St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Ramsbottom

St Joseph’s RC Primary School

Inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated.

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St Joseph’s RC Primary School

Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. St Joseph's RC Primary School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Type of school: Infant and Junior School

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Queen Street Ramsbottom Bury Postcode: BL0 9JJ

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The Governing Body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mr W McSorley

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 20 th May 1996 St Joseph's RC Primary School - 4

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Team members

J White Registered inspector D Hill Team inspector M Brennand Lay inspector

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Team members

SES 6 Star Corner Barby Rugby Warwickshire CV23 8UD

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Team members

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints that are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor should be raised with OFSTED by writing to:

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Team members

The Registrar Inspection Quality Division

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Team members

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE St Joseph's RC Primary School - 5

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6

Information about the school How good the school is What the school does well What could be improved How the school has improved since its last inspection Standards Pupils’ attitudes and values Teaching and learning Other aspects of the school How well the school is led and managed Parents’ and carers’ views of the school

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL 10

Literacy and numeracy are taught thoroughly and by the end of the infant and junior years standards are good overall Pupils are very keen to learn and they work hard The headteacher has managed change well and is well supported by governors and staff

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WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED 12

Pupils often do not take enough care with their handwriting and presentation of work Marking does not consistently help pupils to improve their work Monitoring and evaluating of teaching and learning do not have enough influence on planning

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

The school is below average size and serves mainly the parish of St Joseph’s. The number on roll has risen since the last inspection and is currently 174 (93 boys, 81 girls). In addition there are 14 part-time and 17 full time children in the nursery. Very few pupils are of minority ethnic heritage. The number of pupils eligible for free school meals is below average. Twenty-nine pupils are on the school’s special needs register including one with a statement. Pupils’ attainment on entry to the school is broadly above average. The headteacher, deputy headteacher and most of the teachers have changed since the last inspection.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

By the ages of seven and eleven pupils achieve good overall standards in English, mathematics and science. Standards in numeracy are high at age eleven. The quality of teaching is good and often very good in literacy and numeracy. Pupils have very positive attitudes and behave well. The headteacher provides effective leadership and is well supported by governors and staff. The school has a strong community spirit and provides good value for money.

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What the school does well

• Literacy and numeracy are taught thoroughly and by the end of the infant and junior years standards are good overall; they are high in numeracy at age eleven. • Pupils are very keen to learn and they work hard. • The headteacher has managed change well and is well supported by governors and staff.

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What could be improved

• Pupils often do not take sufficient care with their handwriting and presentation of work. • Marking does not consistently help pupils to improve their work. • Monitoring and evaluating of teaching and learning do not have enough influence on planning. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school was last inspected in May 1996 and was judged to be a successful school. Since then there have been major changes in the senior management and staff. Given these circumstances the school has done well to continue to improve and has responded effectively to the key issues in the last report. The performance of pupils in the National Curriculum test for eleven-year-olds has improved broadly in line with the national trend and the school met its targets for 1999. A very positive ethos has been maintained and the proportion of very good teaching is higher. Channels of communication between the school and the governors have also improved. Subject co-ordinators’ roles are being suitably developed and they are beginning to be more involved in monitoring teaching and learning. The provision of a new classroom and the reduction in infant class sizes have helped the school to manage increasing numbers.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by eleven-year-olds based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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Key

English A A A A Well above average above average A B mathematics B A A A Average Below average C D science B A B B Well below average E

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Key

The school met its 1999 targets for pupils aged eleven and compared with all schools has sustained high standards over the period 1996-9. Overall standards are high compared with similar schools. The current pupils aged seven and eleven achieve good standards in English, mathematics and science. However, standards in numeracy are high by the end of the juniors.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Pupils’ attitudes are very positive.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Behaviour is good.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Pupils value the views of others and they co-operate well.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance The rate of attendance is well above average.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s strong Christian ethos provides a clear framework for the development of pupils’ attitudes and values. They respond very well.

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Teaching of pupils: aged up to 5 years aged 5-7 years aged 7-11 years

Lessons seen overall Good Good Good Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses.

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Teaching of pupils: aged up to 5 years aged 5-7 years aged 7-11 years

The overall quality of teaching is good and in forty per cent of lessons it is very good. No unsatisfactory teaching was observed. Literacy and numeracy are taught thoroughly and this helps pupils to make good overall progress. There are several strengths in the teaching but brisk pace, high expectations and good management of pupils are significant features. The range of pupils’ needs is met well. Also, the support staff make a considerable contribution. Teachers’ expectations of handwriting and presentation of work are too variable. Marking is satisfactory but does not consistently suggest how pupils could improve their work. Pupils respond very well to the effective St Joseph's RC Primary School - 8 teaching and support.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum The curriculum is suitably broad and balanced.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Provision is good and pupils make good progress.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Good overall.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils The headteacher and staff provide a high level of care.

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Aspect Comment

The headteacher, teachers and non-teaching staff know the pupils well and regularly give them personal help and guidance.

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and manage- ment by the headteacher and other key staff Leadership is effective and the school is well managed.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Governors give good support to the school and fulfil their responsibilities.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance Monitoring and evaluation are developing soundly and now need to influence strategic planning more systematically.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources Expenditure is well planned and controlled efficiently.

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Aspect Comment

The headteacher has managed change effectively and with the good support of governors has developed a strong team approach . The school applies the principle of best value well.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• Their children like school and they are making good progress. • The teaching is good and children are expected to work hard. • The school is well led and the headteacher and staff are approachable. • A minority of parents would like more homework. • Some would like to be better informed about how their children are getting on. • Some parents think pupils should have a wider range of extra-curricular activities.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The inspection team strongly endorses parents’ positive views. Most parents are satisfied with the St Joseph's RC Primary School - 9 amount of homework. The school’s policy for homework is very clear and published in the brochure for parents. Its recommended daily time to be spent on homework is suitable for the age of the pupils. The school is keen to keep parents well informed about their children’s progress. Parents are pleased to receive the information on what their children will be studying and annual reports on pupils’ progress are informative. Many parents also comment that they frequently talk informally to teachers about children’s progress. Most parents consider that the range of extra-curricular activities is satisfactory. Music and sport are significant features of the provision. St Joseph's RC Primary School - 10

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years standards are good overall

1. High priority is given to literacy and numeracy and the teaching is well planned. In two out of five lessons the teaching is very good. Lessons are well structured and usually the learning objectives are shared with the pupils. Often at the end of lessons the teachers reinforce and check on pupils’ progress in their knowledge and understanding of the objectives. For example, in a very good lesson in Year 4 the teacher encouraged pupils to evaluate each others attempts at persuasive writing by focusing on stylistic features and choice of words. This ensured that key skills were reinforced. In a very effective literacy lesson in Year 6 the teacher and pupils appraised the lesson together and then focused on what was planned for the next day. The pace of introductions to lessons and the pace in plenary sessions is often brisk and keeps pupils on their toes. When the good pace is coupled with high

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years standards are good overall

expectations the resulting attainment is high and learning is very good. In a very good numeracy lesson in Year 6 pupils were very well challenged by the teachers’ encouragement of rapid mental calculations. As a result pupils’ speed of multiplying decimal numbers and converting them into percentages improved significantly. Good pace in the learning is maintained by the frequent use of timed tasks. For example, Year 2 pupils, knowing they only had 15 minutes, worked quickly to devise alliterative words to make tongue twisters.

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years standards are good overall

2. Teachers’ knowledge of literacy and numeracy is good and helps them to confidently set high expectations and meet the range of pupils’ needs. In the best teaching the level of challenge is maintained throughout the course of the lesson and is often aided by careful questioning. “What is different about this speech?” and “why is it different from a book?” helped Year 1 pupils to achieve higher than average standards in their knowledge and understanding of the language of comic strips. Teachers make good use of subject terminology and this influences pupils’ own use of language. Year 6 pupils, helped by the teacher’s appropriate use of “allegory”, “alliteration” and “personification”, began to use the words correctly when they discussed poems written by Ted Hughes. Good use is made of support staff. They are well prepared, have very good relationships with pupils and contribute well to their learning. A good example was observed in Year 2 when the classroom

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years standards are good overall

assistant quietly helped the low attaining pupils to join in the question and answer session.

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years standards are good overall

3. In the 1999 National Curriculum tests pupils aged eleven achieved well above average standards in English and mathematics. Overall standards for seven-year- olds were good. Pupils achieve well because of the good teaching. The current pupils at the end of the infant and junior years achieve good standards overall but the oldest junior pupils achieve high standards in numeracy. Pupils’ progress in lessons is consistently good irrespective of their prior attainment. The inspections’ scrutiny of their work indicates that they also make good progress over time. Infant pupils are developing a good range of strategies to read unfamiliar words and by Year 2 they read confidently. In the reception class pupils identified final letter sounds when looking at different objects. In Year 2 pupils successfully rearranged letter sounds to create different words. Pupils are interested in books and talk well

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years standards are good overall

about their reading. Pupils in Year 2 write in a good range of forms including stories St Joseph's RC Primary School - 11 and their writing shows a good variety of language use. Infant teachers give good attention to spelling and pupils learn to spell a range of words appropriate to their needs. Standards in number and shape are good and basic computation skills are developing well. The high attaining pupils in Year 2 are developing good multiplication skills and understand simple fractions. They accurately identify features of some two and three-dimensional shapes including pentagons and hexagons. Year 6 pupils read from a good range of fiction and non-fiction books, discuss their reading well and express their preferences for authors. They discuss the poems of Ted Hughes with maturity and enthusiasm. They write for a good range of purposes and achieve good standards in punctuation, spelling and the

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years standards are good overall

development of ideas. Their work includes regular reviews of books and they write different forms of poetry including Haiku. Good progress has been made in knowledge and understanding of literary style and structure. Year 6 pupils attain high standards in numeracy. Many have very good understanding of place value. They accurately multiply and divide decimals to two or more places and convert fractions to decimals and percentages. They understand negative numbers well and accurately add and subtract them. Pupils identify properties of three- dimensional shapes and accurately calculate the radius and circumference of a circle. The rigorous teaching of mental calculation is improving their progress rapidly. Pupils calculate very quickly and explain their thinking well. In a very good lesson many of them calculated accurately 4.8 x 4.8 and then explained clearly how they tackled the problem. In the same lesson most pupils quickly grasped how to

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years standards are good overall

use a formula for finding the volume of compound shapes.

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Pupils are very keen to learn and they work hard

4. Teachers manage pupils very well and expect them to work hard. Pupils respond very positively and have keen attitudes to learning. These important learning habits begin early in the nursery where children were observed eagerly talking about a book with the teacher and also co-operating well in their work in mathematics. Usually, pupils sustain their interest and concentration throughout the lessons and work quietly and productively. In Year 2 pupils worked purposefully together in their work on doubling and approximating numbers and in Year 3 pupils strived hard to improve their knowledge of apostrophes. In both lessons pupils responded equally well when continuing to be challenged in the plenaries. In Year 5, pupils’ diligence and concentration helped them to make good progress in their recognition of reflective symmetry in regular polygons. Pupils enjoy contributing their own ideas and like “hard work”. Year 6 pupils talked about how much they like the challenge

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Pupils are very keen to learn and they work hard

of speedy mental work in mathematics. Pupils respond eagerly in discussions. In an effective literacy lesson Year 6 they suggested good ideas on how to construct a poem using an allegorical theme.

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staff

5. The headteacher has coped with significant staff changes since her appointment three years ago. The school had no deputy headteacher for a year and another key member of the senior management team also left. Six of the current staff have been at the school for less than two years. The headteacher has worked hard to develop a united staff with a common purpose and they are well involved in planning the school’s direction. For example, subject co-ordinators review and evaluate their subjects and set priorities for development that are then fed into the school’s development plan. They are also expected to manage the budget for their own St Joseph's RC Primary School - 12 subject. The headteacher, with the deputy headteacher’s help, interviews staff annually to up-date their job descriptions, set targets for future improvement and identify their training needs. Communications systems are good. Staff meetings

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staff

are regular and decisions are recorded. Non-teaching staff are very much part of the team. For example, regular meetings are held with the lunchtime supervisors to check all is well and provide guidance if needed. The senior management team meets weekly to discuss management issues. The staff, in discussion with inspectors, indicated their support for the headteacher’s leadership. The governors are very supportive of the headteacher and consider that consultation with them is constructive and open. For example, they have recently been consulted on what improvements they would to see in the headteacher’s report. The headteacher provides the governors with analysis of test results and this enables them to compare the school’s performance with local and national trends in order to ensure best value for money. Governors are becoming increasingly better informed and involved. For example, the governor responsible for literacy attended the

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staff

conference prior to the implementation of the national strategy and the chair of governors attends the induction meeting with parents of reception children. The headteacher has kept parents informed of curricular developments and has consulted them on a number of issues including the home/school agreement and the school’s mission statement.

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Pupils often do not take enough care with their handwriting and presentation of work

6. Many pupils form their letters carefully and write legibly in joined up writing. However, the quality of handwriting and presentation of work is inconsistent. There were occasions in the lessons observed when teachers did not take the opportunity to set high standards in handwriting and presentation. Although pupils are used to re-drafting their work they rarely give sufficient attention to improving their handwriting. The range of writing is good but it is often untidily presented with too much crossing out. Work in mathematics is not consistently set out neatly.

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Marking does not consistently help pupils to improve their work

7. Pupils’ work is marked regularly and much of it is helpful. However, its quality is too variable. Teachers give positive comments that encourage the pupils but often accept too readily work which is untidily presented. The inspectors’ scrutiny of pupils’ work indicated that there are few occasions when clear targets are set to improve pupils’ performance. There are signs that very recently the quality of marking has improved and the school is now ready to develop marking much more thoroughly as an assessment tool.

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planning

8. The headteacher is strongly committed to improving the monitoring and evaluating of teaching and learning. She monitors teachers’ weekly plans/forecasts and has been involved in observing lessons. Lesson observations in literacy and numeracy have been well planned with a clear focus. These have included, for example, the teaching of text level work in literacy and the quality of mental work sessions in numeracy. A governor has also observed work in literacy. The full benefit of these St Joseph's RC Primary School - 13 observations has not yet begun to influence strategic planning significantly. The 1999-2000 development plan’s evaluation of the previous year’s plan makes no reference to the outcomes of monitoring and evaluation. The subsequent targets do not build on any strengths and weaknesses that were identified and it is not clear what are the future priorities for improving the teaching and learning. There are

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planning

considerable strengths in the teaching and learning which the school needs to identify more clearly to help its future development.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

9. The governors and headteacher should:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(1) Set consistently high standards in pupils’ handwriting and presentation of work. (2) Ensure pupils’ work is marked more thoroughly and, where appropriate, include clear targets to help pupils improve. (3) Monitor teaching and learning systematically and ensure that outcomes help to determine the school’s future direction. St Joseph's RC Primary School - 14

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 7

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

- 40 50 10 - - - The table gives the percentage of teaching observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR – Y6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 24 175

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils eligible for free school meals - 19 FTE means full-time equivalent.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs - 1

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register - 29

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Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 2

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 4

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 3

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Attendance

National comparative data 5.4 National comparative data 0.5 Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. St Joseph's RC Primary School - 15

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 1999 15 10 25

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Boys 13 13 14 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 8 10 9

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentage of pupils School 88 (72) 92 (76) 92 (90) at NC level 2 or above National 82 (77) 83 (81) 87 (84)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Boys 13 13 15 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 10 7 10

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentage of pupils School 92 (72) 80 (72) 100 (79) at NC level 2 or above National 82 (81) 86 (85) 87 (86)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year.

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 1999 7 13 20

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Boys 6 6 6 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 9 9 12

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Percentage of pupils School 75 (79) 75 (68) 90 (94) at NC level 4 or above National 70 (65) 69 (65) 78 (69)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Boys 7 6 6 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 11 9 12

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Percentage of pupils School 75 (58) 75 (63) 90 (63) at NC level 4 or above National 70 (65) 69 (65) 78 (71) Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. St Joseph's RC Primary School - 16

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage - Black – Caribbean heritage - -

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – African heritage - Black – African heritage - -

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Any other minority ethnic group 6 Other minority ethnic groups - - This table refers to pupils of compulsory school age only. This table gives the number of exclusions of pupils of compulsory school age, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded.

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 8 Financial year 1999

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 25

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total expenditure 312,579

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 3 Expenditure per pupil 1,807

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 62 Balance brought forward from previous year 25,000

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Balance carried forward to next year 25,624

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 1

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 24

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 2

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 32

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Teachers and classes Financial information

FTE means full-time equivalent. St Joseph's RC Primary School - 17

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Percentage of responses in each category

Strongly agree Tend to agree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child is making good progress in school. 70 28 1 0 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 59 38 3 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 43 41 14 0 1

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Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 41 43 11 5 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 72 22 1 4 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 72 28 0 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 42 38 9 7 4

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 61 36 1 3 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 63 36 1 0 0

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Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 24 33 22 9 12

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