Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love coming to school.

They enjoy exploring the topics that their teachers plan for them across the curriculum. They learn about their local area and the wider world. Pupils are encouraged to make suggestions about what they want to learn.

Pupils learn to read well. They love to read different kinds of books. They know that this helps them to learn more.

Leaders and teachers have high expectations of pupils. Pupils enjoy being challenged.

Pupils take part in the wide range of activities on offer outside of less...on time.

They appreciate how these activities help to keep them physically and mentally well. They have many opportunities to help staff and other pupils around the school. Pupils carry out these roles with pride.

The school is a harmonious place. Pupils play and work well together. Staff and pupils respect and care for each other.

Leaders ensure that pupils behave well. Pupils feel safe. Leaders deal with bullying effectively.

Pupils trust adults to sort out any worries that they might have.

Parents, carers and governors support the work that staff do. The whole school community works together to make sure that all pupils achieve as well as they can.

Staff provide effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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

Leaders have taken effective steps to overhaul what is taught across the school and they have developed many subject areas. There remains a minority of subjects that are still in the process of being developed.

Leaders are planning a curriculum that excites and challenges pupils. The curriculum that leaders have implemented so far enables all pupils to achieve well. Carefully tailored support for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND enables these pupils to achieve as well as their peers.

Most teachers think carefully about the work that they prepare for pupils.

Children in the early years achieve a good level of development in all areas of their learning. In Year 1, pupils attain well in the end of Year 1 phonics screening check.

By the end of Year 2, pupils attain better than other pupils nationally. Pupils in Year 6, however, have not always achieved as well as they should have done. As a result of the improved curriculum, this trend has now been reversed.

All pupils benefit from the school's well-structured and effective reading programme. Children and younger pupils develop a secure knowledge of phonics. Skilled staff support pupils who are beginning to fall behind in their reading.

Older pupils read with fluency and accuracy. Pupils practise their reading regularly at home as well as at school. Pupils enjoy reading suitably challenging books that leaders provide to widen their reading habits.

Pupils love to read in the many enticing reading areas around school.

Leaders make effective use of the local environment to enhance pupils' learning. Pupils are fascinated by the rich heritage of their own local community and those of other cultures.

For example, children in the early years demonstrate curiosity and respect as they learn about how the Chinese New Year is celebrated.

A further example of this is how younger pupils begin to develop their enquiry skills. They explore local landmarks.

They consider how these might have been used over time. Older pupils build on this knowledge. They make deductions from artefacts about what life was like in ancient civilisations.

Pupils can remember many facts that they have learned. However, some become confused when explaining how the different time periods relate to each other.

Pupils focus well on practical tasks.

The well-planned curriculum enables them to enjoy opportunities to be creative. In the early years, children can talk about what they are learning with ease. Pupils in key stage 2 use research from their history work to design and make models from clay.

Teachers support pupils well through the design, make and evaluation process. When leaders recognise that pupils have gaps in their knowledge in curriculum subjects, they take effective steps to adapt the curriculum.

Leaders focus well on supporting pupils' personal development.

Adults continually support pupils to develop resilience and self-esteem. Leaders make sure that activities to support pupils' wider development are woven throughout the curriculum. Leaders support pupils to develop a strong sense of responsibility.

Leaders also provide many different clubs and activities for pupils during lunchtime and outside of school hours. The pupils with whom I spoke said that these clubs help them to develop new interests.

Leaders recognise that some teachers need ongoing support to deepen their subject knowledge in subject areas.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders prioritise safeguarding. Staff are well trained.

They make sure that pupils are safe. Staff follow the school's clear procedures for reporting any concerns. Leaders support vulnerable pupils well.

Leaders work with a range of other agencies to make sure that the right support is available for each pupil.

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. They learn how to cross the road safely.

They also learn how emergency services can help them. Pupils know how to protect themselves when using online devices at school and at home. They equally know that they must keep their personal information private.

Pupils tell adults about things that they are worried about.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

The transitional statements were applied on this inspection.Some subject areas are more developed than others.

This means that curriculum plans for a minority of subjects do not make clear what pupils are expected to know or be able to do in each year group. Leaders have not considered the order of learning sufficiently well in these subjects. Leaders need to continue to develop their plans for the curriculum.

These plans need to make clear what pupils are expected to know in each year group and in each area of the curriculum. . Teachers' subject knowledge is also variable in some aspects of the curriculum.

This means that some teachers are not able to help their pupils excel. Leaders recognise that some teachers need ongoing support to deepen their subject knowledge in these subject areas.

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 school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the 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 convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged Thornton Cleveleys Baines Endowed Voluntary Controlled Primary School to be good on 17–18 May 2011.