St Edmund Campion Catholic Primary School

St Edmund Campion Catholic Primary School Tewkesbury Close, Burleigh Road, Nottingham, NG2 5ND

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Inadequate 4 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 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

 Management issues have been resolved and the academy has been transformed. The new headteacher is building strongly on the actions started by the previous acting headteacher, so the academy is going from strength to strength.  Leadership and management are good. The new headteacher has established clear direction for the academy, strong teamwork among the staff and increasingly positive links with parents.  Senior and key subject leaders understand how to check and improve the quality of teaching. Leaders manage teachers’ performance well.  Teaching is now good and the previous decline in achievement has been reversed. As a result, pupils are now making good progress and, overall, they are achieving well in reading, writing and mathematics.  Behaviour is good. Pupils very much enjoy school and levels of attendance are high. Pupils are keen to do well and are proud of their successes.  Pupils feel very safe at school. Leaders ensure they

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

are safe and know how to keep themselves safe. They also ensure that pupils learn about British values and are prepared for life in modern Britain.  The interim executive committee supports the school well but also challenges it robustly. Clear about their role in improving the academy, members carry out their duties diligently.  All leaders and managers have responded well to the challenges the academy faced. Building on the improvement so far, the now constant desire to improve further permeates the whole school community. It serves to demonstrate good capacity for further improvement.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 The most-able pupils do not always have hard enough work to do in mathematics.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs do not make the same good progress in mathematics as they do in reading and writing.  Pupils know they have targets but they are not all sure how to achieve them or how to improve their work. This is because feedback through marking does not focus them enough on these things.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning in parts of 26 sessions. The headteacher or deputy headteacher joined inspectors for five of the observations.  Inspectors analysed the work in pupils’ books and talked to pupils formally and informally about their work and about the school. They also observed pupils’ behaviour at play and lunchtime.  Inspectors considered the views of the 102 parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. They also gained the views of parents directly as they brought their children to school, and took account of letters and emails sent to the inspection team.  Inspectors considered the 41 responses to the questionnaire for staff.  Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of documentation, including the school’s data on current pupils’ progress, its self-evaluation document and the school improvement plan. They evaluated other planning and monitoring documents, including those relating to teaching, safeguarding, behaviour and attendance.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors held discussions with senior and other leaders, the Chair of the South Nottingham Catholic Academy Trust and the Chair of the Interim Executive Committee that replaced the governing body in April 2014.  During the inspection, Year 2 pupils were out of school on visits for part of Day 1 and all of Day 2. Year 5 pupils were also out on Day 2.

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Inspection team

Doris Bell, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Full report

In accordance with section 13 (5) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires significant improvement.

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Information about this school

 The academy is larger than the average-sized primary school. Reception children attend school full time.  The vast majority of pupils are White British. The proportion from minority ethnic backgrounds, including for whom English is an additional language, is below average but has increased this year in the Reception class.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils for whom the school receives pupil premium funding is below average. This funding is for pupils who are in local authority care and those known to be eligible for free school meals.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below average.  The academy meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  An acting headteacher, supported by the interim executive committee, ran the academy for approximately

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Information about this school

15 months, from January 2014 to April 2015. During this time, the academy had two monitoring visits from Ofsted, in June and November 2014.  A new headteacher took up post in April 2015 and the interim executive committee has put in motion actions to enable the academy to return to having its own governing body.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further improve teaching by:  eradicating the remaining lack of challenge for the most-able pupils in mathematics that is evident in a few classes  breaking down the mathematical work given to disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs into the smaller steps they need to make the same good progress in mathematics as they do in reading and writing  increasing pupils’ understanding of how to reach their targets and ensuring that the feedback given to pupils through marking always helps them to understand how to improve their work.

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The leadership and management are good

 The interim acting headteacher, now gone, had to make some tough decisions that did not go down well with staff and parents. In very difficult circumstances, she did a good job and left the academy in a position that allowed the new headteacher quickly to accelerate the pace of improvement. The new headteacher has done this in a way that has brought staff and parents back on board so that all are now working towards a common goal.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders have created a very positive atmosphere in which behaviour is good and learning can flourish. As a result, pupils now make good progress. The acting headteacher sought training for senior leaders and some middle leaders and they now understand and fulfil their roles and responsibilities well. All are involved in checking and improving the quality of teaching and learning. They follow up areas for improvement rigorously to ensure that staff act on advice and guidance given.

