The quality of teaching at Audlem school

Over the last few days we have been publishing sections of the recent Ofsted report on Audlem School.

Today we focus on what the inspectors said about the quality of teaching:

The quality of teaching is good

• The quality of teaching throughout the school has improved at a very good pace since the previous inspection, because of the positive ways that teachers have responded to the high expectation set by senior leaders.
• Training to improve teachers' subject knowledge and skills, with a special focus on writing, has been a main feature of improvement over the past year.
• There is effective promotion of pupils' speaking, listening and literacy skills. Pupils are encouraged to talk or to use drama as an introductory activity in order for them to produce some of their best writing.
• Pupils in Year 1, for example, acted out the adventure of a sea voyage after listening to a poem and were on their toes with excitement by the time it came for them to write. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 wrote some very moving poems about the First World War after discussing the feelings that soldiers may have experienced and re-enacting scenes from the trenches.
• The range and quality of writing generally across different subjects is commendable.
• Mathematics is also taught well. Pupils benefit from the good knowledge that staff have of the subject and so make good progress in their understanding of number and calculation skills.
• Pupils frequently apply those skills to solving number problems, but have fewer chances to test their knowledge and skills in more practical ways across different subjects.
• One successful mathematics activity took place outside of the classroom during the inspection, but this approach to mathematics learning does not feature often enough.
• There is also good teaching in other subjects. During the inspection, pupils were seen to do well in physical education and science lessons, as well as in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The quality of topic work in pupils' books is impressive.
• While work is generally suitable for the age-ranges and varying abilities of pupils, there are times when work is not hard enough, especially for most able pupils. In a science lesson for example, not enough was expected of some pupils when recording observations and drawing conclusions about the growth of seeds.
• Similarly, in a mathematics lesson, the most able pupils made slower progress than they were capable of because they spent time completing relatively simple tasks before starting more challenging work.
• Teaching resources are used well, including electronic whiteboards and laptops to help pupils learn.
• Teaching assistants contribute well in lessons and when working with individual pupils. They work effectively with class teachers, know the pupils' abilities well and deal sensitively with their particular needs.
• Assessments are used well to plan work and set new targets for pupils. Good questioning of pupils clarifies their level of understanding and gives pupils a say in planning their own learning. Marking in literacy books is good. It shows pupils clearly how to improve their work and pupils respond quickly to speed up their progress. This kind of effective marking is not seen in other subjects, however, so pupils are less able to re-think their work and take their learning to the next step.

Tomorrow we will focus on 'The behaviour and safety of pupils' which Ofsted rated as Outstanding.

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