Emmaus Catholic and CofE Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment to accelerate pupils’ progress in all areas of the curriculum but particularly in reading, writing, and science by ensuring that: assessment information is used effectively by teachers to plan learning activities which are closely matched to pupils’ skills and abilities all staff listen carefully to and sensitively correct pupils’ misconceptions in a timely way to enable pupils to make more rapid progress teaching in phonics builds upon prior learning and is effective in enabling pupils of all abilities to make rapid progress pupils have frequent opportunities to acquire and deepen their comprehension skills in reading teachers continue to support pupils, particularly boys, to improve their writing skills and promote consistently high expectations of spelling and handwriting in key stages 1 and 2 teachers provide greater challenge to the most able pupils so that they excel teachers plan lessons in science that enhance pupils’ scientific knowledge and enable them to use and apply their scientific skills.
• Improve the impact and effectiveness of leaders at all levels further by making sure that: they develop further clarity in assessment processes to enable them to track the progress of all groups of pupils the effectiveness of teaching and its impact on the progress of the less able and most able pupils is more accurately monitored pupils have access to a more coherent and well-planned curriculum that enables them to achieve well in a wide range of subjects, including in science.
• Make certain that all groups of children in the early years make rapid progress by ensuring that teachers meticulously plan and adapt provision in all areas, including outdoors, so that children can take the next steps in their learning.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The quiet and steely determination of the headteacher has been instrumental in helping her to deliver improvements in the quality of teaching and learning at Emmaus Catholic and Church of England Primary School. She has engendered a sense of team spirit among staff and governors and is gaining the trust of parents and the wider school community.
• The headteacher and governors have successfully recruited and nurtured a dynamic senior leadership team. Leaders at all levels are growing in their ability to motivate and develop other staff. Senior leaders regularly check the work of teachers and effectively support those who need help to improve.
• The headteacher’s use of specific targets to help teachers improve their performance in the classroom has contributed to the rapid improvements in teaching. Checks on the performance of teachers closely link the work in pupils’ books to pupils’ progress. Teachers spoke effusively of the high-quality training opportunities they have received and confidently explained the changes they have been able to introduce within the classroom as a result.
• The leader with responsibility for provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities ensures that funding for pupils is spent appropriately. She carefully monitors provision for pupils and provides effective direction for teachers and teaching assistants to help pupils make progress.
• Pupil premium funding is used to provide additional teaching both in small groups and individually. The impact of this work is that differences between the progress of disadvantaged pupils and others are rapidly diminishing.
• The physical education and sport funding is used well to employ specialist coaches from Sheffield Hallam University to deliver physical education lessons and to provide dance, cheerleading, basketball and football after-school clubs for pupils. One third of all pupils have attended an extra-curricular sports club because of this funding.
• Leaders’ work to promote pupils’ awareness of social, moral, spiritual and cultural issues is a strength. Pupils spoke sensitively about the recent events in Manchester and London, demonstrating an awareness of extremism that showed the school is unafraid to address difficult issues. Displays around school show evidence of pupils’ learning about inspirational characters from history and world faiths. As a result of the enthusiastic approach taken by staff, pupils demonstrate high levels of tolerance and respect for others.
• Even though leaders have taken robust action to improve the quality of learning, teaching has not been consistently good enough over time to ensure that all groups of pupils are making good or better progress in reading and writing.
• Senior leaders have rapidly developed their use of assessment and systems for recording pupils’ attainment but these arrangements are currently not sufficiently sophisticated to enable leaders to analyse the progress of groups of pupils. A focus on progress of whole classes is masking the slower progress of the less and most able pupils from their starting points.

