St Saviour's Catholic Primary School

School report St Saviour's Catholic Primary School Summers Lane, Totland Bay, Isle of Wight, PO39 0HQ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school benefits considerably from its inspirational headteacher. Staff and governors support her well in the continuous drive for improvement. The school is very well placed to improve further.  Systems for checking the extent to which teaching supports pupils’ progress are robust and accurate. Consequently, pupils’ achievement and the quality of teaching have greatly improved since the last inspection.  Reception children make good progress, especially in their personal and social development.  In Years 1 to 6, progress is good. By Year 6, attainment is above average in reading and mathematics, and is improving in writing.  Teaching is consistently good throughout the school. Challenging and interesting activities help pupils to do well.  Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school is outstanding. Their excellent attitudes significantly support their learning.  The promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

cultural development and the acquisition of British values such as tolerance is outstanding. Pupils are exceptionally well prepared for life in a diverse and democratic society.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure at all times is excellent. Procedures for supporting their behaviour and attendance are outstanding.  Governors are fully involved in monitoring all aspects of the school’s work, and are well informed about the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement. Governors hold staff to account effectively for their impact on pupils’ progress.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Sometimes, planned activities do not set high enough expectations for the most-able pupils.  Occasionally, staff miss opportunities to use day- to-day assessment information to help plan Reception children’s next steps in learning.  Teachers sometimes give pupils too much advice on how to tackle mathematical problems, which limits their learning.  Pupils’ handwriting and spelling are not as good as other aspects of their writing, particularly in the younger year groups.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector undertook five lesson observations with the headteacher and made a number of short visits to observe pupils working in groups or individually. The inspector heard a small sample of pupils read and scrutinised a sample of pupils’ written work.  The inspector held meetings with pupils, members of the governing body and staff, including senior and middle managers, and the parish priest. Conversations were held with a representative of the local authority.  The inspector took account of the 37 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View). The inspector also spoke to a small number of parents as they brought their children to school.  Responses from 16 staff questionnaires were analysed.  The inspector observed the school’s work and scrutinised a number of documents, including the school’s records on current pupils’ progress, behaviour and attendance. The inspector also looked at documents

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Information about this inspection

related to planning, monitoring and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Diane Wilkinson, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 St Saviour’s is a smaller than average-sized primary school. Most pupils are taught in mixed-age classes. At the time of the inspection, all Reception children were attending full time.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is around the national average.  The very large majority of pupils are of White British heritage. Few speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils eligible for the pupil premium funding is below average. Fewer than five pupils are eligible in most year groups. This funding is to provide extra support for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and to children who are looked after.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress in English and mathematics.  West Wight Nursery shares the school site and also provides before- and after-school care for some

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Information about this school

pupils. This is run by a private provider and was not inspected at this time.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Extend the strategies already in place to raise pupils’ achievement by ensuring that:  lesson activities always challenge the most-able pupils so that a greater proportion of pupils exceed the levels expected for their age  the information from the daily assessments of Reception children’s progress is consistently used to shape their next steps in learning  pupils have greater opportunities to solve mathematical problems with little direction from the teacher  pupils learn to write neatly and spell accurately from a younger age.

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The leadership and management are good

 The key to the school’s success is the very effective headteacher. She has gained the full support of staff, governors and parents. Good development planning helps ensure that there is a consistent and effective effort to improve weaker areas of the school’s work. It is very well placed to improve further.  The comprehensive and very well-targeted programme for checking all aspects of the school’s work involves all leaders and governors. Subject leaders and others such as the special educational needs coordinator support school development well.  Systems for monitoring and improving the quality of teaching are very effective. Staff are very well supported and given many opportunities to improve their practice. This, together with the high expectations of staff and very robust procedures to ensure they achieve them, has raised the quality considerably.  Information from the very regular and thorough assessment and tracking of pupils’ progress is effectively

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The leadership and management are good

shared amongst all staff. They act swiftly when progress slows and monitor the special programmes put in place to ensure they are fully effective.  The curriculum is adapted well to meet pupils’ needs and interests across a wide range of subjects. Important skills such as phonics and mathematical calculation are built up successfully. Very effective links between subjects make learning relevant and maximise progress. For example, there are many very effective opportunities for writing during religious education lessons.  The sports fund grant is used to good effect to increase pupils’ participation in a range of different sports and physical activities such as archery or cricket. The school has employed sports coaches to ensure pupils are well taught and is now focused on increasing its own staff expertise.  The school has an exceptionally strong commitment to providing equality of opportunity, fostering good

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The leadership and management are good

relationships and preventing discrimination. This is evident in the excellent activities provided to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and British values.  The school’s excellent links with the local parish and the support of the clergy has ensured pupils’ awareness of spirituality is outstanding. Their contribution to collective acts of worship including the Lenten liturgy is excellent.  Founded on the school’s outstanding ethos of developing consideration for and respect of others, the promotion of British values prepares pupils exceptionally well to become citizens of the future.  The school’s strong commitment to care ensures that safeguarding arrangements are given high priority. They fully meet requirements and the attention given to very needy pupils, including those subject to care or child protection orders, is exemplary.  The work of the nurture group and family support worker is excellent, especially in promoting good

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The leadership and management are good

attendance, behaviour and attitudes to school.  The additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is used to good effect to support their personal and academic needs by funding additional staff, resources and activities. The effectiveness of this is evident in these pupils’ outstanding behaviour and good academic progress.  The school forges a strong partnership with parents, the very large majority of whom are appreciative of the school. Parents enjoy the joint activities they do with their children, such as making clay models. They support homework well; for example in the effectively designed models children made to demonstrate the meaning of Easter.  The local authority effectively supports the school. Since the last inspection, the local authority’s regular monitoring of teaching and training for teachers has been used effectively by leaders and governors to help bring about improvement. Local authority officers are fully confident that less support is needed in

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The leadership and management are good

future.  The governance of the school:  The governing body fulfils its duties well. Its committee structure and recording of meetings, and the actions needed, are very effective. This helps ensure governors challenge and support the school well.  Governors are very well informed. Through their links with different aspects, they monitor the school’s work effectively. This was clearly evident in the report produced by the governor with responsibility for checking the progress of disadvantaged pupils.  Governors effectively hold leaders to account through their comprehensive knowledge of what is happening in school.  Governors have a good understanding of achievement data and use this to accurately compare St Saviour’s’ performance with other schools locally and nationally. They keep a very robust check on financial resources, including additional funding to ensure its positive effect. Accurate information from the headteacher on the quality of teaching and their own regular visits

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The leadership and management are good

ensure governors carry out their performance management duties well. They are very well placed to only award salary increases for staff who ensure pupils achieve well.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. By the time they leave, pupils are exceptionally mature and thoughtful young people who are very well prepared for the future.  Behaviour in lessons, at playtimes and around the school is exemplary. Disruption of learning activities is extremely rare.  Pupils greatly enjoy school, have a great thirst for learning and strive to do their very best. Pupils resolutely keep a check on their learning targets, working hard to achieve them, and consistently respond very well to teachers’ marking. Attendance levels are rising and are above average.  Relationships with adults and between pupils are excellent. At playtimes, the older pupils look after the younger ones exceptionally well. Pupils’ approach to sorting out disagreements is especially mature. Rarely do these have to be referred to adults because pupils are so good at taking account of each other’s views.

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Behaviour

 Pupils have an outstanding awareness of the importance of democracy and the rule of law. Staff are very good at helping pupils to recognise that their views are valued; for example by thoughtfully responding to decisions made by the school council. Pupils are confident they can help to make a difference for themselves and others.  Pupils gain an excellent awareness of the democracy process, having recently written to their Member of Parliament to elicit help in the drive to preserve red squirrels on the Isle of Wight. They are keen to hear the views of the Isle of Wight candidates for the upcoming general election and have invited them to visit the school.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Excellent support for pupils’ well-being strongly underpins all its work.  Pupils are well aware that school rules are there to support both themselves and other pupils. They quickly learn to use resources safely, as was evident in the way that Reception children carefully handled woodwork tools.  Bullying is extremely rare and pupils say adults always quickly and effectively respond to any concerns they have. There have been no exclusions for several years.  Pupils themselves have written their own anti-bullying policy which clearly shows their strong adoption of the British values of tolerance and respect. St Saviour’s is an exceptionally safe and happy place to be.  Pupils themselves have an excellent awareness of the ways in which they can keep safe, including on school visits, when playing sport or when using the internet.  Pupils are given lots of opportunities to discuss news stories. As a result, they understand that extremist

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Safety

behaviour causes harm to others and is not tolerated within the United Kingdom. Pupils develop a secure understanding of, and respect for, different cultures and religions such as Judaism and Hinduism.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching has improved since the last inspection, and is consistently at least good. Some outstanding learning was observed during the inspection. A key to this good improvement is the excellent learning ethos that is evident in all classes.  Staff expect pupils to display high levels of concentration and good attitudes to learning in lessons from the start of Reception. As a result, in the older year groups, staff rarely have to remind pupils of how they should be behaving.  Lessons are well planned to help pupils working at different levels make good progress. There are a few occasions, however, when the most-able pupils could be set more challenging tasks.  Teachers explain and demonstrate new things well. They plan exciting activities and use creative resources to engage pupils’ interest and accelerate learning. For example, pupils gained an excellent understanding as to why Jesus was so upset at the traders in the temple through watching a very

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The quality of teaching is good

effective video clip and the subsequent discussion.  Typically, in lessons, adults ask lots of questions as to ‘what, how or why….’ and are skilled at using discussion to develop pupils’ understanding. This enables pupils to make good progress.  Phonics (the sounds that letters make) is well taught. Teachers are very good at helping pupils to write effectively in different formats; for example writing instructions and checking their effectiveness by trying to follow them. Until recently, less attention has been paid to teaching the ‘mechanics’ of writing and younger pupils’ handwriting and spelling still needs improvement.  Teachers’ good expertise ensures that mathematical calculation skills are well taught. Pupils become very adept at finding formulae or patterns in numbers as a result. Pupils are taught how to use their skills in solving mathematical problems. However, there is a tendency to give too much advice about how to

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The quality of teaching is good

approach the problem or the method to use. This sometimes slows their usually good progress.  Pupils are well taught in the special activities provided for those who need to catch up. Many of these pupils reach the levels expected for their age by the time they leave. Those capable of reaching the higher levels in national tests are given specific activities that successfully challenge them to ensure that they do.

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is good

 The majority of children entering Reception have skills below those typical for their age. Since the previous inspection, their progress has improved and the majority are now well on track to reach a good level of development by the the end of the year.  Good progress continues in all year groups. The proportion of pupils achieving the expected level in the Year 1 phonics check is rising well. Last year, it was close to the national average. Those pupils who find reading difficult receive good support. Virtually all have good phonic knowledge by Year 2. Attainment in reading is slightly above average by the time pupils move into Year 3.  Good progress in reading continues throughout Years 3 to 6. Year 6 pupils are confident readers, being able to skim and scan a text quickly to identify the main points. Their understanding of what they read is good. By the end of the year, attainment in reading is above average.

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is good

 Historically, pupils have not achieved as well in writing as in reading and mathematics. Although progress in this subject has improved and is now good, there is still a legacy of slower progress made in the past.  Attainment in writing in 2014 was broadly average because fewer pupils exceeded the levels expected for their age in this subject compared to pupils nationally. However, this is now on an upward trend. Year 6 pupils are skilled at writing in different genres such as letters, newspaper-style reports, stories and descriptions. Their descriptions of life in the First World War trenches are very effective.  Over the last year, the school has worked hard to raise the quality of pupils’ handwriting, grammar, punctuation and spelling. As a result, most pupils use grammar and punctuation correctly, but their handwriting and spelling are not as good, especially in the younger year groups.  A very strong focus on calculation skills has ensured that pupils work accurately using different methods.

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is good

This helps them to work effectively with fractions, decimals or percentages, and in data handling and measurement tasks.  Pupils are now more skilled at carrying out mathematical investigations and in solving problems. However, the tendency for staff to provide too much advice on how to tackle them limits progress.  A range of activities to improve the achievement of disadvantaged pupils has ensured that, throughout the school, they make good progress. Most reach at least the expected Level 4 in reading, writing and mathematics by the time they leave Year 6. In most year groups, the numbers of disadvantaged pupils are too small to make a secure comparison with national data.  In the Year 6 tests last year, where there were sufficient numbers to make a comparison, disadvantaged pupils were close to their peers in school in reading and writing. National data showed that they had closed the gap on other pupils in reading. A legacy of slower progress in previous years meant they were

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is good

still about a term and a half behind pupils nationally in writing. They were a year behind their peers in school and nationally in mathematics. However, this is no longer the case in other year groups.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs make good progress over time, especially in reading, due to the extra support they receive. The majority are well on course to reach the level expected for their age in reading.  The most-able pupils achieve well. More pupils now reach Level 5 or above in the Year 6 national tests, especially in reading and mathematics.  Pupils from minority ethnic groups and those who speak English as an additional language achieve as well as their classmates.  Additional funding is helping to raise pupils’ participation in sport and improve their skills, for example in swimming. They also achieve greater success in team games such as football.

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is good

 Reception children benefit from working in a well-organised and stimulating learning environment that captures their interest.  Improvement in the quality of teaching means that children now achieve well. Teaching is now good in all areas and children are successfully prepared for the work they will need to undertake in Year 1.  There is a strong focus on the most important areas of learning, especially for children’s personal and social development. Children build good relationships with each other and behave very well. There are few disagreements because staff sensitively talk things through with children.  Children persevere in their activities, showing great curiosity, for example, talking about how you can make the flow of water go round a corner. They talk confidently to adults about what they are learning, and listen attentively.  Oral language is promoted especially well so children make good progress in learning the correct grammar

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is good

and increasing their vocabulary. By the end of the year, the majority of children write simple sentences correctly. Phonics is well taught, and the large majority of children read simple books and discuss the story and characters.  Mathematically, the majority of children count accurately to 20 and correctly order different amounts of objects. Most can say what one more, or one less, than a number is. They recognise some two- and three-dimensional shapes, accurately counting the sides and corners.  Children enjoy growing things, acting out different roles and enhancing their physical development by using the good-quality resources. They greatly enjoy finding out how to do new things, such as ‘making rain showers’ by shaking paint rollers.  Excellent attention is paid to children’s safety and well-being, including through the use of tools and resources.  Staff form a very positive relationship with parents, being very welcoming and valuing parents’ views on

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is good

their children’s learning. Parents are kept well up to date by the very well recorded evidence in children’s ‘Learning Journeys’.  Senior and middle leaders work well together in monitoring the impact of teaching on children’s learning. Weaker areas are successfully addressed and there is a very strong commitment to further improvement.  Activities are well planned to meet the needs of children working at different levels. However, staff do not always adapt each day’s planning to take full account of what children have learnt previously.

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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 118196 Local authority Isle of Wight Inspection number 453650

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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 5–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 121 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Patricia Williams Headteacher Maureen Etheridge Date of previous school inspection 20–21 March 2013 Telephone number 01983 752175 Fax number 01983 759129 Email address admin@stsaviourspri.co.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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