All Saints Catholic Primary School

All Saints Catholic Primary School Chesnut Grove, Bootle, Merseyside, L20 4LX

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Pupils do not make enough progress because overall teaching requires improvement.  Some teachers talk for too long and do not expect enough of all pupils, especially the more-able.  Teachers’ written comments on pupils’ mathematics books do not always help pupils to improve their work.  Attendance is below average and too many pupils are late for school.  Senior leaders have introduced a range of plans and actions but in the past these have not improved teaching or pupils’ achievement quickly enough.  Governors have not always held school leaders to account well enough.

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The school has the following strengths

 Teaching in Nursery and Reception is consistently good and children make good progress.  There is some good and outstanding teaching across the school.  Pupils feel safe in school and they know how to stay safe. They are polite, courteous and friendly. They are keen to learn and have good relationships with staff and with each other.  School leaders including the governing body are now taking more effective steps to improve the quality of teaching and accelerate pupils’ progress.  The proportion of pupils who are persistently absent has reduced.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 18 lessons, two of which were joint observations with the headteacher. They visited a number of small-group sessions and listened to pupils reading.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, members of the governing body, two local authority representatives, a parent, a member of the diocese education team, a national leader of education who is supporting the school and school staff.  Inspectors took account of 11 online questionnaires (Parent View) and two letters from parents.  A range of documents were looked at, including the school’s analysis of how well it is doing and the improvement plan, pupil-progress information, checks on the quality of teaching, minutes of governing body meetings and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding. They also examined work in pupils’ books.

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Inspection team

Louise Murphy, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Elaine Maloney Additional Inspector Pamela Davenport Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil-premium government funding is well above average.  The proportion of pupils supported at school action is slightly above average.  The proportions of pupils supported at school action plus or who have a statement of special educational needs are above average.  Most pupils are from a White British background and the majority speak English as their first language.  There have been a number of staff changes since the last inspection.  The school does not meet the government’s current floor standard, which is the minimum expected for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching, raise attainment and accelerate pupils’ progress by:  making sure that teachers do not talk for too long when introducing lessons  providing work that is hard enough for the more-able pupils  making sure that marking always provides guidance to pupils on how to improve their work, especially in mathematics  developing pupils’ ability to check and improve their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the leadership and management of the school by:  making sure that the governing body consistently challenges school leaders about weaknesses in the school’s performance in order to secure improvement  checking that actions put into place are focused on increasing the rate of progress for all pupils.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve attendance and punctuality by building on work with parents so that pupils do not miss school without good reason.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because not all pupils make the progress they should. This is because some teachers set tasks that are the same for all pupils in their set or class and these tasks are not always hard enough to get the best from the more-able pupils.  Children start Nursery and Reception classes with skills and knowledge well below those expected for their age. Language and communication skills are particularly weak. Children make good progress especially in speaking and listening and social development as a result of good teaching. However, they enter Year 1 below national levels.  Too few pupils make the progress expected of them though a greater proportion of pupils made more than expected progress in 2012 when compared to 2011. Pupils leave Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 with levels of attainment that are well below national levels in reading, writing and mathematics. This is because teaching is not always good enough.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The way that the school checked pupils’ progress prior to 2011 has proved unreliable. Historical test results and teacher assessment that cannot be depended upon make pupils’ progress difficult to determine.  The recently appointed assistant headteacher has introduced a system to check how well all pupils are doing. This helps teachers in identifying pupils with a disability or special educational needs and pupils who are underachieving. New methods of helping these pupils have been established and they are now making good progress overall.  Year 1 pupils did not do as well as expected in the 2012 national phonics screening, which checks pupils’ ability to match letters and the sounds that they make. However, during the inspection it was made clear that teaching methods had changed. Pupils from that year group read confidently to an inspector demonstrating a good range of reading skills.  The attainment of pupils eligible for the pupil-premium government grant is similar to other

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

pupils in school in that it requires improvement. Additional school staff and services from external professionals have been introduced. However, systems have not been set up long enough to narrow the gap in attainment between these pupils and all pupils nationally.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 New appointments and the provision of extensive training and support have resulted in some good and outstanding teaching, and this was seen during the inspection. However, overall the quality of teaching requires improvement because it varies between classes. It is not yet good enough across the school to ensure that pupils make consistently good progress.  In lessons that require improvement pupils spend too much time listening to the teacher. In some classes teachers’ expectations are not high enough. Work is set that the more-able pupils sometimes find too easy.  The teaching of reading is a priority across the whole school. Pupils know that they are expected to read at home every night and reading records indicate that many do. Teachers and teaching assistants now provide a wide range of individual and small-group support sessions on a daily basis which are having a positive effect on pupils’ progress in reading. During play time pupils

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

are permitted to read in the newly refurbished library which is very well stocked with a range of books to appeal to all pupils.  During lessons teachers are very positive, they use praise to motivate pupils and encourage them to try harder. Comments in work books show that teachers provide good guidance to pupils on how to improve their writing, though remarks are not as helpful in mathematics. Pupils are not always given the time to respond to teachers’ remarks or check their own work and the work of others.  Teaching assistants support small-group and one-to-one work effectively because they question pupils well and have good subject knowledge. Many have developed skills in particular areas, such as reading development and speech, language and communication. Teaching assistants work closely with teachers and other professionals outside of school to be certain that work provided for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is at the correct level to

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

help them make good progress. This also helps to ensure all pupils are treated equally.  Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage is consistently good. Teachers provide many opportunities for early writing experiences, for example, pupils were eager to write out their holiday tickets for themselves and their families. This gives all pupils a good start with their handwriting and presentation skills which are generally good across the school. Adults use their good questioning skills well to help children to develop their English language.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ are polite and courteous to visitors. They understand the need for good behaviour and are able to explain both the consequences of poor behaviour and rewards for good behaviour which have been put in place across school.  Relationships with staff are good and disruptions to lessons are now rare. There is a positive atmosphere in the classrooms, and pupils settle quickly and quietly to their tasks. They work together well, for example, one child in Reception was trying hard to name a toy animal and a second child noticed and remarked, ‘that is an American bison'. The first child turned and said, ‘thank you’.  Behaviour on the playground and in the dinner hall is good. Play leaders help their younger friends to play well together and dinner monitors take pride in setting up the hall for lunch.  Pupils have a good understanding of the difference between bullying and falling out. They are aware of issues such as cyber-bullying. Pupils say they feel safe at All Saints and are confident

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

that there is no bullying and if there were it would be dealt with by adults who care for them.  Parents and staff are not unreservedly positive about behaviour, and in the past there have been some pupils with challenging behaviour who have disrupted learning. However, the school provides a good level of support for pupils who have behavioural and emotional difficulties, for example, through the nurture group where pupils learn to understand themselves and get on with others. Moreover, school documents show that incidences of challenging behaviour have reduced drastically.  Attendance rates remain below average. The school has put many systems in place to improve attendance and punctuality, for example, rewards for parents and pupils, an attendance newsletter and an attendance panel. Staff also work extensively with external services. Although attendance is improving and now few pupils are persistently absent, some parents do not ensure

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

that pupils attend school regularly enough.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher and her senior leadership team have a clear view of where the school is and what needs to be done to raise standards, and most members of staff are supportive.  Actions have been put in place that have successfully brought about improvements in the quality of learning and teaching and pupils’ behaviour and attendance. The school’s leadership has shown that it is capable of continuing to make improvements during a period of significant changes in staffing.  Senior leaders regularly check the quality of learning and teaching across the school. This has helped them develop an extensive programme of staff training and new ways of working. However, they have not yet been in place long enough with the same group of trained staff to make sure that all teaching is good or that all initiatives help to increase the rate of progress for all pupils.  Performance-management systems have been updated and all teachers are aware that progress

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The leadership and management requires improvement

through the pay scale is closely related to the effectiveness of their work.  The recently developed curriculum is exciting and pupils are keen to learn. A group of Year 6 pupils gave a high quality demonstration of their African drumming, dancing and singing skills. These creative activities are closely linked to educational visits, the history topic ‘Slavery’ and creative writing. The curriculum also supports spiritual, moral, social and cultural development very well.  The additional funding (pupil-premium grant) is used to provide significant amounts of additional help for pupils who are eligible to receive it through one-to-one and small-group work and activities. Now that staff have been trained to deliver these sessions they are becoming more successful than in the past.  The local authority has provided a high level of support to the school. However, relentless staffing difficulties have limited the effectiveness of their actions except in the Early Years

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The leadership and management requires improvement

Foundation Stage where improvements are substantial.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is highly supportive of the school and responds well to issues raised by school leaders. They understand what the pupil-premium grant is for and that performance management must support improvement in the quality of teaching. However, in the past they have not always asked enough questions to allow them to have a detailed understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They now recognise this and have the skills to enable them to hold school leaders increasingly to account regarding pupil performance and the quality of teaching. Governors take up training opportunities and are willing to undertake more to further improve their skills. They make sure that all statutory responsibilities including safeguarding and budgetary meet requirements.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 132208 Local authority Sefton Inspection number 406478

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 345 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Julia Mosinski Headteacher Angela Holleran Date of previous school inspection 27 April 2011 Telephone number 0151 288 6420 Fax number 0151 288 6449 Email address head.allsaints@schools.sefton.gov.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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