Setting

Ms M Etheridge Headteacher St Saviour’s Roman Catholic Primary School Summers Lane Totland Bay Isle of Wight PO39 0HQ

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Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 19 June 2013, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the findings of my visit. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Primary School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in March 2013. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Evidence

During this visit I met with you, a group of governors, including the Chair of Governors and a representative from the local authority. I met the staff, visited lessons in all year groups and met with a group of pupils from Years 5 and 6. We reviewed the action plan.

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Main findings

At the time of previous inspection, the current headteacher had been in post for less than a term. She had already made some improvements to the school which were acknowledged in the inspection report. Since the inspection in March, the school has continued to improve. Tribal 1-4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 311 5359 Direct F 0117 315 0430 Email :christina.bannerman@tribalgroup.com The school’s action plan is detailed and rightly focuses on the key areas for improvement identified in the previous inspection. The action plan includes measurable and challenging goals and the timescales are sufficiently urgent. The headteacher has shared the plan with staff and they are clear about what their responsibilities are.

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Main findings

Rightly, the headteacher’s first priority has been to improve the quality of teaching, including assessment and marking. She has made her high expectations clear and she follows these up in careful monitoring, including thorough and weekly scrutinies of teachers’ planning and the quality of marking and assessment. As a result, marking is improving and having a positive impact on pupils’ work. Pupils say that they now have a much better idea about how well they are doing and they are given more opportunities to act on their teachers’ comments and improve their work. Staff also have much clearer direction and are working well as a team.

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Main findings

The headteacher has introduced a better programme for teaching phonics and early results show improved progress. A new programme for supporting mental mathematics has been introduced, which the pupils find very helpful and engaging and is also resulting in better progress. Overall progress in mathematics and reading is now stronger, although the headteacher acknowledges that the school needs to do more to improve pupils’ writing.

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Main findings

Work to improve teaching is supported by a focused and effective programme of training. As a result, teachers’ questioning has improved. This change has been noticed by pupils who like the new approach of targeting questions to individuals rather than ‘hands up.’

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Main findings

The headteacher has sensibly focused on building a better relationship with parents and carers. The school is now more welcoming and parents’ confidence in the school is growing, as shown by increasing numbers of parents attending information sessions and celebratory events.

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Main findings

Governors have an increasingly strong understanding of the school and value the work the headteacher is doing to improve it. They now ask more challenging questions and are more involved in the day-to-day running of the school. They acknowledge that some governors would benefit from more training in evaluating pupils’ progress.

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Main findings

Since the inspection in March 2013, there has been very little direct involvement from the local authority school improvement service. Primary inspectors from the Hampshire local authority have been commissioned to support middle leaders in judging the quality of teaching. School leaders and governors are beginning to take effective action to tackle the areas identified at the recent section 5 inspection.

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Main findings

Following the visit to the school, HMI recommend that further action is taken to:

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Main findings

 accelerate pupils’ progress in writing  strengthen middle leaders’ skills in monitoring and evaluating pupils’ progress and the quality of planning, teaching and marking.

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Main findings

HMI will continue to monitor the school until its next section 5 inspection. A second monitoring inspection visit in the autumn term will focus on improving writing, including observations of teaching, scrutiny of a sample of work and interviews with pupils and parents.

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Main findings

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body, the local authority for the Isle of Wight and the Director of the Catholic Diocese for Portsmouth.

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