Abbey Hulton Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school Leaders, governors and staff are ambitious for every pupil in the school and have high expectations for their achievement and behaviour. The outstanding headteacher and her able senior leadership team have worked tirelessly to improve this school.

They check on every pupil's progress rigorously. They have ensured that the quality of teaching is now good, despite the many staff changes since the last inspection. Teachers are skilled at probing pupils' knowledge and adjusting the work where necessary.

Work is usually set at just the right level to challenge and deepen pupils' understanding. Pupils' progress is good from their different star...ting points. Standards are rising quickly throughout the school and particularly in reading, speaking and listening and in mathematics.

Children get off to a good start in early years. They make particularly strong progress in their communication skills, in their personal and social development and their sounds and letters work. Pupils have good attitudes to learning and want to do well.

Their behaviour is good in and around the school. They have a good understanding of how to keep safe and demonstrate high levels of respect for others. The way in which the school cares for pupils and works with others to keep vulnerable pupils safe is a strength.

Staff are ever-vigilant. An ethos of care and concern for pupils and their families permeates all of the school's work. Leaders ensure that any additional help and funds available for disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disability are used effectively.

Consequently, these pupils too make good, and sometimes better, progress. Governors have a highly accurate view of the school's performance and what needs to improve further. They hold school leaders and staff to account well.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : Standards of attainment and progress in writing are not as good as for reading and mathematics and particularly for more-able pupils. The work of the many new subject leaders in checking on teaching and pupils' learning and progress is not fully developed in all subjects.

Information about this school

Abbey Hulton Primary School is slightly smaller than the average-sized primary school.

It has a 26-place full-time Nursery, funded partly by government funding and partly by the school. Most pupils are of White British heritage. A small but increasing proportion come from a range of minority ethnic backgrounds or speak English as an additional language.

A high proportion of pupils, over half, are known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority). This is more than twice the national average. About a quarter of pupils are identified as having special educational needs and/or disability.

This is well above the national average. The school meets the current floor standard, which sets the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in English and mathematics. It does not use alternative provision.

At its last standard inspection, the school was judged to require improvement. Two progress monitoring visits took place: in March 2014 and November 2014 respectively. There have been significant changes in staff and within the governing body since the last standard inspection, and a restructuring of the school's leadership.

The school is part of a cooperative trust, TILT, which is part of the Schools Direct programme. This is in the process of being reconstituted, since the lead secondary school has left the trust. It is now part of a partnership of seven primary schools called Seven Stars.