Saughall All Saints Church of England Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Secure even stronger teaching and learning of pupils across the school by:
  • ensuring that assessment of pupils’ work is used more precisely to meet the learning needs of all pupils, especially in subjects other than English and mathematics
  • continuing to ensure that middle-attaining pupils and disadvantaged pupils make similar progress to other pupils nationally, particularly in English and mathematics
  • reducing the variability in teachers’ expectations of pupils’ presentation.
• Strengthen leadership and management by:
  • further developing the role of new subject leaders, to improve their understanding of pupils’ attainment and progress in the subjects that they lead
  • ensuring that achievement targets in performance management documents and in the school’s development plan include the measurable progress of pupils

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher and her senior leaders have ensured that teaching has improved since the last inspection. Leaders and governors have a realistic view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Self-evaluation is accurate and leaders have identified the correct priorities. The school’s development plan has a focus on the consistent teaching of writing and the performance of disadvantaged and middle-attaining pupils. While leaders have tackled these priorities with determination, they recognise that disadvantaged and middle-attaining pupils can make even more progress to match that of other pupils nationally better. The data they collect on pupils’ achievements shows that teachers’ expectations of pupils, especially in subjects other than English and mathematics, are inconsistent across the school and that these pupils are not fully challenged to attain higher standards. On the other hand, actions to improve writing and mathematics have resulted in improved attainment in the Year 6 national tests.
• Leaders provide effective training to staff and they have developed and fostered collaborative teams. Staff value the support of their colleagues and the specialist leaders of education. For example, teachers frequently take the opportunity to learn from each other by sharing examples of strong teaching in school, especially opportunities to deepen pupils’ mathematical understanding through reasoning. Teachers also identify other training that will enhance their skills and career aspirations. Consequently, the quality of teaching is good and improving and pupils are making good progress.
• Performance management processes are effective in improving the quality of teaching across the school. Leaders agree targets with staff and link them to the priorities in the school’s development plan. However, as with the school development plan, teachers’ targets to improve pupils’ progress are not always sharply focused or measurable.
• The school’s curriculum is broad and balanced. Leaders have developed a vision to build a curriculum which meets statutory expectations, while meeting pupils’ individual needs. The curriculum supports pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively through their daily learning experiences. This contributes to the progress that pupils make. New leaders of subjects such as history, design technology and art are in the early stages of developing their monitoring roles. Consequently, they are not fully informed about pupils’ attainment and progress in the subjects that they lead. However, they have formulated clear plans of action based on the knowledge that they have and, in some cases, have started to work with other teachers to design programmes of work.
• Subject leaders of English have a secure knowledge of the standards and quality of teaching and learning in their subject area, because they carry out regular checks, including book scrutinies. These checks provide them with useful information about the progress that pupils make. Leadership of mathematics is improving due to the coaching and support of a specialist leader of education. English and mathematics leaders have introduced strategies to improve teaching and learning, including developing questioning skills. Teachers have also benefited from a limited number of visits to other effective schools in which teachers observe and learn from effective practice. They then apply the effective methods that they have learned to their own teaching. Recent checks show that the strategies to improve the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics have had a positive impact on pupils’ progress. However, despite being aware of variable expectations of pupils’ presentation, leaders are yet to address this.
• Leaders have developed a programme of curricular and extra-curricular activities that effectively promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Through class discussions, teachers promote fundamental British values. Election procedures for school council representatives, for example, develop pupils’ understanding of democracy well.
• Leaders have a clear vision for the pupil premium funding to support pupils in school and beyond and to provide opportunities that pupils might not otherwise experience. They monitor these interventions regularly, including oversight by a designated governor. Pupils’ improving attainment shows the positive impact of leaders’ actions. Despite this improvement, leaders recognise that the progress of pupils who are disadvantaged does not match that of other pupils nationally.
• Leaders make effective use of the primary school physical education and sport premium to develop pupils’ sports skills and their involvement in a wide variety of competitive sports. They employ a sports coach to model positive attitudes to sport and provide a variety of activities for older pupils at lunchtime. Sports coaches also work closely with staff to develop their teaching skills and confidence. Pupils are justifiably proud of their success in competitions and speak with enthusiasm about their recent success in dance.
• The school uses funding for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities well. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is an experienced and well-trained leader. She monitors the effectiveness of interventions through a range of processes, including pupils’ views and book scrutiny, and is, therefore, able to measure the impact of the additional support that pupils receive. As a result, most current pupils make good progress from their starting points.
• Support from the local authority was swift and extensive following the disappointing inspection in 2016, and this has continued to develop further the impact of leaders’ work and the improvements in teaching and learning. Advisers working with the school have an accurate view of its strengths and weaknesses.
• Leaders continue to use a range of strategies to ensure that attendance rates remain above the national average. Leaders work effectively, sometimes involving other agencies, to reduce the proportion of persistent absenteeism.

Governance of the school

• Governors recognise the value of the governance review, undertaken in response to the previous inspection, in helping them formulate better processes and procedures to hold school leaders to account for the performance of pupils. As a result, they have a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses.
• Governors challenge and support leaders effectively to ensure that they make the improvements identified and agreed in the school development plan. They successfully use their standards committee as a vehicle for holding leaders accountable for pupils’ achievements. Governors support their role with frequent visits to school, which them to challenge the information provided by the headteacher and other leaders.
• Governors are aware of their statutory duties in relation to safeguarding and they have received appropriate training. They monitor closely the additional funds for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and pupils who are disadvantaged. They check carefully that the use of this funding has a positive impact on pupils’ attainment but are less clear about the impact on progress.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders have established clear procedures for reporting safeguarding concerns, which staff understand. Staff and governors have received appropriate training for their roles and know the signs of abuse. They talk knowledgeably, for instance, about radicalisation and female genital mutilation.
• Pupils feel safe and know how to stay safe because staff talk to them about keeping safe. The school works successfully with local agencies to ensure that they have identified and effectively supported vulnerable pupils and their families. Leaders successfully engage with parents and carers to make sure that pupils are safe and supported in school.
• Leaders keep meticulous records relating to safeguarding, including the necessary recruitment checks on members of staff, and store them securely.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Leaders have taken effective action to improve teaching since the last inspection. With the support of specialist leaders of education from a local teaching school, teaching and pupils’ attainment in mathematics have improved for most pupils and groups of disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. Pupils are gaining a greater understanding of calculation strategies through the opportunities provided to reason and explain their thinking.
• In writing, again with the support of specialist leaders of education, teachers have raised their expectations of the content of pupils’ writing to encourage pupils to produce better pieces of writing over time. These actions have helped ensure that the majority of current pupils are making good progress in this subject. However, expectations of the presentation of work are not consistently high and vary across the school.
• The teaching of reading is also effective. The vast majority of Year 1 pupils pass the phonics screening check. Year 2 pupils read well and have an accurate understanding of what they have read. Older pupils enjoy a wide range of books by a variety of authors. Proportions of pupils meeting the national expectations at the end of key stage 1 and 2 are above national averages.
• A strength of teaching at the school is the use of questioning to encourage pupils to think for themselves or to clarify misconceptions. Pupils of all abilities recognise the importance of this strategy in helping them to become independent and confident learners. Effective questioning allows pupils to understand how well they are acquiring knowledge, skills and understanding in a range of subjects.
• Leaders have employed a number of teaching assistants across the school and they work effectively to support pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. Teachers match the demands of work well to their assessments of these pupils’ learning needs, so that they make good progress from their starting points.
• Leaders’ and teachers’ expectations of pupils vary across the school. High expectations of the most able pupils, in English and mathematics, across the school are resulting in increased proportions of pupils deepening their knowledge and understanding. However, at times the work set for the most able pupils in subjects other than English and mathematics is not sufficiently challenging.
• Teachers expect pupils to behave well in lessons. They have effective strategies to deal with the few occasions when there is misbehaviour. As a result, pupils are engaged in their lessons, with positive attitudes to learning.
• Teachers provide opportunities to develop work in English and mathematics across the curriculum. Year 5 and 6 pupils appreciate the chance to apply their knowledge of writing structures to a historical context when comparing Mayan and more local cities. Pupils in Years 3 and 4 produced graphs to show the effect of exercise on their pulse by applying their mathematical knowledge of charts and graphs.
• Teachers typically use assessment well during lessons to ensure that pupils are learning. When teachers observe any misconceptions, they use a range of strategies to work with individuals or groups to address them. Consequently, pupils are confident that they will get the support that they need to learn successfully.
• Teachers have an improving level of subject knowledge and use it well to plan lessons that engage pupils’ interest. In some subjects in particular, such as science and geography, this results in high-quality pieces of detailed work.
• While work is largely well matched to pupils’ learning needs, over time teaching has been less consistently successful at accelerating the progress of middle-attaining pupils and disadvantaged pupils.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils feel safe in school and understand how to keep themselves safe. They recognise the many different strategies that leaders use to keep them safe, including lessons on, for example, road safety and the dangers of drugs and alcohol.
• In conversation with inspectors and in response to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, parents and pupils stated that bullying is rare and leaders deal with it swiftly and effectively when necessary. On these rare occasions, conversations on social media are usually the catalyst.
• Pupils value the support and encouragement that they receive from their teachers. They are developing the self-confidence and independence to be successful learners. Pupils are particularly appreciative of the clarifications and reminders from staff about past learning and describe lessons as ‘fun’. However, poor presentation by some pupils suggests a lack of pride in their work.
• Pupils benefit from a number of clubs and visits that the staff provide and they appreciate the opportunity to play sports against other local schools with a significant degree of success. These activities, along with, for example, regular opportunities to support various charities and visitors from other faiths, enhance and enrich pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
• There are a number of opportunities for pupils to take on positions of responsibility in school. These include becoming a member of the school council. Pupils elected to these roles carry out their duties with pride and to good effect. Pupils can also undertake sports ambassador and playground leader roles to promote sports and playground games to pupils of all ages.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils’ conduct around the school is orderly. They play well together in the playground. The younger pupils particularly enjoy the games organised for them by older pupils who are elected as playground leaders. There are rare examples of misbehaviour, but staff are effective at dealing with these.
• Attendance for all groups of pupils has been consistently above the national average for a number of years. The proportion of persistent absences has reduced considerably over the past year as leaders used a variety of strategies, including meetings with parents, to address it with determination.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils’ work in books and the school’s own assessment information indicate that most pupils currently in school make good progress and attain well across a range of subjects, including English and mathematics. This is because of the improvements in the quality of teaching resulting from appropriate training and coaching. While current pupils are attaining well, leaders recognise that some pupils could make even better progress through more focused teaching. This is particularly the case for middle-attaining pupils, whose progress has not been as consistently strong as many of their classmates. However, pupils are clearly well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Reasoning in mathematics is a strength of the subject. Work in pupils’ books and school records show that most pupils make good progress and draw on their increasing mathematical knowledge and understanding to explain their thought processes and how they have gained answers. Pupils’ knowledge and skills are improving and they are developing a deepening understanding of calculation processes.
• Pupils’ writing includes a variety of sentence structures and phrases to add interest. In most classes, teachers have high expectations of their pupils. This ensures that most pupils make good progress and older pupils produce emotive and cohesive pieces of writing. A typical example from a description of a setting in Year 4 is, ‘Straining my eyes into the darkness, I carefully stepped down the ancient bumpy steps that led into the tomb.’
• Pupils read with appropriate fluency and comprehension. They use their knowledge of phonics effectively to read unfamiliar words. Pupils read widely and for pleasure and enjoy reading. Pupils in Year 1 achieve well in the national phonics screening check.
• In recent years, data from the results of national assessments have been in line with the national average for pupils’ progress and attainment at key stage 2 in reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders and governors took decisive action to improve outcomes following the 2016 inspection report, resulting in improvements in progress and attainment in 2017. Although the combined reading, writing and mathematics attainment remained below the national average, attainment in each of these separate areas was close to, or above, the national average.
• Pupils who are disadvantaged attain well, but the progress they make is less strong than that of other pupils nationally. Leaders and teachers use discussions about pupils’ achievement to determine which pupils need additional support. Teachers devise appropriate support through their teaching plans. Leaders use reviews of achievement data each half term to determine the impact on pupils’ achievements. Leaders have appointed an additional member of staff to teach mathematics to raise achievement in this subject. This effective support enables disadvantaged pupils to make good progress in mathematics. However, progress in reading and writing is less strong. Leaders recognise that more needs to be done to move closer to the average for the progress of other pupils nationally.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points. The SENCo manages provision efficiently and effectively identifies pupils’ needs. She recognises that class teachers need to be more effective at meeting identified needs through effective class teaching. However, pupils benefit from carefully planned interventions with well sequenced lessons and support which help them to make good progress.
• The most able pupils, particularly in Year 6, make good progress due to increased challenge and activities which are better matched to pupils’ needs. This is resulting in increased numbers of pupils attaining the higher expectations in the end of key stage 2 assessments.
• Pupils acquire appropriate knowledge, understanding and skills in a range of subjects other than English and mathematics. However, some pupils are not sufficiently challenged by work in these subjects. Despite this, the work in their books shows that most pupils make good progress in these subjects. For example, in Years 1 and 2, a strong focus on practical science allows pupils to develop a clearer understanding of electricity. In Years 5 and 6, observations of historical and geographical evidence enable pupils to develop their understanding of trade processes.

Early years provision Good

• Children enter the early years with skills and knowledge that are broadly in line with those that are typical for their age and stage of development. Through good teaching and a carefully tailored approach to meet additional and vulnerable needs, increasing numbers of children are making good progress and are well prepared for Year 1. Leaders’ assessment records and work in children’s books show that the proportion of children working at age-related expectations and above are increasing.
• The leader of the early years is growing in her leadership and management role and is effectively developing a better understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the early years provision. Regular and robust assessments and analysis support the senior leaders’ self-evaluation. Leaders have identified, for example, that the improved progress and attainment of boys are central to improved outcomes. To secure this improvement, teachers’ planning has already been adapted to better engage boys.
• Children who are disadvantaged make good progress. This is because staff ensure that the characteristics of effective learning inform their planned programmes and enable every child to make good progress from their starting points. This was particularly evident during the inspection in the children’s mathematics and writing books. The children’s descriptions and booklets about the solar system, space and the Arctic showed their enthusiasm for writing.
• Leaders’ efforts to involve parents in their child’s education are mixed. A ‘stay and play’ session during induction from Nursery was poorly attended. Staff meet with parents before children join the Reception class to ascertain the children’s needs and establish which agencies they may need to involve. This ensures that transition into the early years is well managed. A number of parents add comments to their children’s individual records and accept invitations to join their children in school activities. They are very appreciative of all that the school provides for their children.
• Children’s behaviour and their attitudes to learning are good. They are confident in exploring activities indoors and outside, demonstrating that they feel safe. There are no breaches of the welfare requirements and staff follow and know well the safeguarding procedures and policies applicable to the whole school.
• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good. Teachers provide well-planned activities which enthuse the children and are carefully matched to their learning needs. However, occasionally, some children find some tasks too hard, such as when subtracting two digits. A strength of teaching in the early years is the use of carefully crafted and probing questioning. For example, staff were able to develop children’s scientific understanding of the life cycles of a butterfly through questions to recap the previous day’s learning.
• The staff have already created a strong team ethos and are capitalising on a wide range of training opportunities available in school and through the local schools cluster. Recent training to promote children’s handwriting and phonics is having a positive impact on the quality of children’s writing. The work in books shows that children can write in simple sentences and are beginning to write extended sentences.

School details

Unique reference number 135736 Local authority Cheshire West and Chester Inspection number 10046550 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary controlled 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 279 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Mrs Amanda French Mrs Donna Prenton Telephone number 01244 981090 Website Email address www.saughallallsaints.cheshire.sch.uk admin@saughallallsaints.cheshire.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 15–16 March 2016

Information about this school

• The school is slightly larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is well below the national average
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups or who speak English as an additional language is below average
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is below average, as is the proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan.
• The school meets the current government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress by the end of Year 6.
• The school receives support from a local teaching school and another local primary school to improve leadership and outcomes in English and mathematics.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed learning throughout the school in all classes and in a range of subjects. Some of these activities were carried out jointly with members of the senior leadership team.
• Inspectors scrutinised pupils’ work and listened to pupils read.
• Observations were made of pupils’ behaviour at the beginning of the day, at lunchtime, at breaktime and in the classroom.
• The inspectors met with pupils, formally and informally, to listen to their views.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, senior leaders, subject leaders and teachers, members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority. Inspectors also spoke with a member of the diocesan board of education.
• The inspection team scrutinised a wide range of documentation, including information about pupils’ attainment and progress, and the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plan. Inspectors considered minutes of meetings and records relating to teaching and learning, pupils’ attendance and behaviour and safeguarding of pupils, including those prepared by improvement partners. A scrutiny of the website was also undertaken.
• Inspectors considered the views expressed by parents through informal meetings. Inspectors analysed 117 responses received through the free-text facility on Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey. Inspectors also analysed 99 responses to the pupil survey. There were no other survey responses.

Inspection team

Ian Shackleton, lead inspector Deborah Bailey Tina Cleugh

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector