Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Primary School, Wincanton Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Continue to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment to ensure that pupils make strong progress in all year groups and subjects by making sure that:
  • teaching demands the highest standards of pupils, particularly middle-attaining girls in mathematics
  • the most able pupils are consistently challenged in writing and mathematics so that a greater proportion exceed the standards expected of them
  • precise assessment and timely adult interactions in the early years enable a greater proportion of children to make consistently strong or rapid progress.
• Improve leadership and management, including governance, further by ensuring that:
  • leadership systems are effective in reducing persistent absence of pupils who speak English as an additional language leaders’ checks on teaching ensure that disadvantaged pupils, including the most able pupils, make consistently good progress in mathematics and writing.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher has worked tirelessly to improve the school since its previous inspection. Her work in this respect is effective. She has led determinedly through a period of significant staff change. As a result, teaching, learning and assessment, and pupils’ outcomes, are now typically good.
• Parents are explicit in their strong support for the school and the effective leadership of the headteacher. Every parent who responded to the online questionnaire, Parent View, reported that they would recommend the school and that leadership and management are good.
• The school has used support from the local authority and diocese to good effect to improve various aspects of its work, such as the teaching of mathematics and sharpening the level of feedback pupils receive. As a result, pupils’ progress has increased and learning skills have strengthened.
• Subject leadership is developing well. Subject leaders provide governors and external advisers with regular updates on the impact of their work. They attend external network meetings to ensure they are up to date in their knowledge and understanding of their subjects. Consequently, teachers’ subject knowledge has improved and national curriculum requirements are met.
• Leaders’ recent actions are resulting in an improvement in the teaching of mathematics. This is taking hold well and is proving effective. Consequently, pupils can solve problems and reason in mathematics and their progress is now more rapid. However, leaders accurately identify that on occasions activities planned do not provide enough challenge. This slows pupils’ progress. Leaders know that there is still more to do to accelerate the progress of some middle-attaining girls and the most able pupils.
• The programme of support for teachers who are new or relatively new to the profession is wide ranging. The assistant headteacher meets with teachers regularly and holds them to account for pupils’ progress. The school quality assures its assessment through external moderation with a local cluster of schools and with the local authority. As a result, teachers who are relatively new to the profession understand national curriculum requirements and make increasingly accurate assessments of pupils’ work. Hence pupils’ progress is mostly good.
• Leaders’ checks on teaching have brought about considerable improvement to the quality of teaching. However, their checks do not consistently focus on improving pupils’ outcomes from their different starting points. As a result, a few middle-attaining and most-able pupils can ‘slip through the net’ and this limits the proportion of these pupils that achieve the standard of work of which they are capable.
• Leaders manage additional funding for pupils increasingly well. As a result, the welfare and personal development of service pupils is good. Clear systems are in place to make swift assessments of pupils on entry to the school. This enables these pupils to settle to life at Our Lady’s quickly and make good progress.
• Additional funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is managed effectively. Leaders ensure that funding plans are adhered to so that pupils receive timely support to ensure their progress is good. Additional interventions are very effective in tackling pupils’ gaps in learning.
• Leaders track the impact of pupil-premium funding robustly. Additional support has ensured that pupils are making strong progress in reading. Precise monitoring of this group also results in a growing number of disadvantaged pupils meeting expected standards in mathematics. However, leaders recognise there is still more to do.
• Leaders’ actions have ensured that pupils’ behaviour has improved considerably. They have been successful in creating an inclusive and purposeful learning community where pupils have positive attitudes to learning and enjoy coming to school.
• The curriculum supports pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. The school’s chaplaincy team play an important part in the school. Fundamental British values are promoted through the curriculum and school worship. For example, pupils value opportunities such as running a school election to explore democracy.
• National curriculum requirements are met. Pupils’ learning across the curriculum encourages them to use their English and mathematical knowledge. However, this is more limited in some year groups and restricts a few pupils’ application and deepening of learning, particularly in writing. Leaders have ensured that there are a wide range of extra-curricular clubs on offer.
• Homework helps pupils to consolidate their learning effectively through basic-skills work and a wider half-termly project. Pupils enjoy the creative side of this work, for example their home learning project on mega-structures.
• Leaders have used the additional sport premium funding effectively to improve participation in sports, including competitions with other schools. Pupils are particularly positive about the lunchtime active clubs and multi-sports clubs led by professional coaches.

Governance of the school

• Actions undertaken since the review of governance in 2015 have resulted in improvements in the way governors work. They have a precise understanding of the strengths and weaknesses at the school and do not shy away from asking difficult questions of school leaders. Their action plan focuses on the right aspects for improvement. They hold leaders to account through visits to the school and through meeting with subject leaders to monitor the impact of their actions.
• Governors have been focused on how pupil-premium funding is allocated and used productively. Increasingly, they challenge leaders on how this funding is spent and its growing impact on improving pupils’ academic achievement.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders have created a culture where children’s safety and welfare sits at the heart of the school’s work. Staff spoken to on inspection know how to make timely referrals should concerns be raised. Leaders work closely with external agencies when the need arises and they are persistent in following up any concerns to reduce children’s risk of harm.
• Governors responsible for safeguarding have strengthened their checks to hold the school to account. They have ensured that any actions from the local authority annual safeguarding audit have been tackled quickly and staff training is up to date and in line with current legislation. However, there have been occasions when record-keeping has not been as good as it could be. These issues are now resolved and systems in place to record concerns have been updated and formalised.
• Statutory safeguarding requirements are met.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching has improved since the previous inspection. Teaching now results in pupils’ progress that is typically good. Teaching usually builds on what pupils already know so that activities planned meet pupils’ needs.
• The school’s approach to teaching phonics and spelling has brought about considerable improvement since the last inspection. The teaching of reading through high-quality fiction is gradually improving pupils’ understanding of the texts they read. As a result, a high proportion of pupils meet expected standards.
• Improvements to the way writing is taught across the school mean that pupils are more confident and accomplished in planning their ideas. As a result, the structure and composition of pupils’ writing have improved and are now good. However, there are occasions when the teaching of writing is not consistently challenging enough for the most able pupils. These pupils do not get enough exposure to work at the highest level. This slows the progress that these pupils make.
• The school’s strategy to improve the teaching of mathematics is proving effective. Previously low standards in mathematics are being reversed and pupils’ progress is strengthening this year. Teaching successfully incorporates a greater focus on problem solving and reasoning, and this is enabling pupils to use and apply their mathematics regularly with confidence. This improvement is very recent. Consequently, while considerable improvement is evident and teaching of mathematics is often strong, some inconsistencies in teaching remain, particularly for the most able pupils in lower key stage 2 and for middle-attaining girls.
• Additional adults provide effective support. Small-group intervention is effective in ensuring that any gaps in pupils’ learning are filled quickly. As a result, underachievement has been successfully tackled.
• Teaching for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is good overall. Well thought-out teaching ensures that these pupils have all the resources they need and consequently their learning needs are successfully met.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils say they feel safe in school and talk with confidence about how to keep safe online. Pupils know what to do if they have a concern and say that teachers follow up any issues quickly and sensitively.
• The school’s breakfast club provides pupils with a safe and positive start to the school day. They enjoy the healthy breakfast on offer and this enables them to be ready to learn. Recent changes to provision ensure that supervision is now adequate.
• Pupils enjoy the additional sporting activities on offer at lunchtime. They benefit from wide-ranging activities and are consistently well supervised.
• All staff work well together to ensure children are safe. Health and safety is at the forefront of pupils’ minds. For example, pupils take the role of ‘health and safety ambassadors’ and undertake regular site walks alongside staff and governors to identify risk. This helps them build confidence and understand how risk is managed.
• As a result of recent leadership training, the taught curriculum on safety, safeguarding and personal development is improving.
• The curriculum supports the personal development of the vast majority of pupils well. However, for a small minority of girls, the curriculum has not yet enabled them to become resilient and determined learners.
• Pupils relish the ‘family feel’ and unique setting. They are very proud of their school.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils behave well in lessons and lunchtimes alike. They demonstrate good manners and show a genuine keenness to talk about school life.
• Typically, pupils are intrinsically motivated to learn. Pupils demonstrate positive attitudes and generally present their work well. However, a small minority of pupils can be over-dependent on adults to support them to tackle challenges and this slows their progress. Occasionally, when work is not precisely matched to their needs, a few pupils do not maintain complete concentration and their progress slows.
• Pupils say that bullying is rare. When it does happen pupils explained that teachers deal with it robustly. Pupils have confidence that if any issues arise they are sorted out quickly.
• Pupils’ attendance is good overall. Pupils say that if they are absent teachers help them catch up with their work. However, a small minority of pupils do not attend school regularly enough, particularly those pupils who speak English as an additional language and a few disadvantaged pupils. This reduces valuable learning time for these pupils. Leaders’ actions are leading to gradual improvement.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• A larger proportion of pupils than the national average arrive mid-year or have not been in the school for a sustained period. Timely on-entry assessments for these pupils ensure that they quickly receive work that meets their needs. Consequently, these pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.
• The proportion of children reaching a good level of development, the standard expected at the end of the early years, has been in line with or above national averages for the last three years. Current children in Reception make good progress from their varied starting points.
• The proportion of pupils meeting the expected standards in the Year 1 phonics screen increased swiftly in 2016. It has been above national averages for the last two years. The school’s recent work to improve spelling in key stage 2 is also paying dividends.
• In key stage 1, published outcomes in 2016 are in line with national expectations in reading and well above in writing. Most of the previously high-attaining pupils went on to exceed the expected standards in reading and writing. However, in mathematics the proportion of pupils meeting expected standards was lower than the national average. As a result of a whole-school improvement strategy to enhance mathematics teaching, girls’ attainment in mathematics is beginning to improve. However, there is still more to be done to ensure girls meet expected standards.
• In 2016 at the end of key stage 2, the proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standards in reading was considerably higher than the national average. Outcomes in writing and mathematics were broadly in line with those seen nationally.
• In recent years, pupils’ progress in mathematics has been slower than that seen in English. As a result of a school-wide focus on mathematics teaching, pupils’ progress is beginning to accelerate well. Pupils’ progress in mathematics is now good. Pupils are successfully making up for lower rates of progress in previous years. However, there is more to do to ensure that pupils achieve consistently well so that a larger proportion of pupils exceed expected standards nationally.
• Increasingly, as a result of better teaching, disadvantaged pupils make good progress. However, there is some variability in pupils’ progress over key stage 2, particularly in writing and mathematics. Specific small-group teaching is proving effective in tackling any gaps in learning so that this group of pupils’ progress is accelerating.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress in reading. Pupils’ achievement is tracked closely to ensure that these pupils receive work that is closely matched to their needs. As a result, these pupils are increasingly making stronger progress, particularly in mathematics.
• Workbooks show that the most able pupils are not exposed to sufficiently challenging work. This is because work does not build consistently on what pupils already know, or activities planned do not allow pupils to deepen their understanding. This hinders the progress that the most able pupils make, particularly in writing and mathematics.

