Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Mr J White Ormskirk St Anne’s Catholic Primary School Aughton Street Townend Ormskirk Lancashire L39 3LQ

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Catholic Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 26 May 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Catholic Primary School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in November 2015. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Catholic Primary School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the last section 5 inspection in order to become a good school.

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Catholic Primary School

The school should take further action to:

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Catholic Primary School

 support leaders of mathematics who are new to their role

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Catholic Primary School

 make sure that feedback from checks on pupils’ books, and observations of teaching, results in consistent improvements in teaching and learning in all classes.

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with you and other senior leaders and with subject leaders. I held discussions with members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. I scrutinised documents including the school development plan and assessment information. I also visited a number of classrooms with you to speak to pupils, look at their books and observe their learning.

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Context

Two new mathematics subject leaders have been appointed since the previous inspection.

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Main findings

The findings of the most recent inspection have acted as a catalyst for change. You, senior leaders and governors have reflected on the areas identified as requiring improvement and, with the support of the local authority, have also determined additional priorities. You have used this information to devise a plan for school improvement. This plan serves as a useful tool for governors to hold you to account for the impact of your actions. However, there is a lack of precisely focused success criteria or ‘milestones’ in some aspects of the plan. This means that you and governors are not able to fully evaluate regularly how successful your actions are in improving outcomes for pupils.

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Main findings

You have introduced a new system to assess and track the progress that pupils are making in reading, writing and mathematics. While at a relatively early stage, this is helping teachers, in most classes, to plan work for pupils that is in line with that expected for their age. Furthermore, you and other senior leaders are using this information to identify those pupils that require additional support or challenge.

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Main findings

Those subject leaders with responsibility for English have successfully introduced a number of initiatives. These have resulted in improvements in the quality of teaching and consequently the progress that pupils are making, particularly in writing. Pupils now have greater opportunities to write every day and apply the skills that they have been taught. The introduction of writing success criteria means that pupils are now clear about what is expected of them. You are aware, following our discussions, how these may be further improved so that expectations of what the most able pupils can achieve are raised further.

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Main findings

Your attempts to implement changes in mathematics have met with mixed success. In some classes, teachers are now using what they know about pupils’ previous learning to plan lessons that help to consolidate and extend understanding. However, this is not yet the norm across the school, meaning in some classes that the progress pupils make is too slow. You have recently appointed two new mathematics subject leaders from within the existing school staff. They are at an early stage in developing their roles and you have plans, with the local authority, to support them with a programme of training.

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Main findings

You have introduced and undertaken checks on the quality of teaching since the most recent inspection. You and other senior leaders now regularly check pupils’ books, teachers’ planning and visit lessons. This has helped you to identify some areas that need further improvement. However, your checks have not always focused clearly enough on the impact of teaching on pupils’ learning. As a result, some shortfalls in the quality of teaching have not yet been fully addressed. You are working closely with the local authority and more recently a local school to help improve this aspect of leadership.

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Main findings

The introduction of a new marking and feedback policy is beginning to have an impact in some classes. Pupils in Year 4, for instance, told me how feedback and additional challenge from their teacher helps them understand how to improve their work in mathematics. Furthermore, precise feedback from teachers in pupils’ writing books, in some classes, is enabling pupils to redraft and improve their work to good effect. However, these improvements are not consistently strong across the school.

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Main findings

From my visits to classrooms, it is apparent that pupils’ attitudes to their learning have improved since the last inspection. This is because teachers are now planning work that is more interesting and is providing a greater degree of challenge. In all of the lessons that I visited, pupils were attentive and enthusiastic about their learning.

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Main findings

Governors share your determination to rapidly improve the school. A review of governance has taken place and recommendations have been made to develop governors’ skills. As a result, a number of governors have either attended training or are due to attend training to broaden their expertise. Furthermore, governors are beginning to hold you to greater account for your actions through the recently formed standards committee.

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Main findings

The early years classroom environment has been improved following recent building work. As a result, the early years leader and teacher are now able to utilise the greater space to plan activities that better meet the needs of the children. Furthermore, a reorganisation of adult roles is ensuring that teachers are able to support and direct learning with greater precision.

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Main findings

Despite the findings of the last inspection report, the school has not lost the support of parents. Following the last inspection you held a large number of meetings with parents to explain what actions you would be taking to improve the school. As a result, you state that no parents have removed their children from the school and classes are full for next year.

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External support

Leaders and staff have embraced the support that has been put in place by the local authority. Where this support has been targeted effectively, it has resulted in rapid improvements in the quality of teaching and learning. The local authority has also recently brokered support from a local outstanding school.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Archdiocese of Liverpool and the director of children’s services for Lancashire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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