St Teresa's Catholic Primary School

St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School Luckington Road, Monks Park, Bristol BS7 0UP

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Not previously inspected

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This is an outstanding school

 The headteacher is an outstanding leader. She is driven by a strong belief that the moral purpose of education is to provide the best opportunities for all pupils. As a result, she is intensely focused on continuous improvement based on clear-sighted and honest self-evaluation.  The headteacher is very ably supported by highly effective senior and middle leaders who have a thorough understanding of their role in constantly improving the quality of education provided by the school.  Pupils make outstanding progress as they move through the school. By the time they leave at the end of key stage 2, pupils are extremely well prepared for the next stage of their education.  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is consistently high across all years in the school. As a result of effective planning, strong subject knowledge and a clear understanding of individual needs, teachers are able to promote outstanding

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This is an outstanding school

progress by pupils.  Pupils’ personal development and welfare are promoted outstandingly well by the school. Pupils develop into self-confident, self-aware and mature learners. They care for and look after each other well.  Pupils come from a wide variety of cultural and linguistic heritages and all feel part of the school community. They show the utmost respect for each other and understand that each individual is of equal value whatever their background.  Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. They are unfailingly polite to each other and to adults.  Provision for the early years is outstanding. It is very well led and children make outstanding progress during their time in Reception. They are extremely well prepared for entry into Year 1.  Governance of the school is outstanding. Governors have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities. They provide a very good balance of challenge and support to the

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve outcomes for pupils by ensuring that the already high attainment in reading and writing at key stage 2 rises to match the exceptionally high level shown in mathematics.  Improve the provision for the early years by developing further teachers’ engagement with parents and carers across the whole of the Reception Year.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

 The headteacher provides inspirational leadership to the school. She has an unshakeable belief that all pupils can succeed in a culture which puts no limit on ambition. This strong moral purpose underpins everything she does. She embodies the school’s motto, ‘Inspiring each other to excellence, in the light of Christ’, in everything she does. Her belief that St Teresa’s is best understood as one cohesive family is at the heart of this approach.  Driven by this moral purpose, the headteacher is perceptive and honest in her evaluation of the quality of education provided by the school. Rigorous processes of monitoring, evaluation and review move the school forward from year to year. Despite achieving outstanding outcomes for pupils, there is no sense of complacency or a desire to rest on one’s laurels. The headteacher and other leaders are always looking to find new ways to make the school even better. This is a key aspect of their exceptional leadership.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

 The headteacher is very ably supported by excellent senior and middle leaders, all of whom share her moral purpose and vision of a high-quality education which continuously seeks to improve. The early years provision is particularly well led.  Middle leaders are a strength of the school. They have a clear understanding of how to develop their subject areas within the context of the school’s broad and balanced curriculum. Senior leaders have developed middle leaders’ skills very effectively through targeted training and development and coaching programmes within the school.  The provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is extremely well led. With a thorough understanding of best practice guidelines and a clear awareness of the needs of individual pupils, the special educational needs coordinator ensures that relevant pupils receive support of the highest quality. Similarly, the leader of reading oversees a thorough programme of reading support which

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

has a demonstrable impact on improving the reading of pupils who need to catch up.  The school has experienced a high turnover of staff in recent years but this has had no detrimental impact on the quality of education provided to pupils or their outcomes. This is testimony to the high quality of staff induction procedures and the ongoing professional development that the school provides to new teachers.  The curriculum is well designed to give pupils educational opportunities and experiences across a range of subjects. As a result, pupils learn to apply their core skills of literacy and numeracy in a variety of different contexts. The curriculum’s impact on pupils’ development and progress is strongly supported by a wealth of extra-curricular activities, including sport and music.  The school promotes pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development extremely well. Its intention, as a Catholic school, is to put spirituality and moral values at the heart of all it does and the success of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

this can be seen in how these values underpin all other aspects of the school’s work. For example, charitable fund-raising aids pupils’ social, moral and cultural development. In addition, pupils’ highly diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds are used positively to promote understanding of different societies and cultures. As one parent noted in response to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, ‘diversity of cultures is celebrated’. As a result, pupils are very well prepared for life in modern Britain.  The school promotes fundamental British values highly effectively. Leaders consciously ensure that democracy, the rule of law, liberty, respect and tolerance are modelled in the day-to-day life of the school. This can be seen, for example, in elections to the school council or through celebrations of different cultures. Pupils’ strong understanding of British values is further supported by additional

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

activities such as trips to the Houses of Parliament or visits by the local Member of Parliament or the police.  Leaders have ensured that teachers consistently mark pupils’ work in line with the school’s policy and give pupils feedback on what they do well and how to improve. Pupils make excellent use of this advice to learn from their mistakes and to improve and develop their own work.  Leaders and governors ensure that additional funding, such as the pupil premium or the physical education and sport premium, is used effectively. They plan the use of this funding carefully and evaluate its impact closely. For example, the school’s pupil premium report has clear, costed objectives that are evaluated against information on the progress of disadvantaged pupils across all year groups.  The governance of the school Governors share the headteacher’s sense of the moral purpose behind education and are equally

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

relentless in pursuing success for all pupils. As part of this process, they provide a highly effective balance of challenge and support to the headteacher and other leaders. Governors maintain a tight focus on the school’s improvement plan and meetings are often structured around the rigorous monitoring of progress towards achieving the goals outlined in that plan. As a result, governors have an excellent understanding of the school’s effectiveness. Their management of the headteacher’s performance is similarly rigorous and governors are also assiduous in monitoring decisions about teachers’ salary progression and performance.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. School leaders and governors have worked well together to create a culture of safeguarding in the school. The headteacher is the designated safeguarding lead and, as with so much that goes on in the school, she sets the highest standards with

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

regard to keeping children safe. Pupils know how to stay safe and can, for example, talk knowledgeably about e-safety. All the pupils who spoke to inspectors during the inspection stated in the strongest terms that they felt safe and looked after. This was backed up by parents in discussions and in their responses to Parent View. As one parent noted, ‘our child is safe, happy, nurtured and is achieving her best’.  The school makes all the appropriate checks on the backgrounds of teachers and other staff to ascertain their suitability to work with children. These checks are recorded effectively in the school’s single central register of staff recruitment checks. Similarly, the school’s records regarding child protection are well maintained and show that the school carries out its responsibilities in this area of its work with rigour and persistence. Staff are regularly trained and updated in child protection and safeguarding procedures in

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is outstanding

line with the latest guidance, including the ‘Prevent’ duty – part of the government’s strategy to tackle extremism.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

 Teaching is typically outstanding at St Teresa’s. It is built on the foundations of high expectations, secure subject knowledge, excellent planning and an ability to engender a love of learning in pupils.  Teachers have the highest expectations of pupils, both in terms of what they can achieve and how they should behave. As a result, classrooms are rich learning environments permeated by a common endeavour to do the best one can, in line with the school’s motto of ‘inspiring each other’. Pupils share these high ambitions and demonstrate a genuine thirst for knowledge. For example, pupils sat in rapt attention as the teacher demonstrated how the Fibonacci sequence of numbers in mathematics can be found in the natural world. This curiosity and enthusiasm was seen across all year groups and subjects.  Teachers’ planning is based on a clear understanding of the abilities and needs of each individual pupil.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

As a result, time in lessons is used highly efficiently. Extensive scrutiny of pupils’ work shows that teaching is having a highly positive impact on pupils’ progress over time.  In their interactions with pupils, teachers consistently refer to the qualities of a good learner. This enables very focused discussions with pupils about how they can develop and build on successful learning habits, particularly those of independence and resilience. In discussions with inspectors, pupils could demonstrate not only that they knew the characteristics of a successful learner but that they understood how and why these characteristics worked. They know, for example, that they should try hard and always do their best.  Teachers use questioning highly effectively to assess, probe and deepen pupils’ understanding of the topics they are studying. This effective questioning is particularly helpful in identifying and correcting any

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

misconceptions that pupils may have. In addition, effective ongoing assessment allows teachers to adapt their planning smoothly in order to take into account the progress pupils are making at any one time.  Teaching for the most able pupils is highly effective and provides a solid bedrock on which their exceptionally strong progress is built. The most able pupils are challenged to think deeply about their learning. Teachers’ expert questioning and carefully tailored work ensures that pupils enjoy, and rise to, the challenge of the work they are set.  Teachers’ ability to model the technical vocabulary required to master grammar or mathematics is a notable feature of teaching. This allows pupils to make excellent progress in their understanding of these areas of learning.  Pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills are given abundant opportunities to flourish across the curriculum in, for example, topic work or religious education. Pupils clearly demonstrate the ability to use these skills

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is outstanding

well in different contexts. For younger pupils, the teaching of phonics is very effective. In the early years, for example, approximately four out of every five children speak English as an additional language. There is a strong programme of phonics teaching that allows them to make rapid progress, often from very low starting points. They become fluent readers as a result.  Teachers consistently follow the school’s marking and feedback policy. This means that pupils have a clear framework in which they can understand both what they can already do well and what they need to do to improve. This is part of a broader approach of getting pupils to reflect regularly on their own learning.  Teaching assistants are well trained and support teachers very successfully. They work particularly well in developing children’s basic literacy and numeracy skills.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.  Pupils demonstrate extremely mature attitudes to learning at all times. They understand and can talk fluently about the characteristics of a successful learner. Moreover, they can give examples of when they have used these characteristics to help them overcome obstacles to their progress. This approach means that pupils develop independence and resilience. They know they should ‘think and think again’ before asking for help from a teacher. In this way, they have developed a strong sense of responsibility for their own learning. This strong and secure personal development has a profound impact on the academic progress they make.  Pupils show high levels of respect and kindness towards each other. They listen politely while others speak, wait their turn patiently and value each other’s point of view.  Pupils come from a wide range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds and there is not even a hint among

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Personal development and welfare

them that this is anything other than something to celebrate. Similarly, parents speak about how much they value the cultural diversity and the positive impact this has on their children’s development.  Pupils’ personal development is enhanced by participation in the school council or the chaplaincy group. Many of the older pupils also act as ‘reading buddies’ for younger children as part of the reading programme.  Pupils know how to stay safe and how to live a healthy lifestyle. In particular, they are very clear about how to stay safe online. In addition, all pupils in Year 6 have had some first aid training which makes them feel even safer. Pupils are provided with ready access to fruit and vegetables at break and lunchtime, an approach which promotes healthy eating effectively.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.  Pupils’ behaviour in lessons, while moving around the school and during social times is exemplary. They are unfailingly polite, courteous and cheerful, demonstrating self-discipline and self-control at all times. The school has very high expectations of personal conduct and the pupils rise to them.  The walls of the school are richly decorated with pupils’ work in a wide range of subjects and pupils treat such displays with the high level of respect they deserve.  Pupils wear their uniform with pride and present themselves well.  Pupils value their education, and attendance is much higher than the national average. The attendance of disadvantaged pupils is even higher than that of other pupils. Persistent absence is very low.  Incidents of serious misbehaviour are unheard of and the school has not had occasion to use either fixed- term or permanent exclusions for a number of years.

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Outcomes for pupils are outstanding

 Pupils at St Teresa’s make sustained and substantial progress as they move through their seven-year journey at the school. By the time they leave after Year 6, pupils have made exceptionally strong progress. As a result, they are particularly well prepared for the start of their secondary education.  In 2015, all pupils in Year 6 made expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics and most made more than expected progress. Progress from key stage 1 to key stage 2 was better than in almost all other primary schools. Progress was particularly strong in mathematics. In 2016, the latest national curriculum assessments show that the current cohort have attained at levels much higher than the national average. In mathematics, in particular, the proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard was well above the national figure.  At key stage 1, pupils’ attainment is in line with or above the national level, despite starting points which

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Outcomes for pupils are outstanding

are much lower than those found nationally. This represents sustained and significant progress across the key stage. The latest national curriculum assessments confirm that pupils in key stage 1 attain very well, with nearly a quarter of them working at greater depth within the expected standard in reading and mathematics.  Children entering the Reception Year are very often working significantly below the levels typical of children of their age. In addition, an increasing proportion of entrants to the school speak English as an additional language; for example, four out of every five children in the current early years cohort. So, although a slightly smaller proportion reach a good level of development than children nationally, this represents strong progress from children’s starting points.  Disadvantaged pupils make rapid progress during their time at the school. At key stages 1 and 2 they consistently outperform other pupils nationally and quite often do better than their peers in the school. In

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Outcomes for pupils are outstanding

the 2016 national curriculum assessments, disadvantaged pupils as a group had a very low average starting point but went on to attain at levels above the expected standard. Similarly, pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities often do as well as, or better than, other pupils in the school. Provision for these two groups of pupils is outstanding and extra funding is used highly effectively.  The most able pupils make excellent progress because they are challenged to think deeply about their learning. At key stage 2, in particular, the most able pupils make very strong progress. In 2015, all such pupils made the progress expected of them in reading, writing and mathematics, achieving at least a Level 5 in each subject. In mathematics, progress is especially strong and all of the most able pupils made more than expected progress in 2015. Overall, the value the school adds to the achievement of its

