Penwortham Primary School

Inspection Report Penwortham Primary School

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119157 Unique Reference Number Lancashire LEA 280474 Inspection number 12 January 2006 to 13 January 2006 Inspection dates Mr Michael Onyon Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Crookings Lane School address Primary Type of school Penwortham Community School category Preston, Lancashire 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01772 743321 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01772 750373 Fax number 213 Number on roll Mr Michael Holt Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Martin Jelley Headteacher 1 May 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 280474 12 January 2006 - 4 to 11 13 January 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report 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.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This is an average sized primary school set in Penwortham, a suburb of Preston. Children come from favourable social and economic backgrounds and overall attainment when joining the school is slightly above average. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is below average. Few children are from minority ethnic backgrounds. The school is part of the West Ribble network learning community and participates in the Primary leadership programme.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Penwortham Primary School, 12 January 2006 to 13 January 2006

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Grade: 2

Inspectors agree with the school's evaluation that it is good and gives good value for money. Good provision in the Foundation Stage ensures children make good progress and many exceed the expected standards by Year 1. Good progress boosts children to well above average standards by Year 2. The school has responded well to the weaker achievement in 2005, especially in mathematics, and standards are now rising towards the previous high levels. Teaching and learning are good. The tracking of children's progress helps teachers to know how well pupils are doing. However, more can be done to develop number skills through subjects other than mathematics. Good quality teaching assistants are not consistently involved in identifying what pupils need to learn next and supporting and challenging their learning. Pupils are happy, safe, secure and well cared for. Attendance is excellent. The wide range of good learning opportunities includes many successful visits and visitors. Very

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Grade: 2

good relationships and positive approaches ensure children's good personal development. Pupils develop respect for others and behave well. Those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are identified and supported well to make good progress. Staff work together well and leadership and management roles have been strengthened to support developments. These factors, and the progress already made, suggest that the school is well placed to make further improvements.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Identify opportunities, in all subjects, to promote numeracy skills. • Involve teaching assistants more effectively in planning learning activities and supporting and challenging pupils’ learning.

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Grade: 2

Children have a range of attainment when joining the school, although standards are slightly above average overall. Children make good progress in the Foundation Stage and most exceed the standards expected by the beginning of Year 1. Good achievement in Key Stage 1 builds well on this early learning and children have reached overall standards that are well above average by the end of Year 2. Test results were not as good in 2005 compared to national data, but represent good progress for the pupils who began school with below average attainment. In the past standards have been well above average in Year 6. However, in 2005, although standards have been maintained in English and science achievement in mathematics was not as good as previous years and smaller numbers than usual reached the higher National Curriculum level. The school has introduced measures to boost performance, including more extensive use of assessment and teaching Year 6 pupils

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Grade: 2

2 Inspection Report: Penwortham Primary School, 12 January 2006 to 13 January 2006 in smaller groups, based on pupils’ previous progress. These are having a positive impact; currently children are making good progress and standards are rising again. Children with different backgrounds and abilities achieve equally well. Those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make good progress because needs are accurately identified and they get good support.

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Grade: 2

Pupils’ personal development and well-being are good. Most parents agree and so do the pupils. Spiritual, moral and social development also is good. Pupils are polite and well-mannered. They think deeply about their own and other peoples lives and learn the value of consideration and trust. Basic skills are learnt well and pupils are being well prepared for a successful social and economic future. Cultural development is satisfactory but pupils’ understanding of our culturally diverse society could be extended. Pupils say they love coming to school and their parents agree. This is borne out by their good behaviour, their enthusiasm for learning and their outstanding attendance. Good attention is paid to helping pupils to stay safe. The promotion of sensible behaviour means that there are very few accidents in school. Road safety and cycling proficiency courses help pupils to survive the perils of the road. Pupils are advised

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Grade: 2

how to look after their health and avoid the dangers of bad habits. Exercise is strongly promoted in physical education and a wide range of sporting clubs. Healthy eating is encouraged well and many classrooms have vivid displays of pupils’ work on the subject. Pupils make a good contribution to the community, raising funds for charity and occasionally entertaining local people with concerts.

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Grade: 2

As the school correctly evaluates, teaching and learning are good. Teachers make it very clear at the start of each lesson what they expect pupils to learn. As a result, lessons get off to a good start and with a clear focus. Teachers ask perceptive questions to check previous learning but occasionally allow starter activities to overrun, limiting the time available for new learning. A well qualified team of classroom assistants regularly offer good support to individuals. However, more efficient use could be made of their skills; involving them more in planning and deploying them to work more frequently with higher attaining pupils. Good, supportive relationships between staff and pupils make a huge contribution to pupils’ attitudes to work and their behaviour. Good, frequent checking of what pupils have learned enables teachers to match work to individual ability, especially for lower and average attaining pupils. Occasionally the highest attaining pupils could be

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Grade: 2

challenged more. 3 Inspection Report: Penwortham Primary School, 12 January 2006 to 13 January 2006

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Grade: 2

There is a good curriculum. It focuses well on the important subjects of English, mathematics and science and all other subjects of the national curriculum are included. French has recently been added and pupils clearly enjoy it and are learning well. The school realises the need to identify how closer links can be made between subjects to promote more effectively pupils’ numeracy and literacy skills. A good range of visits extends learning out of the classroom and includes opportunities for pupils to develop their personal and social skills through adventure and team building exercises. Good use is made of visitors, such as touring theatre companies and workshops that bring special expertise, interests and enthusiasm into the school to enrich learning.

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Grade: 2

This is good. Most parents are very happy that their children are being well looked after, though a few express concerns about the condition and security of the grounds. The school is well aware of the problems and governors and staff are working hard to overcome them. Potential risk in activities is carefully considered before allowing pupils to participate. Child protection procedures are carefully followed. Good assessment procedures and the regular checking of pupils’ progress enable staff to give good quality guidance to pupils and help them to make good progress. Individual special needs are quickly identified and good support is given to pupils to help them to do as well as they can. Year 6 pupils visit a range of secondary schools in the summer term to help them make choices and to ease their transfer in the autumn. The school reports frequently to parents and works well with other agencies to ensure pupils’ personal

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Grade: 2

Inspectors agree with the schools judgment that leadership and management are good. Resources are deployed effectively and the school provides good value for money. Systems for monitoring and evaluating teaching are being refined. Subject leaders' roles have been strengthened, with increased accountability for performance and achievement. They contribute usefully to the school's detailed development planning, which includes good links to appropriate training to help the school improve. Effective measures have been introduced to tackle the causes of the dip in performance in 2005 and ensure that high quality teaching is well matched to each child’s needs. As a result pupils’ self-assessment is used in literacy and numeracy and good procedures exist for target setting. The process is being extended to other subjects to enable pupils to understand how well they are doing and what they need to do next.

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Grade: 2

There is a strong sense of teamwork in the school to support the potential to make further improvements. The school benefits well from its involvement in the Primary 4 Inspection Report: Penwortham Primary School, 12 January 2006 to 13 January 2006 leadership programme and works very effectively with partner schools in the West Ribble learning network to promote learners well being by learning from, and sharing, good practice. Governors ensure the school fulfils its responsibilities and developing systems of monitoring are helping them get a better picture of children's standards and achievements. Parents and children strongly appreciate what the school has to offer and are very supportive. 5 Inspection Report: Penwortham Primary School, 12 January 2006 to 13 January 2006 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Penwortham Primary School, 12 January 2006 to 13 January 2006

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 1 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 2 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 1 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 2 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 2 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 2 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0207 421 6800 F 0207 421 6707 Ofsted helpline 08456 404045 Penwortham Primary School Crookings Lane Penwortham Preston Lancashire PR1 0HU 14 January 2006 Dear Children Thank you very much for being so welcoming when we visited your school recently. You were all polite and friendly and your good behaviour impressed us. We were pleased to see how well all the adults and children get on together. This is a big help to you in your lessons. Your teachers and other staff have worked together well recently to keep improving your work. They plan a lot of interesting things for you to do and make sure that you are safe and well cared for. You told us that you really enjoyed your lessons and all the other activities in school. You have a good choice of things to do and make the most of it. To help you do even better, we have asked teachers to involve the teaching assistants more

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

when planning lessons, and to help in introducing new work to you. That way, they can make sure that you are all doing as well as you possibly can. There can also be chances for you to use your number skills in lots of other lessons. We are sure that they will make a good job of it. We very much enjoyed talking with you and your teachers and wish you and the school the very best for the future. Yours sincerely Mr Onyon Lead inspector

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