Bickershaw CofE Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Bickershaw CofE Primary School Bickershaw Lane, Bickershaw, Wigan, Lancashire WN2 4AE

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Outcome

Bickershaw CofE Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides a caring and nurturing environment where pupils are happy and feel safe. Pupils play an important role in maintaining the school’s harmonious and purposeful culture. They are polite and courteous towards each other. Pupils enjoy warm and nurturing relationships with adults who know them well. Pupils know that if they have any worries or concerns, staff are there to offer support and guidance.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for what pupils should learn, regardless of their starting points. Many pupils achieve well across the curriculum.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well behaved and demonstrate good manners. The school’s values of compassion and respect for others underpin these qualities. Children in the Reception Year settle into routines quickly. Pupils are ably supported in managing their emotions and making positive choices. This helps them to meet the school’s expectations about their conduct.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils access a wide range of extra-curricular activities that hone their talents and interests. For example, pupils enjoy joining a sports team, singing in the choir or acting in their drama sessions. Pupils show care for others who are less fortunate than themselves by raising money for a wide range of charitable causes.

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

The school’s curriculum is ambitious for pupils. Across the curriculum, the school has set out the important knowledge that pupils should learn, starting from the Reception Year through to Year 6. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from well-chosen resources and effective adaptations that aid their learning and help 1 July 2025

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them successfully learn the same curriculum as their peers. This is supported by the effective systems that the school has in place to identify the needs of pupils with SEND. Pupils with SEND learn well across many subjects.

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Staff check pupils’ knowledge regularly. Typically, staff are prompt to address any misconceptions that pupils may have about their learning. This prepares most pupils well to learn new concepts. However, at times, staff do not use this information to resolve any gaps that some pupils have in their knowledge. When this happens, these pupils move on to new learning before they are ready.

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Teachers have the knowledge and expertise to deliver the curriculum effectively. In the main, staff select activities that enable pupils to develop their knowledge in a logical and coherent way. They often explain concepts clearly. Typically, pupils learn the knowledge set out in the curriculum. However, on occasion, the activities that teachers design and the explanations that they provide do not focus on the important knowledge that the school intends pupils to learn. This means that some pupils do not deepen their understanding as well as they could.

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Reading is a high priority. Children begin to learn the school’s phonics programme in the Reception Year. Teachers deliver the phonics programme well. Pupils learn the sounds and letters that they need to enable them to read and write. Pupils who struggle to keep up with the expectations of the phonics programme receive effective support to address the gaps in their knowledge. Many pupils quickly become confident, fluent readers. Older pupils enjoy reading. They read a wide range of literature and enjoy class texts.

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The school places great importance on pupils’ attendance. In the main, the school takes effective measures to encourage pupils to attend school regularly. However, the school’s actions are not as effective as they could be in improving the attendance of a small number of pupils. This means that these pupils do not get the full benefit of the school’s curriculum, and, as a result, they develop gaps in their knowledge.

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Pupils know that they are expected to behave well. They are attentive in class, and the school is calm and purposeful. At breaktimes and lunchtimes, pupils are considerate to one another and play happily together.

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The personal, social, health and economic education programme supports pupils to develop their understanding of mental well-being, physical health and citizenship. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including online. The curriculum helps pupils to have a secure understanding of equality. Pupils appreciate the range of trips and visits that they experience. These include residentials, where pupils take part in adventurous activities such as rock climbing and raft building.

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Governors understand their responsibilities. They are effective in their roles. They provide the school with appropriate challenge and support. Staff are positive about working at the school. They appreciate the support they receive from the school and colleagues to carry out their roles. 1 July 2025

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 At times, staff do not use the information that they gather about what pupils have learned and remembered to address gaps in their knowledge. This means that some pupils move on to new learning before they are ready. The school should ensure that staff address pupils’ misunderstandings in a timely manner so that pupils build their knowledge securely over time.  On occasion, the activities that teachers design do not help pupils develop sufficient depth of knowledge. As a result, some pupils disengage from their learning and do not achieve as well as they could. The school should ensure that staff are clear on the most important knowledge in the curriculum so that they design activities and explain concepts clearly. This is so that pupils learn the curriculum well.  Some pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should. This means that these pupils develop gaps in their knowledge. The school should increase the rigour in its

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

procedures to ensure that those pupils attend school more regularly.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 good for overall effectiveness in February 2020. 1 July 2025

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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). 1 July 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 26 and 27 February 2020, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 A new chair of governors has been appointed since the previous inspection.  The school offers before- and after-school provision.  The school makes use of one unregistered alternative provision.  This is a Church of England school in the Diocese of Liverpool. It was previously inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005 for schools of a religious character in October 2017. Its next section 48 inspection will take place in the 2025/26 academic year.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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 of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, other leaders, members of the governing body 1 July 2025

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and a range of staff at the school. The lead inspector spoke with representatives from the local authority and the diocese.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors 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.  Inspectors visited a sample of lessons, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors spoke with some pupils to gather their views about school life. They took account of the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for pupils.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons, at breaktimes and when moving around the school.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documents, including records of governing body meetings, the school’s evaluation of its strengths and areas for improvement and

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documents relating to pupils’ behaviour and attendance.  Inspectors spoke with staff about their workload and well-being. They also considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff.  An inspector met with parents at the start of the school day. Inspectors took account of the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments.

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Inspection team

Mark Hazzard, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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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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