St Augustine's Catholic Primary School

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School Heathcote Street, Radford, Coventry, CV6 3BL

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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 Good 2

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

 There is not enough teaching which is consistently good enough to enable pupils to make good progress in every class. Consequently, pupils do not always reach the standards they are capable of in reading, writing and mathematics.  Work is not always challenging enough for the most-able pupils, especially when they are working without the support of an adult.  Targets set for pupils in English and mathematics are not always used effectively to help pupils learn quickly.  Teachers’ marking does not always give pupils clear advice about how they can improve their work.  Children in Reception do not learn and develop as quickly as they could when they are working and playing independently.  Leaders and governors do not make the most effective use of data to check the impact of actions to improve the school’s performance.

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The school has the following strengths

 Leaders and governors work very well together to plan and implement effective actions to improve the school. As a result, teaching is improving and standards in reading, writing and mathematics are rising quickly.  There is a strong focus on pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. As a result, pupils are being prepared very well to live in a culturally diverse world. They behave well and show high levels of tolerance and respect for others.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes during 17 lesson observations and a series of short visits. The headteacher or deputy headteacher joined inspectors on the majority of these visits.  Meetings were held with senior staff, two members of the governing body, teachers and a representative from the local authority. They held discussions with pupils in lessons and at break times.  Inspectors took account of 10 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) and questionnaires completed by staff.  The inspection team scrutinised a wide range of school documentation and data relating to teaching and learning, behaviour and safeguarding.  During this inspection, inspectors asked additional questions designed to ascertain the school’s view of the impact and effectiveness of local authority services to support school improvement. This information will contribute to work being carried out by Ofsted to assess the use, quality

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Inspection team

Mark Mumby, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Robin Sidaway Additional Inspector Gillian Weston Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a slightly larger than average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils with special educational needs who are supported at school action is lower than the national average; the proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is similar to the national average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is higher than that found nationally. These pupils come from a range of backgrounds, the largest proportion coming from Asian backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium has risen over the past three years and is higher than that found nationally.  The school meets the current government floor standards.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching and learning by:  ensuring that teachers consistently check what pupils already know and then plan activities that challenge pupils of all abilities throughout all stages of each lesson  making the marking of pupils’ work more helpful to them in guiding them to be able to make their next piece of work better, and then ensuring that this guidance is followed up  ensuring that the targets that pupils are set to help them improve are matched to their ability and checked carefully so that success is recorded accurately.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the learning for pupils in Reception by:  displaying an appropriate quantity and range of words around the classrooms and outdoors to help them with their reading and writing  ensuring that adults talk to children more and ask questions to enhance their learning when they are working or playing independently.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make more effective use of the data the school has about the school’s performance to enable the governing body and others to check on the effectiveness of the school’s work more easily.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The progress pupils make in writing and mathematics is improving quickly. In reading, it has improved rapidly. Many pupils make good progress, but achievement requires improvement because pupils’ learning is not consistently good throughout the school. More capable pupils, in particular, do not always reach the standards they are capable of.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children join the school in Reception with skills and understanding well below those expected for their age. By the time pupils leave Year 6 they reach standards similar to the national average in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In Reception, children quickly develop their social skills. They listen well and play cooperatively with each other. Their development of language is not as rapid as it could be because they do not have enough opportunities to see and hear words and speech.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils are attentive in lessons. They usually make the most rapid progress at the start of lessons, when teachers introduce new learning through clear teaching and good involvement of the pupils. Learning often slows as lessons progress because activities are not always suitably challenging, especially for the most capable pupils.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school has focused on developing reading. As a result, the progress pupils make with their reading exceeds the expectations for pupils of their age. Pupils have good attitudes to reading. Early readers use their knowledge of the sounds that letters make appropriately to read unfamiliar words.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In the summer of 2012, those Year 6 pupils who were eligible for pupil premium funding attained standards in English and mathematics that were on average around 1/3 of a national curriculum level below other pupils in the school. The school quickly identifies pupils who are falling behind in their learning. These pupils receive intensive blocks of teaching in small groups. This has enabled the school to accelerate the progress made by those pupils for whom it receives pupil premium funding, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. As a result, the gap in attainment between these pupils and other pupils is narrowing quickly.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make similar progress to other groups of pupils in the school.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds achieve at least as well as White British pupils. In 2012, boys in Year 6 did not reach standards as high as girls. Boys and girls currently in school are achieving equally well.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Although teaching has many strengths, there is not enough teaching which is good or better to enable pupils, especially the most able, to make as much progress as they could.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Children in Reception enjoy a wide range of activities to help them develop their personal and social skills, number, language and physical development as well as learning about the world they live in. However, adults do not talk to the children enough when they are working independently in order to develop their learning fully. There is not enough written language displayed in the classroom or outdoors to help develop children’s language.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Most lessons begin with clear introductions, where pupils respond positively to well-established classroom routines and teachers’ high expectations. Teachers use their good knowledge of the subjects they are teaching to provide a good variety of questions and opportunities for pupils to discuss ideas. As a result, pupils engage quickly with their learning and typically make good progress during this part of the lesson.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In the most effective lessons, teachers plan a range of activities which are carefully matched to pupils’ individual abilities to build on the initial teaching. The pupils find this work challenging and typically make good progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Frequently, pupils are given tasks to work on independently which do not meet their needs well enough. These tasks are often the same, or very similar, for pupils of different abilities. Consequently, they lack sufficient support for less able pupils and provide too little challenge for the most capable pupils. This slows the progress that pupils make during this part of the lesson.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The marking of pupils’ work is not always as helpful as it could be. Teachers sometimes write questions for pupils but these are not always answered by the pupil or checked by the teacher. The most effective marking, for example in Year 6 literacy books, provides pupils with clear guidance about how to improve future pieces of work. This helps these pupils to make better progress than others.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils’ targets for English and mathematics are not consistently well matched to their abilities. Some are too easy; others are challenging but are not checked carefully enough by the teacher. As a result, they are not as effective as they could be in helping pupils to learn quickly.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have good attitudes to their learning. They respond well in lessons and show respect for each other and adults.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school records incidents of unacceptable behaviour methodically and uses this information well to implement strategies to improve behaviour. For example, it has successfully improved behaviour at lunchtimes by changing the way lunchtimes are organised. Where the school identifies patterns of unacceptable behaviour, it prepares specific behaviour plans for pupils and involves their parents or carers in this process.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils have a very good knowledge of different types of bullying, such as racial, cyber and physical bullying. They understand the impact bullying has on individuals. They say that there is some bullying in school, but not as much now as there was previously. They say that staff deal with any bullying incidents well.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say that they feel safe in school and understand what to do if they are feeling worried.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school has robust procedures in place to protect pupils from the dangers of the internet. Pupils understand these dangers and know what to do if they come across inappropriate content in school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attendance is normally similar to the national average. The school’s monitoring of attendance has identified a slight decline at the start of this year. It has immediately implemented strategies to work with parents and carers to reverse this.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher is clearly focused on improving the quality of teaching and raising standards. Since the previous inspection, she has developed a strong and effective leadership team who all understand the school’s strengths and weaknesses well. The team has high expectations of teaching and learning which teachers aspire to.

