St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further improve the attendance of the small minority of pupils who are persistently absent by working closely with their families to make sure that they attend school as regularly as other pupils nationally.
• Further improve outcomes for pupils in writing across the curriculum by providing even greater challenge for the most able pupils, including most-able disadvantaged pupils, so that they make stronger progress across all subjects.
• Further develop and share the skills of teaching assistants so that they can take on even more responsibility for planning and monitoring the impact of their work with pupils of all abilities.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

• The executive headteacher and head of school lead the school with a strong sense of moral purpose. They are determined that all pupils should receive the best. They know the school and the community it serves very well. They do their utmost to remove barriers to pupils’ learning and well-being. They monitor the effect of the school’s work rigorously, in detail and often.
• Leaders have created a culture of mutual support, high expectations and equality of opportunity. They have worked successfully to ensure that all members of the school, pupils and staff feel valued and have opportunities to improve their skills. As a result, outcomes for pupils are improving. Staff morale is high.
• The school’s systems for monitoring the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ learning and well-being are meticulous and detailed. Senior and, increasingly, middle leaders use the detailed information they derive from this monitoring to shape and focus support and training for staff. This is ensuring that the skill and expertise of staff, including those of teaching assistants, are constantly improving.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding is developed well through a broad curriculum that engages and excites them. They speak enthusiastically about their enjoyment of a range of subjects, including French, sports, art and religious studies.
• Leaders have ensured that the curriculum is successfully underpinned by a very wide range of extra-curricular sports, artistic, aesthetic and other activities. These give pupils opportunities to explore their understanding of themselves and the needs of others through, for example, team and charity work. They also give pupils opportunities to explore the concept of responsibility and action, for example in matters associated with the conservation and celebration of our world. As a result, pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• The additional funding the school receives to support pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is used effectively. The leadership for this aspect of the school’s work has been very effective in ensuring that carefully focused actions are put in place to meet these pupils’ needs. The impact of these actions is carefully monitored to ensure that they are effective. As a result, these pupils make good progress from their starting points.
• Additional funding for disadvantaged children is used effectively to provide carefully focused support and guidance to remove, wherever possible, barriers to learning and success. As a result, these pupils make good, and often very good, progress across the school. Differences between their success and that of their peers are diminishing. Leaders, including governors, are determined that these differences will continue to reduce.
• The physical education and sport premium is used well to provide professional development for staff and to extend opportunities for pupils to attend additional coaching sessions and enrichment activities. As a result, participation in competitive activity is high. Pupils say that they enjoy the range of activities on offer.
• Teaching assistants and additional adults are a strength across the school. They are generally well managed and deployed. They are highly committed and contribute a great deal to the academic and community life of the school. Teaching assistants are ambitious and could offer even more.

Governance of the school

• Governors are ambitious for the school. They know the community it serves well. They also know the school’s strengths and areas for further improvement. This is because they are well informed through the information provided by leaders and by their own diligent and regular links with the school. Governors have increasingly strong links with middle leaders. These colleagues also provide governors with detailed information about the school’s progress. Because of their deep knowledge of the school, governors provide robust and focused challenge to school leaders about the progress of all groups of pupils. They are also effective in driving improvement, in areas such as pupils’ attendance, through insistent and targeted questioning. The records of governors’ meetings and planning are full, appropriately detailed and fit for purpose.
• The governing body is well supported by both the Catholic Diocese of Leeds and by the local authority. The local authority provides detailed support and advice for governors in the setting of appropriate targets for the executive headteacher. The diocese provides regular and effective training and advice to governors.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Procedures for checking the suitability of visitors and staff recruitment are secure. Leaders check staff’s suitability to work with children appropriately.
• Leaders ensure that all staff and governors are well trained and skilled in safeguarding matters. There are regular training and question and answer sessions to keep staff informed and up to date.
• Leaders maintain a culture in the school where staff show a clear understanding of their responsibilities and of the processes to keep pupils safe. As a result, staff promptly identify, and appropriately support, potentially vulnerable pupils. They also tenaciously engage with outside agencies to ensure that pupils get the support they need.
• Pupils have many opportunities to learn how to stay safe, through the subjects they study, class time and through assemblies. Pupils told inspectors that they regularly learn about how to stay safe online.
• Pupils whom inspectors spoke with said that they have staff they can go to if they have any concerns. They are confident that adults would listen to their concerns and take prompt, appropriate and effective action.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Staff demonstrate strong subject knowledge and they know their pupils well. They plan learning that builds on what pupils already know and understand. They monitor pupils’ progress carefully. As a result, those at risk of falling behind are given additional support quickly. Detailed use of assessment ensures that learning is typically well matched to pupils’ needs.
• Staff, both teachers and teaching assistants, use questioning effectively, and often with significant skill, to develop pupils’ vocabulary and delight in words and language. They adapt their teaching effectively to suit the needs of their pupils.
• Relationships across the school between pupils and adults are relaxed and respectful. As a result, the classroom environment for learning is effective. Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning. They want to do well and, because teachers’ expectations are high, they generally do so. The classrooms are attractive, uncluttered places to learn in. Pupils have ready access to materials, such as rulers, pens and dictionaries, to support their learning.
• Pupils’ books, particularly as they progress through the school, show pupils writing in their English books at length, in a range of ways, to suit their audience and topic. The written work of most-able pupils is characterised by its detail, neatness and thoughtfulness. This is because teachers have high expectations and provide all pupils, including the most able, with challenging and interesting things to explore.
• In mathematics, number and calculation skills are taught effectively across the school. This helps pupils develop their tenacity and skill in solving increasingly complex problems. The pace of learning is generally crisp. Teachers use focused assessment to move pupils on appropriately to the next steps in their work. Pupils report that they welcome and enjoy mathematics.
• The whole-school approach to reading, rooted in carefully chosen, high-quality class readers, has had a positive effect on pupils’ confidence in, and regard for, reading. Many pupils reported that they read widely and enjoy challenging texts. Staff show high levels of skill as they encourage pupils, through deft questioning, to explore how writers create effects and mood in their shared class reader.
• Parents receive regular updates from the school about how well their children are doing. As well as the regular written reports, staff are readily available if parents wish to talk about a particular issue. Parents said that they welcomed this aspect of the school’s work. Also, each new academic year now starts with a session for parents with their children with their new teacher in their new classroom. They talk with their child’s teacher about the topics to be covered and what children can expect in their learning. Pupils and parents reported that they welcomed this.
• Staff follow the school’s feedback procedures and pupils respond positively to staff. They use staff’s useful comments to develop and deepen their skills so that they do better next time. As a result, they make generally good and assured progress.
• Pupils’ writing skills are developed effectively across the school. Teachers plan a range of contexts for writing, and the quality of handwriting, sentence structure and vocabulary is typically of a good standard. However, most-able pupils have too few opportunities to extend and deepen their writing skills in subjects other than English. In science, for example, there are not enough opportunities for most-able pupils to develop their specifically scientific writing skills.
• Teaching assistants are generally well deployed. They have a positive impact on learning because they support pupils effectively and help remove barriers to their learning by keeping them on track and focused on the task in hand. However, detailed records of the effect of the work undertaken by teaching assistants are not routinely kept. This means that opportunities can be lost to identify precisely what aspects of their support works best.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are polite, courteous and aware of the needs of others. They relate well to each other and to staff. They spoke with real delight about how much they enjoyed school and how well the staff care for them. They know that staff at the school would be there for them if they ever had a problem.
