Ladymount Catholic Primary School

Ladymount Catholic Primary School Portal Road, Pensby, Wirral, Merseyside, CH61 5YD

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  The headteacher is an outstanding leader. She is well supported by a strong leadership team and highly effective governors. That is why the school is improving quickly.  Due to excellent training by leaders within the school and robust procedures to manage the performance of teachers, teaching is good and improving strongly.  A growing proportion of teaching is now outstanding, which is helping to ensure that pupils’ good achievement is becoming outstanding.  Pupils achieve well in all subjects but particularly in mathematics, where boys achieve much higher levels than expected for their age by the end of Year 6.  Leaders have successfully maintained outstanding behaviour, spiritual, moral and cultural development since the last inspection.  Pupils feel extremely safe and are cared for well. They behave maturely and show very positive attitudes to learning. Relationships between pupils and with staff are excellent.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Attendance is above the national average.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Not enough pupils reach higher levels than expected nationally for their age by the end of Year 2.  More-able pupils are not consistently challenged in lessons, as they spend too long doing similar work to other pupils.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 17 lessons of which two were joint observations with the headteacher, and made five short visits to lessons.  Inspectors listened to pupils read from different year groups.  Inspectors took account of 23 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) and responses to a parental questionnaire recently carried out by the school.  Meetings were held with two groups of pupils. Inspectors also held discussions with two members of the governing body including the Chair, a representative of the local authority and school staff.  The inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents, including the school’s own data on pupils’ current progress, documents relating to the school’s plans for improvement, its procedures for checking the quality of teaching, records relating to behaviour and attendance, and documents relating to safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Clarice Nelson-Rowe, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Stephen Docking Additional Inspector Sheila O’Keefe Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an averaged sized primary school.  Most pupils are of White British heritage.  A higher proportion of pupils are girls compared to the national average.  A low proportion of pupils are supported by the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in local authority care, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and the children of forces families.  The proportion of pupils supported through school action is well below average.  The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is well below average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  Awards held by the school include the Active Mark, Healthy School status, Arts Mark and Eco schools.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Continue to increase the proportion of outstanding teaching to ensure that pupils consistently reach higher levels of achievement, especially by the end of Year 2, by ensuring pupils at higher levels start tasks from different points earlier on in lessons.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children enter the Reception Year with skills that are typically expected for their age. They make good progress in their learning due to the high quality care provided by staff, alongside good planning and resources to support their learning. Children settle very quickly into routines and respond very well to each other and to staff. Children enjoy the outdoor opportunities to develop their teamwork, such as using treasure maps to find and hide treasure.  Currently, the proportion of pupils making good progress and reaching the higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics is rising rapidly in Years 1 and 2. This is evident in lessons and in samples of pupils’ work seen, but has yet to be seen in the end of year results. In the past, the proportion of pupils reaching the higher standards in these subjects, particularly in mathematics by the end of Year 2, has been lower than the national average.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In recent years, progress in Years 3 to 6 has been good overall in reading and writing. It has also been good for most groups but particularly outstanding for boys in mathematics by the end of Year 6. Currently, all groups of pupils are exceeding the expected progress in all subjects. Boys and girls are also now equally reaching the higher levels in mathematics. This is due to the increasing proportion of outstanding teaching, but also to the school’s very strong commitment to ensuring that all groups of pupils have an equality of opportunity to succeed  By the time pupils leave school at the end of Year 6, they reach standards that are higher than the national average in English and mathematics. This represents good progress from broadly average starting points.  Pupils who are supported by the pupil premium funding, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, benefit from the

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The achievement of pupils is good

improving quality of teaching and targeted support for pupils at risk of not achieving as well they could. Similar to their peers, they are currently making rapid progress across all subjects and year groups. Because of the very small numbers of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium funding it would be inappropriate to compare any trend in their attainment with those pupils who are not eligible. The school also makes good use of a wide range of agencies to provide emotional support and help for families in order to help all pupils learn better in school.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers plan lessons very well to include a wide range of exciting activities, sometimes with elements of competition between groups of pupils. This is particularly evident in mathematics lessons. As a result, pupils and particularly some boys, look forward to lessons, which promote their love of mathematics. In an outstanding Year 6 lesson, for example, the pace of learning was rapid because pupils raced against each other in teams to understand and complete tasks on angles and plotting co-ordinates.  Teachers’ planning for different ability groups is good and evident across most lessons. However, extension activities and resources designed to promote further challenge for the more able pupils are often are given out too late in the lesson or not at all. As a result, some pupils are not sufficiently stretched, because they first have to complete similar activities to other pupils.  The quality of teachers’ questioning is excellent. Questions are often well-timed and specifically

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The quality of teaching is good

targeted at individual pupils. In this way, teachers constantly move pupils onto higher levels of understanding and help them to reflect on what they are learning.  Marking is good. Pupils are clear on what they do well and what they need to do to improve across a range of subjects. Pupils also assess what they and each other do well in their work, linked clearly to the objectives of the lesson. Teachers regularly check the accuracy of pupils’ self-assessment.  Teaching assistants support the learning of pupils well. This is because they are clear about their roles, the objectives of lessons and are highly knowledgeable about the needs of pupils.  Literacy and numeracy are taught well. Pupils are given excellent opportunities to use their literacy, numeracy and art skills across the curriculum. For example, during a recent, ‘Roman Day,’ pupils learned about Roman numerals, poetry, and wore togas and laurel wreaths they had

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The quality of teaching is good

made in art lessons.  The promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is of the highest order. Pupils are regularly given time to reflect on issues such as justice, charity, peace and caring for others in assemblies and religious education lessons. Teachers also provide such opportunities through poetry, prayer, art, tasting food, music, and learning about different languages. Some excellent writing was seen in books when pupils were thinking about issues such as homelessness and refugees.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 All pupils feel extremely happy, safe and well cared for, owing to the high priority staff and governors place on pupils’ welfare. An overwhelming proportion of parents who responded to the on-line questionnaire, Parent View, and through recent school surveys, agree that pupils are cared for well.  Pupils show excellent attitudes to learning in lessons and are keen to understand and complete their work. They show great determination to succeed and their great enjoyment for school is reflected in their above average attendance.  Relationships between pupils and all staff are excellent. Pupils listen well to teachers. Pupils also support each other very well in learning and show great maturity during the many opportunities they are given to work by themselves, in pairs and in groups. They demonstrate excellent social development.  Pupils play safely together and are kind, polite and courteous. Older pupils called, ‘playground

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

friends,’ help younger pupils to play well together. One pupil stated that, ‘It’s rare we fall out here.’ Understanding what bullying means in all its forms, pupils say that bullying at the school is rare.  Pupils demonstrate a strong sense of right and wrong and this is reflected in virtually no incidents of inappropriate behaviour.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher, the leadership team, staff and governors, provide excellent drive and determination to move the school forward. The vision for the pursuit of excellence in academic and personal development is clearly understood and all staff are fully involved in helping to improve the school even further.  The schools’ view of its performance is accurate and based on a rigorous analysis of pupils’ progress, and frequent checks on the quality of teaching and learning. As a result, teaching is good overall but increasingly outstanding and this is mirrored currently in pupils’ rapidly improving achievement. The school demonstrates outstanding capacity to sustain further improvement. That is why the local authority provides light touch assistance for this good and rapidly improving school.  Staff speak highly of the excellent training that they receive from middle and senior managers that has helped to improve their teaching. They are also particularly pleased with opportunities

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The leadership and management are outstanding

to look at each other’s work across different classes, so that they can learn from each other about interesting ways to plan activities that interest pupils.  The procedures to manage the performance of teachers are excellent. Staff are set ambitious targets to improve pupils’ achievement. The school has made use of expertise from industry to ensure that its procedures ensure teachers are highly reflective about their priorities for improvement. Staff say that these procedures, including progression though the pay scales, holds them to account for pupils’ achievement.  The curriculum is well managed and highly enriched with specialist support for dance, music, art, languages and sports. Policies are regularly reviewed and used well to improve literacy and numeracy. Parents are highly supportive of the school.  The governance of the school:  The governing body has a highly accurate view of the school’s performance, including the

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The leadership and management are outstanding

quality of teaching, and how pupils’ test results compare to the national picture. Governors are well trained and informed about the school’s work through detailed reports from the headteacher and through the use of external specialist support when rigorously reviewing the performance of the headteacher. As a result, they make an outstanding contribution to the direction of the school. Governors understand how performance management is helping to improve the quality of teaching. Their high expertise and strong commitment to high quality care for pupils and equality of opportunity, is particularly demonstrated through excellent attention given to policies and practices regarding safeguarding pupils. They also check well on how the pupil premium funding is being used and what impact it is having on pupils’ achievement. Governors supervise the school’s finances closely, so that they make the best use of available resources.

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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 105084 Local authority Wirral Inspection number 402963

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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 256 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair B Sharp Headteacher Margaret Jackson Date of previous school inspection 25 June 2008 Telephone number 0151 6484326 Fax number 0151 6489098 Email address schooloffice@ladymount.wirral.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

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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