St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School, Radcliffe

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of St Andrew's Church of England Primary School,

Radcliffe Following my visit to the school on 15 March 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in October 2013. This school continues to be good.

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since your appointment as headteacher, you have ensured that there is a strong focus on school improvement. Your self-evaluation of the school is accurate.

Through the school development plan, you have identi...fied key areas to ensure that the school continues to improve. You and the staff work hard to establish relationships with parents and carers. Members of staff greet parents each morning at the gate as pupils arrive at school.

Leaders ensure that pupils have the best possible start to each day. For example, you run a before-school club enabling pupils to come in and get breakfast before the day begins. You provide phonics support to pupils before school.

You have invested heavily in ensuring that the health, physical and well-being needs of your pupils are met. For example, at lunchtime, you provide a safe and nurturing space for pupils who cannot access the playground and for those with emotional needs. The majority of parents that I spoke to said that their children were happy at this school and that they were well looked after.

Parents who responded to the Ofsted surveys were positive in their views of the school. One parent, with a view typical of many, said, 'The headteacher and other staff are very approachable and I feel that they listen to my concerns. My children enjoy coming to school and have made many friends.'

Pupils that I spoke to said that they enjoyed coming to this school. Older pupils said that behaviour is typically good but sometimes pupils are silly. They said that teachers are quick to deal with issues as they arise.

Pupils in Year 6 spoke about their responsibilities. You meet weekly with pupils, including the head boy and girl, to discuss how the school could be improved. Recently, pupils told you that they would like more stationery in their classrooms.

I observed that pupils behave well in classes, as they move around school and on the playground. Governors are supportive of this school. They know the school well and accurately identify strengths and areas for development.

Governors are involved in monitoring activities and hold leaders to account. They also support leaders effectively. Governors are aware of their statutory responsibilities and fulfil them with care.

At the previous inspection, school leaders were asked to improve the quality of teaching. Your monitoring records indicate that you have a strong culture of coaching and mentoring. Senior and middle leaders regularly observe teaching.

They report the findings of their observations termly to governors. Your most recent monitoring of science showed that teachers' subject knowledge was strong and that pupils were working with greater levels of independence. Together, observing in lessons and looking at a range of pupils' books, we found evidence of pupils having time to work things out for themselves.

We looked at a wide range of extended writing across different subject areas. Evidence in science and mathematics books indicated that pupils have many opportunities to sort, classify, compare and predict. In an art lesson in Year 1, we observed pupils working independently to create pop art portraits in the style of Andy Worhol.

Safeguarding is effective. As the designated lead for safeguarding, you have ensured that all safeguarding policies and procedures are fit for purpose. The school's single central record is accurate and up to date.

All members of staff have received appropriate 'Prevent' and safeguarding basic awareness training. Several members of the senior leadership team and governors have received safer recruitment training. You work closely with children's social care and the police.

You monitor attendance and follow up absences diligently. Inspection findings ? During the inspection, I focused on three lines of enquiry. The first of these related to the quality of provision in the early years.

The number of children achieving a good level of development by the end of the Reception year has been lower than the national average for the past two years. Evidence from a range of documentation and observing in the early years, indicates that you have taken appropriate actions to address this situation. A new teaching team is in place.

Teaching assistants are used effectively, and they support and challenge children with minimal intervention. Staff structure activities carefully, enabling children to build on and develop skills. Children have opportunities to make marks, build, climb, and engage in role-play in the 'garden centre shop'.

There is a consistent approach to the provision, both inside and outside in the Reception and Nursery classes. School progress data indicates that children this year in the Reception class are making good progress from their starting points. ? The second area that I looked at during the inspection related to the quality of writing across the curriculum.

Published data shows that by the end of key stage 2, pupils do not make as much progress in writing as they do in reading and mathematics. From observing in classes, looking in pupils' books, talking to pupils, and reviewing the school's monitoring data, a consistent approach to the teaching of writing across the school was evident. Pupils write across a wide variety of subject areas and genres.

Editing of writing is a consistent feature across the school. Pupils spoke to me about the ways in which they try to improve their writing. You ensure that they have access to a wide range of resources to help them improve.

In several classes, I observed pupils creating their own steps for success to help them improve their writing. For example, in Year 5, we observed pupils write and perform poetry about the rainforest. Year 6 pupils skilfully edited their diary entries, which were linked to their recent topic work about India.

• You have identified writing as a key priority on the school development plan and leaders monitor writing regularly. Across all year groups, examples of writing show a clear progression of skills from starting points. Together we agreed that you should build on the work you are doing in writing to enable pupils to make as much progress in writing by the end of key stage 2 as they do in mathematics and reading.

• The final area that I looked at during this inspection related to the progress of pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding. Published data for the end of key stage 2 shows that the progress of these pupils has fluctuated over the previous two years. You have ensured that careful plans are in place to track and monitor the progress of these pupils across school.

The numbers of eligible pupils are low in some classes, therefore comparisons between year groups are not reliable. In the year groups where numbers were large enough to make comparisons, I found that the progress of pupils varied greatly from one year group to the next in reading, writing and mathematics. In the majority of classes where I made comparisons, pupils make progress, but their progress is not as good as it is for all other pupils.

For example, in Year 6 these pupils are not doing as well as all other pupils do in mathematics. In light of these inconsistencies, we agreed that pupils entitled to pupil premium funding should be making progress in line with all other pupils in reading, writing and mathematics. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? pupils entitled to pupil premium funding make progress in reading, writing and mathematics in line with all other pupils ? pupils make as much progress in writing as they do in reading and mathematics by the end of key stage 2.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Manchester, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Bury. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely John Donald Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection With you, I carried out visits to all classes.

I scrutinised a wide range of school documentation, including the school's self-evaluation and school development plan. I looked at assessment information and records of monitoring activities. I examined the school's single central record.

I checked all records of safeguarding training and staff recruitment. I met with a representative of the local authority, the chair of governors and two other members of the governing body. I looked at examples of pupils' work in all year groups.

I evaluated the 22 responses to Parent View, Ofsted's online survey. I considered the 12 pupil survey responses and the 24 staff survey responses. I considered the 15 free-text responses from parents, and two emails and one letter that I received from parents during the inspection.

I spoke with parents before school and with a number of pupils throughout the day. I made observations of pupils' behaviour throughout the duration of the inspection. I examined records of behaviour and the ways you ensure that pupils are safe in school.

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