St Hugh's CofE Primary School

St Hugh's CofE Primary School

Address: Wildmoor Avenue, Holts, Oldham, Lancashire, OL4 5NZ Unique reference number (URN): 150039

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Early years Expected standard

Leaders have taken effective action to enhance the curriculum in the early years. Teachers have established a calm and nurturing environment for children. This ensures a positive start to their education. Teachers plan the curriculum effectively across all areas of learning. It successfully meets the needs of children at different stages of development. This enables children to make progress from their starting points. Teaching is effective. Teachers create a calm, purposeful environment and support children to explore, learn and develop independence.

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Early years Expected standard

Staff ensure high-quality interactions are used consistently to develop children’s understanding within the areas of learning. Children develop their independence and confidence as they explore the early years environment. It is designed to encourage creativity and promote imagination. Staff support children well to develop their social skills. They help children learn how to share, take turns and cooperate kindly in group tasks.

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Early years Expected standard

Staff make the most of every opportunity to develop children's speech, language and vocabulary. Children generally achieve well. They make a positive start to their education, often from very low starting points. Children in the nursery are well prepared to read more formally by the start of Reception Year. Here, children make progress through the school's phonics curriculum and are ready for Year 1.

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Achievement Needs attention

At the end of key stage 2, pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, do not achieve as well as they should. The number of pupils who reach the expected standard in reading and writing is below national averages. This means too many pupils start secondary school with gaps in their knowledge. While pupils in key stage 1 do not secure the necessary knowledge in mathematics, by the end of key stage 2 they achieve well.

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Achievement Needs attention

There are areas where pupils achieve more highly. For example, in the early years, children achieve well as teachers are quick to address any gaps in their knowledge. They make effective progress from their starting points and are well prepared for Year 1. Pupils continue this progress in reading. The number of pupils who achieve the expected standard in phonics is in line with the national average.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Over time, pupils have not attended as regularly as they could. Attendance is below national levels. Too many pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are persistently absent and this figure is increasing. Pupils who access part-time timetables are not reviewed regularly enough. As a result, leaders do not have sufficient oversight of whether these arrangements continue to be appropriate.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Leaders have strengthened their approach to monitoring attendance. However, their actions are not timely enough when individual absence begins to decline. Leaders work closely with families to understand the challenges some pupils face. Where appropriate support is in place, attendance has improved for some pupils. The breakfast club is well attended by pupils, this has strengthened attendance.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Overall, pupils’ behaviour in lessons is starting to improve. There remain inconsistencies in behaviour expectations. Some pupils remain distracted and disengaged in lessons. This typically happens when teaching does not match the pupils’ needs closely enough. Leaders do not provide consistent guidance to ensure that staff are equipped to manage pupils' behaviour. Consequently, low-level behaviour incidents are common in some classes, and some pupils spend long periods of time out of class.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Leaders do not ensure behaviour is managed effectively for pupils who struggle to manage their own behaviour. Consequently, the proportion of pupils who are suspended from school for short periods of time is not reducing.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Pupils appreciate the weekly recognition assembly that rewards positive behaviour. This helps to improve pupils’ attitudes towards learning. They enjoy social times. Bullying does not happen often and is dealt with quickly when it occurs.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have ensured that there is a suitable curriculum in place. However, inconsistent teaching means that pupils do not acquire the knowledge and vocabulary needed to make progress. While teachers understand pupils’ starting points, learning activities do not consistently match the need of the pupil.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

During some lessons, teachers routinely check how well pupils are learning. However, this is not thorough. As a result, some pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities engage in learning that does not precisely build on what they already know and can do.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders understand the quality of the curriculum and teaching. They are starting to improve the teaching of writing. For example, leaders have introduced a new writing curriculum which builds on what pupils have learned before. This is having a positive impact on the progress pupils are making in writing. However, gaps remain in pupils’ foundational knowledge of letter formation, handwriting and spelling.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

The teaching of early reading is secure. From the early years, trained staff deliver the reading curriculum well. Staff help pupils to become increasingly competent readers.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have introduced a new approach to pupils’ learning in mathematics. Pupils respond well to these activities and many make effective progress. However, leaders do not monitor the consistency of this approach. They have not identified that some pupils do not have the opportunity to practise basic mathematical knowledge sufficiently well to build the necessary fluency.

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Inclusion Needs attention

While the school has systems in place to identify pupils with additional needs, some pupils do not get the support they need to consistently learn well. Leaders do not effectively remove barriers to learning and wellbeing. This is because staff do not identify pupils’ gaps in emotional regulation skills or provide the necessary support. As a result, they make limited progress in managing their emotions. Leaders do not monitor the effectiveness of the support that these pupils receive.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders take action to identify barriers to learning. They use a range of assessment approaches to identify needs swiftly. Leaders have provided training for staff to do this successfully. However, plans for pupils are not as precise as they should be. This means that some pupils make less progress in their learning than they should.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Despite these weaknesses, the school has a clear ambition for all pupils to thrive. Leaders work collaboratively with pupils' families. This helps pupils with education, health and care plans to achieve well from their starting points. Leaders carefully design provision for these pupils. This works well to support the needs of the pupils. Staff are trained to deliver high- quality interventions and adapt learning opportunities successfully.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders use additional funding effectively to ensure that disadvantaged pupils benefit from targeted intervention and additional support from staff. They also make appropriate use of alternative provision to meet pupils’ needs.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders’ actions have not led to improvement across aspects of the school’s work quickly enough. They are focused on the right areas of teaching, achievement and attendance. However, their actions have not resulted in the rapid improvement required. This means that pupils’ outcomes and attendance remain below national figures and teaching remains too variable.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

For some priorities, such as improving attainment, leaders' work is beginning to have an impact. However, their oversight is not developed well enough to hold an accurate view of how well the school is performing.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Trustees, governors and leaders prioritise pupils who are vulnerable. They increasingly use funding in the best interests of pupils who face challenges in their lives. Pupils with educational, health and care plans receive appropriate support as a result of leaders' actions. For these pupils, leaders work alongside parents and carers to check that they are making progress. For other pupils, including those with social and emotional needs, the support that leaders provide for their wellbeing is not precise enough. The school has created a positive culture where staff feel valued and supported. Leaders consider staff wellbeing and workload when making decisions. Professional development is planned so that all staff enhance their skills through training and support.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Leaders have ensured the personal, social and health education programme is designed to build the depth of pupils’ understanding over time. However, the quality of the teaching of the programme is too variable. This has resulted in pupils’ knowledge in some areas being weaker than in others. Pupils are beginning to understand concepts, such as democracy, through experiences like school council elections. Many pupils show kindness and tolerance. For instance they appreciate that some of their peers sometimes need extra help to manage their behaviour. Nevertheless, some pupils do not have a secure understanding of British values or equality.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Leaders ensure that pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, can take part in themed days, for example cultural day where pupils celebrate their individual cultures and traditions. However, the range of clubs on offer for pupils is limited. Pupils would benefit from wider opportunities.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Pupils value the introduction of leadership roles, such as reading champions and members of the school council. These roles help to develop pupils’ confidence and sense of responsibility.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Leaders have focused on ensuring that pupils know how to keep themselves safe in the community and online. This includes how to keep safe in the water. This is important because of the location of the school.

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Personal development and wellbeing Needs attention

Pastoral support is a priority. Leaders have developed a range of strategies to help pupils overcome challenges, for example the ‘B You’ room which houses therapies and counselling services.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils receive a warm welcome from staff who know them well. They feel seen and heard and know that their voices matter. Pupils live out the school’s vision ‘Let all you do be done in love.’ They are treated with kindness and care and regard one another with respect. Pupils play well together and feel reassured that staff will keep them safe. Bullying is dealt with quickly. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe in the community and this is modelled for them in lessons. They benefit from support for their wellbeing. For example, they make use of calm corners in their classrooms when they need to take a break.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils are proud of the leadership roles they undertake in school. Members of the school council take pride in their community. They have bought recycling bins for the playground and take part in litter-picking events. The reading champions take care of the school library and reading buddies act as role models for younger pupils. These opportunities support pupils to develop responsibility and teamwork skills. When pupils start at school, they settle quickly. They learn to read and develop basic knowledge across the curriculum. Older pupils enjoy using digital devices to work through their learning. However, some pupils do not enjoy their activities as much as they could because these tasks are not well matched to what they already know.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils do not achieve as well as they could at the end of key stage 2, particularly in reading and writing. Current pupils are starting to benefit from changes that leaders are making. However, it is too early to see the benefit on pupils’ outcomes.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils do not attend school as often as they should. This means that some pupils have gaps in their learning. This prevents them from achieving well. Some pupils do not behave well in school. These pupils do not have appropriate support in place to encourage positive behaviour. Pupils’ behaviour impacts on others’ ability to learn well.

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Next steps

Leaders should take swift action to improve the quality and consistency of teaching across the school, ensuring that effective teaching supports all pupils to secure the key knowledge they need to be successful Leaders should improve attainment at the end of key stage 2 so that all pupils are well prepared for secondary school. Leaders should ensure that they closely monitor the impact of support provided to pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, particularly those with social, emotional and mental health needs, so that they understand its impact and can use this information to ensure the provision for these pupils is more precisely matched to their needs. Leaders should secure sustained improvements in attendance for all pupils, particularly reducing the number of pupils who are persistently absent, by acting more swiftly when attendance begins to decline and ensuring rigorous oversight of part-time timetables.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that behaviour is managed consistently across the school so that pupils who struggle to regulate their behaviour receive appropriate support and learning is not disrupted for others. Leaders should strengthen leadership oversight so that governors and trustees have an accurate understanding of the school's effectiveness and can evaluate the impact of improvement actions more precisely.

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About this inspection

This school is part of Crompton House Multi Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Karl Newell, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Victoria Musgrave.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Team inspectors:

Karen Morris, Ofsted Inspector Gary Anders, Ofsted Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 14 July 2026

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

National average: 272 Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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What does this mean?

Inspectors spoke with governors, including the chair of governors, trustees, trust leaders, including the CEO, the diocese, the headteacher, senior leaders and staff during the inspection. Inspectors also spoke to a representative of the local authority and pupils, parents and carers.

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What does this mean?

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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What does this mean?

The school makes use of 2 alternative provisions that are unregistered.

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What does this mean?

This school is registered as having a Church of England religious character. It is in the Diocese of Manchester.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational needs support at the school. National average: 15%

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What does this mean?

Based on the English indices of deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2024/25 (final) 77% 74% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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average

2024/25 (final) 47% 47% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2024/25 (final) 60% 63% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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average

2024/25 (final) 53% 59% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk . Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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