St Luke's CofE Primary School

St Lukes CofE Primary School Inspection report

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105930 Unique Reference Number Salford Local Authority 324297 Inspection number 17–18 June 2009 Inspection dates Andrew Clark Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare, managed by the governing body, was inspected under section 49 of the Childcare Act 2006.

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Primary Type of school Voluntary controlled School category 3–11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 160 School (total) 0 Government funded early education provision for children aged 3 to the end of the EYFS 0 Childcare provision for children aged 0 to 3 years The governing body Appropriate authority Rev Archer Chair Mrs Kath Partridge Headteacher 6 February 2006 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection Eccles New Road School address Salford Lancashire M5 5NX 0161 7363455 Telephone number 0161 921 1804 Fax number

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3–11 Age group 17–18 June 2009 Inspection dates 324297 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. 2 of 11 Inspection Report: St Lukes CofE Primary School, 17–18 June 2009

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two additional inspectors.

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Description of the school

The school is smaller than average. It serves an area of significant social and economic disadvantage. The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is well above average. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is below average. Most pupils are from White British families. The number who speak English as an additional language is about average and includes families from African, Caribbean, South American countries and Eastern Europe. The Early Years Foundation Stage comprises a Nursery class and Reception class in a shared unit. The school has the Activemark and Healthy Schools award. St Luke's (Weaste) Childcare Group operates from a site within the school. This provision was inspected separately and receives a separate inspection report.

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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: St Lukes CofE Primary School, 17–18 June 2009

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Grade: 2

St Lukes Church of England Primary is a good school. Effective leadership at all levels leads to good achievement. Children make a good start in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Pupils' personal development is good and their behaviour is outstanding because of the warm relationships and the wide range of extra-curricular activities provided. Good care and guidance enable all pupils to thrive in a happy and inclusive community. Parents are wholly supportive and typically comment, 'A wonderful community – everyone cares and looks out for each other.' Children enter school with skills that are well below typically expected levels. They get a strong start in the Foundation Stage. Pupils make good progress throughout school towards challenging targets and leave with average standards. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make good progress because work systematically builds on their earlier experiences. Pupils who

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Grade: 2

speak English as additional language also make good progress because of the well planned programmes to provide additional support. Pupils' personal development and well-being, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, are good. Pupils consistently behave with politeness and consideration to others. They are regularly praised for their attentiveness and thoughtfulness when on out-of-school visits. Attendance is broadly average and punctuality is satisfactory. Pupils have a good understanding of how to live healthily and take full advantage of lively physical activities such as the daily 'Move It' sessions and a good range of sporting clubs. They take their responsibilities seriously and show enterprise and initiative through leadership roles on the school and eco councils or organising charitable events. The quality of teaching and learning is good. Relationships are excellent and classrooms are

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Grade: 2

orderly and busy. Teachers make good use of accurate assessments to plan appropriate work. Teachers make good use of games and competitions to make learning fun. The curriculum is good. However, although literacy and numeracy are systematically taught, some opportunities are missed to promote the fastest progress by giving pupils opportunities to apply their skills throughout the curriculum. Pupils develop a good awareness of the social and ethnic diversity of modern life through exciting first-hand experiences such as links with a school in Africa. Care, guidance and support are good. Pastoral care of pupils is excellent and supports pupils' good personal development. This is especially effective in promoting the progress of those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and those who learn English as an additional language. The school has rigorous systems to track pupils' academic and personal achievement.

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Grade: 2

Teachers make good use of marking to provide guidance and challenge to pupils of all abilities. Leadership and management are good. The headteacher and deputy enable all staff to make a good contribution to raising achievement which is an improvement since the last inspection. The school makes a good contribution to community cohesion because of the close and effective links with parents and the local community. The staff take strong steps to involve parents and value their opinions. 'Staff welcome our contributions. We can participate in our son's school life,' reflects their views. Equality of opportunity is good because of the support and encouragement given to pupils of all abilities to take advantage of the full breadth of available activities. Governors provide good levels of challenge and support because they are well informed and fully involved in school development. Rigorous self-evaluation and strong development planning underpin the school's

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Grade: 2

good capacity to improve further. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: St Lukes CofE Primary School, 17–18 June 2009

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Grade: 2

Provision for the Early Years Foundation Stage is good. A strong staff team knows their children's needs well and together they ensure that they thoroughly enjoy their first taste of school life. Parents agree, saying their children come on well as soon as they start: 'My child absolutely loves school and it continues at weekends with her homework.' There has been a good trend of rising standards. Children start with levels which are well below those typically expected especially in language, mathematical and personal skills. They enter Year 1 with standards which are below but, much closer to, average levels. This represents good progress in their personal development and well-being and supports children's next steps well. Adults plan carefully together to provide many opportunities for adventurous play and for children to learn through investigation and exploration both in and out of doors. However, opportunities are occasionally

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Grade: 2

missed to promote higher levels of language skills through activities for all areas of learning that children choose for themselves. This limits the fastest rates of progress. Children are looked after well and blossom because of the outstanding care and support they receive. This supports children's growing confidence and self-belief. Effective leadership ensures rigorous assessment and monitoring to support children's next steps in their learning. Information is shared very well with parents and other education providers and this contributes to the good progress children make.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure pupils have regular and relevant opportunities to apply and improve their literacy and numeracy skills throughout the curriculum. ■ Provide good opportunities for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage to develop their language skills in activities that they choose for themselves.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' progress is good because teachers make good use of robust and accurate assessment procedures to set targets which are challenging and achievable. There is a good trend of improving standards and achievement. From low starting points, standards in reading, writing and mathematics are close to although just below average by Year 2. They are average in English, mathematics and science by Year 6. Good analysis of previous achievement has led to the introduction of effective strategies to promote higher standards of writing and problem solving in mathematics. All groups of pupils are now making good progress, although occasional writing and computation tasks are not relevant enough to pupils' other experiences to promote the fastest rates of progress. The school identifies learning difficulties at an early stage and provides precise and well targeted support which leads to good achievement. Pupils who speak

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Grade: 2

English as an additional language also make good progress because of the specialist and intensive support they are offered at the early stages.

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Grade: 2

Pupils enjoy school because they feel 'learning is fun'. Their positive attitudes and excellent behaviour contribute well to their learning. Pupils have good views on what constitutes a healthy balanced diet and how they can achieve it through school activities. Pupils of all abilities and 5 of 11 Inspection Report: St Lukes CofE Primary School, 17–18 June 2009 backgrounds regularly participate in school and local sporting events. They feel safe and valued. They have a good idea of the dangers of the drugs and alcohol because of their work with the community police, the fire service and nursing projects. There are many opportunities for pupils to take responsibility in and around school and they rise to the challenge. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils demonstrate good levels of understanding towards others whose lives are different from their own. They are inspired by the work and

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Grade: 2

ideas they see around them and also by highly motivating assemblies. Pupils are well prepared for their future learning.

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Grade: 2

Lessons are well planned to incorporate motivating and practical activities, with many opportunities for pupils to experiment, find out things for themselves and to share ideas with others. However, some chances are missed to reinforce literacy and numeracy skills through other subjects. The purpose of the lesson is clear to pupils and they know what is required to succeed, whatever their ability. Work is well matched to pupils' needs through good use of accurate assessments. Relationships are extremely positive and classrooms are often stimulating places in which to learn. Skilful questioning enables teachers to determine how well pupils are learning and whether they require further help to make even better progress. Teachers have high expectations for pupils to work hard, although they do not always encourage the highest standards of handwriting. Teachers make good use of games, competitions and information

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Grade: 2

and communication technology to engage pupils. Well trained teaching assistants provide well planned literacy and numeracy programmes for pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum meets pupils' personal and academic needs well. The school is bright and stimulating with motivating displays of pupils' work. Literacy and numeracy skills are sometimes taught through separate lessons and occasionally opportunities are missed for pupils to apply their skills systematically through other subjects. A very good programme of personal, social, health and citizenship education supports social and emotional aspects of learning: this positively influences pupils' good personal development and outstanding behaviour. A good range of visits and visitors extend pupils' understanding of the wider world and this is seen in the extensive art work based on Indian batiks, rangoli patterns or work in the style of the Impressionist painters, for example. The pupils have good opportunities to engage with different communities, enabling them to compare and contrast different environments and cultures.

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Grade: 2

Their cultural experiences are further developed by learning French and Spanish. A close partnership with local colleges, schools and societies enriches pupils' learning in many ways. The school provides a good range of well attended extra- curricular clubs including music, art and many other creative and physical activities. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: St Lukes CofE Primary School, 17–18 June 2009

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Grade: 2

This is a caring school. Pupils know that if they are unhappy or concerned there is always someone to whom they can turn. Parents are overwhelmingly supportive and typically comment that they consider their children are happy, safe and secure in school. Pastoral support is excellent because clear, detailed and well organised systems are in place and are carefully followed. As a result, child protection, health and safety arrangements, systems for safeguarding pupils and for recruiting staff all meet current government requirements. Well established procedures effectively promote attendance and excellent behaviour and this contributes considerably to the learning opportunities for pupils. There are good systems in place to support pupils during any extended absences. The school has good systems in place to identify pupils who are not achieving all they could and those who are exceeding expectations. As a result, all groups of pupils achieve well. Marking

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Grade: 2

of work increasingly acknowledges what pupils have achieved and helps guide pupils to the next steps in their learning. Pupils are eager to achieve targets that have been set for them, saying, 'You think – I've got to get my target so I will work my hardest.' Pupils' skills in assessing their own success are not as well developed, however, and occasionally opportunities to reinforce their knowledge of their own ability are missed.

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Grade: 2

The headteacher works closely with her senior leadership team and together they have developed shared responsibility and accountability at all levels. There is a clear direction to the school's work. The systematic monitoring of teaching and learning by staff at all levels is well established. Staff are increasingly contributing to self-evaluation through the 'working wall' and other strategies. As a result, self-evaluation is good. There is good understanding of strengths and areas for development to lead to improvement. Governance is good. The governing body is well informed and works in very close partnership with the school, fully holding the school to account for what it achieves. The school promotes inclusion and equality well as it works successfully with a range of partners to ensure that all pupils make good progress. The school effectively promotes community cohesion and the links with the immediate and wider localities

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Grade: 2

are particularly strong. The developing links with Africa are providing pupils with good and widening opportunities to recognise and celebrate the similarities and differences between different cultures. The orderly, calm and settled ethos all staff promote ensures pupils grow in confidence and self-assurance, preparing them well for their future lives. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: St Lukes CofE Primary School, 17–18 June 2009 .

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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: St Lukes CofE Primary School, 17–18 June 2009

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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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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 capacity to make any necessary improvements

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EYFS?

2 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? How good are the overall personal development and well-being of the children in the EYFS? 2 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 2 How effectively is the welfare of children in the EYFS promoted? 2 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed?

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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/or disabilities make progress

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Achievement and standards

1 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: St Lukes CofE Primary School, 17–18 June 2009

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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 The extent to which learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 1 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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learners' needs?

How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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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 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 2 How well does the school contribute to community cohesion? 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: St Lukes CofE Primary School, 17–18 June 2009

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Inspection of St Lukes Church of England Primary School, Salford, M5 5NX Thank you for the warm welcome you gave the inspection team when they visited your school this week. You were helpful, polite and friendly which made our stay all the more enjoyable. You attend a good school. You all work hard and make good progress towards your targets. Standards are average. The Nursery and Reception unit gives children a good start to their education. Sometimes the activities they choose do not develop their early language skills enough. Your teachers make learning fun and this helps your good personal development and excellent behaviour. You eat healthy meals and take part in very many sporting activities. You take responsibilities through the school and eco council and helping others around school. You care about your local environment and are growing your own plants. You understand about the lives of others who are less fortunate than yourselves through links with Africa and work

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

with the church. You are taught well and your teachers are kind and helpful. You are given many interesting things to learn about and topics, such as the Tudors and the First World War, bring learning to life. However, teachers miss some opportunities to improve your literacy and numeracy skills through other subjects and make work relevant enough. The good range of clubs and many visits and visitors makes learning more exciting. All staff take very good care of you and keep you safe. They set you targets to work to and mark your work carefully. The headteacher and her staff lead and manage the school well. They know you and your families well and your parents are very proud of the school. We have asked the school to make sure that all the activities children choose for themselves in the Nursery and Reception help them to develop their language skills. We have also asked the school to make certain that you practise your literacy and numeracy skills to a good level

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

in all subjects. You can help by working hard and staying happy and well behaved. 11 of 11 Inspection Report: St Lukes CofE Primary School, 17–18 June 2009

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