St Osburg's Catholic Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Ms Nicola Rynott Headteacher St Osburg’s Catholic Primary School Upper Hill Street Coventry CV1 4AP

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Short inspection of St Osburg’s Catholic Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 1 March 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in February 2011.

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Short inspection of St Osburg’s Catholic Primary School

The new senior leadership team appointed since the last inspection has ensured that the quality of education in the school has continued to improve. You have strengthened the extended leadership team by giving enhanced responsibility to existing postholders and recruiting new leaders in the school. This has led to further improvements in teaching and outcomes for pupils.

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Short inspection of St Osburg’s Catholic Primary School

Your determined leadership is making sure that St Osburg’s lives up to its aims to provide an exciting, fun and enjoyable educational experience for each child and to promote a life-long love of learning. The very small number of parents who responded using free text on Parent View (Ofsted’s online questionnaire) were overwhelmingly positive about the school. All pupils spoken to said they were happy and safe and that there is no bullying at all in school.

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Short inspection of St Osburg’s Catholic Primary School

Pupils get off to a very good start in the early years and they make good progress during their time in school. Standards are continuing to rise by the end of Key Stage 1 and have been maintained at the end of Key Stage 2. Disadvantaged pupils do particularly well. Their success is down to the very well-targeted support and high quality of teaching that enables them to do better than other pupils nationally by the end of Year 6. As a result:

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Short inspection of St Osburg’s Catholic Primary School

 Standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6 have risen over time. Pupils are well prepared for the next phase of their education in secondary school.  The proportion of pupils making expected and more than expected progress from Key Stage 1 to 2 is above average in all subjects.  Children in early years make rapid progress from their very low starting points.  Pupils do exceptionally well in the phonics screening check in Year 1 so that very few have to retake the assessment in Year 2.  Standards are above average in reading, writing and mathematics for pupils in Key Stage 1 and are rising over time. The attainment of disadvantaged pupils is better than that of other pupils nationally, especially in reading.

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Short inspection of St Osburg’s Catholic Primary School

Pupils spoken to all confirmed that the school has achieved its aim that each child should feel happy, safe, valued and loved. They said they feel secure in the building and are well informed on how to keep themselves safe through events such as e-safety day.

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Short inspection of St Osburg’s Catholic Primary School

The last inspection commended the previous headteacher for providing a strong lead in driving improvement. Under your leadership, you have maintained and built upon this. Inspectors noted during the previous inspection that standards needed to rise in writing and mathematics for the small minority of pupils who had fallen behind and that satisfactory learning in the early years needed to move to good; you have achieved these.

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Short inspection of St Osburg’s Catholic Primary School

The school is not yet outstanding. Teaching is not yet consistently good over time in Key Stage 2. The proportion of pupils reaching the higher levels in writing by the end of Year 6 is not as high as in reading and mathematics. Governors, although very supportive, are not consistently rigorous in challenging leaders.

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Short inspection of St Osburg’s Catholic Primary School

Leaders make every effort to foster a culture where all staff are vigilant in making sure pupils keep safe. Staff report any concerns in a timely way to designated leaders. Arrangements for safeguarding are appropriate. Designated leaders and other staff are well trained. Records and reports are very detailed. Governors are aware of their duties and are trained to check that the school meets all its requirements but do not always hold leaders sufficiently to account for safeguarding.

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Inspection findings

 Since your appointment you have strengthened and enhanced the leadership team of the school. Leadership of early years is now a strength. You seek to continue to improve through procuring external challenge and support.  Disadvantaged pupils are making very good progress from their starting points, especially in reading.  Other groups of pupils are making good progress in Key Stages 1 and 2, including boys, pupils for whom English is an additional language and pupils with special educational needs or disability.  Leaders check rigorously how well individuals and groups of pupils are doing through detailed and regular analysis of their progress in each year group. This detailed analysis informs regular pupil progress meetings between leaders and teachers.  Leaders monitor the quality of teaching effectively through checking pupils’ work and observing lessons. They are accurate in identifying strengths in

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Inspection findings

teaching and where it needs to improve. They recognise it is not yet consistently good in Key Stage 2 for the teaching of writing.  Provision in the early years has been significantly improved since the last inspection. New strong leadership is in place and, as a result, the proportion of children reaching a good level of development by the end of Reception is rising. Children have a rich curriculum where they can choose tasks for a real purpose. For example, their experience of handling and talking about live baby chicks is contributing significantly to their development.  Phonics (letters and the sounds they make) is taught well in early years and Key Stage 1. Pupils are prepared well so they can apply the skills they have learned to tackling unfamiliar words in their reading.  Standards have continued to improve at Key Stage 1 in reading, writing and mathematics over the last five years and are above the national average.

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Inspection findings

 Standards have been maintained at Key Stage 2 and remain above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. In the most recent tests and assessments, the proportion of pupils reaching the highest possible levels in mathematics and reading were high. However, not as many pupils achieved the highest possible levels in writing by the end of Year 6 compared to reading and mathematics.  The proportions of pupils making at least expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics from Key Stage 1 to 2 are above average. The proportion of pupils exceeding expected rates of progress is also high.  Governors are highly supportive of the school. They spend time visiting the school and each of them has been linked to a different class so that they get to know that year group well. They know the strengths and weaknesses of the school well but at times they rely too much on the information provided by the

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Inspection findings

headteacher and other leaders.  Attendance has continued to improve from an already high rate. In the last academic year, no pupils were persistently absent.  There were no exclusions in the two previous academic years. The school responds well to any behaviour incidents, which are rare.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 teaching is consistently good over time in Key Stage 2  the proportion of pupils who are working above age-related expectations in writing by the end of Year 6 is increased  governors are consistent in providing rigorous challenge to leaders. I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Coventry City Council. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection I met you and your deputy headteacher as well as other members of staff, including the early years leader and office manager. I met five members of the governing body, including the Chair and Vice-Chair. I took part in four lesson observations with you and your deputy head and observed pupils as they moved around the school. I met with a group of 10 pupils from Years 1 to 6. There were six free text responses to Parent View. I also took account of the school’s recent parental questionnaires, as there were too few responses to Parent View. I considered the school’s analysis of recent pupil performance and evaluated other records, including those concerning keeping pupils safe.

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