Setting

Ursula Hargrave Deputy Headteacher Regina Coeli Catholic Primary School 173 Pampisford Road South Croydon CR2 6DF

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School

Following my visit to your school on 14 January 2014, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions which have been taken since the school’s recent section 5 inspection.

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School

This was the first monitoring visit since the school became subject to special measures following the inspection which took place in September 2013.

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Evidence

During this inspection, I held meetings with senior leaders, members of the interim executive board, a group of pupils, a representative of the local authority, and the consultant headteacher and deputy headteacher from St James the Great School. Brief visits were made to all classrooms. I reviewed a range of documentation including a sample of pupils’ work and safeguarding information. The local authority’s statement of action and the school’s improvement plan were evaluated.

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Context

At the end of December the substantive headteacher left the school, and the governing body was replaced by an interim executive board. The deputy headteacher is now managing the school with senior staff from St James the Great Tribal 1–4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 3115307 Direct email : rachel.evans@tribalgroup.com Primary School providing leadership support. Two classes are taught by agency teachers.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

School leaders and governors did not respond urgently enough to the school being placed in special measures. Consequently, the school made neither rapid nor effective progress during the autumn term and the local authority and diocese deployed their statutory powers to remove the governing body. At the end of December, the headteacher resigned and a new interim executive board was appointed.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The first post-inspection school improvement plan was not fit for purpose. The deputy headteacher has produced a new draft version which now better articulates the priorities needed in order to improve the school. Meetings with parents and carers have been undertaken since the inspection but as yet, regular communication with parents and carers is weak. Plans for a parent forum are timely.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The school improvement plan also proposes regular feedback opportunities with pupils to gather and use their views about the school’s progress.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Interim executive board members have used the two weeks since their appointment to visit the school and analyse performance information. These are correct priorities. They are yet to approve the school action plan which has recently been rewritten. Targets for pupils’ achievement and the timescales for meeting these targets are appropriate but there has been delay in its implementation by one term. Members acknowledge that monitoring and evaluation in the draft action plan are not sufficiently robust. The current judgement about teaching is inaccurate. This baseline must be moderated. Members of the board identify other urgent priorities, updating and implementing policies, notably for safeguarding, teaching and learning. The school website is poor and does not provide the required information. The interim executive board expects to approve the final school improvement plan imminently and confirm plans for the school’s leadership.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The support from the partner school has focused on professional development for staff. This includes paired lesson observations, attending ‘Meet the Teacher’ evenings and assisting with teacher performance management meetings. a. This approach has enabled staff to evaluate and develop their practice. External leaders have increased the checks on teaching, linked to performance management. This additional scrutiny has facilitated changes in the leadership structure. After the inspection, the local authority and Diocese provided critical support to change the leadership. Curriculum consultancy and school improvement intervention has begun to raise awareness by staff and leaders about weaknesses. The statement of action is comprehensive, and the targets and milestones show an expectation for rapid progress. There is a strong emphasis upon monitoring the school but less indication of how its effectiveness will be evaluated by all partners. Some initial

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

timescales have not been met because of the leadership situation during the autumn term. A renewed schedule to get back on track at the outset of this term with the new interim executive board and new leadership is essential.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Following the monitoring inspection the following judgements were made:

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The local authority statement of action is fit for purpose

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The school’s improvement action plan is fit for purpose

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The school may not appoint newly qualified teachers before the next monitoring inspection.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

I am copying this letter to the Secretary of State, the Chair of the Governing Body, the Director of Children’s Services for Croydon and as below. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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