Governance of the school

• There is a well-developed sense of partnership between governors, senior leaders, the local authority and the diocese. All have worked together with intent to improve the quality of education provided for pupils and understand what still needs to be done. Governors:
  • are confident to challenge leaders about the school’s performance and pupils’ outcomes
  • are supported by the local authority to use the performance management of the headteacher effectively as a tool to improve teaching
  • are able to report confidently on aspects of the school’s work through regular meetings of teaching staff and link governors
  • ensure that the pupil premium and sports funding are spent appropriately and that safeguarding responsibilities are well executed.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Staff are committed to ensuring that all pupils are happy and secure and levels of supervision in the playground and around school are high. All policies and procedures meet statutory requirements.
• Staff are appropriately trained, four to an advanced level, to identify and deal with safeguarding issues as they arise. Governors are regularly informed about safeguarding issues. Leaders ensure that all new staff are thoroughly prepared to safeguard pupils through well-planned induction procedures.
• The online safety leader supports all staff in vigilantly applying e-safety policies to ensure that pupils keep safe when using the internet. Staff have been trained to spot signs of radicalisation and to act to keep pupils safe from exploitation or harm.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teachers sometimes plan activities that lack challenge because not enough account is taken of what pupils already know and can do to ensure that pupils of all abilities make rapid progress from their starting points. This is particularly the case for the most able, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, who are not consistently challenged to develop their knowledge of reading to greater depth.
• The teaching of reading is having a variable impact on progress in some classes. Some reading lessons are not planned appropriately to ensure that pupils make the best use of time. Some pupils are unable to read beyond the surface features of the text and to make deductions in order to fully comprehend meaning. In some classes, pupils read very regularly and all pupils enjoy choosing books from well-stocked class libraries.
• Although the most able pupils read with fluency and expression in both key stages 1 and 2, low-prior-attaining readers are less able to use a range of skills, including phonics, to read with fluency and understanding.
• Pupils’ outcomes in writing are improving and in most classes teaching is helping pupils to secure basic skills. However, not all teachers are correcting pupils’ work effectively enough to prevent pupils, particularly boys, from repeating basic errors in phonics, spelling and handwriting.
• Too little time has been given to learning in science. Teachers’ planning in science is not precise enough to ensure that pupils develop their scientific enquiry or experimental skills appropriately.
• Teaching is improving. Some teaching is leading to good learning, particularly in mathematics lessons. There are emerging strengths in the quality of teaching over time, particularly in key stage 2. Teaching successfully captures pupils’ interests so pupils are keen to learn. Teachers have chosen texts and topics that will appeal to boys as well as girls. For example, pupils really enjoyed writing about their learning linked to the ancient Mayans.
• Provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is having a positive impact on meeting pupils’ social and emotional needs. Overall, teaching assistants provide sensitive support for these pupils.
• Teachers ensure that pupils receive regular homework and parents are well informed about homework and other school events. Homework is effectively supporting the learning of basic knowledge and pupils are benefiting from the additional practice in key skills.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Leaders’ and teachers’ work to ensure that pupils have a good attitude to learning is effective. Pupils really enjoy accumulating stickers to earn them a special badge, designed by the pupils themselves. Displays around school reinforce the school values of pupils being: ‘Respectful, Resilient, Resourceful, Ready to Learn, Reflective and Responsive’.
• Pupils are successfully learning to articulate their opinions and emotions through philosophy lessons. In one lesson observed, skilfully steered by the teacher, key stage 1 pupils spoke respectfully as they wrestled with a question they had generated themselves: ‘Should people be different?’ ‘Come and see’ religious education lessons are effectively teaching pupils to reflect on tricky concepts such as forgiveness. These lessons successfully bolster pupils’ self-esteem and help them to understand how to keep healthy, both physically and mentally.
• Leaders and teachers help pupils to respect the customs and practices of others. Pupils have learned about positive role models through Black History Month, for example. They have experimented in writing Japanese haikus and explored the culture of Mexico through art.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Parents and staff agree this is the case. In lessons, the vast majority of pupils sustain their concentration and playtimes and lunchtimes are happy.
• One or two pupils told inspectors of times when the behaviour of others was not as good but they said this did not happen often and was swiftly dealt with by staff. A very few pupils find managing their behaviour challenging but inspectors found leaders and staff to be skilled in helping pupils to manage this behaviour so that disruptions to learning are rare.
• Pupils who spoke to the inspectors said they love coming to school. They say they have some good teachers and really enjoy lessons in reading, mathematics and physical education, among others.
• Pupils’ attendance is broadly in line with national averages. Leaders have worked closely with families and external agencies to support the regular attendance of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities to enable them to attend school as regularly as possible.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• In 2015 and 2016, the attainment of pupils at the end of key stage 2 was broadly in line with national averages in reading, writing and mathematics. The progress of Year 6 pupils in 2016 was broadly in line with national averages in reading and writing and slightly above in mathematics. There was little difference between the progress of disadvantaged pupils and others in reading and mathematics but disadvantaged pupils did less well than others in writing.
• Attainment for key stage 1 pupils was below average in 2015 and 2016 and the progress of pupils over key stage 1 was below average in reading, writing and mathematics. Very few pupils achieved greater depth in reading and none in writing or mathematics. There was little difference between the progress of disadvantaged pupils and others in reading and disadvantaged pupils made better progress compared to other pupils in writing and mathematics. Girls and boys made similar progress in reading and mathematics but boys did less well in writing.
• The proportions of pupils achieving the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check have been well below national figures. Outcomes have risen over the last three years so that this year three quarters of pupils are on track to achieve the standard, but this is likely to remain below national averages. Disadvantaged pupils have outperformed other pupils in phonics and boys have done better than girls.
• The school’s own assessment information shows a mixed picture regarding the progress of current pupils. In some classes and in some subjects, pupils’ progress is too slow to enable them to achieve well.
• The school’s focus on improving provision in reading, writing and mathematics has meant that pupils’ learning in other subjects, including science, is less well developed.
• Although pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are achieving lower standards than other pupils across the school, overall they are making steady progress from their different starting points.
• Work in pupils’ books shows that pupils’ progress is stronger in key stage 2. Overall, middle-prior-attaining pupils are making secure progress. However, pupils’ work shows that less-able pupils are struggling to complete tasks to an acceptable standard and the most able, including most-able disadvantaged pupils, are not receiving sufficient challenge needed to make the rapid progress of which they are capable.

Early years provision Good

• Most children enter the Nursery with skills and knowledge below those typically seen for their age. Between a third and half of children enter with skills well below those typically seen. There has been a three-year rising trend in the proportion of children achieving a good level of development.
• The leader for the early years has a very clear view of the strengths and weaknesses of the early years provision. She has used this information to improve the setting so that is it bright, stimulating and inviting for children. Children’s work is celebrated everywhere, illustrating the determination of staff to promote writing and creative skills effectively.
• Staff meet regularly to discuss the progress of individual children. They have a well-developed understanding of children’s needs and regular assessment is informing an accurate baseline of children’s skills and abilities.
• Staff work effectively to involve parents in their child’s education. Regular opportunities are provided for parents to come into school. Staff consult parents about their child’s likes and dislikes, using the information well to help children to settle quickly. Assessment information on individual children is kept online and is accessible to parents, enabling them to keep an eye on their child’s progress.
• Teaching is effective in supporting children to develop knowledge and understanding in number and to develop their use of language. All staff engage children in learning conversations that help children to understand and acquire new vocabulary swiftly.
• The leader has been determined to encourage children in a love of books. Children in Reception read every day and this, coupled with regular phonics lessons and trips to the local library, is helping them make rapid gains in reading.
• Teachers’ modelling of writing is effective in formally teaching children to understand the conventions of writing and letter formation. Many reasons to practise writing independently are provided around the setting so that children are developing fine motor skills and acquiring writing skills at a fast rate.
• Disadvantaged children make rapid progress so that by the time they leave Reception, there is very little difference between their development and that of other children. This is because of the bespoke teaching provided by a member of staff trained to boost children’s basic skills.
• Children behave well, play energetically and learn cooperatively. Leaders have ensured that the setting is safe; they take care to ensure all equipment is well maintained and supervised when in use. Staff effectively manage the risks for children and ensure the statutory welfare requirements are met.
• Children make good progress throughout the setting, so that by the time they move key stages, slightly below average proportions of children are ready to start in Year 1. However, not all activities are planned with sufficient rigour to enable children to independently apply and practise the skills and knowledge they are acquiring when they are not working directly with an adult.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140826 Sheffield 10031929 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 Academy sponsor-led 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 332 Appropriate authority Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Academy trust Nick Totterdell Helen Simmerson 0114 276 6474 www.emmaus.sheffield.sch.uk enquiries@emmaus.sheffield.sch.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• Emmaus Catholic and Church of England Primary School is a larger than average-sized primary school.
• The school is part of the Hallam Schools’ Partnership Academy Trust.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for support through the pupil premium is twice the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average.
• Sixty per cent of pupils are from White British backgrounds. Forty per cent of pupils are from other minority ethnic groups, the largest of which is Black or Black British African. Almost 20% of pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment in English and mathematics.
• Children in the Reception class attend full time.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.

Information about this inspection

• Together with the headteacher, inspectors looked at data on pupils’ progress, information about the performance of teachers, documents relating to behaviour and safety and documents relating to safeguarding.
• The inspectors looked at pupils’ work in books and observed pupils’ learning in parts of 15 lessons, some alongside the headteacher and deputy headteacher.
• Inspectors listened to Year 1, Year 2 and Year 6 pupils read, and observed pupils learning in small groups. They spoke with pupils in lessons, in a meeting, at lunchtime and at playtimes.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders and five members of the governing body. A meeting was also held with representatives of the local authority and the diocese.
• Inspectors could not consider parents’ views through Parent View (Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents) because there were too few responses, but did look at 90 parents’ responses to the school’s own questionnaire.
• The inspectors took account of 30 online responses returned by members of staff.

Inspection team

Lesley Butcher, lead inspector Susan Twaits Mujahid Ali

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector