St Clement's Catholic Primary School

School report St Clement's Catholic Primary School Fennells Mead, Chessington Road, Ewell, Surrey, KT17 1TX

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Inspection dates 19–20 November 2013 and 14–15 January 2014

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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

 Teaching is not consistently good or better in all classes. Some teachers do not use their questioning skills well enough.  Pupils do not always make the progress they are capable of, especially when teachers do not make it clear what they are expected to learn by the end of the lesson.  Teachers’ planning lacks precision and some does not take into account the learning needs of different groups of pupils.  Marking and feedback to pupils are not consistent across the school. In some classes there is insufficient guidance given to pupils about how to improve their work.  The use of pupils’ targets is underdeveloped. Not all pupils know what they are trying to achieve.  The actions taken by the acting headteacher have not had sufficient time to impact fully on the school’s overall performance.  The Early Years Foundation Stage leader does not always take account of current learning and development requirements when planning

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

activities. The activities planned do not always take into consideration the starting points of children. The progress children make is not being recorded with sufficient rigour.  The areas for improvement provided to teachers when checking their performance are not systematically followed up.  The monitoring and challenge now being undertaken by the governing body are at an early stage of development.  The role of middle leaders is underdeveloped.  The curriculum does not interest and inspire pupils sufficiently.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils behave well, and feel safe. They are courteous and polite, and they have positive attitudes to learning.  Senior leaders have an accurate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school.  The strong school ethos promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well.  Leaders and managers demonstrate the capacity to secure further improvement. Inspection report: St Clement's Catholic Primary School, 19–20 November 2013 and 14–15 January 2014 2 of 10

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors first visited the school in November 2013. Through no fault of the school, the inspection was considered ‘flawed’ as it was deemed to be incomplete. One of Her Majesty’s Inspectors visited the school in January 2014 to gather more evidence about the school’s overall effectiveness.  Overall, 31 lessons were observed. During the first visit, 12 lessons were jointly observed with school leaders. During the second visit, the headteacher jointly observed all lessons with Her Majesty’s Inspector.  Meetings were held with pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and eight other governors, the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the Early Years Foundation Stage leader and the English and mathematics subject leaders. Her Majesty’s Inspector also had meetings with a representative of the local authority and a member of the Catholic Diocesan Board.  Her Majesty’s Inspector observed the school’s work, heard pupils read and scrutinised their work.

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Information about this inspection

 A number of documents were scrutinised including strategic plans, safeguarding arrangements, planning and monitoring documentation, records relating to behaviour and attendance, minutes of the governing body’s meetings, external monitoring reports, assessment data and curriculum plans.  The views of parents were taken into account through the 78 responses to the on-line Parent View survey.

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Inspection team

Jameel Hassan, Lead inspector (November) Additional Inspector Una Marie Stevens (November) Additional Inspector Ann Henderson, Lead inspector (January) Her Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report: St Clement's Catholic Primary School, 19–20 November 2013 and 14–15 January 2014 3 of 10

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller-than-average-sized primary school with seven classes. Pupils are taught in single-age classes. There is one Reception class.  Most pupils are of White British heritage, the proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is below average as is the proportion of pupils who speaks English as an additional language or at the early stages of speaking English when they join the school.  The proportions of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, including pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs, are well below average.  The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium funding, which provides additional government funding for pupils in local authority care, pupils whose parents are in the armed forces and those known to be eligible for free school meals, is well below the national average.  The previous headteacher left in December 2012. The deputy headteacher became the acting

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Information about this school

headteacher in January 2013 and this arrangement will remain at least until the end of the summer term 2014. A senior teacher also became the acting deputy headteacher in January 2013.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set out the minimum expectations of pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of good and outstanding teaching and ensure all pupils make consistently at least good progress by making sure all teachers:  plan effectively using the information they have on what pupils know and can do, to meet the learning needs of all groups of pupils  provide pupils with a clear understanding of what they are expected to learn in lessons  set effective learning targets to enable pupils to monitor their own learning  use a consistent approach to the marking and feedback provided for pupils to enable them to know what to do to improve their work  use the responses from pupils during questioning to expand and develop their thinking in order to accelerate progress  provide greater challenge for pupils of all ability levels.  Improve the quality of the Early Years Foundation Stage provision by:  ensuring the Early Years Foundation Stage leader is up to date with current early years

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

practice, particularly in relation to the delivery of the curriculum  establishing ways to check children’s levels of ability when they start school, linked to each area of learning  regularly observing children’s development, recording their progress and using this information to plan exciting and stimulating activities, including during phonic sessions, which fully stretch their ability.  Strengthen leadership and management, including governance, by:  increasing the impact of monitoring activities by developing a more systematic approach to providing feedback to teachers following lesson observations and all other checks on the quality of teaching  developing the skills of middle leaders so they can play a greater part in checking on pupils’ achievement and planning for improvements in their areas of responsibility  ensuring the governing body is more involved in evaluating the work of the school and

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

Inspection report: St Clement's Catholic Primary School, 19–20 November 2013 and 14–15 January 2014 4 of 10

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

provides effective challenge and support to school leaders  developing a more interesting and exciting curriculum to meet the needs of all groups of pupils.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved. Inspection report: St Clement's Catholic Primary School, 19–20 November 2013 and 14–15 January 2014 5 of 10

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ achievement requires improvement because their progress is not consistently good in reading, writing and mathematics. This includes the few pupils from minority ethnic groups, those at an early stage of learning English and disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. More able pupils do not do as well as they could.  Children generally start school with skills and abilities that are typical for their age, with some who exceed expected levels in their social skills, speaking and listening, reading and number work. They do not always make the progress they are capable of because the initial checks which are made on their skills and abilities are not closely linked to all the current Early Years Foundation Stage areas of learning. As a result, these assessments do not identify enough information to ensure planned activities are relevant to children’s learning needs. The accuracy

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

of this information is questionable.  Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 has been above the national average for the last two years. The school’s current information on pupils’ attainment shows that pupils are on track to achieve above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics; although attainment in mathematics is weaker than in reading and writing.  Current rates of pupils’ progress fluctuate as pupils move through the school. Not enough make consistently good progress.  The small numbers of pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding (additional government money) perform well. Their standards in reading, writing and mathematics are above the national average compared to this group of pupils nationally. This demonstrates the school’s commitment to ensuring equality of opportunity.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The quality of teaching requires improvement, because although some pupils make good or better progress in their learning not enough of them do so. Pupils are not always told in enough detail what they are expected to learn in lessons. Teachers do not always plan lessons matched to pupils’ individual learning needs with sufficient precision.  Where the quality of teaching is not good, teachers do not use the responses pupils make to their questioning well enough to interrogate their thinking and challenge their understanding. However, examples of good questioning were seen during the inspection. During one literacy lesson, pupils were challenged to consider the character of Lady Macbeth in preparation for writing their own character description. The teacher skilfully shaped questions in response to pupils’ answers.  In some lessons, teachers do not explain the tasks well enough to enable pupils to understand

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

what they are expected to do. In a few lessons vital learning time is lost because pupils are waiting for further explanations from teachers.  In the Early Years Foundation Stage, some planned activities are uninspiring, including during phonics sessions. They provide limited opportunities for children to engage in purposeful play which enables them to develop their own ideas through investigation and exploration.  Some of the teaching and learning observed during the inspection was of a good quality. In these lessons, teachers planned interesting and challenging activities, making pupils think deeply about their learning and enabling them to demonstrate sustained concentration. This was the case in a mathematics lesson, where pupils were investigating the relationship between the perimeter and area of rectangles. Pupils made good progress and achieved well.  Feedback from marking is not consistent across subjects and year groups. At its best, marking

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

clearly shows what pupils have done well and what they need to do to further improve their work. In addition, pupils are provided with opportunities to respond to the marking comments and demonstrate that they can make improvements to their work. Inspection report: St Clement's Catholic Primary School, 19–20 November 2013 and 14–15 January 2014 6 of 10

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The use of targets to enable pupils to know what they need to achieve to improve their learning is too variable. In the best examples, the targets are easily accessible to pupils and teachers regularly check whether targets have been achieved. But this is not always the case. Some pupils are unsure of their targets, or where to find them. In addition, teachers are not checking pupils’ progress towards achieving their targets regularly enough.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 There is a positive ethos in and around the school. Pupils’ behaviour is good. Pupils are polite, and courteous, displaying good relationships with other pupils and the adults who support them. They have a good understanding of right from wrong and work well together in pairs and small groups during lessons.  Pupils settle quickly and work hard when they are given interesting and challenging work. Even in lessons where they are waiting to be told what to do or are unclear of the expected learning, their behaviour is calm and mature.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say they feel safe and know what to do if they have a problem in school. They know that there is always an adult on hand to listen to their concerns and they have confidence that any problems will be resolved quickly.  Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep safe when using the internet, but are less

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

clear about other hazards they may come across within the local community, such as safety on the railway..  Pupils have a good understanding of different types of bullying, including homophobic bullying. They say bullying is rare. On the rare occasions when children fall out with each other, they have every confidence that the adults in school will help them to resolve the issue.  Pupils have good attitudes to school, which is evident in their above-average attendance. Pupils generally arrive in school on time. There have been no exclusions in recent years.

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The leadership and management require improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because there have not been enough improvements to teaching to ensure pupils make consistently good progress. When lessons are observed, clear judgements on the quality of teaching and the learning of different groups of pupils are not given. This hampers teachers’ understanding of what to improve in their teaching to ensure pupils make better progress.  A broad range of information is now gathered to support the judgements on the quality of teaching. However, this is relatively recent and at present the information is not being used systematically enough to follow up previously identified areas for improvement. As a result, some weaknesses are not being address swiftly enough.  The acting headteacher has worked hard to ensure that all teachers have a better understanding of the information the school gathers on the attainment and progress of pupils. This information

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The leadership and management require improvement

is now being used more effectively to evaluate the quality of teaching, alongside the quality of work in pupils’ books and discussions with pupils, in order to hold teachers to account for the progress of the pupils in their class.  Senior leaders have an accurate picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. This understanding underpins the school’s strategic plan, which is suitably focused on the areas requiring improvement. This demonstrates their capacity to secure further improvement.  Action has been taken to distribute the leadership responsibilities to middle leaders, but at present their plans to drive improvement are embryonic and their understanding of the achievement of different groups of pupils across the school is limited.  The school has an inclusive ethos and seeks to promote equality. Any discrimination is not tolerated.  The curriculum requires improvement. Although it is broad and balanced and provides

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The leadership and management require improvement

Inspection report: St Clement's Catholic Primary School, 19–20 November 2013 and 14–15 January 2014 7 of 10

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The leadership and management require improvement

opportunities for pupils to engage in some interesting and thought-provoking activities, it is not planned well enough to enable all pupils to make good or outstanding progress. Nevertheless, it does serve to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding well.  The additional primary school sports funding is being used effectively to pay for external coaches in order to increase the participation of girls in sport. This has successfully enabled a higher proportion of girls in Year 3 and Year 4 to access a multi-skills sports club.  The local authority is providing a range of support for senior leaders and new subject leaders. The acting headteacher has been supported by another local headteacher to develop her leadership skills. The local authority regularly reviews the school’s progress through focused support meetings.  The governance of the school:  The governing body recognises that, until recently, it has not provided sufficient challenge to

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The leadership and management require improvement

the school. Following a local authority review meeting in the summer term, the governing body acted to engage an external partner to carry out a review of the governing body. Although this is underway, it is yet to be completed. However, governors are now more active in gathering first-hand information by working in pairs to visit the school and check on a range of identified issues. Although the governing body agrees the content of the school’s self- evaluation and strategic plan, it has not been instrumental in shaping the strategic direction of the school. The information governors receive on the quality of teaching has improved. They have a better understanding of the school’s own information about the performance of pupils and are now more able to compare the performance of pupils at St Clement’s with that of all pupils nationally. They are beginning to understand the link between teachers’ pay and

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The leadership and management require improvement

performance. Inspection report: St Clement's Catholic Primary School, 19–20 November 2013 and 14–15 January 2014 8 of 10

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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. Inspection report: St Clement's Catholic Primary School, 19–20 November 2013 and 14–15 January 2014 9 of 10

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School details

Unique reference number 125220 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 426626

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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 213 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Michael Davies Headteacher Christina Buckley Date of previous school inspection 6–7 October 2008 Telephone number 020 8393 8789 Fax number 020 8393 8789 Email address info@stclements.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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