Ashfield Valley Primary School

ASHFIELD VALLEY PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 13-16 th January 2003

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ASHFIELD VALLEY PRIMARY SCHOOL

Inspection number: 246522 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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ASHFIELD VALLEY 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. Ashfield Valley Primary - 4

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The Governing Body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mrs S Siddique

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: February 1998 Ashfield Valley Primary - 5

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

3639 A C Davies Registered inspector English Art and Design Design and Technology Foundation Stage of Learning English as an Additional Language How high are Standards: The school’s results and pupils’ achievement How well are pupils taught? How well is the school led and managed? 19431 J Holmes Lay inspector How high are Standards: Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development How well does the school work in partnership with parents? 19226 S Flood Team inspector Mathematics Information and Communication Technology Physical education Special educational needs How well does the school care for its pupils?

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

22359 J Havard Team inspector Science Geography History Music Religious education How good are the curricular and other opportunities offered to pupils?

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

The inspection contractor was: Focus Education 113-116 High Street Uppermill Saddleworth Oldham OL3 6BD

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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: The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway Ashfield Valley Primary - 6 London WC2B 6SE Ashfield Valley Primary - 7

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6-10

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? 11-14

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

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Ashfield Valley is a medium-sized primary school situated in Rochdale. It has a nursery, admitting 28 children, on a part-time basis. Of the 228 pupils on roll, for the vast majority (221) English is an additional language, with 74 at early stages of learning English. Most pupils’ families originate from Pakistan and a number of pupils travel to Pakistan for extended holidays, during term time. Approximately 25 per cent of pupils claim their entitlement to school meals free of charge, which is just above the national average. The school is situated in an area of social deprivation although it serves a community that has a strong commitment to education. Over 30 per cent of pupils are on the special educational needs list, which is above average, and three pupils have statements for special educational need. When they first start school the vast majority of children speak very little English and have poor personal and social skills.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a school that is rapidly improving. The strengths outweigh the weaknesses, with the progress being made by less able pupils being particularly impressive. The school is managing to help pupils, who speak very little English when they start school, to become confident communicators in English and at the same time ensuring that pupils value their own traditions and heritage. The headteacher has helped the school to develop appropriate strategies to improve pupils’ behaviour and attendance. The school provides satisfactory value for money.

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What the school does well

• Pupils who speak very little English when they start school make rapid progress and quickly become confident communicators in English. • Lower attaining pupils, including those with special educational needs, make good progress and achieve well. • The school successfully promotes a love for literature amongst older pupils. • The leadership has effectively implemented strategies to improve pupils’ behaviour and reduce the incidence of bullying. • There is strong commitment to valuing the cultural and religious backgrounds and traditions of all pupils.

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What could be improved

• A lack of challenge provided for more able pupils leads to underachievement in mathematics and science. • The pupils’ oral and written language is unadventurous and lacks description. • Pupils find it difficult to settle to independent tasks, especially when not being directly supervised. • Not enough use is being made of the school’s evaluation of its performance to set challenging targets for all pupils. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

Ashfield Valley Primary - 9 The school was last inspected in February 1998 and it has made good progress since that time. Behaviour of pupils and levels of attendance have improved considerably as has the quality of the curriculum. There has been steady improvement in standards since the previous inspection although more able pupils could still do better. The quality of teaching and learning has improved with better management of pupils being mainly responsible for this. The headteacher, who was appointed after the last inspection, has helped the school to be more focussed and consistent in fulfilling its aims and values.

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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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STANDARDS

Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

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STANDARDS

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

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STANDARDS

Standards are steadily improving although there is still some way to go to ensure that more able pupils are achieving to their full potential. The national test results for Year 6 pupils show that pupils’ attainment in English is now in line with the national average and above that of similar schools. Good achievement by lower attaining pupils, including those with special educational needs, is mainly responsible for this. The progress made by pupils in Years 5 and 6 is also helping to improve attainment by the age of 11. When compared with their attainment at the age of 7, pupils in Year 6 have made good progress in reading and writing. The standards attained in mathematics and science, by Year 6 pupils, do not quite match those for English, although there is improvement happening. Pupils’ attainment in mathematics is above average when compared with similar schools and the current Year 6 pupils are attaining in line with the level expected for their age. The attainment of the

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STANDARDS

current Year 6 is below that expected for science.

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STANDARDS

The national test results for 7-year-olds in reading and writing have been either below or well below the national average but either in line with or above average when compared with similar schools. There is also a trend of improvement over time. The school is successful in moving many pupils who are at early stages of learning English at the age of 5 to a position of attaining the level expected for their age in reading and writing by the age of 7. However, the percentages of pupils attaining the higher levels at the end of Year 2 are well below average. In mathematics and science, the pupils’ attainment is below that of their attainment in reading and writing. This is partly explained by the pupils not being able to cope as well with the specific nature of the English vocabulary used in these two subjects.

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STANDARDS

The vast majority of children start school with personal and social skill levels being well below that expected for their age. Most speak very little English but make good progress throughout the nursery and reception to reach a stage of being far more confident in communicating in English by the time they start in Year 1. However, only a third of children attain the learning goal for communication, language and literacy at the end of reception. The good progress continues in learning English in Years Ashfield Valley Primary - 10 1 and 2, and is satisfactory in other subjects through these two years. As pupils move through Years 3 to 6, progress is good in reading, with many showing enthusiasm for literature despite the problems that some have with comprehension. In mathematics and science, the lower attaining pupils achieve well but this is not matched by more able pupils, who are underachieving in these subjects.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Good. The vast majority are enthusiastic about school and this is seen at its best in the way pupils show enjoyment for reading and using computers.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Satisfactory. The school has worked hard at improving pupils’ behaviour and this has helped to improve the way pupils conduct themselves around the school and in lessons.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Satisfactory. Many boys find it difficult to settle to tasks that require them to show independence. When asked to take on additional responsibilities all pupils are keen and willing to help. This is helping the ‘playground pals’ scheme to be successful.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Unsatisfactory. Despite the school’s best efforts the attendance levels are still below the national average.

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Teaching of pupils in: Nursery and Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

Quality of teaching Satisfactory Satisfactory Good

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Teaching of pupils in: Nursery and Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

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

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Teaching of pupils in: Nursery and Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

Teaching is satisfactory overall and is almost consistently good for pupils in Years 3 to 6. However, the limited independent learning skills that older pupils possess, means that they are not always benefiting as much as they could from this good teaching. The teachers are consistent in dealing effectively with pupils’ behaviour. In the first part of lessons, pupils are attentive and respond well to teachers’ questions. However, when they work in small groups, usually in the second part of lessons, they do not always produce as much work as they could. This is especially the case if they are not being directly supervised. More able pupils, in particular, do not work as hard, or productively, as they could at this time.

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Teaching of pupils in: Nursery and Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

Very good levels of support for pupils who have learning difficulties results in lower attaining pupils learning effectively and achieving well. Pupils who are at early stages of learning English also benefit from expert support and make good progress as their confidence levels grow. Bilingual support for nursery and reception aged children is good, and teachers working with these children are confident in communicating in English and Urdu to help them count or to greet them.

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Teaching of pupils in: Nursery and Reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

Teachers have successfully implemented the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies and this has resulted in good teaching for English and mathematics for Years 3 to 6. There are issues related to the Ashfield Valley Primary - 11 limited challenge provided for more able pupils in mathematics and science, especially amongst younger pupils. Pupils in some classes have learning targets, to help them focus on what they need to do next, but this is not consistently used across the school. This is an area the school has already started to work on. Ashfield Valley Primary - 12

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

The quality and range of the curriculum Satisfactory. The school follows national or local guidelines for the all the subjects it teaches. The successful implementation of the Literacy and Numeracy Strategies has helped to give good attention to basic skills teaching throughout the school. Teachers’ planning does not always indicate clearly enough how more able pupils are to be challenged.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils with special educational needs Good. There is good support provided for pupils with learning, or behavioural, difficulties.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils with English as an additional language Good. The specialist staff work effectively with all staff to help pupils, who are at early stages of learning English, to be well supported. Most pupils are confident communicators in English by the time they are in Year 6. However, many pupils’ written or oral contributions lack adventurous phrases or words.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Satisfactory. The school gives good attention to the cultural and religious background of all pupils and helps them to appreciate the similarities and differences that exist in the way people live and worship in different parts of the world. Pupils’ social skills are inhibited by their inability to work effectively together.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

How well the school cares for its pupils Child protection procedures are good. There is good attention to checking on attendance and behaviour. More could be done with the information the school collects about pupils’ academic progress to help challenge them in the future.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

The vast majority of parents are happy with the school. Information that is sent home regularly emphasises the school’s efforts to communicate appropriately with parents. Parental involvement in the work of the school is satisfactory and the school works hard to get parents more involved in working in school.

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff Good. The strong partnership between the headteacher and the deputy headteacher results in staff having clarity about handling pupils’ behaviour and supporting pupils who are early stages of learning English.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Satisfactory. The governors are deeply interested in the school and provide appropriate support to staff. However, they have limited systems in place to evaluate the school’s performance.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance Satisfactory. The quality of teaching and learning are checked regularly. The school’s analysis of its performance is satisfactory but more could Ashfield Valley Primary - 13 be done with the information to set appropriate targets for pupils.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources Satisfactory. There is good deployment of additional staff to support pupils who are at early stages of learning English or who have special educational needs. The school has sound systems in place to check that it is gaining the best value for its purchases.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s staffing is adequate with good deployment of staff to support pupils with English as an additional language. The cramped accommodation is hindering the learning of pupils. Too often there is lost time as teachers seek to reorganise furniture to enable pupils to see focal points when they working with groups or the whole class. Learning resources are adequate, with improved facilities for information and communication technology.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• That their children enjoy school. • That their children make good progress. • That their children behave well • Homework arrangements. • More information about the progress their children are making.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The inspection team broadly agrees with the positive comments made by parents. Half the parents who have concerns about homework would like to see less formal homework because many pupils either attend mosque or have religious education classes after school each day. Others would like to see more homework coming home from an earlier age. There is an issue about the number of occasions that younger pupils change their reading books, but this is as much to do with communication between school and parents as it is with the changing of books. The annual reports to parents are very detailed and they do include targets for the future, however the targets are not always clear and this is something that could be improved. Ashfield Valley Primary - 14

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

1 Standards are improving over time with lower attaining pupils and those pupils who are in the early stages of learning English achieving well and making good progress. However the progress made by more able pupils, who sometimes underachieve in mathematics and science, does not match this. When compared with the skill level of pupils when they start in the nursery or reception, and compared with the standards they attain at the end of Year 6, there is a positive picture. Overall, boys are attaining better than girls by significant margins in mathematics and science.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

2 The vast majority of children start school with personal and social skill levels being well below that expected for their age. Most speak very little English but make good progress throughout the nursery and reception to reach a stage of being far more confident in communicating in English by the time they start in Year 1. Approximately 30 per cent of children attain the learning goal for communication, language and literacy at the end of reception. More children attain the learning goals in each of the other five areas of learning by the end of the reception but in each area up to 50 per cent are not attaining the expected level for their age. Pupils continue to make good progress in learning English in Years 1 and 2, and make satisfactory progress in all subjects through these two years. As pupils move through Years 3 to 6, progress is good in reading, with many showing enthusiasm for literature despite experiencing

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

problems with comprehension. In mathematics and science, the lower attaining pupils achieve well but many more able pupils underachieve in these subjects. Pupils do not make the most of their literacy and numeracy skills in other subjects. This results in aspects of research in history and geography being weak.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

3 The national test results and teacher assessments for Year 2 pupils need to be seen in the context of the level of attainment of most pupils when they start nursery and reception. The national test results for 7-year-olds in reading and writing have been either below, or well below, average for some time but is in line with or better than similar schools. Most pupils start school speaking very little English and have poor personal and social skills. From very early on there is good progress being made by pupils as they learn to speak English with increasing confidence. This is helping their progress in reading and, to a lesser extent, in writing. Lower attaining pupils and those who have recently learnt to speak English are making good progress. Many pupils, who show little confidence in speaking English when in the reception class, attain the expected level for their age by the end of Year 2. There are few pupils moving beyond the

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

expected level for their age with more able pupils not making the improvement expected in Years 1 and 2.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

4 In mathematics and science, Year 2 pupils’ attainment has been well below average for the past few years and is not as good as it is for English. Many pupils are confident when handling mental and oral number work or have good scientific knowledge but are less secure when it comes to mathematical problem solving or scientific investigations. The specific nature of mathematical and scientific vocabulary is hampering their progress in these two subjects.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

5 The national test results for 11-year-olds have improved steadily especially for English and mathematics. In 2002, the results were at their best for more than five years. The present Year 6 is largely maintaining this position, although more able pupils are not yet fulfilling their Ashfield Valley Primary - 15 potential. In English, the 2002 results matched the national average, which was an indication of good progress since Year 2, and is above the level attained by pupils in other schools with similar backgrounds. Older pupils show good enthusiasm for reading and many have acquired a love for literature that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. Discussions with these pupils reveal that they read extensively and choose from a wide variety of authors from many different cultures. They are confident and expressive readers who can state their point of view and can talk with some authority about the style of a named author. Older pupils are confident

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

when setting out a piece of writing and they follow a sensible sequence that makes it easy for the reader to understand. Their handwriting is weak and an area that the school is working at improving. However, pupils’ choice of vocabulary is limited and they tend not to risk using adventurous words. They are confident when expressing a point of view orally but the same issue of limited use of vocabulary arises. They listen carefully when the teacher is giving instructions but tend not to be as attentive when working in small groups. The quality of their listening diminishes in these situations.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

6 In mathematics, Year 6 pupils’ standards are improving and there is good progress being made between Year 2 and Year 6. However, pupils find it difficult to cope with the specific nature of mathematical vocabulary when dealing with problem solving. Overall, pupils aged 7 to 11 cope well with number work and are able to deal appropriately with the mental and oral sessions at the beginning of lessons. Applying their knowledge of number in any other situation, such as, problem solving, is proving to be difficult. This is mainly affecting the more able pupils who are not able to make the most of their numeracy skills in other subjects. This is preventing more able pupils attaining at the higher level (Level 5) in national tests. Lower attaining pupils, including those on the special educational needs list, are making better progress as they gain in confidence in using numbers.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

7 In science, test results for Year 6 pupils have been well below national averages for the past four years. Improvement has occurred in 2002, after a few years when very few pupils moving beyond the level expected for the age and attaining the higher level (Level 5). Overall, pupils’ scientific enquiry skills are weaker than their scientific knowledge. The problems related to the specific nature of scientific vocabulary are hindering the progress of more able pupils, in particular.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

8 The attainment of pupils in other subjects, where there was enough information to make a judgement, is in line with that expected for their age, with the exception of history and music at the end of Year 2. In both these subjects pupils’ attainment is below that expected for their age at the end of Year 2. However, pupils’ attainment in history has improved to be in line with that expected by the end of Year 6. There was insufficient information to make a judgement about the attainment of Year 6 pupils in music. In information and communication technology, new equipment combined with effective co-ordination and training for all staff has ensured that there has been much improvement compared with the previous inspection. Pupils, in this subject, are beginning to make effective use of their skills in other subjects, although there is still some way to go before this is as effective as it could be.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

9 The school is successful in helping the vast majority of pupils who speak very little English when they start in the nursery or reception classes to gain confidence in speaking English. This is a particular strength in the school. The efforts made by teachers and classroom assistants to learn to speak some basic Urdu phrases is contributing positively to this because pupils are able to understand exactly what is required of them from early on. The specialist support provided for staff and pupils from the teacher supporting pupils who speak little English when they start school is also adding to the improvement that is happening. Pupils progress from Ashfield Valley Primary - 16 speaking almost entirely in Urdu in the nursery to speaking mainly in English by the end of the reception. The continued support provided for pupils to help them be more fluent and confident in speaking English remains good throughout the school. However, many pupils do not find it

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

easy to cope with the increasingly specific nature of the vocabulary associated with individual subjects as they move through the school. There is also a lack of confidence amongst many pupils to experiment with adventurous vocabulary, and this is inhibiting the quality of their written work.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

10 Pupils with special educational needs make good progress. There is effective support provided for these pupils throughout the school. Additional adults in classrooms and carefully planned tasks within lessons help to improve these pupils’ learning. Pupils who have learning difficulties, but are not on the special educational needs list, also benefit from specialist support, as was seen in the booster lessons for Year 6 pupils in literacy and numeracy. The same level of support is not available to more able pupils who often do not produce the amount of work expected during the second half of lessons, resulting in them underachieving.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

11 Pupils really enjoy school and have good attitudes to learning. This is particularly noted in their enthusiasm for reading and when using computers. The pupils work well when they are involved in whole class instruction but when working in groups, or individually, they are not as productive as they should be. The lessons are sometimes spoilt by some immature behaviour particularly in the second part of lessons amongst pupils, especially boys, who are working without direct supervision. Pupils are friendly and generally confident in class and around the school. They talk easily with adults although they tend not to be adventurous with their use of English.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

12 Pupils’ behaviour is satisfactory both in class and around school. There was no bullying observed in the school during the inspection. Pupils remarked that little bullying takes place and, if it does, it is quickly sorted out. There have been no exclusions, either permanently or temporary, in the past year. The vast majority of pupils have a good sense of respect for other’s feelings, values and beliefs. The school works hard at helping pupils to respect each other’s cultures and religions. They are successful in removing artefacts or dealing with issues that may cause offence to others and hence maintain an inclusive ethos in the school.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

13 Pupils’ personal development is satisfactory. They take responsibility for some small aspect of school life particularly in Years 5 and 6. The Year 6 pupils help around school and are responsible for setting up for assemblies and help nursery and reception children at break times. Pupils from Years 5 and 6 act as ‘Playground Pals’ and help monitor and supervise the playgrounds at break times. The pupils applied and had to undergo an interview to be able to take part. Training took place to teach the ‘Playground Pals’ games that they could pass on to other pupils. When they are organised pupils show good levels of co-operation. However, when they are expected to organise themselves difficulties arise because of their lack of independent skills. This tends to result in too much fussiness occurring when pupils work in situation when not directly being supervised by adults.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

14 Pupils are aware and understand the class and school rules. The school responds to any problems within the school and amends the rules. Recently, a few pupils were called names that they did not like. The school responded by making it a rule that all pupils are called by their proper name. This rule is effectively applied. Pupils are not involved in this process and are not Ashfield Valley Primary - 17 generally consulted about what they would like in the school. However, recently Years 5 and 6 have been involved in helping to design a ‘bright environment’ playground, which includes benches and other items to make playtimes more interesting. This included a survey of all Year 3 and 4 pupils.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

15 The spiritual awareness of pupils is satisfactory. They show courtesy and dignity when celebrating a diverse range of faiths, showing the inclusive nature of the school. The pupils have a sense of compassion through charity work when they collect for different groups. Pupils share success with their class and are pleased when others succeed, spontaneously applauding a pupil who won a game. Their cultural awareness is good with the pupils enjoying experiences, which allow them to understand their own, local and other cultures. Pupils have opportunities to visit local museums and places of interest. Pupils play together at break time and will work together when supervised in the classroom although when left to work independently the pace of work slows. Their social awareness is satisfactory but is impeded by the lack of independent learning.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

16 Pupils with special educational needs display very good attitudes to learning. Learning opportunities are carefully planned for these pupils and this successfully ensures that their motivation and concentration is maintained in lessons. The pupils are eager to please and their pride in their work is evident both in class lessons and in small group work. As a result of the positive attitudes of staff, pupils with special educational needs behave well in and around school. When working with a group of challenging pupils the special educational needs co- ordinator displayed effective skill in modifying their behaviour and keeping them on track.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

17 The school has worked hard to improve attendance and although it has improved, it remains well below the national average and is unsatisfactory. The school carries out detailed analysis of the attendance. The level of unauthorised absence is below national averages and has improved over the past four years. The major causes of absence are extended holidays and absence to celebrate religious festivals. The school has worked hard with parents, and they have responded by lowering the absence due to holidays. The school is sensitive and understanding about the absence due to religious festivals.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

18 The teaching is satisfactory overall with strengths in Years 3 to 6, where it is good. The commitment made by staff, who teach nursery and reception-aged children, to learn Urdu is paying dividends and helping these young children to learn English at a rapid pace. Pupils’ learning is impeded by their inability to organise themselves during the second parts of lessons, when they are expected to work outside the direct supervision of adults. When compared with the previous inspection, there has been good improvement in the teaching with no unsatisfactory teaching noted this time and many more lessons being of a good quality.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

19 Teachers have successfully implemented the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies and this has resulted in good teaching for English and mathematics for Years 3 to 6. All teachers are secure in teaching literacy and numeracy skills and this is helping to raise standards in English and mathematics throughout the school. There is good attention to teaching basic skills, such as letter sounds during reading, and mental and oral number work in mathematics. Most of the teachers’ plans are drawn from national guidelines and there is careful consideration given to the needs of pupils of different ability when preparing work. However, because of the pupils’ inability to settle to independent tasks appropriately, the impact of this planning is not as Ashfield Valley Primary - 18 effective as it should be. In addition, pupils do not use their literacy and numeracy skills as effectively as they should in other subjects.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

20 In the foundation stage of learning the teaching is satisfactory with good features in the nursery. Practitioners working with these young children are quick to recognise their needs and have successfully developed many ‘home-made’ resources aimed at improving their learning. In the reception class, for example, the teacher has created many interesting games associated with matching and counting. The games capture the children’s interest and allow them to focus on one activity for a prolonged period. The games take full account of the children’s skill level and although many were not yet confident in counting to 5, the games provided an opportunity for them to learn which of any two numbers is the greater. In the nursery, the pattern of the day is very well set and children are secure with the routines. The children’s interest level is kept high because there is a bilingual support assistant available to

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

them to help them understand what it is they have to do. The nursery teacher has taught herself to speak familiar Urdu phrases, including counting to 10 and reading the register. This has the effect of helping the children to settle and to improve their confidence levels. There are occasions, however, when reception-aged children are inactive for too long. This is usually at the beginning of the lesson when the children are sitting together for more than half an hour. During this time some children become restless and lose concentration.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

21 In Years 1 and 2, the teaching remains satisfactory with strengths for the way lower attaining pupils are supported. More able pupils, though, are not always challenged sufficiently, resulting in some underachieving, especially in mathematics and science. Good support remains for pupils who need additional help because they are not confident in speaking in English. The level of this support is good and is helping pupils to make good progress in learning to use English as their main language in lessons. However, there are times when there are lost opportunities for pupils to be more fully engaged in the lesson. This was seen in Year 1 when pupils were not joining in with the reading at the beginning of the lesson although many of them were capable of doing so. In Year 2, the teacher is effective in using a range of activities to involve all pupils during the whole class part of the lesson. This helps the quality of learning to

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

be good because there is eager participation with pupils being enthusiastic. However, when working in smaller groups there is a poor work ethic from a minority of boys. This results in attention being taken away from pupils, usually the more able, who are capable of carrying on without direct support from an adult. It is not the behaviour of the pupils that is causing concern but it is the way they settle to tasks that involves them in sharing equipment or having to work co-operatively.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

22 In Years 3 to 6 the teaching is generally at its best and is good overall. However, pupils’ limited independent learning skills results in them not always benefiting as much as they could from the good teaching. The teachers are confident and effective when dealing with pupils’ behaviour. This is a significant improvement compared with the previous inspection. In the first part of lessons, all pupils are attentive and respond well to teachers’ questions. This was especially the case during a Year 5 literacy lesson when pupils were required to come up with interesting openings to a story set in a different time. One example, ‘Many centuries ago when people were happy’, showed that pupils were not just participating but were actively giving creative effort to their tasks. However, when they work in small groups, usually in the second part of lessons, the level of productivity falls. This is especially the case if they are not being

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

directly supervised. The usual pattern is that the teacher and classroom support (if available) focus their attention on the lower attaining pupils. The result is that more able pupils do not produce the amount expected in the given time scale. This is a familiar pattern and one that is inhibiting the quality of learning. Ashfield Valley Primary - 19 23 The teaching of pupils with special educational needs is good. Very good levels of support for pupils who have learning difficulties results in lower attaining pupils learning effectively and achieving well. The focus on boosting literacy and numeracy skills by the special educational needs co-ordinator has a positive impact on the progress and enjoyment of pupils in those lessons. Teaching assistants are very effective in supporting pupils within class lessons. When working with a group of Year 1 pupils the special educational needs co-ordinator effectively

p.18

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

used a very good range of activities and resources to keep up a good pace to the lesson. This allowed pupils to practise and improve their knowledge of letter shapes and sounds.

p.19

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

24 Pupils who are at early stages of learning English benefit from expert support and make good progress as their confidence levels grow. The co-ordinator for this aspect of the school’s work has helped all staff to focus on the specific needs of pupils of all ages. Bilingual support for nursery and reception aged children is good with teachers working confidently with these children. Staff are confident in communicating in English and Urdu when helping them count or when greeting them. This is helping young children to feel settled and learn more effectively. The teachers of older pupils are helped to give greater attention on linguistic issues and specific use of vocabulary associated with different subjects. This is helping the pupils to gain confidence in communicating with each other during discussions. However, the school recognises that there is still some way to go to help pupils to experiment more with using

p.19

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

adventurous vocabulary and to be confident in using the more technical vocabulary associated with different subjects.

p.19

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

25 Pupils in some classes have learning targets, to help them focus on what they need to do next, but this is not yet consistently done across the school. Many pupils’ targets in writing are associated with the ‘secretarial’ skills of writing and not on improving the content of their writing. The school is at the stage of beginning to make more use of targets to help pupils focus on their next areas of learning. Teachers share the learning intentions of each lesson with the pupils and this is helping the pupils to be more aware of what is expected of them. However, too frequently the teacher does not check to see if the learning intentions have been met or does not refer to them during the lesson. The end parts of the lessons (plenary) are therefore occasionally weak and lacking in clear focus.

p.19

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS OR STUDENTS TAUGHT?

26 Homework arrangements are appropriate and homework is used to help re-enforce learning that is happening in the school. Many pupils find it difficult to cope with work to do at home because they attend mosque or religious education lessons in the evening. The school is sensitive to these issues and have taken these factors into account within its homework policy.

p.19

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

27 The quality and range of the curriculum for children in the foundation stage of learning is satisfactory. Planning takes account of the six areas of learning. In both nursery and reception classes priority is given to the development of communication skills, which enables the majority of the children to make good progress in this area. The children get a good start in learning English; however, the school pays less attention to other areas of learning, including knowledge and understanding of the world and creative development.

p.19

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

28 For pupils aged 5 to 11 the curriculum is satisfactory, providing them with a suitable range of learning opportunities. All the subjects of the National Curriculum are taught. Since the last Ashfield Valley Primary - 20 inspection the school has worked hard to implement new schemes of work using nationally agreed guidance. There is now a clear planning structure in place with schemes for all subject areas. This is a much-improved position compared to the previous inspection. Teachers’ short term plans set out clearly what they want the children to learn, however, they do not build in sufficient pace and challenge. This results in insufficient challenge for the more able pupils. Religious education is taught in accordance with the locally agreed syllabus, supported by the nationally agreed scheme. The curriculum is further enriched with first-hand experiences to enliven pupils’ knowledge and understanding of Christianity, Islam and other cultures and

p.19

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

29 The school has successfully implemented the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. These are having a positive impact on pupils’ learning, enabling them to make good progress and achieve satisfactorily. Although providing continuity and progression the school has not addressed the needs of the more able pupils as insufficient opportunities are provided to develop their potential. The curriculum is not tailored to their needs. Although the school gives good attention to literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology the curriculum is insufficiently balanced. There is insufficient time given to the foundation subjects, especially history and geography and opportunities are limited for the pupils to develop their independent skills.

p.20

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

30 The school does not meet the government guidelines for the length of taught time for pupils from Years 1 to 6. Time slippage is due to extended playtimes and long assemblies. This means that the recommended amount of time spent on the curriculum is below that expected for pupils nationally.

p.20

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

31 Provision for pupils’ personal, social and health education is satisfactory. The school has an appropriate sex education policy providing clear guidelines on sensitive issues. Issues of relationships, family life and growth are addressed well. The dangers of misusing drugs are taught appropriately. Parents are consulted prior to any sex education lessons in Year 6. At a parents meeting they are given the opportunity to see the lesson material. Whole-class discussions on personal issues are being introduced through the introduction of ‘Circle Time’ (a time when pupils sit together and discuss personal, social and emotional issues). Staff have been provided with appropriate training for this.

p.20

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

32 The school is committed to equality of opportunity for all pupils and is making every effort to be a fully inclusive school. Policies are in place for special educational needs, equal opportunities, English as an Additional Language and gender issues. The school is working hard to provide support for those pupils for whom English is an Additional Language, especially those who are at early stages of learning English. The needs of these children are met by support from a specialist teacher and bilingual assistants. In the Foundation Stage of Learning, the bilingual assistants provide good home language support for those pupils who have limited English speaking skills. The development of language skills is of a high priority, with a focus on the teaching of relevant vocabulary in lessons. The pupils respond well to this support and make good progress. By the time they reach Year 6 most of the pupils are confident

p.20

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

33 Provision for the pupils with special education needs is good and has improved since the last inspection. The pupils have full access to the curriculum and extra-curricular activities. The headteacher shows a keen interest in special educational needs and shows a determination to provide extra resources where possible, for example, she is currently working with the Local Education Authority to provide stair lifts for disability access. The part-time, special needs co- Ashfield Valley Primary - 21 ordinator shows enthusiasm, is knowledgeable and is well organised. The new code of practice has been fully implemented. Training has been provided for all the staff although this needs developing further. Those pupils with special educational needs are identified early and additional help is given where possible. The classroom support assistants provide good support in this area, assisting those pupils who need extra help. Individual Education Plans (IEPs) are

p.20

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

in place and are reviewed each term; however, parents are not sufficiently involved in the IEP process. The school has recently appointed a ‘Learning Mentor’ to give extra support to those pupils with emotional or behaviour problems.

p.21

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

34 The school is aware that girls have been underachieving, especially in mathematics and science. In response the staff are making sure that the girls are fully included in class activities; however, the school needs to set targets and track the progress of the pupils further to ensure they are all achieving to the highest standard. Relationships between boys and girls are generally sound; however, there are occasions when the boys show a lack of respect for the girls. The school provides good support for those pupils with special educational needs and those at early stages of learning English; however, the needs of those pupils who are more able are not being fully met. There is a lack of pace and challenge in the lessons, which is leading to underachievement, especially in mathematics and science.

p.21

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

35 The school provides a range of extra-curricular activities outside the normal school day. Sporting activities include football, sports club, netball, basketball and athletics and teams represent the school and enjoy participation in local sporting competitions. Pupils also enjoy clubs for art, fabric design, computers and French. In the past the school has taken part in a concert in the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester and a concert with three other primary schools. A range of educational and further valuable learning experiences also enriches the curriculum. Last year they were invited to visit the Commonwealth Swimming Pool before it opened and 20 children were able to go on a free ‘Santa flight’ from Manchester Airport. Pupils visit local places of worship, the local Asian Arts Centre and museums. Visits to the National Armouries Museum in Leeds and the Co-operative Museum in Rochdale, for example, enhance their

p.21

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

work in history. All the children have an opportunity to visit their own area to study the environment.

p.21

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

36 The school has developed links with the local community and these make a satisfactory contribution to pupils’ learning and personal development. The school has links with local business, including the head office for a local travel company, which provided the ‘Santa flight’. The school is pro-active in raising funds for a wide range of charities and is creative in the activities they organise, for example, during Ramadan the money normally spent on snacks was given to an Islamic charity. There are good links with other schools in the area and liaison with the local high schools, to which the Year 6 transfer, is effective. The school successfully took part in a joint concert with three other primary schools organised by the local high school. They are currently taking part in a Local Education Authority’s transition project in preparation for high school. The school has good links with the local further education college, supervising

p.21

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

37 The provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is satisfactory overall and there is a strong commitment by the school to valuing the cultural and religious backgrounds and traditions of all pupils. The school helps the children to appreciate the similarities and differences that exist in the way people live and worship in different parts of the world. Ashfield Valley Primary - 22 38 The satisfactory spiritual development is evident in the way the school gives the pupils the opportunity to explore beliefs, feelings and emotions and their effect on people’s lives. For example, in a Year 2 religious education lesson the pupils were given the chance to quietly reflect on the feelings of the father in the story. Acts of collective worship and religious education lessons meet statutory requirements and offer pupils the opportunities for prayer and quiet reflection. These effectively promote pupils’ understanding of values and beliefs. They

p.21

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

show compassion towards needs of others, for example in their charity work.

p.22

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

39 The provision for moral development is satisfactory. The school provides a clear moral code as a basis for behaviour, which is promoted consistently. The staff act as good role models and the school rules are referred to in order to praise positive behaviour. Pupils are taught the differences between right and wrong and to show respect for people and property. Pupils are expected to take responsibility for their own actions. Since the last inspection the behaviour of the pupils has improved. New procedures for promoting positive behaviour are effective including the merit certificates awarded in the weekly ‘Achievement Assembly’. Moral issues are actively promoted through acts of worship and in lessons.

p.22

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

40 Provision for pupils’ social development is satisfactory. The school is making every effort to promote a sense of community with common inclusive values. They encourage the pupils to recognise and respect social differences and similarities and help them to develop personal qualities, which are valued in a civilised society. The pupils respond positively to this; however, there are a minority of pupils whose social skills are less well developed, showing immaturity and lack of respect. The pupils often find it difficult to co-operate with others, especially when asked to work collaboratively in group work. Their ability to work independently is lacking and is an area for development. The pupils show responsible attitudes when given a task to do, for example, looking after younger pupils, however, too few opportunities are provided for the older pupils to take on responsibilities or to be involved in decisions about daily life, for example

p.22

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

41 The provision for pupils’ cultural development is good. The school provides a wide range of opportunities to broaden pupils’ appreciation of their own and other cultures. These are reinforced in school through displays and posters in the school. The school recognises the need to ensure the pupils are aware of the cultural diversity of British society and to develop a sense of belonging to this society, for example, evidence can be seen in geography and history when studying the locality. The school also ensures that the school takes part in the cultural traditions of Britain, for example, holding a party for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. A wide range of opportunities to broaden pupils’ experiences is provided and pupils enjoy a variety of visits out of school. These include taking part in the ‘Mega Mela’ Asian Art project, visits to museums and to local places of worship, for example, the local parish church. The school recently had a

p.22

PUPILS OR STUDENTS?

concert when Eid and Christmas were celebrated together. Providing for the cultural needs of the pupils is a strength of the school.

p.22

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

42 There is a caring and supportive ethos throughout the school. Pupils are well supervised throughout the school day and enjoy a well-ordered and safe environment. A very effective caretaker maintains high standards of cleanliness in all areas of the school. As a result pupils behave appropriately and have good attitudes to their work. The school has good procedures for ensuring the welfare of its pupils. The headteacher is the designated person for child protection, and two further teachers take additional responsibilities. All staff have received Ashfield Valley Primary - 23 training and know how to report concerns. There is a named governor for child protection and, when appropriate, the Education Welfare Service is used to support pupils. There is an extensive health and safety policy and risk assessment records indicate an annual review of safety is undertaken.

p.22

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

43 Pupils with special educational needs receive good levels of support. The special needs co- ordinator gives very effective support to individuals and groups of pupils. Individual education plans are reviewed termly and clear targets for improvement are communicated to pupils. Class teachers use these plans to inform their own planning and target setting. However, parents are not yet sufficiently involved in the review of individual education plans. Classroom support assistants work in close partnership with teachers and are effectively focused upon pupils’ learning and emotional needs. Classroom support assistants constantly encourage pupils under their supervision and the progress made by these pupils is good. Pupils with special needs are identified very early in the foundation stage of learning and their progress is closely monitored. The co-ordinator for pupils who have English as an additional language and a

p.23

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

bilingual nurse make a significant contribution to the good progress pupils make in learning English. They work closely with class teachers and track pupils’ progress through the school ensuring continuity in the acquisition of English. This support ensures equality of access to the wider curriculum for all pupils.

p.23

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

44 The school has good procedures to monitor and improve behaviour. The poor behaviour of some pupils was a concern at the time of the previous inspection. The headteacher, staff and governors have worked hard to improve this situation and, as a result, the behaviour of pupils is now satisfactory. The school has introduced a 30-day good behaviour certificate. As a result of this scheme pupils have a very positive attitude towards gaining a certificate and work hard to achieve one. Successful pupils are also invited to choose a gift to go with the certificate.

p.23

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

45 Within classrooms school and class rules are prominently displayed and pupils are encouraged to call each other by their given names. The incidences of bullying, racism and name-calling are now rare and pupils have good attitudes towards each other. ‘Playground Pals’ is an anti- bullying project undertaken with the ‘Children’s Society’ and, during the inspection, behaviour on the playgrounds was satisfactory. During discussions with pupils they exhibited high levels of respect for the beliefs and cultures of other pupils. A small minority of pupils exhibit poor attitudes towards the contributions made by less able pupils and staff at the school are aware that this is an area for further improvement. The school has employed a learning mentor to support a number of pupils across the school. The learning mentor is very effective in ensuring that pupils with behavioural or emotional problems remain within the classroom and,

p.23

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

consequently, make satisfactory progress. Class teachers feel very well supported by the learning mentor and potential tension within classrooms is greatly reduced by the learning mentor’s timely interventions. Flexibility and partnership characterise the team approach to improving pupils’ behaviour. All pupils receive star awards for good work and all pupils work towards a range of certificates that are awarded during the Monday assembly. Certificates are awarded for proficiency in a range of curriculum areas, good thinking, super behaviour and sports. In Year 4, pupils are able to earn stars by entering the classroom quietly.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

