St Bede's RC Primary School, Jarrow Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Enhance the quality of teaching to further increase pupils’ progress by:
  • ensuring that pupils, particularly the most able, are fully challenged in all year groups so that increasing proportions of pupils demonstrate a greater depth of understanding in a wide range of subjects
  • increasing opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills across all year groups in mathematics
  • developing teachers’ subject knowledge in science, history and geography so that pupils’ specific skills and understanding in these subjects improve
  • implementing new initiatives to further improve pupils’ progress in writing, particularly for boys.
• Strengthen the effectiveness of leadership and management by making sure that:
  • rigorous checks on the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress are carried out by leaders more regularly
  • targets for school improvement show clearly how the impact of actions will be measured
  • the expertise of new governors is further developed.
• Improve rates of attendance, particularly for disadvantaged pupils, by building even closer links with families.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders have responded with increasing purpose to the demands of the new national curriculum by securing good and improving outcomes for pupils across all key stages. Pupils achieved outcomes at the end of key stage 2 in 2017 that were above other pupils nationally. This picture was also reflected at key stage 1.
• Senior leaders have demonstrated success in raising attainment and progress. They reviewed teaching in mathematics in 2016 and introduced new approaches to enable pupils to develop greater fluency in their methods. As a result, pupils made much stronger progress in 2017 and achieved levels of attainment above those seen nationally.
• Teachers review pupils’ progress after termly updates, and additional reviews are provided by subject leaders. Teachers identify areas for improvement and use these to inform their planning. New leaders are refining these systems to provide a sharper focus on key areas for improvement.
• Effective leadership in the early years has led to continual improvement over a three-year period. Accurate assessment, thorough planning and improved resources support children in making strong progress from their starting points.
• Leaders provide effective support for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. Parents attend regular meetings to review the impact of provision on their child’s progress. The effective support, regular monitoring and apt use of funding support pupils in acquiring new knowledge and skills and in making good progress.
• Arrangements to manage the performance of staff have helped to improve teaching and pupils’ outcomes. Governors work with local authority advisers to review pay progression and pay recommendations.
• School leaders have used pupil premium funding to improve provision and outcomes for disadvantaged pupils over time. In addition to maintaining smaller class sizes, disadvantaged pupils access specific programmes to support their progress in English and mathematics. These approaches contributed to significant improvements in the achievement of disadvantaged pupils in 2017.
• Senior leaders have worked with their school improvement partner and the local authority to check the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and the progress that pupils make. Their evaluations have been broadly accurate but, on occasions, they have not been incisive enough. While leaders review progress and introduce successful improvement strategies, aspects of their monitoring are not carried out regularly enough. Some improvement targets are not sufficiently measurable.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced. The focus upon mathematics and English is supported by work in science, religious studies, geography, history and physical education. In some year groups, the focus upon developing key skills in science, history and geography lacks the rigour seen in English and mathematics.
• The provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils develop an awareness of different faiths and cultures and show an awareness of key equalities. Teachers ensure that pupils’ experience is widened through regular access to cultural activities, including visiting writers and storytellers and visits to the theatre and museums. Pupils show a commitment to local charities and carry out inter-generational work through choir-singing at local nursing homes. They have opportunities to develop musical skills through the school choir and opportunities to learn new instruments.
• Funding from the government to promote sport and increase physical activity is being used successfully to enable pupils to benefit from the expertise of a specialist physical education teacher. Pupils have access to a range of sports, including football, tag rugby, dance, fencing and surfing. This funding has supported increased participation in competitive sports.

Governance of the school

• The new chair and vice-chair of the governing body are building on the work of their predecessor in refining systems to hold leaders to account. They receive regular reports from the headteacher on aspects of school progress and they question leaders about pupils’ progress, such as the differences in achievement between boys and girls in the early years.
• Governors have reviewed the positive impact of additional funding on pupils’ progress and their wider participation in school life. They review funding and performance management recommendations. Governors show a commitment to further training in order to refine and develop their expertise.
• Governors work closely with local authority advisers to strengthen their monitoring roles and responsibilities as there are areas where expertise is less developed. They are currently reviewing committee structures and monitoring responsibilities to further improve systems to hold leaders to account.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders carry out thorough checks to ensure the suitability of adults working on site and renew these checks on a regular basis. Safeguarding training for all staff is thorough and up to date and staff have a clear awareness of how to report concerns. Leaders follow up concerns over pupil welfare, although some actions have not been summarised clearly and leaders are taking steps to strengthen their record-keeping.
• The school actively supports pupils’ welfare through its inclusive ethos. Teachers and teaching assistants are attentive to pupils’ needs, and high standards of care are evident across the early years and into key stages 1 and 2. Pupils feel safe and happy in school and their parents agree.
• Governors with safeguarding expertise have participated in training that has developed pupils’ awareness of key safeguarding issues through accredited programmes. Additional audits have also been commissioned with external consultants to further check on safeguarding practice. Programmes are in place to train new leaders and governors in safer recruitment practices.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers use appropriate subject expertise to plan lessons that support good progress for the majority of pupils. Pupils have regular opportunities to develop and refine key skills in core subjects.
• The majority of teachers use clear classroom routines to structure learning and support progress. Teachers use their assessments of pupils’ prior learning to inform future learning activities and set work that encourages pupils to work in a concerted and well-focused manner.
• Learning is often enhanced through external trips and visitors to school that provide additional stimulus for reading and writing activities. Pupils work with writers and storytellers to develop their narrative skills and their enjoyment of reading.
• Teaching supports pupils in making very good progress in reading. Pupils have regular opportunities to read and they deploy their decoding skills effectively, supporting good progress. Teachers and teaching assistants model sounds effectively and develop pupils’ reading skills well. This has typically enabled most to achieve the required standard in the phonics screening check over the last three years, despite a dip in 2017.
• The teaching of writing is good overall. Teachers model different types of narrative and enable pupils to develop their abilities in a range of genres. Teaching is yet to ensure that boys achieve as well as girls in writing, as teachers’ expectations are not as consistently implemented.
• Teaching assistants work effectively with teachers in the majority of lessons to support pupils and to encourage them to reflect upon their learning. This has helped lower-prior-attaining pupils to make very good progress over time.
• A range of strategies have been introduced aimed at raising pupils’ achievement in mathematics. These initiatives contributed to much better outcomes at the end of key stage 2 in 2017. Pupils are now consolidating their fluency in mathematics across many year groups. However, pupils are not given consistent opportunities to apply their reasoning and problem-solving skills in order to work at greater depths of understanding.
• Teachers provide feedback in line with the school’s policy and, in the majority of cases, this supports pupils in making good progress. Teachers set regular homework that consolidates pupils’ learning.
• Teachers show subject expertise in religious studies and use external partners in sport, dance and music to develop pupils’ key skills and interests. Teachers’ subject knowledge is not as strong in science, geography or history, as they do not develop pupils’ skills in these subjects in sufficient depth.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Leaders ensure that the curriculum provides numerous opportunities to work with partners to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare. Pupils engage with many local services, including the police and fire services, to explore safety issues and follow specific programmes to develop a wider understanding of safety and welfare.
• The school’s ethos promotes values of tolerance and respect, recognising the value of each child, and this contributes to a supportive school environment.
• Positive behaviour is celebrated in assemblies and pupils have many opportunities to take on positions of responsibility, such as play leaders. Pupils feel that bullying is extremely rare and are confident that adults would address any unacceptable behaviour.
• Pupils develop physical well-being through regular opportunities to participate in sport. The vast majority of pupils participate in some form of after-school club and have taken part in a variety of sports, including hockey, tag rugby, dancing, swimming and even surfing. Play equipment is used at lunch and breaktimes, and supervisory assistants encourage purposeful play.
• Pupils are able to discuss personal safety and the actions that the school has taken to help them keep safe, including how to avoid hazards posed by fire and water. Through assemblies and participation in accredited safety programmes, pupils have acquired a well-developed sense of how to stay safe online and the actions to take if their safety is threatened.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils show consistently positive attitudes to learning. Pupils work well together from the Nursery upwards to share ideas and discuss their work. However, teachers do not regularly enable pupils to develop an assured awareness of the steps they can take to demonstrate a greater depth of understanding in their work.
• Pupils show a clear pride in their school and their community. All of the pupils talked to would recommend the school to others. Their pride is reflected in the school environment and in much of the presentation of work in their books.
• Pupils enjoy their learning and work conscientiously. Incidents of low-level disruption are rare. Pupils are polite and courteous to one another and adults. They line up effectively for lessons and respond promptly to teacher guidance.
• Leaders have worked alongside the school’s attendance officer to improve the attendance of those who do not attend school regularly enough. In some cases, their efforts have paid off, such as improving the attendance of girls. Attendance rates have improved in recent years and are closer to the national average. Attendance so far this year is also better than for the equivalent period last year. However, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils requires further improvement.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Over time, pupils make very good progress from their starting points. In 2017, pupils at the end of key stage 2 made significantly better progress in reading, writing and mathematics than other pupils nationally, placing the school in the top 10% of schools nationally. Standards of attainment also increased, with the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics above that seen nationally. The proportion of pupils achieving a higher standard in these subjects was in line with that seen nationally.
• Pupils have also made improving progress at key stage 1 in 2017, with the proportions reaching expected standards above those seen nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. In addition, the proportions achieving greater depth also improved. This represents strong progress from pupils’ starting points.
• Current standards of reading across the school are typically very good. Inspectors listened to a range of pupils reading and discussed their reading and understanding with them. Pupils showed effective decoding skills that helped the majority of pupils to read effectively, and many showed good textual understanding. Visiting writers and storytellers have helped to promote an enjoyment of texts, although some pupils are not challenged to read texts that are more difficult.
• Teachers and teaching assistants typically support pupils’ reading with effective phonics teaching. Over time, this has enabled pupils to make good progress from their starting points. Outcomes in the Year 1 phonics screening check have been above average in recent years, although this proportion fell in 2017, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.
• Current progress in writing at key stage 2 is typically good. Pupils use stimulus from visiting writers and texts to produce engaging texts, with a good sense of audience and purpose. Girls’ achievement in writing, however, is more accomplished than that of boys, whose handwriting and overall accuracy is often weaker. There is some variance in standards of writing at key stage 1.
• In Year 6 in 2016, achievement in mathematics lagged behind that in reading and writing. Standards were below average. In Year 6 in 2017, achievement in mathematics improved dramatically. An above-average proportion of pupils reached the expected standard and an average proportion reached the higher level. These pupils made outstanding progress from their previous starting points. Improvements in mathematics were also seen in key stage 1 in 2017. Across the school currently, pupils are making good progress in mathematics. They show fluency in their key number work. However, in some year groups, opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical reasoning skills and to solve problems that are more complex are sometimes overlooked.
• Over time, disadvantaged pupils make very good progress. At the end of key stage 2 in 2017, their progress was significantly above that of other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. In addition, the proportion achieving expected standards rose considerably, although was still below others nationally. In key stage 1 in 2017, the achievement of disadvantaged pupils improved. They outperformed their peers and achieved outcomes above other pupils nationally. While some differences remain, current progress information shows that they are diminishing across many year groups.
• The majority of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are making good progress through effective support and regular reviews of progress with parents. This support enables them to effectively acquire new knowledge and skills.
• The most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, are not making as strong progress across a wide range of subjects. This is because they are not given sufficiently regular opportunities to be challenged and to apply their learning and work at greater depth. Not enough pupils reach the higher levels of attainment.
• Pupils’ progress across the wider curriculum in science, geography and history is more variable. In these subjects, teaching does not ensure that pupils develop subject- specific skills in sufficient depth. Pupils’ skills and knowledge in religious studies and sport are stronger.
• As a result of improving outcomes at the end of key stage 2, increasing proportions of pupils are being better prepared for their secondary school education.

Early years provision Good

• Outcomes in the early years have been on a rising trend. As a result of thorough planning and effective teaching, children make good progress from their varying starting points. The large majority of children reach a good level of development by the end of Reception and are well prepared for learning in Year 1.
• Leaders have worked closely with local authority advisers to enhance the quality of provision such as to develop the outdoor learning environment. External partners have also worked with school leaders to check that teachers assess the quality of children’s work accurately. They confirm that assessments are accurate.
• Children’s progress is closely monitored and recorded accurately. This shows in children’s work in books and folders, in their learning journals and online. These collective records confirm that children make good progress from their starting points.
• Teaching is good. Teachers and teaching assistants set work that captures children’s interest and fires their young imaginations. This is further enhanced by a wide range of visitors to the school, such as storytellers and dance specialists. As a result, children quickly become happy and confident learners and behave well.
• Children’s enthusiasm for learning was evident during the inspection, for example when children in Nursery cut out a spaceship from a cardboard box and then changed into their space costumes. Nursery children were very keen to discuss their learning with inspectors. In Reception, children demonstrated considerable concentration when performing their ‘rainbow dance’. They showed great poise, balance and coordination when practising their dance and movement skills.
• The teaching of phonics is good. Teachers model sounds and blends effectively. Reception children can use their phonic strategies effectively to segment words and then blend them in order to read aloud with clarity.
• Teachers and teaching assistants generally provide children with good opportunities to develop their speech and language skills. In the Nursery, for example, children learned how water ‘twists and turns’. However, the speech and language skills of boys lag behind those of the girls. Teaching is yet to ensure that this gap is successfully closed.
• Through ‘stay and play’ sessions and other initiatives, leaders work increasingly well with parents to involve them in their children’s learning and support children in developing key skills.
• Safeguarding practices in the early years are effective. There are no breaches in statutory welfare requirements. Children are kept safe and are well cared for and supported.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 108725 South Tyneside 10036457 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 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 208 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Mrs Dot Brabbs Mrs Moya Rooney 0191 489 8218 www.st-bedesrcjarrow.s-tyneside.sch.uk/ mrooney@st-bedesrcjarrow.s-tyneside.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 27–28 November 2012

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about governance, the curriculum and the review of the use of the pupil premium, as these documents are not up to date.
• Three new teachers joined the school in September 2017. They included a new deputy headteacher and two teachers with subject responsibilities for mathematics and English.
• The school provides part-time nursery provision for three- and four-year-old children.
• The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is well above average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is above average.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups and who speak English as an additional is below average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of Year 6.
• The school runs a breakfast club and runs after-school care for pupils.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed a wide range of lessons, covering all classes in the school. The headteacher and deputy headteacher accompanied the lead inspector on a number of observations.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and subject and phase leaders. The lead inspector also met three members of the governing body, including the chair and vice-chair. He met a group of pupils at lunchtime on the first day of the inspection. The lead inspector also met the local authority school improvement partner.
• Pupils’ behaviour was observed during lessons and around the school.
• Inspectors listened to pupils reading and talked to them about their reading.
• Inspectors talked to parents as they dropped their children off at school on day two of the inspection.
• Inspectors extensively examined the quality of work in a wide range of books. They discussed pupils’ work and their learning with them in lessons.
• Inspectors looked at the school’s work and considered documents, including the school’s self-evaluation, the school improvement plan, curriculum plans and information relating to pupils’ achievement and safeguarding.
• Inspectors took into account six free-text responses from parents. They also took into account 31 responses to the pupil questionnaire and 10 responses to the staff questionnaire.

Inspection team

Malcolm Kirtley, lead inspector Deborah Ashcroft Ian Dawson Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector