Thurnham Glasson Christ Church, Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Thurnham Glasson Christ Church, Church of England Primary School School Lane, Glasson Dock, Lancaster, Lancashire LA2 0AR

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good School 28 and 29 June 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including children in the early years, arrive at school happy and excited to start the day. They enjoy coming to school. They feel well cared for and safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils look after each other. For example, older pupils organise games for everyone to enjoy during lunchtimes. Pupils know that adults will help them if there are any problems in the school. Leaders deal well with any incidents of bullying. Pupils are polite and respectful to each other and staff. Most pupils live up to the high expectations that leaders set for their behaviour. As a result, there is a happy and calm feeling in the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders want pupils to achieve well. However, not all do. This is because, in a range of subjects, leaders have not ensured that pupils benefit from a curriculum that enables them to build on their learning over time.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take great pride in their roles on the school council, the eco-council and the footsteps ethos group. They can explain the importance of taking on responsibility and helping people in the local community. Although this is a very small school, leaders successfully give the pupils a broad range of experiences to ensure that they are ready for life in a diverse society.

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better?

Leaders have worked with local authority officers to develop an appropriate curriculum for all pupils at the school. However, due to a number of staffing and class changes, this work is not complete for all subjects. Leaders have not set out clearly the detail of what they expect pupils to learn from the early years to Year 6. As a result, the curriculum in some subjects does not help pupils to achieve as well as they might.

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better?

Teachers have good subject knowledge and design interesting and engaging lessons. Work in pupils’ books shows that lessons link together. However, in some subjects the work that pupils complete does not match what is intended in the curriculum. This means that teaching cannot build on previous learning effectively. This hinders pupils from learning all that they should.

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better?

Teachers check that pupils have understood what they have learned during lessons. However, these checks do not identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge sufficiently well. This means that some pupils move through the curriculum with ongoing gaps in their learning.

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better?

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) follow the same curriculum as their peers. Leaders identify pupils’ needs well and work with a range of agencies to support pupils and their families. On occasions, teachers do not match carefully enough the work provided for some pupils to their needs. This School 28 and 29 June 2023

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means that sometimes they do not make the progress through the subject curriculums that they could.

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Leaders have developed the provision for early reading well. Teachers follow the agreed programme with fidelity. Pupils become fluent readers and understand how to use their knowledge of phonics when they meet new words. Staff match books well to pupils’ reading ability and interests. Older pupils enjoy reading and understand the importance of reading widely. Leaders ensure that pupils have a broad diet of texts from a range of authors.

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Pupils behave well in lessons and at social times. Pupils work and play with friends from the different age groups in the school. They are keen to learn and know the importance of listening carefully. Disruption in lessons is rare. When needed, teachers use the school’s behaviour policy effectively to ensure there is no impact on learning. Pupils, parents and carers enjoy celebrating good behaviour in assemblies.

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Leaders encourage pupils to have a social conscience. They provide lunch and worship for the local community, take part in pupil parliaments linking with other schools in the area and learn about their role in helping the environment through a ‘trash fashion event’. They enjoy going on trips to enhance their learning and talked to an inspector with enthusiasm about residential visits, for example, to the Isle of Man. Staff prepare pupils well for life in modern Britain. Leaders take every opportunity to ensure that pupils respect diversity. Pupils are clear that everyone is welcome at their school.

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Governors are very mindful of staff’s workload. They support them in practical ways when they can and consider their roles and responsibilities. Staff feel proud to work at this school and know that leaders appreciate them.

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Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the experiences that their children have at this small, caring school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have robust systems in place to check that all staff receive and understand the training that they need. Staff know what to look out for to identify pupils at risk of harm. Leaders keep staff up to date with safeguarding issues. Staff report any concerns immediately. Leaders work closely with families to support them and help them when possible.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have prioritised the importance of all pupils learning to swim, due to the location of the school. As a result, children from the Nursery class up to Year 6 attend swimming lessons every week. Pupils learn how to be safe online and know the importance of talking to a trusted adult if they have concerns. School 28 and 29 June 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, leaders have not identified what they want pupils to learn and when this content should be taught. This prevents teachers from designing learning that builds up pupils’ learning over time. Leaders should ensure that teachers know what to teach, so that pupils achieve well across a range of subjects.  At times, teachers design learning that does not match the intended content in the subject curriculums. In addition, teachers sometimes do not spot and address gaps in pupils’ understanding. This means that pupils do not learn all that they should. Leaders should ensure that teachers are delivering the agreed content in the subject curriculums, and that they are overcoming gaps in pupils’ knowledge, so that pupils know and remember more over time.  Sometimes, the work that pupils with SEND are asked to complete does not match their needs. This limits their progress through the curriculum. Leaders

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

should ensure that staff gain the expertise that they need to enable pupils with SEND to achieve well.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents 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. School 28 and 29 June 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.thurnhamglasson.lancs.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 8 January 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Leaders do not make use of alternative provision.  This is a voluntary-aided Church of England school in the Diocese of Blackburn. The school’s last section 48 inspection took place in April 2016.  There is early years provision at the school. At the time of the inspection, there were fewer than five children on roll in the early years.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken this into account in their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the inspectors met with the headteacher and all of the other staff in the school. School 28 and 29 June 2023

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 Inspectors met with members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority. They held a telephone conversation with a representative of the diocese.  Inspectors spoke with pupils about their work and their wider school life.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation related to safeguarding. They examined leaders’ approach to safer recruitment. Inspectors also spoke to staff about their safeguarding knowledge and checked how well they understood their safeguarding responsibilities.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during playtimes and while in lessons.  Inspectors spoke with parents to gather their views about the school. They considered the views of parents submitted through Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in English, including early reading, mathematics and history. They spoke with the staff who lead these subjects, visited lessons

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and spoke with teachers. They also spoke with pupils about their learning and reviewed examples of their work. Inspectors considered how leaders organise other subjects across the curriculum.  Inspectors observed pupils in key stage 2 read to a trusted adult.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for staff. There were no responses to the survey for pupils.

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Inspection team

Sarah Barraclough, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Lisa Whittaker Ofsted Inspector School 28 and 29 June 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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