46 The attendance rate of pupils has improved since the previous inspection. The school administrator, headteacher and all class teachers closely monitor attendance. A very detailed analysis of attendance patterns has been produced and the headteacher discusses any planned absence with parents. As a result, frivolous absences have been much reduced. Full attendance certificates are awarded termly. The school is working hard to discourage holidays during term time through sending letters home and talking to parents. Extended visits overseas Ashfield Valley Primary - 24 take the school attendance rate below the national average. A large percentage of absence is due to pupils’ religious observance.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

47 There are satisfactory procedures in place for monitoring pupils’ attainment. Teachers assess the progress pupils make against learning objectives and this information is used to inform planning. Teachers set targets for the whole class and individual pupils have their own targets for improvement. Statutory and optional test results are used by the school to identify strengths and weaknesses in pupils’ learning. However, this is an area that needs further development so that teachers are more aware of the expected progress by pupils on an annual basis. The analysis of these test results is used to group pupils for direct teaching and extra support. The school identified ‘problem solving’ as a whole school issue arising from the analysis. Consequently all class teachers have added in a significant number of problem solving exercises to the curriculum. Initial assessment with nursery and reception aged children are

p.24

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

used appropriately to identify individual learning needs at an early stage. Pupils know and are able to discuss their individual targets. Teachers’ plans and pupils’ work are monitored by subject co-ordinators and there are plans to further develop co-ordinators’ monitoring of teaching. Assessment procedures are not used effectively to ensure that more able pupils are sufficiently challenged.

p.24

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

48 Personal, social and health education is timetabled in all classes and is appropriate. A drugs education programme is delivered in Years 1 to 6. The programme examines drugs as medicines and the abuse of tobacco and alcohol. Sex education takes place towards the end of Year 6. This programme is delivered to boys and girls separately and this is considered appropriate when taking account of religious and cultural preferences. Teachers meet with parents to discuss the programme prior to its delivery, which is appreciated by all parents. The school took part in the British Heart Foundation’s sponsored skipping event and each term hold a healthy eating week. Pupils are encouraged to care for those in need through various charity projects. During the period of Ramadan pupils collect funds for Muslim Aid and raised money for Afghan refugees.

p.24

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

49 Pupils’ social and personal skills are enhanced by many opportunities to participate in local events. Pupils from Year 6 participate in the Multi-Asian Arts Carnival. During the summer term pupils from the school perform in the primary schools concert at Champness Hall. There is no school council in place and consequently not enough formal opportunities for pupils to make contributions to the school’s development. However, the school has made efforts to canvas the opinions of parents with a questionnaire.

p.24

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

50 The vast majority of parents appreciate that the school is working hard to motivate their children. They recognise that their children enjoy attending school and they also know that the school is doing as much as it can to help their children to respect the faiths and cultures of all who attend. Two parents felt that the school was not giving due consideration to the religious beliefs of their own children but the inspection team found that this was not the case. The parental questionnaire had a satisfactory response with 59 returned out of 228 sent out. The responses indicated good support for the school with the majority of replies being positive.

p.24

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

51 Parents also indicated that they would like improvement in the amount of work that children do at home and that they were not kept well informed about their children’s progress. The inspection team generally disagreed with parents although recognised that there are areas that Ashfield Valley Primary - 25 need improving. The inspection team found that the school had an appropriate homework policy and in the main the frequency that pupils had homework is in line with this policy. The school is sensitive to the tuition that many pupils receive at the mosque in the evenings and do not wish to put additional pressure on the pupils. The response from pupils to completing homework in the lower years is low but this does increase as the pupils’ progress through school. Homework consists of many types including reading, spellings and topic work finding out about items for projects. The school should continue to keep parents informed of the

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

homework and the expectations from pupils in its return.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

52 The school provides reports on progress that are satisfactory. The reports give detail of what the children can do and set some targets for the future. The reports would benefit from having clearer targets to identify what the pupil need to next to improve. The parents have two opportunities each year to discuss progress with the staff and at the summer meeting the reports are discussed with the parents. Parents are encouraged if they have difficulty in communication in English to bring someone to help. The school does provide assistance if this is not possible. These arrangements are satisfactory. The consultation evenings are very well supported with over 95 per cent of parents attending.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

53 The school sends out newsletters and information each term on topics to be covered. Although many documents are translated for parents, due to the time taken to translate the newsletters they are only supplied in English. There is a home school agreement in place and parents are able to approach the school to talk to teachers. The school has an informative prospectus that includes details of the curriculum in each subject. The governors’ report to parents fulfils requirements and is satisfactory. This is translated for parents.

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HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

54 The school has held literacy and numeracy workshops for parents and, in addition, evening meetings have been held to discuss behaviour and attendance. The attendance at these workshops has not been high. The school has carried out consultations with parents through two surveys, which had a good response. The school has a family room that is used to provide courses for adults. The courses are attended by a small number of parents. They include literacy, numeracy, sewing, embroidery, cooking and Story sack courses for parents to help make props and puppets to go with books in the nursery and reception classes. The school has resources in the form of ‘Home Learning Kits’ available to help parents in nursery and reception. The ‘Family literacy worker’ and nursery teacher make home visits prior to children starting school.

p.25

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

55 Parents are informed by standard letter when their children are placed on the special needs register. At the end of the summer term a report is sent to parents of pupils with special educational needs informing them of the level of support received by their child. Parents are not involved in the production of individual learning plans and the school needs to find more ways of communicating with parents to allow them to become more involved in their children’s learning. The special educational needs co-ordinator will continue to make requests through the co-ordinators cluster group to the Local Education Authority to provide an interpreter.

p.25

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

56 The school is well led, with particular attention given by the headteacher to improving pupils’ behaviour, raising expectations, reducing vandalism and improving attendance. In each of these areas the staff are provided with clear direction and know how the school’s procedures work. This has helped the school make good progress since its previous inspection. The headteacher Ashfield Valley Primary - 26 was appointed five years ago soon after the last inspection, during which time the school did not have a permanent headteacher. On her appointment she faced a number of difficulties such as unacceptable behaviour of pupils, some low expectations and a recently regenerated area that changed the nature of the surrounding environment leaving the school vulnerable to vandalism. The headteacher has tackled these difficulties effectively, employing sound strategies to create a new direction for the school. The headteacher set about tackling

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

unacceptable behaviour by appropriately consulting staff as to how this would be achieved. The style of leadership puts emphasis on evaluating the outcomes of the school’s work and involving the staff as much as possible in the decision making process. This has resulted in a strong feeling of teamwork.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

57 The headteacher and deputy headteacher have a particularly effective partnership. The deputy is a leading classroom practitioner who is able to ensure that her own teaching is having a good impact on pupils’ learning. The headteacher is able to make effective use of this to help other teachers to improve their practice. The relationship between the headteacher and the long- standing deputy has strengthened over the years with each respecting the other’s strengths. In this way the staff display strong unity and feel well supported by the leadership. There has been a recent reorganisation of some senior staff to ensure broader curriculum coverage across the school. The subject coordinators are keen to take their subjects forward but at present do not have enough opportunities to do so, especially in respect of overseeing standards in their subjects.

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HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

58 The school has faced a number of challenges in recent years, including falling pupil numbers, a reducing budget and a significant reduction in the number of teachers available to support pupils who have English as an additional language. This has resulted in a significant reduction in the school’s budget with the result of a limited amount of funding being available for teaching resources. In addition, the implementation of the system of performance related pay has posed potential difficulties for the headteacher, with complex decisions to be made. The decisions have been undertaken appropriately without losing sight of the improvement needed for whole school development, including raising standards. There is a clear reflection of the school’s aims and values in the school’s daily activities but there is not a definite sense that standards are at the heart of the school’s activities.

p.26

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

59 The Governing Body fulfils its statutory duties. Governors have high aspirations for the school and the community, which can sometimes be unrealistic. They are very enthusiastic in their support of the school with several long-term governors giving valuable information to the school about community issues. They are frequent visitors to the school, quick to support the staff when they are under pressure and very supportive when school functions are taking place. However, they have a less effective monitoring role and rely heavily on the headteacher’s report for information. They do not presently have the procedures in place to help them recognise where the school has strengths and what it needs to do to improve. This sometimes leads to governors having unrealistic expectations about the school’s future developments. It is the strong view of the Governing Body that the school has a good standing within the local community and this is reflected in the oversubscribed reception class. There is

p.26

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

not, however a strong enough understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses in terms of the educational standards it achieves.

p.26

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

60 Specific grants are used appropriately, so as to maximise educational impact. This is particularly the case for those grants aimed specifically for ethnic minority achievement and for those pupils who have special educational needs. The good progress that these pupils make Ashfield Valley Primary - 27 reflect their effective use. Governors have an awareness of ‘Best Value principles’ and employ them appropriately in spending decisions.

p.26

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

61 Despite a minority of parental concerns at the parents meeting, the school manages to balance the duty to promote race equality and cultural and religious diversity with collective worship, which is predominantly Christian, but recognises a tension in doing so. As part of this focus the school has obtained a determination to allow modification of collective worship. This is a credit to the headteacher, who manages this area well.

p.27

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

62 In monitoring standards across the school the headteacher looks at the available data to identify general trends whilst the deputy headteacher undertakes a more detailed analysis on a subject-by-subject basis. This sound analysis by both the headteacher and deputy headteacher does not yet, however, have sufficient influence on school planning, although there are some examples of class teachers beginning to use the information usefully. The school is not yet at a stage of using the information to help set annual targets for pupils. The headteacher monitors standards of teaching and learning adequately both on a formal and informal basis. This gives her a good picture of what is happening across the school and helps her with the deployment of staff. There is an appropriate input from external consultants who help to study pupils’ work looking for strengths and weaknesses. Although this produces a useful picture of the outcomes

p.27

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

of teaching, staff do not always have a clear idea as to the strengths and weaknesses of their teaching and because of this learning is therefore not sufficiently developed in some classes.

p.27

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

63 The school has appropriate priorities for development but there is not a sufficiently sharp focus on raising standards for all pupils. There is sound financial planning for these priorities. The school sets out a sensible time scale for meeting the targets it sets itself and puts in place a number of sound systems to help achieve them. There is, however, an unsatisfactory emphasis on all groups of pupils within these systems. This is particularly the case for the more able pupils in the school. There is a feeling of a shared commitment to improving the school and all staff understand that this is possible. It is apparent, however, that this improvement is not sufficiently focused on improving standards.

p.27

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

64 The co-ordination of provision for pupils with special educational needs is good. The school has employed a part-time, non-class based special educational needs co-ordinator. The headteacher and special educational needs co-ordinator have led staff training on the new code of practice that has been implemented. Information and individual education plans for children with special educational needs are clear and well organised. The co-ordinator is enthusiastic and has a good knowledge of strategies to support pupils with learning difficulties. The leadership and management of special educational needs would be further improved by developing closer liaison with the responsible governor and through the involvement of the co- ordinator in annual reviews for pupils with statements of special educational needs.

p.27

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

65 The accommodation that the school has available is unsatisfactory in that classes are cramped and noisy. The headteacher and governors have attempted to tackle this by using grants to improve the classrooms, particularly by reducing noise levels by installing partitions. They also have plans to extend the classrooms. The process, however, has been stubbornly slow and the negative impact on pupils’ education continues.

p.27

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

66 Teachers are appropriately matched for the demands of the curriculum as are the support staff, especially those who support pupils at the early stages of language acquisition and those who have special educational needs. There is not, however an appropriate level of support for the more able pupils. Learning resources are adequate for teaching the curriculum and there Ashfield Valley Primary - 28 have been recent improvements in the number and quality of computers for children. There has not yet been enough use of new technology to track and analyse the progress that all pupils make. Ashfield Valley Primary - 29

p.27

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

67 In order to maintain the recent improvement, the governors, headteacher and staff need to:

p.29

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Provide more able pupils with greater levels of challenge in mathematics and science. (Paragraphs 1,2,4,6,7,10,22,28,34,63,103,104,105,110,114,115,116 and 119)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Look at developing strategies that will help pupils use more adventurous language in their oral and written work. (Paragraphs 5,7,9,24,91,94,95 and113)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Consider ways of helping pupils to be effective when working alone or with others in a group and increase the production of their work when in these situations. (Paragraphs 11,13,18,19,21,22,40,96,97,118 and 121)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Use the evaluation of performance undertaken by the senior management team more effectively to set appropriate and challenging targets for groups of pupils throughout the school. (Paragraphs 25,47,62,101,109 and 110)

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

68 As well as these main issues the school also needs to consider the following less pressing matters:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

• Improving the governors monitoring role. (Paragraph 59) • Improving the provision for outdoor play within the foundation stage of learning. (Paragraphs 70 and 87) • Ensuring that taught time in Years 1 to 6 matches the recommended time. (Paragraph 30) Ashfield Valley Primary - 30

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 89

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

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) 14 214

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 56

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Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 3

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 56

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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 221

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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 18

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 9

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Attendance

School data 7.1 School data 0.2 Ashfield Valley Primary - 31 National comparative data 5.4 National comparative data 0.5

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Attendance

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Ashfield Valley Primary - 32

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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 13 17 30

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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 12 10 11 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 14 14 15

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

Percentage of pupils School 87 (90) 80 (87) 87 (87) 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 10 11 10 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 14 11 12

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

Percentage of pupils School 80 (87) 73 (80]) 73 (77) 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 2 (Year 6)

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2002 19 12 31

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

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

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

Boys 12 14 16 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 9 8 10

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

Percentage of pupils School 68 (57) 71 (47) 84 (57) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (75) 73 (71) 86 (87)

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

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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

Boys 13 14 16 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 9 10 9

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

Percentage of pupils School 71 (n/a) 77 (n/a) 81 (n/a) at NC level 4 or above National 73 (72) 74 (74) 82 (82)

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

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Ashfield Valley Primary - 33

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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 - Pakistani 197 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Asian or Asian British – any other Asian background 3 0

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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. Ashfield Valley Primary - 34

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 8.7 Financial year 2001-02

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 24.6

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total income 607,956

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 52 Total expenditure 606,972

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 186 Expenditure per pupil 2,746

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 1

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 14

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 1

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 25

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 4.7

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 5.2

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Recruitment of teachers

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 0

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of a term or more (FTE) 0

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Recruitment of teachers

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

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Recruitment of teachers

FTE means full-time equivalent. Ashfield Valley Primary - 35

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Percentage of responses in each category 25.9%

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

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

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child is making good progress in school. 53 39 3 2 3

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Behaviour in the school is good. 61 31 5 3 0

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 41 31 20 7 2

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 56 24 7 8 5

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 66 20 5 0 8

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 59 27 5 3 5

p.35

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school works closely with parents. 66 19 8 2 5

p.35

Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is well led and managed. 63 27 2 2 7

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 66 19 5 2 8

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 59 24 7 2 8 Ashfield Valley Primary - 36

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

69 The school has a nursery, admitting children on a part time basis. The vast majority of children start in the nursery or reception classes with personal, social and academic skill levels being well below that expected for their age. Most children speak very little English and many are not confident in using communication skills in their own first language. The school has to put much emphasis on helping these young children develop appropriate communication skills, including enabling them to listen appropriately. Much of the tuition in the nursery is bilingual with the school having a number of bilingual classroom assistants to help them. Teachers have learnt many familiar phrases and words in Urdu to aid the process of bilingual tuition.

p.36

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

70 The staff have fully implemented the guidelines for the foundation stage of learning and there is much attention to practical activities. However, the location of the outdoor play area makes it difficult for both nursery and reception classes to have access to this resource in the way that they would like. This is an area that needs improving. The level of liaison between the nursery and reception is not as strong as it could be, despite the efforts made to ensure that a group of reception aged children have access to the nursery on a daily basis. The planning is secure although the level of continuity between the nursery and reception is not as effective as it should be. The practitioners in the nursery and reception have developed appropriate assessment systems but these tend to emphasis what is being covered rather than giving consideration to the progress children are making in both classes. The quality of teaching is

p.36

AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

satisfactory overall, with many strengths noted in the nursery.

p.36

Personal, social and emotional development

71 When children start school their personal, social and emotional skills are weak. Both nursery and reception classes place much emphasis on this aspect of children’s development and the vast majority make satisfactory progress during the foundation stage of learning. However, by the time they start Year 1 only about a half of the reception-aged children have attained the learning goal in this area.

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Personal, social and emotional development

72 There are set routines for children to help them settle in the nursery. They have a well-known routine during snack times with children being encouraged to say ‘thank you’ and ‘please’ when they are given something to eat or drink. Children take turns in handing out equipment or in choosing what they are going to do. There is some emphasis on children playing together but in the main this is not given a high priority. In the reception class, there are lost opportunities to develop personal and social skills. This is mainly during the first part of the day when children tend to be inactive for too long. Children appear tired and are not as engaged as they should be during this period of the day. The use of bilingual support assistants is important in both classes and they play an influential role in keeping the children involved in the whole class activities that occur at the beginning of the day.

p.36

Personal, social and emotional development

73 When working in small groups or independently most children show respect for the equipment they use, play co-operatively and share resources. Many children quickly establish favourite activities, which helps them to settle to the routines of the classroom. Most are good listeners and respond positively to the practitioners’ instructions. The quality of teaching and learning are satisfactory for this aspect of children’s work. Ashfield Valley Primary - 37

p.36

Communication, language and literacy

74 When children start school the vast majority do not speak English and they are not confident in communicating in Urdu. There is a high priority given to helping children to use English as their main language in the nursery and reception. The good support provided by the bilingual classroom support assistants and the efforts made to use Urdu appropriately by the teachers is helping children to familiarise themselves with many English words quickly. In this area they make very good progress. By the time the children finish in the reception class about a third are meeting the learning goal anticipated for their age. However, they have made good progress in learning English and satisfactory progress in reading and writing.

p.37

Communication, language and literacy

75 The progress is generally better in the nursery where the children have much more active participation in the whole class part of the lesson. In the reception, the children focus on their news during the first part of the day. During these sessions there is limited activity for the majority of children because it is usually focused on the news of one or two children. The teacher is not always successful in involving all the children despite attempts to ask them questions.

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Communication, language and literacy

76 In both nursery and reception classes, there is good emphasis placed on reading activities. Children become very familiar with a range of books and they show enthusiasm for stories. The practitioners successfully help children to recognise the sounds associated with the letters and there are several activities that help children to develop their reading skills. Similarly, writing is given appropriate attention with effective use of information and communication technology to help children advance their skills in this area. There is effective use of familiar rhymes to help children match certain rhyming words. Teaching is satisfactory for this area with all practitioners giving good attention to the use of English during the lessons and helping children to be more confident in using English, as their main language, for responding to their questions.

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Mathematical development

77 The initial assessments made in the nursery and reception classes show that several children start school with very weak mathematical knowledge and understanding. Progress is good in this area and by the time they finish their reception year about half the children are meeting the learning goal anticipated for their age. Many children in the reception are still very insecure about counting to 10, with some starting at 2 and having little understanding of zero. Others are more advanced but require support through equipment to help them with counting or with bringing together two sets when adding.

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Mathematical development

78 There is very good attention to helping children with their counting. This is often done in both English and Urdu, which helps children gain in confidence. Many of the activities, both formally and informally, give full attention to aspects of mathematics, such as counting, sorting or matching. This is high priority in the play activities that take place. Matching according to size is prioritised in the construction area and matching by colour is prioritised in the setting out crockery on the table in the home area. The use of number rhymes is very prominent and activities that children enjoy.

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Mathematical development

79 The teacher in the reception class has created several very good ‘home-made’ resources to support children’s number work. These are used effectively to help children match dots on a dice to a given number of objects or to associate a number in its written form to a number of Ashfield Valley Primary - 38 objects. The teaching is good overall for this area of learning with practitioners maximising the opportunities for children to learn from practical experiences. Ashfield Valley Primary - 39

p.37

Knowledge and understanding of the world

80 When children first start school many have little experience of the world beyond the immediate area that they live. For many children their experience is limited to Rochdale and Pakistan with many children not having experienced going to Manchester. As a result their skills and knowledge are weak for this area of learning.

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

81 The school attempts to widen the children’s experience by taking visits to the local supermarket and moving further afield, to seaside resorts like Blackpool, to help them gain valuable experience of a different type of environment. Photographic evidence shows that children are provided with opportunities to grow plants from seeds and to talk about old and new objects. However, overall this aspect of children’s work is under-developed. This is not the case for information and communication technology, where children make satisfactory progress in using the computer, especially to listen to inter-active stories. Children in the nursery and reception classes are able to use the mouse correctly, follow instructions and make selections. A bilingual member of staff gives very effective support to children in this area of learning, ensuring equality of access. The other area of strength is the way in which

p.39

Knowledge and understanding of the world

children are engaged in considering the celebrations that take place during religious and cultural festivals. Children knew what happens during Eid and have some knowledge of the Chinese New Year. The teaching is satisfactory for this area of learning.

p.39

Physical development

82 When children first start school many have poor manipulative skills. This is both in the way they use their bodies and in the finer motor skills of holding pencils, putting on gloves or their coats. During their time in the nursery and reception they make satisfactory progress and by the end of the reception year about half the children are reaching the learning goal anticipated for children of this age.

p.39

Physical development

83 Limited access to outdoor play is impeding children’s development in this area. The location of the outdoor area is making it difficult for children to have access to continuous outdoor provision. The bilingual assistant needs to work alongside the class teacher and this reduces the amount of staff flexibility available for the practitioners. In addition, the way in which there is only partial liaison between the nursery and reception classes is not helping the situation. The use of staff to give more prominence to outdoor play needs to be evaluated.

p.39

Physical development

84 Children do have access to the school hall regularly and in these sessions there is high priority given to helping children develop their physical skills through the use of dance and gymnastics. The teaching is satisfactory for this area of learning.

p.39

Creative development

85 In this area children have poor skills levels when they start school and make satisfactory progress during the foundation stage of learning. However, by the time they finish their reception year only about half the children have attained the learning goal for this area. Many children are well behind the level expected for their age at the end of the reception year.

p.39

Creative development

86 In the area of art and music the children make satisfactory progress but the progress in other aspects of their creativity is disappointing. This is particularly the case in the reception class, where children do not have enough opportunity to develop creative ideas and thoughts. In the painting area children have opportunities to mix paint and to make prints of familiar objects, Ashfield Valley Primary - 40 such as leaves. They show enjoyment and interest in this work and many children choose painting as their first choice when given the opportunity. Similarly, children are provided with many opportunities to make music and to use percussion instruments.

p.39

Creative development

87 Children are not provided with as full a range of play opportunities as one would expect and it is in this area that their progress is unsatisfactory. Practitioners do not ‘show’ the way to play frequently enough and therefore children are not making progress in their use of play for simulating personal and social situations or to develop their communication. Although no single lesson was unsatisfactory the evidence suggests that planning for this area of learning is unsatisfactory.

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ENGLISH

88 The 2002 national test results for Year 6 pupils show that the attainment of pupils matches the national average and is above average when compared to similar schools. The progress made between the ages of 7 and 11 is good with pupils making better than expected progress in speaking, reading and writing. The attainment of girls at the age of 7 and 11 is better than that of boys but the difference is less pronounced than is seen nationally. Overall this reflects a positive picture when compared to the previous inspection and also when compared to the levels of attainment of children when they first start school. The trend of national test results for Year 6 pupils shows good improvement over time and this is a position that is being maintained by the present Year 6.

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ENGLISH

89 When the majority of children start school in the nursery or reception classes they have poor communication, language and literacy skills. This is mainly as a result of a lack of confidence in speaking and listening in either Urdu or English. During their time in the nursery and reception classes children make satisfactory progress but only about a third attain the learning goals anticipated for their age by the end of reception. Good attention to helping pupils to speak English and to the needs of pupils with learning difficulties results in many pupils attaining the expected level in speaking for their age by they time they finish Year 2.

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ENGLISH

90 The national test results for Year 2 pupils shows that the school’s results are below the national average in reading and well below average in writing. However, when compared to similar schools the results are above average in reading. In reading, the percentage of pupils attaining the expected level for their age is higher than the national average. Most pupils, by Year 2, are able to use a range of ways to help them read unknown words. They are familiar with a range of authors and talk at length about their favourite book characters. However, more able pupils are insufficiently challenged and state that their books are too easy. There is not enough done to encourage pupils to use or read non-fiction books, either for research or pleasure. Most pupils of this age enjoy reading in school but state that they do not like doing so at home.

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ENGLISH

91 The national test results in writing show that no pupils are attaining at the higher level. An average percentage are attaining at about the expected level for their age. The lack of fluency in their spoken language is holding back progress in writing. By Year 2 many pupils are far more confident in speaking out in front of the class and are happy to answer questions. However, they do not use adventurous vocabulary and tend to stick to words that they are familiar with. This is hindering their writing, as they also tend to restrict the use of their vocabulary when writing. Few pupils use a range of descriptive words because they have limited opportunities for narrative writing. More able pupils are coping with the level of Ashfield Valley Primary - 41 punctuation expected for their age and include in-sentence punctuation, for example, ‘You have to sieve together the ginger, salt and flour.’ They have a good productive work rate and

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ENGLISH

most of their work is completed. Their instructional writing not only has appropriate instructions but also includes reasons for them. Lower attaining pupils write with enthusiasm but they lack creative or interesting ideas. They spell most regularly used words for their age correctly but grammatical phrases are often incorrect, for example, verb tenses. Middle ability writers in Year 2 are more secure in their sentence structure but their writing lacks flair or imagination.

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ENGLISH

92 Overall, the picture for pupils in Year 1 and 2 is that they make satisfactory progress in reading and writing although their acquisition of English is good. The more able pupils are not sufficiently challenged in their reading and they do not write with imagination or creativity. Lower attaining pupils, including those with special educational needs, make good progress in reading and writing. Standards in handwriting are unsatisfactory but standards in spelling are satisfactory.

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ENGLISH

93 The progress made by pupils in Years 3 to 6 is good although the more able pupils could achieve even better. In reading, pupils express joy and delight in the literature they are engrossed with. Most read a range of fiction and non-fiction books and more able pupils talk about reading the ‘small print’ on leaflets that they come into contact with. Many pupils aged 7 to 11 are members of the local library and frequently visit it to change books. Many have read books written by famous authors of the past, including Dickens and Shakespeare. Several pupils of this age are fluent in English and Arabic although almost all state that English is their main reading language. The pupils display a great love for literature and many would choose to read a book if they had ‘an hour to spare’ in an afternoon. The good attitudes to reading are responsible for the school’s national test results being positive and for pupils achieving well.

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ENGLISH

94 In writing, the standards are not as high mainly because pupils are not confident in communicating in writing. Higher attaining pupils are quite confident writers and their writing is well sequenced and makes sense to the reader. They can take a reader through a passage of time with secure use of punctuation. Spelling is mostly satisfactory but there is limited use of adventurous vocabulary. In a piece of autobiographical writing one more able pupils’ most adventurous word was ‘screamed’. When they recount or report, their writing is very detailed and thorough but lacks description, either physically or emotionally. One boy describing how he had put his foot in a bucket of boiling water expresses it as ‘very painful’. There is a huge amount of time dedicated to book reviews and this, combined with grammatical and punctuation exercises is restricting the amount time pupils have to develop their creative skills

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ENGLISH

during extended pieces of narrative writing. Average ability and less able pupils’ punctuation, grammar and spelling are noticeably weaker. Sentences tend to run into each other and the writer is often tempted to add ‘and’ to join sentences. Grammatical insecurity is highlighting pupils’ lack of fluency in English, for example, ‘I thought that why did Mrs Pratchet come in the first place so that means they did something really bad.’

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ENGLISH

95 The overall picture for pupils in Year 3 to 6 is much more positive than elsewhere in the school. Lower attaining pupils, including those with special educational needs, make good progress in speaking, listening and reading. The more able pupils display a real love for literature and make full use of the local and school libraries. However, they lack adventure in their use of vocabulary and tend to stick with words that are familiar to them.

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ENGLISH

96 Pupils show very good attitudes to reading and older pupils enjoy reading a full range of books from different authors. Discussions with pupils reveal that they thoroughly enjoy ‘curling up Ashfield Valley Primary - 42 with a book’ and they are often emotionally involved with parts of the literature they come across. This is helping their spiritual development. However, in lessons the pupils’ attitudes are significantly different when they are working with the teacher, usually in the first part of a lesson, than when they are working independently. During the first part of lessons when the teacher is engaging the whole class there is a strong sense of commitment with hands shooting up to answer questions. In the second part pupils who are not directly supervised show immature attitudes and do not settle to their tasks as well as they should. This does not reflect unsatisfactory behaviour but emphasises that pupils do not possess the level of independent

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ENGLISH

skills that is normally associated with pupils of their age. The issue is more pronounced amongst boys, who find it difficult to work co-operatively. In one instance a small group of boys acted immaturely when a pupil, with learning difficulties, failed to answer a question.

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ENGLISH

97 The quality of teaching is satisfactory in Years 1 and 2 and good in Years 3 to 6. However, due to the pupils’ inability to work independently the impact of the good teaching on their learning is reduced. All teachers are secure in teaching the basic skills and there is good attention to helping young pupils learn to read by breaking down the skills they need to use into small steps. For example, teacher in Years 1 and 2 use a ‘full circle’ game to help pupils recognise similar sounds and rhymes. The teachers of older pupils are making every effort to improve pupils’ oral skills and work hard during the first part of literacy lessons to help them improve their written skills. In one of the best class lessons, the Year 5 teacher enabled pupils to use their oral skills to consider the most appropriate story openings. The pupils responded to her methods and came up with openings, such as, ‘Many centuries ago, when people were

p.42

ENGLISH

happy…’ This was well in advance of the work noted in their exercise books. This teacher successfully used ‘modelling’ to help move the pupils’ thinking on. The Year 6 teacher successfully uses different strategies associated with effective learning to help focus pupils’ attention. She introduces ‘brain breaks’ when she notes that pupils are getting tired or sluggish and uses ‘hot seating’ to help pupils think more creatively.

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ENGLISH

98 The teaching for pupils with special educational needs is good. This includes the work that is taking place for the lower attaining pupils in general. The national initiative for ‘Further Literacy Strategy’ for lower attaining Year 5 pupils is working well and the ‘booster’ classes for Year 6 pupils are helping to improve the progress made by less able pupils. In each case the quality of teaching is making a positive impact on the pupils’ learning. The pace of the lessons is good and because the pupils were working directly with the teacher for the whole session the attitudes of pupils was positive throughout.

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ENGLISH

99 The quality of support provided by the co-ordinator for pupils who have English as an additional language, and especially for those who are at early stages of learning English, is good. She helps to raise staff’s confidence levels when working with these pupils by pointing out how they can best support pupils and giving expert advice. As a result pupils who are at early stages of learning English make good progress.

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ENGLISH

100 The school has successfully introduced the National Literacy Strategy throughout the school and the teachers’ planning follows national recommendations. However, there are occasions when staff are not flexible enough in its use. This was seen in a good Year 5 lesson when the teacher shifted the emphasis from developing ‘story openings’ to working on ‘subordinate clauses’, just when she had captured all the pupils’ interest and enthusiasm in the story openings. There is a little insecurity in its implementation as was seen in Year 1 when the teacher did not allow the pupils to join in with reading a familiar text even when the pupils were finding it difficult to stop themselves. Staff take good opportunities to extend pupils’ cultural awareness by introducing them to a range of texts from different cultures and time. Ashfield Valley Primary - 43 Pupils enjoy this and appreciate being able to contrast style and text. The school has not

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ENGLISH

ensured that pupils are making the most use of their literacy skills in other subjects. This is partly because pupils in Years 1 and 2 are not using or reading non-fiction books as regularly as they should and also because there are limited opportunities in other subjects, especially history, geography and religious education, for pupils to work on extended pieces of writing.

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ENGLISH

101 The co-ordinator is the nursery teacher and despite her expertise in literacy finds it difficult to have a full overview of what is happening throughout the school. She does analyse national test data and does come up with pertinent points for development. She recognises that the school needs to give more attention to pupils’ spoken skills in order to help widen their vocabulary. The school has attempted to use learning targets with pupils to help them improve their work. However, this is not being consistently applied and in many classes the targets give too much emphasis to the secretarial skills of writing and not to the content. The school possesses a well-stocked library although some of the books are a little dated. Pupils make good use of this facility and enjoy spending time in the library. There are occasions when the cramped classrooms impede pupils’ learning. This is most prominent in Years 1 and 2 where

p.43

ENGLISH

the classrooms are too small for all to see the teacher or the board easily.

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MATHEMATICS

102 The 2002 national test results show that by the end of Year 6 the attainment of 11-year-old pupils is just below the national average and above average when compared to schools in similar circumstances. Boys are performing significantly better than girls. The attainment of more able pupils is in line with the national average and well above average when compared to schools in similar circumstances. This represents an improvement over the four previous years. Inspection findings show that there is every indication of a further improvement for the coming year. The current Year 6 is maintaining this level of achievement with many pupils moving towards the national average. The positive effects of the National Numeracy Strategy are evident because it has improved the quality of provision and raised teachers’ expertise and expectations.

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MATHEMATICS

103 The 2002 National Curriculum test results show that by the end of Year 2 the attainment of 7- year-old pupils is well below the national average and below average when compared to schools in similar circumstances. Boys achieve slightly better than girls. The attainment of more able pupils is below average and also below average when compared to similar schools. Inspection findings show a similar picture for the current Year 2 with more able pupils underachieving. Insufficient training in the delivery of the National Numeracy Strategy in Year 1, results in low teacher expectations for more able pupils. The 2002 results do represent an improvement on the previous four years.

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MATHEMATICS

104 Pupils aged between 5 and 7 make satisfactory progress as a result of good teaching in Year 2. The teacher uses a variety of lively ‘counting on’ games to maintain pupils’ interest and enthusiasm. The class teacher and co-ordinator for pupils who are learning English have developed a good team teaching strategy that results in pupils receiving direct support when required. This flexible approach to teaching enables both teachers to alternate the leadership of the lesson and, therefore, teacher assessment of each pupil’s involvement and progress is very effective in targeting appropriate support. Pupils apparently not involved in the lesson are directly challenged with a question and this encourages improved levels of concentration. Higher attaining pupils are not sufficiently challenged by the tasks set and are capable of Ashfield Valley Primary - 44 higher levels of calculation. They are proficient in mentally adding and subtracting two

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MATHEMATICS

105 Pupils recognise a range of two and three-dimensional shapes and can recall multiplication facts in the 2x table. In both Years 1 and 2 there is an emphasis on developing mental skills at the beginning of lessons. For instance, at the start of a lesson in Year 1, pupils were ‘gladiators’ competing against one another to quickly provide the answer to ‘2 more than’ a given number. This activity effectively sharpened their mental agility and reinforced concepts of ‘more than’ and ‘less than’. However, during a further task matching numbers to words, more able pupils lost interest and were not sufficiently challenged.

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MATHEMATICS

106 Pupils aged between 7 and 11 make satisfactory progress as a result of the good teaching throughout Years 3 to 6. All teachers have a secure knowledge of the numeracy strategy and lessons are delivered with confidence and purpose. As a result, during discussions, pupils displayed high levels of enthusiasm for mathematics. These good attitudes are an improvement since the previous inspection. In Year 3, a well-planned ‘place value’ exercise moved at an effective pace maintaining pupils’ interest and successfully developing their place value knowledge. As a result many pupils have a good knowledge of number facts to 1000. The teacher takes every opportunity to extend the mathematical vocabulary of pupils both orally and in written form. This is making a significant contribution to the pupils’ understanding of mathematical concepts. In Year 4 pupils are constantly challenged by the teacher to explain

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MATHEMATICS

their strategies for calculation. As a result pupils exhibit high degrees of confidence when doubling three digit numbers. In Year 5, the teacher successfully develops pupils’ use of positive and negative numbers by encouraging pupils to demonstrate using the overhead projector. Reluctant learners are given time to answer and think through their strategies. Pupils are constantly required to examine the relationship between numbers and this further enhances their knowledge of number facts. In Year 6, the teacher demonstrates decimal place value very well. This activity constantly engages the pupils’ interest and, as a result, they were confident when multiplying and dividing decimal numbers of grams during a science lesson. There the pupils successfully applied their knowledge and produced graphs using computers.

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MATHEMATICS

107 Pupils with special educational needs and lower attaining pupils make good progress due to the high level of well-trained support they receive. During discussions these pupils are enthusiastic about mathematics and are keen to demonstrate their skills. Booster classes, the special needs co-ordinator, the learning support mentor and support assistants are making a significant contribution to the positive attitudes of these children.

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MATHEMATICS

108 The behaviour and attitudes of most pupils to their learning is good. Pupils enjoy mathematics and are keen to talk about their learning. During the start of lessons pupils listen very attentively to their teachers and are very keen to make contributions. A few pupils exhibit poor attitudes to the contributions of lower attaining pupils, particularly in Year 5. When required by teachers to work independently on tasks, a significant number of pupils throughout the school find it difficult to sustain concentration. Teachers successfully deploy a range of strategies to improve concentration. The 30-day good behaviour certificate is warmly received by pupils as are certificates for good work in mathematics, amongst other lessons. The learning mentor intervenes during lessons to support pupils who are finding it difficult to stay on task. These effective interventions curtail any escalation of poor behaviour. Pupils work well together

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MATHEMATICS

when sharing resources and pupils in Year 6 were able to sustain high levels of concentration. Relationships with adults are good and this promotes a productive working ethos, which is having a positive impact on attainment and progress. Overall, this is an improvement since the previous inspection. Ashfield Valley Primary - 45 109 The teaching of mathematics is satisfactory overall throughout the school. No lessons were graded unsatisfactory. Where teaching is most effective it is characterised by good subject knowledge and the sharing of objectives with pupils at the beginning of lessons. Lessons normally have a good pace and the most effective teachers make good use of exposition and targeted questioning to check and challenge pupils’ understanding. Planning is satisfactory and is consistent with the National Numeracy Strategy. Test results are analysed and used to identify individual and groups of pupils for extra support. However, they are not always used to

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MATHEMATICS

110 Targets are set for year groups and individual pupils are aware of their own targets for improvement. Teachers’ marking is mainly encouraging with insufficient target setting. Activities are planned for pupils of different ability but tasks set for more able pupils are not sufficiently challenging. All teachers have identified the need to target girls for questioning in mathematics to raise their levels of attainment. The use of homework to extend and consolidate pupils’ learning is satisfactory. There is very little use of information communication technology to support the teaching and learning of mathematics.

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MATHEMATICS

111 Leadership and management of the subject are satisfactory. Resources are well organised to support the delivery of the numeracy strategy. The co-ordinator and headteacher have led staff development and are aware that further training is required for teachers new to the numeracy strategy. The co-ordinator monitors planning and pupils’ work but has had insufficient opportunities to monitor teaching. Overall there has been satisfactory progress in mathematics since the last inspection.

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SCIENCE

112 The standards attained by Year 6 pupils in 2002 National Curriculum tests are well below the national average and below average when compared to similar schools. There has been improvement in 2002 and more pupils are now attaining at the higher level compared with the very few pupils who did so in previous years. The trend of improvement is in line with the national average overall. Compared to prior attainment the pupils have made satisfactory progress since Year 2. In recent years, the boys are performing significantly better than the girls. In 2002, girls show improvement with the percentage of girls attaining the expected level for their age matching that of boys.

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SCIENCE

113 Teacher assessment at the end of Year 2 in 2002 shows that the percentage of pupils attaining the expected level for their age and above, is well below the national average. The percentage of pupils attaining the higher level (Level 3) is well below the national average. There are strengths in the pupils’ knowledge of science. Weaknesses are surrounding experimenting and investigative work. In comparison with similar schools, the standards are below expectations. There is a significant difference between the achievement of the boys and girls, with boys attaining higher than girls. Attainment overall at the end of Year 2 is well below expectations and there has been a decline since the last inspection when attainment was below expectations. The problems relates to the specific use of scientific vocabulary impeding the progress of pupils who are still at early stages of learning English.

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SCIENCE

114 In work seen during the inspection, the majority of low and average attaining pupils from Years 1 to 6 are working at the level expected. The more able pupils are working at levels below expectations and are underachieving. However, average and lower ability pupils are making at least satisfactory progress. Ashfield Valley Primary - 46 115 Most of the pupils by the end of Year 2 have covered the expected topics and have appropriate scientific knowledge covering a range of areas, including knowledge of living and non-living things. They have carried out a study of the human body, understand the properties of different materials and can describe the differences between light and dark. They are able to describe forces and how forces change the speed of an object. However, there is little evidence that more able pupils have covered any work in addition to that covered by the others in their class. This is mainly the result of the way the work is organised which gives little opportunity for the

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SCIENCE

more able pupils to participate in tasks that ask them to think more for themselves. The work scrutiny showed that too often these more able pupils are working on the same worksheets as others and they are not required to carry out additional investigations.

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SCIENCE

116 This position is very much the same in Years 3 to 6. There is again an appropriate range of activities being covered by the older pupils but the investigations tend to follow the same process. There is evidence in the lessons seen that the teaching is too directional, not allowing the pupils to follow their own independent investigations, the pupils usually copying the teachers’ example. This is hampering the progress of the more able pupils, in particular. Once again the main issue relates to the lack of variation in the tasks, as they are very much teacher directed. In the lessons observed the more able pupils are doing very similar work to the others. There is very little evidence of extension work being offered to them or the opportunity to work independently. There is limited opportunity for the pupils to plan, organise and carry out their own investigations. This results in the more able pupils underachieving. Most pupils begin to gain

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SCIENCE

a satisfactory understanding of scientific skills and concepts. The older pupils have covered topics that help them to understand more about healthy eating. They also know and can name the parts of the body and they know that different parts of a flower have different functions. By Year 6 the pupils can plan and carry out a simple fair test, presenting their findings in tables. They are also making satisfactory progress in their understanding and use of appropriate scientific vocabulary, which contributes to their literacy skills.

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SCIENCE

117 The pupils with special educational needs make satisfactory progress with some making good progress. Those pupils who received valuable support from classroom support assistants in lessons were able to successfully carry out the practical work covered by the other pupils. However, there is little opportunity for them to be engaged in investigations that ask them to work things out for themselves. Most of the investigations seen are over-directed and the pupils record the information either on ready-prepared worksheets or in a prescribed way.

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SCIENCE

118 The pupils show good attitudes to learning, responding well to the teacher expectations. All the pupils show real curiosity and excitement about scientific matters and are enthusiastic to take part. This is aiding their spiritual development. In the lesson introductions the pupils show an ability to listen, concentrating on the main teaching points. The majority also show enthusiasm during the practical activities, responding well to the tasks set. However, some of the pupils find it difficult to work collaboratively, especially when engaged in group work, mainly when boys and girls are asked to work together. Their behaviour on the whole is good in lessons. The pupils can follow teacher directed activities well. However, many find difficulty in working independently.

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SCIENCE

119 The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall, but has unsatisfactory elements, especially with regard to the challenge being provided for the more able pupils. The teaching is well planned with clear learning objectives. The teachers are well prepared and use the resources appropriately. The classroom assistants give good support, working with groups of pupils. However, opportunities have been missed to allow the class support assistants to work with the Ashfield Valley Primary - 47 more able. The pace of the lesson introductions is rather slow. This is mainly due to the fact the teachers are placing emphasis on the learning of scientific vocabulary for those pupils who are still learning English. The teachers work hard at ensuring the pupils gain new scientific knowledge at a rate that is reasonable for their ability, with the exception of the more able pupils. In the area of scientific enquiry there is limited opportunity for pupils to find out for

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SCIENCE

themselves. In a Year 5 lesson on properties, for example, the teacher took the pupils step-by- step through the activity and gave the pupils little opportunity to discover the properties for themselves.

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SCIENCE

120 The teachers introduce the lessons well, building on prior learning and sharing the lesson objectives with the pupils. Relationships are good. Teachers have a very positive approach to the pupils. In all lessons seen there is good use of praise. Overall there is a purposeful atmosphere in lessons and a good learning environment. Teachers give clear explanations of what is required in tasks, and when sharing their knowledge and understanding with the pupils.

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SCIENCE

121 The management of the subject is satisfactory. The policy and new scheme of work effectively cover all aspects of the National Curriculum and satisfactory attempts are made to ensure that the pupils use their literacy and numeracy skills, for example, in a Year 6 class during a lesson on forces the pupils used graphs to plot their findings on mass and weight. The pupils’ opportunities to record their findings are limited, with few examples of them completing fair tests. In the lessons seen many of the pupils did not complete the recording of their findings due to lack of time. The use of information and communication technology to support the subject is satisfactory. Although the teachers ensure the pupils with special needs, and those learning English are well catered for, equal opportunities are not guaranteed due to the lack of opportunity for the more able pupils. The lack of tasks to allow the pupils to find out for

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SCIENCE

themselves is inhibiting pupils’ development in this area.

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SCIENCE

122 The co-ordinator works hard to lead this area, giving valuable support to staff. A scrutiny of work takes place annually and the co-ordinator reviews the teachers’ plans regularly. The school has introduced a commercial science assessment pack for Years 3 to 6, which is used to check what pupils can do. The co-ordinator has worked hard to produce record sheets to monitor the progress of the pupils. A full analysis of the Year 6 Science results has been completed. This has not been completed for Year 2, which may be beneficial. The school is aware that science is an area for development and is due to review the policy, and provide additional professional development for the staff in the near future.

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ART AND DESIGN

123 From the limited amount of evidence available which is based mainly on scrutinising pupils’ work and discussions with pupils’ standards at the age of 7 and 11 are in line with that expected for their age. This matches the position reported at the time of the previous inspection.

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ART AND DESIGN

124 By the time pupils reach Year 2, they have had some strong cultural experiences in art, for example, portrait painting where they are encouraged to look at skin colour and tone, the differences being valued and celebrated. By this time colour mixing is more precise.

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ART AND DESIGN

125 In Years 3 and 4 pupils use the Internet to research famous sculptors and in addition there are a number of cultural and religious elements that are explored through art and design. Pupils use computers to generate patterns and the work they have done on symmetry in mathematics is Ashfield Valley Primary - 48 used appropriately. In Years 5 and 6 pupils’ work is becoming much more sophisticated, with some pupils developing a definite style. A sharper eye for observing and representing still life is also developing which is apparent in the depiction of reflections in shiny objects and the use of shading to show light and shade. By the time pupils are in Year 6 they have used a wide range of media and confidently produce effective pieces of art and design.

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ART AND DESIGN

126 Occasionally, pupil behaviour during art and design is unsatisfactory and this is largely due to the organisation of some classes. In these classes the art and design lessons are shared with information and communication technology. The class teacher tends to give a whole class input and then takes half the class to the computer area. The pupils who stay to do art and design are usually supervised by the classroom assistant and it at this time the behaviour of a few becomes unsatisfactory.

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ART AND DESIGN

127 There is a definite sense of skill progression throughout the school and the confidence that pupils gain is reflected in a growing personal style. The school values art and design and spends an appropriate amount of time studying the subject. The displays around the school are of a good quality and the subject is well managed.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

128 It was not possible to see any lessons being taught in design and technology because the way the subject is organised meant that few classes were following this subject during the inspection. However, there was a great deal of work on display, following work completed recently.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

129 This work was of the standard expected for the age of the pupils that produced it. Pupils in Year 6 for example, had made slippers following work set out in national guidelines. The work displayed was of the expected standard. Pupils had carried out research of various types of slippers and had designed their own ideas before making the items. They had used appropriate materials in the making process and had evaluated their work appropriately. Another group had made bread and this work had involved pupils in considering the different types of bread that people from around the world consume. This aided their cultural development. In design and technology there are good examples of pupils using their literacy skills when they write sets of instructions for making various artefacts.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

130 Pupils in Year 1 and 2 had used construction materials for making buildings and they had also made biscuits. The making of the biscuits was linked to science work that was taking place on looking at changes in properties.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

131 The school takes full account of the national guidelines when planning work in design and technology. The subject is appropriately managed by a keen and enthusiastic co-ordinator. There is a good range of resources available to support work in the subject and the pupils are enthusiastic learners. The accommodation is not appropriate because of the lack of space available for staff to set out materials.

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GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY

132 The school teaches history and geography alternately each term, therefore only covering either history or geography once a year in Years 3 to 6. Because of these arrangements no lessons Ashfield Valley Primary - 49 were seen in geography or history during the inspection. Judgements are based on analysis of pupils’ work and discussions with pupils and the co-ordinators.

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GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY

133 Pupils in Years 1 to 6 are reaching the standards expected in geography. At the end of Year 2 pupils are able to show that their knowledge and understanding of the local area is as expected for their age. They can describe the local area and can compare it with Pakistan. Older pupils are able to describe the impact on the locality when the road system near school was changed to open up the Rochdale Canal. They could also find Pakistan and the British Isles on a World Map. However, they found difficulty in locating Rochdale on a map of the British Isles, although they knew it was near Manchester. Those pupils who had visited Pakistan could describe in detail the differences between the city of Islamabad and the rural villages.

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GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY

134 In history, pupils in Years 1 and 2 are attaining at below the expected standard for their age. However, by the end of Year 6 pupils are in line with the expected standards. In history, Year 6 pupils demonstrated a good understanding of previous historical periods as they could describe and make comparisons of aspects of the past with their own lives. For example, they described life in Victorian times well. They also remembered details from their study of the Tudors in Year 5.

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GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY

135 Since the last inspection standards in history and geography have remained the same. Pupils in Year 6 achieve appropriately. Progress made by pupils in Years 3 to 6 was good at the time of the previous inspection and this remains the case today. Teaching was judged to be satisfactory in history and good in Geography. Although no teaching of history and geography was seen during the inspection evidence from displays, records of visits, scrutiny of pupils’ work and discussions with pupils, points to teaching being satisfactory.

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GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY

136 In both history and geography the pupils’ attitude to learning is satisfactory. During group discussions pupils responded with enthusiasm to questions. The majority of pupils gave sensible answers, and listened well to the responses of others.

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GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY

137 There is a satisfactory history policy in place but none was seen for geography. The school follows the national guidelines for both subjects. History is mainly taught in the first two terms of the year and geography is left to the summer term. Opportunities to teach history and geography together are limited. Good use is made of visits to the immediate locality, museums and local centres of religion to develop knowledge and skills

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GEOGRAPHY and HISTORY

138 The co-ordinator for history has a clear enthusiasm for the subject and works hard to pass this enthusiasm to the pupils. However, her role is not fully developed, as she has very little time to monitor and evaluate the standards in the school. At present there is no appointed co-ordinator for geography; the headteacher temporarily overseeing the subject. There is an awareness that this area of the curriculum needs developing, especially the need to make sure there is not too long a gap between the geography topics being studied. Resources for both history and geography are satisfactory.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

139 By the time that they are in Year 6 pupils attain standards that are in line with those expected for their age. Attainment in control technology and modelling work is in line with national expectations and this is a significant improvement since the previous inspection. The school has developed three banks of computers with large screen teaching facility. All class teachers Ashfield Valley Primary - 50 have received government-sponsored training and confidently use this technology to deliver the curriculum.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

140 Pupils in Years 1 and 2 develop basic computer skills and mouse control creating pictures, producing text about the weather and devising a series of commands for a programmed toy. Cross-curricular links continue through the school. Pupils in Years 3 and 4 are able to access, edit and create graphics for an Egyptian project. Pupils in Years 4 and 5 formulate a branching database for a ‘Minibeasts’ project. They use computer-generated pie charts to represent information gathered by questionnaire. Pupils in Years 4 and 5 model plans for the improvement of the school playground and use the Internet to research information about Pakistan. This project enhances the cultural awareness of pupils. Pupils in Year 6 presented a power point display during a school assembly. The use of ‘power point’ added a new level of accuracy and detail to their work.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

141 The attitudes of pupils to the subject are good and high standards of behaviour are evident when pupils are using the technology. As a result lessons move at a challenging pace and learning opportunities are made the most of. The good use of the projector and large screen is particularly effective in gaining pupils’ attention, developing concentration and consequently the accurate execution of tasks. This ensures good progress in learning.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

142 During discussions with Year 6, pupils expressed their enjoyment of helping younger pupils use the technology. This is a good contribution to the social development of the children. Both teachers and pupils value time spent using the computers.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

143 The teaching of information and communication technology is good. Teachers’ planning is closely related to the scheme of work and ensures progress in learning across the school. Lessons are characterised by clear delivery of learning objectives and tasks that are well matched to those objectives. As a result pupils confidently and accurately carry out assignments and their learning is good. In addition to the cross-curricular links, there are examples of teachers using the technology to produce graphics within the classrooms, and many examples of digitally produced photographs. The co-ordinator for pupils who are learning English makes very effective use of the computers and, pupils with English as an additional language make good progress and are directly targeted for support.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

144 Leadership of the subject is good. The co-ordinator has led the subject since 1994 and has overseen many major developments in resources and staff training. The new computer provision has led to old computers being written off. Further purchases are planned to improve the computer/pupils ratio. The school intends to purchase laptops for classroom areas due to the restricted space within all classrooms. The co-ordinator monitors planning and samples pupils’ work. Good progress in the subject is evident when viewing the co-ordinators portfolio of pupils’ work. The school intends to develop the monitoring of teaching further.

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MUSIC

145 It is not possible to make a secure judgement on the standard across the school as only two lessons were observed. One of these was taught by the peripatetic teacher who visits on a weekly basis.

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MUSIC

146 By Year 2 standards in music are below national expectations. This is a decline since the previous inspection. Attainment in singing has improved since the last inspection, with the Ashfield Valley Primary - 51 pupils being able to sing songs and then keep to the beat as they mime to them. All the pupils are making satisfactory progress as attainment on entry is well below expectations. By Year 2 pupils can sing a variety of songs. The pupils can keep a beat through changes in tempo, marching and tapping to well-known songs. They know the difference between low and high notes.

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MUSIC

147 Insufficient evidence is available to make a secure judgement on standards by the end of Year 6 due to the fact no lessons were seen in Year 6. From observation in assemblies the singing has improved since the last inspection, as the pupils were able to sing in tune, the songs are taught well and the pupils perform with enthusiasm.

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MUSIC

148 Insufficient evidence is available to make a secure judgement on the overall quality of teaching in all aspects of music. In the two lessons seen, the quality of teaching was good in one lesson and satisfactory in the other. Where the teaching is good the teacher brought together the elements of performing, listening and appraising. Pupils benefited from being taught different ways of playing instruments and enjoyed taking an active role. Good classroom management ensured they behaved well. The pupils are highly motivated by the good range of activities within the lesson because the teacher transmits an infectious enthusiasm that inspires them to try hard to succeed. All the pupils are challenged to play a percussion instrument, including xylophones, Indian bells and cymbals. The pupils played these with confidence. There are many opportunities for the pupils to listen and learn to appreciate a wide range of music in

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MUSIC

assembly. Here, those pupils experiencing difficulties with speaking and listening skills gain significantly from the opportunities to listen to music. Pupils with special needs are fully included in music lessons, assemblies and concerts.

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MUSIC

149 The school makes every effort to develop a wide range of opportunities for the pupils to develop their musical skills, talents and an enthusiasm for the subject. The school buys in the services of a peripatetic music teacher from the Local Education Authority for one half-day each week, spending half a term with each class. She also provides recorder lessons. The pupils are given many opportunities to perform in front of an audience. The older pupils have taken part in a musical concert in the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, a concert with three other primary schools and taken part in Eid/Christmas Concerts. All the classes have an opportunity to perform in front of the school and their parents during class assemblies. There are no music after school clubs, however, the school has made an effort to start a Multi Asian Arts Music Club. This did not go ahead due to lack of interest.

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MUSIC

150 The school has introduced the national guidelines as their scheme of work for Years 3 to 6 with commercial schemes used for Years 1 and 2. Where the lesson was very successful the teacher planned a wide range of short activities related to the objectives, including, singing and clapping a beat to a marching song. There were high expectations, a fast pace, with good involvement of the class support assistant, teacher and pupils. Preparation for the lesson and the effective use of instruments inspired the pupils, enabling them to make good progress. Through the carefully planned listening and singing activities throughout the school, music makes a sound contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural skills development.

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MUSIC

151 The co-ordinator leads this curriculum area with enthusiasm and expertise. As a trained musician she is able to give support throughout the school for assemblies and concerts. She fully supports the staff informally. There has been little formal training for staff to teach music even though a few lack confidence in this area and have responsibility for teaching it. The two teachers observed made good use of the adequate resources. The school has recently invested Ashfield Valley Primary - 52 in the purchase of a range of recorded music to enable the pupils to learn to appreciate a wide range of music. The purchase of Asian instruments is a priority for the future.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

152 Provision for physical education has been maintained satisfactorily since the previous inspection and pupils attain standards that are in line with those expected for their age. Lessons observed during the inspection were games and gymnastic activities. Discussions with the co-ordinator, teachers and pupils, and a detailed analysis of teachers’ planning, show that the school provides a balanced programme of physical education lessons. This meets national requirements for the subject. The school meets its statutory requirement to teach swimming with the result that a satisfactory percentage of pupils in Years 3 to 6 can swim the minimum required distance.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

153 Pupils in Year 2 warmed up for a games lesson in a quiet, orderly manner ensuring that all pupils moved from gentle walking exercises to more rigorous running at an appropriate pace. Clearly expressed learning objectives and good group management strategies encouraged good levels of concentration. As a result pupils used a variety of throwing and catching techniques and were developing good eye/hand co-ordination skills. Good use was made of teacher demonstration to model throwing/catching techniques and pupils learned to keep an eye on the ball at all times. Pupils made good progress within the lesson.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

154 Pupils in Year 3 began warm up exercises as they entered the hall gradually moving into vigorous jogging that made very effective use of the space available. The teacher was careful to check pupils’ understanding of the lessons’ objectives and as a result pupils exercised with rackets and balls with confidence and concentration. The teacher varied the racket exercises, regularly coached individuals and the class maintained very good levels of learning. During this lesson, pupils developed good racket skills and the provision of a racket and ball for each pupil ensured maximum involvement in the lesson and they make very good progress.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

155 Pupils in Year 6 demonstrated precision and control in gymnastics whilst executing a variety of movements across the hall. The teacher made effective use of exemplars to review the quality and variety of movements and this encouraged pupils to experiment with more complex and creative movements. They worked well as a team to set up equipment and the teacher maintained good pace that ensured a high level of exercise. No warm down was seen due to the time tabling of this lesson at the end of the day. This tight time slot constricted the range of exercises possible. As a result, learning and progress was satisfactory.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

156 Teaching is good overall. Teachers ensure that lessons have an appropriate balance between slow and vigorous exercise. All lessons observed were delivered with confidence and a secure subject knowledge and lessons are progressively more demanding as they proceed. This very effectively challenges the pupils who are enthusiastic participants. Teachers provide good role models for pupils by dressing appropriately and showing real enthusiasm for the subject. Where teaching is very good in Year 3, the lesson was characterised by very effective and detailed coaching in racket work. Pupils are required to hold rackets with a correct grip and movement exercises with the rackets develop their co-ordination and control skills. Direct questions are used to assess the pupils’ understanding of tasks and very effective control strategies are developing high levels of concentration. The teacher is successfully developing

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

high levels of co-operation between pupils and throughout the lessons, pupils work shows good levels of independence. Ashfield Valley Primary - 53 157 Pupils have good attitudes to the subject and it is evident that they enjoy lessons. During discussion Year 6 pupils stated that no-one can resist physical education lessons because they are so good. They also reported enjoying helping younger pupils on sports day. The subject is making a good contribution to the social development of pupils. When setting out and using apparatus in the hall all pupils showed good levels of consideration towards other pupils.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

158 There is a new co-ordinator for the subject and she is keen to develop the range of activities provided further. Resources are well organised and all teachers have undertaken special training. A good range of activities is provided during the year which includes football, handball, athletics, swimming, cricket, netball and hockey. The school has links with Rochdale Football Club and a local high school enhancing the coaching expertise during the year. All pupils have equal access to activities. Older pupils visited the Commonwealth Games aquatic centre and were given an opportunity to enjoy the facilities. This visit made a significant contribution to the cultural development of pupils. The co-ordinator monitors planning regularly. She intends to review the policy and scheme work during the next academic year. The school plans to arrange further gymnastic training for all teachers.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

159 It was only possible to observe one lesson during the week due to timetabling arrangements during the inspection. However, observation of assemblies, scrutiny of work and discussions with pupils indicate that pupils attain satisfactory standards in this subject, working within the locally agreed syllabus and national scheme of work. This is the same as in the last inspection where standards were found to be satisfactory throughout the school. Whilst it is not possible to make an overall judgement on teaching, in the one lesson that was seen in Year 2, teaching was good. The Year 2 pupils, through the story of The Prodigal Son had to think about family life and forgiveness. The teacher also used this lesson to allow the pupils to reflect on the feelings of others. This was done well.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

160 Pupils are taught the differences and similarities of the major world faiths, the school making every effort to develop knowledge and understanding. In Years 3 to 6 they discuss religious issues, using stories from the different faiths to help the pupils develop their own values. Evidence shows that by the time they reach Years 6 the pupils are becoming more knowledgeable about world religions. In a discussion with Year 6 pupils the pupils were able to recall what they had learnt about different religions, including Islam, Christianity and Judaism. They were able to describe the celebrations of both Eid and Christmas. Although little written evidence was seen in the scrutiny of work the pupils are developing an awareness and understanding of different faiths.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

161 School assemblies are used to support the teaching of religious education, including exploring human experiences, religious traditions and personal beliefs and values. For example, during an assembly on ‘Bravery’, the headteacher effectively told the story of a young boy who displayed bravery to help others. The pupils take the class assemblies once a week on a rota basis to which parents are invited. Through dramatisation the pupils can learn to empathise with characters in religious stories, for example the joint Eid/Christmas concert. The school actively promotes visits to centres of worship, including the local parish church and synagogue to support learning. Ashfield Valley Primary - 54 162 Pupils work well in religious education lessons and assemblies. They are genuinely interested in learning religious stories and the experiences of others. In the lesson seen the pupils were encouraged to predict the ending, writing down the story they had been told. The work seen in

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

the books is not of a high standard, with presentation poor, mainly due to undeveloped writing skills. Pupils’ knowledge and understanding is developed through discussing religious stories, major religions, religious festivals, moral issues and religious symbols. Religious education makes a good contribution to pupils’ spiritual and cultural development.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

163 Subject management is good. The co-ordinator is well qualified and is pro-active in the development of religious education in the school. She shows enthusiasm for the subject and has taken part in a local working party on the development of assemblies. This has led to the school applying for a ‘determination’ allowing the school to be exempt from having assemblies that are wholly Christian in nature. The scheme of work has been revised recently with the pupils in Years 1 and 2, following the national guidelines. The pupils from Year 3 to 6 follow the locally agreed syllabus; however, the national guidelines are to be introduced in these years over the next few years. The school has also bought a commercial scheme to support the teaching in this area. The policy and schemes of work provide clear guidance to all teachers on what to teach and how to teach it. The co-ordinator reviews teachers’ plans and pupils’

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

work to monitor standards. The range of artefacts and pupils’ books provided is satisfactory.

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