Setting

Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 08456 404040 F 020 7421 6855 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mrs C Gill Headteacher Holy Family RC Primary School Lime Green Road Oldham Lancashire OL8 3NG

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schools

Thank you for your hospitality and cooperation, and that of your staff, pupils and parents, during my visit with my colleague from the School Food Trust on 4 November 2009 to look at your work on healthier eating and school food provision.

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schools

The visit provided valuable information which will contribute to our national evaluation and reporting. Published reports are likely to list the names of the contributing institutions but individual institutions will not be identified within the main text. All feedback letters will be published on the Ofsted website at the end of each half term.

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schools

The evidence used to inform the judgements included: interviews with parents and pupils; scrutiny of school documentation, including your policies and evidence of pupils’ work; and observation of two lessons, as well as the breakfast club and the school at lunchtime.

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The quality of provision to promote healthy eating

The quality of provision to promote healthy eating is satisfactory.

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(DCSF’s) food-based and nutrient-based standards for school food

Compliance with the DCSF’s food-based and nutrient-based standards for school food is satisfactory.

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(DCSF’s) food-based and nutrient-based standards for school food

 The lunchtime provision is not compliant with the food-based and 14 nutrient-based standards. There is insufficient fruit provision and only 10 out of the 14 nutrient-based standards were met.  The food and drink provided at the breakfast club was fully compliant with the food-based standards for all school food other than lunches.

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The quality of the dining experience

The quality of the dining experience is good.

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The quality of the dining experience

 The take-up of school meals is very high at 80%. Pupils enjoy their school meals in a large dining hall with plenty of space to socialise with their friends. They make sensible choices about eating healthily encouraged by the kitchen staff. The salad bar is very popular.  The school provides a thriving breakfast club which is a model of good practice in the choices it offers and the low pricing which make it accessible to so many parents. Pupils said they ‘love coming to breakfast club as it gets them off to a good start in the morning’.  The dining area is used for various purposes throughout the day, but it lacks positive messages, notices and information to help pupils make choices such as menu options and healthy eating advice.

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Helping pupils and parents to make healthier choices

Strategies for helping pupils and parents to make healthier choices are satisfactory.

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Helping pupils and parents to make healthier choices

 The school engages very successfully with parents to take advantage of the breakfast club.  Packed-lunch pupils are invited to try school meals on themed days and at Christmas time and the take-up is good. Parents said that they enjoyed these opportunities.  The school does not yet seek the views of parents and pupils systematically when producing policies on healthy eating, packed-lunch provision and menu choices. Parents are aware that confectionary and fizzy drinks are not to be brought into school but they were less sure about the menu choices or how to prepare healthy packed lunches. The school is currently producing a packed-lunch policy.

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Development of pupils’ knowledge and personal skills

The development of pupils’ knowledge and personal skills is good.

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Development of pupils’ knowledge and personal skills

 Pupils, from the very youngest to the oldest, could talk confidently about what constitutes a healthy meal. They understood which food groups to eat to keep healthy.  The take-up of extra-curricular physical education is good. The school caters for individual needs by providing clubs which engage and interest pupils, for example, soccer stars, cheerleading and Bollywood dance classes.  The pupils are very proud of their poly-tunnel which enables them to grow their own flowers, herbs and vegetables. Pupils have entered their produce into competitions and the gardening club is well attended. The school cook uses the produce for school lunches in season.

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Teaching about healthier eating

Teaching about healthier eating is good.

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Teaching about healthier eating

 Pupils make good progress because they are actively involved from an early age in preparing, making and evaluating food. In one lesson for the youngest pupils, the class were sorting fruit and vegetables. They were aware that a fruit had a seed and a vegetable did not. They tasted unfamiliar fruit and had made fruit kebabs. Pupils made very good progress in their vocabulary, as well as in their skills and understanding by playing in the fruit shop role-play area.  Teachers, in the lessons observed, gave pupils ownership of their own health by pointing out to them how they could, for example, change from white to brown bread or remove excess fat off meat before cooking.

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Planning the curriculum

 Curriculum planning is organised into themes which incorporate healthy eating across subject areas. There are many opportunities to cook fresh produce and taste foods from around the world.  Curriculum planning in the Early Years Foundation Stage is very good because healthy eating is woven across all six areas of learning, giving pupils strong messages about their own health from the start of their education in the Nursery.

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Leadership and management

Leadership and management are satisfactory.

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Leadership and management

 The school’s management of teaching, learning and the curriculum is good. The teaching staff are motivated to improve pupils’ life chances and work closely with pupils and families to develop healthy lifestyles.  The management of the food service, however, is just satisfactory. The leadership, including the governing body, has not monitored the service’s compliance with the food standards adequately.  Pupils and parents are not as involved as they could be in the production of school policies on healthy eating.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include the need to:

 consult and engage pupils and parents more in the development of school food policies and the lunch menu  liaise and work more closely with the catering provider to ensure that the lunch provision is compliant with the mandatory food-based and nutrient- based standards for school lunches  improve the quality of monitoring and evaluation by: - obtaining regular evidence from the catering provider of working towards compliance and ensure that this is actively shared with the whole school including governors, parents and pupils.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include the need to:

I hope these observations are useful as you continue to develop healthier eating and provision for food in the school.

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Areas for improvement, which we discussed, include the need to:

As I explained during the feedback, this letter will be sent to your local authority and will be published on the Ofsted website. It will also be available to the team for your next institutional inspection.

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