Chorley All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery Unit

Inspection Report Chorley All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery Unit

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119464 Unique Reference Number Lancashire LEA 280563 Inspection number 7 March 2006 to 8 March 2006 Inspection dates Mr Arthur Allison Reporting inspector

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

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Moor Road School address Primary Type of school Chorley Voluntary aided School category Lancashire PR7 2LR 3 to 11 Age range of pupils 01257 262489 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01257 263860 Fax number 151 Number on roll Father Edmund Straszack Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Andy Purcell Headteacher 1 November 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 280563 7 March 2006 - 3 to 11 8 March 2006 Inspection Report: Chorley All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery Unit, 7 March 2006 to 8 March 2006

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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

The school is smaller than average. Socio-economic deprivation is higher than in most schools. Attainment on entry is well below average. A high percentage of pupils are eligible for free school meals. The percentage of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is rising and is higher than in most schools. The percentage of pupils with a statement of educational need is increasing though still typical of most schools. More pupils join or leave the school after the reception year than in most schools. Very few children come from minority ethnic backgrounds. There are very few children whose first language is not English.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Chorley All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery Unit, 7 March 2006 to 8 March 2006

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Grade: 2

This is a good school that gives good value for money. Leadership and management are good and the governors fulfil their responsibilities well. The school’s thorough analysis of its effectiveness is accurate. All shortcomings identified in the previous inspection have been tackled successfully. Led by a team with high aspirations, the school has the capacity to improve further. The vast majority of parents have every confidence in the school. One parent wrote ‘I would love to recommend All Saints to every parent’. It is a welcoming school with a strong Christian ethos. Children are friendly and talk enthusiastically about what the school provides. They want to do well and appreciate why teachers make them work hard. The school is strongly committed to enabling all pupils to do their best, drawing on outside expertise and participating in initiatives such as Excellence in Cities well to help in this aim. The

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Grade: 2

school provides good levels of care, guidance and support for all pupils. The children’s personal and social development is good. Provision in Foundation Stage is good. Children are helped to settle quickly into school. Although attainment on entry is well below average, all groups of pupils, including those who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities and those whose first language is not English, make good progress and their achievement is good. Overall standards in Year 6, at the end of 2005, were broadly average, though below average in English. Teaching is good. In Key Stage 2, it is consistently good and sometimes outstanding. However, throughout the school, there are insufficient opportunities for children to practise and extend basic literacy skills in subjects other than English. Also, there are insufficient ways to interest children in reading in order to help raise attainment in English. The curriculum is good and provides a rich experience for children.

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What the school should do to improve further

Raise standards in English by: • implementing strategies to promote an interest in reading and love of books in school and at home • planning more opportunities to practise and extend speaking, listening, reading and writing skills in subjects other than English.

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Grade: 2

Children enter the nursery class with a wide range of attainment but in most years their attainment is well below national expectations. Language skills are weaker than other skills. Children make good progress and achieve well. Those who left the Reception class in 2005 made good progress though standards attained were below those expected for their age. In 2005, the Key Stage 1 test results were below those of other schools because of the number of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Standards in mathematics were average, in writing they were below average 2 Inspection Report: Chorley All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery Unit, 7 March 2006 to 8 March 2006 and in reading they were well below average. Overall, the 2005 Key Stage 2 results were broadly average though standards in English were below average. Standards in mathematics were slightly above average. Progress in Key Stage 2 was considerably

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Grade: 2

better than might have been expected given pupils’ prior attainment. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and whose first language is not English make similar progress to other pupils. The school has put good strategies in place to raise standards in English.

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Grade: 2

The personal development and well-being of all children is good. Moral, social and cultural development is good. Spiritual development is very good. The children respond well to the strong Christian ethos, for example, enthusiastically joining in the school worship. Children’s behaviour is good. Bullying and racial harassment are not problems. The majority of children enjoy school and take part in activities enthusiastically. They are friendly, courteous and attentive in class. Children respond well to initiatives which help them feel safe and happy, such as the ‘Buddy’ system. Children in the nursery settle quickly and demonstrate a growing confidence and independence. Children have a good understanding of healthy eating and the importance of physical activity. They talk enthusiastically about the wide range of sporting activities provided. The children are prepared well for later life. They work well together and want to do

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Grade: 2

their best. The school council plays an important part in enabling children to put their views forward. They manage their own budget and are currently making improvements to outdoor play resources. The Breakfast Club is one of several strategies the school has put in place to improve attendance. This is now close to the national average and is helping to raise standards.

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good. In Key Stage 2, teaching and learning are consistently good and sometimes outstanding. Teaching is characterised by high expectations of work and behaviour and interesting activities that are matched carefully to the different groups and that engage the attention of all learners. Teachers also use the interactive whiteboards well to promote learning, for example when helping the children to understand factors in a Year 3/4 lesson. Children know what they should have learned by the end of the lesson and teachers use skilful questioning to enable them and the children to assess what they have learned. In outstanding lessons, the pace is unrelenting and imaginative, challenging activities capture the immediate attention of all children so that the room is a hive of industry and progress is excellent. This was shown when children in Year 4/5 were learning about spreadsheets. Teaching assistants

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Grade: 2

and pupil support mentors make valuable contributions to teaching and learning. 3 Inspection Report: Chorley All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery Unit, 7 March 2006 to 8 March 2006 Planning is good, but there are insufficient opportunities for speaking, listening and writing in other subjects to help raise attainment in English. There are also too few ways used to interest children in reading.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum, fulfilling all statutory requirements, is good. It meets the needs of all children, including those in the Foundation Stage, and enables children to make good progress both personally and academically. However, the planning for teaching literacy skills in lessons other than English is underdeveloped. A good programme of personal, social and health education is evident in all school life. Work is suitably adapted to match the needs of children for whom English is not the first language and those who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The most talented pupils are encouraged to participate in more challenging activities and extend their learning. Children throughout the school enjoy a good variety of enrichment activities, particularly in music and sport. Educational outings enrich learning further. For example, children spoke enthusiastically about the residential visit to an outdoor pursuits centre.

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Grade: 2

These activities make an important contribution to children’s enjoyment and good achievement.

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Grade: 2

The school provides good care, guidance and support for all children. The children speak warmly of the care they receive. The school carries out health and safety checks regularly and risk assessments are in place. Child protection systems are appropriate. The school ensures that those who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities, are vulnerable or whose first language is not English receive good help. The pupil support mentors and special educational needs coordinator ensure that links with external agencies benefit the children. Teachers put great store on making sure that every child develops the personal skills needed to equip them for life. Learners’ progress is carefully monitored and targets are set. The children are involved in this process so they know what they have to do to improve. The school exceeded its challenging targets in 2005. Good links with the local high school ease children’s transition to the next stage of

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. The very committed headteacher has high aspirations for all children. He is supported well by the equally determined newly appointed deputy headteacher and all other staff. All are striving hard as a team to raise standards. The headteacher, well aware of the needs of the children, has been instrumental in improving the school’s provision, for example by participation in the 4 Inspection Report: Chorley All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery Unit, 7 March 2006 to 8 March 2006 Excellence in Cities and Intensive Support Programme initiatives. This contributes positively to the rising standards. The school promotes equal opportunities well and deploys teachers, teaching assistants and pupil support mentors to help raise achievement. Children speak highly of how the pupil support mentors help them. The headteacher promotes a Christian ethos throughout the school and this makes a good

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Grade: 2

contribution to children’s achievement. All shortcomings identified by the previous inspection have been successfully tackled showing the school’s capacity for further improvement. The most commendable improvements are the better progress and higher standards attained in English, mathematics and science. The improvements in information and communication technology, the quality of the learning environment, the quality of teaching and improvement in pupils’ attendance also contribute well to the good achievement of all children. The school has good systems for self-evaluation that take account of the views of parents and pupils. Governors know the school well. They are intent on helping the school to improve further by the way they challenge and support the school. Governors manage the school’s finances well and follow up spending decisions to assess their effectiveness. 5 Inspection Report: Chorley All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery Unit, 7 March 2006 to 8 March 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: Chorley All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery Unit, 7 March 2006 to 8 March 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 2 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 3 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 3 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 The Children Chorley All Saints Church of England Primary School and Nursery Unit Moor Road Chorley Lancashire PR7 2LR 9 March 2006 Dear Children We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to your school and we would like to thank you for being so friendly, helpful and polite. It was really enjoyable talking to you and seeing you at work in lessons. We realise why you are proud of your school and enjoy coming because: you like learning, work hard and behave well you listen carefully to what others in your class say and appreciate the opportunities you are given to take on responsibilities you enjoy taking part in a lot of extra activities, including visits your teachers and other adults in the school work hard to help you to do your best your headteacher knows what the school should do to help you to do better and the other

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

teachers and adults fully support him in this. There are two things we have asked the school to do to help you do better. The school should: help you to love books and enjoy reading at school and at home so that you become better readers help you to do better in English by giving you opportunities to practise your speaking, listening and writing skills in other subjects. Yours sincerely Mr Allison and Mrs Havard The Inspectors

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