Our Lady and St Teresa's Catholic Primary School

Our Lady and St Teresa's Catholic Primary School Windmill Hill, Cubbington, Leamington Spa, CV32 7LN

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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 Requires improvement 3

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

 Pupils’ achievement is not consistently good over time. Not enough teaching has been good or better to ensure that all pupils, including those that need extra help, make good progress in English and mathematics.  Teachers do not always show pupils good examples of how to put their ideas into words and phrases when writing. This means that, in some cases, pupils do not have a clear enough idea of what is expected of them.  Teachers’ lesson introductions and their explanations are too long, limiting the time pupils have to work on their own and find things out for themselves.  Pupils are not provided with sufficient opportunities to use their speaking and listening skills to organise their ideas before writing.  Chances for pupils to use their mathematical skills when learning about other subjects are limited.  Leaders have not made regular checks on the quality of teaching to ensure that pupils make the best possible progress. In the past, they

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

have not set targets for teachers to improve their work.  Teachers in charge of subjects and other areas of the school’s work do not have a broad enough view of pupils’ achievement across the school to be able to check the effectiveness of their actions.  Until recently, the governing body has not asked the school’s leaders searching questions about the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement. This includes checking on the effectiveness of pupil premium funding.

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The school has the following strengths

 Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make good progress.  Pupils behave well. They feel safe and well looked after.  Under the leadership of the new headteacher, the staff are working well together to improve pupils’ achievement and the school is moving forward at a quicker pace.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed 10 lessons or parts of lessons taught by six teachers, and one assembly. Five lessons were jointly observed with the headteacher. The inspector also undertook a learning walk with the headteacher, which comprised a number of short visits to lessons to look at learning across the curriculum.  Meetings were held with senior leaders, subject leaders, staff and members of the governing body. In addition, the inspector talked with a representative from the local authority.  The inspector met with pupils, listened to them read and observed them at play during breaktimes.  The school’s safeguarding policies, improvement plans, notes from meetings of the governing body and records of pupils’ behaviour were reviewed. Pupils’ work and records of their progress were also looked at.  The inspector took account of the 34 responses to the online parent questionnaire (Parent View) as well as the eight replies to the staff questionnaire. The inspector also spoke to parents and

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Information about this inspection

carers at the start of the school day and took note of their written communications.

