Audenshaw Primary School

Audenshaw Primary School Inspection report

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106203 Unique Reference Number Tameside Local Authority 309051 Inspection number 12 °13 June 2008 Inspection dates John Ashton 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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Primary Type of school Community School category 4 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 217 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs S Basterfield Chair Mr J Gray Headteacher 11 October 2004 Date of previous school inspection Ash Street School address Audenshaw Manchester Lancashire M34 5NG 0161 3702504 Telephone number 0161 3715636 Fax number

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4-11 Age group 12 °13 June 2008 Inspection dates 309051 Inspection number .

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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 average sized primary school serves an area to the east of the city of Manchester. The school draws its pupils from a range of social and economic backgrounds, but a below average proportion is eligible for free school meals. Fewer pupils than average have learning difficulties and/or disabilities. 94% of pupils are of White British heritage. Of the other 6%, belonging to a range of different heritages, very few are at an early stage of learning English. The school holds the Basic Skills Quality Mark 2, Investors in People Awards and Activemark 2006 and 2007. It was awarded the Eco Green Flag in December 2007.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Audenshaw Primary School, 12 °13 June 2008

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Grade: 3

Audenshaw Primary School provides a satisfactory quality of education for its pupils. It has a number of good features. Chief among these are the personal development and well-being of its pupils, the quality of the curriculum and the care, guidance and support it provides for its pupils. From their entry into the Reception class, from 12 different settings and with a range of skills and abilities that is just below those typical of their age, through to the time they leave at the end of Year 6, pupils make satisfactory progress overall. The recent decline in standards in Key Stage 2 has been halted so that current standards throughout the school are broadly average. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall, with some strengths but also some weaker areas and inconsistencies across the school. The most important of these inconsistencies is the matching of work to the needs of each group of pupils in the class.

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Grade: 3

Parents are very supportive of the school. Typical reasons are that, 'Audenshaw provides a nurturing environment in which my children thrive.' Pupils' attendance is above average. They thoroughly enjoy school and are proud of their teachers and the education they receive. 'Our teachers are fun, and they make lessons interesting - even mathematics!' they say. Relationships are good; behaviour is very good. Pupils feel safe and are knowledgeable about healthy lifestyles. They work hard to help their own and other communities and are well prepared for the next stage of their education. The curricular diet pupils receive is a strength, with its effective balance of subject and cross-curricular work, and in-school and out-of-school experiences. Pastoral care is also a strength and academic monitoring an increasing one, improved since the last inspection when it was described as unsatisfactory. The leadership has brought about satisfactory improvement

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Grade: 3

since the last inspection but is aware that some of its monitoring, particularly that relating to the quality of teaching, is not as rigorous as it should be. Also the quality of the school's planning systems does not identify robustly enough specific success criteria. Ongoing involvement with the learning network of local schools and with the local authority has brought about improvement in mathematics.

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Grade: 3

Children make satisfactory progress in the Reception class and most achieve the skills expected by the start of Year 1. Progress in linking letters to sounds, using a structured approach, is good, with the most able children achieving beyond the expected levels for this age group. The balance between independent and taught activities is good, with regular daily input from the teacher to guide reading, the acquisition of number skills and the understanding of how sounds link to letters. However, teacher-directed activities are not always reinforced sufficiently afterwards with individual and focused group work, and this slows the pace of children's progress. Reception is a caring environment in which staff make every effort to support the well-being and personal development of children although the lack of a specified space for them to eat their snack inhibits development of their social skills. The needs of all pupils are

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Grade: 3

observed and recorded and, to a limited extent, observations are used to guide provision. This is not carried out systematically, however, and therefore fails to have a full impact on directing teaching and learning. The outdoor play area is a generous, securely fenced area, with both 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Audenshaw Primary School, 12 °13 June 2008 hard and grass surfaces for play. Unfortunately, there is no fixed play equipment to stimulate gross motor activity and the play area lacks a covered section to protect children from inclement weather.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the quality of teaching and learning throughout the school to ensure that it fully meets the different learning needs of pupils. ■ Sharpen the monitoring of teaching and learning.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the school's development planning, especially the criteria it uses to judge its own success. ■ In the Reception class, ensure that frequent observations feed directly into planning and that teaching is reinforced with individual and focused group work. A small proportion of the schools whose overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before their next section 5 inspection.

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Grade: 3

Pupils make steady progress throughout their time at the school. They reach broadly average standards by the end of Year 2, reflecting the overall quality of teaching and learning in Reception and Key Stage 1. Up until 2005, pupils made good progress in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 and reached higher than average standards by the end of Year 6. But standards declined overall in 2006 and further declined in 2007, particularly in mathematics. There were various reasons for this. These included variability in the quality of teaching in this key stage, some lack of continuity due to staffing changes, the poor capability of some pupils new to the school, and the underachievement of some other pupils. Current standards indicate that this decline has been halted. The school, with the support of the local authority, took prompt action and green shoots of improvement have appeared, especially in mathematics, as shown in this year's teacher

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Grade: 3

assessments. But it is too early to say if this will continue, especially as there are still some weaknesses in monitoring and inconsistencies in the quality of teaching. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make satisfactory progress.

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Grade: 2

Pupils are attentive and confident in class. Their learning is enhanced by good relationships with teachers and staff. The behaviour of pupils is very good. They are polite and caring of others and knowledgeable about healthy lifestyles and safe practices. For example,the contents of lunch boxes comply with a healthy diet and do not include fizzy drinks or sweets; pupils are very confident as to what is permitted. Good links with the police support pupils' awareness of dangers in the community. Local football clubs provide advice relating to drugs awareness and the importance of regular exercise. Pupils' social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is good, especially their social and moral development. Links with a school in Kenya ensure that pupils have a developing awareness of other cultures. Pupils are proud of the fund-raising they engage in, especially as the money is used to provide books for the Kenyan school. The eco

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Grade: 2

school council is active in promoting protection of the environment. For example, pupils acting as energy monitors routinely switch off unnecessary lighting. Their latest request to have a pool in a wild garden is currently being evaluated. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Audenshaw Primary School, 12 °13 June 2008

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall and some of it is good, ensuring that most pupils make at least satisfactory progress in lessons. Teaching is generally well organised and promotes positive behaviour and learning. Classes are well managed and lessons are conducted in a calm and orderly atmosphere. Good relationships between adults and pupils help to create a climate supportive of learning. Teachers' subject knowledge is secure and they use a range of effective teaching strategies. There is some good questioning and good use of information and communication technology (ICT) by teachers to enliven lessons. There are weaknesses, however, that need tackling before teaching overall could be judged as good as the school believes it to be. For example, in some lessons teachers talk for too long, with pupils too passive and expected to listen attentively for too long. This limits the progress they make,

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Grade: 3

and the amount of time they can spend 'talking to learn', which is this year's whole-school focus. There is a lack of clarity in many lessons about what pupils are going to learn, and a lack of emphasis on what learning has taken place. The work is not always well enough matched to the range of needs in a class and teaching assistants are not always deployed to best effect.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is designed successfully to give worthwhile and relevant experiences, and it strives to embed a love for learning. The coordinator closely monitors the planning to make sure every area is covered in suitable depth but with no repetition in teaching. Separate planning for personal, social and health education ensures secure progress for all pupils in this area. Curriculum enrichment is varied and stimulating with exciting visits and interesting visitors to support healthy lifestyles, along with work across the curriculum for all age groups. The school has a strong focus on outdoor pursuits, including a residential trip in the autumn term for older pupils that successfully reinforces their interpersonal relationships. There is also a good range of well attended clubs for older pupils, covering, for example, games, sports, and needlework for both boys and girls.

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Grade: 2

Pastoral care is a significant strength of the school. Safeguarding arrangements meet current guidelines. Health and safety has a high profile and risk assessments are regularly completed. There have been no reported incidents of bullying or racism this academic year and no exclusions. The school works hard to include pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and, with the help of outside support agencies, has successfully integrated a number of pupils from other schools. Effective arrangements are in place to counter absenteeism and lateness. The monitoring of pupils' academic progress has much improved since the last inspection and is now good. It is well linked to target-setting booklets. Reviewed each half term, these identify levels of progress and are useful in addressing underachievement. Reports are shared with pupils and parents three times a year. Transition meetings held in July and September ensure that pupils

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Grade: 2

get off to a good start in their new class. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Audenshaw Primary School, 12 °13 June 2008

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Grade: 3

Senior leadership has a realistic view of the school's relative strengths and weaknesses and is moving in the right direction to bring about the necessary improvements. With the help and support of increasingly effective middle leadership, the school has halted the fall in standards in tests at the end of Year 6 and has improved teaching and learning overall, but not yet enough to guarantee continued improvement in pupils' achievement. There are still some inconsistencies in school practice, such as the matching of work to the needs of the different groups of pupils in each class. School improvement planning is not focused enough on what it takes to increase the proportion of good and better teaching in order to increase pupils' achievement. In consequence, the monitoring of teaching and learning is not yet as sharp and as regular as it needs to be to ensure that its quality is at least good. Governors do valuable work in supporting

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Grade: 3

and challenging the school. They have increased their understanding of its strengths and weaknesses and are more capable now of holding it to account. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Audenshaw Primary School, 12 °13 June 2008 .

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Audenshaw Primary School, 12 °13 June 2008

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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? Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 3 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

3 How well do learners achieve? 3 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 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 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. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Audenshaw Primary School, 12 °13 June 2008

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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 3 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Audenshaw Primary School, 12 °13 June 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Inspection of Audenshaw Primary School, Tameside, M34 5NG My colleague and I enjoyed talking with you when we inspected your school. Thank you for helping us to find out why you like being there. We were impressed by how well behaved and polite you all were and how thoroughly absorbed you were in your lessons. We think that Audenshaw Primary School gives you a satisfactory standard of education and a good curriculum enabling you to make steady progress throughout the school. We agree with your parents that it provides a nurturing environment in which you are all happy and thrive. We were especially pleased to learn of your work with the eco school council and of the splendid fund-raising to help the children in your partner school in Kenya. We have asked your headteacher to make things even better for you by ensuring your teachers give you work more closely matched to your learning needs. We think it would help if the school

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

also sharpened its planning and the monitoring of learning so as to make it clear to everyone what is needed to raise its quality even more. Finally, we believe that in the Reception class it would help if teaching is reinforced afterwards with individual and focused group work. You can play your part by continuing to attend school as well as you do and working as hard as we saw you doing during our visit. Carry on enjoying school, behaving well and looking after each other. We wish you all every success for the future. Thank you again for your help. 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Audenshaw Primary School, 12 °13 June 2008

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