St Augustine's Catholic Primary School

St Augustine's Catholic Primary School Whitefields Road, Solihull, B91 3NZ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Early years provision Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils achieve outstanding test results and make outstanding progress in developing their reading, writing and mathematics skills in all year groups.  Pupils achieve standards in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 that are considerably above the national averages.  Teachers plan and teach lessons that take into account what pupils want to learn, and skilfully develop their skills, knowledge and understanding in a wide range of subjects. They have very high expectations of how quickly pupils can learn and how highly they can achieve.  Early years provision is outstanding. Children are encouraged to develop good learning habits as a result of the excellent teaching they receive.  Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding. They are unfailingly polite and courteous. They fervently believe in the values of caring, trust and compassion, and apply these to all members of the school community. They feel very safe in school.  Led by the inspirational headteacher, the quality of

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

leadership and management is outstanding. School leaders are constantly striving to improve the excellent teaching and achievement of the school.  Governors are very active members of the school community. They have a highly accurate understanding of the quality of teaching and how well pupils achieve. They challenge and support school leaders well.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed teaching in several lessons covering all year groups. They looked in detail at pupils’ work. Joint lesson observations and the scrutiny of pupils’ work were carried out with the headteacher and the deputy headteacher.  Inspectors listened to pupils read within lessons and separately.  Meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, subject leaders, four members of the governing body, and a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of parents’ views as they collected their children, the 55 responses to Parent View, the online questionnaire, and of the school’s own records of comments from parents.  Informal and formal discussions took place with pupils about various aspects of school life.  A range of documentation was reviewed, including plans for improvement, safeguarding and attendance documents, and information related to leaders’ monitoring of the quality of teaching and pupils’

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Information about this inspection

achievement.  The 22 responses to the staff questionnaire were taken into account.

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Inspection team

Clare Saunders, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  At around 5%, the proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is below the national average.  Around 5% of pupils are eligible for the pupil premium. This is well below the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority.  There is nursery provision which operates mornings only. This provides part-time provision for 30 children.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The headteacher mentors a headteacher from within the local cluster of schools. School leaders regularly take part and lead aspects of training within the cluster of schools and within the local Catholic

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Information about this school

Collaborative of which the school is also a member.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further develop pupils’ reading comprehension skills throughout the school and improve their written answers so they consistently match the very high standard of their verbal explanations.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher is an extremely effective leader. She is supported by equally committed and exceptionally effective senior and subject leaders. Together with the governing body, school leaders constantly strive to improve all aspects of the school for the pupils’ benefit. This, combined with the strong sense of community within the school, creates a culture where every pupil is valued as an individual, cared for and supported to achieve the very highest of academic standards.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 All teachers and leaders use information about pupils’ progress and attainment very well to analyse how well each pupil and groups of pupils are achieving. This information is shared routinely with parents; for example, through termly reports that provide information on the targets that pupils are set for the coming term, as well as information about their level of effort and achievement.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Subject leaders are experts in their subject areas and this shows in their planning of new topics and evaluations of pupils’ performance. Those teachers in their early years of teaching are helped to develop their leadership skills by taking on responsibilities.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Subject leaders have implemented the new National Curriculum with thought and care to ensure that pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding are developed across a variety of topics. They have made sure that pupils have lots of opportunities for practising their skills in a variety of new situations so that they have a secure understanding of numeracy and literacy skills.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Teachers regularly ask for pupils’ ideas for what they would like to study, and these are incorporated into the teachers’ planning for future topics. Several trips – for example, a residential trip for Year 6, and visits to various places of worship – ensure the curriculum is enhanced and enriched by experiences beyond the classroom. Pupils are very well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 School leaders follow a detailed programme of activities to monitor the quality of teaching, ensuring that they have an accurate understanding of aspects of teaching that are outstanding. They regularly share these, both within the school and with other schools in the cluster. Information from tracking pupils’ progress and observing lessons is used very well to set targets for teachers and to plan additional training to continually improve teaching.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Parents are kept informed of the work of the school through the school’s website, regular reports about their child’s progress, and by the information file that each family receives. If parents ask for more information, this is sent home to add to the file. This is very much appreciated by parents.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 School leaders ensure that there is equal opportunity for all pupils to do well in all aspects of school life. Additional government funding is used very effectively to meet the individual needs of disadvantaged pupils so they achieve in line with or better than their classmates.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The primary sports funding is used to increase the opportunities for pupils to take part in a variety of sports, such as cheerleading, golf and tennis, as well as providing specialist sports coaching and training. It is also used to increase the self-esteem of pupils who are slightly reluctant to enjoy games lessons by running an optional before-school club which has had a large impact on increasing the participation rates and enjoyment of all pupils in physical education.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The local authority provides termly support for the school as a matter of routine. It values the leadership of the school and the impact of the school’s leaders in working with other schools within the authority.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school:  Governors have a highly accurate understanding of the school’s performance, including the information about how well pupils are learning. They provide a strategic lead for all aspects of the school and are regularly and routinely involved in checking how well the school is doing; for example, by meeting with teachers, talking to pupils and looking at pupils’ books. They expect high standards of teaching, and are actively involved in monitoring the performance of teaching and non-teaching staff. They reward good performance of teachers and teaching assistants accordingly, and provide effective support where further training is needed. They make sure that statutory requirements for safeguarding are fully met. They ensure that the school’s financial resources are well managed, and they check on the impact of additional funding, such as sports funding and the pupil premium.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils’ attitudes to learning in lessons is exemplary. From an early age, they show an eagerness to learn and ask questions. They show perseverance when faced with difficult tasks and they demonstrate mature responses to other pupils’ answers. They are always alert to what might be asked of them next.

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Behaviour

 Pupils are very proud of their school, the work they produce in lessons and the neatness of the school buildings and environment.

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Behaviour

 All pupils behave in ways to reflect the core values of trust, respect and care. Everyone’s opinions are given equal consideration, and there is an atmosphere of mutual trust that is evident in all aspects of pupils’ behaviour.

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Behaviour

 Pupils enjoy the opportunities to contribute to school life and to take on positions of responsibility. Year 6 pupils are encouraged to write job applications for various roles around the school, such as being a subject monitor or helping at wet play times with younger pupils. Year 6 pupils can also be ‘prayer friends’, where they help and guide a Reception child with all aspects of school life. Parents report that this often creates strong and long-lasting friendships.

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Behaviour

 Pupils have the opportunity to be elected to represent their form on the school council. There are many examples where school council decisions have benefited pupils. The improved bike sheds, for example, has led to more pupils cycling to school, and becoming healthier as a result. Members of the school council regularly evaluate how successful such initiatives are.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. They are acutely aware of how to keep themselves safe when using the internet and in other situations, such as road safety.

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Safety

 Pupils in the school are each in one of four ‘families’ which collect reward points for academic and other achievements. Helped by a team of editors, the heads of each family (two Year 6 pupils) produces a termly magazine that celebrates success and also reminds pupils of aspects of staying safe at all times.

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Safety

 Pupils are aware of the different types of bullying, and are adamant that it does not happen in their school. Incidents of inappropriate behaviour are extremely rare and are dealt with swiftly by staff. Pupils feel there is always someone they can ask for help and advice if they need to.

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Safety

 Staff are skilled at ensuring all pupils are learning in lessons at all times and that any inattentive behaviour is rare.

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Safety

 Attendance has been above average for many years, reflecting the enjoyment that pupils feel coming to school. School leaders expect and reward good attendance, and parents and pupils understand the importance of this.

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Safety

 Governors ensure that policies and procedures for keeping pupils safe meet requirements, and they are vigilant in maintaining regular checks on pupils’ safety.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers have very high expectations of how attentive pupils are in lessons and of the academic standards pupils should achieve. These high expectations are evident in how teachers plan for all pupils to make the most progress they can in lessons and over time. There is no learning time lost in lessons and pupils learn at a quick pace, producing work that is completed to a high standard of neatness and accuracy.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The teaching of phonics (the sounds that letters make) is exceptional. Pupils are encouraged to think about what they are learning and why. For example, in one lesson, pupils were asked to think about and explain what a suffix might be and then relate it to what they were learning in another subject.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching assistants are highly skilled, and work with small groups and individuals in a class to identify where pupils may have misunderstood or where they need harder work so that all pupils learn quickly to fulfil their potential.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers and teaching assistants regularly ask questions of pupils, enabling them to apply their knowledge and skills to new situations. This means that pupils routinely produce work across different subjects that support and reflect their achievements in literacy and numeracy. For example, pupils in Year 5 calculated water consumption in science, and presented their workings to the same very high standard as if it were a mathematics lesson.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Pupils’ work receives highly effective feedback from their teachers. Written comments are linked to the individual targets that each pupil has for English and mathematics. Pupils readily respond to the positive comments, as well as requests for them to complete further tasks, to demonstrate a deep understanding of the concepts taught. Verbal feedback is of high quality and takes place continuously in lessons so each pupil always know exactly what they need to do in order to improve their work.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 The homework policy provides a clear rationale for supporting learning at home. Each year group has a set of expectations which are shared with parents. For example, Year 1 pupils take home a library book weekly which is shared by all the family, thereby continuing the love of learning to the home environment.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers and subject leaders are very reflective of their own practice and of their pupils’ achievements. They have recently identified that the written responses of pupils when answering difficult questions based on understanding a text are not consistently of the same high quality as pupils’ verbal responses. This information is being used to adapt their planning to enhance still further the written skills of pupils.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Most children start at the school with skills, knowledge and understanding that are typical for their age. They very quickly settle into school life and learn quickly throughout their time in the school. They reach very high levels of attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 and 2.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils make outstanding progress in each year group and overall, so they leave the school at the end of Year 6 with results in reading, writing and mathematics that are a year ahead of the national average. Progress is strong in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Attainment at Key Stage 1 is well above the national average and reflects the good progress that all groups of pupils make across the key stage. Children move into Year 1 with workbooks that show their skills and abilities in literacy and numeracy, and teachers use this information well to ensure that pupils learn new concepts rather than repeating work from the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils are encouraged to love reading from the start of school. The regular use of the well-equipped library, in addition to classroom books, means that pupils develop their reading and comprehension skills and love of non-fiction and fiction consistently throughout the school. As a result, they are competent and confident readers, and they use a rich variety of vocabulary in their everyday speech.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make very good progress throughout the school. Pupils’ individual learning needs are quickly identified by teachers, and additional help and support is provided swiftly.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 There were no pupils eligible for the pupil premium in Year 6 in 2014. Throughout the school, leaders respond quickly to the needs of disadvantaged pupils and they ensure that these pupils benefit from the additional support and resources they need to enable them to make the same excellent progress as their classmates.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 More-able pupils make up a large proportion of the pupils in the school. The most-able achieve especially well and a greater percentage than national achieved the higher levels in reading, writing and mathematics in 2013 and 2014.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Children make excellent progress in Nursery and Reception, and the proportion of those achieving a good level of development is well above the national average. In addition, a large proportion of pupils exceed the early learning goals in reading, writing and numeracy. Consequently, children are exceptionally well prepared to move into Year 1.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Children are keen to learn, and parents are encouraged to support their child’s learning. This is especially the case in Nursery, where parents can take part in some activities such as reading. The communication with parents is excellent and parents feel fully informed of how their child is progressing.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Children from Nursery and Reception show an eagerness to learn and mature attitudes to learning. For example, during the inspection, children were observed persevering with a tricky task involving scissors, modelling dough and writing, and gaining a sense of achievement in completing the task. Teaching is outstanding, and the wide variety of activities, including in the outdoor area, are carefully selected for children to practise and apply their literacy and numeracy skills.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Teachers and teaching assistants work very well with small groups and individuals, modelling the behaviour and attitudes expected of children; for example, explaining how to rub out and correct a piece of work instead of getting upset. The calm manner in which adults and children relate to each other creates a positive and caring atmosphere for concentrating on learning.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 The Early Years Foundation Stage leader provides highly effective leadership, which is constantly seeking to improve the provision for the children. Staff value the many opportunities for additional training to develop their skills as early years teachers.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 104100 Local authority Solihull Inspection number 448253

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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 241 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Helen Super Headteacher Tina Willmott Date of previous school inspection 28–29 January 2010 Telephone number 0121 7054355 Fax number 0121 7059489 Email address office@st-augustines.solihull.bham.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 and 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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