Setting

Nord Anglia Inspections Anglia House Carrs Road Cheadle Cheshire, SK8 2LA T 0161 491 9643 F 0161 491 9677 mandy.hunt@na-inspections.com Ofsted helpline 08456 404045

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25 May 2006 Mrs G Andrews St Wilfrid’s CE Primary School Lodge Lane Melling Carnforth Lancshire LA6 2RE

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OFSTED MONITORING OF GRADE 3 SCHOOLS

Thank you for the help which you and your staff gave when I visited your school on 24 May, for the time you gave to our phone discussion and for the information which you provided during my visit.

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OFSTED MONITORING OF GRADE 3 SCHOOLS

Having considered carefully all the evidence presented by the school and the local authority, I am of the opinion that at this time the school is making good progress on some of the issues identified at the last inspection, and satisfactory progress on others.

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OFSTED MONITORING OF GRADE 3 SCHOOLS

As a result of its inspection in December 2005, the school was asked to look urgently at several matters: improvement in teaching and planning for different attainment, particularly in Key Stage 2; embedding pupils’ targets in teachers’ planning; and clarifying the development plan with regard to teaching improvement and curriculum review.

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OFSTED MONITORING OF GRADE 3 SCHOOLS

This visit considered the effectiveness of teaching, management procedures, and the impact of support by the Local Authority (LA). Discussions were held with yourself and the chair of governors. Four lessons were seen. Management documentation and LA reports were perused. A half hour telephone conversation was held with the schools’ LA adviser.

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OFSTED MONITORING OF GRADE 3 SCHOOLS

There has been extensive work in mapping and adjusting curriculum time. Attention has been given to monitoring teaching and other means of school evaluation. Lessons plans give a clear impression of what is intended and how that links to overall objectives and pupils’ targets. Advisory staff from the LA have given significant and helpful support with all this. Progress with management procedures has been good.

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OFSTED MONITORING OF GRADE 3 SCHOOLS

Literacy teaching in the infant classroom is very effective. Writing is at a high standard in Year 2, with some attaining above the levels expected for their ages. The writing of some Year 1 pupils is well advanced. Work in this classroom is well organised and pupils are fulfilling their potential. All the school’s forty pupils were included in a ‘circle time’ assembly; they demonstrated excellent social skills and very well developed speaking and listening. The session was very well handled by the teacher.

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OFSTED MONITORING OF GRADE 3 SCHOOLS

In the Key Stage 2 classroom lessons were seen in numeracy and literacy. The lessons were generally effective, good for most pupils but only satisfactory for a few pupils who were more able than the average in the groups with which they were working. For example, a task for Year 5 and 6 pupils (plus two from Year 4) had nine single stage problems, each involving one mathematical operation (addition, multiplication etc). Many could quickly arrive at the correct answers orally, and one able Year 6 boy could do an extension of one of the problems involving two further operations, again quickly and without writing anything down.

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OFSTED MONITORING OF GRADE 3 SCHOOLS

It is noted that in practice work for the end of Year 6 national tests, some pupils could not do two operation problems, though they presented themselves as quite able in class. During the numeracy task, some pupils had done five questions while others had managed only two: pupils were allowed to work at their own rate, reflecting efficiency in their personal organisation rather than capability in mathematics. The tasks set were linked to targets which were broadly related to expectations of the National Curriculum, but in some cases were pitched too low for individual pupils.

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OFSTED MONITORING OF GRADE 3 SCHOOLS

Work in literacy was again mostly based on two activities: for older and younger pupils in the 7-11 age range. All were busy and most were learning well, but some more able pupils might have been able to take on more challenging work.

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OFSTED MONITORING OF GRADE 3 SCHOOLS

To sharpen target setting for individual pupils, the school needs to gain a clearer view of which pupils should be achieving above average expectations for their age. The school might look for more materials that could be used with gifted and talented pupils in numeracy and other subjects, to minimise staff time in planning alternative tasks from scratch. Overall the school has made good progress in management of curriculum review and in improving teaching and learning. The improvements in provision for the more able pupils at Key Stage 2 are satisfactory but it is here that more work is still needed.

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