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The leadership and management are good

 Following the clear guidance they received, leaders quickly became highly focused on ensuring that staff do their best for the pupils. Receptive pupils and staff stepped up to the mark. However, not all subject leaders lead their subjects equally well yet. Further training is planned to give them the skills they need to do so.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership of teaching is strong and the management of teachers’ performance is good. Both include regular monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning, and of the progress of staff towards their challenging targets. Leaders thoroughly analyse assessment information to determine what steps to take to secure further improvement. The academy’s evaluation of its own effectiveness is accurate and well founded. It informs the priorities in the academy improvement plan and the targets for staff and pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 Meetings take place each half term to hold staff accountable for the progress their pupils make. These meetings involve both teachers in each year group, ensuring that, in whichever class they are, pupils have the same chance to do well. The meetings have also successfully built the understanding of staff of their individual and collective responsibility for how well pupils do in Year 6.

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The leadership and management are good

 End-of-year meetings, introduced last year, make sure that staff get to know their new pupils’ capabilities in advance of a new school year. This enables them to build on what pupils already know so that learning can continue. Good links with pre-school providers and the secondary school smooth transition for children starting school and for pupils moving on to high school.

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The leadership and management are good

 Staff and parents recognise and welcome the changes in the academy. This was evident in the many positive comments inspectors received in the questionnaires for staff and as they sought the views of staff, parents and pupils. It was evident also in the increasingly positive responses to the online questionnaire for parents as the inspection proceeded.

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The leadership and management are good

 Members of the Parent Forum, which the interim executive committee set up to give parents a voice in the school in the absence of a local governing body, are particularly positive. They referred to the ‘huge improvement’ that has taken place. They feel the school is no longer what they regarded as a secretive place because they are now involved in it. With few exceptions, parents to whom inspectors spoke said that communication with them is now good and all staff, including the headteacher, are approachable and helpful.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils’ learning is spread across a good range of subjects, with many links that help pupils to see how what they learn in one subject can help them learn in another. Reading, writing and mathematical skills are given due attention in all work. The school has developed its systems for assessing and tracking pupils’ progress within the new National Curriculum, ready for implementation in September. Current systems have enabled it to show the better progress pupils, including the most able, are now making. Some weaknesses remain in mathematical learning for most-able and least-able pupils, which leaders are now tackling.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupils’ learning and personal development are greatly enriched by a good range of activities within and beyond the school day. These include visits, visitors and many sports clubs, arts and music activities. Built into pupils’ work are many opportunities for pupils to learn about British values. For example, they learn to value and respect others, and about democracy as they elect the school council.

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The leadership and management are good

 Staff share a determination to promote equality of opportunity and to ensure that all pupils can participate in everything the academy has to offer. Staff teach pupils why it is important not to discriminate against others but to respect, tolerate and, where right to do so, to value and celebrate differences. Pupils know about the different faiths and cultures that make up modern Britain.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership and management of the early years are good. Changes in how learning is planned and managed, indoors and out, have enabled children to continue to make good progress, including in developing good communication skills, despite the cohort this year having a greater proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language than is usual for the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The leadership and management of the provision for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are good overall. There have been several changes of personnel in this area. However, secure procedures have ensured that the needs of these pupils are met, with further work under way to improve their progress in mathematics.

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The leadership and management are good

 Pupil premium funding is used effectively. The school adds to what it gets to make sure that disadvantaged pupils, although few in number, receive the support they need to make good progress in learning and personal development. The effective use of the primary school sports funding has opened up a wide range of sporting activities for the pupils. These activities are attended by around two-thirds of pupils. This represents an increase from prior to the funding being available.

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The leadership and management are good

 Safeguarding, including procedures for child protection, meet current government guidelines and statutory requirements. Staff know how to recognise when pupils are at risk, and to whom they should report. They are vigilant in supporting pupils and, if necessary, their families.

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The leadership and management are good

 The interim executive committee has given or sought much support for the academy, and the academy has used it well. For example, work across the schools in the Trust has ensured that assessments of learning are accurate and staff usually ensure that work is matched to pupils’ different levels of ability. Nevertheless, there are still a few occasions when the most-able pupils do not have hard enough work to do in mathematics, or the mathematical work given to pupils who find learning difficult is not broken down enough to secure their best progress.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governance by the interim executive committee is effective. Members of the interim executive committee have a wide range of expertise, which they use well to hold leaders to account and to ensure that finances are managed well. They monitor the impact of all of their spending, including that related to pupil premium and primary school sports funding.  Members have a good understanding of data about pupils’ performance. They check that the information they receive is accurate by, for example, visiting lessons and checking pupils’ books.  Members know about teaching and learning. They have supported leaders in making tough decisions such as not to award salary increases until staff proved their worth and pupils’ progress improved.  Confident in the school’s ability to continue improvement, the Trust is now working towards re- establishing a local governing body. It had a wake-up call with the difficulties the school faced around

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The leadership and management are good

the time of the previous inspection and is taking steps to ensure there is no recurrence of them.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. As a result, almost all pupils learn well in lessons, move around the building sensibly and play well together, indoors and out. Pupils, parents and staff all say that behaviour is good. They cited many positive comments from when pupils are out of the academy on visits.

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Behaviour

 Attendance is high. Pupils enjoy learning and they are eager to succeed. They are thoughtful and courteous, reflective and caring; they present their work well and take pride in the academy. They respect others and care for the environment and for the materials and equipment made available to them. Pupils know that people have different faiths and beliefs, that different cultures exist in Britain and around the world, and that each deserves respect.

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Behaviour

 Pupils readily accept responsibility. For example, the school council secured separate changing rooms for boys and girls, and helped to increase the range of equipment available at play and lunchtime. Pupils also take charge of raising funds for various charities, giving them a greater understanding of the need to understand and help others.

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Behaviour

 Pupils say that learning is sometimes disrupted by people seeking attention, usually when teaching is not as strong, but they feel behaviour is improving. They understand why rules are important in helping the academy, and society, to function properly.

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Safety

 The academy’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say staff keep them safe and teach them how to keep themselves safe. Their parents agree. Risk assessments are thorough.

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Safety

 Leaders ensure that all aspects of e-safety, including cyber-bullying, are taught and that pupils know how to keep themselves safe when using the internet, mobile phones, or social media sites.

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Safety

 Pupils understand the different forms that bullying can take. They know that bullying should not be tolerated and what to do about it. They and their parents report that some low-level bullying does occur occasionally, but that staff deal with it quickly and effectively. Pupils also report that staff deal effectively with any reported incidents that might occur on the school bus.

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Safety

 Pupils know it is wrong to discriminate against others and that doing so can be hurtful. They report that staff strongly discourage discriminatory language of any sort and that there are penalties, which they deem fair, for name-calling of any sort.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Most teaching makes learning interesting for the pupils. It fosters good attitudes to learning and good behaviour that enables learning to take place unhindered in most lessons. Relationships are good throughout the school because teachers enthuse and motivate pupils and spur them on to try to do their best.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Using their good subject knowledge, teaching staff question and probe pupils’ knowledge and understanding and build effectively on the answers pupils give. They help pupils recall past learning and show them how new learning arises from it. They also challenge pupils to consolidate their learning or to find out more, including through homework.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers brief their support staff well, and check their impact. Therefore good learning is almost always assured.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers’ planning shows that staff usually take account of the pupils’ different levels of ability and build on what pupils already know. Different subjects are frequently brought together in topic work that motivates pupils, gives writing a purpose and encourages pupils to use their literacy and mathematical skills in a variety of contexts.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Improved teaching means that, overall, reading, writing and mathematics are taught well. Staff organise pupils’ learning effectively so that pupils work together in different groups and develop their personal and social skills alongside their academic skills.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The support given to disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs ensures their good progress in reading and writing. These pupils make expected progress in mathematics. They do not do better than this because their learning is not always broken down sufficiently into the small steps they need to help them achieve greater understanding and therefore make good progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Most staff readily adjust learning during lessons when they realise pupils need more support or challenge, and plan suitably challenging work for the most-able pupils. However, in a small number of mathematics lessons, these pupils waste valuable learning time on mathematical exercises that are too easy for them before moving on to the challenging work that awaits them.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Staff always mark pupils’ work but the feedback they give pupils, although complimentary, is not always helpful in moving their learning forward. Pupils know they have targets but they are not sure how to achieve them. They have too few opportunities to check, assess and improve their work to help them gain such understanding. The implementation of the revised marking policy is beginning to address these issues and there is clear evidence of improved marking in the past few weeks.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Most children start school with skills that are above those typical for their age. They make good progress in the early years so that the proportion reaching a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year is above that found nationally.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The results of the screening check for pupils in Year 1 in phonics (letters and sounds) were above the national average in 2014. Early indications are that they have been at least sustained this year. Overall attainment in Key Stages 1 and 2 has been successfully maintained at well above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics for the past five years.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils make good progress in Years 1 and 2. They read fluently and use punctuation well to help them read aloud and with expression. They break down words using phonics to help them read and spell new or unfamiliar words. They write extensively in a range of styles across different subjects, using grammar and punctuation accurately. They use their considerable mathematical skills to investigate and solve problems and they show good reasoning skills in their working out.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Across Key Stage 2, almost all pupils make good progress and achieve well by the end of Year 6. Well- focused actions in the past year have accelerated the progress of the most-able pupils, resulting in higher proportions working at the higher Level 5 and Level 6 in reading, writing and mathematics. Nevertheless, the most-able pupils in different year groups sometimes mark time in mathematics lessons while they do easier work before getting onto the harder work planned for them, or they spend time waiting for others to catch up.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Pupils achieve well in subjects other than English and mathematics. For example, standards in science, history and geography are above those usually seen in primary schools, and pupils also do well in art, music and physical education.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress in reading and writing, and expected progress in mathematics. This is because the work they have to do is not always broken down well enough in mathematics to let them take the smaller steps they need to take in order to make good progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 There were too few disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 in 2014 to compare their attainment with other pupils in the school or pupils nationally without risk of identifying individual pupils. Overall, however, disadvantaged pupils make at least the same good progress as other pupils, often reaching above-average standards as well.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The judgement for progress differs from that which might reasonably be deduced from the data published in 2014. This is because the picture now is very different. Data held by the school show that the sharp decline evident in 2014 has been reversed. This is because the interim leadership took robust action to resolve the difficulties the school faced around that time and the new headteacher has already taken the improvement to a new level.

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The early years provision is good

 Good leadership and management in the early years have improved the range of learning activities available to the children, both in the classroom and out-of-doors. Leaders have successfully addressed the issues raised in Ofsted’s monitoring visit in November 2014. They have worked well with external consultants to plan opportunities that develop children’s early language skills and which introduce children to more ambitious language. The children are prepared well for their work in Year 1.

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The early years provision is good

 Teaching is good. Staff have high expectations of the children’s learning and behaviour. They plan work at the right starting level for the children but always have additional challenges ready for those who complete it. Because the children are keen to learn, the challenge activities spur them on and they develop the resilience needed to complete work accurately. Leaders have successfully improved boys’ progress so that, this year, there is little difference between the progress of boys and girls.

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The early years provision is good

 Children behave well. They play and learn together sensibly, look after and sharing equipment and help each other. They listen well, take turns to speak and show good levels of respect for adults and for each other. Staff give due attention to the children’s safety, health and well-being. All safeguarding requirements are met.

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The early years provision is good

 This year, the Reception class has a higher-than-usual proportion of children who speak English as an additional language, some of whom are at the early stages of doing so. Staff have taken this in their stride well, with focused language sessions that are successfully improving the children’s ability to speak to and interact with others.

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The early years provision is good

 Staff interact well with all of the children, indoors and out, taking advantage of the many opportunities that arise from different activities to promote early language skills. They constantly question the children, requiring full answers or extending their learning. Assessments are accurate and used effectively to inform planning. The work in children’s books confirms their good progress.

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The early years provision is good

 Children develop good early reading and writing skills, including phonics, which they use alongside their mathematical skills in different activities. For example, one day a ‘doctor’s surgery’ promoted writing skills as children made appointments and wrote prescriptions; the next, a ‘travel agency’ promoted real-life learning in mathematics as children recorded miles travelled and the cost of journeys.

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The early years provision is good

 Parents welcome the opportunities they have to become involved in their children’s learning. Staff liaise with them well so that learning becomes a partnership between home and school. The academy also works well with the many pre-school settings from which children come so that they can get off to a good start in the Reception class.

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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 137428 Local authority Nottinghamshire Inspection number 462604

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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 404 Appropriate authority Interim executive committee Chair Gail Neil Headteacher Anita Blake Date of previous school inspection 11 February 2014 Telephone number 0115 914 7889 Fax number 0115 923 0909 Email address office@st-edmundcampion.notts.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. 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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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