Reedley Primary School

Reedley Primary School Inspection report

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119320 Unique Reference Number Lancashire Local Authority 327000 Inspection number 11–12 November 2008 Inspection dates Sonya Williamson HMI 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 Community School category 4–11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 258 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 Ed Saville Chair Mrs Ruth Thompson Headteacher 1 January 2006 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection Reedley Road School address Reedley Burnley Lancashire BB10 2NE 01282 693688 Telephone number 01282 697051 Fax number

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4–11 Age group 11–12 November 2008 Inspection dates 327000 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 12 Inspection Report: Reedley Primary School, 11–12 November 2008

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

The school is larger than average. It serves an urban community in the east of Lancashire with varied socio-economic characteristics. More than three quarters of the pupils live in areas with multiple deprivation although the proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals is in line with that found nationally. The proportions of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and who have English as an additional language are well above those found nationally. A well below average proportion of pupils has a statement of special educational need but there are above average proportions with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Very high numbers of pupils enter and leave the school at non-standard times. The school holds both local and national Healthy Schools awards.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 12 Inspection Report: Reedley Primary School, 11–12 November 2008

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Grade: 3

Inspection evidence and the school’s own consultation data show that parents are overwhelmingly pleased with the quality of care and education at Reedley School. A happy, caring and welcoming ethos pervades the school. One parent, typical of many, said ‘my child is very happy here, she has learned so much so quickly; most of all she has gained more confidence in herself in every way and has become a better person’. The effectiveness of the school is satisfactory since pupils achieve at an overall satisfactory rate. They enter the school with abilities below those expected nationally and leave with standards of attainment that are just below average. However, pupils’ personal development is good as a result of good care, guidance and support. Promoting pupils’ personal development and welfare, removing barriers to learning and raising their self-esteem are given the highest priority in every aspect of the

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Grade: 3

school’s work. Consequently pupils achieve outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, are excellent at adopting safe practices and behave exceptionally well. Leadership and management of the school are satisfactory overall. The headteacher has great vision which is significant in moving the school forward and governance is strong. Leaders and managers have brought about improvements within a context of increasing social and economic difficulties in the locality and a period of significant staffing instability. Effectiveness is enhanced by excellent partnership working. The promotion of equality of opportunity is evident in all aspects of the school’s work and the contribution made by the school to community cohesion is outstanding. The school has good capacity to improve because it has achieved its challenging targets and has been successful in bringing about improvement where it has been difficult to

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Grade: 3

achieve. The recently established leadership team has emerging strengths and high aspirations. However, the school does not yet have systems to ensure that all subject leaders have a good awareness of the strengths and areas for development in their subjects, particularly in relation to pupils’ attainment and the foundation subjects. The good provision for pupils’ personal, social, health and citizenship education provides a good model for this aspect of the school’s work. The curriculum and teaching and learning are satisfactory. Relationships amongst pupils and between staff and pupils are very positive and this encourages pupils to respond well to the learning opportunities that are provided throughout the school. The curriculum is enriched by visits and visitors. Staff produce displays inside and outside classrooms that are vibrant, stimulating and celebrate and enhance pupils’ learning. Teaching is stronger in Key Stage 2

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Grade: 3

than Key Stage 1. The higher proportion of good teaching in Key Stage 2 helps pupils to achieve faster rates of progress but this is not consistent across all classes. Standards of literacy and numeracy are beginning to rise, particularly in Key Stage 2. Pupils’ skills in information and communication technology (ICT) develop well throughout the school. Pupils’ excellent personal skills and good opportunities in the curriculum to develop pupils’ understanding of responsibility and the world of work mean that they are prepared well for their future education and employment.

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Grade: 3

Pupils enter the Reception classes with a wide range of skills and abilities. Their skills are generally below expectations for pupils of that age especially in communication, language and literacy and personal development. They settle quickly because there are good induction 4 of 12 Inspection Report: Reedley Primary School, 11–12 November 2008 arrangements, effective communication with parents and carers and high quality care. Consistent strategies are being promoted by all adults to develop pupils’ social, physical and emotional well-being. As a result, pupils’ personal development is good, they behave extremely well and are able to cooperate with each other, listen, share and take turns. The planning and organisation of learning activities are improving but do not always provide pupils with a suitably challenging learning experience. Effective assessment procedures based on accurate observations help to

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Grade: 3

support pupils’ individual learning needs. However the quality of the activities chosen does not always ensure pupils make good progress. Overall pupils make satisfactory progress in their learning. The best progress is made in communication, language and literacy as a result of the effective implementation of the letters and sounds programme. Provision for outdoor learning is satisfactory. Pupils are provided with suitable clothing and enjoy going outdoors in all weathers but further work is required to enhance this environment and ensure its effective use across all areas of learning. Leadership of the Early Years Foundation Stage is effective. The capacity for continued improvement in teaching and outcomes for pupils is good. There is a clear understanding of the strengths and areas for development and a common sense of purpose among the adults who work in this area. Recent improvements in provision have provided an

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Grade: 3

enhanced indoor learning environment and more coherent planning and assessment systems.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Raise standards and improve the rates of and consistency of progress for all pupils

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Improve the proportion of teaching that is good or better, particularly in Key Stage 1

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that all subject leaders have a good awareness of the strengths and areas for development in their subjects, particularly in the foundation subjects 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’ achievement is satisfactory and standards are slightly below national averages overall. From standards which are below average at the start of Key Stage 1 pupils reach standards which remain just below average by the ends of Key Stages 1 and 2. Pupil progress through Years 1 to 5 is satisfactory but the rate of progress increases in Year 6 as a result of the good teaching, effective use of assessment and enriched curriculum opportunities which extend pupils’ learning. The school’s data from the most recent assessments of Year 6 standards in summer 2008 were the best for many years. There is a clear focus on raising standards in literacy and numeracy. Progress towards achieving the challenging targets for Year 6 pupil attainment has improved over a three year period. Mathematics and science targets were achieved in 2007 and the school’s provisional data indicate all targets were achieved in 2008. This demonstrates

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Grade: 3

the school’s good use of targets to bring about improvement. Frequent and regular progress checks provide an increasingly accurate view of pupil achievement across the school. This enables clear identification of pupils requiring additional support and ensures that they are provided with appropriate programmes to enable them to develop their skills and understanding. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities progress as well as their peers. A strong feature of the school is that there are no discrepancies in achievement between groups of pupils, regardless of their ability or background as a result of the good care, guidance and support. 5 of 12 Inspection Report: Reedley Primary School, 11–12 November 2008

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Grade: 2

The good quality of pupils’ personal development is reflected by what one parent reported, ‘Every day my child comes back with a big smile’. The pupils’ outstanding behaviour and attitudes to school are a credit to them, their parents and the school. Additional support staff are really appreciated by pupils. Bullying or incidents of racism are few and dealt with firmly. Excellent relationships leading to mutual trust and confidence reflect the school’s positive ethos. Older pupils readily care for younger pupils in a variety of ways. Pupils of different ages, abilities and backgrounds play happily together. All pupils learn to be safe and healthy and benefit from the Healthy School status. A good range of opportunities, including membership of the effective school council, encourages pupils to take responsibility and to look after one another. Partnerships further support pupils to make a positive contribution to local communities and

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Grade: 2

those further afield. Attendance is satisfactory and good improvement has been made in reducing unauthorised absences. Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent. Pupils enjoy spiritual occasions and join in thoughtful reflection. They respect the different beliefs and values of others and show a good awareness of the community in which they live.

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Grade: 3

Teaching is satisfactory overall. No outstanding teaching was seen during the inspection but there is some good teaching in Key Stage 2. The high quality of relationships between staff and pupils and amongst pupils makes pupils keen to learn. They respond well to the tasks set and stay focused because teachers explain the learning in the context of pupils’ previous knowledge and understanding and their own personal experiences. The excellent behaviour and attitudes of pupils result from teachers’ skilful and consistently applied behaviour management strategies. All teachers use interactive whiteboards well as a teaching aid. Some teachers also use them to good effect in classroom management. In one good example, sound and music signalled pupils to stop their activity and tidy up. They were motivated to do this quickly and efficiently. The effective work of a range of teaching assistants and other support

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Grade: 3

staff supports the lower attaining pupils and those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities well. Although teachers use open ended questions they are not always well targeted to assess the specific learning of individual pupils. Teachers do not use follow up questions frequently enough to sufficiently probe and extend pupils’ learning and promote their speaking and listening skills. The use of a wide range of strategies to assess pupils’ learning is not an embedded feature of teaching. The lack of consistency in matching activities to pupils’ needs, especially in Key Stage 1, is a contributory factor to the generally weaker teaching in that key stage.

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Grade: 3

The satisfactory curriculum meets all statutory requirements with an emphasis placed on the development of pupils’ literacy, numeracy and ICT skills. Effective use is made of visits, visitors and themed projects to enrich opportunities and add to pupils’ interest in their learning. This 6 of 12 Inspection Report: Reedley Primary School, 11–12 November 2008 is contributing positively to improved achievement especially in Year 6. Pupils really enjoyed their recent geography visit to Pendle Hill and their experiences are being used extremely well to develop their learning in a several curriculum areas. The recent changes which have been made to the organisation of the curriculum in Key Stage 1, to introduce greater creativity and choice, are not monitored closely enough to ensure learning activities have a clearly focused outcome which extends all learners. The excellent MOODLE virtual learning environment is

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Grade: 3

well used by pupils who enjoy the range of activities available to support their learning in all areas of the curriculum. The provision for ICT has improved since the last inspection and is now good. Governors have recently allocated funds to extend the range and quality of ICT resources in order to improve individual pupil achievement further. There are good levels of participation in a range of out-of-hours activities but the focus is mainly on physical development and there are too few opportunities for creative development and for younger pupils to participate. Excellent provision is made for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and learners are provided with many opportunities to contribute to and take responsibility within the school community.

