About Helmshore Primary School

‘The overall quality of teaching is outstanding with major strengths in planning, in the exemplary use of on-going assessment, in very high expectations as to what pupils can achieve and in the fast pace to most lessons. Marking and feedback to pupils is highly effective. As a result pupils make rapid progress and pupils talk confidently about what they are doing. Teaching assistants provide valuable support especially with regard to disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, ensuring their needs are met fully. Parents and carers who replied to the questionnaire strongly agree that children are taught well. The highly experienced staff use their excellent subject knowledge well to deepen pupils’ knowledge and understanding. Teachers make effective use of the planned curriculum by ensuring pupils’ own interests are linked well into the chosen topics with plenty of opportunities provided for them to discuss their ideas.

There are many examples of provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development being built in well to what pupils are being asked to learn. For example, pupils have researched the life of Mary Seacole and, as a result, have improved their understanding of the importance of caring for others. There are major strengths in the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics and pupils are given plenty of opportunities to use these skills throughout the curriculum, but less so their ICT skills. Imaginatively planned learning opportunities, for example, the use of hot seating (a child taking on the role of a character from a book and being asked questions by other pupils) generates high levels of enthusiasm and commitment to learning. In an excellent mathematics lesson in lower Key Stage 2, pupils were actively engaged in exploring different signs to make number sentences. In another lesson, older pupils responded very well to the challenge of writing a letter to a manufacturer, evaluating the properties of a shoulder bag with one pupil ending his letter with the plea, ‘I hope you value my opinion.’ In the Early Years Foundation Stage, teachers and teaching assistants provide high quality, direct teaching of phonics (the sounds letters make), early writing and mathematics, which match individual needs accurately. They plan exciting, purposeful opportunities, indoors and out, to engage and interest children.’

Ofsted – 2012