Our Lady of Grace Catholic Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that teachers pick up when the most able pupils are ready to reason and deepen their understanding with precision, particularly in mathematics.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The headteacher has nurtured a talented team of senior and middle leaders who have been effective at improving the school further since the last inspection. Leaders are determined that all pupils should succeed. They accept no excuses for underachievement. Their strong moral purpose influences all aspects of school life. The headteacher insists that any weaknesses in provision are tackled with honesty and rigour but also with fairness. Pupils, staff and parents are inspired to do their best to live up to the headteacher’s very high expectations for commitment to learning.
• Leaders measure the impact of their work with exacting and frequent checks on the improvements that their actions are securing for pupils. They know about the progress of individuals and groups of pupils in great detail. Senior and middle leaders alike use this knowledge to ensure that teachers are effective in supporting pupils’ learning. They have a shared understanding of the school’s priorities for improvement and work towards a common goal as a result. This enables senior and middle leaders to tackle concerns about pupils’ progress coherently and promptly.
• Leaders make effective use of their links with another local school to check the accuracy of their assessments to help everyone understand and agree on high expectations for what pupils can achieve.
• Leaders make effective decisions about what to focus on when deciding on training for teaching staff. Support staff are subject to the same rigorous performance management procedures as teachers. As a result, they make an excellent contribution to pupils’ learning in all key stages.
• The curriculum is implemented effectively to ensure that pupils make strong progress across a wide range of subjects. Lessons provide excellent opportunities for pupils to consider social and moral issues. For example, pupils think and write about the moral purpose of rationing during the Second World War and link this to the school’s own values.
• Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is excellent. Pupils develop a deep and extensive understanding of the principles of democracy. They have written to their Member of Parliament, asking probing questions about his work in government. The most able pupils are challenged to think deeply about the decisions they might make if they had political power.
• Leaders make astute decisions about how to spend the pupil premium. As a result, disadvantaged pupils make progress that is at least similar to that of other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics, and often exceeds this. Disadvantaged pupils attend the school regularly and are able to participate fully in the wide range of clubs and activities on offer beyond the school day.
• Primary physical education and sport funding is used well to enhance the skills of teachers in physical education. The school has achieved significant success in local competitive sport as a result. Older pupils are provided with opportunities to experience what secondary school sport is like, preparing them well for the next stage of their education.
• Leaders make sure that there is effective provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They make well-considered decisions about the expenditure of funding. The impact of funding is rigorously monitored.

Governance of the school

• Governors have a thorough understanding of the school’s effectiveness. Senior and middle leaders provide a vast array of information which helps them understand how well pupils are learning and what leaders are working on to improve provision further. They make regular, sharply focused visits to the school to see at first hand the outcomes of leaders’ work.
• Governors make thorough and systematic checks on aspects of the school for which they are statutorily responsible. For example, training for safeguarding is kept under regular review. Governors understand how effectively additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is being used.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Senior leaders take prompt and effective action when concerns are raised about the well-being of pupils. Parents and staff agree with pupils that the arrangements for helping everyone stay safe are strong. The transition to the new school building has been very well managed so that the continuity of safeguarding arrangements has been seamless.
• Leaders provide effective training for staff, in which governors also participate. This helps them keep up to date with current guidance. Everyone is clear about the safeguarding issues that are most pertinent to the school’s community, including those related to the ‘Prevent’ duty.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teachers and support staff possess excellent subject knowledge and have a detailed understanding of pupils’ abilities. This enables them to set high expectations and plan interesting lessons which capture pupils’ interests. As a result, pupils’ progress is outstanding across a wide range of subjects.
• The teaching of phonics is accurate. Teachers make sure that pupils learn how to tackle and pronounce unfamiliar words with precision. They help pupils choose books that offer an excellent balance between challenge and accessibility. The school provides parents with a wide range of information and support to help them make the most of homework activities.
• In mathematics lessons, teachers promptly pick up on pupils’ mistakes and misconceptions, offering excellent support for the development of their calculation skills. They use assessment information well to offer the most able pupils effective opportunities to solve problems. This extends to the use of mathematics in other subjects. On occasion, however, some teachers do not identify when pupils may benefit from opportunities to deepen their understanding of mathematical concepts quite so skilfully.
• Pupils’ work in the current year demonstrates the rapid progress they make in applying their writing skills across a wide range of genres. Teachers ensure that pupils build rapidly on previous learning. For example, they provide effective guidance to help the less able pupils improve the way they use punctuation to organise their writing. The most able pupils are well supported to incorporate features of familiar authors’ styles into their own writing.
• In other subjects, teachers ensure that pupils make rapid progress in developing skills and knowledge. For example, in science, pupils quickly learn to recognise which questions are suitable for exploring through practical investigations and which they need to probe using research in books or on the internet.
• Teachers and support staff give pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities the confidence and advice they need to overcome difficulties and make rapid progress. They use assessment information well to ensure that lessons are adapted and reorganised to meet the needs of these pupils. At the same time, pupils who need additional support are not made to feel uncomfortable about asking for help or approaching learning in a different way from their peers.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils say that everyone feels connected to one another as part of a big family. This reassures them that there is someone to speak to if they need help. It ensures that sensitive or challenging issues can be discussed frankly and honestly. Pupils talk with immense pride about their achievements. They speak highly of the work of teachers to support their personal development. They understand and recognise the high expectations that teachers have for them to succeed.
• Pupils rapidly develop the confidence and ability to think deeply about the school’s values and apply them in their daily lives. Leaders make sure that pupils remain aware of current events, both locally and in the wider world.
• Pupils understand the importance of taking up roles of responsibility both in the school and in the wider community. They understand these roles and can describe the difference that they have made. They also understand the contribution others make to their well-being. For example, they can explain, with specific examples, the work of the premises manager to keep them safe.
• Pupils are adamant that bullying is extremely rare. They express confidence in their teachers’ work to help them understand how to become resilient to any discriminatory behaviour. They have a secure understanding of how to stay safe on the internet and when using social media.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils demonstrate a passion for learning and understand the central importance of education in their lives. They strive to do their very best in lessons. Pupils of all abilities demonstrate resilience in overcoming difficulties when tackling harder work. Lessons are rarely disrupted due to poor behaviour.
• During playtimes and transitions between lessons, pupils’ considerate and polite behaviour continues. Pupils understand the importance of behaving in a safe manner. They have adapted to the routines and environment of their brand-new school very quickly.
• Pupils want to come to school and learn. As a result, rates of attendance are much higher than those for similar schools nationally. Persistent absence rates are very low. In 2016, none of the pupils entitled to additional funding was persistently absent. When the attendance of any pupil begins to cause a concern, leaders respond rapidly and effectively with a skilful balance of encouragement and challenge to ensure that improvements are made.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Pupils achieve exceptionally well. This is because they make strong progress, whatever their starting point in learning. Pupils make similarly excellent progress in learning across a wide range of subjects. For example, in history, pupils quickly develop the ability to gather evidence about the way people lived in the past from a range of sources such as objects, diaries and artwork.
• The proportion of pupils who met the expected standard in 2016 in reading, writing and mathematics was above the national average. More pupils reached the highest standard in these subjects than in other schools nationally. Pupils’ progress was well above the national average in reading, above in mathematics and similar to pupils nationally overall in writing. Pupils’ current work shows that leaders’ focus on improving progress in writing has brought about rapid further improvements.
• The most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, make rapid progress across a wide range of subjects. Teachers have the necessary skills to ensure that these pupils are challenged effectively. However, some teachers are occasionally less astute at picking up when the most able pupils would benefit from opportunities to extend their reasoning or deepen their understanding in mathematics.
• Pupils build successfully on the outstanding progress they make in the early years in reading when they enter key stage 1. The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in the phonics screening check at the end of Year 1 has remained well above the national average for the last three years.
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve better in reading, writing and mathematics than other pupils nationally. They make rapid progress from their various starting points. Leaders have eliminated differences in outcomes between these pupils and their peers.
• Pupils who speak English as an additional language make similarly strong progress as other pupils. Teachers ensure that these pupils are given effective support to develop their language skills.
• Teachers and leaders ensure that pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make rapid progress. Pupils who need additional support are identified accurately and the provision made for them is evaluated regularly. This enables leaders to check that it is effective.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Children make outstanding progress in the early years. The proportion reaching a good level of development is consistently higher than that seen nationally. Many children achieve this standard from starting points that are lower than those typical for their age. Disadvantaged children achieve better than others nationally in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The activities offered to children both indoors and outdoors enable them to make rapid progress in their learning. This is because activities are selected skilfully after teachers have assessed children’s abilities. It is also due to the excellent support teachers and additional adults give children so they make the most of the activities on offer. For example, teachers expect the most able children to use accurate mathematical words such as ‘capacity’ when measuring liquids as soon as they can understand this.
• Support staff talk with children to provide encouragement and challenge. For example, during the inspection, children were rapidly learning how to use speech bubbles to write about the ideas and thoughts of a story character. Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are provided with effective support to ensure that they can learn well.
• Reading is taught well in the early years. Children make rapid progress, including those who speak English as an additional language.
• Parents receive detailed and comprehensible advice about how to help their child at home. This is often personal to each child and enables parents to make a significant contribution to the assessment of children’s progress.
• Safeguarding in the early years is effective. The staff are vigilant to any concerns that might emerge. They understand the school’s safeguarding procedures and keep up to date with the latest guidance.
• The behaviour of children and their attitudes to learning are exemplary. Members of staff make sure that children understand routines and expectations.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 100168 Greenwich 10023656 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils Gender of pupils 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 248 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Josephine Spittles Sean Small 0208 8582262 www.ourladyofgracecatholicprimaryschool.co.uk sao@ourladygrace.greenwich.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 22–23 February 2012

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is an average-sized primary school.
• The school meets the government’s floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of key stage 2.
• The proportion of pupils entitled to the pupil premium is average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is lower than average.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is higher than average, as is the proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups.
• In January 2017, pupils and staff moved into a new, purpose-built school adjacent to the site of its predecessor.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors made observations in lessons in all classes. Many of these observations were conducted jointly with senior leaders. Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during playtime and at lunchtime. A school assembly was also observed.
• Meetings were held with leaders and governors. Inspectors also held discussions with a representative of the local authority and the school improvement partner.
• Inspectors scrutinised a range of documents, including the school’s plans for improvement, self-evaluation, and information about pupils’ achievements and leaders’ monitoring records.
• Inspectors looked at safeguarding information and documents related to pupils’ behaviour.
• Inspectors met with parents informally at the end of the school day and considered 59 responses to the online Parent View questionnaire. Written responses from parents and outcomes of the electronic surveys available to staff and pupils during the inspection were also taken into account.
• Pupils’ work across a wide range of subjects was scrutinised.
• Inspectors met with a group of pupils. They heard pupils read.

Inspection team

Andrew Wright, lead inspector Bola Soneye-Thomas Edison David

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector