St Anne's Catholic Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the progress of the most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, by consistently providing challenging work aimed at stretching them to reach the highest standards.
• Improve the leadership and management of subjects other than English and mathematics by ensuring that subject leaders precisely evaluate the impact of their actions on the achievement of pupils.
• Improve the standard of writing across the school by:
  • continuing to implement the writing strategies that form part of the current focus for the school
  • developing better opportunities for pupils to use their writing skills in other subjects across the curriculum, which allow them to make their own decisions about features such as format and style.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher and other school leaders have established a welcoming and caring environment where pupils feel safe. Parents are very positive and appreciate the breadth of experiences provided for their children and the clear communication channels that are in place.
• Senior leaders know the school’s strengths and development points well. They are quick to identify areas where improvement is needed and, as a result, have secured good outcomes for pupils over time. For example, published assessment information in writing in 2016 showed attainment below national averages. As a result, there is a strong focus on improving writing, the success of which can be seen in the good progress the current year groups are making.
• Subject leaders in English and mathematics have a good overview of their subjects because of thorough tracking and assessment procedures. They take effective action to make sure pupils’ achievement is sustained or improved.
• Leadership of subjects other than English and mathematics is less strong. Leaders monitor their subjects, using methods such as scrutiny of work in books, and they identify next steps based on their findings. They do not, however, precisely evaluate the impact of their actions on pupils’ achievement in their respective subjects.
• Senior leaders have effective systems to manage the performance of teachers. They set targets for teachers that are linked to pupils’ outcomes and they monitor these targets through activities such as lesson observations. Staff receive accurate feedback on their teaching and are given helpful suggestions for development. Senior leaders are not afraid to tackle staff underperformance when it occurs and they take appropriate action to address it.
• Staff have a very positive view of the school and are proud to work there. They value the training they receive because it helps them to hone their skills and sustain the good quality of teaching.
• Senior leaders make effective use of pupil premium funding. As a result, disadvantaged pupils play a full part in the life of the school, taking advantage of activities and support that effectively promote their academic and social development as well as their mental health. For example, their mental health is supported by the employment of a learning mentor and ‘bush craft’ activities are planned to develop resilience.
• The school makes good use of sports funding, with the result that staff skills are developed well and pupils experience many opportunities to take part in a variety of curricular and extra-curricular sports. These include football, handball and archery.
• School leaders make effective use of funds for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. The special educational needs coordinator works well with teaching staff to develop support plans that result in strong progress for these pupils.
• The advisers from the local authority and the diocese, along with the school improvement partner commissioned by the school, provide effective support and advice. The local authority is responding appropriately to school leaders’ recent focus on the strengthening of writing by increasing its involvement to support this work.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced and meets pupils’ needs well. The school provides a wide range of opportunities for pupils to experience and understand other faiths and cultures. Leaders promote fundamental British values well through activities such as the work of the school council and visits from a barrister to discuss aspects of the law.
• Some items of statutory information are missing from the school website. School leaders are aware of this and have taken appropriate action to address this issue.

Governance of the school

• Governors are ambitious for continuous improvement for pupils in the school. They provide strong challenge and support to leaders and hold them effectively to account for pupils’ progress and the efficient running of the school.
• Governors are very clear about procedures around safeguarding and they receive regular training in various aspects, such as preventing extremism and radicalisation, e-safety issues and safer recruitment.
• Governors have a clear view of the strengths and areas for development of the school. They regard pupils’ achievement as vital and have recently established a dedicated sub-committee to keep a close watch on progress and standards.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Senior leaders make thorough checks on staff, governors and visitors to ensure the safety of all pupils. Staff are keenly aware of their responsibilities in relation to keeping children safe and there is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. The school’s system for reporting concerns is effective and referrals are followed up appropriately.
• The school site is safe and secure because there are effective security measures in place.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers typically use their good subject knowledge to plan interesting lessons that pupils enjoy. In Year 6 mathematics, for example, almost all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, apply themselves well to the task of solving the problems and puzzles they have been given.
• Teachers question pupils well. They encourage them to think about their responses and to use their reasoning skills to justify them, especially in mathematics.
• The most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are sometimes given challenging activities to stretch their abilities. This is inconsistent, however, and means that, overall, the most able pupils do not make as much progress as they could.
• Relationships between staff and pupils are warm and positive. Adults have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and mostly show effective behaviour management skills.
• Teachers plan the work of teaching assistants well. They frequently deploy them to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities to good effect, as these pupils make good progress in line with other pupils.
• Teachers give helpful feedback to pupils in accordance with the school’s policy. They give them opportunities to consolidate what they have learned or to correct any misconceptions. As a result, they enable pupils to understand the next steps in their learning and contribute effectively to the overall good progress that they make.
• Pupils show good reading skills. They use their knowledge of phonics well to read unfamiliar words and they show mostly good comprehension and inference skills. Many pupils also read for pleasure. The school was recently awarded the Reading Quality Mark at gold level, showing leaders’ commitment to developing reading skills across the school.
• There is some evidence that skills learned in English and mathematics are applied in other subjects across the curriculum, but this is inconsistent. In science, for example, pupils have opportunities to use their writing skills to create a design for a mountaineering jacket, which is based on their knowledge of thermal insulators. In subjects such as history and geography, however, activities chosen sometimes limit pupils, especially the most able, including those who are disadvantaged, from developing their writing and making their own decisions about its format and content.
• The school provides regular homework to pupils at a level appropriate to children’s age and knowledge. Parental comments included an appreciation of the guidance given by teachers and the breadth of topics covered.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils feel safe in school. They know who to speak to if they have any problems because every pupil chooses a key adult as their first point of contact.
• The broad and balanced curriculum and the school’s ethos promote a deepening understanding of and empathy towards others. For example, pupils are given opportunities to raise funds for charities and, through the school’s ‘philosophy for children’ activities they discuss important issues, such as Syrian refugees.
• Pupils understand about different types of bullying, including homophobic and racist bullying. While incidents are rare, they know who to report any concerns to and say that teachers respond to them promptly.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils behave well in class and have positive attitudes to school in general. These attitudes are reflected in pupils’ good attendance.
• Behaviour management is generally strong and pupils respond to adults promptly and cooperatively.
• Senior leaders have established effective incentives, such as ‘smiley face’ points, to develop positive attitudes to school. Pupils who reach the target number of points are rewarded with a ‘Golden Tea Party’ each year with the headteacher.
• Pupils’ behaviour at playtime and lunchtime is good. Pupils play well with each other. They understand the routines for lining up and respond well to instructions. Pupils’ conduct around school is good.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• The current year groups across the school are making generally strong progress from their starting points. School leaders make sure that any underperformance by pupils is addressed effectively. For example, there was a dip in achievement in mathematics at the end of key stage 1 in 2015. Leaders made problem solving and reasoning their focus for the following year. As a result of their strategy, the proportion of pupils in Year 2 who attained the expected standard was slightly above the national average in 2016.
• Disadvantaged pupils make strong progress. This is because school leaders plan and deliver extra support and activities in a timely and effective way. Their strategies include deploying extra teaching assistants to help pupils with their learning and employing a pastoral worker to provide support for pupils’ emotional well-being.
• The special educational needs coordinator works closely with teaching staff to identify pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They plan effective support together, including the good use of teaching assistants in class, which results in strong progress from this group of pupils.
• Pupils in Year 1 typically perform well in the phonics screening check. The proportion of pupils who reach the threshold has been above or close to the national average over time and currently stands at nearly eight out of 10 pupils. Previous assessment information shows that all pupils who did not reach the threshold by the end of Year 1 did so by the end of Year 2.
• Historical assessment information for the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2 shows that achievement has typically been at or above national figures. Provisional figures for 2016 show that pupils in Year 6 made sufficient or better progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils’ average scaled scores for reading, for mathematics and for grammar, punctuation and spelling also exceeded the expected standards.
• The school has rightly focused on improving writing in the current academic year, and progress is already evident. Pupils’ work shows rapid development of more sophisticated language and more complex sentence structures. However, the quality of writing in other subjects in the curriculum is variable.
• The most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, often show a higher level of knowledge, understanding and skills. For example, in Year 6 the most able pupils solve problems in algebra that go beyond replacing letters with the correct numbers and require deeper reasoning skills. This level of challenge, however, is inconsistently provided. As a result the most able sometimes make slower progress from their starting points.

Early years provision Good

• The leadership and management of the early years are good. The early years leader has an accurate view of the quality of provision and takes effective action to make improvements where required. For instance, as a result of strategies she has introduced, the difference between boys’ and girls’ achievement is diminishing.
• Staff provide well-planned activities across all areas of learning. There are opportunities across the provision for children to develop their writing and number skills independently. Teachers provide fun and exciting activities that hold children’s interest and effectively encourage good language skills and cooperation. In the outdoor area, for example, children play in a shop and use conventional customer language, such as ‘Please may I have a burger?’ Children enjoy washing a car in the car wash, selecting brushes and carefully dipping them in the soapy water, showing good cooperation and sensible use of the equipment.
• The outdoor area is well equipped with objects to climb and balance on, allowing children to take controlled risks and make good progress in their physical development.
• Teachers check children’s progress well. They continuously monitor their development, recording achievements and identifying next steps. Teachers then adjust the learning activities to meet children’s needs. As a result, a large majority of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress.
• There is a close partnership between the early years team and parents. There is a programme of events to familiarise parents with the school and their children’s learning, both before and after children start their time there. There are also regular opportunities for parents to write comments on their children’s progress through ‘parent voice’ forms.
• Children enter the early years with skills and knowledge that are broadly typical for their age across the range of areas of learning. However, the results of a government approved baseline assessment showed that children entering Reception in September 2015 were, on average, below the typical standard for their age for mathematics and communication, language and literacy.
• By the end of Reception in 2016, the percentage of children reaching a good level of development was slightly above the national average, and represented an improvement on previous years. This also showed good progress for most children from their starting points, making them ready for Year 1.
• Current children are making good progress from their starting points. For example, some children’s early mark-making quickly develops into recognisable attempts at writing their names.
• Safeguarding is effective and there are no breaches of welfare requirements. Children show they feel safe by the warm interaction between adults and children that exists. Staff have a good knowledge of safeguarding procedures and are well versed in how to recognise various signs of abuse.

School details

Unique reference number 104477 Local authority Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council Inspection number 10002735 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 314 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Brian Roberts Maggie Keating 0151 477 8260 www.stannesprimaryknowsley.co.uk/ stanne@knowsley.gov.uk Date of previous inspection 14–15 September 2011

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information on its website about the content of the school’s curriculum; current key stage 2 performance data; strategies for the use of pupil premium and sport premium funding for the current academic year; and the effectiveness of provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. The school is aware of these issues and has taken action to address them.
• St Anne’s Catholic Primary School is larger than average in size.
• The percentages of pupils from minority ethnic groups and who speak English as an additional language are well below the national averages.
• The proportion of pupils who receive support in school for their special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average. The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is the same as the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who are supported through pupil premium funding is below the national average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of key stage 2.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors carried out observations of learning in most classes, covering all year groups. Two of these were joint observations between the headteacher and the lead inspector. The headteacher was also present at inspector team meetings.
• A range of documentation was scrutinised, including the school’s self-evaluation summary, action plans for school improvement, records of the monitoring and evaluation of teaching and learning, minutes of meetings of the governing body, behaviour logs and records connected with the safeguarding of children.
• Inspectors had discussions with various stakeholders, including members of staff, governors, representatives from the local authority and the archdiocese, the school’s improvement partner, parents and pupils.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read and analysed pupils’ writing and mathematics, as well as their work in other subjects. They also looked at the work of children in the early years.
• The lead inspector also evaluated 35 responses received through ‘Parent View’ (the online survey), 18 responses to the online staff questionnaire and 53 responses to the online pupil questionnaire.

Inspection team

Mark Quinn, lead inspector Linda Griffiths Saeeda Ishaq Clare McGarey

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector