St John Bosco Catholic Primary School

St John Bosco Catholic Primary School Green Lane, Maghull, Liverpool, Merseyside, L31 8BW

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils achieve standards significantly above the national average in English and mathematics by the time they leave the school. Pupils who have special educational needs achieve very well.  Pupils are taught well. Some teaching, particularly in English, is outstanding. Teachers plan interesting lessons, which inspire pupils. Pupils report that they enjoy lessons in all subjects.  Pupils’ reading skills are very well developed by the time they leave the school.  Behaviour within classrooms and around school is exemplary. Pupils form excellent relationships with each other and with adults, and their enthusiasm for learning is impressive.  Leaders and managers have high expectations for the school and for pupils. Plans for improvement are accurate, detailed and actions are monitored closely. School leaders have secured good improvement in pupils’ progress, particularly in Key Stage 1.  All subjects are enriched with extensive

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

opportunities to develop pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness. The school has won several awards across sports, the arts and health that reflect this commitment to developing pupils’ skills in a wide range of areas.  Governors are highly skilled and well-informed which enables them to challenge the school to improve in all areas. They manage finance well, and have high expectations of senior leaders.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The Early Years Foundation Stage is not yet managed as robustly as the other key stages.  In some years, a few pupils, particularly the more able, do not make the progress of which they are capable.  The help pupils receive to improve their skills through appropriate targets and good quality feedback in English is not always as good in other subjects.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 15 lessons, of which three were observed jointly with the headteacher.  Inspectors met with representatives of the governing body, the local authority and with groups of pupils. Inspectors also had meetings with the leaders of the Early Years Foundation Stage and those responsible for special educational needs provision.  Inspectors took into account the 48 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and the views of those parents who contacted the inspectors directly.  Inspectors saw a large number and wide range of pupils’ books, across all subjects and all years.  Inspectors also took account of a wide range of documentation, including assessment data, minutes from meetings, policies and safeguarding documents.

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Inspection team

Rebecca Lawton, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Katherine Lee Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is an average-sized primary school.  The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals is very small, and the proportion known to be eligible for the pupil premium is also small. (The pupil premium is additional government funding for those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and those children who are looked after).  The proportion of pupils who are supported through school action is higher than the national average. The proportion of pupils supported by school action plus and those with a statement of special educational needs, are both slightly below average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic heritage is very small. Very few pupils speak English as an additional language and none are at an early stage of learning to speak English.  The school currently holds the ‘Sefton Primary School Sports Award, School of the Year’ trophy.

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Information about this school

 The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics at the end of Year 6.  The school runs its own breakfast club, and has an after-school club on-site, which is run by an external company. This after-school care was not part of the inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the progress of the few pupils in some year groups who do not always make as much progress as they are capable of by making sure tasks in lessons accurately match their needs and ability, including the more able.  Improve the quality of teaching so that more is outstanding by:  increasing the amount of advice pupils receive through marking of their work and by improving how well pupils are involved in checking their own progress in all subjects  extending the good practice already established in literacy where pupils are set targets and have regular time for reflection and improvement across other subjects.  Improve leadership and management to be more consistent by:  updating monitoring and recording systems within the Early Years Foundation Stage so that leaders have more information on pupils progress during the year  continuing the improvement of the current tracking and checking systems in Key Stages 1 and

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

2 to enable leaders to identify pupils’ needs more regularly, so that they can more effectively identify those pupils who are at risk of underachieving.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children start in the Reception class with skills that are generally at the national expectations for their age. They have access to good quality equipment and they build good relationships with staff. Those who may have additional needs are identified early and good quality help is quickly provided.  During the Early Years Foundation Stage, children appear to make good progress. However, the lack of a standardised system, which tracks individual children and their progress in each of the key areas of learning, means it is difficult to see clearly where children may need more help, or where they are doing well and could be given harder work to push them on.  In Key Stage 1, in the past, standards reached in the end of Year 2 assessments have been lower than the national average. This year, this trend is set to change and pupils are on track to achieve standards that are above the national average. This is down to a successful, targeted

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The achievement of pupils is good

plan from leaders and managers to address this underperformance.  Within Key Stage 1, pupils gain good skills in reading, writing and mathematics, and although scores in the national phonics check at the end of Year 1 have been below the national average, this trend is improving over time.  In Key Stage 2, pupils make rapid progress in some years, leading to standards above the national average by the time they leave Year 6. Their progress from year to year is currently inconsistent, and they make far more progress in some years than others. Higher ability pupils in particular, do not always make the progress they are capable of each year.  Standards reached by the end of Year 6 are significantly above the national average in English and mathematics. The vast majority of pupils make the progress expected of them by the end of Key Stage 2, and a high proportion make more than expected progress.  Progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6 from pupils’ starting points is

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The achievement of pupils is good

good overall, despite some inconsistent progress across Key Stage 2. Pupils report that they read widely and often, and have access to good quality reading material, particularly in Key Stage 2.  Those pupils who have special educational needs make excellent progress. They are supported by individual programmes which meet their specific needs, and which are checked closely.  Those pupils supported by the pupil premium make very good progress. The funding to support them is well spent on good quality equipment that these pupils can use both in school and at home, and this is helping them to learn.  Although there remains a small gap between the progress of those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and their peers, of roughly one term in English and mathematics, this gap is closing.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching is normally good and some is outstanding. Pupils’ books show a wide range of different approaches to tasks and some good quality investigations in science and mathematics. Literacy is taught well, and pupils are making increasingly good progress in English.  Teachers plan good quality lessons, which inspire enthusiasm from pupils. Teachers form strong relationships with pupils, which enable them to explore and investigate topics fully.  Information and communication technology (ICT) is used widely and the school has several awards for the way it uses technology within lessons. For example, the seamless independent use of tablets within lessons to extend learning is a strong feature.  Teaching assistants are very well trained and play a vital part within lessons supporting pupils to ask questions and explore their learning further.  The teaching of literacy is a particular strength and includes good strategies for engaging pupils

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The quality of teaching is good

in reflecting upon their own learning and progress. This practice is mirrored in mathematics but has not yet been spread across other subjects.  In some lessons, particularly those that are not English or mathematics, pupils do not reflect sufficiently well on what they have learnt. Teachers do not give pupils clear direction in how to improve their work, or time to redraft pieces of work. The good practice in feedback and advice seen in literacy lessons is not yet a feature in other subjects.  In some lessons, pupils are not challenged to achieve as much as they are capable of because teachers do not vary the level of difficulty of tasks sufficiently well to stretch the more able pupils. However, teaching assistants are skilled in adapting tasks to a suitable level of difficulty for less-able pupils and so they learn well.  Within the Early Years Foundation Stage, although all staff closely observe children’s activities

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The quality of teaching is good

and gather evidence of their achievements, the systems for storing and using these pieces of evidence are not sufficiently robust, and opportunities for improving the progress of some children can be missed.  Staff are very aware of the specific needs of pupils with special educational needs and adapt lessons and activities to enable them to participate in every possible way. The help they receive is tailor-made and as a result, these pupils achieve well.  Some lessons involve active exploration and problem solving, such as a lesson seen in which the pupils measured the perimeter and area of the school using actual helicopter photos of the schools grounds. These lessons inspire pupils to apply their skills well to real contexts.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils behave exceptionally well within lessons. They are self-motivated and manage their own learning time well. They share with each other and follow direction unsupervised. Their commitment and enthusiasm for learning are to be commended.  Outside lessons, pupils are polite and well mannered. They behave impeccably at lunchtime. Each week the lunchtime assistants choose a ‘golden table’ of the very best behaved pupils. These pupils sit on a table with a golden tablecloth, have their names displayed on a screen in the lunch hall, and have access to special playtime equipment, such as jewellery making or computers. On Friday, the whole school celebrates their excellent behaviour with a round of applause led by the headteacher. All pupils aspire to be on this table and genuinely celebrate the good behaviour of their peers.  There are almost no incidents of poor behaviour or bullying reported by the pupils or the staff.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

Pupils are aware of the broad range of bullying and how to report any incidents. In the past, incidents which have been caused by pupils with specific behavioural needs have been dealt with well by senior leaders in order to minimise the effect on learning.  Pupils report feeling safe at school and speak positively about the experiences they have at school. They are particularly appreciative of the good relationships they have with a wide range of staff. They are able to articulate clearly how to stay safe online and outside school.  Parents and staff were equally positive about the behaviour at the school in the questionnaires and meetings that were held during the inspection.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent, and supported by a wide range of high quality extra-curricular and enrichment activities.  All safeguarding requirements are fully met.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders and managers have high expectations and ambitions for the school, which are articulated clearly in the documentation and displays around the school site.  Leaders have secured good teaching and improvement in key areas identified as weaknesses in their own evaluations of the school. For example, after a series of results below the national average in Key Stage 1, leaders organised targeted training and development events, and this year’s results are on track to be above the national average.  The school’s procedures for gaining an accurate view of its performance are thorough, and have enabled leaders to identify the correct areas for improvement. Senior leaders also have an accurate view of the quality of teaching in the school.  Policies are appropriate and effective, particularly in literacy, although the marking policy in subjects other than English and mathematics has not yet been fully implemented.

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The leadership and management are good

 The curriculum is appropriate, and includes a wide range of enrichment activities which help to develop pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness. The range and quality of additional activities is exceptional, and pupils have won a wide range of trophies and awards in sport, drama and other external events.  The school has good links with parents and is a true ‘community’ school. Parents are regularly part of initiatives, for example, coming into school to read with children, to garden and to build seating or playground equipment. Regular events where parents are part of the wider life of the school, such as drama, sport and shared celebrations are a key part of the school’s calendar.  Leaders are committed to equality of opportunity and are upholding this policy well.  The leadership of the Early Years Foundation Stage is not consistent in quality with the leadership of other key stages. For example, the procedures used for tracking and recording

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The leadership and management are good

children’s progress do not feed into the systems for checking on the progress of pupils in other key stages. This does not help the school to be efficient with the data it collects and in turn presents the possibility of children not reaching their potential.  The support from the local authority has been light touch so far. The school has paid for a range of training sessions for both staff and governors, which has helped the school to improve.  The governance of the school:  Governors are highly skilled and well trained and able to challenge the leaders of the school in all areas of performance. They manage safeguarding procedures robustly.  Governors manage finances thoroughly and skilfully and are linking performance to teachers’ increases in salary. Performance management procedures are appropriate. Governors manage the spending of the pupil premium funding and measure the impact of the support provided

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The leadership and management are good

by that funding on pupils’ progress.  Governors manage the deployment of resources well. They are able to compare the performance of the school to local schools and those in similar contexts. They are ambitious for the school and have high expectations of pupils’ progress and achievement.

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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 104941 Local authority Sefton Inspection number 413254

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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 202 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Colin Rigby Headteacher Danny MacAreavy Date of previous school inspection 31 January 2007 Telephone number 0151 520 2628 Fax number 0151 520 2628 Email address head.stjohnbosco@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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