Oswaldtwistle St Paul’s Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Oswaldtwistle St Paul's Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school. This is because the school has a strong, positive and supportive culture.

Pupils feel safe at school because staff care about them. Pupils behave well in the calm and orderly environment that leaders have created. Pupils enjoy their learning.

They work hard and achieve well across many subjects. Leaders and staff have high expectations for all pupils in the school.

Pupils are friendly and well mannered.

They speak politely to each other and to adults. Pupils know the difference between bullying and f...riends falling out with each other. They say that bullying does not happen often.

Detailed records show that any incidents are dealt with quickly by staff.

Leaders provide a wide range of opportunities to meet pupils' interests and talents. For example, pupils value the daily school radio broadcast they create, and the charity work they undertake.

The school's values help to create kind and compassionate young people.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Pupils enjoy learning a broad and balanced curriculum. Leaders have ensured that the curriculum is carefully sequenced from Reception to Year 6.

They have carefully considered the knowledge and skills they want pupils to learn and by when. This allows pupils to build on what they already know. The curriculum is implemented well in most subjects.

For example, pupils use their knowledge of multiplication and division to help them when learning something new in mathematics. Staff use assessment information well to identify any gaps in pupils' learning and to plan what pupils need to learn next. This helps them to remember more of what they learn.

As a result, pupils achieve well in most subjects.

Staff are confident to teach the curriculum in most subjects. They are supported well by leaders.

However, staff have not received training in all subjects. They are not as confident when teaching these areas of the curriculum. This means that pupils' knowledge is not always deepened in these subjects as well as in others.

Some pupils are not able to explain in depth what they know and understand, for example in some elements of the personal, health, social and economic (PHSE) education curriculum.

Leaders understand how important it is for pupils to read fluently and confidently. Children develop a love of reading as soon as they start in Reception.

The reading curriculum helps younger pupils to quickly learn phonics. They are given lots of opportunities to practise what they are learning. Pupils show that they can then apply what they know when reading.

This is because books are carefully matched to the sounds they already know. Staff are quick to identify pupils who may need extra support. This includes those at the early stages of reading in key stage 2.

These pupils benefit from additional phonics sessions to help them to catch up, which improves their ability to read fluently. Older pupils talk excitedly about reading and the choice of books available to them.

Leaders and staff identify the needs of pupils with special education needs and/or disabilities (SEND) effectively.

Staff accurately assess how well pupils learn the curriculum. Pupils with SEND succeed because of the precise support they receive from well-trained support staff. This view is reflected in many parents' comments.

Staff enrich pupils' personal development through activities and class discussions. Pupils with SEND are involved in all aspects of school life. Pupils understand that people have different beliefs and come from different backgrounds.

They describe how the curriculum helps them to develop a broader understanding of race and equality. Pupils appreciate how staff care about their opinions. Any disruption to learning is very rare.

Governors are knowledgeable about leaders' work, including the development of the curriculum. Governors play an important role in holding school leaders to account. They ask pertinent questions to check the impact of leaders' actions.

Governors are mindful of staff's workload and well-being, and staff appreciate this.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Pupils know that adults will listen to them if they are worried or concerned about anything.

Pupils learn about safety through the PHSE curriculum. For example, they learn about how to keep safe when using the internet and the dangers of railway lines when they are out in the community.

Staff receive frequent training about safeguarding.

They are alert to possible signs of abuse or neglect and report these promptly. The school's safeguarding team is highly skilled. Leaders take appropriate action in response to concerns raised.

These actions are swift and are recorded in detail on the online recording system.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some staff have not received training in all subjects. This means that they are not able to deepen pupils' understanding in a minority of subjects.

Leaders should ensure that staff develop the subject-specific knowledge they need to enable them to deliver the intended curriculum effectively in all subjects. This in turn will ensure that pupils deepen their knowledge, understanding and skills ready for the next stage of their education.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that a good school could now be better than good, or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 17 to 18 May 2016.

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