• The school engages effectively with pupils’ families. There are strong links with home. The vast majority of parents, when asked, said that they were very satisfied with the service the school offers families. They commented positively about the availability of staff, particularly in early years and key stage 1. They said that the school was good at keeping them informed.
• Pupils wear their uniforms smartly. They care for their school. There is no litter. There are many attractive and informative displays, both in and out of the classroom, that help pupils understand and celebrate their place in the school, the community and the wider world.
• Because of the school’s effective and carefully targeted work, pupils have a very good understanding of the forms that bullying can take and what to do to combat it if it were to occur. Pupils say that they feel safe and are safe because of the school’s actions.
• Pupils are keenly aware of the strength and vigour that variety and difference bring to society, both at school and in the wider community. Pupils develop high levels of empathy and understanding of each other because of the detailed and imaginative way the school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education.
• The school actively promotes a healthy lifestyle. Meal choices are healthy, including those provided at the daily, pre-school breakfast club. Pupils know what constitutes a healthy diet. They are also very aware of the need to preserve and celebrate the environment and nature. Pupils are keenly aware of their responsibilities in sharing, preserving and celebrating the natural world in all its diversity.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils told inspectors that behaviour was good. They reported that the school’s systems to support and reward positive behaviour are effective and enjoyable. They make a positive difference. As a result, disruption to learning is rare and, when it does occur, it is dealt with swiftly and consistently by staff.
• The school’s own records of behaviour are detailed. Leaders regularly and carefully analyse these records to help them discern patterns of behaviour so that support can be put in place to tackle it before it occurs.
• As a result of leaders’ tenacious efforts, overall attendance is improving and is now in line with the national average. The attendance of the minority of pupils who are persistently absent is also improving; however, it is still too high. Records show that the school’s work to improve rates of attendance are effective. Pupils are very clear about why it is important to attend school regularly.
• The overwhelming majority of pupils are very interested in what they do at school. They enjoy learning and finding out. They have responded very favourably to the school’s recent focus on reading. Pupils generally use their initiative and respond favourably when staff encourage them to use it. More could be done to encourage pupils to be even more active in their own learning and to be more aware of how they learn best.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• The progress that pupils make has improved because of good and improving teaching. This teaching takes particular and detailed note of the precise needs of pupils. This is particularly the case for the many pupils who are new to English or for whom English is an additional language.
• The percentage of pupils meeting the required standard for the phonics screening check is rising year-on-year. Provisional, unvalidated results for Year 1 pupils in 2018 show a further improvement. Pupils who took the phonics check again in Year 2 all made gains on their previous outcomes. A significant proportion of the pupils taking these tests were new to English when they entered the school.
• Provisional results of the end of key stage 1 tests in 2018, moderated by the local authority, show continued improvement compared with previous years, especially in reading and writing. Disadvantaged pupils outperformed their peers in reading and writing. The percentage of disadvantaged pupils achieving at greater depth in mathematics improved significantly.
• Similarly, according to the school’s predictions, moderated by local schools, provisional outcomes for the end of key stage 2 test subjects in 2018 show a 13% improvement in reading and a 15% improvement in mathematics. According to the school’s moderated information, disadvantaged pupils performed as well as their peers in reading and writing and better in mathematics.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress because of the staff’s very detailed knowledge of their needs, and teaching which breaks down tasks into manageable steps. The recently appointed leader for this area of the school’s work has also identified key areas for next steps in further improving the provision for these pupils.
• Disadvantaged pupils across the school make good progress from their starting points in all subjects. Because of leaders’ actions, all staff are fully aware of the needs and barriers to learning for the disadvantaged pupils in their care and teaching is carefully focused on supporting them.
• Pupils’ outcomes in the subjects across the curriculum are also strong in subjects such as French and art. In French, for example, inspectors saw pupils thriving on high expectations and fast-moving teaching that engaged and encouraged them to use their growing facility with this additional language. An inspector saw Year 3 pupils enthusiastically sharing their knowledge of the months of the year and then using this knowledge to form questions about today’s date.
• Pupils are very well prepared for next steps in their learning. Year 6 pupils showed an eagerness and a real engagement with, and pleasure in, knowledge. They are confident and aware of the needs of others. Inspectors saw Year 6 pupils reflecting thoughtfully on their expectations of secondary schools and their hopes and aspirations for the future. When questioned, pupils said that they felt well prepared for the next steps because of the actions of the school.
• Most-able pupils generally make rapid progress. However, their progress is less certain when staff expectations are not consistently of the highest order and these pupils, along with their peers, are not given opportunities to explore and deepen their learning through more open-ended activities.
• Overall, leaders have improved pupils’ outcomes across the school in a wide range of subjects through a carefully designed and well-taught curriculum and detailed assessment and monitoring practices that inform the next steps.

Early years provision Good

• The leadership of early years is good. Staff assess children accurately on entry and they know them very well. There are strong links with other local providers. As a result, staff plan accurately for children’s development. Staff develop a stimulating learning environment, which provides a wide range of interesting activities to support learning, both inside and outside the school.
• Most children enter Nursery and Reception with skills and knowledge below those typical for their age. Through high expectations and strong teaching, they make good progress. Their speaking and listening skills are particularly well developed. Adults model language effectively and question well. They help children to develop their spoken language, widen their vocabulary and grow in confidence.
• As a result of the improvements at the school, children make good progress in the Reception class. The number attaining a good level of development is increasing year-on-year. Unvalidated outcomes for summer 2018 suggest another increase in the percentage of children reaching a good level of development.
• Relationships between children and adults are strong. As a result of this, children are happy and develop positive attitudes to learning. They gain in confidence and independence. Children were very keen to tell inspectors all about their learning and the exciting things they had been doing.
• Staff establish a good balance between adult-led and child-initiated activities. This encourages children to take control of their own learning. It also means that children learn to take turns and work collaboratively.
• The provision for those children who have SEN and/or disabilities is effective.
• Phonics is taught effectively and systematically in early years. This is having a positive impact on reading and on the quality of writing. Inspectors saw examples of children taking real delight in the formation of well-presented, simple sentences.
• Children feel safe. Staff carefully monitor children and they know what to do if they have any concerns about a child’s safety. Staff receive good-quality training in all aspects of keeping children safe, including child protection and paediatric first aid.
• Parents reported that they really value the service they and their children receive from the early years team. They welcome the emphasis on reading and the ways in which staff make themselves available to talk about their children.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 107327 Bradford 10047464 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 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 342 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Margaret Stichbury The executive headteacher Catherine Markham Telephone number 01274 727 970 Website Email address www.stjosephsbradford.co.uk office@stjosephsbradford.bradford.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 18-19 February 2014

Information about this school

• St Joseph’s Catholic school is larger than the average-sized primary school.
• The school has a 26-place nursery provision, offering both morning and afternoon sessions.
• The executive headteacher of this school is also the executive head of St Columba’s Catholic primary school.
• The large majority of pupils come from minority ethnic backgrounds. 
• The proportion of pupils new to English, or in the early stages of learning English as an additional language, is well above average. This is because there has been an increase in pupils starting school at other than the usual times, often from Eastern European countries.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils eligible for the pupil premium is significantly above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• The school has a breakfast club that offers before-school sessions.
• 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.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in all classes across the school. Most of these lessons were jointly observed with the executive headteacher or head of school. Inspectors listened to pupils from Years 1, 3 and 5 read and talked with them about their experience of reading, both in and out of school.
• Inspectors held meetings with the executive headteacher and head of school, other senior leaders, middle leaders and members of the governing body, including the chair and vice-chair. The lead inspector met with officers of Bradford local authority. He also spoke with the director of education for the Catholic Diocese of Leeds on the telephone. Inspectors reviewed a range of the school’s documentation, including that related to safeguarding, achievement, the quality of teaching, attendance and behaviour.
• Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour and conduct at breaks and lunchtimes. They spoke informally with pupils about their experience and attitudes to school during these times. Inspectors also spoke more formally with pupils from Years 2 and 5 about school and the range of opportunities it offered them to explore and enjoy learning.
• Inspectors scrutinised a wide sample of pupils’ work from all year groups and a range of subjects.
• Inspectors considered the six responses to an Ofsted survey of staff and the 100 responses to an Ofsted survey of pupils’ views. Inspectors also spoke with parents and carers at the start and end of the school day to seek their opinions of the school’s work and care for their children. The lead inspector also reviewed responses from six parents via the free-text facility.
• Throughout the two days of the inspection, inspectors spoke with pupils, both formally and informally, about their learning, safety and well-being.
• The lead inspector considered the findings of the most recent denominational report for this Catholic school in his preparation.
• Belita Scott HMI shadowed aspects of the inspection during the first day.

Inspection team

Mark Evans, lead inspector Lee Haynes Gerry Wilson

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector