Colne Primet Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The headteacher, supported by senior and middle leaders, has established a positive ethos based on the values of respect and tolerance.

Relationships between adults and pupils and between different groups of pupils are strong. Leaders and governors know the school well and plans are accurately targeted at priority areas for improvement. Pupils' overall progress, including the progress of disadvantaged pupils, improved rapidly at GCSE in 2017, including in English, mathematics and science.

Progress is strong in the humanities. Pupils currently in the school are making more rapid progress than previous cohorts. Pupils who have special educa...tional needs (SEN) and/or disabilities are making good progress.

Leadership of this area is strong. Individual pupils' needs are catered for well, and they enjoy their learning. The wider curriculum and pupils' participation in the life of the school have a significantly positive impact on pupils' personal development and well-being.

The school promotes pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very well. The overall attendance of pupils, and for all groups of pupils, has risen for the past three years and is now above the national average. Pupils' behaviour, personal development and well-being are good.

Pupils' conduct themselves well in lessons and around the site. Pupils wear their uniform with pride; they are a credit to the school. However, not all pupils present written work neatly.

Leaders have made changes to the curriculum to provide pupils with more opportunities to study a wider range of courses, suited to their individual needs. The impact of these changes has not been evaluated. Pupils receive good advice and support when making decisions about next steps.

Literacy is promoted well across the curriculum, but opportunities to promote numeracy skills are sometimes missed. There is good teaching in the majority of subjects. Where previous weaknesses in teaching have been identified, teaching is improving.

Although many examples of good practice were seen, there are inconsistencies in: the quality of teachers' questioning; the way in which time is used in lessons; the level of challenge presented to the most able; and how well pupils act on feedback from teachers to improve their work. Disadvantaged pupils make good progress in line with their peers, and attainment gaps are narrowing. Leaders make effective use of the pupil premium funding to support their learning.

However, leaders do not always measure the impact of individual strategies on outcomes for this group of pupils. L

Information about this school

Colne Primet Academy is a member of the Pendle Education Multi-Academy Trust, which consists of two primary and two secondary academies. It is sponsored by Nelson and Colne College.

Colne Primet is much smaller than the average-sized secondary school. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is almost double the national average. The proportion of pupils who are eligible for support through pupil premium funding, at about 41%, is well above the national average.

The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is above the national average, and the proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is average. The school works collaboratively with other schools in the trust and is a member of the East Lancashire Teaching School Alliance. A school improvement adviser, whose services are commissioned by the trust from Lancashire local authority, provides support and challenge for school leaders.

The school uses alternative provision provided by TAS, The Alternative School, in Barnoldswick for a very small number of pupils in Year 8. The school met the government's floor standards for pupils in Year 11 in 2017. This is the minimum expectation for pupils' progress across a number of subjects including English and mathematics.