St Wilfrids Catholic Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve outcomes for the most able pupils by ensuring that:
  • teachers‟ expectations are consistently high and learning is sufficiently challenging
  • a greater proportion of the most able in all year groups achieve the higher standard in writing.
• Further strengthen all teaching so that it is of a consistently high quality.
• Improve teaching in the wider curriculum so pupils write to a higher standard in the wider curriculum and make good progress in all subjects.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher and senior leaders have significantly improved the quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils since the last inspection. Outcomes for pupils at the end of Reception Year, key stage 1 and key stage 2 have risen significantly.
• The headteacher has created a warm and nurturing climate that at the same time embodies a determination for all pupils to succeed.
• The headteacher is committed to developing her senior and middle leaders. They have benefited from training that meets their specific needs and those of the school. They feel well supported and enabled to identify the right priorities and tackle them successfully. This has resulted in a significant improvement in the quality of teaching and learning, and has strengthened pupils‟ progress.
• Parents are overwhelming complimentary about the quality of the headteacher‟s leadership, and her approachability and responsiveness. One parent commented, „The head has done an amazing job of improving the school. Our son‟s progress has both surprised and delighted us.‟
• Senior and middle leaders regularly review the quality of teaching, and pupils‟ work and their progress. They ensure that all groups of pupils make good progress from their starting points and quickly identify pupils who are not making enough progress. They know pupils well and provide focused support for disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities, so that they can achieve well in all subjects.
• Leaders recognise that the school must provide better challenge for the most able, so that more achieve the higher standards. They have made this a whole-school target for improvement.
• The actions taken by leaders have created a learning environment in which teachers feel supported and value the opportunities given to develop their professional expertise, within an atmosphere of collaboration.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced, but the wider curriculum is not taught with enough rigour to enable pupils to build their knowledge, understanding and skills in a sustained way. For example, pupils‟ use of precise, technical vocabulary is not as well developed in science as it is in English and mathematics. Pupils do not use their writing skills well enough in subjects such as history and religious education. Pupils‟ work in these subjects can sometimes be unfinished and untidy.
• The local authority and the diocese have supported the school effectively and helped to secure the recent improvements. Leaders and teachers also work effectively with other local schools to continually increase their capacity to secure further improvement.
• Pupil premium funding is used effectively to provide additional support for disadvantaged pupils, many of whom also have SEN and/or disabilities. As a result, they make good progress, similar to that of their peers, and many achieve the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2.
• The primary physical education (PE) and sport premium is used very well to promote pupils‟ physical activity and participation in a range of sporting activities and events, including extra-curricular opportunities and competitions. PE has a high profile in the life of the school as a result. There is a range of breaktime, lunchtime and after-school sporting opportunities. Teachers receive additional training through this funding, enhancing their skills in teaching PE. This aspect of the school‟s curriculum is a strength.
• The school supports pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities well. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) tracks their progress carefully. She reflects the school‟s determination that all pupils should have full access to the curriculum and make good progress.
• Parents value the ethos and atmosphere of the school. They feel that their children are cared for and learn well. The views expressed by most parents are that the school communicates well and provides valuable information about their children‟s progress. They would recommend the school to other parents.
• The headteacher and leaders have ensured that the school‟s values and aims permeate every aspect of its work. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain as a result of the school‟s emphasis on respect for all. Leaders ensure that the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils is a strength of the school.

Governance of the school

• Governors have undertaken a review of their work since the last inspection and are now more effective in supporting and challenging school leaders. Governors hold leaders to account for the learning and progress of pupils. They visit the school regularly and make better use of the school‟s assessment information to challenge leaders and ensure that all pupils make good progress over time.
• Governors regularly attend appropriate training. This ensures that they are knowledgeable and well informed and can make a strong contribution to school improvement.
• They routinely visit the school to monitor its work and carefully evaluate progress against the priorities for improvement.
• Governors with responsibility for health and safety and safeguarding complete regular checks on the school‟s procedures and policies to ensure that these are rigorous.
• Governors carefully monitor the spending of pupil premium funding and hold leaders to account for its impact.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders and governors have created a strong culture of safeguarding throughout the school. All staff have been thoroughly trained and understand their role in keeping pupils safe. The headteacher provides regular training to ensure that staff‟s knowledge is relevant and kept up to date.
• Staff know the pupils very well and are aware of those who are most vulnerable or at risk of harm. Staff give the welfare of pupils the highest priority and this is evident in the strong relationships that exist throughout the school. Staff are sensitive to changes in a pupil‟s emotional well-being or behaviour that might suggest they are at risk. They promptly refer concerns to the headteacher, who is the designated safeguarding lead. The headteacher takes appropriate action, maintains meticulous records, and follows up carefully to ensure that the right action is taken to support each pupil at risk.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teachers know their pupils well and assess their knowledge, skills and understanding accurately to provide engaging and motivating tasks that move learning forward. As a result, pupils are appropriately challenged and make good progress.
• Teachers provide helpful feedback to pupils in line with the school‟s policy, giving them opportunities to revisit and improve their work. This practice helps to consolidate pupils‟ understanding and develops skills.
• In the occasional lessons where teaching is less effective, it is because tasks are less well designed and do not address the needs of all pupils by providing the right level of challenge. In these lessons, learning is superficial and pupils do not achieve as well as they could.
• Where teaching is most effective, pupils are challenged to think deeply and explain their answers, leading to an in-depth grasp of concepts. For example, in a mathematics lesson, a teacher checked pupils‟ conceptual understanding by requiring them to be specific in their explanations. The teacher asked, „What do you mean by “next to”?‟, to probe pupils‟ understanding of place value.
• The recently introduced approach to teaching mathematics has raised teachers‟ expectations of what pupils can achieve. It systematically builds pupils‟ fluency, and their understanding and reasoning skills. Teachers focus on consolidating pupils‟ knowledge and skills, so they are secure before moving on to new material. This is deepening pupils‟ understanding and ability to explain their thinking, using precise mathematical vocabulary.
• Teachers use their strong subject knowledge to ask probing questions that require pupils to explain and deepen their thinking. Teachers‟ skilful questioning also provides them with information about how well pupils are learning.
• Reading is taught well. All pupils, particularly the less confident readers, use their phonics knowledge to blend sounds to read unfamiliar words. Pupils enjoy reading, understand why it is important and make good progress. Fluent readers read with confidence, bringing drama and expression to what they read. They have well-developed comprehension and inference skills.
• Since the last inspection, there has been a real drive to improve the quality of pupils‟ writing. Pupils have regular opportunities to write for a range of purposes. Their skills for editing and improving their work are developing well. Pupils are making strong progress. Teachers have good subject knowledge in this area and plan the next steps in pupils‟ learning precisely. They steadily build pupils‟ skills so that they are able to write accurately and expressively.
• Teachers contribute strongly to the school‟s ethos and values through all aspects of the curriculum. They challenge stereotypes and promote kindness and equality.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Personal development and welfare Outstanding

• The school‟s work to promote pupils‟ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Leaders and teachers have worked together to create an exceptionally friendly, caring and inclusive school in which all are respected and treated equally. Several pupils, who spoke to inspectors, commented on the friendliness of the school.
• The school provides lots of opportunities for pupils‟ personal development and the building of confidence, for example, through pupils‟ involvement in the regular school productions, membership of the school council and through the design of learning tasks.
• Pupils are confident, and feel safe and know that they can trust the adults in the school to keep them safe and help with any difficulty they may have. Staff are proactive in engaging pupils and not allowing them to become isolated. For example, at morning breaktime, playground staff spot pupils who are on their own and get them to join in an activity or start a new game with them.
• Leaders are exceptionally diligent in promoting the physical and emotional well-being of pupils. For example, one teacher has been trained in mental health first aid, which has enhanced the school‟s ability to support emotionally vulnerable pupils. Pupils who have found attending school challenging in the past have grown in confidence. This is because of the school‟s actions to secure high levels of emotional well-being.
• Pupils feel safe and know how to keep themselves safe, for example, when online, in public places and on the road. Following a recent visit by a representative of the NSPCC, pupils are aware of how to get in touch if something is concerning them. They also know that if something is worrying them, they can talk to an adult in school and they will be supported. They feel safe from bullying.
• The school promotes equalities well and pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain because they are taught to respect differences. One pupil expressed this by saying, „We all believe that no matter what, all people should be treated as part of the family of St Wilfrid‟s.‟

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Behaviour and attitudes to learning are real strengths of the school. Pupils behave well throughout the school day, at breaktimes when they play together, while eating lunch together, and during their learning. They are proud of their school, value its ethos, and are unfailingly polite to visitors.
• The historical persistent absence has been greatly reduced and rates of attendance are now above the national average. The headteacher and staff have worked tirelessly with the families of pupils with poor attendance to bring about improvement.
• The school‟s values and its approach to rewards and sanctions instil in pupils the responsibility to make the right behaviour choices. They prize the school‟s „rewards that money cannot buy‟, such as being allowed to spend time with the chickens or have afternoon tea with the headteacher. Similarly, sanctions are designed to encourage pupils to reflect on their behaviour and make the required changes.
• Pupils show respect for each other, and for adults and visitors to the school. They listen to each other carefully, work well together and know why it is important to respect people.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Historically, pupils‟ outcomes at the end of key stage 1, and their progress in writing at the end of key stage 2, have been well below the national averages. These have left a legacy of underachievement that leaders and teachers are still tackling. Improvements in the quality of teaching and the sharper use of assessment have led to significant improvements in 2018. Outcomes at the end of both key stages are now in line with national averages for writing and mathematics, and are above for reading. The progress measure for writing at the end of key stage 2 has improved markedly.
• The progress of pupils currently in the school is improving strongly. Senior leaders maintain a careful focus on the progress of all pupils, but particularly those at risk of falling behind. They conduct regular reviews of pupils‟ progress with teachers to ensure that additional support is provided when necessary. This is leading to greater proportions of pupils achieving the expectations for their age. Because of the legacy of underachievement, however, there is some variation in attainment and progress in some year groups.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points. Leaders and teachers track their progress closely and pinpoint their next steps in learning to ensure that they receive swift and focused support. As a result, most of this group of pupils make progress similar to that of their peers, and many make more, enabling them to reach the expectations for their age.
• Disadvantaged pupils make similar progress to their peers. By the end of key stage 2, their outcomes are in line with those of other pupils in school. Current disadvantaged pupils are making strong progress and are on track to close the gap with other pupils nationally.
• Generally, the most able pupils are appropriately challenged in mathematics, and are given ample opportunities to write at length in key stage 2. They can use an impressive range of sentence structures, vocabulary and writing styles in their written work. In mathematics their problem-solving and reasoning skills are being developed well. However, teachers and leaders recognise that too few of the most able are achieving the higher standards of achievement. Leaders, rightly, have set this as a target for improvement.

Early years provision Outstanding

• The early years provision prepares children well for Year 1. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development at the end of Reception Year has risen over the last three years. It has been above the national average for the last two years. All children make strong progress, including those whose starting points are low on entry.
• Children currently in early years have made a strong start. They have settled in very well to the routines of the day and are learning together happily. They have acquired early phonic skills quickly and are already starting to blend sounds to read simple words. There was palpable excitement among the children when they realised that they were able to do this.
• Children‟s personal, social and communication skills are effectively supported by their classroom and outdoor environments. These are thoughtfully created by the teacher in response to children‟s interests. They enable children to learn, play and explore together. They can sustain their engagement in activities, both those led by adults and those they initiate themselves.
• Children who enter the school with weak speech and language development are quickly identified by staff and provided with additional support, including support from external agencies where necessary.
• The early years leader is knowledgeable, has got to know the children quickly and has an accurate understanding of their capabilities and needs. This enables her to plan and implement engaging learning that builds carefully on what children already know and can do.
• The early years team engages with parents and the pre-school nurseries very effectively, ensuring the best possible transition into the Reception class. Parents are encouraged to contribute information to add to early years assessments of children‟s skills and understanding. Parents say that their children have settled into school exceptionally well. They appreciate the way the school provides plenty of information and liaises with them. Parents are invited to regular workshop sessions on phonics so that they can support this aspect of learning at home.
• Teaching in early years is highly effective and results in strong progress. Teaching secures high levels of engagement and interest from children. It provides rich opportunities to make good progress in all aspects of the early years curriculum. There are many opportunities to develop numerical skills and writing both indoors and outdoors, for example. The children enjoyed writing the letters for the sounds they were learning in shaving foam, and many chose to make marks using chalks, clipboards and paint brushes. A small number of children were writing on desks and clipboards in the little house in the outdoor area, which they called „their office‟.
• Children behave well and are being very effectively supported to develop their social and communication skills. They play cooperatively, share resources and take turns. Staff know the needs of each child very well. They are vigilant and ensure children‟s health, well-being and safety throughout the day. Safeguarding in early years is effective.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 126035 West Sussex 10053203 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 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 172 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Anne Hudspith Sharon Reynolds 01903 782188 www.stwilfridsangmering.co.uk office@stwilfridsang.co.uk Date of previous inspection 21–22 June 2016

Information about this school

• St Wilfrid‟s is a voluntary-aided Catholic primary school. Its last inspection under section 48 of the Education Act 2005 was in March 2016.
• The number of pupils attending the school has increased since the previous inspection. Pupils are now taught in seven single-year-group classes.
• External reviews of governance arrangements and the use of pupil premium funding have taken place since the previous inspection.
• The school works closely with other local schools and also Catholic schools in the Worthing Deanery.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited all classrooms, often together with senior leaders.
• Inspectors looked at pupils‟ work across all subjects and spoke to pupils about their learning.
• Documents about governors‟ work and the local authority‟s visits were reviewed.
• Inspectors held meetings with senior leaders, subject leaders, governors, and representatives of the local authority and the diocese.
• The views of parents were considered through 36 responses to Ofsted‟s online questionnaire, Parent View, including 35 free-text comments. Inspectors also met with parents at the start of the inspection.
• The views of staff were considered through meetings with representatives of the staff team.
• Pupils‟ views were gathered through many informal conversations.
• Inspectors considered a range of documentation, including leaders‟ evaluations of the school‟s effectiveness, development plans, the school‟s own information about pupils‟ progress and attainment, and behaviour and attendance logs.
• The single central record of recruitment checks, the school‟s safeguarding policies and procedures, and several case studies were reviewed by inspectors.

Inspection team

Peter Wibroe, lead inspector Gary Holden

Ofsted Inspector Her Majesty‟s Inspector