’ work and spoke with teachers and pupils. The inspector listened to pupils reading to a familiar adult.  The inspector also spoke to leaders about the curriculum in some other subjects. 2 and 3 February 2023

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 The inspector scrutinised a range of documentation. He spoke to the principal and senior leaders throughout the inspection. He also met with the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator.  The inspector met with the chair of the board of trustees and representatives of the local governing body. He also spoke with representatives of the local authority and the diocese by telephone.  The inspector held meetings with the staff responsible for safeguarding and scrutinised the single central record. The inspector considered leaders’ safeguarding processes and procedures. He observed pupils during social times and discussed safeguarding with them.  The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. He also considered the responses to the Ofsted surveys for staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Ben Hill, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 2 and 3 February 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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