St Antony's Catholic Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Enhance leadership at all levels by:
  • clarifying roles and responsibilities for all leaders, including governors
  • sharpening the school’s written improvement plan, including clear lines of accountability.
• Improve the consistency and accuracy of assessment across all year groups, including in the early years, by:
  • considering starting points of pupils when assessing progress
  • ensuring that all pupils are given effective guidance in order to develop their learning.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders have established an ambitious culture for the school. The headteacher provides clear leadership and her high expectations act as an example to staff and pupils.
• The headteacher knows pupils, families and the community well. She is well respected by parents and carers, who describe her as ‘motivating and inspirational’. She is beginning to form a stable leadership team, who are working well together. While the collaborative approach has some strengths, less clarity is evident as to where precise responsibilities lie.
• Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength of the school and prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain. Pupils recognise boundaries and understand consequences of their behaviour. They understand the need to support those less fortunate through fund-raising events, for example through a cultural fashion show and a bake-off.
• Pupils are able to express points of view and present balanced arguments. Regular opportunities for pupils to be reflective about their own beliefs and respect different faiths lead to their secure understanding. When discussing the diversity of cultures in school, one pupil wrote, ‘We work together, pray together, dance together and play together.’
• The school makes good use of the sports funding. This has included working in partnership with neighbouring schools to develop competitive sports. The funding has also enabled training for staff, through working with a specialist. A broad range of after-school clubs includes football, basketball, dance and karate.
• The headteacher is clear about barriers that disadvantaged pupils face. Support is in place to ensure that this group achieves well, including the most able disadvantaged pupils. However, the pupil premium strategy does not fully reflect the positive work the school does.
• Pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities have individual plans which summarise their needs. Plans do not clearly identify what the next steps are for pupils to improve their learning. Leaders recognise that training for teaching assistants, to meet the specific needs of some pupils, is a priority.
• Professional training and development for teachers includes working within the Newham cluster of schools. Teachers find this partnership effective in sharing ideas and strategies, for example for improving behaviour management. Targets for staff are clear and identify priorities for training. An external adviser effectively supports governors with the performance management of the headteacher.
• Pupils have access to a broad curriculum and many subjects are effectively led by specialist teachers. The school works with other providers to enrich the curriculum. For example, they are currently working with York University to make science more inspiring for pupils.
• Leaders know what the school needs to do to improve and are clear about the priorities. The school development plan is clear but brief. It does not reflect the positive work of leaders to improve outcomes for pupils.

Governance of the school

• Governors have high aspirations of what all pupils can achieve and see inclusion as every child’s right. Governors attend school events regularly and are involved in presenting awards and judging competitions. They are actively involved in the day-to-day activities of the school.
• Governors engage fully with a variety of training opportunities in order to further develop their role. They use a skills audit to plan for governor vacancies. However, minutes from meetings are too brief and do not reflect the depth of their decisions and discussions.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The school’s checks on the suitability of staff are complete. Minor administrative issues were swiftly rectified during the inspection. Leaders and governors agree that making more regular checks of records would avoid this issue happening in future.
• The majority of staff are clear about procedures for keeping pupils safe. Regular training for staff ensures that they can identify signs and symptoms of abuse. Recent training has included an awareness of pupils at risk of female genital mutilation and pupils at risk of radicalisation (the ‘Prevent’ duty). The designated safeguarding lead works effectively with external agencies to support pupils and their families.
• Pupils said that they feel safe. This view is supported by parents. Pupils spoke confidently about how to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet. Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Positive working relationships in school provide a successful basis for learning. Where subject knowledge is secure, teachers effectively capture the interests of pupils and progress at these times is better.
• Standards of presentation in pupils’ work are consistently high in all curriculum areas across the school. This good-quality writing is evident across the curriculum and skills are successfully transferred to other learning. In mathematics, pupils can identify the skills needed to tackle a problem. For example, pupils spoke confidently about which number operation they would use to solve the problem. They could justify why it was the best choice.
• Phonics sessions are effective, based on teachers’ secure subject knowledge. Pupils develop skills effectively and are able to apply them to reading and writing. Pupils are confident readers and clearly use a variety of strategies to decode words. They demonstrate effective comprehension of what they are reading and use different context clues to support their understanding.
• Teachers set high expectations for what pupils should be achieving and this helps to raise standards overall. However, on occasion, activities are not set at the correct level, particularly for the least and most able, to enable them to achieve their potential.
• Teaching and learning in music are exceptional. Pupils sing beautifully in harmony, using dynamics to shape the mood of the song effectively. Pupils are encouraged to lead learning in singing and accompany the music teacher with percussion instruments. All pupils join in with enthusiasm.
• Additional adults support learning effectively during phonics sessions. However, their support is not consistent across other subjects and in other classes.
• Where teachers’ subject knowledge is weaker, the level of challenge is not evident. Pupils lose interest and do not make the progress of which they are capable.
• Not all teachers consistently follow the school’s assessment policy.
• The school’s assessment information is not accurate. Pupils are working at a much higher level than the school’s tracking system would suggest. Leaders acknowledge that they prefer teachers to be over-cautious.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils are confident and polite, and show tremendous respect for each another. Older pupils enjoy responsibilities and carry these out effectively. For example, at wet playtimes they are allocated a younger class to support.
• Pupils take pride in their work. This is evident in consistently well-presented work and the way that they listen attentively to instructions from teachers.
• Pupils know how to be successful learners, because staff remind them regularly. In some classes, time is given for pupils to talk about their learning. When this happens, pupils work well together and support one another.
• Pupils talked about how they have learned about the importance of physical activity and how it helps you to be healthy.
• All parents and staff who responded to the Ofsted questionnaires expressed the view that the school keeps pupils safe. Pupils reported that bullying is extremely rare, and, if it does occur, it is dealt with swiftly and effectively.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils move around school sensibly and respond swiftly to teachers’ instructions.
• All groups of pupils attend well. Attendance is consistently above national averages.
• Behaviour in some classes is impeccable. When the pupils are together as a whole school, behaviour is exceptional.
• On occasion, teaching does not motivate and engage pupils. When this happens, pupils lose concentration and minor behaviour incidents occur.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• In 2016 and 2017, standards at the end of key stage 2 were exceptionally high in all subjects.
• Pupils’ progress is consistently strong in all subjects, being well above national averages.
• Standards at the end of key stage 1 are well above national averages.
• Pupils supported by the pupil premium grant achieve positive outcomes. This is because staff are skilled at removing any barriers to their learning. As a result, in 2017, this group of pupils achieved as well as their peers nationally.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are provided with additional resources that enable them to access a range of interesting activities. As a result, pupils make good progress.
• Teaching during the school day is good and leads to good progress. The exceptional progress by some pupils is due, in parts, to the intense homework programme and additional daily early morning sessions. In addition, some parents pay for pupils to attend sessions on a Saturday.
• Pupils are very well prepared for the next stage in their education.
• The quality of work produced across a broad range of subjects is of a high quality. Good progress is evident in books for the majority of pupils.
• Progress in learning in one year group was outstanding. This is not consistently sustained in other year groups.

Early years provision Good

• The proportion of children achieving a good level of development is consistently above national averages. Children are well prepared for Year 1.
• Children behave well. They respect the staff and are keen to please them. They respond positively to the well-established routines. Working relationships between children and staff are warm and positive.
• Teachers’ strong subject knowledge leads to children achieving well. This is particularly evident in phonics, when children use skills to write sentences independently.
• Teachers demonstrate new skills effectively for children. They have high expectations and children respond well to this. Work produced is of a high standard in English and mathematics.
• A rich and stimulating environment encourages children to work independently, improve concentration levels and develop social skills.
• Staff work as a team to promote the welfare of children. They understand and adhere to the school’s safeguarding procedures and concerns are referred to the designated safeguarding lead in a timely manner.
• Parents support children in their learning through regular homework activities.
• The early years lead is new to role and works in partnership with the Reception teacher and headteacher. Leaders said that a supportive system is in place. They work well together. However, clarity about roles and responsibilities is not evident.
• Work in children’s books shows that they make good progress. This is not reflected in the school’s assessment system. It is not clear what children need to do to improve their learning. The report to parents for two-year-olds is detailed. However, it does not include the key areas that it should.
• Children who are supported by pupil premium grant are swiftly identified. Progress for this group is positive; however, outcomes are below those of other children.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 131926 Newham 10045053 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary aided 2 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 482 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Andrew Corriette Angela Moore 020 8552 3670 www.stantonyscatholicprimary.co.uk info@st-antonys-jun.newham.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 6–7 February 2013

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about: examination and assessment results, curriculum, pupil and sports premium funding, or the special educational needs report on its website.
• The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is well above average.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium grant is in line with that found nationally. The proportion of those who have SEN and/or disabilities is below national averages.
• Pupils are taught in single-year classes in all year groups. In the early years, there are two Reception classes and two Nursery classes, offering morning and afternoon sessions. The school has provision for two-year-old children.
• The school runs Saturday learning sessions which are available to all pupils. Daily focused sessions begin at 8am for pupils in Year 5 and Year 6. In addition, there are a range of after-school activities.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors made visits to classrooms across the school, some jointly with the headteacher. Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour and attitudes in classrooms, at breaktimes and at lunchtimes.
• Individual pupils and different groups of pupils spoke with inspectors to discuss their learning and views of the school. Inspectors listened to pupils read and discussed their reading with them. Inspectors also looked at samples of pupils’ work across subjects and year groups.A range of documents was considered, including the school’s development plan, self-evaluation documentation, information about pupil progress and attendance, behaviour logs and safeguarding arrangements.Meetings were held with staff, two governors and a representative from the local authority.Inspectors took account of the 70 online responses by parents to Ofsted’s questionnaire, Parent View. In addition, they gathered the views of several parents during informal meetings at the school.Inspectors took account of views from 18 staff in response to staff questionnaires. There were no responses to the pupil questionnaire. 

Inspection team

Donna Chambers, lead inspector David Bryant Kusum Trikha Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector