St James' Church of England Primary School Blackburn

ST JAMES C of E PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 19 th – 22 nd March 2001

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ST JAMES C of E PRIMARY SCHOOL

Full 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 JAMES C of E 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 James C of E Primary School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Oozebooth Terrace Blackburn Lancashire

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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: Martin Eccles

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 23 rd – 26 th June 1997 St James C of E Primary School - 4

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

23696 J Morris Registered inspector Information and communication technology The school’s results and pupils’ achievements How well are pupils taught? How well is the school led and managed? 9352 M Weaver Lay inspector Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development How well does the school care for its pupils? How well does the school work in partnership with parents? 27899 G Beasley Team inspector Music The Foundation Stage How good are the curricular and other opportunities offered to pupils? 12301 J Boden Team inspector Science Art and design 7069 J Wilkinson Team inspector Design and technology History 20326 P Clark Team inspector Mathematics Physical education Special educational needs 20645 R Webber Team inspector English English as an additional language Equal opportunities 20932 T Boyce Team inspector Geography

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

Evenlode Associates Ltd 6 Abbey Close Warwickshire B49 5QW

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

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 Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE St James C of E 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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HOW HIGH ARE STANDARDS? 10

The school’s results and pupils’ achievements Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

St James C of E is an above average sized primary school in Blackburn. At the time of the inspection there were 394 pupils on roll between the ages of four and 11. The school has a mixed population of pupils with about 15 per cent being white. Eighty five per cent of pupils have English as an additional language. This is very high and has increased from 64 per cent in 1997. Eight per cent of pupils are at an early stage of English acquisition. Thirty six per cent of the pupils are identified as having special educational needs and nearly three per cent have a statement of special educational needs and these figures are above average. Thirty three per cent are eligible for free school meals and this is above average, although this has fallen this year. Attainment on entry to the reception classes is well below average. The school has a split site with the infant and junior buildings being separated by a busy street.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

St James is a sound school. Standards are low but the school makes good provision for pupils with English as an additional language and special educational needs and most of the pupils are in one or both of these groups. Teaching is good up to the age of seven and satisfactory from seven to 11. Leadership and management are satisfactory overall, with an effective governing body, but weaknesses in senior management and subject co-ordination. The school provides satisfactory value for money.

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What the school does well

• The school makes good provision for pupils with English as an additional language and pupils with special educational needs. Progress in reading is good throughout the school. • The school’s provision for the pupils’ moral, social and cultural development is good. • The school has effective procedures for promoting good behaviour. This results in good relationships, pupils having positive attitudes to school and good behaviour in most lessons. • Teaching and learning are good for pupils up to the age of seven and this provides a good start to the children’s education. • The governing body makes a strong contribution to the work of the school, and financial planning and management are good.

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What could be improved

• Standards are low in English, mathematics, science, information and communication technology and art and design by the age of 11. • The school’s arrangements to monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching and the curriculum are not rigorous enough. • The arrangements to assess what pupils know, understand and can do are not effective other than in English and mathematics. • Attendance is unsatisfactory. • The school does not ensure that all pupils have equal access to all of the learning opportunities offered. 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 previously inspected in June 1997. Overall improvement has been satisfactory. There have been good improvements in the provision for pupils with special educational needs and financial planning. Satisfactory progress has been made in the school’s provision for, and standards achieved in, science and information and communication technology. Unsatisfactory progress has been made in terms of the monitoring and evaluation of the quality of teaching and the curriculum. Nevertheless, the quality of teaching has improved. St James C of E Primary School - 7

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by 11 year olds based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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Performance in: All schools Similar schools Key

1998 1999 2000 2000 English D D E C well above average above average A B Mathematics E E E B average below average C D Science E E E C well below average E

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Performance in: All schools Similar schools Key

This table shows that the standards achieved by 11 year-olds in English, mathematics and science were well below the national average in 2000. In comparison with similar schools, based on the percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals, standards were average in English and science and above average in mathematics. Inspection evidence confirms these results. Standards are well below average in English and science, and below average in mathematics, information and communication technology and art and design. Pupils achieve standards in line with expectations in design and technology, geography, history, music and physical education. The results achieved by 11 year-olds in 2000 compared with those of seven year-olds in 1996 were below average in English and average in mathematics and science. The results of national curriculum tests and teacher assessments show that seven year-olds are well below average in

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Performance in: All schools Similar schools Key

reading, writing, mathematics and science. The school’s results have broadly followed the national trend of improvement over the past five years but there have been no significant gains. A very high percentage of pupils have English as an additional language and they achieve well in infants and lower juniors, but their progress slows in the upper juniors. A high percentage of pupils have special educational needs and they achieve well throughout the school. This is because the school makes good provision for these pupils and the teaching is good up to the age of seven and satisfactory from seven to 11. Children in the Foundation Stage make good progress overall, but they are still below average, particularly in language and mathematical development, when they start the National Curriculum.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Good. Pupils are enthusiastic about school and interested in their work. Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Satisfactory overall. Behaviour is good in most lessons and satisfactory in the playground. Personal development and relationships Satisfactory overall. Relationships between pupils and adults and amongst pupils are good. Pupils respond well to opportunities to show initiative and take responsibility, but there are not enough of these. Attendance Below average and unsatisfactory. A lot of absence is due to extended holidays and the celebration of religious festivals, particularly Eid.

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

Lessons seen overall Satisfactory Satisfactory Satisfactory 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

A total of 81 lessons was inspected and judged on the quality of teaching and learning. Of these lessons, 94 per cent were satisfactory or better and 10 per cent were very good or better. Six per cent of lessons St James C of E Primary School - 8 were unsatisfactory or worse. This is an improvement since the previous inspection in that the percentage of unsatisfactory teaching has fallen from 14 per cent and the percentage of good or better teaching has remained at about 40 per cent. The inspection finds the quality of teaching in the reception classes and infants to be good overall because of the good provision for pupils with English as an additional language and pupils with special educational needs. Teaching in the juniors is satisfactory overall with the lessons seen ranging from excellent to poor. The quality of the teaching of literacy is good and the teaching of numeracy is satisfactory. There are good relationships between pupils and staff throughout the school and

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

teachers maintain good order in the classrooms. The most common weaknesses in the teaching are that pupils are not given enough opportunities to contribute to whole-class discussions and therefore, they do not improve their spoken language well enough, and that teachers do not provide sufficiently different work for different groups of pupils. This often results in a lack of sufficient challenge, particularly for the most able pupils, and only satisfactory learning at best.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Satisfactory. In the reception classes planning is suitably based on the nationally recommended early learning goals. All subjects of the National Curriculum are taught in the infants and juniors. However, teachers do not always follow the school’s guidelines on what they should teach and when and this sometimes leads to patchy provision and consequently gaps in pupils’ learning. The provision of activities outside lessons is very good. Provision for pupils with special educational needs Good. The school pays due regard to national Code of Practice and provides well for all pupils on its register of special educational needs. Provision for pupils with English as an additional language Good. The school makes good use of available funding to provide additional teaching staff and support assistants most of whom are able to speak with pupils in their mother tongue and this promotes good progress.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Good overall and for pupils’ moral, social and cultural development. Provision for the pupils’ spiritual development is satisfactory. Pupils are taught right from wrong and to respect the feelings, values and beliefs of others. How well the school cares for its pupils Satisfactory overall. There are effective procedures to promote good behaviour and deal with instances of bullying, sexism or racism, which are rare. There are good systems in place to assess what pupils know, understand and can do in English and mathematics, but not nearly enough is done in the other subjects of the curriculum.

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Aspect Comment

The parents have very positive views of the school and there is a satisfactory partnership between the school and parents. The contribution of parents to children’s learning at school and at home is unsatisfactory.

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff Satisfactory. All staff are hard working and committed to providing a good quality education and raising standards achieved by the pupils. However, these intentions are undermined because the school’s management systems and the delegation of responsibilities do not lead to clear, well-paced progress towards the identified areas of self- improvement. How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Good. The governors make a very positive contribution to the work of the school and have a very clear understanding of what needs to be done. Governors play a key role in the good financial planning. St James C of E Primary School - 9 The school’s evaluation of its performance Unsatisfactory. Clear and appropriate priorities for improvement are identified in the school development plan. However, the senior management team and subject co-ordinators are not managing change and measuring

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Aspect Comment

success in a sufficiently rigorous manner. The strategic use of resources Satisfactory. The school makes good use of specific grants and funding. Not enough use is made of modern technology in the work of the school and the school does not always make best use of particular staff expertise.

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Aspect Comment

Staffing, accommodation and learning resources are adequate overall. There are good arrangements for the induction of new staff and training of new teachers. The school applies the principles of best value well.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

Over 90 per cent of the parents who responded think that: • Behaviour is good; • Their child likes school; • The teachers have high expectations; • The teaching is good; • They are comfortable approaching the school; • The school helps their child become more mature and responsible; • Their child makes good progress at school. A small number of parents: • Would like their child to have more homework; • Would like more activities outside lessons; • Do not feel well informed about progress.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The inspectors largely agree with the parents’ positive views of the school. Homework is satisfactory. The provision of extra-curricular activities is very good. The written reports to parents do not provide enough information about how individual pupils are getting on or what they need to do next. St James C of E Primary School - 10

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

1. The standards achieved by 11 year-olds in English, mathematics and science were well below the national average in 2000. The results achieved by 11 year-olds in 2000 compared with those of seven year-olds in 1996 were below average in English and average in mathematics and science. The results of national curriculum tests and teacher assessments show that seven year-olds are well below average in reading, writing, mathematics and science. The school’s results have broadly followed the national trend of improvement over the past five years. However, there have been no significant gains in any subject.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

2. In comparison with similar schools, based on the percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals, standards in 2000 were average in English and science and above average in mathematics. These comparisons should be treated with caution in light of the school’s population. A very high percentage of pupils have English as an additional language and they achieve well in the infants and lower juniors. However, their progress slows in the upper juniors and this is largely because the school uses available funding to maximise staffing in the younger classes. A high percentage of pupils have special educational needs and they achieve well throughout the school. This is because the school makes good provision for these pupils and the teaching is good up to the age of seven and satisfactory from seven to 11.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

3. Inspection evidence is that current standards in English are below average at age seven. They are broadly average in listening and reading, below in writing and well below in speaking. Standards are well below average at age 11. In mathematics and information and communication technology standards are well below average at seven and below average at 11. In science standards are well below average throughout the school.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

4. In art and design, standards are broadly average at seven but below average at 11. Standards are broadly in line with national expectations at seven and 11 years of age in design and technology, geography, history, music and physical education.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

5. The standards that pupils achieve are clearly affected by the large percentage of pupils with limited skills in English. The pupils’ lack of knowledge and understanding of the more subtle aspects of the English language, and their inability to make inferences and draw conclusions, restricts the progress they make over time. The standards achieved by pupils, quality of teaching and learning and leadership and management are satisfactory overall. However, this inspection finds that variations in pupils’ learning across the subjects of the curriculum often arise from weaknesses in teaching, management and the use of learning resources. Teachers do not provide enough opportunities for pupils to speak during many lessons. In some subjects, such as science, there are weaknesses in some teacher’s subject knowledge. Teachers do not always follow the agreed schemes of work and this is not closely monitored by subject co-ordinators. Senior

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

management is not making effective use of identified strengths in the teaching staff to minimise the effects of these weaknesses on pupils. In some lessons there was too much reliance on worksheets and insufficient use is made of the available computers.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

6. Pupils who have English as an additional language enter the school with no or very little knowledge and understanding of English and their linguistic abilities are very poor. However, through good teaching and effective targeted specialist support, particularly in the Foundation Stage and the infants, these pupils achieve well and make good progress in the early years and the infants, and satisfactory progress in the juniors in relation to their prior attainment. St James C of E Primary School - 11 7. Pupils with special educational needs receive good support to meet their needs and most make good progress in developing their literacy and numeracy skills which are the main focus of their individual educational plans. Individual education plans are generally clear and written in a style that is easy to follow. Nevertheless the school is aware that this is an area for continued development so that, with specific detailed targets, measurable success will be easier to

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

8. This inspection finds similar attitudes to school, behaviour and personal development to those reported in 1997. Children in the reception classes quickly settle into school routines and make good progress in their personal and social development. The pupils’ attitudes to the school, and the quality of relationships are good. Pupils of all ethnic groups are well integrated and there is no evidence of racism, bullying or oppressive behaviour throughout the school. This is a strength, particularly when considering the wide range of ethnic groups from which pupils come. However, some inappropriate attitudes were shown by the Gujerati speaking boys in the infants towards girls in their class and adult females. This confirms the opinions of a few of the parents at the pre- inspection meeting. The school deals well with this issue and the boys’ consideration of other pupils is much improved in the juniors. Pupils who have English as an additional language have

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

good attitudes to their learning. They listen well and show good levels of concentration and interest in their work.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

9. The pupils are enthusiastic about their school. They show keen interest and involvement in their work and express excitement when topics of interest are started, such as the Easter egg competition where they have the opportunity to test and taste different chocolate and to record their findings. Pupils concentrate for long periods of time and work co-operatively in pairs when required to do so. They settle down quickly to work and work well in groups, such as in a Year 5 geography lesson when pupils were required to consider a geographical location and plan how the land might be used. Pupils display high self-esteem overall which is built upon well by the staff. Pupils with special educational needs have good self-image and display a positive attitude to the school and to their work.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

10. Pupils’ behaviour is satisfactory overall and it is occasionally very good. Behaviour is good in lessons as pupils respond very positively to the teachers’ instructions and ‘live up’ to the behaviour expected of them. The school has clear behaviour guidelines in place, which are consistently applied by teachers and support staff. This effectively promotes positive behaviour. In some classes, particularly in the infants, the pupils’ behaviour is very lively. Teachers handle such instances well and sustain pupils’ interest in their work. However, lively behaviour at lunchtime is not always controlled well by the mid-day supervisory staff and the acoustics of the infant dining hall do not help this situation. Behaviour in the playground is satisfactory overall and it is often good. Pupils play well together and accept that different groups spend their playtime in various ways. No difficulties were experienced when, for example, older boys played football whilst

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

others walked or stood in groups taking among themselves. There have been no exclusions from school.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

11. The personal development of pupils throughout the school is satisfactory overall. Strengths within pupils’ development are the ways pupils readily accept roles of responsibility, such as school prefect and house captain. For example, older pupils responsibly and maturely operate the overhead projector and music centre, whilst others provide and remove chairs in assemblies. In lessons, they work together in mixed-race and mixed-gender pairs and groups and show friendship to their peers. The good relationships between pupils make a positive impact on the general ethos of the school. Pupils do not yet, however, receive many opportunities to show initiative or to take sufficient responsibility for their own development. All pupils have good learning targets in literacy and numeracy and for their individual personal development, but these arrangements do not involve the pupils themselves enough. Pupils do not have clear opportunities to express their

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

St James C of E Primary School - 12 views and wishes for the school’s further development but serious consideration is being given to the formation of a school council to address this matter.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

12. Attendance is well below the national average and has been for some years. Nevertheless, there have been substantial improvements since the previous inspection as a result of action taken by the governors and senior management team to raise parents’ awareness of the importance of good attendance at school. Many of the pupils take extended leave to return to their family’s country of origin. The school provides good quality supportive work whilst they are away but this long absence clearly has a negative impact on their learning. The majority of pupils arrive on time and most lessons start on time.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

13. A total of 85 lessons or part lessons were observed during the inspection. Of these, 81 lessons were judged on the quality of teaching and learning, of which 94 per cent were satisfactory or better, 42 per cent were good or better, and 10 per cent were very good or better. Six per cent of lessons were unsatisfactory or worse.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

14. The inspection finds the quality of teaching in the reception classes and infants to be good overall. This is because of the provision for pupils with English as an additional language and pupils with special educational needs who form the large majority. Positive aspects of the teaching throughout the school are the way that teachers manage behaviour and the relationships between the pupils and staff. The teachers are hard-working and well-organised and the pupils are interested and enthusiastic about school. This creates a good atmosphere for learning in most lessons. In the very best lessons, objectives are made clear to the pupils at the start of the lesson, challenging tasks are set and pupils work hard on them. There is an effective discussion of what has been achieved at the end of the lesson. A very good language based session was seen in the Foundation Stage. Very good lessons were seen in English, information and communication

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

technology (ICT) and design and technology in Year 4. Very good lessons in English and physical education and an excellent mathematics lesson were seen in Year 6.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

15. The teaching of literacy is good overall, particularly with younger pupils. The teaching of numeracy is satisfactory throughout the school. Consequently, pupils learn at least satisfactorily in these key areas of their education increasing skills and knowledge from year to year.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

16. There is some variability in teachers’ knowledge in other subjects of the curriculum, for example science, geography and art and design in the juniors, and consequently learning is not so smooth. Where teaching in lessons is unsatisfactory, this largely arises from weaknesses in teachers’ subject knowledge and failure to make proper use the school’s guidelines to help teachers with their planning. Unsatisfactory lessons were seen in music and science in Year 1 and geography and science in Year 5. A poor science lesson was seen in Year 5.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

17. There are some common shortcomings in a good number of lessons which are judged to be satisfactory or good overall. Teachers are often too dominant in whole class presentations and evaluations and do not allow pupils enough opportunities to express ideas and opinions. For example, in a Year 3 dance lesson, the performance of two pupils was evaluated at length by the teacher, with one or two suggestions from other pupils and no input from the performers themselves. Although classes are generally grouped by ability in English and mathematics and sometimes in other subjects, teachers do not provide different tasks for different groups of pupils often enough. Consequently, the more able pupils in particular are sometimes not challenged enough and their learning is unsatisfactory.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

18. The quality of teaching for pupils who have English as an additional language (EAL) is good in the Foundation Stage and infants and satisfactory in the juniors. Teaching is better in the early years St James C of E Primary School - 13 and the infants because there is more intensive support by specialist teaching and non-teaching staff. When teaching is at its best, the class teacher's organisation of tasks and groups enables EAL support staff to work intensively with pupils in order to develop specific language skills. Bilingual teachers and support staff use mother tongue effectively to support pupils understanding, particularly in the early years where few pupils understand English. Class teachers involve support staff effectively in whole class activities and planning enables teachers to give good levels of support to pupils. In most literacy lessons, tasks are suitably planned to meet the specific

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

language needs of pupils. However, this is not so well planned in other subjects across the curriculum, such as mathematics and science, where word banks and lists of key subject vocabulary are not generally available for pupils to refer to support their writing. When teaching is not so successful, the class teacher’s organisation of groups and tasks does not allow sufficient focussed and direct teaching of key skills by the EAL support teacher. For example, in a Year 3 literacy lesson the EAL support teacher moved around two groups of pupils in order to check their progress and give appropriate support when necessary. This meant she could not work with a specific group to teach and develop specific skills, particularly in guided reading and writing.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

19. The quality of teaching for pupils with special educational needs is good in class and in sessions where they are withdrawn for individual support. In English and mathematics, teachers meet the needs of pupils well, providing appropriate activities and very good classroom support. Classroom assistants and support provided by the local authority play an important role in ensuring pupils with special educational needs benefit from activities and make good progress. In some lessons, for example science, geography and history, pupils with special educational needs complete the same work as other pupils when an easier task would have promoted better learning. Work in these lessons is sometimes planned without direct reference to targets set in individual education plans and this restricts progress.

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PUPILS?

20. The curriculum for children in the Foundation Stage is satisfactory overall. Planning is suitably based on the six areas of learning and appropriate links are made with the nationally recommended early learning goals. However, insufficient attention is given in the planning to ensure a smooth transition to the National Curriculum programmes of study. The planning details the content of the activities, but there are not enough links to skill development and how the children will take part in the activities. Children are not given enough chances to develop independent learning skills. The emphasis is too much on the knowledge the children will develop rather than the way in which they will learn and thus their understanding is sometimes insecure.

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PUPILS?

21. The curriculum for pupils from Year 1 to Year 6 is broad, balanced and relevant and meets the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum. While all subjects are taught there are not enough identified links in most subjects to ICT, so pupils do not develop their ICT skills well enough, nor do they identify suitable opportunities to use computers and other equipment to support their work. The school makes satisfactory provision for the pupils’ health education through the science curriculum. Some suitable opportunities are provided for the pupils’ personal and social education in some classes, particularly through “Circle Time” activities when relevant social, moral, emotional and health issues are discussed at length. Sex education and raising awareness of drugs issues are dealt with sensitively as the pupils progress through the school.

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PUPILS?

22. There are now policies and schemes of work in place for most subjects and the guidelines for teachers include good use of government and local education authority materials. However, all teachers do not always follow these and the monitoring of their implementation is not followed closely enough by co-ordinators. Therefore in some subjects pupils repeat work unnecessarily and progress is slowed. For example, in science, pupils in Year 5 repeat work on circuits already covered in Year 3 and do not move their learning forward to higher levels. Not enough time is St James C of E Primary School - 14 given to the teaching of art and design, particularly in the juniors.

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PUPILS?

23. The provision for pupils who have English as an additional language is good. Both teaching and support staff are deployed where they are most effective in helping pupils, particularly in the Foundation Stage and the infants. Planning for the specific needs of EAL pupils is generally good within the literacy hour and work is suitably modified to meet the specific language needs. However, some pupils who have English as an additional language, or special educational needs, do not always have full access to the curriculum. This is because there are several occasions when pupils are withdrawn from assemblies and from various lessons such as history, geography and design and technology on a regular basis for specialist teaching and support. While these pupils clearly benefit from additional literacy support and the Better Reading Partnership initiative, they always take part in these activities at the same time each week, thus missing the same lesson

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PUPILS?

each time. This is unsatisfactory and there is a lack of monitoring of the withdrawals from lessons.

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PUPILS?

24. The school’s strategy for teaching literacy is sound and the school’s strategy for teaching numeracy is good. Pupils have good opportunities to work in small groups to extend and develop relevant vocabulary and are supported well by the well-qualified support staff. Although there are good opportunities for pupils to develop specific vocabulary to support their knowledge in some subjects, there are not enough opportunities for pupils to talk to a range of audiences and practise this new vocabulary in different contexts and thus reinforce and develop understanding. There are not enough opportunities given to pupils to write in other subjects and thus improve their spelling, grammar and handwriting skills.

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PUPILS?

25. The provision of extra-curricular activities is very good. There are numerous clubs which take place after school and these are well attended by pupils. There are opportunities for the pupils to take part in a wide range of activities, including gymnastics, netball, rounders, football and dancing. Those who wish have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument and although many have only had three lessons, they are making good progress already getting a fairly good quality sound from a flute or guitar and reading simple music. These clubs make a good contribution to pupils’ personal development.

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PUPILS?

26. The provision for pupils’ social, moral and cultural development is good and it is satisfactory for pupils’ spiritual development. This is an improvement since the previous inspection when pupils’ social and cultural development were only satisfactory.

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PUPILS?

27. The provision for pupils’ spiritual development is satisfactory. School assemblies contribute well to this and offer pupils time to reflect on Bible stories and the moral and social lessons resulting from them. Good opportunities were presented in assemblies for pupils to learn about the relevance of the music selected for the assembly and how it related, for example, to David as a shepherd boy. In a design and technology lesson in Year 3, pupils considered Easter eggs and reflected on the similarity between an egg representing the stone at the entrance to Jesus’ tomb and an empty egg reflecting the empty tomb. Visits are made to St James church at Christmas and Harvest and Easter are celebrated in school. However, there is insufficient provision in lessons across the curriculum, for pupils to consider, reflect and be amazed at what they are learning and little focus is given to developing their creative talents.

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PUPILS?

28. Provision for pupils’ moral development is good. Pupils learn the difference between right and wrong through assemblies and school rules which pupils have agreed. As a result they understand the value of good behaviour and respect for one another. Gujerati speaking boys in the infants are sensitively taught to respect girls and female adults and by the time they reach juniors, have developed a healthy respect for their fellows and adults. Apart from this, no concern was evident regarding the inter-mixing of the different ethnic groups of pupils. Pupils’ behaviour is good in lessons and at least satisfactory in the playground. This is particularly evident in the infants, where pupils between four and seven years of age play harmoniously in the playground. St James C of E Primary School - 15 29. Provision for pupils’ social development is good. The school is a well-ordered community that promotes a harmonious environment overall and encourages strong relationships between pupils of

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PUPILS?

widely differing ethnic background. This is successful and enables boys and girls of different cultures to relate well and enjoy one another’s friendship. Extra-curricular activities further support this aim to which many pupils respond positively and show enthusiasm. Many older pupils fulfil positions of responsibility and younger ones collect and return attendance registers to the school office, enabling them to contribute to the smooth running of the school. Time is allocated in the week for pupils to take part in the personal, health and social education programme, to enable them to develop their appreciation of the needs of others. Pupils develop a sense of responsibility through collecting for children’s charities or specific needs such as the recent Indian earthquake appeal. However, there are not enough opportunities overall for pupils to show initiative, develop personal responsibility and contribute to school development.

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PUPILS?

30. The provision for pupils’ cultural development is good and the provision in music makes a particularly positive contribution. Junior pupils have been to a range of places of interest, including pupils in Year 3 visiting a brick factory and Year 4 pupils visiting the offices of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph. Year 5 pupils observed papermaking at a factory and pupils in Year 6 have links with Blackburn Rovers football club. Visits have also been made in the infants, for example when pupils in the Reception class visited a farm, Year 1 pupils visited a sea-life centre in Blackpool and Year 2 pupils visited Haigh Hall in connection with history. All of these supported pupils’ interest and learning well. Links have been established with a school with a very different pupil population to enable pupils to make comparisons.

p.15

PUPILS?

31. The community makes a satisfactory contribution to the pupils’ learning and the school has good links with partner institutions. Pupils visit the nearby St Mary’s College to learn basketball and football skills with students following the Community Sports Leader Award course. The school has many students from St Martin’s college on teacher training placements. There are good arrangements for transfer to secondary school including passing on teachers’ records.

p.15

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

32. The school is a warm, friendly place, where children are well known by staff and are welcomed and valued. This is the same as at the time of the previous inspection. The procedures for monitoring and improving attendance are satisfactory. The school tracks individual pupils’ attendance and punctuality closely and identifies significant absence as a result of extended holidays and the celebration of religious festivals. When pupils are absent, the school uses an external agency to contact parents if it is considered necessary. This is a good start, and although attendance is showing some improvement, these arrangements reduce the school’s direct communication with parents. The school and educational welfare officer work together closely to identify and monitor individual absences. However, no analysis has been undertaken to determine whether there are any particular patterns of absence among particular groups of pupils such as by

p.15

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

ethnicity, gender or ability. Furthermore, there are no procedures to promote individual attendance such as the awarding of certificates.

p.15

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

33. The procedures for monitoring and promoting good behaviour are good. The focus is on recognising and rewarding good behaviour, which encourages the majority of pupils to respond positively. This supports the aim for a calm and orderly school, which has a good effect on pupils’ learning. The pupils are fully aware of the rewards and sanctions and respond well to receiving certificates which recognise and celebrate their achievement. In those classes where behaviour is often very lively, the teachers use appropriate strategies to enable pupils to learn effectively. A small percentage of parents believe that behaviour could be better outside the classrooms and that some boys do not respect the females in school. The inspection found some evidence to support these views in the infants but not in the juniors. St James C of E Primary School - 16 34. The procedures for monitoring and supporting pupils’ personal development are satisfactory. The

p.15

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

care that staff show is good and promotes self-esteem and a desire to learn. All pupils in the school are aware of academic and personal development targets set for them and teachers regularly review these. The school is aware that there are limited opportunities for pupils to contribute ideas and make decisions about their school and is considering setting up a school council. Whilst pupils readily undertake roles of responsibility in school, there are insufficient planned opportunities for pupils to carry-out independent tasks on finding information for themselves or taking responsibility for their own learning.

p.16

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

35. Pupils with EAL are supported well in their personal development. The EAL co-ordinator has successfully reduced the rate of absence due to extended holidays through special meetings with parents. The bilingual support teacher, who is also the co-ordinator, supports the induction of reception pupils through home visits and effectively administers baseline assessments in mother tongues. EAL support staff keep their own records of pupils’ progress and these effectively feed into other whole school assessments in English.

p.16

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

36. The arrangements for child protection and the health and safety of pupils are satisfactory. There are appropriate links with the social services, ‘Seven Trees Family Centre’ and the police. The special educational needs co-ordinator is the designated person and has received the necessary training and communicated this to other staff. Mid-day and playground supervisors also receive training appropriate to their needs. Confidential records are stored securely. Satisfactory arrangements are in place for the regular checking of fire extinguishers and electrical items, though several electrical resources are beyond the test date. The school is aware of this and is arranging for checks to be carried out without delay.

p.16

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

37. Pupils with special educational needs are supported well and all of the requirements and guidance of the national Code of Practice are met. The individual education plans written by the class teacher and member of staff responsible for special educational needs are sound. The school successfully adopts a variety of strategies to monitor pupils’ progress. The school is effective at collecting, storing and using information gathered from many sources. The information acquired has a direct impact on teachers’ planning and the deployment of support staff throughout the school. At regular intervals a limited number of pupils with special educational needs are actively involved in reviewing their own progress against agreed targets.

p.16

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

38. The school’s procedures for assessing pupils’ work are satisfactory overall. There are good systems in place for assessing pupils’ attainment when they start school and throughout the school in English and mathematics. The procedures in place provide useful information on pupils’ attainment. The results of tests and other assessments are carefully analysed and the information is used to set suitable targets for individuals and groups of pupils. These are discussed with pupils, so that they know how well they are doing in these subjects, but the school has not yet developed these so that the pupils fully understand what they have to do next. The school is currently closely tracking the progress of three pupils of different abilities in each of the classes.

p.16

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

39. Careful analysis of pupils’ achievements by gender and ethnicity has enabled to school to identify needs and implement changes in its provision in English and mathematics. This has contributed to the improvement in these subjects over recent years. The school has begun to monitor progress of individuals against national and local standards and this has helped to raise expectations. However, there are only limited assessment procedures in science and information and communication technology and no formal procedures in place for the other subjects of the curriculum. This means that teachers do not have a clear view of pupils’ achievements and progress other than in English and mathematics. St James C of E Primary School - 17

p.16

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

40. The parents’ views of the school are very positive, with a high number of parents (58 per cent) returning the inspection questionnaires. Parents value the work of the school and are keen for their children to benefit from the community spirit of a church school. The majority of parents believe their children are taught to be mature and responsible, and that their children enjoy going to school. This inspection finds that links with parents are satisfactory overall and good in the infants, where 25 parent volunteers are involved in the ‘Better Reading’ scheme to help develop pupils’ reading skills and confidence. This initiative is particularly successful and promotes good relationships between these parents and the school. The school is seeking to build upon this, but is having only moderate success at present. Apart from this, a further two parents regularly help in the Reception and Year 2 classes. There is little help, however, in the junior classes.

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

Celebrations such as assemblies are poorly supported, with only one parent attending an assembly held during the inspection. The school invites parents with children in the infant classes to borrow educational games, books and audio-cassettes to support their children’s learning through fun activities. A few parents are keen to support their children’s involvement in sport and assist the school in transporting them to away matches for netball. Good links are developed with parents applying for their children to enter the Reception class. Staff visit the homes of those children who have a firm offer of a place. This is having a positive impact and is seen as the starting point for parental involvement in the work and life of the school.

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

41. The quality of information for parents is satisfactory overall. The prospectus and governors’ annual report are informative and communicated in a friendly manner. The headteacher issues at least three newsletters each year and parents receive information on what their children will study during the forthcoming year. This has only limited value, however, as they are only issued in English. A number of other leaflets do contain brief comment in Punjabi and Urdu, but there is not enough use of languages other than English. The school has organised curriculum evenings for parents of pupils in the infants, but not for those in juniors. The format and content of the end of year reports have been changed and they are not as good as those produced previously. Insufficient information is given in most of the individual subjects to identify what skills and understanding pupils have developed and what they need to do next. The current reports are

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

unsatisfactory and do not fulfil government requirements. A strength of communication, however, is in the information provided to parents regarding the target setting for their children in English, mathematics and their personal development.

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

42. The contribution of parents to their children’s learning is unsatisfactory. Whilst it is good in the infants it is insufficiently supported by parents in the juniors. The school has trialed a two-way communication with parents through the homework-reading diary, but this has not proven successful, with no effective communication being built up. Parents’ support for their children's homework is weak. The school is aware that many parents do not show sufficient interest in their children’s progress in the juniors.

