Glazebury Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Glazebury Church of England Primary School Warrington Road, Glazebury, Warrington, Cheshire WA3 5LZ

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Inspection dates: 26 and 27 September 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Mrs Karen Mowbray. This school is part of Liverpool Diocesan Schools Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Laurie Kwissa, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Margaret Swinson. 26 and 27 September 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy to belong to this small school with a big heart. They know that they are cared for. Pupils are confident that staff will listen to them and take their ideas and suggestions on board.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), respond well to the school’s high expectations of what they can achieve. Typically, pupils are attentive in lessons. They have high aspirations and know why it is important to come to school each day. Pupils achieve well across a range of subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children in the early years, including those in the two-year-old provision, settle into well-established routines with ease. They become independent and they quickly learn how to cooperate and take turns. Pupils behave well. They are polite and respectful to each other and to adults. Pupils appreciate opportunities to celebrate their positive attitudes, for example they relish being invited to the special high tea.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are kind-hearted. They care deeply about others and the disadvantages that others may face, such as homelessness or ill health. This prompts pupils to act as courageous advocates for good causes, for example, by organising events to raise money for charity. In this way, pupils become active citizens, who make a positive difference in their community.

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better?

The school has designed a well-thought-out curriculum that is ambitious for all pupils. In all subjects, the important knowledge that pupils should learn has been carefully identified and organised from the Reception Year to the end of Year 6. In this way, the curriculum builds on what pupils already know in a logical and coherent order.

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better?

With the support of the trust, the school has provided high-quality training to enable teachers to deliver the curriculum effectively. However, in the early years, the school has not built the expertise of some staff who teach and support children’s learning equally well. This means that some staff are not clear about how to build children’s knowledge across each area of learning. There is an unevenness in the youngest children’s development as a result.

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better?

In most subjects, teachers use their detailed subject knowledge to design activities that help pupils to know and remember more. They carry out regular checks on what pupils have learned. Pupils recall their prior learning readily. This makes it easier for them to understand and learn new information.

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better?

In one or two subjects, the school is still devising the most suitable methods to check that pupils have learned the knowledge in the curriculum. In these subjects, some teachers do not regularly revisit and strengthen pupils’ previous learning. 26 and 27 September 2023

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Some pupils do not build their knowledge as securely as they do in other subjects as a result.

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The school has placed reading at the heart of the curriculum. Pupils enjoy listening to their teachers read to them. Teachers select books that help pupils to reflect on important issues, such as equality. Pupils thoroughly enjoy reading and they establish positive reading habits.

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Staff across the school are well trained to teach pupils to read. Children start to learn how to use phonics to read words as soon as they begin in the Reception Year. Typically, staff ensure that the books that pupils read match their reading knowledge well. Expert staff provide well-tailored support for those pupils who need extra help with their phonics. This helps these pupils to develop their fluency and confidence in reading. Almost all pupils develop secure reading knowledge by the time they leave Year 2. This prepares them well for the challenges of the key stage 2 curriculum.

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With the support of the trust, the school has improved its strategies for identifying pupils with SEND. Typically, staff provide appropriate support to enable pupils with SEND to fully access the curriculum. However, some staff are not sure how to support pupils with more complex SEND. This means that, on occasion, some pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they could.

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The school goes beyond the expected to prepare pupils for life after primary school. For example, it involves parents, carers and members of the community in careers days. This encourages pupils to aim high for their future lives.

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Pupils learn to embrace diversity. They explained to inspectors how ‘We are all the same but different.’ Pupils spoke about topics such as relationships with others and how to keep themselves healthy with maturity and sensitivity. These same attitudes are clear in the way that pupils behave. This helps to make the school a calm and purposeful place to learn and play.

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Trustees and members of the local governing board carry out a range of activities to assure themselves that the school’s systems are working well. When making decisions, such as how to feedback on pupils’ work, trustees carefully consider the impact on staff’s workload. As a result, staff feel valued and enjoy working at the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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 The school has not ensured that some staff know how to meet the needs of pupils with complex needs consistently well. From time to time, a few pupils with SEND struggle to access the curriculum as well as their peers. The school should ensure that staff know how to provide the most effective support for pupils with different types of SEND, so that these pupils achieve as well as they could.  The school has not ensured that some staff who teach in the Nursery class have the expertise to design learning that builds on what children know and can do already. This means that some children are not as well prepared for the Reception class as they should be in some areas of learning. The school should ensure that all staff are provided with suitable guidance, so that they can deliver the curriculum across the early years equally well.  In one or two subjects, the school has not ensured that teachers regularly revisit

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the most important knowledge that pupils need for subsequent learning. Occasionally, this hinders how well some pupils build their knowledge over time. The school should ensure that teachers support pupils to embed important knowledge into their long-term memories in these few remaining subjects.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 26 and 27 September 2023

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 This school converted to become an academy school in December 2018. It is part of the Liverpool Diocesan Schools Trust. When its predecessor school, Glazebury CofE (Aided) Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.  A new chair of the local governing board has been appointed recently.  This school is part of the Diocese of Liverpool. Its most recent section 48 inspection took place in November 2022. Currently, the next section 48 inspection is expected to take place by 2030.  The school do not make use of any alternative provision for pupils.  The school operates a before- and after-school club.  The school has a nursery which includes two-year-old provision. 26 and 27 September 2023

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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

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation.  Inspectors spoke with the headteacher and other leaders in school. Inspectors also considered responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff.  An inspector spoke with trustees, including the chair of the trust and the chief executive officer.  An inspector met with members of the local governing board, including the chair of the board.  An inspector spoke with a representative of the local authority.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the single central record and took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils. Inspectors considered the extent to which the school has created an open and

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Information about this inspection

positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and history. They spoke with the leaders of these areas of the curriculum. Inspectors also visited lessons, looked at examples of pupils’ work, held discussions with teachers and talked with pupils.  An inspector observed pupils from Years 1 to 3 reading to a familiar adult.  Inspectors also spoke with leaders and pupils about learning in other areas of the curriculum.  An inspector visited the school’s breakfast club.  Inspectors spoke with groups of pupils about their experiences at school. They considered responses to Ofsted’s online survey for pupils.  Inspectors spoke with parents as they picked their children up from school. They considered responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses.

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Inspection team

Jackie Stillings, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Elaine Jackson Ofsted Inspector 26 and 27 September 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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