Early years provision Good

• The headteacher, who is the early years leader, has a clear understanding of strengths and weaknesses in the setting. Leaders are working on the right aspects of improvement, which are identified in the early years action plan. The headteacher sets high expectations for the teaching team and holds them to account for the progress children make. Most children get off to a good start in the early years and make good progress from their varied starting points. As a result, the vast majority of children are well prepared for Year 1.
• Parents speak very positively about how well their children settle to school. Staff and children form positive relationships quickly. As a result, routines are well established and understood; children behave well and feel safe.
• Teaching in the early years is typically good. Children enjoy the activities on offer and many sustain their concentration very well. For example, children made models independently in response to their learning on three-dimensional shapes and then wrote simple sentences and labels to identify the features of their models. Children cooperated well with each other in the outside area, while immersed in imaginative play with their models.
• Assessment is generally accurate and enables teachers to plan work that builds on what children already know, can do, and understand. Often children respond keenly to tasks on offer and demonstrate good attitudes to learning. However, when provision is not closely matched to children’s needs, children’s concentration can wane and their progress falters.
• Adult interactions with children are mostly precise and timely. However, on occasions they vary in quality because adults do not deepen children’s understanding within their chosen tasks and this can slow the progress children make.
• Additional funding through the pupil premium is used effectively to support children’s speech and language development and early reading. As a result, these children make good progress.
• The teaching of phonics is systematic and regular and closely matched to letter formation. This is enabling most children to apply their phonics skills to writing with success. However, occasionally inaccuracies are not picked up quickly enough to assist in children developing correct formation of letters and fluency in their early writing.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 123858 Somerset 10033132 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 Community 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 121 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Katie Owen Alison Fishlock 01963 32660 www.ourladyofmtcarmelschool.org.uk/ office@ourladys.somerset.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 6–7 May 2015

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the pupil premium and school performance on its website.
• There has been considerable staff change since the previous inspection.
• There are a large proportion of teachers who are relatively new to the profession at the school.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.
• The proportion of pupils for whom the pupil premium provides support is below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is broadly line with the national average.
• There is a breakfast club which is managed by the school.
• Children in Reception attend full time.
• The school works in partnership with the Tower Learning Community and Dunstan Partnership of Catholic schools. Together they undertake joint training and moderation of pupils’ work.

Information about this inspection

• The inspector observed pupils’ learning across the school. Some learning was observed jointly with the headteacher.
• The inspector looked at pupils’ books to establish the quality of their current work and their progress over time.
• The inspector scrutinised a variety of school documents to ascertain the school’s evaluation of its performance. Records relating to behaviour and safety, attendance and safeguarding were also reviewed.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher and assistant headteacher. Meetings also took place with two representatives of the diocese, and with three governors.
• A telephone conversation took place with the Somerset senior adviser for school improvement.
• The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour during their learning and at lunchtimes and breaktimes. She also met with some pupils to seek their views of the school and discuss how they feel about their learning and development.
• The inspector visited the school’s before-school provision.
• The inspector considered 35 responses to the online survey, Parent View. She also considered comments provided in parents’ text messages and spoke to parents during the inspection. The inspector considered staff and pupils’ views during the inspection and reviewed the electronic surveys.

Inspection team

Julie Carrington, lead inspector

Her Majesty’s Inspector