St Bartholomew’s CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Saint Bartholomew's is a good school. Under the strong leadership of the headteacher and deputy headteacher the school has improved year-on-year, resulting in attainment in English and mathematics being above average by the time pupils leave.

Pupils' achievement is good and overall outcomes for pupils are outstanding because of the many excellent aspects of their personal development and the outstanding care, guidance and support for pupils. Parents and carers think highly of the school. The school is a very harmonious community where no form of discrimination is tolerated.

Pupils have an excellent understanding of healthy lifestyles and of feeling safe. Their contribution to the school and t...he community is outstanding. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress from their broadly typical starting points and achieve well.

As a result, they enter Year 1 with skills that are above average. Pupils continue to make good progress in the rest of the school. This comes about from good teaching and a curriculum that meets their needs and interests.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities make the same good progress as their classmates as a result of very effective interventions. Teaching is good. It is outstanding in some classes.

Teachers have a good understanding of what pupils know and can do, and provide engaging activities that are matched well to pupils' learning needs. Pupils' enjoyment of school is reflected in their above average attendance and in their excellent behaviour. Opportunities are sometimes missed to use marking and target-setting effectively and there is some variation in the pace of lessons, resulting in some pupils not always making the gains in learning expected of them.

The good curriculum includes an interesting and varied programme of activities to make learning fun. However, the school has identified rightly that opportunities are missed for pupils to use and develop their information and communication technology skills and writing skills in subjects across the curriculum. Leadership and management are of a good quality.

Self-evaluation is accurate and leads to effective planning for development. Regular reviews of learning for each year group ensure that all teachers are accountable for pupils' progress. The impact of this work can be seen in rising standards in both key stages in the last three years.

The roles of middle leaders and that of the business manager have been developed well. The school benefits well from the work of the governing body, whose members keep a close eye on provision and outcomes. Together with leaders at all levels they are committed to the vision for excellence.

The capacity for sustained improvement is good.

Information about the school

This is an average-sized primary school in which the proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is well below average.

The percentage of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average. The school has gained many awards, including the Healthy School award. The school changed its name, as from September 2010, from that of Westhoughton Parochial Church of England School to its present title.