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The leadership and management are good

 School improvement planning is rightly focused on improving teaching and raising standards in English and mathematics. It has enabled the school to make significant improvements since the previous inspection. However, the plan does not include enough measures of success to enable the governing body to check on the progress the school is making easily.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders are quickly improving the quality of teaching, with teachers receiving support and guidance tailored to their individual needs. Inadequate teaching has been eradicated. This has led to an acceleration of the progress pupils make and a marked rise in the standards pupils achieve. Pupils’ progress in literacy is improving particularly quickly as a result of the school’s focus on reading.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders check how well pupils are learning regularly and collect a large quantity of data to demonstrate the impact of the school’s work. However, these data are not always analysed and presented sufficiently succinctly and clearly to enable the school to demonstrate the impact of its work efficiently.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength of the school. Pupils benefit from a rich curriculum which prepares them well for modern society. They learn to work and play together well and to respect people from different backgrounds. The curriculum includes a wide variety of experiences, including residential visits. Displays around the school demonstrate a good understanding about a wide range of cultural traditions.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority knows this school very well. It has recently carried out a rigorous and accurate review of the school’s work. It has worked alongside the headteacher to strengthen the leadership of the school through training and working with senior leaders. Consequently, the school’s leadership is much more effective in improving the quality of teaching and raising standards than it was at the time of the previous inspection. It has a good understanding of the specific aspects of teaching which are preventing the school from being consistently good or better.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body has a very clear understanding of its role. The skilled team of governors has established a strong structure of committees which work together to fulfil the governing body’s responsibilities, including ensuring that pupils are safe.  Governors have a very good knowledge of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and know precisely what needs to be improved. They support the school’s leaders in implementing a robust system of performance management, ensuring that teachers are held to account for their work in line with the standards expected of teachers. They only receive pay rises if they achieve challenging targets based on the performance of the pupils they teach. The governing body has been very supportive in enabling the school to eradicate inadequate teaching.  The governors monitor finances well and ensure that pupil premium funding has been spent

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The leadership and management are good

effectively on additional staff to deliver intensive support programmes, which are helping these pupils to catch up with their learning.

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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 103720 Local authority Coventry Inspection number 404899

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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 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 318 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Canon Tom Farrell Headteacher Gillian Deery Date of previous school inspection 27 September 2010 Telephone number 024 7659 6988 Fax number 024 7659 6175 Email address admin@st-augustines.coventry.sch.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

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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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