St Anne's Catholic Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

In accordance with section 44(2) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than it might in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to perform.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Urgently implement effective safeguarding systems, ensuring that:
  • staff receive immediate safeguarding training to ensure that they follow the correct safeguarding procedures
  • leaders review all safeguarding policies and practices to improve their effectiveness
  • all staff record injuries or concerns about pupils on the school’s system
  • the designated safeguarding leaders act immediately on any concerns raised from their internal systems and record the actions they take
  • leaders regularly review safeguarding information to look at patterns and trends over time
  • all staff receive the necessary checks before they are appointed to their positions in accordance with ‘Keeping children safe in education 2016’
  • governors responsible for safeguarding receive support from the trust to carry out safeguarding duties effectively.
• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • governors understand the lines of accountability, so they know what they are responsible for
  • self-evaluation is accurate and identifies actions to improve weaknesses as well as celebrating strengths
  • action plans focus on where improvements are needed and are rigorously reviewed, evaluated and updated
  • pupil premium plans focus on providing effective support to improve rates of progress for disadvantaged pupils across all subject areas
  • the sports leader monitors how effectively the sports premium is being used, including analysing participation rates
  • governors are regularly informed about the progress of all groups of pupils so they can hold leaders to account
  • governors check to ensure that advice given by external consultants is used to support school improvement
  • curriculum leadership improves and leaders monitor standards in their subject area
  • senior leaders monitor the effectiveness of the early years regularly and check the accuracy of assessment information.
• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and increase rates of progress for all pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, by:
  • refining assessment tracking for all groups of pupils so that governors and leaders hold teachers fully accountable for the progress pupils are making
  • using assessment information to plan learning activities which are well matched to pupils’ levels of ability, particularly for the most able pupils
  • planning work which stimulates and interests pupils so they are more engaged in their learning
  • improving teachers’ expectations in all subjects, ensuring that lessons engage and stimulate children’s learning
  • evaluating the impact of teaching assistants and holding them accountable for the work they do. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of the school’s use of pupil premium funding should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

• Leaders and governors have not ensured that pupils are kept safe. They have failed in their duty to ensure that all safeguarding concerns are fully recorded and, at the time of the inspection, could not demonstrate they had always taken appropriate action to notify other agencies of ongoing concerns. Similarly, leaders and governors have not carried out appropriate checks on all adults working at the school. As a result, leaders have placed pupils at significant risk.
• Leaders have an over-positive view of the school’s effectiveness and the strengths and weaknesses in the quality of education and outcomes. There is an over-reliance on external consultants to provide information on the effectiveness of key areas. Leaders are not evaluating their own school adequately. When they receive external advice, they do not act upon it effectively enough.
• Action plans to drive forward school improvements consist of a list of actions, without succinct evaluation or detail. No one is holding leaders accountable for the impact of actions because lines of accountability are weak.
• Leaders do not monitor the progress of groups of pupils closely enough. Assessment information does not give leaders enough information to ensure that all groups of pupils, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, the most able and disadvantaged pupils, make the progress they are capable of. Leaders do not use pupil premium funding or special educational needs funding effectively because their plans are weak and do not set measureable targets. Governors do not receive regular analysis to enable them to monitor the impact of leaders’ plans effectively.
• Sports funding has been used to employ sports coaches to work alongside staff and to provide a wider range of sporting opportunities. Leaders have not evaluated the impact of this spending, so do not know where it has been most effective.
• The school’s curriculum is broad and balanced. However, teachers are not ensuring that pupils apply skills taught in English to their writing work in other subjects. As a result, standards are too low. Subject leaders are not carrying out checks to see how well pupils are achieving in their subject areas. Consequently, there is inconsistency across subjects and classes. Pupils show a limited understanding of British values.
• Leaders have tackled some underperformance in teaching quality and have taken effective action to provide support so teachers’ practice develops. As a result, the quality of teaching and learning is improving.

Governance of the school

• The governance of the school is not effective.
• Governors have not ensured that all statutory safeguarding requirements for recruitment are in place. When they have carried out checks, they have not recorded their findings and have not ensured that leaders addressed any failings. At the start of the inspection many gaps in the single central record, previously identified by governors, remained.
• Governors are unsure about the lines of accountability within the trust. They do not fully understand where accountability lies for standards or for safeguarding. This is because the lines of accountability within the trust are unclear.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.
• Systems to keep pupils safe are weak. Leaders are not ensuring that staff follow school policies for the reporting and recording of serious incidents. When this does happen, leaders are not always following up these concerns and it is not clear if information has been passed on to the relevant agencies.
• Leaders are complacent in their safeguarding arrangements. Leaders responsible for staff recruitment and checks do not receive regular training and as a result were unsure what they needed to include in the single central register. The governor responsible for safeguarding had checked the register, but had not recorded the findings or identified any errors. Leaders know gaps existed, but have not taken action to address them. Governing body minutes from February and April 2017 recorded that some governors had not undergone the necessary checks, and this was still the case during the inspection.
• The trust do not have a named safeguarding lead and delegate this responsibility to the school governors. However, the trust does not provide adequate training, checks or support to ensure that governors fulfil their duties effectively. The safeguarding policy was re-written twice during the inspection because those responsible for safeguarding were unsure what to include.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching, learning and assessment require improvement because there are too many inconsistencies across year groups and subjects in the curriculum. As a result, pupils’ rates of progress are variable. Not enough pupils make rapid progress over time.
• Teachers do not always take account of prior assessment before planning their lessons. Sometimes, the most able pupils do not receive sufficient challenge to help them extend their learning. Lower-ability pupils do not always have work tailored appropriately to meet their needs. Subsequently, in some classes, pupils lose interest because the pace of learning is too slow.
• Teachers’ expectations are not consistently high. Some teachers accept poorly presented work and do not address repeated misconceptions over time. Consequently, pupils make the same errors and this slows down progress.
• Handwriting across the school is underdeveloped, particularly in key stage 2. Teachers do not insist on accurate formation and neat presentation. As a result, pupils do not take enough care with their work. As pupils move through the school, pupils’ spelling does not develop well enough because teachers do not make sure that pupils check their work. The quality of writing across the wider curriculum is not well developed because pupils do not apply skills from writing lessons to other subjects.
• The effectiveness of teaching assistants varies across the school. At times, teaching assistants are slow to intervene when pupils display challenging behaviour. Others give too much support and complete tasks for pupils. Where teaching assistants are more successful in supporting pupils’ learning, they use effective questioning to help pupils explain and deepen their thinking.
• Where teaching promotes pupils’ progress most successfully, explanations are clear and support learning effectively. Resources are well prepared and tasks match the needs of all groups of pupils. In some classes, for example, teachers use questioning and discussion successfully to check pupils’ understanding and to advance pupils’ learning.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Pupils demonstrate a strong awareness of other cultures and faiths. For example, pupils knew it was Ramadan and could talk about some of the central beliefs of Muslims. Pupils talk positively about differences between themselves and people from other religions, showing respect and tolerance. Pupils’ understanding of other British values is less well developed.
• Pupils say that they feel safe in school and know whom to go to if they have any concerns. They are confident that staff deal with issues, such as bullying, effectively. Pupils know how to keep safe when using the internet and can describe school procedures for reporting any inappropriate behaviour online.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• A minority of pupils display poor behaviour in some classrooms, which, when left unchallenged, hindered the learning of others. Behaviour was better in classrooms where work matched the needs of pupils.
• Some staff reported that they do not always feel well supported in dealing with behaviour issues. They feel that leaders do not always check the records of behaviour incidents and take appropriate action. Some staff say behaviour has improved with the appointment of a learning mentor.
• The vast majority of pupils behave extremely well, are polite, well-mannered and conduct themselves well throughout the day.
• The number of exclusions has fallen over time. Some pupils, however, exhibit some very challenging behaviours. These pupils receive beneficial support from the learning mentor.
• Attendance has remained stable at just below the national average. The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent has fallen and is now in line with national averages.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Over time, pupils have not made consistently strong progress from their starting points in English, mathematics and other subjects. Progress in mathematics has been below that seen nationally and in 2016, both attainment and rates of progress were below that of other schools.
• Current progress rates in mathematics show that more pupils are making rapid progress, particularly in Year 6. However, because starting points have been so low, more pupils need to make rapid progress across the whole school so that a greater proportion of pupils reach the expected standard at the end of each year group.
• Writing progress across the school is variable because not all teachers have high enough expectations. Where progress is strongest, pupils are using complex sentences and more exciting and varied vocabulary. Where progress is weakest, pupils do not receive enough support and guidance from teachers to help them understand how to improve their work.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities do not make consistently strong progress. Where pupils receive appropriate learning targets, closely matched to their needs, progress is stronger.
• Current rates of progress for disadvantaged pupils are stronger in mathematics than in English. Too few disadvantaged pupils are making rapid progress across key stage 1 and 2, however, because leaders are not using the pupil premium funding effectively.
• Recent improvements in the teaching of phonics mean that a higher proportion of pupils are on track to meet expectations at the end of Year 1.
• Pupils who are new to English receive good support and this is enabling them to make rapid progress as their English develops over time.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Leadership of the early years requires improvement. Professionals from a teaching school alliance correctly identified a range of areas of development earlier in the school year. However, leaders have not taken effective action to act on the advice given. Improvement planning is not sharp enough. Leaders do not check the quality of teaching often or carefully enough, and they have an over-positive view of the quality of the provision.
• Children enter the early years with skills, knowledge and understanding that are generally below that which is typical for their age. This is particularly the case in English speaking and listening. The proportion of pupils reaching a good level of development by the time they leave the early years has improved over time, but still remains below the national average. This is because too few children make the rapid progress that the adults ought to expect of them.
• Very few children have exceeded the early learning goals across the different areas of learning because the teaching does not stretch the most able children. Opportunities for independent play and exploration in particular do not challenge the most able children well enough.
• The assessment of children is largely accurate. Adults observe children routinely in a range of learning situations and record what children have done in detail. However, while adults know generally where children are up to in their learning, they are not adept at identifying next steps for children’s learning, precisely. This sometimes hinders children’s progress. School leaders have not checked the accuracy of assessment for themselves.
• Adults’ interactions with children vary in quality. For example, some adults ask questions that only require one-word answers or they do not give children enough time to think about their answers. Sometimes, adults do not intervene to direct children’s attention to something more constructive and challenging.
• The early years learning environment in both Reception and Nursery classes is stimulating and well ordered. Resources are of high quality. However, adults often do not make the best use of resources inside and outside to challenge children in their independent play and exploration. Consequently, too many children, especially boys, lose interest quickly and do not develop concentration and persistence. Adults do not always check incidents of poor behaviour quickly enough.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 141062 Bradford 10031036 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 Academy converter 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 286 Appropriate authority Academy trust Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Mr Wesley McGlinchey Mr Sam Poulton 01535 210600 www.stannesrc.net office@stannesrc.org.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school does not comply with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish about pupil premium, physical education and sports funding, special educational needs and governor information.
• The school is slightly larger than the average primary school.
• The school converted to an academy in July 2014 and founded the Christopher Wharton Academy Trust with one other local catholic school. The trust expanded in 2016 and now includes six primary schools. The headteacher is also one of the trustees.
• The school meets the government floor standards.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is lower than seen nationally.
• The majority of pupils are from a Pakistani or White British background, with an increasing number of Eastern European families.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is higher than seen nationally.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning across the school. They spoke to pupils about their work and examined work in books.
• Meetings were held with pupils, senior and middle leaders, a range of teaching and support staff, two governors including the chair of governors and two representatives from the Blessed Christopher Wharton Catholic Academy Trust.
• Inspectors considered the 14 responses to Parent View (Ofsted’s online questionnaire), including eight free-text responses, and spoke to parents informally before the school day.
• Inspectors also considered the 21 responses to the staff online survey along with the 32 pupil responses to the pupil questionnaire.
• Inspectors examined documents relating to governance, self-evaluation, school improvement planning, pupils’ progress, attendance, behaviour, the curriculum and safeguarding.

Inspection team

Janet Lunn, lead inspector Simon Bissett Mary Lanovy-Taylor Phil Riozzi Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector