Wigan St Andrew’s CofE Junior and Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school has recently raised its expectations for what pupils should learn.

This includes for some pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). In some instances, this is beginning to bear fruit. For example, younger pupils' achievement is starting to improve.

However, older pupils have not achieved as well as they should have done. Their recent attainment and progress in English and mathematics has been well below the national average by the end of Year 6. In part, this is owing to historic weaknesses in curriculum design and delivery.

These weaknesses are slowly being resolved.

Pupils enjoy the wider opportunities that they h...ave at this school. Play leaders enjoy getting out the 'red box' of equipment to organise skipping, hoop and bat and ball games during social times.

Pupils spoke positively about the several sports clubs and 'confidence club' that some of them access. Pupils also get to learn a brass instrument which culminates in a performance as a brass band.

Pupils feel happy and safe.

They get along well with their classmates and have positive relationships with their teachers. They said that staff and kind are caring. Pupils enjoy their learning.

However, their lessons are sometimes disrupted by the behaviour of others. Pupils particularly value the school's nurture room where they can go to if they need any emotional support.

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

The school has recently introduced a suite of changes to its curriculum.

In most subjects, the school has adopted a new curriculum to help ensure that pupils experience a broad and balanced offer of education.

The school has ensured that new subject curriculums are typically designed to break down what pupils need to know into small, logical steps of knowledge that build over time. In some subjects, this is starting to help teachers to deliver curriculum content in a more effective manner.

There are emerging signs that pupils are beginning to form a more secure body of knowledge in some of these subjects.

Overall, the school is still getting to grips with how new curriculum materials are designed and how they should be delivered. In some instances, the school has not implemented these new subject curriculums well.

Occasionally, subject curriculums are not delivered as they are intended. This issue is compounded by a lack of subject expertise within the school. This means that some deficiencies in curriculum implementation are not being identified and addressed.

Pupils do not acquire some of the knowledge and skills that the school expects for them. In some subjects, their understanding of important concepts is superficial.

The early years curriculum is a work in progress.

Some parts of this curriculum are ill-defined. The school does not make strong connections between what children learn in the Reception Year and future learning in key stage 1. Children do not learn all that they should to make the best possible start when they move into Year 1.

The school is developing its approaches to checking what pupils know and remember over time. In many subjects, the school is not currently well placed to identify and then respond to some of the gaps that pupils have in their learning.

In some instances, the school identifies pupils with SEND early.

The school often ensures that pupils with more complex SEND get appropriate specialist support when it is needed. However, the needs of other pupils with SEND are overlooked. Some of these pupils do not receive the help that they need to access their learning.

The school has limited strategies in place to adapt the delivery of the curriculum for these pupils. As such, some pupils with SEND do not achieve well.

The school has started to consider new ways to promote a love of reading.

It has seen an improvement in the number of Year 1 pupils who meet the phonics screening check. That said, the school's chosen phonics programme, like other aspects of the curriculum, is not delivered consistently well. Some pupils do not read books that match their current reading skills and knowledge of sounds.

Consequently, some pupils do not become fluent readers as soon as they otherwise might.

Pupils are being prepared well for life in modern Britain. Their view of the world is being broadened through reading well-chosen texts that help them to appreciate people's different cultures and backgrounds.

They develop their ability to foster safe, healthy relationships. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe online. They know how to look after their bodies and manage some of their feelings.

Their personal development is enhanced through wider opportunities such as a residential visit and a trip to a water sports centre.

The school is currently redefining its systems, policies and expectations for how pupils should conduct themselves during the school day. In lieu of clearer procedures, there is some variability in how well the school deals with occasional disagreements and low-level disruptions to learning.

Pupils in some classes behave more positively than they do in some others. From time to time, pupils' learning is negatively impacted.

The school is reviewing its actions to promote higher rates of attendance at school.

Although this work is in its infancy, most pupils do attend school regularly.

Governors are effective in their roles. They provide effective challenge and strategic direction.

They have managed recent changes to leadership and staffing appropriately. They have clear capacity to make further improvements at the school. Staff have positive regard for the actions of interim leaders to ensure that staff's workload is manageable.

For example, staff appreciate the extra time that they are given to carry out additional duties.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The design of the early years curriculum has not been completed.

Teachers and subject leaders struggle to connect what children learn during the Reception Year to future learning in key stage 1. Children do not learn all that they could to make a strong start in Year 1. The school should finalise its curriculum thinking, ensuring that clear links are made between the early years and key stage 1 curriculums.

• Some subject curriculums, and the school's chosen phonics programme, are not being implemented consistently well. This means that pupils do not develop a secure body of knowledge over time. This also means that some pupils do not become fluent readers as soon as they otherwise could.

The school should ensure that staff have the knowledge, guidance and expertise to deliver subject curriculums effectively, and as they are intended. ? In many subjects, the school does not carry out effective checks on what pupils have learned. This often means that the school is not able to identify and address pupils' knowledge gaps and misconceptions.

The school should ensure that staff have sufficient guidance, and effective strategies, to establish what pupils know and what they might need further help with. ? The school's expectations for behaviour are not clearly defined. Pupils' conduct is inconsistent in some classes.

As a result, pupils' learning is occasionally disrupted. The school should complete its planned overhaul of related systems, routines and policies to ensure that staff consistently uphold high standards of conduct across the school. ? A proportion of pupils with SEND do not receive effective support to access their learning.

As a result, these pupils do not achieve well. The school should ensure that there are appropriate systems in place to identify the additional needs of pupils with SEND and ensure that staff understand these needs. It should also ensure that staff have sufficient knowledge and expertise to adapt the delivery of the curriculum for these pupils.

• In some cases, the school does not have the requisite level of subject knowledge, expertise and systems to ensure that subject curriculums are implemented well. Consequently, the school is not addressing some deficiencies in how some subject curriculums are being taught. The school should ensure that it oversees the successful implementation of the subject curriculums and develops the skills to respond to the issues with curriculum delivery.

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