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

43. The EAL co-ordinator works very effectively with parents and has implemented several initiatives. These include ‘Parent Clubs’ for parents who have children in the Foundation Stage and the infants, ‘Better Reading’ which involves training parents in the ways that they can support pupils’ reading both in school and at home and home-school lending libraries. The co-ordinator also makes important contributions to the annual reports to parents and parent evenings. The respective subject co-ordinators are also effective in organising different cultural events, such as Asian dancing and music, to encourage parents to become more involved with the school and with their children’s learning.

p.17

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

44. Individual education plans, for pupils with special educational needs, are shared with parents at regular, planned interviews and parents receive copies of these plans identifying action requiring their support. Parents are promptly informed if their child is identified as having special educational needs or if their child is to be moved to a different stage of the school’s register. St James C of E Primary School - 18 Most parents attend the annual reviews to discuss their child’s progress. However, the quality and amount of information regarding special educational needs in the governors’ annual report to parents is too limited.

p.17

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

45. The quality of leadership and management is satisfactory overall. The headteacher provides satisfactory leadership and direction to the work of the school. The staff are hard working and aim to provide an interesting broad, balanced and relevant range of learning opportunities which promote the development of all aspects of the pupils as individuals whilst raising academic standards. However, management structures and delegation of responsibilities are not rigorous and systematic enough to achieve effective, well-paced progress towards the school’s identified priorities.

p.18

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

46. The school has a large senior management team which meets weekly and the infant and junior department staff have weekly staff meetings. However, the whole staff only meet three times every school half term. The headteacher and deputy headteacher have a reasonable rationale for these arrangements, but they are not conducive to building a single school ethos and maximising whole-school working. At the time of the last inspection “a tangible lack of unity” was reported. This was essentially due to the split site. Although the headteacher has now been in post for about ten years, and there has been a considerable turnover of staff since the previous inspection, there is still some degree of separation amongst the staff.

p.18

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

47. The role of the subject co-ordinator is highly variable and it is barely satisfactory overall. Subject co-ordination is good in English and ICT, unsatisfactory in science, art and design, geography and physical education and satisfactory in the other subjects. The school has appointed co-ordinators for all subjects of the curriculum and other key areas of its work such as assessment and special educational needs. There is a good programme of non-contact time to help teachers carry out these responsibilities. However, the majority of the monitoring of classroom teaching has been carried out by the headteacher and deputy headteacher, who have observed a good number of lessons in English, mathematics and science and reported their findings to the individual teachers and subject co-ordinators. The English and ICT co-ordinators are the only ones who have carried out observations of teaching in their subjects. In other subjects, such as science, co-ordinators

p.18

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

have not successfully checked that teachers are using the school’s scheme of work properly.

p.18

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

48. The school is not making best use of subject specialists or teachers identified as being good in particular subjects. For example, there are two teachers identified as leading mathematics teachers by the local authority. Apart from the newly qualified teacher none of the other staff have seen these teachers teach mathematics. Although teachers have been to see leading mathematics teachers in other schools to increase their awareness of best practice, this is not an effective use of available expertise in the school. Therefore, the school is missing opportunities to utilise and share best practice in-house and to improve the quality of teaching and learning. This is a significant weakness in the work of the headteacher.

p.18

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

49. The school identifies very good priorities for development through its school development plan. The plan is well structured and fully costed. However, because of the weaknesses in the management processes and subject co-ordination, progress towards the set targets is not quick enough and evaluation of success is not rigorous enough.

p.18

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

50. The co-ordination and management of the provision for pupils who have English as an additional language is good. The co-ordinator has effectively developed many successful initiatives that ensure EAL pupils and their parents are well integrated and involved in the work of the school. The special educational needs co-ordinator provides sound leadership and support. She ensures St James C of E Primary School - 19 that all staff are aware of pupils’ individual special needs. Suitable arrangements for managing, supporting, assessing and reviewing pupils’ progress are in place. The school’s governing body is very supportive of the full inclusion of pupils with special educational needs. However, the school does not monitor the success of the policy closely enough.

p.18

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

51. The school governors make a very positive contribution to the work of the school. They meet their statutory responsibilities well and are highly supportive of the school. Properly constituted committees, and the full body, meet frequently and are heavily involved in strategic decisions and financial planning and management. The governors have a very good awareness of the school’s strengths, weaknesses and needs overall. The governors are not, however, aware of the weaknesses in the management structure and subject co-ordination and how this is reducing the pace of improvement. Individual governors such as the chair and those responsible for literacy, numeracy and special educational needs are very active in their roles. Governors are very knowledgeable about the standards achieved in the school in relation to available national, local and similar school data and consider it their responsibility to be fully involved in the attempts to

p.19

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

52. School improvement has been satisfactory overall since the last inspection. The school has worked hard to raise standards in science, particularly through a focus on experimental and investigative work. However, weaknesses remain, particularly in the junior department. There have been good improvements in information and communication technology led by an effective co-ordinator, but the school does not have enough computers to move forward swiftly and those it has are not used enough. There has been good progress with regard to the provision for pupils with special educational needs. Progress with regard to the monitoring and evaluation of teaching and curriculum development has been unsatisfactory. There has been good improvement with regard to financial planning. In addition to the key issues in the previous report, the standard of teaching has improved in that the percentage of unsatisfactory teaching has reduced from 14 per

p.19

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

53. Staffing, accommodation and learning resources are satisfactory overall. There are sufficient teachers and support staff to meet the demands of the curriculum. There are good arrangements for the induction of staff new to the school, particularly newly qualified teachers. The school supports many trainee teachers on placements well. Most classroom support staff have undertaken additional training and this positively enhances the quality of support provided both in the classroom and around the school.

p.19

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

54. The accommodation is adequate and used well with regard to meeting pupils’ needs. Building improvements were being undertaken in the infant department at the time of the inspection. However, the hall in the infants is barely adequate for assemblies and other activities, there are insufficient female staff toilets and the administrative staff work in very cramped conditions. Learning resources are satisfactory overall. They are good in English and music. Resources for EAL pupils are satisfactory and the school has a sufficient number of dual language books in order to support pupils learning in reading. Specially produced activities booklets have been prepared for pupils to take away with them on extended holidays in order to try and ensure pupils do not fall too far behind in their learning while away from school. There are not enough computers in the school and not enough large play equipment for the children in the Foundation

p.19

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

55. Effective administration ensures smooth running of the school on a day-to-day basis. The school governors, senior managers and administrative staff effectively plan and monitor the school budget. Specific grants such as the national Standards Fund and New Opportunities Fund and funds identified in the school budget for supporting pupils with special educational needs are used effectively. Most of the recommendations raised by the local authority’s audit of financial management have been addressed and outstanding items are being carefully monitored by the governors. The school applies the principles of best value well and is improving its procedures in St James C of E Primary School - 20 this regard. Not enough use is being made of modern technology in the work of the school as a whole. St James C of E Primary School - 21

p.19

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(1) Raise standards in English, mathematics, science, information and communication technology and art and design by: • Making better use of those teachers identified as good practitioners in these subjects to share best practice; • Providing more opportunities to contribute to discussions in lessons and develop their speaking skills; • Ensuring that teachers follow the provided guidelines to help them with their planning; • Making better use of available learning resources, particularly computers and available programmes, CD-ROM and the Internet; • Increasing the amount of time allocated to art and design. (Paragraph Nos. 5. 16. 17. 22. 24. 48. 70. 73. 83. 87. 91. 97. 106. 119. 123).

p.21

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(2) Improve the school’s procedures for the monitoring of the quality of teaching and the curriculum by: • Clarifying the respective roles of the senior management and subject co-ordinators so that the strengths and weaknesses in teaching and the curriculum are identified and acted on systematically and rigorously. (Paragraph Nos. 46. 47. 74. 83. 92. 97. 108. 123. 128).

p.21

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(3) Improve the procedures to assess what pupils, know understand and can do by: • Extending the good practice in English and mathematics across all subjects of the curriculum, through the introduction of simple but systematic arrangements to record individual pupils’ achievements and using this information in teachers’ planning. (Paragraph Nos. 38. 39. 92. 101. 107. 118. 128).

p.21

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(4) Improve attendance by: • Analysing attendance by gender, ethnicity and ability and targeting identified groups of pupils other than those whose attendance is affected by extended holidays and religious celebrations; • Introducing a system of rewards such as certificates for good or significantly improved individual attendance; • Improving the existing programme of action designed to reduce absence due to extended holidays and religious celebrations. (Paragraph Nos. 32).

p.21

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

(5) Ensure that all pupils have equal access to the provided learning opportunities by: • Carefully monitoring when individuals or small groups of pupils are withdrawn from other subjects, particularly for additional literacy work, and varying timetables, so that the same pupils do not miss lessons in the same subject for significant periods of time. (Paragraph Nos. 23). St James C of E Primary School - 22

p.21

Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of lessons observed 81 Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 38

p.22

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor 1 9 32 52 5 1 0 The table gives the percentage of teaching observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons.

p.22

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll YR – Y6 Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 394 Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 141 Special educational needs YR – Y6 Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 11 Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 110 English as an additional language No of pupils Number of pupils with English as an additional language 335 Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 13 Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 16

p.22

Authorised absence Unauthorised absence

% % School data 8.0 School data 0.0 National comparative data 5.2 National comparative data 0.5 Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. St James C of E Primary School - 23

p.22

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Year Boys Girls Total Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2000 30 27 57

p.23

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

Numbers of pupils at NC Boys 17 16 29 level 2 and above Girls 18 19 20 Total 35 35 49 Percentage of pupils School 61 (76) 61 (76) 86 (90) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (82) 85 (83) 90 (87)

p.23

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Numbers of pupils at NC Boys 19 26 24 level 2 and above Girls 23 22 22 Total 42 48 46 Percentage of pupils School 74 (72) 84 (74) 81 (59) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (82) 88 (86) 88 (87) Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year.

p.23

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2

Year Boys Girls Total Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2000 31 25 56

p.23

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

Numbers of pupils at NC Boys 20 21 27 level 4 and above Girls 14 15 17 Total 34 36 44 Percentage of pupils School 61 (65) 64 (58) 79 (58) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (70) 72 (69) 85 (78)

p.23

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

Numbers of pupils at NC Boys 19 19 24 level 4 and above Girls 16 17 17 Total 35 36 41 Percentage of pupils School 63 (47) 64 (89) 73 (84) at NC level 4 or above National 70 (68) 72 (69) 80 (75) St James C of E Primary School - 24 Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. St James C of E Primary School - 25

p.23

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage 1 Black – Caribbean heritage 0 0

p.25

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – African heritage 0 Black – African heritage 0 0 Black – other 8 Black – other 0 0 Indian 206 Indian 0 0 Pakistani 119 Pakistani 0 0 Bangladeshi 0 Bangladeshi 0 0 Chinese 1 Chinese 0 0 White 59 White 0 0 Any other minority ethnic group 0 Other minority ethnic groups 0 0

p.25

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

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.

p.25

Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y6

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 18.5 Financial year 1999/2000

p.25

Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y6

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 21.3

p.25

Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y6

Average class size 28.1 £ Total income 667,076 Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total expenditure 681,315 Total number of education support staff 18 Expenditure per pupil 1,695

p.25

Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y6

Total aggregate hours worked per week 317 Balance brought forward from previous year 84,578

p.25

Qualified teachers and classes: YR – Y6

Balance carried forward to next year 74,026 St James C of E Primary School - 26

p.25

Percentage of responses in each category

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

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

My child is making good progress in school. 50 41 6 1 1

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

Behaviour in the school is good. 54 34 8 1 2

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 42 40 12 4 2

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 47 41 7 3 2

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 60 32 4 2 3

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 61 32 2 0 4

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

The school works closely with parents. 53 34 8 1 4

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

The school is well led and managed. 49 34 6 3 7

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 54 37 2 3 4

p.26

Percentage of responses in each category

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 40 29 9 4 17 St James C of E Primary School - 27

p.26

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

57. There are currently 59 children in the reception year, which makes up the Foundation Stage. Although most of these children have some pre-school experience, the majority enter school with little English and start with skills, which are very low in communication, language and literacy and in mathematical development. In personal, social and emotional development, and in knowledge and understanding of the world, skills are well below those expected, while creative and physical development skills are broadly average. This is lower than at the time of the previous inspection which reported attainment on entry to be average. Home-school visits are useful in forging links between home and school and enable the school to gain a good knowledge of the children’s individual circumstances. This helps in the initial settling in process when the children start school and in focusing appropriate support to those requiring additional help with English.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

58. The quality of teaching is good overall. By the end of the year, children have made good progress in communication, language and literacy, mathematical development and in their personal, social and emotional development due to the effective intervention of adults. The support assistants in both reception classes are able to talk to the children in their first language thus ensuring understanding, but also adding to the successful development of skills in these areas of learning. Day-to-day planning gives all adults working in the reception classes a good understanding of the children’s learning needs. The information is used to put children into appropriate learning groups on which the organisation of learning is suitably based. However, there are weaknesses in curriculum planning which does not identify the specific skills to be learned well enough. There is too much directed learning by the teacher, giving children too few opportunities to talk about their

p.27

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

learning or to use their imagination to explore a range of objects and situations. The recent purchase of new furniture has enabled the school to organise the classrooms into separate areas for specific activities with a range of suitable equipment for the children to use.

p.27

Personal, social and emotional development

59. In most aspects of personal, social and emotional development the majority of the children start school with below average skills. The great majority have very little English and this is a factor in their low levels of confidence and self-esteem when they first start school. Activities focus appropriately on the development of these areas initially and on the development of English. Consequently the children are soon happy to be in school and are all fully involved in the range of activities on offer. Relationships are forged quickly and the children play well together sharing and taking turns with the toys and games. Because the teaching is good, the children make good progress and many of them are likely to achieve the early learning goals in this area of learning. Many of the children are happy to talk to visitors after initial caution and confidently ask questions and ask for help with their work and play. All children are developing some independence and are

p.27

Personal, social and emotional development

encouraged to take care of their own belongings when they come into the classroom. They follow carefully the well-established routines when hanging up their coats and placing gloves, hats and books in the relevant container. They are quick to settle to registration and listen to the teacher carefully for their name. Behaviour is good in the classroom due to the high expectations of adults and to the quiet and positive reminders in their first language, if necessary, of what is expected. Many children undress themselves unaided and are beginning to keep their clothes together to prevent them getting mixed up with others in the class. Positive relationships are encouraged at all times and the children play alongside each other happily, for example, when engaged in activities in the water and sand trays or when sharing the bricks making their individual models.

p.27

Communication, language and literacy

60. Children enter school with very low skills in communication, language and literacy and many St James C of E Primary School - 28 children still have well below average skills by the end of the Foundation Stage. Good teaching ensures that the children make good progress in this area and this is evident by the number of children who talk to each other in English when playing with each other in the classroom. The children listen very well to the teacher during lessons and this is a factor in the good progress that they make in their early gains in English vocabulary. There are, however, not enough opportunities for children to practise their new vocabulary to develop their understanding. Too much emphasis is placed on listening and answering adults’ direct questions. The support given by additional adults who are able to speak to the children in their first language is good and ensures that any minor difficulties in the development of early reading skills are ironed out. This is

p.27

Communication, language and literacy

particularly effective during group work to learn the names and sounds of letters. The children enjoy books and handle them well and most know that print tells a story. The higher attaining children know a small number of words on sight and are using these to read the first books in the reading scheme. Progress in the development of early writing skills is good and, through carefully focused teaching, most children are able to use letters to write independently about what they have done at home and are able to read their writing back when asked. Higher attaining children are beginning to organise their writing into simple sentences and enjoy making posters asking for help from other children to find the missing animals from their jungle.

p.28

Mathematical development

61. Children enter school with very low levels of skill in mathematical development. Due to good teaching, based on careful assessments of their needs, the children learn to count numbers beyond ten with confidence and to add together small groups of objects. Their learning is reinforced through suitable rhymes and practical games which they enjoy. One group learned quickly how to count on 2, 3 or 4, as they were required to walk the correct number of places on a number line before repeating the activity with counters. During some lessons, the supporting adults ensure that the children understand any new learning by reinforcing the vocabulary in the children’s first language. This has been particularly effective in the gains in number awareness. However, the children still have difficulty when learning other aspects of mathematical development, including knowledge and understanding of position and measures. By the end of the reception year many

p.28

Mathematical development

children are likely to reach the early learning goals in number, but not in the other aspects of mathematics.

p.28

Knowledge and understanding of the world

62. On entry to school the children’s understanding of the world in which they live is well below average. During the inspection, they were able to talk about their families in some detail, knowing about brothers, sisters and the wider family members. They develop an increasing understanding of the local area through a variety of meaningful activities. For example, they observed the detail in photographs to make models from Lego of nearby buildings. The necessity to cross the road outside regularly to attend assemblies in the Junior School allows good opportunities for them to learn about Road Safety issues. The children thoroughly enjoy their work related to “Where in the World is Mickey Mouse”, particularly as he has visited parts of the world that are familiar to many of them, including India and Pakistan. Their knowledge and understanding of the scientific aspects of this area of learning is still well below average.

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

63. Teaching is satisfactory overall. However, it is too directed and the children do not have enough opportunities to explore independently a range of objects to find out why things happen and how things work. Through their work in the ‘Jungle’ role-play area the children were beginning to find a number of different insects, learning about colours and counting the creatures’ legs. The children particularly enjoyed a game in which they had to say which of six possible animals were making the sound being played. The game was too short, however, and no opportunity was provided for the children to play the game independently, despite their obvious involvement and motivation to learn further. The children use computers to support their learning in many aspects of learning. One uses the mouse to correctly move and match numbers and pictures. Two St James C of E Primary School - 29 children worked together to draw a picture of their favourite animal, using a suitable programme to

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

create the shape, colour and stripes of a tiger. With help from an adult, they were able to print out their work to display it proudly on the good work board. Good progress is made in knowledge and understanding of the world but, by the end of the reception year, the children are unlikely to achieve the early learning goals in this area of learning.

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Physical development

64. The quality of teaching is satisfactory and most children make satisfactory progress in their physical development. By the end of the reception year, the majority are likely to achieve the early learning goals in this area of learning in their fine motor and control skills. While there is a suitable space outside for the children to take part regularly in some kind of physical activity, there are not enough resources or planned activities to support the development of skills in this aspect sufficiently well. There are not enough opportunities for pupils to explore and develop the specific skills of balancing, climbing, jumping and rolling. Children are able to run around the playground safely, successfully avoiding bumping into each other. There are not enough wheeled toys to help pupils extend their skills in developing a greater awareness of space. The school has identified this issue in its improvement plans and is aware of the weaknesses identified during the inspection.

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Physical development

65. Many children used scissors safely to cut out accurately petals for their ‘Mothering Sunday’ cards and could use glue sticks to place these in their chosen place to make a flower. All children make a good try at writing their names and most hold a pencil with a suitable grip and form most letters correctly.

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Creative development

66. Teaching and learning is satisfactory. Suitable opportunities are provided for children to improve their creative development skills. Although they have free access to paint, during the inspection few children actually chose to do this when given the opportunity. There is a range of interesting and relevant role-play areas developed through the year but the children are not given enough time or opportunity to develop their imaginative play. Similarly, musical activities are relevant and interesting, but there are not enough opportunities for children to explore a range of instruments to find out how sounds can be produced and changed. There are weaknesses in curriculum planning which, although it identifies a range of activities in which the children can take part, does not allow enough freedom for children to explore independently and use their imagination in art and design, music, dance, role-play and stories.

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ENGLISH

67. Standards in English are below the national average by the age of seven and well below the national average by the age of 11. Higher attaining pupils do reach standards in line with the expected National Curriculum Level 4. However, very few achieve the higher Level 5, with only seven per cent doing so in 2000 compared with 29 per cent nationally. The school has a very high percentage of pupils who have English as an additional language and most pupils enter the school with very little or no understanding of English. Inspection findings indicate that most pupils make good progress in the infants and sound progress in the juniors in relation to their prior attainment. Pupils throughout the school achieve well in listening and reading and standards in these areas of learning are in line with national expectations. Standards in speaking, spelling and grammar are weak.

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ENGLISH

68. Results in the 2000 national tests for 11 year-olds were well below the national average. Taking into account the three years 1998 to 2000 together, the performance of pupils in English was below the national average. In comparison with schools with pupils' from similar backgrounds, the performance of pupils was average. It was below average in relation to their attainment in 1996. The school's performance in the 2000 National Curriculum tests for seven year-olds in both St James C of E Primary School - 30 reading and writing was well below the national average. The previous inspection report showed standards in line with national expectations in speaking, listening and reading, but not in writing at the end of both key stages. This does not amount to a significant lowering of standards because the percentage of pupils with English as an additional language has increased substantially.

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ENGLISH

69. All groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs, make good progress in the infants. In the juniors, all groups of pupils make satisfactory progress overall, with the exception of pupils with special educational needs who make good progress. Pupils who have English as an additional language make particularly good progress in the infants and in Years 3 and 4. This is because the school has made good use of additional literacy support and specialist EAL support staff, including bilingual teaching and support staff. This support is effective because it ensures pupils gain a better understanding of language and provides them with tasks and activities that are well matched to their specific language needs.

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ENGLISH

70. Across the school, attainment in speaking is well below national expectations because pupils have too limited a knowledge and understanding of a broad vocabulary to be able to express their ideas, views and opinions clearly. Many older pupils do not speak confidently in front of an audience. Teachers effectively promote speaking skills during lessons through questioning and discussion. However, they often do not challenge pupils enough to give extended answers to questions in order to justify their opinions and express their views more fully. Although suitable opportunities exist to promote speaking skills in some assemblies and through drama, particularly in Years 1 and 2, there are too few planned opportunities across the curriculum to develop speaking skills through activities such as role-play and debate. Attainment in listening is in line with national expectations at the end of both key stages. Throughout the school pupils listen attentively in many different

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ENGLISH

situations and from an early age can respond appropriately to instructions.

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ENGLISH

71. Throughout the school, pupils make good progress in reading and achieve standards in line with national averages at the end of both key stages. Shared and guided reading are well structured within the literacy hour. There are other well planned opportunities to promote reading, such as the very successful 'Better Reading’ project, which involves parents reading with children other than their own in school, and the home-school lending library. All these ensure that pupils acquire an interest in books from an early age and continue to make good progress as they move through the school. Most pupils throughout the school enjoy reading and they soon acquire a range of strategies to read unfamiliar words. Although some pupils read with limited expression and lack some understanding of specific vocabulary, most pupils are confident, fluent readers by the age of 11. The school libraries are used well by teachers to support learning and most pupils have a good

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ENGLISH

understanding of how to use a library and confidently use a contents, index and glossary page.

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ENGLISH

72. Attainment in writing is weak across the school, although attainment is slightly better in the infants in relation to their prior attainment and age. By the age of seven, pupils write simple sentences and stories which have a definite beginning, middle and end. However, they do not use full stops and capitals consistently. Pupils’ spelling and use of grammar are poor throughout the school. Teachers sometimes miss opportunities to sufficiently promote spelling patterns and phonics during the literacy hour. Most pupils make sound progress in developing their knowledge and understanding of a range of punctuation. However, pupils generally do not apply this knowledge well enough in their own writing and their use of punctuation is inconsistent. There are too few opportunities for pupils to write at length and for different purposes in other subjects across the curriculum. For example, in history, geography and science there is an over reliance by teachers

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ENGLISH

on giving pupils worksheets that require only one word or short phrased answers or to copy text. This restricts the development of extended personal writing. In handwriting, older pupils do not consistently join letters and handwriting is often untidy and not well presented across the curriculum. Most pupils’ limited knowledge and understanding of a range of vocabulary restricts their ability to use specific adjectives and words creatively for interest and effect in both poetic and descriptive writing. St James C of E Primary School - 31 73. The quality of teaching and learning is good. The school has successfully implemented the National Literacy Strategy and this has supported teachers’ planning very effectively. Teachers identify precise learning objectives in their lesson planning and these are clearly communicated to pupils so that they understand what they are going to learn. In the best lessons, the literacy hour is

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ENGLISH

well structured and organised. During guided reading and writing activities, teachers, including EAL support staff, concentrate on developing key skills, and promote learning effectively through the use of demonstration and precise questioning. Teachers have high expectations and plan work effectively for different groups of pupils. The pace of lessons is brisk which ensures pupils stay focussed and are well motivated. Support staff are used well to support learning and teachers manage pupils well. When teaching is not so successful, teachers miss opportunities for pupils to read aloud during shared reading to practise skills. Teachers too readily accept short responses to questions and do not sufficiently challenge pupils to extend their answers. During independent work, teachers do not provide pupils with resources such as dictionaries, word banks and lists to support their independent writing, particularly for those pupils who have English as an additional

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ENGLISH

language. The teachers’ organisation of group work within some lessons does not allow EAL support staff to sit with one particular group for intensive teaching of key literacy skills.

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ENGLISH

74. The subject is well managed and co-ordinated. The co-ordinator is very knowledgeable and committed and effectively keeps up to date with new developments and initiatives in the subject in order to strengthen the curriculum. Although the co-ordinator has effectively modelled good practice across the school when implementing the literacy hour, there are insufficient opportunities for her to monitor the quality of teaching and learning in order to improve standards. The school carefully analyses both statutory and non-statutory tests by both gender and ethnic mix in order to identify strengths and weaknesses and, as a result, clear priorities have been identified for future development.

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MATHEMATICS

75. Pupils in Year 2 and Year 6 attain standards below expectations for their ages in numeracy and in all other aspects of mathematics. The 2000 national tests indicate standards well below the average when compared with schools nationally. However, when compared with similar schools, results achieved are below average at the age of seven years and average at the age of 11 years. Scrutiny of pupils’ work indicates that standards are improving and, since 1996, there has been a steady increase in the proportion of 11 year-olds reaching the required standards in the national tests, in line with the national trend. The high proportion of pupils taking extended holidays in Year 6 has a negative impact on standards. Nevertheless, standards are still not as high as they should be. In some classes teachers do not expect enough of more able pupils who subsequently underachieve, failing to build upon previous learning at an accelerated rate. Often the more able

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MATHEMATICS

pupils undertake the same work as the other pupils in the class before moving on to more difficult work. However, pupils with special educational needs receive much more additional help during numeracy lessons and make good progress in relation to their prior learning levels. There are marked differences between the performance of girls and boys, for example boys often responding more confidently during mental sessions at the start of lessons.

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MATHEMATICS

76. The downward trend in attainment when compared with the previous inspection, which indicated standards for seven and 11 year old pupils as average, is attributed to a growing number of pupils in the infant classes for whom English is a second language. This factor has a direct effect on the standards reached by pupils at the end of Year 2. From Year 5 onwards, pupils’ have a sound understanding of questions with a numerical content. In Year 6, pupils are confident, presenting ideas and using information accurately from a variety of sources. The very good cross-curricular links with English appropriately target pupils’ comprehension skills.

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MATHEMATICS

77. By the end of Year 2, pupils are developing a sound understanding of numbers up to 50, confidently counting forwards in twos and fives. However, pupils are less confident when St James C of E Primary School - 32 counting from 50 to 100. Most pupils know the names of two-dimensional shapes, indicating the major differences and similarities. The opportunity to solve problems in real life situations is mainly restricted to the use of decimal coinage. Not enough use is made of mathematical challenges and games to help pupils individually and collectively to develop a deeper understanding of mathematical principles. There is an overuse of worksheets that require one-figure answers. The ability to use more than one method mentally is underdeveloped. Scrutiny of pupils’ work indicates standards below those expected nationally. The repetition and writing down of simple addition calculation tasks, for example four added to two, slows learning when pupils already

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MATHEMATICS

display number confidence well beyond 20. There is insufficient use of information and communication technology to gather and interpret data in the form of graphs and diagrams and draw conclusions.

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MATHEMATICS

78. By the age of 11, pupils quickly and accurately work out calculations in their heads. They understand equivalent fractions and decimals; they are developing their measuring skills linked to the manufacture of models in design technology, and use and interpret a wide range of diagrams and charts. Pupils are less secure in checking their answers and making sensible estimations. The setting of work involving real life problems is a strong feature of many lessons in the upper juniors. The implementation of the National Numeracy Strategy has had a beneficial impact on the quality of teachers’ planning. Here there is a suitable balance of whole class teaching and individual and group work involving all pupils. The brisk mental starter, the sharing of lesson targets with pupils and the getting together at the end of the lesson to review the learning that has taken place are benefiting pupils’ understanding of mathematical language.

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MATHEMATICS

79. The quality of teaching and learning throughout the school is satisfactory overall. In Years 1 and 2 teaching is usually satisfactory and occasionally good. In Years 3 to 6 the quality of teaching varies from satisfactory to excellent, and is satisfactory overall. The pace of learning in some classes lacks challenge and rigour. Nevertheless, in the very good lessons observed in the upper juniors, the teacher maintained a high level of challenge for all pupils, using a very good range of mathematical vocabulary. This resulted in pupils being able to explain their work using the correct terminology. In the satisfactory lessons observed, discussions at the end of lessons were rushed and failed to celebrate success and review progress made. In a Year 4 lesson, inappropriate activities were selected that did not challenge and build upon pupils’ prior knowledge, and learning targets were not well defined. While pupils are encouraged to think why certain things happen

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MATHEMATICS

and look for patterns which will help their understanding, some tasks are directed too closely by the class teacher and do not give pupils the opportunity to devise their own methods and thus improve their investigational skills. Pupils are also required to record their answers formally too frequently rather than developing a more practical approach to problem solving. The excellent practice observed in Year 6 is not shared universally throughout the school to raise standards.

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MATHEMATICS

80. Pupils are taught relevant mathematical language and most classroom displays reflect a range of appropriate mathematical vocabulary. However, with the exception of Years 5 and 6, displays contain very little of pupils’ own work. Good use is made of support staff assisting pupils with special educational needs as well as those pupils who find some aspects of mathematics difficult to understand. The good relations that exist between pupils and adults help to ensure calm well- organised routines.

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MATHEMATICS

81. Pupils have very good attitudes to mathematics and respond well in most lessons. This enhances the quality of learning although some work lacks challenge, for example number activities based on worksheets which are too easy for more able pupils. Pupils work co-operatively in groups, collaborating and sharing ideas and equipment. Their behaviour is good, with some examples of exemplary behaviour in Year 6. Pupils show good levels of motivation and confidence. However, pupils have too few opportunities to choose their own equipment.

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MATHEMATICS

82. Leadership and management are satisfactory. Taken as a whole, arrangements for assessing and monitoring pupils’ progress and attainment are satisfactory. National tests are analysed in great St James C of E Primary School - 33 detail to identify trends and areas for development. The school is developing the use of non- statutory test materials to track pupils’ progress from year to year. Careful assessments are carried out regularly in lessons. Nevertheless assessment data is not used consistently to plan work for pupils of different ability within the class. Marking gives praise to individuals and the very best examples inform them how to improve their work, but this level of help is not given often enough to promote better than satisfactory learning.

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MATHEMATICS

83. Few teachers have had the opportunity to observe very good practice in the opening part of a numeracy lesson and there is a need for this supportive training to raise standards in pupils’ mental and oral skills. Time has been allocated to enable some limited monitoring to take place. The impact of this monitoring of standards has yet to be fully realised as it is at an early stage of development. Teachers are aware of the current weaknesses in the school’s provision for mathematics, but there is a positive shared commitment to raise standards.

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SCIENCE

84. Standards at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 are well below average. In the latest teacher assessments in Year 2 and the National Curriculum tests in Year 6, pupils achieved well below the average for schools across the country, although they achieved just as well as pupils in similar schools. At the age of seven, although overall standards are well below average, a much higher than average number of pupils achieve higher levels. This is not sustained in the tests at 11 when the number of pupils achieving higher levels is below average. Overall standards have been maintained since the last inspection.

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SCIENCE

85. Pupils get off to a good start in the infant classes because of the overall good teaching. Despite the good teaching, learning is only satisfactory because of the high proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language and the fact that the pupils start from a low base. The teachers have secure subject knowledge and a very good understanding of how young children learn. They provide interesting and exciting activities and guide the pupils well in their practical work while still allowing them to express their own ideas. They use displays very effectively to reinforce what pupils have learnt. Although standards in the current Year 2 are well below average overall, a small minority of pupils show good understanding. For example, while most pupils know that plants need water and light to grow healthily, these pupils are able to explain what happens to plants when they do not have enough water and light. Through their work on materials, most

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SCIENCE

pupils can explain how heating or cooling can change some things such as chocolate, butter and water. A few are beginning to identify some changes that can be reversed. Most pupils can make a light bulb work by connecting a simple circuit.

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SCIENCE

86. The satisfactory progress that pupils make in the infant classes is not built upon in the junior classes. Although some good teaching was seen, a third of the lessons were unsatisfactory or poor. The overall impact of teaching on pupils’ learning is unsatisfactory. An examination of pupils’ books and folders, and displays around the school shows that not enough work is covered in Years 3, 4 and 5. Pupils in Year 6 cover a good range of work. The teaching in Year 6 is at least satisfactory and this leads to satisfactory learning over the year. However, although most pupils reach an appropriate standard in the aspects they are taught in Year 6, the inconsistent delivery of the curriculum in previous years means that they do not have enough experiences to develop satisfactory understanding. Most pupils can identify the major organs of the body, but they do not know enough about the organs of plants. They are beginning to appreciate the feeding

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SCIENCE

relationships between plants and animals. They can separate a mixture of two substances by sieving, but most do not know how to separate a mixture of more than two substances. They have a satisfactory knowledge of electrical circuits and can describe how a burglar alarm works.

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SCIENCE

87. Although there is an agreed policy for the teaching and learning of science, it is not implemented consistently in all the junior classes. The work that pupils do does not match the intended St James C of E Primary School - 34 programme of work and it does not build on what pupils know already. This was illustrated very clearly in a Year 5 lesson when pupils were given a very low level activity. The task was to sort materials according to whether they were transparent, translucent or opaque. Pupils demonstrated good knowledge at the beginning of the lesson so it was not an efficient use of time.

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SCIENCE

88. Too often, teachers have low expectations of what pupils can achieve and pupils are not always challenged to think for themselves. The work is not matched to the abilities of the pupils and, for the most part, they are all expected to complete the same tasks. This means that, while some pupils struggle because they do not fully understand, those who are capable of doing more are marking time. This is not the case in Year 6, where teachers have high expectations and demand more from higher attaining pupils.

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SCIENCE

89. The school puts good emphasis on engaging pupils in practical work. This stimulates and interests the pupils and the vast majority are well behaved and eager to learn. They co-operate well in groups and show respect for each other’s ideas. This was shown in a good lesson in Year 4 where the pupils were separating materials. They listened well to each other and took turns to try out their ideas.

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SCIENCE

90. Although the school puts good emphasis on practical work, pupils have limited enquiry skills because these are not taught systematically and developed effectively in relevant contexts. Teachers do not plan effectively to develop knowledge and understanding through scientific enquiry. For example, Year 5 pupils know from practical experience that shadows can be made longer by placing a torch nearer to an object. However, they cannot relate this to the differing lengths of shadows during the day, and very few can explain why shadows are formed. Teachers work hard to develop scientific skills. However, they are not sufficiently secure in their own knowledge and this sometimes leads to inappropriate activities. For example, in one lesson seen the teacher introduced fair testing into a straightforward activity concerned with changing the length of shadows.

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SCIENCE

91. The subject is used well to develop pupils’ literacy skills. The school has responded well to the key issue in the last report that identified the need to devise strategies to help pupils to understand scientific vocabulary. Teachers discuss key words and display them effectively around the school to reinforce understanding. The use of information and communications technology is satisfactory overall, although it is inconsistent. Pupils use CD-ROM to find information and Year 5 pupils have started to use data sensing equipment to find out how much light passes through materials. Pupils do not have enough opportunities to measure and record their findings in graphs, tables and charts.

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SCIENCE

92. The management of the subject is unsatisfactory. The co-ordinator has been in post for a relatively short period of time. The quality of teaching and learning has been monitored by the headteacher and deputy headteacher but not the subject co-ordinator. Although the progress of a sample of pupils is tracked as they move through the school, there is no whole-school approach to assessing individual pupil’s attainment and progress. Individual pupil records are not kept. As a result, lessons are not planned to build on what pupils know already and this means that their progress is often too slow. Throughout the school, pupils who speak English as an additional language are supported well in lessons and they make similar progress to the rest of the pupils.

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ART AND DESIGN

93. Pupils make satisfactory progress in the infant classes and by the time they are seven attainment is in line with that expected for pupils of their age. This is a result of the good teaching characterised by the systematic development of drawing skills and painting techniques to obtain specific effects. Pupils in Year 2 have a good awareness of colour and appreciate how bold colours can be used for effect. The displays around the classrooms show that the pupils generally St James C of E Primary School - 35 work carefully. Teachers give good encouragement by displaying their work attractively. In one lesson seen, the pupils showed good observational skills and used a variety of objects to print appropriate shapes for different parts of a flower. Some pupils used the edges of card to print narrow petals with considerable skill and care. The work on display shows that pupils use a computer program effectively to experiment with colour and shape.

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ART AND DESIGN

94. The good start that pupils make in the infants is not sustained in the junior classes. They make unsatisfactory progress and by the end of Year 6 attainment is below that expected for pupils of their age. This represents a decline since the last inspection when standards were average. Teaching is unsatisfactory and as a result pupils learn little. Teachers do not build on the skills and techniques that the pupils have acquired in the infant classes. Some teachers’ subject knowledge is weak and this leads to low expectations of what pupils can achieve, and artistic skills not being taught effectively. For example, a display of pictures based on the work of Monet showed that pupils had not been taught that he was an Impressionist and they did not use his particular techniques.

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ART AND DESIGN

95. The subject is not given sufficient status in the junior classes. Most of the work is linked to topics. While this provides occasional good opportunities for developing pupils’ skills, for example, making death masks in Year 3, much of the work that pupils do is illustrations of their work in other subjects. Pupils do not have experience of a sufficient range of materials. Three-dimensional and textile work is under-developed. The pupils have very limited knowledge of artists or their works. 96. Pupils throughout the school show positive attitudes to learning. They enjoy their work and are keen to discuss it. When they are encouraged to do so they work carefully. They co-operate well in groups as was seen in a Year 4 lesson when they discussed sensibly how to mix a colour wash.

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ART AND DESIGN

97. The school’s planning for the subject does not contain sufficient guidance for teachers. However, the main reason for the low standards is that, particularly in the junior classes, insufficient time is given to teaching art and design as a subject in its own right. The co-ordinator has good subject knowledge and expertise and is well placed to lead the subject forward. She is not being empowered to lead effectively by monitoring teaching and learning in classes and sharing her knowledge and expertise with colleagues in the junior classes.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

98. Pupils are generally making satisfactory progress in both elements of designing and making throughout the school. This is similar to the judgement made in the previous inspection and the school has made satisfactory improvement. Only three lessons were observed because of the timetables during the inspection week. Suitable evidence was obtained from a scrutiny of pupils’ work, photographic evidence and discussions with staff including their overall planning. The development of pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding is satisfactory overall and meets national expectations. In the lessons observed, pupils appeared confident in their basic designing skills and were gaining experience in the use of a wide range of materials and equipment.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

99. Throughout the school, pupils’ experience and understanding of the complete designing, making and evaluating process is being developed appropriately. In their work on food technology, for example, pupils in Year 1 understand how to make a pizza. They identify the different ingredients in their original design and later evaluate their own work. Pupils’ knowledge of the importance of design is further developed in Year 3 through their exploratory work on the shape of Easter eggs. In Year 4, most pupils generate their own designs for a range of greetings cards using basic mechanisms of levers and windows for pop up and hang down features. From a scrutiny of work on display pupils have designed and built cars in different sizes and shapes and tested them travelling down a ramp. Appropriate links with numeracy have been made with block graphs and tally charts illustrating their final evaluations. Between the ages of seven and 11, there is evidence

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

of other cross-curricular links as, for example, in models of Tudor homes made in relation to the St James C of E Primary School - 36 Year 5 history topic and contour models of rivers in Year 6 geography. The design and preparation of puppetry in Year 5 is well presented. Although to some extent these activities are undertaken as prescribed tasks at the beginning, pupils are encouraged to make their own designs and identify and evaluate problems as they proceed.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

100. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall. Lessons are well planned and tasks are generally matched to the level of the pupils. They build steadily on their knowledge and understanding of the overall process involved in this subject. Pupils are eager to be involved and they clearly enjoy being engaged in practical activities. They listen attentively and most are able to follow instructions carefully. Behaviour is generally good and pupils share their equipment sensibly and safely. It is evident from the scrutiny of work that the use of appropriate classroom strategies has lead pupils to develop designing and making skills and take pride in their finished work.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

101. At present the subject is satisfactorily led by a co-ordinator who has been appointed on a temporary basis. The curriculum is broad and balanced, but the overall scheme of work has not been updated in line with recommendations of recent guidelines. Resources are adequate and there are plans to acquire more materials to support specific areas, particularly textiles. Though some form of informal monitoring of pupils’ work does occur there are no formal assessment procedures established for the subject.

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GEOGRAPHY

102. Most pupils in Years 1 and 2 make good progress, and the majority build effectively on the good provision for knowledge and understanding of the world experienced in the Foundation Stage, to achieve standards in line with national expectations. Teaching is generally good and pupils achieve well because most staff have good subject knowledge and give the subject an appropriate emphasis in the overall curriculum. This is a similar situation to that reported in the previous inspection when standards were judged to be satisfactory overall. All pupils are given equality of access and opportunity and achieve well irrespective of their gender, ethnicity and social circumstance. Care is taken in some units of study to include subject matter that has a relevance to pupils with different cultural heritages.

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GEOGRAPHY

103. Pupils in Year 2 have a suitable knowledge of the United Kingdom and most can name the component countries and some capital cities. They can distinguish between different sorts of buildings and are beginning to compare and contrast the local area with a district in Barcelona. They have a suitable understanding of environmental issues and can identify features in their locality that they like and dislike, suggesting sensible improvements that could be made. Pupils in Year 1 have a suitable knowledge of the local area and are beginning to understand the reasons why things are set out the way that they are.

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GEOGRAPHY

104. Most pupils between the ages of seven and 11 make satisfactory progress and the majority achieve broadly satisfactory standards. Teaching is satisfactory overall and most pupils learn appropriately because the subject is given a suitable emphasis in the overall curriculum. This is a similar situation to that reported in the previous inspection when standards were judged to be satisfactory overall. Pupils with special educational needs are generally well supported.

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GEOGRAPHY

105. Pupils in Year 3 complete a good range of work in the subject and gain a suitable understanding of the local areas and the reasons why places are popular as holiday destinations. Pupils in Year 4 are developing suitable mapping skills and are gaining an appropriate understanding of various mapping symbols. Their knowledge of technical vocabulary is satisfactory, but most pupils cannot explain why communities have grown up where they have and why people are employed as they are. Pupils in Year 5 complete a well-planned comparative study and gain a suitable knowledge of Fleetwood as a contrasting locality. Pupils in Year 6 develop an enthusiasm for the subject and gained a suitable knowledge and understanding of the structure and development of river systems. St James C of E Primary School - 37 They know an appropriate range of technical terms and greatly enjoyed constructing their three dimensional river models.

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GEOGRAPHY

106. The curriculum is broad and balanced and is based upon materials provided by an appropriate government agency. It is generally relevant to the needs of the pupils, but the co-ordinator is aware of the need to introduce more units of work that are appropriate to pupils from different Asian cultural groups. Whilst the curriculum contains all the required elements, it does not provide pupils with sufficient opportunities to practise and develop either their writing skills or their skills in ICT. Some opportunities are found to link the study of geography with aspects of pupils’ spiritual and cultural development, but this does not happen often enough. The school takes care to ensure that pupils who take extended holidays in the Indian sub-continent do not miss out on their learning and they are required to complete geographical based studies whilst they are away from school.

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GEOGRAPHY

107. There are no effective formal procedures for assessing or recording the attainment or achievement of individual pupils and, as a result, work in lessons is often not accurately matched to the individual needs of the pupils. This has a negative impact on the learning of certain pupils, particularly higher achieving pupils who are not always sufficiently challenged by the work set. It also means that at times the work set is too hard for others and is not appropriate to the pupils’ level of intellectual development. Written reports on pupils’ progress in the subject are unsatisfactory and are often, at best, just records of the work completed during the year, giving insufficient attention to individual attainment and what is required for improvement to me made.

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GEOGRAPHY

108. The co-ordinator is a subject specialist who has a suitable understanding of the future needs of the subject in the school, but his management of the subject is unsatisfactory because he has no effective procedures for monitoring quality and standards in other classes and sharing best practice. His impact on professional practice in Key Stage 1 is particularly limited.

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HISTORY

109. At both seven and 11 years of age, pupils’ achievements are in line with national expectations. Pupils with special educational needs are appropriately supported and make satisfactory progress. This is similar to the judgement made in the previous inspection. Only two lessons were observed because of the timetables during the inspection week. Appropriate evidence was obtained from a scrutiny of pupils’ work, displays and photographic evidence of past activities, discussions with staff and pupils and an overview of teachers’ planning.

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HISTORY

110. In Years 1 and 2, most pupils are able to order family photographs in the correct sequence to develop a sense of chronology. Using appropriate cross-curricular links with design and technology, they can illustrate a time-line for the development of transport from sailing ships to contemporary rockets. They recall factual information concerning the Great Fire of London and relate it to events recorded in Pepys’ Diary.

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HISTORY

111. Pupils continue to make satisfactory progress between seven and 11 years of age. Year 3 pupils are able to distinguish the major features of the everyday life-styles of people in Ancient Greece. For instance, they become aware of the differences between masters and slaves through well- devised role-play situations. In Year 6, pupils are encouraged to enact the part of evacuees during World War 2 and can recall learning about ration books and the Jewish Holocaust. In discussion they clearly understand the work of archaeology in providing information about Ancient Egypt following their visit to a local museum and most pupils are aware of the differences between primary and secondary historical sources.

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HISTORY

112. Teaching and learning is satisfactory overall. Teachers have a sound knowledge and understanding of the subject. In good lessons skilful questioning helps pupils explore their ideas of a specific period and extend their learning effectively. Pupils benefit from the suitable use of role- St James C of E Primary School - 38 play to highlight specific historical events. Lessons are suitably prepared with source material relating to the appropriate topic. Overall, pupils are interested in the subject, listen attentively in class and actively participate in class discussions. The teachers plan for the pupils to work in pairs or small groups and, as the majority of pupils co-operate well with their partners, this successfully promotes their learning.

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HISTORY

113. Leadership and management are satisfactory. There is an appropriate policy and the school has developed a scheme of work to support teachers’ planning with specific links to other subjects, such as design technology. The school is beginning to review its scheme of work in light of recent recommendations. The school makes effective use of educational visits, though there was little evidence of relevant artefacts being used in lessons or on display to help illustrate different historical periods. The school is aware of the need to extend the learning resources to support the subject and promote pupils’ learning more effectively.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

114. By the age of seven, standards are well below expectations and, by the age of 11, standards are below expectations. Throughout the school not enough use is made of the available computers to develop pupils’ skills and understanding in ICT and its application in other subjects. However, pupils make satisfactory progress in the infant classes and good progress in the junior classes in the development of key ICT skills.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

115. By the age of seven, pupils have a basic knowledge and understanding of how to use the mouse and keyboard. All pupils use a simple programme to create a pictorial image such as a face and enter and change the appearance of text. More able pupils have word-processed a good number of sentences and poems using the underline and centre features. All pupils have used words and images to design Eid greetings cards. Good use is made of simple phonics programmes to support the learning of less able pupils in English when they have to identify initial sounds. For example, pupils use information programmes to find out about methods of transport and homes.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

116. By the age of 11, pupils have some understanding of the different ways in which computers can be used at school and modern technology affects life in general. In Year 6, pupils have successfully completed two major ICT projects. They have written their own stories based on traditional stories using as much mathematical language as possible. These stories have been word-processed well and the pupils have compiled lists of questions for others to answer. The other project has involved investigating the growth of an alien and has provided a good development of their understanding of the use of spreadsheets for the recording, presentation and analysis of collected data. This work effectively builds on the knowledge pupils have learnt in Years 3, 4 and 5 about databases, different graphs and charts such as pie-charts and introductory spreadsheet work. Pupils in Year 3 use the Crystal Rainforest programme to learn about

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

computer simulation. Pupils use the Internet to find out about related work in subjects such as English, geography and history.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

117. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory in the infants and good in the juniors. There were very few opportunities to see lessons during the inspection, but these judgements are based on the few lessons seen, examination of pupils’ work and teachers’ planning and discussions with pupils. Two satisfactory lessons were seen in Year 1, a good lesson in Year 3 and a very good lesson in Year 4. A significant strength of the very good lesson was that the teacher had very high expectations of the pupils to think for themselves. A challenging task was set and the pupils were given very good opportunities to discuss their thinking together and to explain their ideas to the teacher. Examination of pupils’ work shows that the teachers are following the school’s scheme of work closely. This is firmly based on government guidelines and provides good coverage of the different elements of the National Curriculum programmes of study.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

St James C of E Primary School - 39 118. Pupils’ work is displayed well, particularly in the upper juniors, and digital photographs are effectively used in ICT and other subjects to enhance displays. All of the pupils have an ICT record book. These are useful, but are not yet being used consistently by all teachers because entries are not always dated and personalised notes are very variable in quality. Consequently, they are not providing an accurate or informative record to help teachers plan what pupils need to do next. In addition, all teachers keep a log of pupils’ computer use.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

119. The school currently has an enthusiastic co-ordinator, who has given a good lead to developments over the past three years. The school’s documentation has been updated well and the co- ordinator has made good use of available time to look at colleagues’ plans and displays and observe lessons. There are good plans to develop the subject further particularly through the available New Opportunities Funding. There is access to the Internet in all classrooms. Progress in standards and provision since the previous inspection has been satisfactory. However, the school has a limited number of computers in each classroom and this does not provide a good basis for continuing progress.

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MUSIC

120. By the ages of seven and 11, pupils attain satisfactory standards. This is a similar picture to the previous inspection showing standards have been maintained. Pupils throughout the school sing in tune but show little enthusiasm for this activity. This is partly due to the absence of the co- ordinator who usually leads the singing activities and is able to play the piano. Teachers use recorded accompaniments but they do not start and stop these at suitable places to improve the quality of singing or to teach a new skill. Singing sessions are therefore entirely practising previously learned songs or are of the sing-along variety. This consolidates learning but does not move it forward fast enough.

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MUSIC

121. Pupils in Years 1 and 2 learn to play a range of percussion instruments to add simple accompaniments to stories and songs. They give close and thoughtful consideration to the quality of sound they are making, but as yet are unable to relate this to the elements of music. However, pupils in Year 3 remember these elements and develop their skills further by showing that they can order chime bars by pitch. They follow a melody and indicate with their hands the changes of pitch. After listening to ‘The Little Train of Caipina’, pupils in Year 5 described clearly how the composer ‘Villa Lobos’ used the musical elements of dynamics, rhythm and tempo to mimic the movement and speed of a train.

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MUSIC

122. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall. When the teacher has secure subject knowledge and expertise and follows the scheme of work closely, lessons are interesting and pupils are fully involved in music making. When the subject knowledge is less secure, the pace of lessons slows and pupils become restless. The teacher then spends too much time managing behaviour and too little time teaching musical skills. Learning is unsatisfactory at these times. The scheme of work includes relevant and interesting activities and when the teacher follows these closely teaching is good. However, after a promising start, some teachers depart from the scheme and pupils take part in mundane recording activities, which have little to do with learning musical skills and knowledge. Learning therefore slows and is only satisfactory overall.

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MUSIC

123. The contribution that music makes to pupils’ cultural development remains good. Pupils are given good opportunities to perform and listen to a range of music from different countries, reflecting the cultures of different ethnic groups. They are given suitable opportunities to take part in musical performances and workshops including Eid celebrations, Indian and Scottish dancing and the annual Christmas concert. There is very good provision for pupils to learn to play a musical instrument. Lessons, which take place after school, are open to all who wish to learn. There are not enough planned opportunities to support pupils’ learning through the use of information and communication technology despite the good number and quality of resources other than computers St James C of E Primary School - 40 available. The co-ordinator has no opportunity to monitor the delivery of the scheme of work to

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MUSIC

ensure that all teachers are following it consistently.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

124. Overall progress in physical education is satisfactory for most pupils. They attain standards appropriate for their ages by the end of infants and juniors. Standards observed in the previous inspection have been maintained.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

125. In the infants, pupils perform a series of controlled actions in response to a wide variety of musical rhythms. Pupils use space confidently as observed in a Year 2 lesson where they successfully linked and interpreted the movements of a tight rope walker confidently walking along a skipping rope placed on the floor. They balanced on tip-toes and moved forwards and backwards under suitable control.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

126. In the juniors, pupils are involved in a wide variety of physical activities. The school participates in a good range of competitive sports. In the indoor games lesson observed, involving the development of hockey skills, there was good evidence of continued development of ball skills. Pupils show that they have a good understanding of space and complied with the rules of the game, displaying high levels of fair play and enthusiasm. In the Year 6 lesson involving movement to the theme of flight, pupils successfully capture the mood of the music, moving freely with controlled changes of direction at high and low levels. Pupils have a very good understanding of the effects of exercise on their bodies and relate this well to the ‘warm up’ and ‘cool down’ sessions at the beginning and end of lessons. Most pupils undertake swimming lessons and reach the required standard of swimming 25 metres using a recognisable stroke by the end of the juniors.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Outdoor adventurous activities are undertaken in the upper juniors using the playground and field.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

127. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall. Occasionally, where teachers have very good subject knowledge, for example of dance and games, the quality of teaching is very good. The planning and pace of lessons are generally good, and most teachers ensure that there is appropriate balance between ‘warm up’, demonstration, practice and performance before the final ‘cool down’. They use praise effectively, displaying high levels of sensitivity when supporting pupils of limited physical skills. Teachers actively encourage collective celebration of the achievements of others. However, pupils do not evaluate their own and others’ work often enough. This does not help them to know how they and other pupils can improve their performances. Very clear explanations and the use of teacher demonstrations, as observed during the Year 6 lessons, underpin the good relationships between pupils and teachers. Lessons

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

proceed in an enjoyable, relaxed manner and effectively provide valuable social experiences and learning for all pupils. Most pupils show very keen, enthusiastic interest in physical activities, responding well to teachers’ clear instructions, thoroughly enjoying performing to visitors. All pupils select games equipment in a confident, mature manner, always putting it away carefully and orderly. Pupils with special educational needs are soundly supported by the class teacher and make satisfactory progress in all aspects of the subject.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

128. There is a policy and a good scheme to consolidate the progression of skills and support teachers’ planning. Pupils are provided with a full range of physical activities that cover the requirements of the National Curriculum. Assessment of pupils’ developing physical skills is unsatisfactory, failing to inform future planning and learning targets. The subject co-ordinator does not have planned opportunities to monitor curriculum, attainment and teaching throughout the school. Management of the subject is, therefore, unsatisfactory.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

129. The school uses the adequate outdoor provision well. There is a very good range of extra- curricular activities that include netball, football and gymnastics. Involvement in the many extra- curricular activities makes a valuable contribution to pupils’ moral and social development in the St James C of E Primary School - 41 juniors.

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