Cuerden Church School, Bamber Bridge

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 12 January 2023

Cuerden Church School is a happy and caring place to learn. The school's values of love, hope, trust, respect, compassion, courage and forgiveness underpin how pupils behave towards each other and to staff. The school community looks forward to celebrating these values each week as part of 'Being Brilliant' assemblies. Leaders encourage pupils, including children in the early years, to treat each other with respect and dignity. Pupils' behaviour is calm and purposeful. They work together sensibly and share their ideas eagerly. Pupils persevere when they find things difficult. They said that teachers will help them if they need it. Pupils are keen to earn behaviour points that count towards gold and platinum behaviour awards. Pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well across a range of subjects. Most pupils live up to the high expectations and aspirations that leaders have for them. Pupils are proud of their school. They appreciate leaders' support for their well-being. Pupils know what bullying is and why it is wrong. Leaders act quickly to resolve any problems that arise. This helps pupils to feel safe in school. At breaktimes, pupils play well together, having fun as they make use of the equipment and the activities that staff provide for them. Older pupils relish opportunities, such as leading assemblies and acting as school councillors. Pupils enjoy visits from members of the community, which helps to broaden their knowledge of the local area.

What the school should improve

• Leaders have recently introduced a new phonics curriculum. Some staff are still honing their expertise in delivering this programme. This means that on occasion, some aspects of the phonics programme are not delivered as leaders intend. Leaders should ensure that staff are supported to deliver the phonics programme consistently well.
• In a small number of subjects, leaders have not finalised the knowledge that they want pupils to learn. As a result, some teachers are not clear enough about the most important knowledge that should be taught and checked. This leads to gaps in some pupils' knowledge over time. Leaders should make sure that teachers are clear about the knowledge that pupils should learn and when this should be taught.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)