Chapel Street Community Primary School

Inspection Report Chapel Street Primary School

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105404 Unique Reference Number Manchester Local Authority 287219 Inspection number 7 °8 March 2007 Inspection dates Suzi Clipson-Boyles HMI Reporting inspector

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

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Chapel Street School address Primary Type of school Levenshulme, Manchester Community School category Lancashire M19 3GH 3 °11 Age range of pupils 0161 2241269 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 0161 2484092 Fax number 459 Number on roll (school) Jacqui Delaney Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mr J Power Headteacher 3 March 2003 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 287219 7 °8 March 2007 3°11 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 one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This larger than average primary school is situated in the urban corridor between Manchester and Stockport. Just over one third of the children are of Pakistani heritage, one third are White British and the rest are from a wide range of ethnic groups. Twenty one languages are spoken throughout the school and a large proportion of children start Nursery without English. Levels of social and economic need are high for a significant number of children as shown by the percentage eligible for free school meals, which is considerably higher than the national average. The proportion of children with learning disabilities and/or difficulties is higher than that in most primary schools. The school also integrates children with physical and medical disabilities through a strong, long-standing partnership with another local school. There has recently been a period of instability due to considerable staff illness and the lack of a

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Description of the school

full-time permanent headteacher. However, a newly appointed headteacher is now in his first term. Additional daycare is provided by the school's breakfast club and an after-school club run by a separate provider. The latter is subject to a separate inspection by Ofsted.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Chapel Street Primary School, 7 °8 March 2007

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Grade: 3

This is an extremely inclusive multicultural school where children are happy and well cared for. The school's overall effectiveness is satisfactory. The school has several strengths. Children enjoy coming to school, although attendance has remained slightly below the national average for some years. A strong team of committed staff work well together to ensure that all children have high levels of care and support. As a result, children's personal development and well-being are good. Children work and play happily together and have positive relationships with the adults in school. There is a positive approach to understanding children's different cultural backgrounds, which results in harmonious relationships. Close links with partner agencies provide significant benefits for children. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, those with behavioural difficulties and less able children are

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Grade: 3

particularly well provided for and they make good progress. After a long period when standards have been low, children are now achieving satisfactorily and the school is providing a sound education. The school has turned a corner recently and there is clear evidence of improvement. There remains some variation in the progress made by different year groups but children are making better progress in most classes and standards are beginning to rise. In the Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception), children receive very good education and care and they achieve very well from low starting points. By the time they are ready to start in Year 1 they are broadly in line with the national expectations for their age. Recent changes to how children are taught in Years 1 and 2 are clearly making a difference to the quality of children's work and standards are improving. In Years 3 and 4 progress is barely satisfactory. Children make up lost ground in Years 5 and 6 because of the very

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Grade: 3

good teaching in these year groups. Children generally behave well, but behaviour deteriorates when teachers do not make learning interesting and/or manage the children well. In these lessons, progress is limited. Teachers' expectations of more able children are too low throughout the school leading to the underachievement of these children. There has been insufficient improvement since the last inspection. The local authority has recently taken steps to help the school to improve its performance and there are clear signs that things are slowly beginning to improve. The new headteacher has made a promising start. Staff training and changes to classroom practice are already making a visible difference. In some classes, standards are starting to rise. The school's current assessment of its performance is mainly accurate, although there is insufficient evidence of improvement yet to show that capacity to improve is good. The local authority's

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Grade: 3

plan to raise attainment has provided an effective focus. The new headteacher has skilfully guided staff through meetings and training in order to improve the most pressing areas. 2 Inspection Report: Chapel Street Primary School, 7 °8 March 2007

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure that children in all year groups are making good progress in order to raise standards. • Plan appropriate levels of challenge in all lessons for different groups of learners, particularly the more able children. • Ensure that all teaching is leading to good learning. • Raise the levels of attendance.

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Grade: 3

Children settle quickly and happily into Nursery. Their levels on entry are below average but during their time in Nursery and Reception they make good progress. By the end of the Foundation Stage they have mostly attained the skills and knowledge expected for their age. The overall progress achieved by children in the rest of the school is only satisfactory because it is uneven across the school. In Years 1 and 2 it is satisfactory, in Years 3 and 4 it is poor and in Years 5 and 6 it is good. National results show that Bangladeshi and Pakistani children reach significantly higher standards than other ethnic groups at the end of both key stages. Standards in Key Stage 1 are significantly below national levels and have been so for the last five years. However, there is convincing evidence that children are making better progress than before because there has been a tight focus on raising standards by the new headteacher. This has resulted in teachers making better use of assessment

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Grade: 3

information and monitoring children's performance more closely. Standards reached at the end of Key Stage 2 have also been significantly below average for the last five years. The current Year 5 and Year 6 children are making very good progress due to the quality of the teaching and are on track to reach the national average levels by the time they take their national tests. Pupils in Year 3 and Year 4 are not making good enough progress because the work does not provide sufficient challenge and the teaching does not lead to good learning and so progress is barely satisfactory. Staff illness has meant that different supply teachers have been used for prolonged periods in the past in some classes and this has also had an adverse effect on achievement. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and less able children throughout the school make good progress, because of extremely good support from

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Grade: 3

teachers and teaching assistants, good links with parents, and well planned programmes of work arranged by the coordinator for children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities.

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Grade: 2

Children's personal development and well-being are good because this is a top priority in the school. Social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is good. There is a positive atmosphere of respect and the Manchester Silver Standard Inclusion Award 3 Inspection Report: Chapel Street Primary School, 7 °8 March 2007 is well deserved. Children learn how to behave appropriately from Nursery onwards and incidents of bullying and racism are very low. The majority of children are well mannered and eager to participate in conversation with adults. They help one another and are kind and considerate. In good lessons children have extremely positive attitudes which contribute towards good learning. However, when behaviour is not checked as closely progress is affected. Children are safety conscious, shown by the sensible ways they move around the school. They also have a good awareness of health issues and

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Grade: 2

enjoy taking responsibility for organising the sale of healthy snacks. Children make a positive contribution to the school community by taking on special responsibilities, such as running the healthy tuck shop. The school council helped to design the new quadrangle and took an active role in interviewing for the post of headteacher.

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall. In the Foundation Stage it is very good. Children choose independently from a range of activities and are skilfully directed by adults during group learning. Their progress is carefully tracked so that their experiences are exactly matched to their learning needs. The quality of teaching is variable from barely satisfactory to very good throughout the rest of the school and this has a direct link to children's progress. Teaching is weakest in Years 3 and 4. Less effective lessons are dominated by the teacher. Long introductions and time spent by children sitting uncomfortably on the carpet lead to loss of interest and concentration. Work is the same for everyone, so some children find tasks too hard and others find them too easy. Low level disruptions are not always kept in check, so poor behaviour gets in the way of learning. In good lessons, learning is well-planned so that activities

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Grade: 3

have a logical sequence to build up children's levels of understanding securely. Resources are used well to make the learning more interesting and fun. Opportunities to talk with a partner help children to explore their ideas in more depth and expand what they are thinking through words. Children are encouraged to assess their work against their writing targets and they are made aware of what are the next steps. However, work in most classes is not matched accurately enough to children's different abilities because more able children are not challenged sufficiently.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory overall. It is extremely good in the Foundation Stage where a stimulating range of fun activities encourage the children to learn and help them make good progress. For instance, children were not only riding toy vehicles outside, they were also measuring them, mending them and practising road safety. In Key Stages 1 and 2, subjects are generally well-planned and there is an appropriate focus on literacy and mathematics. The school is beginning to develop links between subjects in meaningful ways. For example, a Year 6 literacy lesson was linked to science 4 Inspection Report: Chapel Street Primary School, 7 °8 March 2007 by using the 'water cycle' as a focus for a writing activity. Not all lessons use resources and equipment to make the learning sufficiently enjoyable and meaningful. However, information and communication technology (ICT) provision is used well to support

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Grade: 3

learning by all year groups. For example, Year 5 children used an interactive science program to move around parts of the human body on screen. Throughout the school there is a good programme of personal, social and health education and an emphasis on children acquiring safe and healthy lifestyles. Visits out of school help to enrich learning. Year 4 children talked enthusiastically about their trip to the Whitworth Art Gallery the previous day where they had thoroughly enjoyed learning about patterns and how wool is produced. Children take part in a range of extra-curricular activities that further add to their learning and enjoyment.

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Grade: 2

Care, guidance and support are a real strength in this school. High levels of commitment from staff and well-planned systems promote the welfare of children well. There is good support for children in the early stages of speaking English, and cultural differences are a means for celebrating and building positive relationships. Arrangements for safeguarding children are in place. Inclusion is a top priority and strategies to promote this are effective. For instance, the innovative 'Th'Inc Room', where children receive one-to-one therapy to help with emotional difficulties, has helped to reduce the number of recurring exclusions. There is a strong, long-standing partnership with another local school for children with physical and medical disabilities. This results in very good inclusion and care for children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The staff from both schools work closely together to support children's

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Grade: 2

learning and physical needs. Vulnerable children are identified early and receive good support to ensure that they feel secure and make good progress. Some children receive additional input such as the musical sessions called 'JAZZY Kids' that build confidence through leading, instructing and conducting others in music. Playground equipment is provided to promote good behaviour and this has a positive impact, particularly for the very youngest children for whom outdoor provision is superb. The school works well with parents and partner agencies to ensure that children are well cared for. Children receive satisfactory support for their learning through marking and individual targets. There are good systems in place to review the progress of children, although teacher expectations for the more able are too low.

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Grade: 3

The leadership and management of the school are satisfactory. There are clear signs that this is improving as staff respond positively to the leadership of the new headteacher. He recognises the strengths of his staff but also knows that there is much to do to make this a good school. He has high expectations and confidence in the staff. There are early signs that this is already making a difference. Teachers are 5 Inspection Report: Chapel Street Primary School, 7 °8 March 2007 more focused on raising standards and improving teaching and learning. Their planning is more consistent, lessons have clear objectives and the presentation of children's work has improved considerably since September in most classes. Teachers are becoming confident in the use of data to inform their planning and have a growing awareness of how data is used to track children's progress. There is still some way to go in order

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Grade: 3

to help all groups reach more challenging targets. Certain aspects of the school's data systems remain overly complex and are not centralised. This makes the identification of patterns of performance more difficult. The inclusion of all children is central to the school's vision and it is effective in pursuing this. Good links exist with parents and outside agencies to support its work and to promote community cohesion. The majority of parents have good opinions of the school. However, a significant number expressed concerns about the lack of progress their children make and the disruptions caused by staff illness. Parents have many opportunities to be involved in the school and there is good uptake of the various workshops provided. Governors have a good awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the school, including the need for them to develop their own role and impact. 6 Inspection Report: Chapel Street Primary School, 7 °8 March 2007

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Grade: 3

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 7 Inspection Report: Chapel Street Primary School, 7 °8 March 2007

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements No Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

3 How well do learners achieve? 4 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 3 The behaviour of learners 3 The attendance of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

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

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 8 Inspection Report: Chapel Street Primary School, 7 °8 March 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 9 Inspection Report: Chapel Street Primary School, 7 °8 March 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you very much for making our inspection team so welcome recently. We enjoyed our two days with you because you were so helpful and there was a warm and welcoming atmosphere all through the school. We agree with the staff that Chapel Street gives you a satisfactory education. This means that some things about the school are good, and some things could be better. It is our job to help the school by finding out where it needs to improve so that you can all get the very best education. Here are some of the things that we see are already good in your school. • The adults in the school work very hard together as a team. They do a lot of extra things to make sure you are all happy and well cared for. • Those of you who need extra help with your learning make good progress. • Most of you behave very well and are kind and caring towards each other. • You have a good understanding of each other's cultures and religions.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

• In some classes the children make extremely good progress. • You know a lot about how to be healthy which helps you make the right choices. For several years, your school's test results have been much lower than in a lot of other schools. We think that you are capable of doing better than this. We have asked Mr Power and all the staff and governors to make sure that in every single class the teaching is so good that all children make really good progress. We also think that some of you could do harder work and this will help you achieve higher standards - we know you are clever enough to do this! We would like you and your parents to work together on improving attendance. At the moment, some children have too many days off school, so they get more behind with their work. You are such a happy family at Chapel Street and we know that you are all eager to do your best. We hope that our report will help you focus on the right things. I wish you every success.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

10 Inspection Report: Chapel Street Primary School, 7 °8 March 2007

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