Trinity St Peter's CofE Primary School

Inspection Report Trinity St Peter's CE Primary School

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134988 Unique Reference Number Sefton Local Authority 294242 Inspection number 18 °19 September 2006 Inspection dates Frank Carruthers 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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Paradise Lane School address Primary Type of school Formby, Liverpool Voluntary aided School category Merseyside L37 7EJ 3 °11 Age range of pupils 01704 876391 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01704 831746 Fax number 227 Number on roll (school) Mr Malcolm Parry Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Michael Dutton Headteacher Not previously inspected Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 294242 18 °19 September 2006 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 two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

The school was formed in September 2005 from the amalgamation of two Church of England schools in Formby, a town situated between Liverpool and Southport. All children are White British and none are learning English as an additional language. The proportion of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is below average.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Trinity St Peter's CE Primary School, 18 °19 September 2006

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Grade: 2

The school has made a good start in its first year. The headteacher, governors and staff have merged two separate schools smoothly, promoting the achievement of children well and putting in place several new initiatives. Children's achievement during this time has been good and the school's first test results in Year 6 indicate high standards in English, mathematics and science. This gives the children an excellent foundation for secondary education and later life. The quality of teaching and learning is good and strengths, such as how well the staff interact with children, help them to make good progress. At times, not enough children contribute to discussions when asked questions. Teachers keep close track of how children are doing in their work but there is insufficient reference to the children's targets in marking their work for the children to know what to do next. Childrens' personal development is outstanding.

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Grade: 2

They are polite, very friendly and enjoy school. Attendance is high. The children grasp important ideas about healthy lifestyles, safety and helping others exceptionally well. It is the quality of the school's ethos and its excellent systems of care and support that contribute much to these high standards of personal development. Staff are developing a good curriculum, well rounded and enriched with a wide range of arts and sports projects through successful links with other schools. Improvements to facilities for information and communication technology have been made at the start of this term. Provision in the Foundation Stage is good and has been significantly enhanced this year with the opening of a Nursery class in the original 19th century building. Plans to move the Foundation Stage unit for children in the Nursery and Reception classes and build a new facility are well underway. The curriculum in the

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Grade: 2

foundation stage is carefully planned but there is a need to give equal weighting to the outdoor area to match the work done indoors. Leadership, management and governance of the school are good. Procedures to evaluate how well the school is doing are good and the school's own judgements about its performance closely match the findings of the inspection, though at times they are a little modest. New structures of leadership, management and governance have been established for the new school. Staff are very positive about these and how well they involve them in decision making. The school communicates with parents regularly and is developing new initiatives such as a Parent Council and the school website to provide greater opportunities for parents to be involved. The new governing body has taken forward with vigour the work of its predecessor - the interim governing body - during a period of challenge and change. It is taking stock of where it has got to and how

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Grade: 2

much remains to be done to blend a cohesive team. Overall then, this is an effective school, providing good value for money and having good capacity to make further improvements.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve the marking of children's work so that more reference is made to children's targets and the children themselves are more aware of what they need to do to make progress. 2 Inspection Report: Trinity St Peter's CE Primary School, 18 °19 September 2006 • Make sure as many children as possible are asked to answer questions in whole-class sessions. • Extend and enhance the outdoor curriculum in the Foundation Stage to reflect the work done indoors.

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Grade: 2

Children start in the Nursery class with levels of attainment that are above the average in the local authority. They make good progress in the Foundation Stage. Almost all reach the goals for learning expected of children at the end of the Reception year and some exceed them. This is because of good teaching and learning in both the Nursery and Reception classes. Achievement continues to be good in both key stages 1 and 2. Information tracking the children's progress during this first school year shows children are making good progress in all year groups. The first year of test results in Year 6 show the school exceeded its own targets. Almost all children reached the expected Level 4 in English, mathematics and science and about one third of children reached the higher Level 5. Staff are building well on this because assessment and tracking procedures give clear information so they can plan for further success.

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Grade: 1

The school's judgement that the children's personal development is good is modest and inspectors judge it to be outstanding. The children love coming to school and this is reflected in their sustained high levels of attendance. The school's emphasis on promoting well-being gives them an informed understanding of healthy lifestyle choices and they are safety conscious from an early age. The children say that incidents of bad behaviour are rare and are dealt with very quickly. They are keen to learn, behave very well indeed, work hard in individual and team activities and are keen to make the most of what their school offers. The active School Council ensures that all children have a voice and a valued role in decision making. Children are given plenty of scope to suggest and implement ideas, taking great pride in the impact of their work. On developing the play areas, one child commented, 'We love our outside space and we want to make the most of it.'

