Green Haworth Church of England Primary School

Green Haworth Church of England Primary School Inspection report

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119442 Unique Reference Number Lancashire Local Authority 313294 Inspection number 1 °2 July 2008 Inspection dates Geoffrey Yates 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 Voluntary aided School category 4 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 54 School The governing body Appropriate authority Rvd David Lyons Chair Mrs Tracey Greenhalgh Headteacher 1 June 2005 Date of previous school inspection School House Lane School address Green Haworth Accrington Lancashire BB5 3SQ 01254 233379 Telephone number 01254 233379 Fax number

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4-11 Age group 1 °2 July 2008 Inspection dates 313294 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 one Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

This is a small primary school situated in a rural area on the outskirts of Accrington. Most pupils are of White British heritage and have to travel some distance to get to school. An above average proportion of the pupils are eligible to receive free school meals. The percentage identified as having learning difficulties and/or disabilities is also above average. The school has achieved many awards including the Healthy School award. At the time of the inspection, a major building programme was about to be completed to improve the quality and size of the accommodation.

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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: Green Haworth Church of England Primary School, 1 °2 July 2008

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Grade: 2

This is a good school where standards have improved considerably since the previous inspection. Pupils benefit from good levels of care and academic guidance and outstanding personal support. The school has a distinct Christian ethos. Respect and consideration typify pupils’ behaviour, which is good. Parents are highly supportive and comment on the family feel to the school. Inspection findings support this view; it is a very friendly and welcoming school. The school is well led and managed by the headteacher. In a relatively short period of time, she has not only identified the right things to move the school forward but also ensured that decisive action has been taken to tackle them. For example, weaknesses in the school’s tracking systems have been addressed. As a result, any shortfalls in pupils’ progress can now be identified and dealt with promptly. Standards are average and academic achievement is good. The school’s performance data must

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Grade: 2

be treated with care because of the small numbers in each year group. Results in the 2007 Year 6 national tests were above average in mathematics and science, and average in English. These reflect good progress from a start below that typical for most pupils in Year 1. Current standards in Year 6 are not as high because of the nature of the small year group. However, the school’s assessment data show most pupils are set to reach the nationally expected standards, reflecting good achievement. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, of which there are an above average proportion, also achieved well. In this small rural school, pupils’ personal development is given a high priority and is of a good quality. Pupils enjoy taking on responsibilities and school council members are rightly proud of the benches they have helped to provide in the outside area. Pupils have tremendous enthusiasm for school and they recognise the value of healthy foods and show great attitudes

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Grade: 2

to taking part in sport. Pupils feel safe because they know they can approach staff who know them well and are willing to listen. Teaching and learning are good overall. Teachers are caring and knowledgeable, and provide lessons that interest pupils and generate enthusiasm for learning. For example, older pupils are keen to help produce the end of term newsletter and work well together to develop their ideas. Practical investigations, such as those undertaken by Key Stage 1 pupils carrying out a sound trail around the school, capture pupils’ imaginations. Good teamwork and very good relationships between staff and pupils are key strengths of teaching. In a small number of lessons, pupils are not encouraged sufficiently to present their work well. The curriculum is satisfactory and enriched with a range of additional activities. For example, good links with a local high school ensure that pupils have good opportunities to use and

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Grade: 2

develop their physical skills. However, links between subjects are not exploited enough for pupils to further extend their skills in writing and information and communication technology (ICT). Leadership and management are good. The headteacher and her staff are enthusiastically working to improve all areas of school life. The school has a good understanding of its performance and where improvement is needed. However, its overall assessment of itself is too modest. Pupils are set to benefit from a major building programme which will provide much needed additional space. Governors fulfil all their legal responsibilities and are increasingly becoming involved in the school, with the chairman a regular and welcome visitor. The school has a good capacity to improve and provides good value for money. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Green Haworth Church of England Primary School, 1 °2 July 2008

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Grade: 2

The Foundation Stage is led and managed well. The level of development of children starting school in Reception tends to be below that typical of the age group but varies each year. Taking this into consideration, children make good progress. They do not always reach the levels expected of five-year-olds by the end of Reception, as is the case this year, but standards vary considerably from year to year. Teaching is good and the classroom assistant uses her many skills well to support children. The approach to learning is such that children enjoy themselves and are eager to learn. For example, they enjoy taking telephone calls in the travel agents shop and trying to record the ‘bookings’. The accommodation is used well and there is good access to the outside area that is increasingly being incorporated into the curriculum. Children are taught in a class alongside pupils from Years 1 and 2, and teachers’ planning reflects fully the

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Grade: 2

needs of young children. Children feel safe in the Foundation Stage because they each receive good personal support.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the opportunities for pupils to develop their skills of writing and ICT in other subjects.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure pupils are consistently encouraged to present their work well.

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Grade: 2

Achievement is good and standards are average. Given the variable level of skills with which children start school, they make good progress. They build well on the skills developed in the Foundation Stage and, in 2007, most pupils reached the levels expected for their age in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 2. The school’s tracking data for the current Year 2 pupils again shows good progress with standards maintained. Standards in Year 6 have improved greatly since the previous inspection. Results in Year 6 in 2007 were above average in mathematics and science, and average in English. The targets set for the current Year 6 are below those in the previous year, to take into account the higher percentage of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The school’s accurate assessment data shows that most pupils are on track to reach the expected levels in English, mathematics and science.

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Grade: 2

Pupils’ personal development and well-being, and their spiritual, moral, and social development, are good overall. However, pupils’ knowledge of cultures different from their own is satisfactory. Attendance is broadly average. In their time at school, pupils become friendly, polite and responsible individuals; their behaviour is good. They are very good at looking after themselves and others. Older pupils like to care for younger pupils. Pupils listen well in lessons and follow instructions carefully. They enjoy playtimes and the visits to the local high school for trampoline lessons. They also view service as school councillors as important tasks. One councillor described the role as ‘getting a chance to make our school even better.’ Pupils really enjoy school and enthusiastically take part in practical tasks such as science investigations. They know how important it is to be healthy. Pupils contribute well to school, the local ‘in-house’ church and

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Grade: 2

charitable causes. Pupils’ basic skills prepare them satisfactorily to cope with life ahead. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Green Haworth Church of England Primary School, 1 °2 July 2008

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good overall. Lessons are mostly carefully planned to meet pupils’ needs. Good use is made of classroom assistants to support pupils’ learning. In the majority of lessons, pupils know at the outset what is expected of them and this gives a focus to the tasks they are set. For example, with the minimum of teacher intervention, older pupils wasted no time in working together well in planning and producing the end of term newsletter, with the room a hive of activity. Occasionally, lessons lack pace and the pupils spend too much time listening to teachers’ explanations rather than carrying out challenging tasks. Teachers do their best to make lessons relevant to pupils and at times make good use of interactive whiteboards. Marking is generally good because it not only praises pupils and corrects work, but also guides them towards improvement. However, expectations with regard to pupils’ presentation of their

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Grade: 3

The curriculum provides a satisfactory balance between developing pupils’ academic skills and knowledge, and their artistic and sporting talents. The provision for pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is good. Strong and effective curriculum strategies contribute to the pupils’ good personal development. There is a satisfactory range of extra-curricular activities. Educational visitors and visits are planned to complement and broaden learning. The school makes good use of visiting staff to enhance provision in music and physical education. Although lessons are planned well, the planning of links between subjects is underdeveloped. This holds back pupils’ achievement in these subjects because, for example, they have too few opportunities to use and develop their literacy and ICT skills. The school has recognised the need to improve provision for ICT and staff are eagerly awaiting the opening of a new purpose-designed ICT

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Grade: 2

Care, guidance and support are good overall with outstanding features in the provision for pupils’ personal needs. Within its Christian ethos, the school is a safe, happy community which enables pupils to grow in confidence. All statutory requirements to maintain child protection and safeguard pupils are in place and very well managed. Recently, the school has considerably improved academic assessment and the frequency in which pupil tracking information is updated and analysed. It provides accurate information about each pupil’s progress and is increasingly being used to remove underachievement if it exists. Teaching assistants give good support to pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, making sure they make good progress. Marking is good overall. Pupils are increasingly becoming involved in the assessment process and as such are developing clearer views about what they need to aim for to achieve the highest

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Grade: 2

possible levels. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Green Haworth Church of England Primary School, 1 °2 July 2008

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Grade: 2

The headteacher has ensured that throughout the school there is a real feeling of wanting to improve on previous best. Staff morale is high and there is a shared vision to continue to follow the clear educational direction set by the headteacher. Subject leadership is developing well. The school confidently and accurately monitors its performance but its overall assessment is too modest. Academic targets for pupils are increasingly being used to sharpen the focus on standards and raise achievement. The school has improved well since the previous inspection, but weaknesses in the presentation of pupils’ work remain. The governing body has a satisfactory grasp on what goes on and the chairman is a welcome and regular visitor to the school. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Green Haworth Church of England Primary School, 1 °2 July 2008 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Green Haworth Church of England Primary School, 1 °2 July 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? 2 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

2 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 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 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 3 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: Green Haworth Church of England Primary School, 1 °2 July 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 2 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 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: Green Haworth Church of England Primary School, 1 °2 July 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

5 July 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Green Haworth Church of England Primary School, Lancashire, BB5 3SQ What a friendly school you attend! I am writing to you to thank you for your help during my inspection of your school and to share with you my opinions about it. I agree with you that your school is a good school. I was very impressed by how well you get on with everybody and it was lovely to see so many smiling faces. You behave very well, and you work hard and try your best in lessons. I enjoyed seeing younger pupils taking part in the ‘Sound Hunt’. I was impressed with the older pupils’ skills in applying their mathematical knowledge in answering the questions I asked them. All of you sing so well in the acts of worship. The children in the Foundation Stage get a good start to school life. Throughout the rest of the school you all achieve well. I have asked your school to make sure you all try to make your

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

work a bit neater; please will you make a big effort to do it? It was really good to read some of the stories you have produced. However, I would like your school to plan more opportunities for you to use both your writing skills and ICT skills in other subjects. I agree with you that your headteacher and teachers are very caring and give you really good help if you have a problem or personal issue. All the jobs you do in school and the many activities you are involved in are certainly helping you to become citizens of the future. It is good to see that you know what you need to do to be safe and keep healthy and fit. Your school provides all of you with a very caring place to learn. You are given lots of help by teachers and teaching assistants, and you therefore feel safe and secure at all times. I hope you continue to enjoy school and wish you the very best for your future. Yours sincerely Geoffrey Yates

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Lead inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Green Haworth Church of England Primary School, 1 °2 July 2008

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