St Augustine's Catholic Primary School

St Augustine’s Catholic Primary School Cranbrook Road, Gants Hill, Ilford, Essex, IG2 6RG

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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

 There is a lack of challenge, particularly for the more able pupils because teachers do not always adjust their teaching to reflect how well pupils are learning during lessons.  Pupils’ understanding is not always explored or fully extended because teachers do not always asks searching questions. Pupils do not always have enough opportunity to complete their own work because time in lessons is not managed well enough.  Those pupils who are in receipt of the pupil premium funding do not achieve as well as their peers.  Pupils do not achieve well in writing and mathematics.  Middle leaders do not drive through improvements effectively enough.  Some governors are not able to hold the school rigorously to account as they have not yet received appropriate training.  Checks on the information about pupils’ learning are not always as strong as they could be.

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The school has the following strengths

 Rates of progress are improving.  Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage receive a good start to their education.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.  Leaders and staff share a united vision for the school’s future.  Parents praise the school’s work, in particular the way staff care for, and look after, their children.  Pupils’ behaviour is good.  Attendance is above average.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 26 lessons or part-lessons. The headteacher accompanied the lead inspector on three lesson observations.  Meetings were held with pupils, members of the governing body, staff and two representatives of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 57 responses to the on-line survey (Parent View). They also took into account the 48 responses to the staff questionnaire.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and examined a range of documents including: the school’s own records of pupils’ progress and attainment; monitoring documents on teaching and the school’s performance; the schools’ own self-evaluation and development plan; records relating to managing staff performance and those relating to behaviour, safeguarding and attendance.

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Inspection team

Glynis Bradley-Peat, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Evelyn Riley Additional Inspector Mary Erwin Additional Inspector Brian Oppenheim Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than most primary schools.  The proportion of pupils receiving pupil premium is lower than the national average. This is additional funding given for looked after children, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children of service families. There are no children of service families currently in the school.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is well above average and increasing. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is also above average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is below average, but the proportion supported at school action plus or through a statement of special educational needs is average.  The school does not make use of any alternative provision for its pupils.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching so that it becomes consistently good with more that is outstanding by:  ensuring that all teachers consistently challenge pupils, particularly the most able with work that is appropriate to their ability  ensuring that teachers ask questions which probe and extend pupils’ understanding, particularly in mathematics  ensuring that pupils have enough time to complete work and more opportunities to take responsibility for their own learning.  Raise attainment and accelerate pupils’ progress, particularly in writing and in mathematics, by:  narrowing the gaps in English and mathematics between those pupils in receipt of the pupil premium and their peers  providing further training and support for teachers in respect of their mathematics teaching  ensuring that pupils have the skills to work more independently when applying their mathematics to unknown contexts and solving problems.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:  ensuring that leaders at all levels analyse and check information about learning more effectively  providing training for governors so that they can hold the school to account more robustly  ensuring that middle leaders use information gathered from checking performance in their areas more effectively to bring about improvement in their subject.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement in mathematics has been affected by the limited knowledge of a few teachers who do not fully understand how pupils learn best in mathematics. Pupils are provided with too little opportunity to apply their mathematics to new contexts and to solve problems independently.  Although pupils underachieved in writing in Year 6, rates of progress in Key Stage 2 are now improving. Progress has been, and remains, good in Year 5. Over time, there have been pockets of underachievement which have negatively affected the overall progress pupils made since they left Key Stage 1. This has been the case particularly in mathematics where the progress of some pupils in Years 4 and 6 has been intermittently inadequate. The provisional results in the Year 6 national tests confirm this.  The Early Years Foundation Stage is a strength of the school. Children enter the Nursery with skills and knowledge well below those typical of their age and sometimes with no English.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

Progress is good and, as a result, children enter Year 1 with broadly average attainment. Literacy and mathematics are relatively weaker areas of learning.  In the Year 1, national phonics reading check results improved this year and pupils reached above average expectations. In Key Stage 1, achievement is generally above average in reading, writing and mathematics by the time pupils finish Year 2, although they make better progress in Year 1 than in Year 2.  Reading is improving in the school and most pupils enjoy reading. Older pupils spoke about the books they had read, both fiction and non fiction, and could explain how to find information quickly when researching. Sometimes, weaker readers find difficulty reading new words because their knowledge of their letter sounds is weak.  Most disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make similar progress to their peers. Extra literacy, language and reading comprehension support ensures they do not fall

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

behind. The support for pupils with dyslexia is focused well on individuals which enables them to make good progress.  Pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals do not achieve as well as their peers. Currently, pupils in Years 3, 5 and 6 are between two and three terms behind in writing and mathematics. Gaps are beginning to narrow in some key subjects in Years 1 and 4 where teachers are using the information they have on pupils’ learning to inform their lesson planning.  The school has supported the achievement of Black African and Black Caribbean pupils well. The school rightly noticed that these groups were not achieving as well as others and, by working effectively with parents, these pupils are now making better progress. The school has worked hard to support those pupils who speak English as an additional language. Targeted work to develop literacy skills, sentence structure and speaking and listening skills has ensured these

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

pupils are picking up the language quickly.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching is inconsistent across classes and year groups, except in the Early Years Foundation Stage where it is consistently good. Children in the Nursery and Reception classes benefit from teaching which encourages their independence and curiosity. In a session about water displacement, children were set a problem which promoted good use of their thinking skills. The teacher showed a film clip about ‘Ding Dong Bell’ and asked children how they would set about getting the cat out of the well.  Pupils are challenged more effectively in those lessons where teachers have secure subject knowledge. Tasks are set which are well tailored to individual and group needs, enabling all pupils to be fully engaged, challenged and to make good progress. In a Year 4 French lesson, pupils were keenly attentive and joined in with all aspects of the lesson including answering individual questions. The needs of all learners were met successfully, for example a pupil with

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

special educational needs was given particularly effective support which raised his aspirations.  Pupils are generally provided with a range of different learning activities which catch their interest and make them want to learn more. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well in personal and social education lessons. In one lesson, pupils considered a number of different scenarios about ‘guilt’. Following careful consideration and discussion, one boy was able to eloquently describe how he thought it was worse to do something deliberately than by accident.  Where pupils have less time to work and learn for themselves, because introductions to lessons are long, teaching and learning are less effective. In a history lesson about toys, pupils were not given enough opportunity to participate in the lesson or to examine the toys for themselves. As a result, learning stalled, some lost interest and pupils made less progress than they could have

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

done.  Sometimes, more able pupils are not challenged well enough to ensure that they make consistently good progress. Teachers do not make adjustments to tasks when they prove to be too easy. For example, in a mathematics lesson starter, pupils practised their times tables through a series of mental number tasks. The most able already knew their tables and learnt little from the activity.  Pupils do not always learn well because teachers do not always think carefully enough about the type of questions they ask of their pupils. Too many questions require superficial answers. This is particularly the case in mathematics where many questions simply ask pupils to recall facts or previous learning. There are far fewer questions which make pupils think carefully about their answers or to justify them with mathematical explanation.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say that they enjoy attending school and parents who responded to the on-line questionnaire wholeheartedly agree. This is clearly demonstrated by above average levels of attendance. All parents say that they feel that their children are safe in the school.  Behaviour is clearly good in lessons and around the school, pupils are polite and have good manners. Pupils say that occasionally lessons are interrupted by silly behaviour, but say that it is quickly dealt with. Pupils know and understand the rewards and sanctions systems in school and spoke clearly about the use of warning cards and missed playtimes.  Pupils are very aware of the different forms bullying can take. Younger pupils spoke about the dangers of the internet and knew which sites they would be best to avoid. Others said that they would not go on the computer without permission. Another child stated that name calling is sorted out quickly by adults on duty. Older pupils say that there is ‘zero tolerance on racist and

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

homophobic bullying’.  Pupils praise the systems in place to ensure no one is unhappy or lonely at playtime. Younger pupils have ‘fluorescent friends’ who help those on the friendship bench. ‘Peace Builders’ in Year 6 arbitrate when arguments take place. These types of activities ensure pupils take responsibility for their actions. This contributes well to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders do not always check that the information entered into their assessment systems is accurate. This sometimes results in analysis which provides too positive a picture of progress.  Senior leaders know what they want to achieve and have the full support of staff. Their judgements about the school’s performance are accurate. As a result, the school development plan is focused correctly on a number of important areas including improving mathematics. However, some of the actions indicated in the plan do not have sharp targets against which success can be clearly measured.  The quality of teaching is checked regularly and steps taken to improve it are taken. The school is aware of the issues with mathematics teaching and have put in place support for teachers in planning work that is at the right level for all pupils. Middle leaders check the quality of teaching in their subjects, but some do not use this information as effectively as they could to drive

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The leadership and management requires improvement

through improvement in their areas of responsibility.  Performance management takes place regularly and is linked well with pupil progress meetings. However, targets set are not always sharp enough and, as a result, the impact on pupils’ achievement is not easily measured.  The school curriculum has undergone a number of changes in recent times, but leaders rightly feel that it requires improvement. Equality of opportunity compared with pupils in other schools, especially for more able pupils, is not guaranteed. Pupils’ learning in subjects other than English and mathematics has not been as effective as leaders would have liked and a further review is underway to address shortcomings.  The local authority has supported and challenged the school effectively. It has have provided a consultant to work on improving mathematics teaching and achievement, although it is too early to see the full impact of this work.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Parents and staff overwhelmingly support the work of the school  The governance of the school:  Many members of the governing body are new to the school. Already they are playing a full part in the life of the school. They are ambitious for the school and keen to receive training that will make them more effective in holding the school to account. They do know the strengths of the school but rely on the school to tell them about the weaknesses. The governing body knows how the pupil premium is spent but has less understanding of the impact of the school’s work in this area. The governors understand how the performance management of teachers links with progression through the salary scale. Safeguarding currently meets 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 102842 Local authority Redbridge Inspection number 412145

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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 476 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Brenda McEwen Headteacher Delia Doyle Date of previous school inspection 3–4 December 2008 Telephone number 020 8554 1919 Fax number 020 8554 8858 Email address admin.st-augustines@redbridge.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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