St Wilfrid's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further improve the good quality of teaching and pupils’ good achievement by:
  • ensuring that teachers plan more consistently to challenge the most able pupils
  • ensuring that pupils routinely complete their work
  • making sure that assistance is available in a timely manner on the few occasions when pupils are struggling with their work in class.
• Review the current provision for the small number of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities who are making only slow progress and research alternatives which could help them to accelerate their learning.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher, deputy and middle leaders work effectively as a team to ensure that the quality of provision for all groups of pupils continues to improve. Their collective work has ensured that, since the previous inspection, the quality of teaching has improved and pupils’ achievement has risen substantially.
• Since the previous inspection, leaders have drawn on advice from other bodies such as Gateshead local authority and the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. As a consequence, key areas of the school’s work are now much better, for example provision for mathematics and teaching in general.
• The school’s self-evaluation is accurate and the development plan addresses any perceived weaknesses. These become areas for improvement with appropriate timescales and specified impact. The local authority has helped the school in the monitoring of the annual plan to ensure that intended improvements materialise quickly enough.
• Staff morale is excellent. Members of staff, at all levels, work very effectively as a team to ensure that the school does all it can to provide a good quality of education for its pupils. The team places great emphasis on ensuring that pupils who arrive from outside the United Kingdom feel safe and well supported.
• Teachers and their assistants are keen to learn and improve. They observe their colleagues’ lessons to enable them to develop new skills and techniques. Leaders monitor lessons rigorously and provide advice on what teachers and classroom assistants have done well and what they need to do to improve their practice. There is, however, still scope to improve teaching further, particularly in relation to the more consistent provision of work to match the needs of the most able pupils.
• Leaders scrutinise pupils’ books to check on the progress that pupils are making. In carrying out this exercise, leaders are not ensuring that teachers are insisting that pupils complete their work.
• Staff make effective use of a tracking system to monitor the progress that pupils are making. When individual pupils do not make expected progress, the school always finds ways of providing extra help which usually enables them to overcome barriers to learning.
• Although the curriculum puts a strong emphasis on pupils’ personal development, reading, writing and mathematics, this is not, in any sense, to the exclusion of everything else. Leaders ensure that pupils have the opportunity to study all of the subjects of the national curriculum, often in an interesting and stimulating manner. The development of pupils’ skills in art and design is particularly strong.
• Leaders provide many extra-curricular activities for pupils after school. These are supplemented by the many visitors and volunteers that the school welcomes, together with visits to many attractions in locations across the United Kingdom. These extra activities help to promote pupils’ good understanding of British values and the cultures that make up modern Britain. Pupils also learn about other countries and their customs, for example through the celebrations of Chinese New Year.
• The school uses its primary school sport and physical education (PE) funding well to provide specialist teaching in a range of sports and activities such as football, netball, gymnastics and a games club that the school could not otherwise provide.
• Equality of opportunity has a high profile and the school spends its pupil premium and special needs funding in ways that ensure that most of the disadvantaged pupils and those with the greatest need make the progress that they should.
• Leaders ensure that they keep good contact with pupils’ parents. They conduct surveys to gauge parents’ views and to identify any areas of concern that they might have. Many members of staff make themselves accessible to parents at the beginning and end of the school day to make them feel welcome and valued. The school provides a well-organised breakfast club at the beginning of each school day to help parents who need to leave home early to go to work.

Governance of the school

• Governance has been strengthened since the previous inspection.
  • Governors have a good grasp of the school’s strong features and know what needs to be improved.
  • They constantly probe and challenge in and outside meetings to do their best to ensure that the school is developing as quickly as possible and doing all that it can for the pupils.
  • The governing body plays a full part in ensuring that performance management arrangements are sufficiently robust and that the school reviews and adheres to its policies in a timely fashion.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective because there are clear systems in place that members of staff adhere to consistently. Child protection and safeguarding procedures have a very high profile in the daily life of the school.
• The site is very secure and there is plenty of adult supervision at all times. Pupils say that they feel safe and that there is always an adult on hand if they need advice or help.
• Very effective checking of the identities of all adults who work with, or have access to, pupils is firmly embedded into the school’s procedures for recruitment of staff and the checking of visitors at reception. Records relating to all employees, governors and volunteers meet all requirements.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Good and improving teaching is enabling pupils in all year groups to progress well, not just in reading, writing and mathematics, but in the other subjects of the national curriculum too. This means that pupils are benefiting from a fully rounded education.
• Teachers and their assistants know how quickly pupils need to progress if they are to reach age-related targets or work at greater depth.
• Typically, teachers and their assistants manage their classes well. They have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and insist that there is no disruption to learning. This means that pupils can concentrate on their work, or discuss it with others, without distraction.
• Teachers plan to challenge the most able pupils with more difficult work but there are occasions where they could move them on much more quickly. For example, pupils sometimes have to listen to explanations to the whole class about work that they already fully understand.
• Teachers and their assistants usually cater for the less able and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities well. Frequently, the assistants can be found sitting with groups of less-able pupils or new arrivals from outside the United Kingdom to ensure that they make good progress. They adapt the exercises that other pupils are doing or provide work at an easier but still challenging level.
• Occasionally in lessons, teachers do not notice quickly enough that a few pupils are not making sufficient progress. This means that on these infrequent occasions, valuable learning time is wasted.
• Leaders compile accurate assessments of pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics. They always intervene when individual pupils are not making enough progress and do their best to provide extra help to enable them to speed up. Frequently this extra help is provided by trained classroom assistants and volunteers on a one-to-one basis.
• Teachers provide feedback for pupils about the quality of the work they have produced. They always identify incomplete work but do not consistently ensure that pupils actually make improvements.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils consistently benefit from an education that very effectively supports their good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. It provides them with a strong moral code where a wide range of cultures are fully explored and respected, and where there is clear differentiation between right and wrong.
• Pupils say that they feel safe in school and that if bullying should occur they are confident that the adults would be very effective in dealing with it. Anti-bullying week teaches pupils about all types of bullying and indicates very clearly who they should approach if they are threatened. Pupils are keen to take responsibility, for example through the school council, and taking turns in helping members of staff to provide a safe environment during playtime.
• Leaders ensure that the school provides a harmonious environment where the school motto, ‘We love, learn and grow with God’, has an exceptionally high profile. Pupils benefit from the celebration of the contribution of all its pupils from their very wide range of origins and cultures.
• Pupils benefit substantially from the visits of volunteers who help them to learn to read. They also benefit from the visits to attractions such as the Baltic and Hatton Gallery, and going on the train to places as far away as London to visit the Houses of Parliament. They gather a very good understanding of topics such as democracy and the rule of law.
• Participation in activities connected with the Prince William Award help to build character, increase resilience and confidence and empower pupils to ‘be their best’. Pupils say that they enjoy taking part in extra-curricular activities such as the athletics and dance festivals, orienteering and canoeing. The visits of the artist Korky Paul really open pupils’ eyes to the ways in which they can express themselves through drawing and painting.
• Many of the school’s pupils develop skills as independent learners, reading and studying extensively at home, but quite a number are still very dependent on the adults who work with them for strong support in their personal development. Some pupils develop the skills of being able to persevere with their work and concentrate for long periods.
• Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe and acquire a secure knowledge of potential threats to their welfare, for example, those posed by the Metro, railways or the internet, if used unwisely.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are polite, friendly and helpful. They fully respect and accept differences in terms of ethnic origins and cultures which are different from their own.
• Behaviour is good in class and when pupils move around the school, have lunch or play outside. Occasionally, however, a few pupils become inattentive during explanations.
• Pupils are happy in school and most are keen to learn. They fully respect the adults who work with them. Instances of misbehaviour are infrequent, as are bullying and racist incidents. In the last year there have been no exclusions for poor conduct.
• Pupils’ attendance has improved recently and persistent absence has reduced in response to the concerted efforts made by staff. Leaders do their best to ensure that pupils do not become disadvantaged by missing out on their education. Previous yearly figures for pupils’ attendance have been adversely affected by families moving suddenly to other locations in the United Kingdom and their children not being removed from the school roll. Punctuality to school has improved since the introduction of the 10-minute window for arrival each morning. Punctuality to school and to lessons is now good.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils’ achievement is improving in response to teaching, which is better than at the time of the previous inspection. Differences in attainment between disadvantaged pupils in the school and others nationally are diminishing as all pupils are now progressing more quickly than previously in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Year 6 national test results in 2017 showed that pupils’ progress from Year 2 was similar to the national picture in reading and writing and exceeded it in mathematics. A similar proportion of pupils were working at greater depth compared with other pupils nationally. Disadvantaged pupils’ progress was slightly better than that of other pupils nationally because they had been supported effectively through the school’s pupil premium funding.
• It is often difficult to compare current progress in the various year groups because this is a small school and a single pupil in some year groups can have a significant effect on percentages. An increasing number of pupils who arrive from outside the United Kingdom at varying times throughout the school year also affect percentages of pupils of particular ages reaching or exceeding age-related expectations because some arrive with no knowledge of English.
• Looking at current pupils in Years 3 to 6, taken as a whole, it is clear that those who joined the school in Nursery or Reception are reaching or exceeding age-related expectations in reading, writing and mathematics in at least similar proportions to those who do so nationally. They are also doing well in other subjects, especially science, where they benefit from a programme which enables them to make predictions, carry out experiments and write reports.
• Many pupils in these year groups write well at length for a variety of audiences. Their spelling, grammar and punctuation are good. In mathematics in Year 6, many pupils are very confident with multiplication and division of whole numbers and decimals. Currently they are learning how to calculate missing angles in geometrical figures. Typically, they read fluently with expression.
• Later arrivals to the school from outside the United Kingdom are also progressing well, particularly in terms of settling into school and learning to speak English. They have considerable help through working one-to-one with teaching assistants or volunteers and quickly learn to participate in the daily life of the school.
• In 2017, assessments at the end of Year 2 revealed that the proportion of pupils reaching and exceeding age-related expectations was similar to that found nationally in reading and mathematics but below it in writing. Year 1 phonics test results were above average. Current progress in Years 1 and 2 is similar to that found in other year groups, especially for pupils who arrived in Nursery or Reception.
• The large majority of the school’s pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are progressing well in reading, writing and mathematics in response to the good quality of extra help that they are receiving. Nevertheless, there is a small group of pupils who have SEN across the age range who, despite the current best efforts of the school, are still progressing too slowly.
• Pupils develop sufficient skills in reading, writing, mathematics, science and other subjects to enable them to cope with the demands of a Year 7 curriculum when they transfer to secondary school.

