Bacup St Saviour's Community Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve further the quality of teaching, to improve pupils’ progress, especially at the end of key stage 2, by:
  • providing pupils with work that challenges them to think harder about their writing and in mathematics, including for the most able pupils
  • ensuring that teachers use questioning and plan activities to improve all pupils’ reasoning skills in mathematics.
• Further develop the skills of middle leaders to make sure that changes focus on deepening pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding, particularly in history and geography.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• After a period of turbulence in staffing, the headteacher has secured a stable and talented teaching workforce. All are fully committed to improving teaching skills. As a result of better teaching and pupils’ improved attendance, current pupils are making good progress.
• Leaders wasted no time, following the previous inspection, in setting about rebuilding relationships with parents and improving the curriculum.
• Communication with parents is now a strength. Parents are well supported through advice groups and workshops to support them in helping their children, for instance with phonics and mathematics homework. The school hosts Lancashire Adult Learning events, such as those on how to keep children safe online, which are popular with some parents.
• Leaders have improved the curriculum, including through regular personal, health and social education lessons and opportunities for pupils to learn about British values and current affairs. Some improvements to the curriculum are still very new, and it is too soon to see the impact of this change on pupils’ outcomes.
• Leaders provide a wide range of enrichment opportunities for pupils, which support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and prepare pupils well for secondary school and for life in modern Britain. Curriculum plans include opportunities for pupils to learn about other faiths in their religious education lessons, but pupils struggled to remember much about other beliefs apart from Christianity. Leaders have plans to improve pupils’ experience of other faiths, such as through a visit to a mosque, but these plans have not yet been implemented.
• Leaders welcome new pupils to the school. Some move from other schools and join the school partway through a key stage, with some starting during an academic year. Pupils welcome their new friends and help them to settle in quickly. Teachers find out any work pupils have missed and tailor their teaching to help new pupils to catch up.
• Staff are highly supportive of the headteacher and deputy headteacher. Teachers relish the many opportunities they are given to improve their teaching skills and to develop as leaders through sharing their practice within the school, and with schools in the local area.
• Middle leaders benefit from collaborative work with other schools and receive valuable support from advisers to help them to further develop their leadership skills. New middle leaders are at the early stages of developing their subject. This includes history and geography, which are led by a new subject leader.
• Leaders take decisive action to make sure pupils attend school regularly. As a result, attendance is improving, and persistent absence is reducing, including for disadvantaged pupils who have attended school less regularly in the past.
• Pupil premium funding is being used effectively to support pupils. For example, it pays for disadvantaged pupils to go on trips, replace uniform and attend breakfast club. This has led to a reduction in persistent absence for disadvantaged pupils.
• The primary physical education (PE) and sport funding is spent effectively on sports coaches who organise team games for pupils at lunchtime. Pupils of all ages were seen playing happily and competitively in a game of dodge ball. Coaches help to support the development of teachers’ skills in delivering PE and sports.
• Additional funds for pupils with SEND are used well so that pupils make good progress. Learning support assistants make a positive difference to learning because they are well trained and valued by teachers and pupils.

Governance of the school

• Governance is effective because governors are knowledgeable, skilled and committed to improving the school. They have been appropriately trained and take their safeguarding duty seriously.
• Governors know about the difference being made to pupils through the effective use of additional funding. They ask leaders challenging questions about the way this funding is used and the difference it is making to improving pupils’ outcomes.
• Checks on the progress of priorities are made by governors, against the school improvement plan. Governors can rely on the quality of information presented to them because actions are monitored by external partners, including local authority advisers and consultants.
• Governors have recently improved the way they hold middle leaders to account for improving outcomes in their areas. Governors check that the three middle leaders who are relatively new in post are receiving effective support to help them to improve. Governors scrutinise subject improvement plans and challenge middle leaders through their questions.
• Governors have improved the way the school engages with parents, including through the forming of a parent council to listen to and act on ideas from parents to further improve the school. Parents are now highly positive in their views of the school and talk about the staff and pupils ‘being like an extended family’.
• Governors visit the school often and listen to pupils read.
• Governors were not aware that the school’s website did not meet requirements because they had failed in their responsibility to check this. Leaders took prompt action to make the changes required during the inspection.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders take their safeguarding responsibilities seriously. All checks on adults working in the school are diligently carried out to ensure that they are suitable to work with children.
• Leaders work well with external agencies to make sure that vulnerable pupils and their families receive the help they need.
• Safeguarding training for staff is up to date and staff know how to identify the signs and symptoms of abuse. Staff, including governors, have completed a range of training including on the ‘Prevent’ duty and child sexual exploitation.
• Pupils say that they feel safe at school, and this view was confirmed by parents.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching has improved and is now good because staff are committed to improving their practice. They readily engage with the high-quality support that they receive to improve their skills.
• Assessments of pupils’ work are accurate because these are checked by teachers in other schools. Teachers identify any gaps in pupils’ learning and carefully plan bespoke activities to diminish any differences in knowledge, skills or understanding.
• Teachers and learning support assistants know pupils exceptionally well and use praise to encourage and support even the most reluctant pupils. Relationships between teachers and pupils are extremely positive. Pupils feel valued and want to improve their work to please their teachers.
• Resources to support learning are of high quality. Pupils routinely refer to classroom displays as sources of information to act as reminders or as prompts to help them to improve the quality of their work.
• Teaching of mathematics has improved. Teachers demonstrate successfully the use of mathematics equipment to deepen pupils’ understanding of concepts. As a result, pupils in key stage 1 confidently use number lines and counters to check on number bonds in the addition and subtraction of decimals. However, not all teachers routinely challenge pupils to explain their answers. This is contributing towards some pupils’ weak reasoning skills, especially for pupils in key stage 2.
• Reading is taught effectively across the school. Teachers provide a wide and interesting range of texts. Pupils spoke enthusiastically about books they have read by their favourite authors. They like fiction and non-fiction books equally, and, in their conversations, made links with their work in history and current affairs. Reading logs show that pupils read regularly to an adult in school or to an adult at home.
• In phonics teaching, activities are very carefully chosen to meet the needs of pupils. Pupils learn new letter sounds as they are introduced and very quickly start to use these in simple sentences, including in their writing. Teaching from learning support assistants is of equally high quality as that of teachers because of the excellent training they have received.
• Teachers use their strong subject knowledge to plan engaging activities that capture pupils’ interest. Teachers extend pupils’ vocabulary by ensuring that they understand the meaning of new words. Pupils are eager to research new words in dictionaries or a thesaurus.
• Writing is given a high priority across the school. Teaching is strong and teachers apply a consistent approach to checking on pupils’ spelling, grammar and presentation of writing. This is making a noticeable difference to the quality of pupils’ work.
• Teachers and learning support assistants have received training to help them to improve their questioning skills. This helps pupils to clarify their thoughts and to improve the quality of their written work.
• Teachers do not check that the very small proportion of most-able pupils are consistently given work that is hard enough for them, particularly in writing and in mathematics. In writing, sometimes the picture cues and resources they are given are unnecessary because pupils are capable of using their imagination and thinking where to start for themselves.
• In history and geography teaching, work set by teachers sometimes fails to deepen pupils’ knowledge and skills.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils say they love this school because ‘teachers make learning fun, and everyone looks after each other’. Pupils happily mix with pupils in different classes and year groups at playtime, lunchtime and in the breakfast and after-school clubs.
• Members of the school council meet regularly and conduct their meetings in a very mature and business-like manner, working with an agenda and recording minutes of meetings.
• Pupils know their views are extremely important to school leaders because their suggestions lead to improvements in the school. Pupils excitedly shared their plans for moving the school library to a more central area and talked confidently about reading being at the heart of the school.
• Pupils have a very good understanding of current affairs and show genuine empathy for people experiencing difficulties in the world. Daily assemblies start with a news stream, and assembly themes have included topics such as individual liberty in North and South Korean families, and mutual respect in designing clothes for children with disabilities.
• Pupils enjoy their personal, social and health education lessons. They study a diverse range of topics. For example, pupils in Years 5 and 6 have recently learned about human rights and the rights of children. Pupils in Years 3 and 4 found out about healthy choices and taking care of their body, and pupils in Years 1 and 2 have been taught how to look after the environment. These activities prepare pupils very successfully for their life in modern Britain.
• The carefully planned curriculum includes many opportunities for enrichment that enhance pupils’ confidence as well as enjoyment of school. Activities include choir competitions, guitar, sporting events and visits to the museum and theatre. Pupils enthusiastically took part in the yoga club and table tennis club during the inspection.
• Pupils say that they feel safe and talk confidently about how to keep safe, such as when using computers or mobile phones. Pupils are taught about risk and keeping themselves safe at every available opportunity. For example, in using mapping software, pupils were challenged to find a safe route for their walk from school to the church and war memorial, considering safe places to cross roads.
• Pupils say that there is no bullying at the school. They know the difference between bullying and squabbles or ‘fallings-out’ and are confident that if bullying did occur and it was reported to an adult, it would stop.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils’ conduct in lessons and around school is exemplary. They are exceptionally proud of their school and show excellent attitudes to learning.
• Pupils have superb manners, show great respect for each other and for adults, and welcome visitors to their school with enthusiasm and excitement. This was demonstrated well as they listened respectfully and attentively to a visitor who shared stories with pupils as part of their work for World Book Day.
• Pupils rarely need reminding to manage their behaviour and show excellent self-discipline.
• Behavioural incidents are recorded meticulously and relate to a very small number of pupils who experience difficulty in managing their own behaviour. Teachers and learning support assistants support and manage these pupils well, so that learning is not disrupted.
• Attendance is improving and is typically in line with the national average or better. Persistent absence is reducing. Successful strategies include the issuing of fixed penalty notices and requesting proof of medical appointments or illness. The breakfast club is making a positive difference for some pupils who previously had low attendance, including for disadvantaged pupils.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Children achieve well in early years and by the end of key stage 1, with attainment typically being at or above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils’ progress varies across key stage 2, but pupils who started in Reception typically make good progress.
• Key stage 2 attainment in national assessments has sometimes been below the national average in the past. Leaders took decisive action to improve the way reading is taught across the school, with considerable success. Very few pupils fail to meet the required standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check, and almost all of these are successful by the end of Year 2. Pupils in key stage 2 are enthusiastic and confident readers.
• Results in phonics screening checks are improving. Weaker readers use phonics to sound out unfamiliar words, combined with their use of picture cues to help. Confident readers read with expression and comprehension. They can describe key characters or events in a story, using increasingly complex vocabulary.
• Pupils’ writing continues to be a strength in the school. As a result of the high-quality support from teachers and learning support assistants, pupils write neatly and legibly across the curriculum. Pupils make good progress in their writing and routinely make corrections in response to the guidance they receive, such as spotting their own spelling errors and improving the quality of their work.
• Pupils’ skills in mathematics are improving, from the progress seen in pupils’ books. Their understanding of topics is supported well because most teachers plan variety in the work set and avoid unnecessary repetition. Pupils’ reasoning skills are less secure.
• Current disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as their classmates who started in the school at the same time, and similarly to other pupils nationally. Pupils with SEND benefit from the high-quality support they are given and achieve as well as other pupils in the school with the same starting points.
• The very small number of most-able pupils in each class are making great strides in their reading. Teachers’ assessments suggest that writing and mathematical skills at a higher standard are less secure for a few of these pupils, because sometimes they are not challenged sufficiently in their work. Pupils who started in the school during key stage 2 have gaps in previous learning. Teachers work to fill these gaps quickly so that pupils’ progress improves.
• Leaders’ creative curriculum combines history, geography, design technology and art, so that pupils can make connections between these subjects. Changes to history and geography teaching have recently been introduced by the new subject leader. It is too soon to see how effective these are in deepening pupils’ understanding of historical and geographical knowledge.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Early years provision, judged as outstanding in the previous inspection, continues to be a strength of the school. As a result of very strong teaching, a much higher than average proportion of children reach or exceed a good level of development. Children make substantial progress from their starting points and are very well prepared to start Year 1.
• Leadership is most effective. Leaders work closely with other early years providers in the area to share effective practice and to make sure children here receive the best possible care and achieve good outcomes.
• Learning gets off to a good start when children join Reception. Staff gather detailed information on children from parents, nurseries and childminders before they start and use this to make sure children settle in quickly.
• Teaching is consistently strong. Staff know children’s strengths and weaknesses when they start, and through regular routine assessment. They plan activities carefully and tailor their teaching so that children reach the challenging targets set for them.
• The early years leader has established a culture of high expectations for behaviour, which is followed by learning support assistants who work in this area. Children’s behaviour is well managed in a caring and supportive way.
• Parents take an active part in their child’s education and contribute to their child’s learning journey, which forms a detailed record of children’s improving skills in literacy and numeracy.
• Children communicate well with each other and with adults. They listen carefully, are highly motivated and show curiosity in their learning. Children increasingly develop their skills of independence. They can put their coats on and take them off without assistance. They tidy away their equipment when asked.
• Phonics teaching is highly effective. Children happily split words into different sounds, using actions and developing physical skills in the process. They enthusiastically took part and were just as keen to show off their writing skills as they used words in a simple sentence.
• Children’s knowledge of number bonds to 10 was extremely well supported through counters and an enjoyable game. Children were totally immersed in the game and quickly developed their number skills.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the care and support their children receive in early years. Children develop their understanding of personal safety well because they are taught how to keep themselves safe and whom they can go to if they are worried about anything.
• Early years statutory welfare requirements are met.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 119191 Lancashire 10087842 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 Community 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 98 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Mrs E M Hood Mrs D Marsh 01706 877900 www.bacupstsavioursprimary.co.uk bursar@bacup-st-saviours.lancs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 18–19 January 2017

Information about this school

• The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school and has one Reception class and three mixed-age classes: one class in key stage 1 and two in key stage 2. The school experiences considerable mobility, with more than a quarter of pupils in each class who have started in the school since Reception.
• Early years provision is available for four- and five-year-olds. Children in Reception attend full time. Leaders have plans to expand the early years provision to include a Nursery class for three- and four-year-olds, but this was not in place at the time of the inspection.
• The majority of pupils come from a White British background, with a very small number of pupils from other heritages. Very few pupils speak English as an additional language.
• A higher than average proportion of pupils are disadvantaged.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is above average.
• The school provides a breakfast club and an after-school club, which are valued by parents.
• The school receives ‘light-touch’ support from the local authority, but this includes support from advisers in mathematics, English and science, and for attendance.
• The school works collaboratively with three separate clusters of schools in the area to support staff training and development needs. These are the Whitworth Headteacher Cluster, the Rossendale Education Partnership and the Rossendale Sports Partnership. This is a two-way process, with schools both receiving support and providing support to other schools.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector visited classrooms to observe teaching and pupils’ learning. Some of these observations were done jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher.
• The inspector observed pupils at lunchtime and at playtime and met formally with a group of pupils who were members of the school council. There were no responses to Ofsted’s questionnaire for pupils.
• The inspector looked at samples of pupils’ work in books and in their assessment records jointly with a leader. The inspector listened to a group of pupils read and also spoke to pupils about their work during lessons.
• Meetings were held with staff, and middle and senior leaders. The inspector also took account of the seven responses to Ofsted’s questionnaire for staff.
• The inspector spoke with parents as they arrived at school at the end of the day to collect children, and analysed the 23 responses to Parent View, as well as 13 free-text comments.
• The inspector met with a group of governors and checked the notes from governors’ meetings. A meeting was also held with an adviser from the local authority, and notes of visits to the school by the local authority were scrutinised.
• The inspector considered a range of documentation and checked on arrangements for safeguarding and monitoring of the early years welfare requirements. The inspector took account of leaders’ views on the school’s effectiveness, plans to develop the school and information on pupils’ achievements, attendance and behaviour.

Inspection team

Denah Jones, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector