Tottington Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Tottington Primary School Moorside Road, Tottington, Bury, Lancashire BL8 3HR

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Outcome

Tottington Primary School continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Deborah Taylor. This school is part of Prestolee Multi Academy Trust, which means that other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Michael Tonge, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Andrew Sergeant.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud and happy to attend this school. They have positive attitudes towards their learning. Pupils are respectful team players who enjoy socialising with their friends. They are conscientious and well behaved. Pupils play together sociably and move around the school sensibly. They are keen to welcome visitors to their school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school expects pupils to engage fully in their learning and to achieve highly. Pupils respond positively to these high expectations for their achievement. They learn well across a range of subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have a strong appreciation of fundamental British values, including democracy and the rule of law. They care deeply about their community and have a well-developed understanding of the history of the local village. For example, pupils are helping to regenerate a memorial garden and commemorate local military personnel, who fought in the Second World War.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from many rich opportunities that enhance their learning. For example, Year 6 pupils look forward to outdoor activities during a residential trip. Pupils enjoy visits to museums and to theatres. They participate enthusiastically in fieldtrips and research projects. Pupils excel in various sporting competitions held with other schools. They develop their talents by playing percussion and a range of other instruments.

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

The school has created a well-constructed curriculum, which covers the full breadth of the national curriculum. Subject content is well ordered so that pupils’ knowledge builds securely and effectively from the early years through to Year 6. 5 and 6 June 2024

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Typically, by the end of key stage 2, most pupils achieve well. However, in 2023, the proportion of pupils who left Year 6 having made the expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics was significantly below the national average. The complex needs of this cohort, and the disruption to their learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, meant that they had considerable gaps in their knowledge. Despite the strong support provided by the school, these pupils had insufficient time to catch up on missed learning.

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Teachers have strong knowledge of the subjects that they teach. They routinely check how well pupils are learning and provide additional support when needed. This helps pupils to learn from their mistakes and to improve their understanding. However, in a few subjects, pupils do not have enough opportunities to reinforce and consolidate their learning so that it is committed to their long-term memory. Due to this, some pupils have gaps in their knowledge that are not addressed.

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Reading has a high priority across the school. A sense of excitement is evident during story time in the early years. Children thoroughly enjoy listening to stories and discussing book authors and illustrators. Older p upils relish reading books that are written in different styles and by a diverse range of authors.

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Children begin to learn how to read words using phonics in the Reception Year. This builds on the firm foundation laid in the Nursery Year where children listen attentively to sounds in songs and rhymes. Skilled and experienced staff deliver the phonics programme well. Pupils who find reading more difficult receive the help that they need. This helps them to develop their reading fluency quickly.

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The school identifies pupils with SEND quickly. Staff adapt their delivery of the curriculum when necessary. This helps pupils with SEND to successfully access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers. Staff work with external specialists, and with parents and carers, to make sure that pupils with SEND get the help that they need to learn well.

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Pupils attend school regularly. They behave well during lessons. Pupils listen attentively and follow instructions carefully.

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The school supports pupils’ wider development effectively. Pupils enjoy their various leadership roles, including acting as eco-warriors, digital leaders, play leaders and school councillors. They regularly participate in many clubs, including cookery, gardening, arts, crafts and a range of sports. Pupils learn about cultural and religious diversity. They eat healthily and exercise regularly. Pupils know how to maintain their mental health. For example, they have access to different strategies, including play therapy. Pupils know how to maintain safe and appropriate personal relationships.

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The trust and the local governing body provide appropriate support and challenge to the school, with a focus on improving the quality of education that pupils receive. Staff spoke positively of the professional development and training opportunities that are available to them. They said that the school and the trust are mindful of their well-being and workload when making any changes to the curriculum.

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The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the strategies used by staff to help pupils to remember more of their learning are not as effective as they should be. Due to this, some pupils have gaps in their learning which are not addressed. The school should ensure that staff receive the support that they need to help pupils to know and remember more.

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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, of the same name, to be good in May 2014.

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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). 5 and 6 June 2024

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School details

Website www.tottingtonprimaryschool.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Tottington Primary School converted to become an academy school in November 2019. When the predecessor school, of the same name, was last inspected by Ofsted in May 2014, it was judged to be good overall.  The school is part of Prestolee Multi-Academy Trust.  The school does not make use of alternative provision for pupils.  The headteacher has been appointed since the previous inspection.  The school has a specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND. The provision caters for 10 pupils with severe physical disabilities. However, at the time of this inspection, there were no pupils accessing this provision. It is due to be closed by the local authority at the end of this academic year.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision. 5 and 6 June 2024

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 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 his evaluation of the school.  The inspector held meetings with the headteacher and the assistant headteacher. He also held meetings with other staff, including those responsible for SEND, attendance and pupils’ behaviour, welfare and personal development.  The inspector met with members of the local governing body, including the chair of the governing body. He also met with the CEO, the deputy CEO and the chair of the trust.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, he discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.

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 The inspector listened to some pupils from Years 1 to 3 read to a familiar adult.  The inspector met with pupils to discuss their learning in some other subjects. He spoke with staff about their workload and well-being.  The inspector met with parents and reviewed the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. He took account of responses to Ofsted’s staff survey. There were no responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey to consider.  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.

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Inspection team

Lenford White, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 5 and 6 June 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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