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Grade: 2

Care, guidance and support are good overall. The quality of care for pupils is outstanding. The headteacher places pupil welfare at the heart of the school. The school’s ethos is calm and supportive. Pupils feel they are listened to and are given time to discuss problems with adults. Staff ensure that all safety and safeguarding procedures are in place, including preparation for school visits. The school works very successfully with outside agencies and parents to ensure that pupils’ needs are met, especially those who are vulnerable or those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. Relationships with parents and carers are very positive and supported through a learning mentor, a counsellor and a specialist worker for pupils who have English as an additional language. Pupils are very well prepared for their move to high school and are given good insights into how to prepare for working life. Partnership working brings benefits

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Grade: 2

here. Guidance given to pupils on social, moral or health issues is good. Guidance given to them about how to improve their learning is also good because teachers’ marking is of high quality and shows pupils the next steps needed in their learning. Pupils know their learning targets but their use by teachers to inform planning and teaching is not yet sufficiently embedded to make a consistently good impact on pupils’ progress.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory but improving and there are some clear strengths. The vision and commitment of the headteacher to improve all aspects of the school’s work and help ensure that the pupils have the best possible start to the next phase of their education are exceptional. The promotion of equality of opportunity and efforts to eliminate discrimination are outstanding and there are no discrepancies in achievement between groups. The recently established leadership team have high aspirations to raise pupil achievement, for example, they are planning to further improve the challenges and opportunities provided for the highest attaining pupils to deepen their understanding. The contribution made by the school and its partners to community cohesion is outstanding, particularly in relation to supporting the school 7 of 12 Inspection Report: Reedley Primary School, 11–12 November 2008

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Grade: 3

community, parents and carers and the region in which the school is located. Leaders and managers are good role models for the high quality of care that is promoted. It is consistent across the school and contributes to pupils’ good personal development and outstanding behaviour. Leaders, including governors, know the school and its community well. Their self-evaluation is accurate and matches the views of inspectors. Governance is good. Governors are committed to improving the school; they challenge and monitor the school in its efforts to raise standards as well as supporting and praising the successful work of the school in relation to achieving challenging targets and good levels of personal development and care. The headteacher and governors have had to steer the school through a period of considerable staffing instability since the last inspection. They have managed this well and staffing is

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Grade: 3

improving but it has nevertheless had a dampening effect on the rates of improvement seen in some aspects of the school’s work. The school is now ready to increase the accountability for raising standards on leaders and managers at all levels. Although senior leaders are accurate in their self-evaluation, procedures for self-evaluation are not yet widely established. Checking and evaluation strategies are not sufficiently rigorous or focused on whether improvements to provision result in improvements in standards. Not all subject leaders have a good awareness of the strengths and areas for development in their subjects, particularly in the foundation subjects. Success criteria used in improvement planning, although focused on pupil progress, are not yet defined as measurable and time related improvements in pupils’ standards. Key messages from evaluation do not specifically inform plans to meet staff professional development

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Grade: 3

needs. 8 of 12 Inspection Report: Reedley Primary School, 11–12 November 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. 9 of 12 Inspection Report: Reedley Primary School, 11–12 November 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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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?

3 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? How good are the overall personal development and well-being of the children in the EYFS? 3 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

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/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. 10 of 12 Inspection Report: Reedley Primary School, 11–12 November 2008

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learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 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 1 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 1 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? 11 of 12 Inspection Report: Reedley Primary School, 11–12 November 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

14 November 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Reedley Primary School, Lancashire, BB10 2NE I want to let you know how much you contributed to our enjoyment of the time we spent in your school. You smiled so often; you worked so hard; you made us feel so welcome. We have judged that your school is satisfactory overall. The leadership and management, teaching, the learning experiences you are given and your progress are also satisfactory. Your school has good and outstanding aspects too. All the staff help you to achieve well in your personal skills because they give you good care, guidance and support. I think you know this because you told us how much you enjoy school and trust the staff to help you when you need them. You are very good at taking responsibility for helping others yourselves. You have very good manners, you know how to be healthy and your behaviour and attention to staying safe are excellent. These qualities will help you when you leave Reedley School. Mrs Thompson and

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

all her team really want you to have the best preparation you can for your future lives. The teachers think it is very important for you to all work and play happily together and understand how important this is for all groups of people. I very much liked the photograph displays of your recent walk up Pendle Hill. You are lucky to have such an exciting place nearby. Visits like this help you to work together well and give you lots of good ideas to include in your writing. In the same way that you have targets to improve your work, we have given the school some targets for how you can all make Team Reedley even better.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ We want your rates of learning and the standards you achieve to be higher, so be prepared for some even more challenging work ■ We think some of the teaching is good and we would like more of it to be good so that you all benefit. Your good attitudes will help teachers to achieve this. ■ Some teachers are responsible for how well you learn in particular subjects. We have asked them to do more checking that you are doing as well as you can in every subject you study. I wish you every happiness for the future on behalf of all the inspectors, Sonya Williamson Her Majesty’s Inspector 12 of 12 Inspection Report: Reedley Primary School, 11–12 November 2008

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