Early years provision Good

• The school now provides much better provision for early years children than at the time of the previous inspection. Two years ago, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development was below the national average. Improvements in teaching and better facilities meant that in 2017, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development was similar to that found nationally. This represented good achievement because children joined Nursery with skills and abilities that were lower than those typical for their ages.
• In 2017, most Reception children were ready to transfer to Year 1 because they had all met most of the early learning goals. Most children reached these goals in reading, writing and number too but a few were actually well behind expectations in these areas. This weakness has now become a focus for further development in the setting, especially as children join Nursery with skills and abilities in communication and language which are well below those typical for their ages. Several of the small number of children who were well behind expectations for their ages in reading and writing on leaving reception in 2017 have still not caught up in Year 1.
• Children enjoy their work in the setting where there is an effective balance of adult-led activities and the ones that the children choose for themselves. Members of staff have given a great amount of thought to the provision of inside and outside areas. These are not only very inviting for children, but are designed to develop their skills, particularly reading, writing and number. Members of staff take every opportunity to engage children in conversation to increase their vocabulary while they are engaged with activities.
• Children relate well to the adults who work with them and trust them. Good behaviour for learning underpins the good progress that they make. Children listen well and are keen to volunteer answers to questions. There is however, still further scope for teachers to plan to challenge further the most able children with more demanding activities.
• Good imaginative teaching enables children to progress well in their learning. The teaching of phonics and number is rapid, compelling and effective. Children soon learn the sounds that letters and combinations of them make. They quickly learn to count and can apply their knowledge to answer questions. Teachers and their assistants make accurate assessments of children’s progress and use them to identify any gaps in their learning or development.
• The setting uses its pupil premium funding well to provide extra help for disadvantaged children, often on a one-to-one basis. Members of staff ensure that all children have plenty of attention and feel that they are special.
• All safeguarding arrangements are effective and the setting is perfectly secure. Children’s personal development and welfare have a high profile and members of staff are good at spotting individual needs and catering for them. The adults who work in the early years setting make themselves available to welcome children and their parents each morning and frequently discuss progress with them at the end of the day.
• The early years setting benefits from good leadership. Evidence of this is reflected in the very considerable amount of improvement since the previous inspection and the quality of the activities provided for the children.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 108400 Gateshead 10042159 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 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 126 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Philip Cunningham Elizabeth Wright 01914 771 909 www.Stwilfridsrcprimary.org

stwilfridsrcprimaryschool@gateshead.gov.uk

Date of previous inspection 10-11 February 2016

Information about this school

• St. Wilfrid’s RC Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The majority of pupils are White British but an increasing proportion join the school, other than at the usual time, from countries outside the United Kingdom.
• An above average proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language.
• Pupil premium funding supports an above-average proportion of pupils.
• A greater-than-average proportion of pupils have SEN and/or disabilities.
• The school provides a breakfast club at the beginning of each school day.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed 15 lessons, five jointly with the headteacher. He observed pupils in all year groups being taught at least once and looked at a wide range of written work in English, mathematics and other subjects.
• He held meetings with the headteacher, subject leaders, the SEN coordinator, governors, a group of pupils, a group of parents and representatives from Gateshead local authority and the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.
• The inspector looked at a wide range of documentation, including the school’s review of its performance, development planning, records of pupils’ progress, attendance records, incident logs and safeguarding procedures.
• He listened to several pupils from Year 6 reading aloud individually.
• The inspector took account of 13 responses to the staff questionnaire, the school’s survey of parents’ views, seven responses to the pupils’ questionnaire and nine free-text messages from parents. There were insufficient responses to Parent View to perform an analysis.

Inspection team

John Paddick, lead inspector

Ofsted Inspector