Eatock Primary School

Inspection of an outstanding school: Eatock Primary School St George’s Avenue, Daisy Hill, Westhoughton, Bolton, Lancashire BL5 2ER

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Inspection dates: 28 and 29 February 2024

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Outcome

Eatock Primary School continues to be an outstanding school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils flourish in the caring and supportive environment of this happy school. They thoroughly enjoy learning and value their education. Pupils work with grit and resilience to meet the ambitious goals that are set by their teachers. They achieve very well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

An atmosphere of warmth and mutual respect permeates the school. Pupils champion one another and proudly celebrate the successes of their peers. They take care of the school environment and support each other well. For example, pupils look out for anyone who may be alone at playtime. Year 6 ‘butterfly buddies’ help the ‘caterpillar children’ in the Reception class to quickly settle in and to feel part of the school’s community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is careful to ensure that pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), participate fully in school life. For instance, the school provides an extensive variety of sports and physical activities and ensures that pupils have the chance to represent the school in sports events.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Clubs and activities are regularly reviewed in consultation with pupils, to ensure that the offer helps to develop pupils’ talents and interests. A wide selection of clubs are very well attended, including construction, coding, yoga and book clubs.

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

The school is determined to provide an exceptional education for pupils, regardless of any disadvantages that some may face. The school and the governing body work strategically to ensure that this vision is realised in every aspect of the school’s work. As a result, pupils not only achieve well, but their time at school is filled with rich and memorable experiences.

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

The school has designed a broad curriculum that contains many references to the local area. It has carefully considered how pupils’ understanding of each subject will develop 28 and 29 February 2024

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over time. Consequently, staff know exactly what pupils need to learn and how this connects to their prior and future learning.

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Staff have strong expertise across the curriculum. This empowers them to design inspiring learning that is highly effective in furthering pupils’ understanding. In the early years, staff know the children well. They skilfully develop children’s knowledge and vocabulary through targeted interactions and well-designed opportunities for play.

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Staff are adept in using assessment techniques to pinpoint any gaps in learning. They ensure that pupils have regular opportunities to recall prior knowledge. Pupils confidently draw on past learning to develop new ideas. For example, in a history lesson, pupils determined the provenance of an artefact using their knowledge of the weaponry and technology in use at the time.

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Expert staff have developed a rigorous programme to teach pupils how to read. They use successful techniques that help pupils to recall the sounds that they are taught. Staff share these methods with parents and carers so that they can reinforce their children’s learning at home. The school provides effective support to help pupils who struggle with reading so that they learn all that they should.

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Reading is at the heart of the curriculum throughout the school. This starts in the early years, where children experience new and familiar stories and rhymes. As they progress through the school, pupils encounter a rich and inspiring canon of texts. Pupils of all ages practise their reading frequently using books that closely match their reading knowledge. As a result, pupils progress into fluent and enthusiastic readers.

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Pupils are rarely absent from school. They know that it is important to attend school regularly, so that they do not miss out on important learning and social times with their friends.

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From the early years, staff are sharply focused on helping pupils to develop behaviours that are conducive to learning. They create enticing and supportive atmospheres within classrooms that encourage pupils to do their very best.

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Pupils enjoy a vast array of experiences that extend beyond the academic. A considered and deliberate programme of trips and visits enhance pupils’ learning and promotes their wider development. For example, pupils talked with enthusiasm of a recent visit to the zoo, and older pupils benefit from a residential trip where they undertake a range of adventurous outdoor pursuits. The school makes frequent and creative use of the outdoor environment to enrich pupils’ learning.

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Pupils display an impressive understanding of fundamental British values, such as democracy, tolerance, and respect. These align closely with the school’s own values. Pupils benefit from discussions with visitors from a wide variety of religions and cultures, as well as visiting sites of religious significance and celebrating various cultural festivals. 28 and 29 February 2024

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The school prioritises support and training for staff. It regularly seeks feedback from staff and successfully tackles any issues that could hamper staff well-being. As a result, staff are proud and happy to work at the school and fulfil their roles exceptionally well.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be outstanding, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains outstanding. 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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be outstanding in June 2016.

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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' 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). 28 and 29 February 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 21 and 22 June 2016

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative provision for pupils.

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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. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in her evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with senior leaders, including the headteacher, and a range of staff. She also spoke with representatives of the governing body, including the vice-chair of governors.  The inspector met with a representative of the local authority.  The inspector reviewed a wide range of evidence, including leaders’ self-evaluation documents, improvement plans and minutes of meetings of the governing body. The inspector also reviewed records of pupils’ behaviour and attendance. 28 and 29 February 2024

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 To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector spoke with pupils about their experiences of school and their views on behaviour and bullying. She observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and at social times.  The inspector carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, she discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with some teachers and pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector discussed the curriculum in some other subjects with leaders.  The inspector observed pupils from Years 1 to 3 read to a familiar adult.  The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text

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comments. She also considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff. There were no responses to Ofsted’s online survey for pupils.

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Inspection team

Charlotte Oles, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 28 and 29 February 2024

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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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