SS Peter and Paul RC Voluntary Aided Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve leadership and management by:
  • continuing to diminish the difference in the rates of progress made by disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally who have similar starting points, including the most able disadvantaged pupils
  • developing systems to assess and track the progress of pupils in subject-specific skills across the curriculum other than in English and mathematics
  • developing the skills of subject leaders in evaluating the quality of provision and the impact of planned actions within their subject.
• Improve teaching, learning and assessment by:
  • ensuring that work is well matched to pupils’ needs and abilities and provides suitable challenge for all, especially for the most able pupils
  • continuing to accelerate the rates of progress that all pupils make in their learning, especially in mathematics.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since the previous inspection, the headteacher has been unwavering in her determination to maintain an excellent standard of education for pupils in this school. She has been supported well by the deputy headteacher, senior leaders, governors and the local authority.
• The whole school team have worked very hard to eliminate underperformance, improve the quality of teaching and accelerate the rates of progress that pupils make in their learning. The ambition and determination to improve all aspects of school life, including from dedicated and knowledgeable governors, is being maintained.
• The headteacher has taken decisive action to continually improve the quality of teaching and, as a result, current pupils are making improved rates of progress in their learning in all subjects. Leaders have been swift to identify the causes of a dip in pupils’ progress in mathematics across key stage 2 in 2017 statutory data. Their rigorous and determined action to improve teachers’ skills and mathematical subject knowledge further has resulted in rapid improvements in current pupils’ progress and attainment.
• Leaders and governors have an accurate view of what the school does well, and what it needs to do to be even more successful. Procedures to monitor and evaluate the quality of the school’s performance through checking the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ progress are incisive and detailed. The skills of leaders of subjects other than English and mathematics need to be strengthened and improved further so that the impact of planned actions is rigorously monitored and evaluated. This also includes actions to assess and track pupils’ progress in creative and foundation subjects, which are not fully developed.
• Leaders’ plans for further improvements reflect a clear view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, with which inspectors concur. The school improvement plan is very detailed and carefully targets planned actions to improve outcomes for pupils in their learning. Targets to measure success are ambitious and challenging. Regular evaluation and the tracking of actions ensure that no time is wasted to drive further improvements.
• The school’s curriculum is rich and balanced, and reviewed regularly to ensure that it meets pupils’ needs and interests. The curriculum is designed to make sure that it provides inspiration and engagement for pupils. They benefit from visitors to school such as historical role-play actors, and make visits out of school across the region, such as to a local Roman fort, the beach or a gurdwara. The curriculum is enhanced by a suitably wide range of after-school clubs such as the cooking, coding, arts and sports clubs.
• Leaders are managing pupil premium spending effectively to provide targeted support for disadvantaged pupils. This support is regularly evaluated for its impact on pupils’ learning, and amended as a result. The positive impact of this support is seen through the improving progress made by current disadvantaged pupils across the school. Differences are diminishing between their achievement and that of other pupils nationally with the same starting points, and have been eliminated between their peers in some year groups. The school acknowledges that further work is still required to accelerate this group of pupils’ progress, and especially that of the most able disadvantaged pupils.
• The strong and very skilled leadership of the special educational needs coordinator has resulted in high-quality provision for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are supported extremely well. Their needs are identified early and their good progress, often in small steps, is tracked accurately. Consequently, the SEN funding is used effectively by leaders.
• The physical education and sport funding for schools has been used well. Teachers benefit from continuing professional development, ensuring that pupils access good-quality teaching in their one hour of physical education per week. A much-increased proportion of pupils engage regularly in competitive sports, as well as participating in a range of after-school clubs. Effective links are made with local sports clubs, and pupils are able to write reports for the school website of their sporting involvement and achievement.
• The school receives targeted challenge and support from local authority representatives and specialist teachers, and benefits from cross-school support and training with local schools. This has been effective in driving forward improvements in school.

Governance of the school

• Governors bring a range of appropriate professional skills and experience to the school that enhance the effectiveness and impact of the whole governing body. They share the passion and commitment of the headteacher and senior leaders and have effectively managed recent changes in staffing. Governors’ meetings, including the teaching and learning committee meetings, allow them to question school leaders and hold them to account for the quality of teaching, learning and assessment, as well as for pupils’ outcomes.
• Governors make it their business to know about the work of the school and have an accurate and incisive view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They have ensured, along with the headteacher and senior leaders, that the school’s priorities are intrinsically embedded in the performance management of all adults. Governors participate in monitoring activities alongside senior leaders, such as analysing work in pupils’ books and making short visits to classes.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are very effective. The long-established culture of keeping pupils safe remains evident. Leaders ensure that a culture of safeguarding is embedded among all staff and they leave no stone unturned in their duty to keep pupils safe.
• The school has a tangible ethos that is positive and caring, putting the welfare and well-being of each pupil at the heart of all that it does. This is clearly seen in the friendly and confident manner of the pupils in school. The curriculum supports pupils well in maintaining their own safety, including keeping themselves safe online.
• Policies, procedures and records are of extremely high quality. Staff training is thorough and up to date, including training to ensure that pupils are kept safe from the risk of extremism and online dangers. Registers of staff training are completed diligently. Staff have access to well-written policies and guidance and, as a result, have a very secure understanding of their individual responsibilities for safeguarding.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The quality of teaching has improved since the school was previously inspected, and continues to improve. The impact of teaching on learning, including in reading, writing and mathematics, is reflected in the accelerating rates of progress that current pupils now make in each year group. This has not always been the case, and the school is aware that pupils must continue to make strong progress in their learning, especially in mathematics.
• Lessons are usually lively and interesting, capturing pupils’ imagination. For example in Year 5, the teacher’s use of the front pages of real newspapers to identify their key features engaged pupils in their task of writing their own front page.
• Teachers use their good subject knowledge to structure learning effectively. For example, most pupils in Year 6 were able to solve complex mathematical problems using brackets and squared numbers as the teacher broke the task down into manageable steps. Pupils were challenged to spot the errors in a number of incorrect completed equations, consolidating their understanding.
• Teachers have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour, and stick closely to the school’s behaviour policy. The school has identified five key aspects of positive behaviours for learning which are understood, valued and applied by most pupils, who enjoy collecting house points as rewards for applying these behaviours in lessons. Very occasional low-level disruption, often as a result of the slowing of the pace in learning when pupils lose concentration, is addressed quickly and effectively.
• Work is usually pitched well according to pupils’ abilities, and teachers are skilled at adapting and changing plans based on ongoing daily assessments of how well pupils grasp learning. On some occasions, work does not provide sufficient challenge, especially for most-able and most-able disadvantaged pupils.
• In mathematics, basic skills of number and mental calculation are taught daily and consolidated regularly. For example, Year 3 pupils were able to partition two-digit numbers to correctly solve multiplication problems. Pupils in Year 5 used mathematical reasoning to solve two-step word problems involving the division of large sums of money by 100 or 1000.
• Pupils write with enthusiasm and imagination, clearly enjoying writing activities. Year 2 pupils enjoyed learning how to describe a scene or setting using adventurous vocabulary. Pupils in Year 6 used their skills at skimming and scanning text in the book ‘The boy in the striped pyjamas’ by John Boyne, before writing a diary entry as the main character from the book, Bruno.
• As a result of the rigorous and systematic teaching of phonics, children are getting off to a fast start in their reading. Adults are skilled in teaching well-structured lessons, pitched well according to pupils’ reading skills. The proportion of pupils who met the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check was above that found nationally.
• Teaching assistants are deployed well, and are skilled at giving timely help and support to individuals and groups of pupils. They work well as part of the teaching team and play an important part in pupils’ progress in their learning.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. The school’s inclusion coordinator plays a key role in ensuring the well-being and emotional development of all pupils.
• Pupils show respect and care for each other. They value their classmates’ opinions, and are used to working happily and co-operatively in lessons. Pupils’ skills in speaking and listening in paired and group discussions are good.
• Pupils’ attitudes to learning are good, and most are very keen to succeed and to always produce their very best work. Occasionally, some older pupils’ handwriting skills require further improvement. Pupils take their roles of responsibility in the school community very seriously. They are proud to be school councillors or playtime buddies.
• Pupils thrive in the well-ordered, positive and caring school environment. Displays are of good quality, bright and attractive and support learning well. The school’s work to ensure that pupils’ physical and emotional well-being are valued and developed is very effective.
• Pupils report that they feel safe at all times, including when working online. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness and development is very good. Pupils talked convincingly to an inspector about how they learned about people and their faith from other countries and cultures, and following the visit by two members of staff to China, have close ties to a school in Chengdu.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• The strong relationships that are nurtured in school ensure that pupils usually conduct themselves well in lessons and around school. Pupils are polite and have good manners. Playtimes are harmonious occasions where pupils play happily together with a range of equipment at lunchtime, and no-one is left out.
• Pupils enjoy their learning and mostly work conscientiously. Incidents of low-level disruption are rare. Behaviour systems encourage positive attitudes to learning and the few incidents of misbehaviour are swiftly and deftly addressed.
• The relationships pupils have with adults and with each other are warm and trusting. Consequently, pupils enjoy coming to school, as can be seen in their attendance. The school has worked hard to eradicate low rates of attendance, which is now broadly average, with no group of pupils disadvantaged by low rates of attendance or persistent absence.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils’ progress and attainment have remained strong since the school was previously inspected, apart from an unexpected dip in the progress and attainment in mathematics at the end of key stage 2 in 2017. The school has accurately identified the main issues causing this dip and has rigorously addressed any weaknesses.
• Work in pupils’ books from the previous and current academic years, observations in lessons and the school’s own tracking data show clearly that current pupils are making consistently strong progress in both English and mathematics. The decline in mathematics appears to have been successfully reversed.
• Pupils are making consistently strong progress across Years 1 and 2. The proportion of pupils who attained the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics in the 2017 provisional Year 2 national data was above national figures in writing, reading and mathematics. A slightly smaller proportion of pupils to that found nationally were working at a greater depth of understanding, especially most-able disadvantaged pupils.
• Pupils make a solid start in their early reading skills, and a very large majority of pupils achieved well in the 2016 and 2017 national phonics screening check. The proportion who met the standard in both years was above that found nationally.
• Progress is now accelerating across key stage 2. In the 2017 national assessments, provisional data shows that the proportion of Year 6 pupils who met the expected standard was in line with, or above, that found nationally in reading and writing, but below in mathematics. Current pupils are making strong progress in their learning from their individual starting points in most year groups, with a much larger proportion working at standards expected for their age across the school.
• The progress of the current most able and most able disadvantaged pupils is improving, and has accelerated since the start of the school year. The proportion of pupils achieving a high score or working at a greater depth of understanding in 2017 is below that found nationally, especially for the most able disadvantaged pupils. The proportion of pupils currently working at such a greater depth is not as high as it could be, because the work set is not consistently challenging for those pupils capable of having their understanding stretched further.
• As a result of the effective and strategic use of the pupil premium funding, current disadvantaged pupils make good progress in English and mathematics, outstripping their peers’ progress in some subjects in some year groups. Over time, there has been a difference in the progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils compared to other pupils nationally, but this is diminishing quickly.
• The school is quick to identify any pupils who are at risk of falling behind. Effective provision is made for these pupils through activities which are well matched to their individual needs and abilities. This includes pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. Where needed, detailed individual support plans are in place, with challenging targets. Support plans are regularly reviewed and amended if required. As a result, the progress made by these pupils is largely good from their individual starting points.

Early years provision Good

• Children are eager to explore and learn. They enjoy the opportunities provided to investigate and they learn happily together. Behaviour is good and most children are happy to share and take turns. Leaders are skilled in developing areas of provision to maximise learning opportunities for all children, based on accurate and ongoing assessments.
• The vast majority of children start the early years with skills and knowledge which are below those typical for their age, especially in speaking and listening. As a result of good teaching and provision, careful observation and good questioning, children make good progress and are well prepared to start Year 1. The proportion who reach a good level of development is broadly average.
• The most able children in early years also make expected progress, but the proportion working above age-related expectations by the end of Reception is below that found nationally. Opportunities to provide challenging activities to move children’s learning on quickly are sometimes missed, and children’s independent, self-initiated activities require further development in the Reception class.
• Adults observe children carefully and build upon their interests. They carefully support children’s learning through prompts, skilful questioning and work alongside children during imaginative and creative play sessions.
• Activities and resources are chosen well to develop children’s vocabulary and enrich their experiences. Adults model language very effectively. One child in Nursery articulately told an inspector how to make a pompom by ‘collecting a big ball of fluff and tying it tightly with a strong knot’.
• Basic skills in reading, writing and number are taught very effectively. In the sessions observed, children were able to draw and count single-digit numbers to 10. Some Reception children were able to write their own names and simple captions, forming letters correctly, and used their phonics knowledge to sound out the beginnings of the names of the months of the year.
• The early years leader clearly understands the learning needs of young children and leads an effective team of adults who share the same passion and drive to see young children thrive. She has a clear understanding of the strengths in the early years and has identified key areas for improvement. Planned actions to stretch and challenge the most able children’s knowledge and understanding still require further development.
• Safeguarding practices in the early years are highly effective. Children are taught how to manage risks from an early age and the very effective safeguarding culture that permeates the school is equally apparent in the early years. There are no material breaches of statutory welfare requirements; children are safe and well supported.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 108717 South Tyneside 10036473 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 Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary aided 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 226 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Mr T Fennelly Mrs M Butt 01914 552862 www.sspeterpaul.co.uk mbutt@sspeterpaul.s-tyneside.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 4–5 December 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 in which the vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage and speak English as their first language.
• The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for support from the pupil premium and the proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are above the national average.
• The school meets the current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for attainment and progress in English and mathematics at the end of Year 6.
• The school’s part-time Nursery operates in the morning and afternoon. Reception children attend on a full-time basis.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in lessons, including a number of lessons observed jointly with the headteacher. In addition, an inspector listened to some pupils from Years 1 and 2 read, and a sample of pupils’ work was reviewed alongside the headteacher and deputy headteacher.
• Inspectors held meetings with governors, the headteacher and deputy headteacher, senior leaders and members of the teaching staff. Inspectors also met the school administrative staff and a representative of the local authority. They also held meetings with a group of pupils from the school.
• Inspectors viewed a range of documents, including information relating to pupils’ achievements over time, the school’s data on recent and current progress of pupils and the school’s view on how well it is doing. Inspectors also reviewed the school improvement plan, documents relating to performance management, safeguarding and records of behaviour and attendance.
• Inspectors took account of the parental responses to the school’s own questionnaire and 30 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View. The school’s website was also scrutinised.

Inspection team

Phil Scott, lead inspector Frances Gowland Gillian Nimer Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector