Saint Winefride's Catholic Voluntary Academy, Shepshed, Leicestershire

Saint Winefride's Catholic Voluntary Academy, Shepshed, Leicestershire Britannia Street, Shepshed, Loughborough, LE12 9AE

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected 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

 Standards at the end of Year 2 are below average. This is because progress through Reception and Years 1 and 2 has not built sufficiently on pupils’ skills and understanding when they started at the school.  The school’s current assessment data show that the progress being made throughout the school is too variable.  Standards in mathematics and in making the links between letters and sounds (phonics) require improvement to fully prepare pupils for the next stage in their education.  The teaching requires improvement because not enough is of a good or better quality to help raise standards.  The marking of pupils’ work does not help them improve and in too many lessons the most-able pupils are not provided with work that extends their learning enough.  The available assessment data are not analysed rigorously enough to provide leaders with a sufficiently accurate picture of the pupils’ progress.  The governing body has not monitored the

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

work of the school closely enough to provide sufficient challenge to the leadership to improve achievement and teaching.

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The school has the following strengths

 Standards were above average at the end of Year 6 in 2013 because pupils’ progress through Key Stage 2 was good.  The school is a very caring place where pupils’ welfare is paramount and where they are happy and safe.  Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to learning are good and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is well provided for.  Much current teaching observed in the school is good, especially in Key Stage 2, and is supporting pupils’ learning well. January 2014 2 of 11

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 14 lessons or parts of lessons. A number of these were observed jointly with the headteacher.  Meetings and discussions took place with the headteacher, governors, pupils, staff and parents.  Samples of pupils’ work were examined. Some pupils read books with an inspector.  The inspectors took account of a recent survey of parents’ views carried out by the school alongside the 38 responses to the online survey, Parent View.  The inspectors looked at key documents, including: performance data on pupils’ progress and attainment produced by the school, procedures for safeguarding, the school’s own evaluations of its work, reports to the governing body and the plans for raising attainment.

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Inspection team

Geof Timms, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Roary Pownall Additional Inspector January 2014 3 of 11

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Information about this school

 St Winefride’s Catholic Primary School converted to become an academy school in September 2012 as part of the Blessed Cyprian Tansi Catholic Academy Trust. When its predecessor school, of the same name, was last inspected by Ofsted it was judged to be good.  The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The large majority of pupils are White British. Very few speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is broadly average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.  A below-average proportion of pupils are supported by the pupil premium which, in this school, provides additional funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals.  The school has recently set up a breakfast club for pupils although this is currently used by very

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Information about this school

few pupils.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make more of the teaching consistently good or better throughout the school by:  improving the marking of pupils’ work so that it tells them what they have done well and what they need to do to improve further  providing the most-able pupils with opportunities to extend their learning, especially in literacy and numeracy, with work that is accurately matched to their prior knowledge and understanding  ensuring the teaching assistants are deployed to full effect to support pupils’ learning.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the rate of progress and raise standards further in English and mathematics by:  reviewing and updating the school’s calculation policy to ensure this aspect of the subject is taught well to improve achievement in mathematics  providing better opportunities for pupils to develop writing and number skills in other subjects  improving teachers’ knowledge and understanding of how to teach phonics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the leadership and management of the school by:  devising more effective and consistent systems for tracking pupils’ progress so that the achievement of different groups of pupils is clear and used by leaders to monitor the success of the school and more rigorously identify and address inconsistencies in the teaching  creating more opportunities for leaders below senior level to develop their skills and become more effective leaders  developing the role of the governing body so that it becomes more rigorous and robust in holding the school to account.

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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. January 2014 4 of 11

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Standards in reading, writing and mathematics are below average by the end of Year 2. Too few pupils reach the higher levels. Pupils make good progress through Key Stage 2, and their attainment by Year 6 in 2013 was a little ahead of the national average.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 When they start school, children currently have levels of knowledge and skills which are below those expected for their age. However, for most pupils throughout the school, the levels when they started were broadly in line with those expected. The progress they have made through Reception and Years 1 and 2 has not been good enough to help them achieve the levels they are capable of reaching.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Standards in mathematics are not as consistently strong throughout the school as those in reading and writing. The school is aware of this and improvements to pupils’ standards are the basis of the new subject leader’s planning. In particular, the school is aware that the calculation policy is used inconsistently by teachers and this aspect of the subject is not taught well. For example, a number of the middle- attaining pupils in Year 1 learning about subtraction did not make enough progress due to a lack of understanding about the use of number lines. The school’s current data show inconsistent progress in mathematics throughout the school since the start of the year.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Standards in reading and writing remain above average by the end of Year 6. Some older pupils read widely and regularly, and are happy to recommend good books they have enjoyed to inspectors. Their written work shows pupils can use a good range of genres and styles.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils’ skills in linking letters and sounds (phonics) are not very strong lower down the school. In Year 2, some of the lower-attaining pupils lacked the skills necessary to help them read words that were new to them. The results of the Year 1 check on pupils’ phonic skills show that in 2013, standards were below national average results. In addition, less than half of the Year 2 pupils who retook the check attained the expected standard. In the Reception class, many of the children’s progress last year was broadly in line with that expected.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs receive effective extra help, particularly in reading and mathematics. However, in 2013, standards reached by this group of pupils at the end of Year 6 remained well below those seen nationally in mathematics, although most had made at least the progress expected nationally.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils known to be eligible for pupil premium funding made good progress in 2013. However, the standards attained by this group were almost two terms behind their classmates in reading and writing and over two terms behind in grammar, punctuation and spelling. Their mathematics attainment was better than that of their classmates and remaining gaps are narrowing.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 There are no significant differences in the progress made by pupils from all ethnic heritages. The school successfully promotes equality of opportunity and good relationships, and ensures that pupils are effectively supported – irrespective of their ethnic heritages.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching requires improvement because activities are not always planned well enough to ensure all groups of pupils make good progress. Too often, the most-able pupils are given work that is January 2014 5 of 11

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

too easy for them and teachers do not always provide sufficient opportunities for those who find it easy or who finish rapidly to build further on their learning.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The marking of pupils’ work is not effective because too much consists only of praise. It does not help pupils know what they need to do to improve or how they can reach the next level in their learning. Pupils do not have enough opportunities to respond to teachers’ comments on how to improve their work and, therefore, any useful comments that are made by teachers are not always followed up and become evident in pupils’ later work.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers are well supported by some effective teaching and learning support assistants. These staff are especially effective in supporting the inclusion of pupils with significant disabilities or special educational needs, and also in working with small groups of pupils or with individuals. There are times, however, when their deployment by teachers does not make efficient use of their time and expertise.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers have taken part in training for the teaching of early reading skills and the links between sounds and letters. More recently, training has focused appropriately on older pupils. However, the teaching still requires improvement because some teachers’ subject knowledge and expertise in using phonics are underdeveloped and some pupils are not able to use their skills sufficiently well to read words they have not met before.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The teaching of reading, writing and mathematics skills requires improvement because teachers do not provide sufficient opportunities to develop these in other subjects. For example, pupils lack opportunities to develop their writing skills in history and geography.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The best teaching is effective in ensuring pupils make good progress. Their results are assessed by teachers to check the effectiveness of the teaching. For example, good teaching in a Year 4 lesson on poetic styles made effective use of a poem the teachers had written to show pupils how to develop their own work by editing and improving it. This impressive example enabled all pupils to make rapid progress.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Relationships between teachers and pupils are good and create an effective learning environment in which pupils are willing to answer questions and take a full part in discussions. Because of these strong relationships, pupils’ attitudes to learning are usually good.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching in the Early Years Foundation Stage helps children settle happily and safely into school. Teaching requires improvement because activities do not provide the most-able children with enough opportunities to extend their learning. When there is too little variety in learning children lose interest in the activity and become unsettled. Even so, a new assessment system is providing staff with good opportunities to record and track children’s learning and is intended to provide more activities better focused on individual learning.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. They are polite, friendly and during the inspection were happy to talk to inspectors about their work. Parents are positive about how happy their children are at school, even when they have reservations about other aspects of the school’s work.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 In all lessons pupils are well behaved and show very positive attitudes to learning. Their attitudes in class have a major impact on their learning and progress, and they thoroughly enjoy their work. January 2014 6 of 11

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils talk happily about school and are very appreciative when teachers help them to learn. They remain attentive and well behaved even when the teaching is less effective. The quality of the presentation of their work is high and shows the pride they take by their efforts. They do not achieve better, particularly before they enter Key Stage 2, because their enthusiasm and sense of responsibility to ensure they do their best are not matched by the guidance they receive from teachers.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils consistently demonstrate that they want to learn and they work together cooperatively. This is the case even at playtimes. For example, during lunchtime, Reception children collaborated well, and were supported very positively by an older pupil, as they excitedly worked together using construction bricks to build a tall tower.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. They say they feel safe in school and their views are supported by a large majority of parents who responded to the school’s questionnaire. Medical needs are well met and pupils with significant disabilities or special educational needs are very well supported and cared for. In addition, a number of vulnerable children benefit from time with a trained counsellor.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils say examples of misbehaviour or bullying are rare but dealt with well if they occur. They are aware of the different types of bullying, such as through the use of computers or mobile phones.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils’ behaviour around the school is good and appropriate records are kept. There have been no recent exclusions of pupils. Pupils’ behaviour is not yet outstanding because a few say that very occasional minor misbehaviour distracts them from learning. A number of parents and staff also said that challenging behaviour is not always well dealt with.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school provides good care and support for pupils. The recently opened breakfast club provides good support through sporting opportunities and food and drink so that pupils attending have a good start to the day.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Attendance in 2013 was broadly average and not as high as in previous years. The number of persistent absentees was above average. However, the latest data show above-average attendance since the start of this school year, and punctuality is good.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management are not good because too little has been done to ensure the progress made by pupils is good in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1. Leaders have not ensured that the quality of teaching is consistently good or better across the school. The best practice in teaching is not used enough as a example to assist less effective staff to make more of the teaching is good or better.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school has a great deal of data regarding pupils’ attainment and progress. However, this information is not kept in an easily understood format. It is not analysed sufficiently so that the achievement of different groups can be clearly identified and addressed. Because of this practice the school has had too generous a picture of its success and not enough has been done to address weaknesses in the provision and inconsistencies in the progress of pupils. The school is currently in the process of adopting a better way of tracking progress but this system is being introduced and applied too slowly for it to have immediate impact. Some aspects of the school’s January 2014 7 of 11

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The leadership and management requires improvement

self-evaluation are too generous and not well enough supported by evidence. Even so, priorities for improvement are appropriate and the above-average standards usually achieved by the end of Year 6 show that the school has the capacity to improve.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Parents are mostly positive about the work of the school. However, a significant proportion feel that their concerns are not always followed up and the school’s leaders can be unresponsive. Inspection evidence supports the view that this aspect of the leadership is not always helpful to parents.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The leadership of some subjects, including mathematics and literacy, is at an early stage. The staff are very positive about taking on opportunities to develop their leadership skills although the school has not yet provided opportunities for this to be addressed. This has meant the very small senior leadership team has not been able to devolve enough of its work to other staff and, therefore, has not had opportunity to lead improvement of key priorities rapidly enough.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The leadership of the provision for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is very caring and organises a good range of adult support. However, it requires improvement because there is insufficient analysis of data to ensure a clear overview of these pupils’ progress and, therefore, the school is unable to monitor the impact of the support sufficiently.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher uses findings from observing lessons as a tool for supporting staff. The checking of performance targets and the setting of new ones for individual staff ensure a sound focus on improving pupils’ learning. The staff team are enthusiastic about their work and support the need to raise standards and improve progress further, especially for the younger pupils.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school is at an early stage of buildings links with the other schools in the trust while accessing appropriate training and support from the local authority. However, the links through the trust have already had a positive impact on the support for school leaders and for the provision for pupils with disabilities or with special educational needs. Staff are open to new ideas and suggestions and willing to look beyond the school for good ideas both with local schools and those in the academy trust.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The funding available through the pupil premium is used effectively to help pupils known to be eligible for free school meals to take a full part in school life, and receive, where appropriate, specific resources and adult time. Available data indicate that any remaining gaps in attainment between eligible pupils and their classmates are narrowing.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Planning for improvements to the way physical education is taught under the new funding arrangements are under way and are continually reviewed so that pupils receive good provision. The school has a strong tradition in the teaching of swimming. External expertise is being purchased after sensible observations and discussions with other schools to ensure value for money.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The curriculum provides a suitable range of activities which pupils find interesting and enjoyable. It promotes their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Good use of visiting experts, visits locally and further afield, including residential experiences, enrich the curriculum and enhance the pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the wider world. However, the quality of teaching does not always match the interesting learning opportunities available. January 2014 8 of 11

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  The governing body has not been robust enough in actively challenging the school’s performance over recent years. The new Chair of the Governing Body is a knowledgeable and effective leader who has a sound grasp of what needs to be put in place for governors to be more effective. She is positive that an external review of the governing body’s work will be of benefit in developing their role further.  Governors have checked on the school’s work through some governor visits, such as those to meet the leader of the provision for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, and these enable a good professional discussion to take place. However, the governing body has not been sufficiently proactive in addressing the weaknesses in attainment in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1.  Governors’ understanding of data on pupils’ progress and attainment is not well developed and

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The leadership and management requires improvement

they are not yet skilled enough in how to use a range of monitoring activities to challenge and support the school. They are positive and supportive about the school’s academy status. They have an appropriate understanding of how targets are set for teachers and of appraisal systems, although they have not sufficiently checked how effective these are in improving the quality of teaching. Decisions about teachers’ pay are linked to performance and responsibilities, so the school’s systems meet requirements.  Governors track finances well and assist the school in deciding how to spend the money to support pupils eligible for free school meals or that for improving provision for sports and physical education. The governing body makes sure that arrangements for pupils’ safeguarding meet the current regulatory requirements. January 2014 9 of 11

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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. January 2014 10 of 11

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School details

Unique reference number 138299 Local authority Leicestershire Inspection number 425092

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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 Academy converter Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 192 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Catherine Lawe Headteacher Denis Shiels Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Telephone number 01509 503353 Fax number 01509 821110 Email address office@winefrides-rc.leics.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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