Parochial CofE Primary and Nursery School, Ashton-under-Lyne

Overview

The report describes a school where pupils “enjoy coming” and feel “safe and happy” within a “caring and respectful environment.” Leaders have established high expectations for behaviour and learning, resulting in pupils who are “eager to contribute to lessons” and achieve well across most areas.

Strengths

• Leaders ensure all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), access a “broad and balanced curriculum” where knowledge is clear and pupils “remember their learning.”
• The teaching of reading is a priority, with staff trained in phonics ensuring books are “well matched to the sounds that pupils know” and struggling readers receive timely support.
• Pupils with SEND are “identified quickly” and receive carefully thought-through adaptations, enabling them to be “fully integrated into the classroom” and achieve well.
• Staff feel “valued and supported,” while governors and trustees “support and challenge leaders effectively” and prioritise staff well-being.
• Pupils develop positive attitudes to learning and wider personal development, appreciating “unique differences between people” and understanding how to keep themselves safe.

Areas to improve

• In a “small number of subjects,” leaders are “unclear about what pupils should learn” and have not identified the “most essential knowledge,” resulting in less secure understanding for pupils.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective,” with staff receiving regular training and leaders acting “quickly and effectively” when concerns arise.