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Grade: 1

The children's spiritual, moral and social development is good, fostered by the school's Christian ethos. The children are very aware of the differences between religions and some traditions but there is scope for improvement in their awareness of the cultural diversities of society. 3 Inspection Report: Trinity St Peter's CE Primary School, 18 °19 September 2006

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Grade: 2

The positive atmosphere typically found in lessons reflects the childrens' enjoyment, excellent classroom relationships and success in learning. Relationships between staff and children are very positive and lessons have good pace so that children learn quickly. Children feel that their contribution is important and the work provided for them matches their different learning needs. Effective individualised questions help to consolidate and extend children's learning and challenge high-flyers to deepen their understanding. At times, however, some children do not volunteer to answer questions and are not fully involved in discussions. Children who find learning difficult benefit from secure systems where focused care and support help them to make good progress, but in a few whole-class sessions support staff are not used to full effect. There are good strategies for target-setting and the tracking of children's progress is thorough.

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Grade: 2

Marking and written feedback, however, do not consistently help children understand what they must do to achieve their target and what are the next steps in their learning.

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Grade: 2

The school offers a good, well planned curriculum that is enriched through established partnerships with other schools. A successful feature is the experience provided by promoting literacy through other subjects, which make activities fun and learning vibrant so children see connections between ideas. Links between other subjects and skills are less well developed. In the Foundation Stage themes and topics are carefully planned, addressing all the areas of learning. The outdoor curriculum, however, is not yet fully planned to enhance the indoor curriculum on a larger scale. A vast range of extra-curricular activities for older children enrich the developing curriculum very well.

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Grade: 1

Care, guidance and support for children are outstanding. In judging these aspects, the school's views are modest. Staff know the children and their families well and parents report that these aspects are real strengths of the school. Procedures and practices for all aspects of child protection, health, safety and safe recruitment are robust. Links with outside agencies promote the well-being of children exceptionally well. For example, the school has developed links with behaviour support specialists and a bereavement counsellor to help children experiencing difficulties in their lives. Lessons in personal, social and health education give the children very good opportunities to reflect on their feelings. Arrangements for children starting in the new Nursery class are very good and a strong relationship is forged with parents. As a result, children settle quickly into routines. Links with the associated high school are similarly very

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Grade: 1

valuable in smoothing the transition to secondary school. 4 Inspection Report: Trinity St Peter's CE Primary School, 18 °19 September 2006 The promotion of good behaviour and giving the children a say in whole-school decision making are excellent. Staff have developed very good procedures that monitor and track children's achievements. These are being refined well and are increasingly effective in identifying the learning needs of children and setting targets.

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Grade: 2

The headteacher and senior managers have worked effectively to promote the vision of a new school with a commitment to high standards and a strong place in the community. This commitment is reflected in initiatives already undertaken, such as courses for parents, the establishment of the Nursery class and before and after-school care, as well as proposals to develop full wrap-around care for parents who want it. The great majority of parents support this vision, though a small minority consider they are not kept well informed of school proposals and actions. Inspectors find the school has communicated effectively with parents through newsletters, other correspondence and meetings during its first year of change and development. It is seeking more ways of helping parents to have their part in consulting over change, for instance through the establishment of a Parents' Council. New management structures, including teaching assistants as well as teaching staff,

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Grade: 2

are contributing well to an openness in decision making. Governors, some new and some from before the time of the amalgamation, have worked hard to promote the shared vision of the new school. They are successfully adapting to new committee structures they have created and they are aware that they have further work to do to confirm lines of communication among members, committees and the full governing body and to establish a single ethos for their working. 5 Inspection Report: Trinity St Peter's CE Primary School, 18 °19 September 2006 .

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Grade: 2

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Trinity St Peter's CE Primary School, 18 °19 September 2006

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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 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 2 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 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 1 The behaviour of learners 1 The attendance of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 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?

1 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. 7 Inspection Report: Trinity St Peter's CE Primary School, 18 °19 September 2006

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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? 8 Inspection Report: Trinity St Peter's CE Primary School, 18 °19 September 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you very much for your help when we inspected your new school. Please pass on our thanks to the other children we met and spoke to while we were at school. We enjoyed our visit very much. Now we want to share with you what we thought about your school. Your school is giving you a good standard of education. This means that the staff have made a good start helping your new school to grow and there are many things that they do well for you. These are some of the many things that are good in your school: • the headteacher and staff take excellent care of you and help you all to be fit, safe and healthy • you are achieving well in subjects such as English, mathematics and science • the new Nursery class gives the children a good start in school • your behaviour and attitudes to learning are outstanding and you are growing into sensible students who want to learn • the staff provide you with very good opportunities to take part in arts and sports as well

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

as activities and clubs after school. Congratulations. You have much to be proud of! To help you to do better in English, mathematics and science, we have asked the staff to: • mark your work so that it helps you all to know what your targets are, what you must do to achieve them and what the next steps are for you to learn • include as many of you as possible when you answer questions in class • provide more for the children in the Nursery class to do outside as well as indoors. Your part in this is to make sure you know your targets and work as hard as you can to achieve them and move on to the next. With your help, the next time the school is inspected, yours might be an outstanding school! 9 Inspection Report: Trinity St Peter's CE Primary School, 18 °19 September 2006

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