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Inspection team

Sarah Warboys, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Our Lady and St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School is much smaller than most primary schools.  Most pupils are White British. An average proportion of pupils come from minority ethnic backgrounds. An increasing number of pupils speak English as an additional language.  An above-average proportion of the pupils are eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding to the school. This is based on the number of children at the school in local authority care and those known to be eligible for free school meals.  The number of pupils joining and leaving the school at different times of the year is above that normally found.  The percentage of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs who are supported by school action is average. An above-average proportion of pupils are supported by school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs.  The school meets the current government floor standard, which sets the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The ‘Pathways’ Nursery, and before- and after-school clubs operate on the school site. They are not managed by the governing body and are inspected separately.  The new headteacher took up her post in April 2013. The local authority supports the headteacher through the provision of a Learning Improvement Officer who works in partnership with the headteacher.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching to consistently good or better to raise pupils’ achievement, particularly in writing and mathematics, by ensuring that all staff:  show pupils good examples of how writing is composed so that they are clear about what they have to do and what is expected of them  make lesson introductions shorter so that pupils have more time to work on their own and find things out for themselves  enable pupils to use their speaking and listening skills as a way of organising their ideas before writing  extend opportunities for pupils to use their skills in mathematics when learning about other subjects.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the school’s leadership capacity by:  ensuring that leaders, including the governing body, rigorously maintain the focus on improving teaching and check the effectiveness of their actions on pupils’ achievement  extending the skills of the teachers in charge of areas of the school’s work in gaining an overview of the quality of teaching so that they are better informed to plan for improvement.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance, to include a specific focus on the school’s use of the pupil premium, should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Standards in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 2 and by the time pupils leave the school in Year 6 are broadly average. Pupils’ achievement requires improvement because not all make consistently good progress. Test results in 2012 showed that the proportion of pupils making more than the progress expected of them compared favourably with that found nationally. However, in 2013 very few Year 6 pupils, including those most able, made more than expected progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Similarly, assessments of all pupils show that the progress they made during the year was uneven. While most made the progress expected of them, not enough made expected progress in Years 4 and 5, particularly in writing and mathematics. Too few pupils made good progress, including more-able pupils.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs have not made good enough progress in the last two years. Recently, there have been improvements to the support they receive in lessons. Adults use resources imaginatively to break learning down into small steps to help pupils to understand new ideas. They provide good language role models for those pupils who speak English as an additional language so that they are able to learn new words and phrases.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Although varying from year-to-year, children’s skills and abilities when they join the Reception class are broadly typical of those expected for their age. Their skills are generally lower in writing and mathematics than in other areas of learning. Adults organise a wide range of interesting activities that encourage children to learn new skills. Most children make good progress so that by the time they enter Year 1, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development is slightly above that expected in most areas of learning.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Standards in reading are a little higher than in other areas because young children are taught phonics (the link between letters and the sounds they make) every day. In the last two years, a higher-than-average proportion of pupils met the required standards in the national phonics screening check at the end of Year 1. Pupils in all year groups are taught reading skills regularly and given plenty of chances to read about other subjects. However, opportunities to use their writing and mathematical skills are not as well developed.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The pupil premium funding is being used appropriately to support those pupils eligible for free school meals. It provides one-to-one tuition, extra help in lessons and access to educational clubs and visits. By the time the Year 6 pupils in 2013 left the school, they were about two terms ahead of their classmates in English and three terms ahead in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils who arrive at the school partway during the year are welcomed and helped to settle in quickly. One pupil recalled how kind everyone had been when she was new to the school, ‘They showed me what to do, let me join in their games and helped me to make new friends.’ Early assessments mean that these pupils get the help that they need.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because it has not made sure all pupils make good progress. In some lessons, teachers do not provide pupils with clear examples of how to compose words and phrases when writing. Consequently, some are not sure about what is expected of them and their learning slows. Teachers’ introductions and their explanations are too long. This leads to learning being limited because pupils have little time to work on their own and find things out for themselves.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils of all abilities made progress at a good rate in a Years 5 and 6 lesson when they were encouraged to talk together, share and improve their ideas before writing. As a result, they were able to write interesting, descriptive sentences using a range of vocabulary and punctuation. Such effective activities for stimulating writing are not offered to all pupils.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Work in pupils’ books and discussions with senior leaders indicate that teachers are enabling pupils to use their communication, reading and writing skills when learning about other subjects. Opportunities to use mathematical skills are not as fully established and consequently, they make slower progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In the Early Years Foundation Stage, the youngest children happily work and play with friends and sometimes on their own. Adults promote independence effectively by encouraging children to choose tasks for themselves. In a session observed, children’s physical skills developed particularly well as they learned to move their bodies in different ways and sang with delight as they did so.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In the better lessons, teachers insist pupils work hard and do their best. All adults ask questions that make pupils think hard in order to check their understanding. Teachers make effective use of information and communication technology to stimulate pupils’ imagination. They use a variety of teaching strategies that engage pupils and this helps to maintain their interest.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Recently, teachers have adopted a new marking scheme. As a result, pupils have a clear understanding of what they have done well and where they need to improve. Pupils are given regular opportunities to respond to teachers’ comments so that they can improve their skills.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ attitudes to learning and their behaviour in lessons are good and this makes a good contribution to their learning. They respond positively to all adults and follow their instructions readily. Pupils show they are able to work well on their own, in small groups and in whole class tasks. Around the school pupils are polite and courteous. Pupils from different backgrounds get on well together and show they are mindful of when others might need help.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say that they feel safe and that they are well cared for. They are adamant that bullying, such as name-calling, is uncommon but that when it does occur, adults help them to deal with it. In lessons, pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe. For example, they have a good understanding of how to keep safe when using the internet.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Those parents and carers who responded to the online questionnaire and who shared their views with the inspector spoke highly of the care their children receive. Most commented on how their children felt safe, respected and that issues were resolved quickly. All were pleased at how happy and confident their children had been since joining the school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Working relationships between adults and pupils are good. Adults manage behaviour consistently well. In the Early Years Foundation Stage, adults actively teach good behaviour. Older pupils have a good understanding of and respect for, the school’s systems for managing behaviour. As a result of more rigorously applied policies and procedures, and with the support of the whole school community, pupils’ attendance is moving closer to the national average. Almost all pupils arrive at school on time.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 On very rare occasions, when pupils are not being provided with sufficient challenge, a few demonstrate low-level disruptive behaviour in lessons and this slows their learning and that of others.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Until recently, the school’s leaders have not taken sufficient action to ensure that all pupils achieve well. Systems for helping teachers to develop their skills are relatively new. Leaders have not measured precisely enough the effectiveness of their actions on pupils’ achievement.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Those in charge of leading subjects and other areas of the school’s work have received little training to enable them to carry out their roles sufficiently well. They are now beginning to check on the quality of teaching in their subjects so that they are better informed to make decisions about what needs to be done to improve pupils’ achievement.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Under the leadership of the new headteacher, the school is improving at a faster rate. Staff morale is high. All are behind her drive and ambition and are fully committed to making the necessary improvements.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Teaching is improving because leaders are giving teachers specific advice, targets and training to help them improve their skills. Senior leaders are making sure that teachers’ pay is closely linked to pupils’ progress. Plans are in place to utilise the primary sports funding to enable specialist teachers that already exist on the school staff to more fully use their expertise in order to increase pupils’ participation and enjoyment in sporting activity.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders have introduced new systems for checking how well different groups of pupils are doing. They are taking more robust action to ensure that all pupils have an equal chance to succeed and to ensure any form of discrimination is tackled. Leaders and teachers are meeting more regularly to ensure that those pupils not making sufficient progress get extra help.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The Early Years Foundation Stage is well led and managed. As a consequence, children get off to a good start in most areas of learning.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school offers a range of subjects enriched by visits and visitors. For example, Year 4 pupils thoroughly enjoyed a visit from an ‘Egyptian Pharaoh’ who showed them how to build a pyramid and how to play the game ‘Mancala’. Pupils appreciate the opportunity to participate in art, sport and increasingly music, in lessons and at after-school clubs. Such activities promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has provided effective support, particularly in developing the school’s leadership.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  The work of the governing body has improved since the previous inspection as a result of training, but they recognise that there is more to be done. Governors are aware that recent results have dipped and that the focus on teaching must be maintained to raise pupils’ achievement. They are visiting lessons so that they are better placed to make well-informed decisions. Governors check the performance of the headteacher and are becoming more involved in checking that other teachers meet the targets that are set for them. They manage the school’s finances effectively to make sure that resources, including the pupil premium, are spent in the best interests of the children. They know that the support provided to pupils eligible for free school meals is not currently measured or checked precisely enough to be able to prove its impact. Governors are increasingly challenging senior and subject leaders to hold

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The leadership and management requires improvement

them to account for pupils’ achievement. They make sure that safeguarding arrangements meet 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 125718 Local authority Warwickshire Inspection number 427012

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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 135 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Graham Smith Headteacher Joanne Howell Date of previous school inspection 21 September 2011 Telephone number 01926 424420 Fax number 01926 424420 Email address admin3546@welearn365.com 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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