Hollins Grundy Primary School

HOLLINS GRUNDY PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 9 th – 12 th June 2003

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HOLLINS GRUNDY 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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HOLLINS GRUNDY 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. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Off Hollins Lane, Bury Postcode: BL9 8AY

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 30 th April 2001 Hollins Grundy Primary School - 4

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

10182 Mr B Cooper Registered inspector English Physical Education Equal opportunities The school’s results and pupils’ achievements How well are pupils taught? How well is the school led and managed? What could the school do to improve further? 31718 Mrs D Shields Lay inspector Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development How well does the school work in partnership with parents? 31807 Mr D Carpenter Team inspector The foundation stage Art and Design Design and Technology 27324 Mrs D Crow Team inspector Science Geography History Religious Education How well does the school care for its pupils?

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

29504 Mrs S Herring Team Inspector Mathematics Information and Communication Technology Music Special Educational Needs How good are the curricular and other opportunities offered to pupils?

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

The inspection contractor was: Lynrose Marketing, Bungalow Farmhouse Six Mile Bottom Newmarket Suffolk CB8 0TU

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

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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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway, London WC2B 6SE Hollins Grundy 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? 11

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

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Hollins Grundy is an average sized primary school with 199 pupils on roll aged between four and 11 years old. The school is situated off Hollins Lane in a residential suburb of Bury where most property is privately owned. Around 26% of pupils come from outside of the catchment area of the school and are often less socially advantaged. Three pupils (1.5%) have English as a second language but none of these is at an early stage of English language development. Eight percent of pupils are eligible for free school meals which is broadly average. There are 25 pupils (12.5%) on the special needs register of whom three have statements of special educational needs. This is below the national average. Pupil mobility has been high in the current Year 6 with nine pupils joining the current Year 6 since the beginning of Key Stage 2.The attainment of pupils joining the reception class spans the full ability range but is average overall.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

Hollins Grundy is a satisfactory school. The school fully includes all its pupils in all aspects of the life of the school. Standards in English, mathematics and science are in line with national averages at the end of Year 2 and Year 6. In all other subjects, standards are at least in line with national expectations and are sometimes better. The children in the reception class make good progress and are well prepared for starting the National Curriculum in Year 1. The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall, and it is very good in the Foundation Stage and good in Year 1. The leadership and management of the school are satisfactory and the school is giving satisfactory value for money.

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What the school does well

• The provision for children in the Foundation Stage is good • Reading standards are above national averages throughout the school • Standards are above national expectations in art and design throughout the school, and are above national expectations in information and communication technology and physical education at the end of Year 2 • The quality of teaching and learning is very good in the Foundation Stage and good in Key Stage 1 • Pupils are keen to learn and relationships in the school are good • The provision for pupils with special education needs is good.

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What could be improved

• The organisation of the school day • The display of pupils’ work • The numbers of support staff • The use of assessment to inform planning • The quality of information for parents • The Governing Body‘s ability to gain best value when spending money on services • The headteacher’s use of the strengths of teachers with senior management responsibilities The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 7

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school has made satisfactory improvement since the last inspection in April 2001. The school is now covering the full National Curriculum in all subjects. Standards have risen in many subjects and pupils are making better use of their literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology skills across the curriculum. The quality of teaching and learning is much improved with a higher percentage of good and very good lessons across the school. The leadership and management of the school are now satisfactory. Whilst it has not been possible for the school to cover all the areas for improvement identified in the last report, the headteacher and Governing Body have focussed on the most important areas. There is now no evidence of underachievement in the school.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by pupils at the end of Year 6 based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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schools

English B C B A well above average above average A B mathematics B C D E average below average C D science E E C C well below average E

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schools

The table shows that on the basis of the 2002 standard assessment results, pupils at the end Year 6 reached standards that were above the national averages in English, below national averages in mathematics and in line with national averages in science. Standards in English were well above average when compared to schools with a similar number of pupils eligible for free school meals. In mathematics standards were well below average compared to similar schools and in science they were average. Standards in all subjects have varied over time but have been consistently at national averages or above in English, have been falling each year in mathematics and have shown recent improvement in science.

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schools

Inspection findings indicate that pupils are pupils are reaching standards in line with the national average in English overall at the end of Year 6 although reading standards are above average. Standards are lower than in 2002 because of the higher number of pupils with special education needs in the current Year 6. Standards in mathematics have risen and are now in line with national averages; pupils are good at using their number skills to solve problems. Standards in science have stayed in line with national averages, and higher attaining pupils do not always receiving sufficiently challenging investigational work.

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schools

In the national curriculum tests at the end of Year 2 in 2002, standards were well above national averages in reading, and in line with national averages in writing and mathematics. In comparison with similar schools, pupils achieved standards that were well above average in reading and in line with the average in writing and mathematics. Inspection findings are that standards are the same in the current Year 2. In science pupils are benefiting from being Hollins Grundy Primary School - 8 given more opportunities to find things out for themselves, and are reaching standards in line with national expectations.

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schools

Standards in art and design are above national expectations throughout the school, and in information and communication technology and physical education at the end of Year 2. Standards in all other subjects are in line with national expectations at the end of Year 2 and Year 6. By the time they reach Year 1, children in the Foundation Stage reach particularly high standards in their personal, social and emotional development. Standards are also higher than expected in both their creative and physical development. In communication, language and literacy, mathematical development and their knowledge and understanding of the world, the vast majority reach the standards required with some higher attaining children reaching even higher standards. The reception class provides a very good preparation for moving to Year 1.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Good. Pupils enjoy coming to school and are keen to learn.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Satisfactory overall. Pupils are generally polite and courteous. The younger pupils behave well. There is a minority of pupils in Key Stage 2 who can be disruptive.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Satisfactory. Relationships between pupils and pupils and adults are good. Pupils are keen to take responsibility but are given too few opportunities to do this.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Satisfactory. The school is rightly very strict about not authorising holidays in term time.

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Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

Quality of teaching Very good Good 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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Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

The quality of teaching and learning in the school is satisfactory overall and it is very good in the Foundation Stage and good in Key Stage 1. Teaching and learning has much improved since the last inspection with a higher number of good and very good lessons observed throughout the school. Teachers now have a much better understanding of the subjects they teach and their planning is ensuring the full curriculum is being taught.

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Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

In the reception class, the quality of teaching and learning is very good. The teacher has a very good understanding of the needs of young children and together with the classroom assistant provides a very high standard of planning and preparation of suitable activities. The children are very well prepared for starting the National Curriculum by the time they start in Year 1. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 9 Teaching and learning are good in English and mathematics in Key Stage 1 and satisfactory in Key Stage 2. The teaching of reading is good throughout the school, but teachers are not always giving pupils enough opportunities to fully develop their speaking skills. All teachers are using the literacy and numeracy strategies well but some lessons are too long and make it difficult for teachers to sustain pupils’ interest. In general, lessons in Key Stage 1 are of a good pace, are interesting and are very focused on what pupils are going to learn in the

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Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

lesson. Teachers have high expectations of the pupils. There are too few support assistants available for some of the English and mathematics lessons. The marking of work in both Key Stage 1 and 2 is not yet ensuring pupils are clear enough about how they can improve their work.

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Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

Teachers usually plan work appropriately for pupils of all abilities. Teachers work very hard to manage the behaviour of pupils well, but the occasional disruptive behaviour of a minority of pupils in upper Key Stage 2 is slowing the pace of learning of the other pupils. Teachers are making better use of the pupils’ skills in literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology in other subjects. Teachers are good at encouraging pupils to work in groups and to really value the work of all pupils including those with special educational needs

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Satisfactory. The school has a broad curriculum. The lessons in English and mathematics are often overlong, and it is difficult for teachers to fill the time effectively. The organisation of the teaching day for the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 is not appropriate for younger children. Geography and history are not covered in sufficient depth in Years 3 and 4. Provision for pupils with special educational needs Good. Pupils are well supported in class or when withdrawn. Pupils are given clear targets for improvement and work well towards these. Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Satisfactory. The school makes good provision for pupils’ social development. The provision for moral and cultural development are satisfactory and for social development is good but the provision for spiritual development remains unsatisfactory.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils Satisfactory overall. Child protection procedures and the monitoring of attendance are good. However there is not sufficient lunchtime supervision, and health and safety issues are not always dealt with rapidly enough. Assessment procedures are satisfactory in most subjects and good in the reception class. Assessment information is not always used to plan the next stage of the pupils’ learning.

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Aspect Comment

There is a satisfactory partnership between the school and parents. Parents are generally keen to support their children’s learning. However they are not given enough information about the work their child will be covering each term, and the governors’ annual report to parents could be improved. The annual written reports are not always clear in their judgement about the progress made by individual children. The quality of the induction process for pupils joining the reception class is very good. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 10

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff Satisfactory overall. The headteacher has focussed successfully in the last two years on the most important areas for improvement. The leadership and management have improved as a result of the appointment of a deputy headteacher and the development of the role of the subject co-ordinators. However too little use has been made of the strengths of the senior managers and there is no formal senior management team in place to continue the drive for improvement. How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Satisfactory. They have worked hard to help improve the school and some governors have been able to observe the work of the school. They have benefited from regular meetings with subject co-ordinators. Whilst they are actively involved in monitoring the progress of the school development plan, they are not yet sufficiently involved in deciding what should be in the plan.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance The school has successfully monitored the quality of teaching and learning and this has improved as a result. Areas requiring improvement, such as pupils’ writing, have been successfully identified. The strategic use of resources The school has a very tight budget and spending is monitored carefully. Spending is properly linked to the school development plan. However, lack of money has slowed developments in some areas of the school. The Governing Body is not always making certain that it is gaining best value for money when commissioning services for the school. Whilst there are sufficient qualified and experienced teachers, there are too few learning support staff to assist in all classes where they are needed. Accommodation is satisfactory but some classrooms are too small with limited storage space. The state of much of the internal decoration is poor and work is often not well displayed. The playground areas have

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Aspect Comment

been much improved and are attractive. Learning resources are satisfactory.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• Their children like school and have good attitudes to learning • Their children are expected to work hard • They are comfortable about approaching the school with questions or problems • The school is improving • The behaviour of a minority of pupils in upper Key Stage 2 • The quality of information about what is being taught • Marking • Reading in Key Stage 1 • Extra-curricular activities The inspection findings support the positive views of parents. There are a small number of pupils in upper Key Stage 2 who find it difficult to behave well when not given extra support. Parents are not given enough information about what is being taught and marking is not always thorough enough. The standard of reading in Key Stage 1 is currently above national averages, and pupils will benefit from the very recent introduction of a new reading scheme. Extra-curricular provision is satisfactory in Key Stage 2, but no activities are offered to Key

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

Stage 1 pupils. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 11

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

1. The children’s attainment when they join the reception class is average overall but spans the full range of ability. Very good teaching enables them to make very good progress in personal, social and emotional development and most attain well above the Early Learning Goals in this area of learning. They achieve above the Early Learning Goals in their physical development and creative development and in line with the Early Learning Goals in communication, language and literacy, mathematical development and knowledge and understanding of the world, The children are well prepared to start the National Curriculum in Year 1 and some higher attainers are already working at that level in the reception class.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

2. The National Curriculum test results at the end of Year 2 from 1999 to 2002 indicate that standards have remained consistently well above average in reading. Standards in writing have been more variable ranging from well above average in 1999 to in line with the national average in 2002. Standards in mathematics have varied from above the national average to in line with the national average between 1999 and 2002. In 2002, 39% of pupils reached level 3, which took the results above the national average. Teacher assessments in science indicated that the numbers of pupils reaching level 2 and above were just below national averages in 2002, yet an average number of pupils reached the higher level 3. The variation is a result of the natural differences in abilities between the year groups which are often quite small.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

3. Inspection findings indicate that the standards achieved by the current Year 2 pupils in reading, writing and mathematics are similar to those attained in 2002. However, the emphasis placed by the school on improving the teaching of science has resulted in standards rising to be in line with national averages. Standards in all subject areas are lowered slightly as a result of the higher proportion of pupils with special educational needs in the class this year. Inspection findings are that standards in reading are above average. Pupils have good phonic skills and use these well when reading. They do well as a result of the strong emphasis placed on both developing their reading skills and their enjoyment of reading. Standards in speaking and listening and writing are in line with national expectations. Whilst pupils are confident when answering questions and speaking in class, they do not have enough opportunities to practise their speaking and

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

listening skills in other situations. Pupils have a good grasp of formal writing skills and whilst pupils are using these to write for a variety of purposes, their writing is not yet very imaginative. In mathematics, standards are in line with national averages. Pupils are developing good number skills as the result of the challenging oral sessions. Pupils benefit from having to explain how they reach their answers. In science, standards are in line with national expectations. Pupils demonstrate a satisfactory understanding of all aspects of the subject and are becoming more confident at finding things out for themselves.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

4. The national test results at the end of Year 6 from 1999 to 2002 indicate that standards have usually been above average in English. In 2002, standards were above the national average and well above average compared to schools with a similar number of pupils eligible for free school meals. In mathematics, standards have fallen each year from 2000 and were below national averages in 2002 and well below those of similar schools. Girls performed less well than boys that year but missed reaching predicted levels by very few marks. In addition very few pupils reached the higher level 5. In Hollins Grundy Primary School - 12 science, standards were well below average in 2000 and 2001, but improved to be in line with national averages in 2002 as a result of the strong emphasis the school has placed on the teaching of science since the last inspection.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

5. The current cohort of Year 6 pupils includes nine who have joined since the beginning of Key Stage 2 and also a higher proportion of pupils with special educational needs than last year. Nevertheless, inspection findings indicate that standards are in line with national averages in English, mathematics and science. In English, standards are above average in reading. Pupils are really enthusiastic about their reading and read a wide range of different types of books. Pupils are also good at using their reading skills to find out information from the Internet and information books. In writing, higher attainers display a good range of skills, but other pupils are not writing enough. In addition, the pupils’ writing is not celebrated enough through display. Writing has been identified as an area for development in the school. Speaking and listening skills are also in line with national averages and pupils speak confidently in class and listen well

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

to their teachers. However, they are not given enough opportunities to speak publicly or participate in drama. In mathematics, pupils are showing a better understanding of all aspects of the subject and more are now reaching the higher level 5. Their understanding is being improved by explaining their working. Lower attaining pupils are sometimes given work that is too hard and that is lowering the standards they achieve. In science, pupils demonstrate a satisfactory understanding of all aspects of the subject. Higher attaining pupils are now reaching higher standards and more will achieve the higher level 5 than in the past.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

6. Pupils with special educational needs make good progress against the targets identified in their individual education plans. Progress is particularly good in reading, which has a high priority in school and there is good support from parents to hear pupils read regularly. In lessons they make similar progress to their classmates. 7. Standards in art and design are above national expectations at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 and pupils make good progress in the subject. Standards in information and communication technology and physical education are above national expectations at the end of Year 2. In other subjects, standards are in line with national expectations and pupils make satisfactory progress. The achievement of the pupils is satisfactory in all subjects and boys and girls make similar progress.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

8. The school is fully inclusive and works hard to make sure that all pupils can fully participate in all activities.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

9. The school has had to adopt the National Curriculum targets set by the local education authority. These are very challenging at 90% at level 4 and above in English and mathematics. However, the school reached this target in English but fell far short of it in mathematics. The school is also unlikely to reach these external targets this year.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

10. Good relationships exist between pupils and adults and this helps to foster good attitudes to work. The behaviour and personal development of pupils are satisfactory. These findings are in line with those of the previous inspection.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

11. Pupils indicate they like school. In the main they listen well to their teachers and most pupils are keen and willing to answer questions with confidence. Pupils generally sustain concentration during their lessons and work hard. They join in enthusiastically with activities, especially practical ones, such as carrying out pond dipping tasks with the countryside ranger. However, sometimes a small number of older pupils, almost Hollins Grundy Primary School - 13 exclusively boys, have less positive attitudes to their work, especially when not directly supervised. Despite the teacher’s best efforts they lose concentration and as a result do not learn as well as they could do. In addition, the long lessons in the morning impact on pupils’ ability to remain attentive.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

12. In lessons, and when moving around the school building, almost all pupils behave well. They walk quietly into assembly from their classrooms and line up sensibly to come in from the playground. Pupils are polite and friendly and interested in what visitors have to say to them; most are keen to talk about their work and what they are learning.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

13. Behaviour is satisfactory overall and is better in Key Stage 1 than it is in Key Stage 2. This applies equally to lessons and outside at break or lunchtime. This is similar to the findings of the previous inspection. It supports the views expressed by parents at the pre-inspection meeting and in response to the questionnaires. Not all teachers consistently apply the school’s behaviour policy of ‘de merits’ when inappropriate behaviour occurs. In addition, the small numbers of pupils who have challenging behaviour often set out to be deliberately disruptive and uncooperative, particularly when there is no learning support assistant available to work with them. In spite of the teacher’s strenuous efforts to maintain discipline, the disruption to the lessons means the progress these pupils and their classmates make is often slowed. During the year prior to the inspection there was just one fixed-term exclusion.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

14. At break and lunchtime, most pupils play and socialise well together. Their relationship with the mid day supervisors, is relaxed and friendly. Play equipment and games have been introduced since the time of the previous inspection and this has benefited most pupils. However, equipment for use by the older pupils is not available until half way through lunchtime, leaving older pupils with little to do if they are not eating their lunch. At lunchtime, a small group of older boys is often over boisterous and sometimes aggressive, as a result occasionally fights break out. This was highlighted at the time of the previous inspection. There are insufficient adults outside during the first part of the lunch hour to adequately deal with these situations.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

15. There is a mutual trust and respect between pupils and staff. Pupils confirm that all teachers who work in the school are approachable and this gives them the confidence to seek help when they need it. Most pupils show respect for each other’s values and opinions. Pupils are particularly accepting of classmates who have special educational needs. In lessons they often encourage them and spontaneously applaud when a task has been completed well.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

16. Pupils confirm that instances of bullying do not happen often. Parents and pupils are confident that, if any incidents did occur, they would be dealt with promptly. However, some pupils express concerns that despite teacher intervention incidents reoccur. Although the school states bullying or oppressive behaviour is not tolerated, currently it does not have a whole school anti-bullying policy or approach to this aspect. However, the school is working hard on this area following the recent introduction of personal and social education lessons.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

17. Pupils are learning to collaborate and co-operate with each other. Pupils are keen to help and support each other, as when older pupils listen to younger pupils read at lunchtime. Pupils are learning to handle tools and equipment safely and appropriately. For instance during a design and technology lesson in Year 4, pupils were keen to help each other whilst making simple lever mechanisms, holding the equipment carefully, then measuring and cutting the components. When given the opportunity, pupils respond well to the responsibilities they are given, such as taking the register to the Hollins Grundy Primary School - 14 office. Pupils enjoy the chance to show initiative and carry out research using the computers. In some lessons, too few opportunities are given for pupils to use their own initiative.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

18. Attendance is satisfactory and is broadly in line with other primary schools. This is in line with the findings of the previous inspection. Unauthorised absence is above the national average. This is because of the school’s firm stance regarding families who wish to take holidays during term time; a maximum of ten days only is authorised. A very small number of pupils are regularly late each day. This interrupts the start of sessions and puts pupils at a disadvantage because they sometimes miss the introduction to their lesson.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

19. Teaching is very good in Foundation Stage, good in Key Stage 1 and satisfactory in Key Stage 2. During the period of the inspection, teaching was good or better in two thirds of lessons, satisfactory in 32% and one unsatisfactory lesson was observed. Whilst there was very good teaching observed throughout the school most was seen in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

20. Teaching and learning are consistently good and usually very good in the Foundation Stage, and have improved since the last inspection. The majority of the teaching and learning seen during the inspection was very good and reflected the high quality planning and preparation undertaken by all staff. The class teacher, who is a member of the senior management team, has a secure knowledge of the principles of child development and a good understanding of the demands of teaching to the Early Learning Goals. The very good teaching underpins the quality of learning taking place and by the end of their year in the Reception class the children are happy and confident and ready for their transfer into Year 1.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

21. The quality of teaching has improved greatly in both Key Stage 1 and 2 since the last inspection when there was a much higher proportion of satisfactory and unsatisfactory lessons observed – particularly in Key Stage 2. The school has successfully addressed the key issue on teaching and learning at Key Stage 2 although there are some elements that still require more improvement such as marking and being sure that pupils understand how they can improve. On most occasions, pupils are asked to complete work suitable for their abilities. Teachers are beginning to evaluate their planning but this is still an area for further development. The management of behaviour is generally good. However, there is a small minority of pupils who display consistently challenging behaviour in Years 5 and 6, particularly when there is no support assistant in the classroom. On occasions this behaviour is having a negative impact on the

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

22. Teachers now have a much better knowledge and understanding of the subjects they teach. Teachers have been prepared to attend extra courses and to work hard to strengthen their knowledge of subject teaching and this has been effective. Whilst they are following the literacy and numeracy strategies, many of the sessions throughout the school are too long, as the school timetable is not properly balanced. Teachers work hard to fill the sessions which can last up to one and a half hours with a variety of activities, but often it is hard to maintain pace and fully sustain the pupils’ interest. Teachers are particularly successful at teaching reading and pupils are confident readers and most read widely. Teachers still listen to individual readers as well as using guided reading in the literacy sessions and this is raising standards. Teachers Hollins Grundy Primary School - 15 recognise that they are not yet developing pupils’ writing successfully and this has

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

become a focus of development within the school.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

23. The national literacy and numeracy strategies are being used to effectively guide teachers’ planning in English and mathematics. Teachers are successfully evaluating the work covered and this is helping them to plan the next stage of learning in both key stages in these subjects. The use of learning objectives is not yet consistent throughout the school, particularly in Key Stage 2. Whilst they are mentioned in most lessons, they are not yet having a strong enough impact on learning in many lessons.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

24. There is now much better use and development of literacy and numeracy skills across the curriculum and this has helped to raise standards in geography and history at the end of Key Stage 2. Teachers encourage pupils to use the Internet to find things out for themselves but rightly caution them on the accuracy of some of the information they may find. Teachers are now planning more opportunities to use investigational work in both mathematics and science and this is having a positive impact on pupils’ learning. The quality of music teaching has improved and this has enabled pupils to learn satisfactorily and reach standards that are in line with national expectations at the end of both key stages.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

25. Teachers have begun to raise their expectations of what pupils can do, particularly in areas of the curriculum where pupils were identified as underachieving in the last inspection. In Key Stage 1, pupils are consistently challenged in their lessons and expected to achieve well. In Key Stage 2, teachers use a good range of strategies to develop pupils’ skills. However, work is not always accurately matched to the pupils’ abilities and on occasions there could be even more challenge for the higher attainers, particularly in science. Overall this is preventing standards being higher at the end of Key Stage 2, as too few pupils are reaching the higher level 5.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

26. Teachers are good at setting up situations where pupils have the opportunity to work together in pairs and small groups and this is developing them socially. Teachers are good at making sure that all pupils participate in these groups. They are sensitive in their handling of pupils with special educational needs, are keen to praise them when they do well and to include them in all activities. This attitude is reflected in the pupils’ supportive approach to their peers who have special educational needs.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

27. The school has high quality learning support assistants who all work hard and are very committed to helping the pupils. Where they are available, they are well used either in class or to support pupils in withdrawal groups. This support is mainly available for pupils with special educational needs. They are well aware of the work that is planned and feed back to the teacher on the progress pupils have made. However there are too few classroom assistants to offer sufficient support to teachers in all lessons. This is reducing the learning in some classes and, where there are individual pupils who have challenging behaviour, it is resulting in some disruption to the class.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

28. The quality of teaching and learning in English is good in Key Stage 1 and satisfactory in Key Stage 2. The quality of the teaching of reading is good throughout the school. Teachers are not yet developing pupils’ writing sufficiently. There are too few formal speaking and listening activities offered and occasionally, teachers are too quick to speak for their pupils. This is slowing progress in this area of the English curriculum.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

29. The quality of teaching and learning in mathematics is good in Key Stage 1 and satisfactory in Key Stage 2. In Key Stage 1, teachers have high expectations of the pupils and provide them with a good range of exciting and challenging tasks. In Key Hollins Grundy Primary School - 16 Stage 2, pupils are given good opportunities to solve problems. In the best lessons, questions are well targeted to pupils of different abilities. In some other lessons, there is too little difference in the work given to pupils of different abilities. Teachers make too little use of information and communication technology to support learning in mathematics.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

30. The teaching of science is satisfactory throughout the school. In the good lessons, teachers make particularly good use of questioning to make pupils really demonstrate their understanding of the subject. Pupils with higher abilities are not always given sufficiently challenging practical activities. The quality of teaching in information and communication technology is good in Key Stage 1. Pupils are given a wide range of experience and are taught with great enthusiasm. The teaching of art and design is good throughout the school, but the high quality artwork is not always displayed with enough care. Teaching is good in music and physical education in Key Stage 1. Pupils receive well-planned lessons in both subjects and are given a good variety of activities in lessons.

p.16

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

31. The marking of pupils’ work is unsatisfactory in most classes. Work is not always marked, and there are few teachers’ comments on Key Stage 1 work to record what has been said to individual pupils. Pupils are not sufficiently aware of how their work can be improved. The school has introduced a new marking policy, but this is not yet effective as it is not helping to improve pupils’ learning. Many pupils do not yet fully understand how it works. Some teachers are using group and class targets effectively but this approach is still being developed. Much work is not dated which makes it harder to judge progress over time.

p.16

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

32. Regular homework is given and this is helping pupils’ progress particularly in reading. Most parents are happy with the homework given, but are not always sure how much their child should be doing.

p.16

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

33. The teaching of pupils with special educational needs is good overall. Pupils generally learn well in additional literacy and numeracy groups, where work is well suited to their needs and the close supervision keeps pupils on task. Good relationships between pupils and staff motivate pupils well and judicious use of praise helps to raise pupils’ self esteem. Work is suitably adapted to suit individual needs in literacy and numeracy lessons, helping pupils to make good progress. Where available, support assistants are effective in supporting pupils in class, particularly where pupils are experiencing behaviour difficulties. However, support for these pupils is very limited

p.16

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

34. The quality and range of the curriculum are satisfactory overall, but there are weaknesses in the provision for geography and history in the lower part of Key Stage 2, and the subjects are not covered in sufficient depth. Satisfactory improvement has been made since the last inspection but there is still work to be done. The curriculum now meets statutory requirements for all subjects. Religious education is taught in accordance with the locally agreed syllabus. However, although the curriculum is broad, it is not sufficiently balanced in geography and history. The arrangement of the school day is such that there is a very long morning session devoted mainly to the teaching of English and mathematics, which results in overly long sessions. Consequently some pupils, particularly lower attaining pupils, find it difficult to sustain concentration and the pace of learning slows. The morning session is very long for

p.16

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

Hollins Grundy Primary School - 17 pupils in Key Stage 1 and the Foundation Stage, and the length of the time they have in lessons is well above the national average.

p.17

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

35. The school has made satisfactory provision for teaching the basic skills of literacy and numeracy and they have successfully implemented the national literacy and numeracy strategies. Good quality additional literacy support is offered to pupils who require it. Appropriate use is made of national guidelines for other subjects of the National Curriculum and commercial schemes of work have been purchased for some subjects in order to boost teachers’ confidence. These have yet to be evaluated to ensure they are meeting the school’s needs. However, the monitoring of the curriculum has not sufficiently identified issues of curriculum imbalance. Teachers sometimes create suitable links between subjects such as geography and history and these links provide a meaningful context for pupils’ learning.

p.17

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

36. The school’s provision for pupils with special educational needs is good and the school follows the Code of Practice effectively. Pupils’ individual education plans are carefully written and used well to support and guide pupils’ learning. Pupils benefit from the expertise of the co-ordinator and the outside help sought from other agencies.

p.17

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

37. Pupils benefit from a satisfactory range of visits and visitors that go some way to enriching their curricular experiences. They visit places of interest such as ‘The People’s History Museum, the Lowry Centre, the Jewish Museum and a local farm. These visits enrich the curriculum and are linked well to class topics. The school also welcomes visitors. For example, in religious education, a vicar came to talk about vestments to pupils in Year 4. Theatre groups have performed at the school. All pupils are given equal opportunities to participate in the curriculum offered. There are good links with local community groups such as the Hollins Conservation Group; they have worked with pupils to make bird boxes for the school grounds. Members of the governing body come into the school to hear pupils read. There is little direct contact and involvement with the nearby businesses or commerce. Regular sporting events,

p.17

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

involving the older pupils, take place against other primary schools. Pupils are well prepared for secondary education as a result of the good liaison with local secondary schools. These findings are broadly similar to those of the previous inspection.

p.17

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

38. There is a satisfactory range of extra-curricular activities for Key Stage 2 pupils. They can take part in sporting fixtures, and after school clubs have recently included football, netball and rounders; there is a lunchtime recorder group as well. However, there is no provision for Key Stage 1 pupils. Although there has been some minor improvement since the previous inspection, overall the extra-curricular provision makes only a limited contribution to pupils’ social and personal development.

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PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

39. Satisfactory improvement has been made for the provision of pupils’ personal, social and health education (PSHE). A sex education and relationships policy has been developed. All classes now benefit from the provision of circle time and these sessions make a positive contribution to developing pupils’ awareness of topics such as friendship, tolerance of others, feelings and the need for appropriate behaviour and attitudes. A promising start has been made but arrangements to monitor planning and delivery of these sessions is not yet formalised. Although some aspects of drugs awareness are taught through science, the school does not have a drugs education policy. It is aware of the need to further develop the whole PSHE programme and has established a working party to consider all aspects of a healthy schools initiative. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 18 40. Overall, provision for pupils’ personal development is satisfactory; there has been

p.17

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

some improvement in most aspects since the previous inspection although arrangements to develop pupils’ spiritual awareness remain unsatisfactory.

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PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

41. There have been some improvements in the quality of daily collective worship, which now make a satisfactory contribution to pupils’ spiritual and moral development. These are generally well planned and delivered. They provide pupils with satisfactory opportunities to consider moral issues and to reflect on how the themes of assemblies might apply to their own lives. However, reflection time is often perfunctory. Music is used well to set an appropriate tone as pupils enter, but sometimes pupils do not listen well to this and it is not always played when they leave. However, although some improvement was noted, assemblies still lack a clear spiritual dimension, and although music is played, opportunities are missed to enable pupils to appreciate and reflect on the beauty of this. Pupils are not given opportunities to develop an understanding of the prayers and hymns they recite and sing. The school now has a spiritual development

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PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

policy, but this is not translated consistently into practice. Opportunities for pupils to experience a spiritual dimension in lessons are ‘ad hoc’ rather than planned for. During an excellent art and design lesson, pupils were able to appreciate the beauty of the shells and pebbles they were to draw, some being truly astounded at the beauty and texture when they carefully handled them. These opportunities, however, are not systematically presented for pupils across the curriculum in other subjects such as science, music or mathematics. Religious education lessons do not make a significant contribution to pupils’ spiritual development. The quality of much of the display of pupils’ work is unsatisfactory and does not celebrate pupils’ work. The state of décor of much of the building is poor and this further inhibits the pupils’ spiritual development.

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PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

42. Provision for pupils’ moral development is satisfactory. It is fostered through the school’s revised approach to promoting appropriate behaviour. There are clear school rules, ‘Wise Ways’, that are discussed with pupils at the start of each school year, this helps to develop their understanding of what constitutes acceptable behaviour. However, pupils do not have the opportunity to devise their own class rules or to offer suggestions to possible amendments for the current school ones. Although regular celebration assemblies are held, these are relatively low key. Insufficient opportunity is provided for pupils to explain their achievements and for others to value and celebrate what they have to say. The emphasis on promoting racial harmony and acceptance of others values and beliefs is generally effective. Discussions with older pupils indicate they are generally aware of issues relating to bullying and racism. Pupils are conscious

p.18

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

of those less fortunate than themselves and raise significant amounts of money for charitable organisations.

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PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

43. Provision for pupils’ social development is good. Opportunities for pupils to develop socially are mostly offered in lessons. For instance, the skills of collaboration and co- operation are effectively encouraged during physical education and design and technology lessons. In addition, the use of pair and group work during literacy lessons makes a good contribution to this aspect. There are good opportunities for pupils to value each other’s work during art and design lessons. The school council provides pupils with the opportunity to debate issues of relevance to their school, and to seek and share with others the opinions of their class groups. All pupils, whatever their social background are fully integrated into the life of the school. However, opportunities are missed to develop self-confidence and esteem through the celebration of pupils’ work in displays. During lessons, some class teachers give pupils small tasks to carry out,

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PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

but they are not given a range of duties, which contribute to the daily life of the school. Most responsibility is assigned to pupils in Year 6. Extra-curricular activities and class Hollins Grundy Primary School - 19 visits to places of interest play only a limited part in the development of pupils’ social skills and confidence.

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PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

44. Arrangements for pupils’ cultural development are satisfactory. Opportunities for pupils to learn about cultures other than their own have improved since the previous inspection. In geography lessons, pupils are given opportunities to learn about their local environment, through the study of Hollins Village, but throughout the school there is no strong emphasis on the development of pupils’ awareness of their local culture and heritage. This aspect of the school’s provision was judged to be good at the time of the previous inspection. Pupils are developing an appreciation of the similarities and differences between groups to prepare them for life in a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society. Art lessons in particular make a strong contribution to this aspect, where a wide range of artists, including aboriginal, African and Jewish have been studied. The whole school contributed to the production of a hoarding for a local shopping precinct

p.19

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

where the theme was ‘Many faiths, one school’. The study of other faiths during religious education lessons also contribute to pupils’ cultural awareness. However, there is too little provision of music from other cultures for dance in physical education and for actual music lessons, and this is narrowing pupils’ experience.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

45. There are satisfactory arrangements overall to care for and support the pupils, but there are some unsatisfactory features. This is in line with the findings of the previous report.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

46. Pupils say the teachers are friendly and approachable and they feel safe and secure at school. This gives boys and girls of all ages the confidence to seek help if they should need it. Procedures relating to child protection and those in public care are good. The designated person has detailed knowledge of local practice. All staff know the child protection arrangements. Any issues or concerns are dealt with sensitively. The monitoring of attendance is good. Class teachers monitor attendance effectively; absence is generally noted quickly and followed up. The new school secretary is developing more effective use of the computerised system to analyse and monitor attendance patterns.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

47. The medical needs of pupils are catered for well; useful systems are in place to ensure that those pupils with specific medical conditions are well known to all staff. Satisfactory arrangements are in place to cover pupils’ day-to-day welfare needs. However, classrooms are often very hot and stuffy in the summer, with limited ventilation, and there is currently no provision for pupils to be able to bring water bottles into school. The water fountains are not pleasantly situated as they are within the toilet areas. Older pupils must change for physical education lessons together, so there are no arrangements to afford boys and girls their privacy. Currently, at lunchtime, there are insufficient staff members who are trained in first aid and, therefore, able to deal with accidents or injury when they occur.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

48. The governing body has established health and safety systems and maintains an appropriate overview. The current policy, reflecting its practice is out of date and some arrangements are not sufficiently rigorous to address issues that arise. Although some improvements to lunchtime arrangements have been made since the previous inspection, some concerns remain. The midday supervisors carry out their duties as effectively as they can, but there are still too few adults on duty at lunchtime, especially in the junior playground. In order to organise and supervise pupils who enter the hall to Hollins Grundy Primary School - 20 eat, the midday supervisor cannot leave her post to deal with any incident or injury that may occur. This lack of pro-active supervision leads to some over boisterous and inappropriate behaviour especially by older boys. Older pupils have to be sent to fetch the headteacher to deal with any incidents. In the infant playground, adults are carefully

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

positioned in order to keep pupils in full view, but again this results in older pupils having to take any child who is hurt inside because the adult cannot leave their post. Although there is now play equipment for pupils to use, which is beneficial, the space, especially in the infant area is limited. Lunchtime arrangements are unsatisfactory overall.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

49. Since the previous inspection the school has reviewed its behaviour management policy and practice. A good start has been made. However, not all teachers consistently apply the school’s policy and pupils themselves feel that this leads to instances that they consider unfair when the de merits are not used appropriately as a punishment for inappropriate behaviour. The lunchtime ‘reflection’ room and the system of red and green cards are beginning to encourage pupils to take ownership of their behaviour and promote self-discipline well. The school has yet to monitor and evaluate the success of the new strategies that have been put in place. The arrangements to raise pupils’ awareness of any form of bullying, racism or oppressive behaviour are satisfactory overall. The values of co-operation and tolerance are promoted effectively through assemblies, religious education lessons and the new PHSE programme but

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

there is no written anti-bullying policy and the racial equality policy is not specific to the school.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

50. The school’s procedures for assessing pupils’ attainment and progress are satisfactory, but the use made of the information to guide curricular planning and to monitor and support pupils’ academic progress are unsatisfactory in all subjects apart from English and mathematics.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

51. Assessment procedures for children in the Foundation Stage are good. The school has adapted the new profile to suit the needs of its children well, and the assessment information is effectively used to plan the next stage of children’s learning. A good feature is the close involvement of parents in completing the profile of children’s attainment and progress.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

52. The school’s assessment procedures for most subjects are satisfactory but these are not yet in place in religious education. A range of standard tests and teacher assessments in English and mathematics enables the school to track pupils’ progress over a year. This is used effectively to identify pupils who need specific short term support in additional literacy sessions, and in booster and mathematics Springboard classes. However, the information is not yet presented in an easily usable format and this making it harder for the school to track pupils’ progress over their time in school and to identify any slowing down in an individual pupil’s achievement. A stronger feature is the way in which the school has analysed the results of national tests to identify areas of weakness. Subsequently, the school has examined the curriculum to have a clearer focus on giving opportunities for pupils to use their skills in a range of writing

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

activities and in solving problems in mathematics, though it is too soon to judge the impact on standards. Whilst pupils’ have overall targets for the year in terms of National Curriculum levels, these are not broken down sufficiently for individuals to help them pinpoint the specific areas they need to work on, for example, learning their times tables or remembering to use capital letters.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

53. Individual co-ordinators have worked hard to introduce assessment procedures in other subjects and they have made satisfactory progress in devising ways of recording the information in a variety of suitable forms. However, there is no overall, whole school Hollins Grundy Primary School - 21 approach to assessment to provide a common format for all subjects to help teachers collect and organise information more efficiently. The use of assessment information to guide planning in subjects other than English and mathematics is unsatisfactory. In science, this is a factor in the below average numbers achieving the higher level 5 at the end of Year 6.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

54. Pupils are well supported by the good relationships that exist with adults and feel confident and happy during their time in school. Teachers are sensitive to the needs of the pupils and provide ready support when a pupil is upset for any reason. Detailed records of personal development are compiled in Year 6 to help ensure a smooth transition to secondary school, though such records are not kept systematically through the school.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

55. Provision for pupils with special educational needs is good. Pupils’ needs are identified early and outside agencies are readily consulted where appropriate. Individual education plans are well written and the targets set for pupils are suitable and manageable. Where available, specific support is used well and is effective in helping pupils to make good progress. The school targets its resources effectively in concentrated literacy and numeracy teaching in small groups and this is helping pupils to make progress with acquiring basic skills and progress in reading has been particularly marked. Clear records are kept of pupils’ progress against their targets.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

56. Those pupils who have statements of special educational needs are supported well within the requirements of their statement. However, individual support does not always cover the full day. This creates difficulty where a pupil displays extreme behaviour and this affects the pupil’s own progress and often the progress of others.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

57. The partnership between the school and parents is satisfactory. Parents have generally positive views about the school. About one quarter of the inspection questionnaires were returned. Parents feel able to approach the teachers if they have any concerns or problems. They indicate that their children enjoy coming to school. Those parents who attended the meeting prior to the inspection expressed equally positive views. The inspection findings support the parents’ positive comments about the school. However, both at the meeting and in the response to the questionnaires, concerns were expressed about the behaviour of older pupils, the information provided for parents, marking and progress in reading in Key Stage 1. The inspection findings agree with most of these concerns but found standards in reading in Key Stage 1 to be above average.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

58. Good relationships are established with parents of children entering the reception class. Visits to the children’s pre-school take place and these are valuable opportunities to find out about each individual child. Parents are fully involved in the process of settling their children into school. A very small number of parents help in classrooms, or visit to talk about their place of work, for instance, the owner of a garage visited during the inspection week. These opportunities both broaden pupils’ curriculum experiences but also have a positive impact on the standards pupils achieve. Several parents help when there are sporting activities or educational visits.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

59. Throughout the school there are informal opportunities at the end of the day for any parents to talk to class teachers if they should wish. This means that any concerns are quickly dealt with. There is an active Parent and Teachers Association (PTA) that Hollins Grundy Primary School - 22 raises funds that benefit the school and has allowed the recent purchase of books for the library, for example. Parents always give tremendous support to the end of term celebration assemblies. However, the school is not active enough in encouraging parents to become involved in school life, nor does it have a regular system to seek the views of all parents, which will ensure it is confidently meeting all their needs. The school is aware of the need to develop this area.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

60. The school makes good efforts to involve parents in decisions and targets set for pupils with special educational needs. Parents are fully involved in the review of their children's individual education plans. This means they are clear about the targets that are set to enable their children to improve, and how they might support them at home.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

61. Homework information is sent home at the start of each year, but although the expectation is set, it is not regularly revisited. Most parents do support their children by hearing them read at home; this has a positive impact on reading standards throughout the school. Some parents would be prepared to help with research topics, using the e Internet, for example, however, it is difficult for parents to support this homework because they have no regular information about what might be expected of them. No curriculum information, for example, on the topics children will learn about each term, is sent home. This also limits the way in which parents might support their children’s learning. News style letters are sent when the need arises, together with general school information. The prospectus and governors’ annual report do not contain all the information that they should and are rather formal and not very ‘parent friendly’

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

documents. Overall, the information provided for parents is unsatisfactory.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

62. The style of the written reports to parents about their children’s progress have been amended since the previous inspection and they are satisfactory overall. Although there has been some improvement, there are still weaknesses. Reports often lack clear information about the progress children make over the year. They are sometimes impersonal, not reflecting each individual child.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

63. The leadership and management of the school are satisfactory overall. This shows an improvement since the last inspection when it was judged to be unsatisfactory, largely because no deputy headteacher had been in post for the previous four years. Since the last inspection, a deputy headteacher has been appointed and this has strengthened the leadership and management of the school. Over the past two years since the last inspection when the school was judged to be underachieving, there has been a strong focus on improving the quality of teaching and learning, making sure that the full curriculum is taught in all subjects and in raising standards. The headteacher and all other staff have worked hard to improve the school and have been prepared to update their skills to achieve this. As a result of this the school has made satisfactory progress overall even though it has not been possible to tackle all the key issues identified two

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

years ago. There is no longer any evidence of underachievement in the school.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

64. The headteacher has been well supported by local education authority advisers who have helped him prioritise the improvements required, and have had a strong initial input into monitoring the quality of teaching and learning in the school. Over the past two years the monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning has been good. Over time, this extra assistance from advisers has rightly been reduced and the school expected both to self evaluate its work and set up its own procedures for monitoring and evaluating its performance. The role of the co-ordinator has been well developed Hollins Grundy Primary School - 23 and is most successful in mathematics, information and communication technology, art and design and design and technology. It is being satisfactorily undertaken in all other subjects. The strength of the management role of the special needs co-ordinator has resulted in good provision for these pupils. Subject co-ordinators have a good

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

grasp of whole school issues as a result of their monitoring role. They have also successfully put in place assessment procedures in most subjects and are aware of the developments needed in their subjects. In-service training has been arranged to improve these areas. Subject co-ordinators have also kept the Governing Body informed of developments in their subjects through regular presentations.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

65. Whilst the headteacher has successfully developed the role of subject co-ordinators, he has not yet formed a proper senior management team, which makes the best use of the skills and expertise of the deputy headteacher and key stage co-ordinators. These senior staff do not meet regularly and there is no proper structure to the occasional meetings that are held. As a result the school does not yet have a strong enough educational direction and could find it more difficult to continue to improve in the future. The school has a clear set of aims, but currently these are not at the heart of the school and are not all being met. The school staff and Governing Body are not focussing enough on these aims and confirming that decisions are made with them in mind. They are quoted at the front of the school prospectus but are not referred to in other documents.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

66. The current self-evaluation carried out by the school lacks rigour and is too positive and as a result areas for future development are being missed. This is partly as a result of the lack of a dynamic senior management team, which would include school evaluation as one of its major roles and help to accurately prioritise plans for future improvement.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

67. Provision for pupils with special educational needs is well managed and records are up to date and comprehensive. The co-ordinator meets regularly with the special needs assistants to review pupils’ progress and maintains good relationships with outside agencies. Resources are carefully chosen to suit the needs of pupils. For example, reading books that will appeal to boys have been purchased and this is improving their enthusiasm for reading.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

68. The Governing Body has a satisfactory role in the school. It has worked well with all staff to focus on the improvements needed in the school. Governors have made sure that the school is now fulfilling all its statutory duties. They are kept well informed about what is happening in school through detailed headteacher’s reports. They discuss national test results and are aware where these need to be improved. They are fully involved in setting targets for pupils’ performance in national tests. Individual governors have formed good links with some subjects and have taken the opportunity to see the work of the school first hand. The regular meetings with subject co-ordinators have also been a good innovation, which help them to be further informed about the work of the school. Their decision to have a set agenda at every full Governing Body meeting means that they regularly revisit each item and receive an update. Whilst they are clear

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

about what is in the school development plan and receive information about how it is progressing, they are not sufficiently involved at an early stage in deciding what should be in the plan. The sub-committees carry out their work effectively in areas such as the monitoring of finances and appointment of staff. The Governing Body is fully involved in performance management within the school and targets for individual staff are being properly linked to both individual teachers’ and whole school needs. The strategies for staff appraisal and performance management are satisfactory. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 24 69. The school has a very tight budget as a result of the low income it receives for each pupil. Grants received for spending on specific areas are all spent correctly. This has slowed developments in some areas and made it difficult to find money to repair and improve the building and buy much needed learning resources. The school plans its

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

finances well within these limitations but is not obtaining best value in all areas of its spending. Expenditure on the running of the school premises is higher than average. The Governing Body is currently committed to using local authority services even when these are likely to be more expensive than private options. The Governing Body is not fully exploring possibly alternative options when commissioning services for the school. Whilst the school is beginning to set up systems by which parents and pupils can be consulted about plans for the future of the school, these are at early stage of development. The school does compare its results with other local schools and those nationally. The school has been prepared to challenge its previous practice and bring about improvements in the quality of teaching and learning in the school.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

70. The school’s system for the induction of new teaching staff and supply teachers is not well organised. Whilst this has been the responsibility of the key stage co-ordinator there is no formal system and too much of the induction process is left to chance. As a result these teachers are not fully informed about the class they will be taking or the school procedures.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

71. The school secretary, who has only been in post a few months, is working hard to develop new systems to make the day-to-day managements of the school more efficient. This includes the monitoring of attendance and the processing of orders. She is making greater use of information and communication technology.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

72. Taking into account the quality of teaching and learning, the standards achieved by the pupils and the lower than average income for each pupil, the school is giving satisfactory value for money.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

73. The school has sufficient suitably qualified and experienced teachers for the number of pupils on roll, but there are too few learning support staff. There are occasions, when there is no time allocation for the deployment of educational support, that the challenging behaviour of a small minority of pupils disrupts lessons and adversely affects the learning of the majority of pupils in the class. A number of teachers and subject co-ordinators have been able to take part in training courses as part of their professional development and to enhance their contribution to the leadership and management of the school.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

74. Overall the accommodation is satisfactory and is adequate for teaching the full curriculum. However, there are a number of unsatisfactory elements. The entrance to the school is via a narrow hallway and access is difficult for even small groups at a time. The nature of the access makes it difficult to mount attractive displays resulting in a lack of any sense of a welcoming atmosphere. Most classrooms have access to work areas but are generally lacking in storage space so that many of the open areas present an untidy appearance despite the best efforts of the teachers to make them attractive. Year 5 and Year 6 pupils have lost their work area to the creation of the computer suite and it is difficult for both year groups to access space and materials for art and design and design and technology lessons. Some classrooms are very crowded and this combined with the deteriorating state of internal decoration detracts

p.24

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

from their attractiveness as working areas. The state of external decoration is such that the school building presents a worn and unattractive face to visitors. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 25 75. Learning resources are satisfactory overall. The school has a library area but this is not well used at present and much of the stock is old. Resources for information and communication technology are good and software resources are improving. In design and technology access to the tools workstation is made difficult by the internal geography of the school. The lack of good storage space throughout the school makes the preservation of learning resources a problem and teachers work hard to maintain their condition and suitability.

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

76. In order to further improve the school and raise standards, the Governing Body and headteacher should:

p.25

1) set up a formal senior management team that recognises and uses the

strengths of senior staff to drive forward improvements in the school. (paragraphs 65 and 66)

p.25

2) review the organisation of the school day so that:

• English and mathematics lessons are of a more appropriate length; • Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 have a shorter teaching week. (paragraphs 34, 79, 111, 124)

p.25

ambience of the school is improved and high quality pupils’ work,

including writing, is celebrated. (paragraphs 5, 30, 41, 43, 74, 136)

p.25

in science, information and communication technology, religious

education and the foundation subjects. (paragraphs 53, 129, 147, 148, 162, 168, 174, 180)

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supervisors so that:

• classes do not suffer as a result of the disruptive behaviour of a minority of pupils; • teachers have more support when teaching literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology; • there is a better level of supervision at lunchtime. (paragraphs 13, 21, 27, 33, 48, 73, 102, 110, 111, 116, 128, 141, 159, 173)) Hollins Grundy Primary School - 26

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6) improve the quality of information for parents by:

• informing parents what will be taught in their child’s class each term; • making sure that all school reports give a clear indication of standards achieved and the progress made in each subject; • ensuring that the annual report to parents includes all the information required and is presented in a more attractive and readable format. (paragraphs 61 and 62)

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7) making sure that the Governing Body gains ‘best value’ when

commissioning services for the school. (paragraph 69) Minor issues: • review the curriculum for geography and history in Years 3 and 4 to make sure the subjects are taught in sufficient depth (paragraphs 34, 145, 150); • continue to improve the provision for pupils’ spiritual development (paragraphs 41 and 112); • continue to review and develop the school’s marking policy so that pupils are clear about how they can improve their work (paragraphs 21, 31, 110, 111, 123, 129, 146, 152) ; • develop a formal system to induct new or temporary teachers into the school (paragraph 70). Hollins Grundy Primary School - 27

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 23

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactor y Poor Very Poor

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

The table gives the number and percentage of lessons observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about teaching. Care should be taken when interpreting these percentages as each lesson represents more than two percentage points.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR – Y6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 199

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 16

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Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y 6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 3

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 25

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Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 3

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 11

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 1

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Information about the school’s pupils

School data 5.1 School data 0.7 Hollins Grundy Primary School - 28 National comparative data 5.4 National comparative data 0.5

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Information about the school’s pupils

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 29

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2002 17 11 28

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Boys 16 16 16 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 9 9 9

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 89 (95) 89(95) 89 (95) at NC level 2 or above National 84(84) 86(86) 90 (91)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Boys 15 16 15 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 9 10 9

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 86 (90) 93 (95) 86 (86) at NC level 2 or above National 85 (85) 89 (89) 89 (89)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

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

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6) Year Boys Girls Total

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2002 17 18 35

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Boys 13 14 16 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 18 11 18

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 89 (72) 71 (78) 97 (78) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (75) 73 (71) 86 (87)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Boys 12 13 16 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 16 13 16

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 80 (69) 74 (69) 91 (61) at NC level 4 or above National 73 (72) 74(74) 82 (82)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 30

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Categories used in the Annual School Census No of pupils on roll Number of fixed period exclusions Number of permanent exclusions

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Asian or Asian British – any other Asian background 1

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black or Black British – any other Black background

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

The table refers to pupils of compulsory school age only. It gives the number of exclusions, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 31

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 8 Financial year 2002/3

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 25

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total income 415027

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 6 Total expenditure 417074

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 101 Expenditure per pupil 1996

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery Balance brought forward from previous year 22372

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) Balance carried forward to next year 20325

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 2

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 2

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 0

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of a term or more (FTE) 1

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of unfilled vacancies or vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of less than one term (FTE) 0

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Teachers and classes Financial information

FTE means full-time equivalent. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 32

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Questionnaire return rate

Percentage of responses in each category

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Questionnaire return rate

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

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Questionnaire return rate

My child is making good progress in school. 60 36 4 0 0

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Questionnaire return rate

Behaviour in the school is good. 28 54 14 0 4

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Questionnaire return rate

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 38 54 8 0 0

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Questionnaire return rate

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 32 52 12 4 0

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Questionnaire return rate

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 70 30 0 0 0

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Questionnaire return rate

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 58 40 2 0 0

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Questionnaire return rate

The school works closely with parents. 34 52 10 2 2

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Questionnaire return rate

The school is well led and managed. 50 42 2 2 4

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Questionnaire return rate

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 56 38 4 0 2

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Questionnaire return rate

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 22 42 24 6 6 Hollins Grundy Primary School - 33

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

77. Provision for children in the Foundation Stage is very good and has improved since the time of the previous inspection. It provides a good start to the children’s education and is a strength of the school. The majority of children start their education in the Reception class in the September of the year they are five but a small number join during the course of the year. The school has close links with the local playgroup, which meets in the nearby Community Centre, and the majority of children attend there before they enter the school. The reception class teacher visits the playgroup and also has contact with prospective pupils and parents in their own homes in the term before entry into school. This gives her much helpful information about the children who are to join her class.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

78. The majority of children enter the reception class with average levels of attainment although small numbers enter with attainment above or below average. There is no formal policy for the identification of gifted and talented children, but the class teacher has clear knowledge of those whose attainment on entry is above average. The teaching and learning environment of the reception class is maintained by the effective teamwork of the whole staff who plan and work well together. The very good teaching supports the children in the enjoyment of their learning and ensures that all children, including those with special educational needs, make good progress. By the time they start in Year 1 the majority of children have attained well above the Early Learning Goals in their personal and social development, above the Early Learning Goals in their physical and creative development and in line with the Early Learning Goals in

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

communication, language and literacy, mathematical development and in their knowledge and understanding of the world. A small number of higher attaining children are already working within national curriculum levels when they enter Year 1.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

79. The school day is very long for these young pupils, lasting from 8.55am to 3.30pm and the length of the teaching week is well above the national average. As a result some younger pupils become very tired by the end of the week. Assessment procedures are good, clearly based on the ‘stepping stones’ to learning, and backed up by very good use of incidental opportunities for assessment throughout the day. This helps to identify any pupils with special educational needs and enables them to be well supported. By the end of the year each child has a completed profile to show achievement and progress through the year and these are shared with parents during consultations prior to children transferring to Year 1. Daily and weekly targets and objectives are shared with the children so that, from the beginning, they are aware of what they have achieved and what they are going to do next. During circle time the children are encouraged to

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

explain things they have carried out in school and how they have arrived at answers and solutions. As a result they have a good understanding of their own learning. Resources to support teaching and learning are satisfactory overall. Children now have access to a secure outside play area that is still in the course of development and which is a very popular feature. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 34

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Personal, social and emotional development

80. Children make very good progress in this area of their development, as a result of the very good teaching of personal, social and emotional development by the teacher supported by classroom support assistant. The children attain well above the level expected for their age group by the time they enter Year 1. The children are well aware of the routines of the school and they willingly share their toys and other equipment. Staff are very effective in their encouragement of the children in working together and jointly celebrating their achievements. By the end of the year the vast majority of the children are capable of acting independently and have a good degree of self-reliance.

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Personal, social and emotional development

81. As children are encouraged to take responsibility, they know that it is important to look after the shared equipment and to take care of their own things. Although they dress and undress at differing rates, they are eager to do things for themselves and they have a good awareness of safety and personal hygiene. As part of their personal and social development, children from the Reception class play a full part in assemblies and learn from this opportunity to observe the behaviour of older pupils in the school.

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Personal, social and emotional development

82. The children have very good attitudes to learning and behave very well. They enjoy very good relationships with the other children, their teacher and the classroom support assistant.

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Communication, language and literacy

83. The vast majority of children have average levels of attainment in communication, language and literacy when they start in the Reception class. Support and teaching are consistently good and very good teaching was observed during the course of the inspection. The teacher plans a rich and varied range of learning activities and this results in high levels of interest and motivation from the children. All children make good progress during their time in the Reception class and the vast majority attain the Early Learning Goals in this area of their learning by the time they enter Year 1.

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Communication, language and literacy

84. The children communicate well with their teachers and with each other and higher attainers confidently use a wide and often varied vocabulary. In one discussion concerning the characteristics of aliens, words such as ‘reticulated’ were used with considerable gravitas even if the children’s knowledge of their meaning was uncertain. Teaching is very effective in promoting the use of language through role-play and, during the course of the inspection, a new role-play ‘garage’ was established amongst great excitement. The occasion was also used to take advantage of a visit from a parent who described his own work in a garage whilst answering detailed questions from the children. During circle time children are asked challenging questions and are allowed time to formulate their answers in their own way. Good use is made of incidental opportunities for language development when, for example, children explain

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Communication, language and literacy

how they found an answer to a number problem.

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Communication, language and literacy

85. Teaching also successfully promotes early reading skills and encourages children in developing a love of books and stories. During the course of the inspection children were observed making their own versions of favourite traditional stories, showing their appreciation of character and a logical sequence of events. They have access to a good range of books and are able to share them with their parents or carers.

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Communication, language and literacy

86. Children of all abilities make good progress in their writing skills and have good pencil control. By the end of the reception year the vast majority are able to write their own names and recognise them when others write them. Good quality monitoring and Hollins Grundy Primary School - 35 assessment enable staff to present and adapt writing activities to provide maximum encouragement for the children.

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Mathematical development

87. The good quality of teaching in this area ensures that children of all abilities make good progress in developing their knowledge of number, shape, size and capacity. The majority attain the Early Learning Goals with some higher attaining children attaining beyond this level by the time they start Year 1.

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Mathematical development

88. A good range of mathematical equipment is available to the children and they are now also able to expand their activities into the outdoor play area. Number games and rhymes are a regular feature of the day and teaching takes advantage of incidental opportunities for developing mathematical skills, such as counting the number of children present. Children are confident in their counting and move beyond ten with confidence. The majority have a secure grasp of adding and taking away numbers and are very good at explaining their strategies for solving problems.

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Mathematical development

89. Free play and structured play are used to provide good opportunities for the children to develop mathematical vocabulary. When pouring water from containers children discuss the capacity of containers of differing shapes and sizes and show a willingness to estimate quantity as they pour. Regular opportunities for matching and comparing, sorting and selecting are well used in the development of skills and vocabulary and, by the end of the reception year, children are confident in their approach to number facts and concepts.

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

90. Teaching of knowledge and understanding of the world is very good. Children of all abilities make good progress in this area of their development, attaining the Early Learning Goals by the time they enter Year 1.

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

91. Children have a good knowledge of their immediate environment as a secure base from which to explore the wider world. From their classroom and play area they can view an attractive grassy environment and can see across the town to nearby hills. Skills of observation and enquiry are fostered through the growing of plants and a recent visit to a local garden centre has provided the children with a well-used role-play area. Teachers remind the children of the need for respect for living things and this feeds into their spiritual experience of the world around them. Living things have also made a significant impact on learning following a visit to a local farm where children were able to observe the animals closely.

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

92. The majority of the children have a clear recall of their route to school and some of the major features that they see or visit on their journey. In role-play they are able to act out the significance of shopping expeditions with parents and carers and they know that shopping is part of the routine of daily life. Through their participation in assemblies, snack times and other fixed points in the school day children have a good understanding of the passage of time and its importance. The majority of children have a good sense of relationships within their immediate circle and they know that age and gender play a part in establishing status. Whilst they can describe the main relationships in their immediate families, few are yet able to sort out the complexities of the relationships between aunties, uncles and grandparents. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 36 93. The children have regular access to a computer and are showing a good level of basic

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

computing skills in line with expectation for their age. Religious education is taught regularly to reception children and they play a full part in collective acts of worship in the school.

p.36

Physical development

94. Teaching in this area is good and the children make good progress. By the time they transfer to Year 1, the vast majority achieve beyond the Early Learning Goals in this area of their learning.

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Physical development

95. In the classroom the children move with a good sense of balance and confidence and are careful of the needs of others. In their outdoor play they are robust but safe in their movements and are well supervised by teachers and support staff. In the school hall they use space effectively and show a good sense of body awareness in all directions of travel. They respond with alacrity when instructed by their teacher and are fully aware of the bodily needs of warm-up and cool-down procedures.

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Physical development

96. Many of the children arrive in school with some experience of using pencils, paintbrushes, scissors and other tools and they have a good degree of fine-motor control when using them. Teaching encourages the further development of independence and control and by the time they reach Year 1 the children are adept at creative activities, such as model building, painting and drawing, where good physical control is required.

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Creative development

97. Teaching in this area is good and the children make good progress in this area of learning. By the end of the Foundation Stage the majority attain beyond the Early Learning Goals in the area of creative development. The children’s artwork is highly valued and has a prominent place in the displays around the classroom and work area. The role-play areas are largely decorated and equipped by the children and this also gives them a sense of responsibility for their own learning.

p.36

Creative development

98. In their creative activities children access a range of resources and experiment with paints, clay, sand, water, construction and modelling materials. They use and mix colours very well and also respond with enthusiasm to the work of other artists. Following a visit to the Lowry Gallery the children have produced a very effective monochrome wall display based on their interpretation of the Lowry style. Teaching encourages them to discuss and evaluate their own work and the opportunity for language development is integrated into the discussions.

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Creative development

99. Role-play is used very effectively to enhance creative development and the children enjoy acting out the relationships for customers in the garden centre or the garage. The visit to the classroom of a parent who talked about his work in a garage provided a major stimulus to the creation of the garage role-play area and a new burst of creative energy on the part of the children. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 37

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ENGLISH

100. At the end of Key Stage 1 in 2002, national tests show that attainment in reading was well above both the national average and the average for similar schools. Attainment in writing was in line with the national averages and the standards achieved in similar schools. Inspection findings indicate that standards at the end of Year 2 are now above national expectations in reading and in line with national expectations in writing. Pupils in the current Year 1 are already performing at a good standard and the class should exceed national expectations next year. The national test results for 2002 show that pupils’ attainment in English at the end of Key Stage 2 was above national averages and well above those for schools with a similar number of pupils eligible for free school meals. Inspection findings indicate that standards in English are now in line with national averages at the end of Key Stage 2, although pupils’ attainment in reading is

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ENGLISH

above the national average. The higher number of pupils with special educational needs in this cohort explains the lower standards; many of these pupils have joined the class since the end of Key Stage 1. Pupils in the current Year 5 are already performing at a good standard and the class results should exceed national averages next year.

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ENGLISH

101. The school has made satisfactory progress since the last inspection. The school’s focus on the quality of teaching and learning has resulted in a higher proportion of good lessons. Work is now much more suitably matched to the abilities of pupils throughout the school. Whilst the school has successfully introduced all aspects of the National Literacy Strategy, many lessons are too long and this is challenging teachers, who sometimes need to plan for sessions of up to one hour and thirty minutes in both key stages. Teachers are now promoting the use of literacy skills much more successfully across the curriculum, and in Year 6, in particular, much of the best writing seen was in geography and history topics.

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ENGLISH

102. Pupils of all abilities make good progress in English in Key Stage 1 and build well upon the standards achieved at the end of the Foundation Stage. The good quality of provision for pupils with special educational needs also enables them to make good progress. The progress of all pupils in Key Stage 2 is satisfactory through the Key Stage. Teachers receive too little classroom support in both key stages. This is making their task much harder as it is not possible to give all pupils the level of support they need.

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ENGLISH

103. Speaking and listening skills are in line with national averages at the end of Year 2. Pupils are good at listening to their teachers and each other in class. They are not hesitant to answer questions and usually answer in complete sentences. They are able to work sensibly in small groups and discuss what they are doing. However, they have too few opportunities to participate in drama activities or to contribute to assemblies. For example, in their ‘good work assembly’ the teacher did not always allow pupils who had been chosen to receive a certificate to explain the reasons for themselves.

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ENGLISH

104. Standards in speaking and listening are in line with national averages at the end of Year 6. Pupils are confident speakers and will volunteer information in class. On occasions teachers do not give them sufficient time to answer questions directed to them in lessons or assemblies, instead answering the question themselves. When pupils are given the chance to participate in an assembly, with a visiting poet, for example, these are successful occasions that boost the pupils’ confidence. Pupils rarely participate in drama lessons or take assembly themselves. Key Stage 2 pupils have not put on any performances for parents since the last inspection two years ago, when the time spent on this was criticised. Pupils would now gain benefit from working together in performance situations, which would develop their confidence in speaking publicly. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 38 105. Reading skills are above national averages at the end of Year 2. Pupils really enjoy

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ENGLISH

reading and the very recent acquisition of a new reading scheme is already boosting their interest in reading. They read out loud confidently in class, demonstrating a good knowledge of phonic skills and participating enthusiastically. In Year 2, they read the story of the ‘Silly Ghosts Gruff’ with meaning and quietened their voices when reading about the ‘microscopic’ ghost. In Year 1, they picked up on the lively rhyming of the poem ‘Commotion in the Ocean’. Teachers provide opportunities for pupils to read individually in school and this, combined with the support of parents at home, is raising standards in reading. The quality of guided reading is also good with pupils listening to each other well in groups and reading appropriate books. Year 2 pupils also benefit from a reading ‘buddy’ where pupils come from Year 5 to listen to them read at lunchtime.

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ENGLISH

106. Standards in reading are above national averages at the end of Key Stage 2. Pupils continue to demonstrate a real love of reading. Most have read a wide range of books including classics from both the modern era and the past. Whilst the Harry Potter series is popular, pupils have also read books by Charles Dickens, Louisa M Alcott and Robert Louis Stevenson. Pupils are good at choosing books that are appropriate for them. Many also read widely at home and use the local public library. Pupils of all abilities are confident at reading out loud as was demonstrated in Year 6 when pupils used ‘The Suitcase Kid’ by Jacqui Wilson as a starting point for a discussion on relationships within families and stepfamilies. Pupils are able to use books to find out information, but the current school library is stocked with mainly older books and is part of an infant shared area. Pupils will benefit when the area is partitioned off and new

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ENGLISH

books are bought. This is scheduled to happen by the beginning of next term.

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ENGLISH

107. Standards in writing are in line with national averages at the end of Year 2. Too few pupils are reaching the higher level 3 to enable standards to be higher. Whilst much of the writing is of a satisfactory standard, there are too few occasions when writing is very imaginative and exciting to read. Most pupils are able to join up their handwriting successfully, but do not always carry over the skills demonstrated in their handwriting books to their other written work. Some untidiness is caused by the bluntness of the pupils’ pencils, which makes lines too thick. The pupils learn their formal skills well and most can spell simple words accurately and use their phonic skills to make more complicated words recognisable. The pupils are learning to write for a variety of purposes. For example, they have produced postcards from an imaginary holiday destination and written a simple review of a Mick Inkpen book. They are able to recall

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ENGLISH

the story ‘I’m going on a bear hunt’ successfully and make an application to become one of Santa’s reindeer.

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ENGLISH

108. Standards in writing are also in line with national averages at the end of Key Stage 2. Much good work is done, in line with the national literacy strategy, on the formal skills required to develop pupils’ proficiency in tackling their writing. For example, pupils learn how to plan for a range of writing styles, but there are too few examples of the writing that is the outcome of these plans with the exception of the work of the higher attainers. This group of pupils has completed a wider range of writing including autobiography, newspaper reporting and looking at writing to analyse the writer’s intent. Writing is not celebrated sufficiently in the school generally, but particularly in Key Stage 2. There are few displays of writing in either classrooms or in public areas such as the school entrance and hall. Pupils did not share their writing sufficiently in either of the good work assemblies observed in inspection week. The school has recognised correctly that

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ENGLISH

standards of writing are not high enough in the school and this is being focussed on as part of whole school development. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 39 109. Pupils throughout the school have made some use of computers to word process their writing, but it is still an area to be developed.

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ENGLISH

110. The quality of teaching and learning is good in Key Stage 1. Classes are managed well and lessons are kept flowing at a good pace. Teachers display lots of energy and really involve their classes in English lessons. Good use is made of class stories and the big books to develop pupils’ reading skills. Pupils are aware of the learning objectives of the lessons and work hard towards these even when they are challenging. This is helping the pupils to focus on the skills they should be learning. Worksheets are not always dated which makes it harder for teachers to check progress over time. Marking is variable. Whilst much feedback to the pupils is carried out orally, too little is written on the pupils’ work for the teacher to recall what was said. Many pupils do not yet understand the marking system and are not clear enough how they can improve their work. Where support assistants are available they are well used either to withdraw

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ENGLISH

groups or to work in the classroom. In lessons when no support is available, pupils do not learn as much despite the very best efforts of the teachers.

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ENGLISH

111. In Key Stage 2, the quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Most of the teaching observed in the inspection was good. Teachers show a good understanding of how to teach basic skills, but are not yet enabling pupils to develop these enough in their writing. Teachers in Key Stage 2 are not yet planning work carefully enough for the full range of abilities in the class. The work given to groups is only subtly different and often pupils’ needs have to be met through varying levels of support. Teachers work hard to manage their classes, but when support is not available, there is a minority of potentially disruptive pupils who take up a high proportion of the teachers’ time, especially in Years 5 and 6. Lessons are generally too long and difficult to fill effectively although teachers work very hard to plan a range of activities. Much work is not marked in sufficient detail, and not all pupils clearly understand the marking system that is in

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ENGLISH

use. They are not being given a clear enough explanation of how they can improve their work.

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ENGLISH

112. Most pupils are keen to participate in their English lessons and they behave well. They have particularly positive attitudes to reading and this is true of readers of all abilities. The subject contributes well to the social development in the school. Pupils are good at listening to one another and work together successfully. The lack of displayed work in English is diminishing the subject’s contribution to the pupils’ spiritual development and not encouraging pupils to take enough pride in their writing.

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ENGLISH

113. Assessment in the subject is satisfactory and teachers regularly test pupils’ formal skills. However, reading records tend to be lists of books and particular difficulties that pupils are having are not usually recorded. Planning of lessons is linked closely to the national literacy hour and teachers evaluate what has been learnt. This is enabling teachers to adjust their planning so that it successfully builds on what pupils already know.

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ENGLISH

114. The subject co-ordinator is on long-term sick leave, but two teachers are providing satisfactory cover for her in addition to all their other responsibilities. There has been a good standard of monitoring of teaching and learning since the last inspection both by local education authority advisers and by teachers in school. This has resulted in good improvement in this aspect of the subject, and is now being used to focus on areas for development, such as writing. Resources are currently barely satisfactory, but the school is very clear about what extra resources are needed and these are being bought through school funds and with the help of the Parent Teachers’ Association. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 40

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MATHEMATICS

115. The 2002 national tests showed that standards at the end of Year 2 were in line with national averages, as at the last inspection, though an above average number of pupils reached the higher level 3. Pupils also achieved average standards in comparison with similar schools. Standards at the end of Year 6 were below the national average and well below the national average when compared with similar schools and fewer pupils than average achieved the higher level. Inspection findings are that attainment is in line with national expectations at the end of Year 2 although the narrower ability range has resulted in fewer pupils achieving the higher level 3. However, there are encouraging signs of improvement. Attainment is good in Year 1, providing a higher platform than before for the good teaching in Year 2 to build on and this bodes well for standards in the future. There has been good improvement in Year 6, with standards now in line with

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MATHEMATICS

national expectations and an increased number of pupils reaching the higher level 5. This is due to an improvement in teaching and in the analysis of assessment information to identify areas of weakness. The school has also paid greater attention to developing pupils’ understanding by providing them with opportunities to solve problems and to explain their thinking.

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MATHEMATICS

116. The progress of pupils is satisfactory in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 but the disruption to staffing in Year 3 means that progress is less marked in this year group. The early identification and support offered in small withdrawal groups for pupils to use the Springboard material enables pupils with special educational needs to progress well. The lower than average amount of classroom support in numeracy lessons is a factor in attainment being satisfactory rather than good overall.

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MATHEMATICS

117. By the age of seven pupils have developed their arithmetic skills well through challenging practice in the initial oral sessions and through a good range of practical activities. These promote understanding, for example, by building up multiplication tables by repeated addition. A strong feature is pupils’ understanding of number, developed well by the regular requirement to explain their working and by solving a wide range of problems and puzzles. Most pupils are comfortable when working with numbers to a hundred whilst higher attaining pupils are confident in adding hundreds, tens and units. Lower attaining pupils are developing their skill in adding a single digit number to tens and units, with appropriate practical resources readily available to help.

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MATHEMATICS

118. By the end of Year 6, pupils have developed their number skills to a suitable level through regular practice in tables, which promotes quick recall, and through being encouraged to use what they already know to solve more difficult problems. For example, they use their knowledge of doubling techniques to work out multiplications, which extend beyond the tables. Pupils also solve long multiplication using a variety of methods although no work was seen on the related long division. Most pupils have a sound understanding of the relationship between fractions, decimals and percentages and can use this to solve problems, for example, working out the percentage of minibeasts in each category in their pond dipping. Pupils are regularly required to explain their working, both orally and in writing, and this helps to improve understanding. Higher attaining pupils extend their knowledge to include a more in depth understanding

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MATHEMATICS

of prime numbers, ratio and proportion. Lower attaining pupils develop their skills through simplified but relevant activities, but occasionally the work they are given is too difficult, for example, working out 0.76p x 4.5. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 41 119. In Year 2 pupils have regular opportunities to measure accurately using appropriate measurements such as centimetres and can read measurements such as litres or grams on jugs and scales. Most pupils know the names of the common two- dimensional and three-dimensional shapes and well-planned activities help them to develop a good understanding of symmetry. Higher attaining pupils can explain the lines of symmetry on complex shapes and good questioning by the teacher led one very able pupil to ponder and discover that a regular octagon must have eight lines of symmetry. Lower attaining pupils are supported well in learning to identify simple shapes. Pupils

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MATHEMATICS

have experienced drawing a good range of graphs, displaying information about their favourite crisps, for example, and higher attaining pupils are challenged to use graphs to solve problems.

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MATHEMATICS

120. In Year 6 pupils have extended their measuring skills to understand the range of appropriate units of measurement and to solve related problems, for example, calculating distances on a map in kilometres using a scale. Most pupils can identify the properties of different quadrilaterals and can work out the area and perimeter of shapes by counting squares or using the appropriate formula. Pupils practise measuring and drawing, though unsharpened pencils sometimes hinder accuracy. Pupils construct a suitable range of graphs to display information, for example, the different types of food consumed at a party, and also Venn diagrams to help identify common multiples of 8 and 12. Pupils develop a simple understanding of probability as they classify the likelihood of events ranging from certain to unlikely.

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MATHEMATICS

121. Teaching is good in Key Stage 1. The consistently good teaching is characterised by interesting, imaginative and practical activities, which promote learning well. This was seen in a very good lesson in Year 1 where pupils used large, bright starfish to help them count in fives. Good questioning and clear explanations helped pupils to understand and start their individual tasks straight away. Work is planned well to suit the needs of different groups, helping pupils to progress well. The limited classroom support, available only in Year 1, is used well to support learning for lower attaining pupils and those with special educational needs; support workers are well briefed and play an integral part in the lesson. High expectations and good relationships help pupils to develop a positive attitude to work, they persist in their tasks and co-operate well with each other. This was seen in Year 2 when other pupils concentrated well on their work

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MATHEMATICS

and shared mirrors whilst the teacher worked with a group of lower attaining pupils.

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MATHEMATICS

122. Teaching is satisfactory overall in Key Stage 2 and during the inspection examples of good teaching were observed. In the better lessons, good use is made of simple resources such as counting sticks. These are used to develop pupils’ arithmetic skills, as in Year 4 where pupils chanted their tables successfully and were then challenged to answer random, quick fire questions using the counting stick. Questions are targeted well to challenge pupils appropriately. For example, higher attaining pupils in Year 5 were asked to use their knowledge of doubling to work out 1.7 + 1.8 quickly and explain how this related to doubling. In some lessons, teachers’ own mathematical knowledge is not as strong and there is insufficient difference in the work planned for different groups of pupils. A good contribution is made to pupils’ learning during the intensive sessions for lower attaining pupils in Year 5, where they work on specific materials to

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MATHEMATICS

develop good strategies for calculations, for example, using a number line to work out subtraction of hundreds, tens and units. 123. An overall strength in teaching are the good opportunities given to pupils to explain their reasoning and to develop their skills in solving problems, and to evaluate their success in achieving the learning objective at the end of each lesson. A weaker element is the marking of pupils’ work to help them improve. Whilst work is ticked and annotated in accordance with the school marking policy, it is not useful in helping pupils to overcome Hollins Grundy Primary School - 42 any difficulties. Only limited use is made of information and communication technology to support learning in mathematics. The previous report identified the need to promote learning in mathematics in other subjects. Whilst the co-ordinator has identified opportunities where mathematics could be used across the curriculum, the

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MATHEMATICS

implementation has been inconsistent. Examples of where links are made are where pupils in Year 2 program the robot and the computer turtle to turn through right angles, and pupils in Year 6 measure materials when designing a shelter and draw up a table of information following pond dipping.

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MATHEMATICS

124. The subject is managed well by an enthusiastic co-ordinator. She has monitored teaching and learning whilst working alongside colleagues in classrooms and through scrutinising pupils’ work. The school has worked closely with the local authority consultants and uses advice well to improve ways of working. Some mathematics lessons are too long and it is difficult for teachers and pupils to sustain the pace. The detailed analysis of test results has identified areas of weakness and the focus on using and applying skills is helping to raise standards. There are sound procedures for assessing pupils’ attainment through standardised tests and end of topic check ups. However, the results are not recorded to show detailed progress in key objectives and to pinpoint areas of particular difficulty. Records show the targets and levels reached over a year, but the information is not collated into a useful form to help the school to

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MATHEMATICS

track pupils’ progress across the school. This does not help them to identify and remedy any slowing down in pupils’ progress.

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SCIENCE

125. On the basis of the 2002 National Curriculum tests for Year 6 pupils, attainment was in line with the national average and the average when compared with similar schools. However, the number of pupils achieving the higher level was well below the national average. The 2002 teacher assessments for science suggest that pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 2 is broadly average. The inspection findings indicate that standards for the current cohort of pupils in Year 2 and Year 6 are broadly in line with national expectations. This is an improvement since the previous inspection when, in Key Stage 2, standards were below average. Recent staff changes and improvements in the planning and teaching have begun to accelerate the rate of progress in Key Stage 2, although this has not yet been fully reflected in the number of pupils who are likely to achieve the higher levels in the national tests. Progress and learning are now

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SCIENCE

satisfactory in both key stages and pupils achieve satisfactorily in relation to their prior attainment. Throughout the school, pupils with special educational needs make similar progress to their classmates. A greater emphasis is being placed on developing pupils’ investigative and experimental aspects of science, which was identified as a weak area.

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SCIENCE

126. By the end of Year 2, pupils’ learning and attainment in science is satisfactory in all aspects of science, including life processes and living things, materials and their properties and physical processes. Their investigative and enquiry skills are developing satisfactorily. They respond appropriately to suggestions on how to find things out through collecting data and recording it with simple tables and diagrams. Most pupils understand that exercising and eating the correct types of food assist humans in keeping healthy and that living things grow and reproduce. Pupils are able to sort materials into groups using a variety of criteria and know that processes such as heating or cooling or bending or stretching change some materials. They can describe how to construct a simple electrical circuit in order to make a bulb light up, and understand that it will switch off if the circuit is open. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 43

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SCIENCE

127. Pupils in Key Stage 2 continue to make satisfactory progress in all aspects of science. Throughout the key stage, pupils carry out investigations and develop their understanding of the scientific processes further. Pupils in Year 6 know that theories need to be tested out and experiments might need to be repeated to confirm the results. They understand that the results of their findings can be recorded and presented in a variety of ways, such as tables, bar charts and line graphs. They appreciate the feeding relationships between plants and animals in a habitat, describing them in appropriate terms, such as food chains, predator and prey. In their work on materials and their properties, pupils are able to describe some methods such as filtration for separating simple mixtures and use scientific terminology to describe changes such as evaporation. They have a sound understanding of some physical

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SCIENCE

phenomena such as the force of gravity and the up thrust of water. In the past, Year 6 higher attaining pupils have had only limited opportunities to develop their knowledge and understanding to the maximum ability. However, this situation is beginning to change. Already a significant number of pupils in the current Year 5 have a good level of knowledge and understanding in some aspects of science. For example, in their study of life processes and living things they have a good understanding of the structure and functions of the heart.

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SCIENCE

128. The quality of teaching and learning in science are satisfactory overall. Teaching is at its best when the teacher presents information in a lively and imaginative way, which maintains pupils’ interest and concentration and has high expectations of all the pupils. Pupils respond appropriately to this and are enthusiastic learners. Most teachers manage pupils well and, as a result, pupils’ attitudes to science are good and they show respect towards their teachers and each other. However, occasionally a small minority of pupils in Key Stage 2 demonstrate inappropriate behaviour that is difficult for the teachers to manage effectively without additional support. This slows the pace of learning for the rest of the class. Generally, pupils co-operate willingly with each other and this makes a good contribution towards their social development. Teachers’ effective use of questioning encourages pupils to think for themselves and pupils enjoy

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SCIENCE

undertaking practical aspects of science, such as investigating and experimenting, in particular.

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SCIENCE

129. Classes are organised appropriately and the learning objectives for lessons are clearly stated and shared with all pupils. Pupils with special educational needs are fully included in all lessons. However, sometimes higher attaining pupils are not provided with sufficiently challenging work, particularly when undertaking practical investigations. Procedures for assessing pupils’ understanding and progress are satisfactory but assessment information is not yet being used sufficiently to identify the next stage of learning for individual pupils. The marking of pupils’ recorded work is satisfactory overall but it is variable. Where it is best, the teachers show pupils what they need to do in order to improve their work. On occasions, work is not marked at all, unfinished work is accepted and corrections are not undertaken. The subject makes a satisfactory contribution to the development of pupils’ numeracy and literacy skills. There are some

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SCIENCE

good examples of links made between science and other subjects. In Year 1, pupils’ work in music was linked to their work in science on ‘sound’. The use of information and communication technology is satisfactory.

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SCIENCE

130. There has been satisfactory improvement in science since the last inspection. Several teachers have attended courses and their subject knowledge has improved, but some of the new strategies introduced, such as tracking pupils’ progress through the school, are not yet fully established. The subject is satisfactorily led by the co-ordinator. She has good subject knowledge and is keen to develop the subject further. She has Hollins Grundy Primary School - 44 monitored teachers’ planning but has not yet observed teaching and learning in classes in order to be fully aware of what is happening in science throughout the school. Good use is made of the local Land Rangers to support work in science.

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ART AND DESIGN

131. Pupil’s attainment in art and design is above national expectations at the end of Year 2 and Year 6. Standards have been maintained since the time of the previous inspection and pupils of all abilities, including those with special educational needs make good progress in art and design.

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ART AND DESIGN

132. Drawing skills are taught well throughout the school and from Year 1 pupils use sketchbooks to try out their ideas and techniques. In Year 1 and Year 2 pupils have many opportunities for experimenting with different media, such as pencils, pastels, crayons and paint. They develop good skills of observation, as shown during the inspection by the high quality reproductions of seashells being created in different media by pupils in Year 1. Drawing skills develop further as pupils progress through Year 3 to Year 6, and the work they produce shows a good sense of light and shade and an appreciation of perspective. Pupils in Year 3 were observed making tentative sketches for self-portraits using charcoal and they fully understood that preliminary sketches could be improved and refined into a finished product.

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ART AND DESIGN

133. Pupils throughout the school have good opportunities for working with paint. They are encouraged to mix colours and to consider the effects of adding colours to each other. Work is often lively and colourful and by the end of Year 6 shows a good appreciation of the impact of the density and texture of paint. The majority of artwork tends to be on a relatively large scale and pupils need further encouragement to experiment with different genres, such as miniatures.

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ART AND DESIGN

134. Pupils also have the opportunity for working in three dimensions, using clay for example. Use of clay is often linked with topics in other areas of the curriculum and pupils in Year 6 have used the medium in making pots in association with their work in history. Pupils in all classes gain experience in making collage style work and some of them can combine materials in an exciting and innovative way. Following a visit to the Lowry Gallery, pupils in a number of classes have produced good quality work based on the Lowry style using cut out and collage techniques.

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ART AND DESIGN

135. By the end of Year 6 pupils have a secure knowledge of the work of a number of well- known artists and craftspeople although their knowledge of art from cultures outside Europe is less secure. In discussion, pupils from Year 6 knew of the work of Japanese artists but were not very aware of the cultural context of Japanese art. They can express an opinion about their personal likes and dislikes and Year 6 pupils have a good critical vocabulary when comparing the work of artists such as Picasso and Seurat.

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ART AND DESIGN

136. The teaching of art and design is good overall, with some excellent teaching seen in Year 1 during the course of the inspection. Lessons are well planned and the main focus of the activity is clearly communicated to the pupils. Tasks are well matched to ability and all pupils feel their work is appreciated regardless of their individual prowess. A good balance of activities is achieved across the curriculum and the subject is taught regularly in all classes. Teachers have good subject knowledge and encourage pupils in experimenting with materials and techniques. Displays of pupils’ work in Year 1 and Year 2 are vibrant and encourage pupils to take pride in their work. Display space in Hollins Grundy Primary School - 45 some of the classrooms in Year 3 to Year 6 is more limited and displays are less effective although they are still valued by the pupils. Pupils show good attitudes to the subject and enjoy their limited opportunities for visits to galleries as part of their

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ART AND DESIGN

experience of art and design. Increasing use is being made of information and communication technology in art, but pupils have only a limited understanding of the growing significance of computers in this area. Teachers make some use of opportunities that arise in lessons to develop pupils’ spiritual awareness, as seen in an excellent lesson where pupils were encouraged to appreciate the beauty of the shells and pebbles they were to draw.

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ART AND DESIGN

137. The subject is well led by an enthusiastic co-ordinator who is keen to raise standards still further. Good records are kept and, although there is no formal scheme for assessment, the quality of the monitoring and record keeping gives the co-ordinator a clear picture of achievement and progress throughout the school. Resources are satisfactory overall but a number of classrooms are ill equipped for lessons in art and design with no easy access to water or suitable work areas. Pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 have poor access to work areas and this has a restricting effect on some of their activities. Art lessons make a strong contribution to pupils’ cultural development, where a wide range of artists, including aboriginal, African and Jewish have been studied.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

138. Pupil’s attainment in design and technology is in line with national expectations at the end of Year 2 and Year 6. Pupils of all abilities make satisfactory progress during their time in school and standards show good improvement since the time of the previous inspection.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

139. By the end of Year 2 pupils have a good grasp of the essential basic skills of designing and making although many of them are typically more engaged with making than designing. They can explain some of the difficulties of combining materials to produce a desired effect. Pupils in Year 1 have made musical instruments and, in doing so, have learnt a great deal about the sound producing capacities of different materials. Design sheets are used to record initial ideas and predict problems and outcomes and pupils have a satisfactory understanding that designs can be changed in order to make them better.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

140. Pupils in Year 3 to Year 6 continue to make satisfactory progress and their work is at the level expected by the end of Year 6. Experiences gained in Year 1 and Year 2 are consolidated and pupils increase in their understanding of the problems inherent in choosing and combining materials. By the end of Year 6, they know that designs succeed, not just because they are suitable for purpose but also because they look good and have the added cache of designer labels and celebrity approval. The subject makes a good contribution to pupils’ moral, social and cultural development as was demonstrated in a discussion with pupils from Year 6, who were able to articulate some of the moral dilemmas of modern design, such as the use of cheap labour in developing countries. By the end of Year 6 pupils have a familiarity with basic control technology although their recall of work that has been completed is not always very

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

141. Only a limited amount of design and technology was observed during the course of the inspection. The quality of the work available, musical instruments in Year 1, for example, photographic evidence and discussions with pupils confirm that teaching is never less than satisfactory throughout the school. A very well planned lesson in food Hollins Grundy Primary School - 46 technology was observed in Year 5, as the pupils worked on designs for an ‘ideal biscuit’. Unfortunately, no classroom support assistant was available for the class. As a result the good work being done by the class teacher and the majority of pupils was constantly disrupted by the challenging behaviour of a small number of pupils. Attitudes towards the subject are positive throughout the school and reflect the encouragement given by teachers to pupils to take design and technology seriously.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

142. Leadership and management of the subject are satisfactory. The recently appointed co-ordinator has brought the subject from a position of low status within the curriculum to a much higher degree of prominence. Resources have been renewed and updated but access to resources such as work stations is unsatisfactory, especially for pupils in Year 5 and Year 6 who have lost their work area to the development of the computer suite. There is no formal system of assessment for design and technology but the co- ordinator has sufficient records to monitor the delivery of the subject to all year groups.

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GEOGRAPHY

143. Pupils’ attainment in geography is in line with national expectations at the end of both key stages. Standards in Key Stage 2 have improved since the last inspection and have remained the same in Key Stage 1 and overall, pupils now make satisfactory progress in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. This is because there has been an improvement in the teaching and planning of the subject. Pupil with special educational needs make similar progress to their classmates.

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GEOGRAPHY

144. Although no lessons were observed in geography in Key Stage 1 during the inspection, evidence from pupils’ work and from discussion with a group of Year 2 pupils, indicates that pupils make satisfactory progress in acquiring geographical knowledge and skills. By the end of Year 2, most pupils are working at broadly the expected level. They have a reasonable knowledge of their local environment and are beginning to demonstrate an awareness of localities beyond their own. Through their study of the stories of Katie Morag in literacy, pupils are effectively encouraged to give their opinions and explain what they would like and dislike about living on the Isle of Struay. They are also able to identify the features of the island from a map, and understand that a map provides important information.

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GEOGRAPHY

145. Overall, as they move through Key Stage 2, pupils make satisfactory progress in developing their geographical knowledge and skills. However, analysis of pupils’ work in some classes in the early part of Key Stage 2 shows that they only undertake a small amount of recorded work and barely cover some of the units of work in sufficient depth. Despite this, by the end of Year 6, most pupils’ knowledge and understanding are in line with that expected for pupils of their age. Pupils’ map-work skills are at an appropriate level. They successfully identify geographical features such as mountains and describe the features of a mountain environment. Higher attaining pupils describe clearly why the Lake District is one of the wettest places in England. Through the study of rivers and river environments, pupils develop a satisfactory understanding of how many peoples’ life-styles depend on rivers, for example, how the Egyptians depend on the River Nile.

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GEOGRAPHY

They know that people can cause damage and improvement to their environment in a number of ways. This is making a good contribution to the pupils’ moral development.

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GEOGRAPHY

146. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory in both key stages. Teachers manage and organise the pupils appropriately, and provide good opportunities for them to work in pairs and small groups on joint tasks, which supports their social development. Pupils respond well to this and most have positive attitudes to work and Hollins Grundy Primary School - 47 generally behave well. However, a few pupils lose concentration and become silly which slows the pace of learning for the rest of the class. The marking of pupils’ recorded work is unsatisfactory overall. In some classes pupils’ work is not marked regularly and teachers rarely annotate work in order to show pupils how they can improve. Satisfactory opportunities are provided for promoting pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills in geography and information and communication technology is used appropriately to support pupils’ work. Pupils are given suitable opportunities to

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GEOGRAPHY

undertake field studies around the school but older pupils do not have opportunities to undertake any trips further afield to support and enhance their learning.

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GEOGRAPHY

147. The leadership and management of the subject are satisfactory. The co-ordinator has monitored teachers’ planning and had some opportunities to monitor teaching and learning in classes. She is aware of the need to raise the profile of geography within the school and to increase teachers’ subject knowledge and confidence. Currently a commercial scheme of work is being tried out, which takes account of national guidance and it is planned to adapt this to best suit the school’s needs. There are satisfactory procedures in place for assessing pupils’ attainment and progress in the subject. However, they are not yet being used effectively in guiding future planning and setting individual targets for learning. Overall, resources for teaching the subject are satisfactory.

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HISTORY

148. Pupils’ attainment in history is in line with national expectations at the end of both key stages. Standards in Key Stage 2 have improved since the last inspection and in Key Stage 1 they have remained the same. This is because teaching and planning of the subject have improved. Although there are satisfactory procedures in place to assess pupils’ attainment and progress, they are not yet being used effectively in order to guide future planning and set individual targets for learning. Overall, pupils make satisfactory progress throughout the school. Pupils with special educational needs make similar progress to their classmates.

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HISTORY

149. Although no lessons were observed in Key Stage 1, evidence from an analysis of pupils’ work and discussion with Year 2 pupils indicates that they make satisfactory progress in acquiring knowledge and understanding of the past. By the end of the key stage, most pupils have a satisfactory understanding of chronology and how things change overtime. They have a satisfactory factual knowledge of some major events, such as the Great Fire of London, and people they have studied, such as Henry VIII and his wives.

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HISTORY

150. In Key Stage 2, pupils continue to make satisfactory progress in developing their knowledge, skills and understanding of the past through their studies. However, analysis of pupils’ work in some classes in the early part of Key Stage 2, shows they only undertake small amounts of recorded work and barely cover some units of work in sufficient depth. This is because of the way the curriculum is organised. Despite this, by the end of Year 6, pupils’ experience of the history of other eras and cultures, such as Ancient Greeks, Victorians and World War 2, is satisfactory. They are able to discuss evidence about life in the past, at a level appropriate for their age, and have a sound understanding of historical vocabulary. For example, pupils in Year 3 discussed with interest the importance of the River Nile to the Ancient Egyptians. One pupil had brought in a recent newspaper article about the finding of an ancient ‘mummy’, which

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HISTORY

was discussed sensibly with the rest of the class. Higher attaining pupils are able to work independently using secondary sources, such as books and CD-ROMs, to find Hollins Grundy Primary School - 48 things out for themselves. Pupils in Year 6 researched information on the Blitz relating to their studies of World War 2. However, lower attaining pupils rely heavily on the support of adults.

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HISTORY

151. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall. The teachers have a good knowledge and understanding of the subject. Learning objectives are shared appropriately with the pupils so that they are clear about what they are learning. Good links are made with geography as, for example, when pupils used atlases appropriately to locate the source of the Nile. Class organisation is satisfactory overall but some sessions are too long and, as a result, some pupils lost interest and concentration.

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HISTORY

152. Work in history is used appropriately to develop pupils’ literacy skills. For example, pupils in Year 6 wrote thoughtful letters describing how they might have felt as an evacuee in World War 2 writing home to their parents. Information and communication technology is used appropriately to support work in history. However, the marking of pupils’ recorded work is unsatisfactory overall. There is little evidence of marking showing pupils ways they can improve their work and sometimes work is not marked at all.

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HISTORY

153. The leadership and management of the subject by the co-ordinator are satisfactory and she is keen to develop the subject further. She monitors colleagues’ planning and carries out classroom observations in order to monitor the quality of teaching and learning. The subject is effective in promoting pupils’ cultural development as they learn about their own past and that of people from other cultures. Occasionally, work in history is enhanced by visits out of school. For example, Year 6 pupils talked enthusiastically about their visit to ‘The People’s History Museum’ in Manchester.’

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

154. Standards at the end of Year 2 are above national expectations, maintaining the good standards identified in the last inspection. Standards at the end of Year 6 are now in line with national expectations, which is an improvement since the last inspection when standards were below the expected level. This is due to the introduction of a useful scheme of work, which has helped to develop skills progressively, training, which has boosted teachers’ confidence, and more regular use of the computer suite, which has helped to eliminate some gaps in knowledge and understanding for older pupils. An area of relative strength is the use of databases and spreadsheets. There is a comparative weakness in developing the use of sensors to monitor and control events, though resources have been recently purchased to help overcome these difficulties.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

155. Attainment is above national expectations at the end of Key Stage 1 because of the good range of activities on offer and the availability of a computer in each classroom. Pupils make good progress in Key Stage 1. Progress is satisfactory overall in Key Stage 2 although the unsettled staffing situation in Year 3 means that progress is less marked for those pupils. Pupils with special educational needs make good progress and achieve well because of the support they receive from the class teacher and other pupils.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

156. By the end of Year 2, through regular practice, pupils are confident computer users who log on using their own password and save and print their work with little adult support. Pupils’ data handling skills develop well and through good links with mathematics and science, pupils compile a database about houses and generate graphs, such as the pictogram on different homes. Pupils are well challenged by the Hollins Grundy Primary School - 49 work they are given. In a challenging lesson pupils learned to create and use a decision diagram to identify different fruits and shapes, with higher attaining pupils progressing to use the diagram to solve a range of problems. Pupils have good word processing skills and use these effectively when writing their own stories. Higher attaining pupils extend their skills as they write a letter to a friend using the proper layout. Many pupils competently issue instructions to the ‘on screen’ turtle to turn through a right angle and

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

create shapes such as rectangles and squares. They are also able to program the robot to move along a particular path. Pupils are beginning to learn how to research information, for example about the seashore.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

157. By the end of Year 6 pupils’ research skills have developed satisfactorily and they find information for other subjects, for example, mini-beasts or Ancient Greece. They use e- mail confidently and exchange information with pupils in other countries, which makes a good contribution to their understanding of other cultures. They effectively use their mathematics skills by using a spreadsheet to find the average attendance in the school and to display the total house points for the week. Pupils’ word processing skills are not widely used in the Key Stage 2 classes, although there are some examples, such as when pupils wrote Haiku poems. Pupils demonstrate a developing awareness of how to use information and communication technology to control a series of events. For example, they make the lighthouse lamp switch on when daylight disappears, relating this to security lights at home. Higher attaining pupils are challenged to make the

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

foghorn sound at the same time. Pupils have evaluated CD ROMs and different websites, but they have not experienced creating their own multimedia presentation.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

158. Interesting activities have helped pupils throughout the school to develop good attitudes to the subject, and the opportunities to co-operate in pairs make a good contribution to pupils’ social development. However, the immature behaviour of a small number of older boys can disrupt the learning of others.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

159. Teaching and learning are good overall in Key Stage 1. The teachers’ subject knowledge is good and they effectively teach direct skills, although there is still room for improvement in the extent to which these skills are developed across the curriculum. Good use is made of the projector to model tasks to help pupils to understand specific learning points. In a very good lesson seen the teacher clearly explained how to write questions that would elicit an answer of yes or no. This enabled pupils to compile their own branching tree program to classify shapes and fruit. The large number of pupils in the suite are managed very well without any support through the teachers’ good organisation and enthusiasm. Pupils are well motivated and concentrate well on the work they are set.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

160. Teaching and learning are satisfactory overall in Key Stage 2, but the range of activities offered to pupils is less varied than in Key Stage 1. A good feature of teaching is the provision of extension work available to challenge those pupils who have completed the initial task. This was well demonstrated in a lesson on devising a program to control the light in Year 6. Tasks are modelled well to help pupils to understand, for example, how to complete a flow chart to program the computer. However, pupils do not always learn effectively as the teacher does not always ensure that everyone is listening and sometimes the pupils’ attention wanders. This reduces the effectiveness of explanations.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

161. The subject makes a sound contribution to developing pupils’ literacy skills through some word processing and to numeracy through the use of spreadsheets and the compilation of graphs. There has been a little improvement in the use of information Hollins Grundy Primary School - 50 and communication technology in other subjects since the last inspection. This remains an area for development.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

162. The subject is managed well. The introduction of a helpful scheme of work and suitable training have boosted teachers’ confidence and helped to raise standards by the time pupils leave school. The suite is now timetabled for use by every class for two hours each week and this is an improvement since the last inspection. However, this means this valuable resource remains unoccupied for about half of the working week. A promising start has been made in assessing and recording pupils’ progress though it is not yet uniformly used to plan the next stage of learning.

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MUSIC

163. Pupils attain standards which are broadly in line with national expectations at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 although a comparative weakness for older pupils is the opportunity to perform their music to a wider audience. This is a good improvement since the last inspection when standards were judged to be below average at the end of both key stages, and all matters related to the key issue have been addressed: -

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MUSIC

all elements of the National Curriculum are now being taught; sufficient time is allocated to the subject; a scheme of work is in place that allows for the progressive teaching of skills; a co-ordinator has been appointed to manage the subject; additional resources, including handbooks to support planning in the subject, have been purchased.

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MUSIC

164. Standards are now satisfactory for all pupils. Pupils, including those with special educational needs, make satisfactory progress throughout the school.

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MUSIC

165. By the end of Year 2 pupils know a wide range of songs and can sing in tune and in time to the music and maintain a steady beat. Pupils concentrate well when singing in simple parts and follow the conducting of the teacher so that they only sing at the appropriate time. There are good opportunities to compose music in groups, and there is good discussion when deciding which instrument is most appropriate to give the desired effect. They listen well to each other and make sensible suggestions for improvement, for example, one boy suggested adding extra instruments to make a richer sound for the thunder in the storm. Pupils are developing simple methods of recoding their compositions, which include drawing the appropriate instrument and using the symbols for greater or less than to represent crescendo and diminuendo. Pupils enjoy performing for an audience on occasions such as Christmas.

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MUSIC

166. By the end of Year 6 pupils enjoy singing and talk animatedly about their favourite songs such as Work Calypso and Autumn Days. They appreciate the school tradition of adapting the words to Autumn Days to match the class of Year 6 leavers or to capture the personality of a member of staff at the leavers’ assembly. They have good opportunities to listen to a range of music from Mozart to Robbie Williams to get ideas for a new composition of their own. However, there are few opportunities to listen to music and reflect and describe how it makes them feel. Pupils can play a range of tuned percussion instruments and have learned to play the recorders in school. They work in groups to compose a piece of music and record it graphically, though occasionally the immature behaviour of a small number of boys creates too much noise and makes it difficult for others to concentrate. Hollins Grundy Primary School - 51

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MUSIC

167. Teaching is good in Key Stage 1 and satisfactory in Key Stage 2. Pupils learn well in Key Stage 1 because of the good opportunities to sing, play and perform. Teachers use interesting strategies to develop pupils’ singing voices, for example, where a teacher blew bubbles and the pupils sang a continuous note as they floated in the air and ended with an explosive ‘pop’ as the bubble burst. Good efforts are made to include pupils with behaviour difficulties and this leads to them making good progress. Lessons have a good structure with clear explanations so that pupils know what to expect. Opportunities for pupils to work in groups, for example, in making up a simple tune, and a final session where pupils share ideas, perform for each other and evaluate their own and each other’s work. This was seen in Year 2 when the final session showed that good learning had taken place in understanding volume as their compositions had good

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MUSIC

examples of loud and soft sections. Lessons have a similar good structure in Key Stage 2, but the learning in the group session of the lesson observed was reduced by the inconsiderate behaviour of a small minority. Teaching is enhanced by the contribution of peripatetic instrumental teachers, who teach a small number of pupils, and by the regular recorder clubs for pupils in Year 3 to Year 6.

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MUSIC

168. The subject is now satisfactorily managed. The school has made good efforts to address the issues from the last inspection, and, without the benefit of a music specialist on the staff, has sought advice from the local authority to choose and implement a new scheme of work. A good start has been made on monitoring teaching and learning, though assessment is in the early stages of development. Opportunities for developing pupils’ spiritual awareness are not consistently planned for in music lessons and more use of music from other cultures would help to develop pupils’ cultural awareness.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

169. Pupils’ attainment in physical education is above national expectations at the end of Year 2 and in line with national expectations at the end of Year 6. Pupils of all abilities make good progress in Key Stage 1 and satisfactory progress in Key Stage 2. There has been good progress since the last inspection as standards have risen at the end of Year 2.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

170. Pupils in Year 1 display standards of gymnastics that are above national expectations. They show good levels of concentration and listen well to their teacher. They are well co-ordinated and undertake difficult movements with confidence. They follow instructions well and make good use of apparatus to meet the requirements to individually demonstrate examples of travelling, balancing, jumping and rolling. In Year 2, pupils responded very well to the music of the Lion King and produced a high standard of creative movement. Pupils move in time to the music and come up with imaginative ideas of their own, for example a particularly effective hand-to-hand movement sequence. 171. Pupils in Key Stage 2 demonstrate satisfactory standards in their lessons, which are based on developing a variety of games skills. However, different age groups perform at a similar level and there was not sufficient development of skills. Whilst most pupils

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

work hard, a minority require constant reminders from their teachers. Most pupils throw and catch balls and beanbags accurately. Netball skills appeared less developed and pupils found jumping ‘hurdles’ difficult. Pupils are good at recording what they have achieved in the lesson.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

172. Planning confirms that pupils receive full coverage of the physical education curriculum. All receive swimming instruction in Year 5 and the vast majority learn to Hollins Grundy Primary School - 52 swim at least 25 metres. Year 6 pupils attend a local activities centre for one day each summer term and participate in a range of adventurous activities. Key Stage 2 pupils are offered a good range of extra-curricular sporting activities, such as football, netball, cross-country running, rounders and cricket which enables them to have the opportunity to develop their skills in these areas. They are given good opportunities to play sport against other schools as part of a team. Unfortunately no similar activities are offered to younger pupils. Older pupils also have the opportunity to play team games against other schools and all pupils participate in a sports day.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

173. Pupils’ attitudes and behaviour are generally good and they are keen to do well at physical education. In Key Stage 1, pupils are particularly good at evaluating each other’s work and offering helpful comments. They are also very quick and keen to demonstrate with a round of applause how pleased they are when a pupil who finds physical education difficult is successful. There are some examples of challenging behaviour in Key Stage 2, which teachers deal with successfully, but classes would benefit from extra support in these lessons. Pupils in both key stages are aware of the importance of warming up before exercise and cooling down afterwards. They are well used to putting out their own apparatus and helping to prepare for lessons. They work well together in groups and this is contributing to their social development.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

174. The quality of teaching is good in Key Stage 1 and satisfactory in Key Stage 2. In Key Stage 1, lessons are particularly well planned and build on what pupils already know and can do. They are of a good pace and teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve. In Key Stage 2, teachers are not building enough on pupils’ skills because they do not have a scheme of work to follow and there are no assessment records of what pupils have achieved in the past. This is often resulting in pupils repeating work rather than progressing. All lessons are well planned and teachers give clear instructions to the pupils. All teachers make good use of the demonstration of pupils’ good performance.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

175. The co-ordination of the subject is satisfactory. The co-ordinator is knowledgeable about the subject. There has been some monitoring of lessons, which has been beneficial and has improved teaching and learning. Parents support many of the extra- curricular activities. The co-ordinator has successfully identified where resources need replacing and much of this has now been done through the school budget and the support of the Parent Teachers’ Association.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

176. Pupils’ attainment at the end of both key stages is in line with the expectations of the locally agreed syllabus. No judgement was made on standards at the end of Key Stage 1 in the last inspection but standards have improved by the end of Key Stage 2. Recent staff changes and improvements in planning and teaching have begun to increase the rate of progress. Teaching and learning are now satisfactory overall throughout the school and statutory requirements are being met. Pupils, including those with special educational needs, make satisfactory progress.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

177. By the end of Key Stage 1, most pupils have a satisfactory understanding of Christianity and other major world faiths. Pupils in Year 1 know that prayers are an important part of religion and that Jesus had special friends called disciples. Pupils’ learning in Key Stage 1 is enhanced by a visit to the local church. Pupils in Year 2 gain a satisfactory understanding of world faiths through their studies. For example, they know the significance of the Bible to Christians and the Torah to Jews. However, Hollins Grundy Primary School - 53 although they understand that Muslims use a prayer mat, they do not know the Qur’an is the special book for the Muslims. Most pupils in Year 2 know some of the stories Jesus told, such as The Good Samaritan, and they know some significant dates in the Christian calendar, such as Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter Monday.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

178. No lessons were observed in Key Stage 2 during the inspection. However, analysis of pupils’ recorded work and discussion with Year 6 pupils shows that pupils make satisfactory progress in developing their knowledge and understanding of their own and other faiths in Key Stage 2. By the end of Year 6, most pupils know, for example, that the gospels are the story of the life of Jesus as written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Pupils’ knowledge of other faiths is broadened throughout the key stage and they have a greater understanding of how the customs of other cultures impact on people’s lives. For example, they know that the Muslim faith believes the creator was Allah and that they need to pray five times a day. They know that Jews worship in a synagogue and know the importance of the Rabbi.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

179. Overall, teaching and learning are satisfactory in both key stages. In the best lessons relationships are very good and consequently pupils demonstrate very good attitudes and behaviour. Learning objectives are clearly explained and taught sensitively so that pupils of all abilities are fully included in the lesson. However, sometimes work is not matched to the ability of the pupils and they are not all clear about what they are to learn. Generally, most pupils show enthusiasm for the subject. Discussion times, called ‘Circle Time’, give pupils good opportunities to discuss their feelings in a secure and relaxed way. In a very good session observed, pupils discussed ways in which they could be kind to each other. By the end, all pupils, including those with special educational needs, appreciated the importance of being kind to each other. Information and communication technology is used appropriately to support work in Religious

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

180. Leadership and management of the subject are satisfactory. The co-ordinator regularly monitors samples of pupils’ work to ensure that the curriculum is appropriate. However, she has not yet had the opportunity to monitor teaching and learning in class in order to be fully aware of how the subject is taught and provide any necessary support for less confident teachers. Currently, there are no assessment procedures in place for monitoring pupils’ progress in order to ensure that pupils are learning at the best possible rate for their ability. Resources for teaching the subject have improved since the last inspection and there are suitable opportunities provided for visits out of school to enhance pupils’ learning, for example, to the Jewish Museum in Manchester. The subject makes a satisfactory contribution to pupils’ cultural development, for example but more opportunities could be planned to develop pupils’ spiritual awareness.

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