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Outcomes for pupils are outstanding

most able pupils is significantly higher than the national figure. Extensive work scrutiny across all year groups shows that pupils make outstanding progress. This confirms school leaders’ own assessments of pupils’ progress and the evidence from externally validated tests.  The school promotes reading highly effectively, especially for those who need to improve their reading in order to catch up with other pupils. The school uses a range of interventions to promote rapid improvements in pupils’ reading. In one such intervention in the early years, children made an average gain of six months in their reading age as a result of an intensive seven-week programme of targeted support.  Teaching of phonics is very strong and, when reading, pupils readily resort to the techniques they have learned in order to tackle unfamiliar or difficult words. Inspectors listened to pupils in Years 2 and 6 read, which they did with fluency, feeling and comprehension. Historically, pupils in Year 1 have achieved very

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Outcomes for pupils are outstanding

highly in the national phonics check, with scores consistently above the national average. The cohort in 2016, however, achieved at slightly below the national average but this still represents good progress from a cohort with lower than average starting points.

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Early years provision is outstanding

 The early years at St Teresa’s are very well led by the deputy headteacher. She has excellent knowledge and understanding of education for children of this age. She has high expectations and ambitions for pupils and communicates them very well to all the staff in the early years. In particular, she leads teaching very well and provides highly effective feedback to teachers to improve their practice.  The school has invested considerable time, money and effort into creating high-quality indoor and outdoor learning environments which substantially enhance the provision for the early years. As a consequence, children have stimulating experiences which allow them to make rapid progress. The newly installed outdoor space, in particular, provides an exciting area for the children to learn in, safely, under the close watch of vigilant staff.  The assessments that teachers make of children are accurate and are the result of continuous high-

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Early years provision is outstanding

quality observation. They know the children and their individual needs very well. In particular, the school makes robust and rigorous assessments of children’s starting points when they enter the Reception Year. These are cross-checked with other schools and by a specialist leader of education (SLE). This accurate assessment on entry is used very well by school leaders to track progress across the Reception Year.  The curriculum in the early years is very well organised, giving sufficient and balanced weight to all of the early learning goals within the early years foundation stage profile.  Teachers and other adults use language very consistently, modelling correct usage at all times. Phonics teaching is similarly characterised by effective modelling.  Children’s personal development, behaviour and welfare are promoted outstandingly well in the early years. Children quickly develop a love of learning and relish their school work. As one child said while

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Early years provision is outstanding

completing a postcard-writing activity, ‘this is so exciting and I cannot wait to write more’.  The school’s accurate checks on children’s abilities when they enter St Teresa’s show that many are working at levels well below those typically expected of children of the same age. In addition, a large proportion of children, four out of every five in the current year, speak English as an additional language. This means that the proportion of children who achieve a good level of development, albeit slightly below national figures, indicates strong progress given their low starting points.  The school works well with parents to facilitate the induction to Reception and continues to work with them throughout the year. This could be developed further, however, and evidence of the impact of this work with families in records of children’s learning journeys could be more thorough.  As in the main school, safeguarding in the early years is effective and there are no breaches of the

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School details

Unique reference number 139033 Local authority Bristol Inspection number 10011156 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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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 209 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Alexandra Flaherty-Weeks Headteacher Amanda Pritchard Telephone number 0117 903 0412 Website www.st-teresas.bristol.sch.uk Email address school@stteresas.org.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School is smaller than the average primary school. It converted to become an academy in 2012. Its predecessor school was judged to be good at its last inspection.  The school serves an ethnically diverse community. Nearly three quarters of its pupils come from minority ethnic groups and over half of them speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is lower than the national average.  The proportion of pupils with a statement of educational needs or an education, health and care plan is broadly in line with the national average. This is also true of those pupils who receive support for their special educational needs.  The school meets the current government floor standards for attainment and progress at the end of key stage 2.  At the start of the inspection, the school did not meet requirements on the publication of information

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Information about this school

about its most recent key stage 2 results (including information for parents about how to access the school performance tables) or its funding agreement on its website. These omissions were immediately rectified by the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed learning and scrutinised pupils’ work across all year groups. A large number of these observations were undertaken jointly with senior leaders.  Inspectors had discussions with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders and other members of staff. The lead inspector met with the chair and vice-chair of the governing body and one other governor.  Inspectors had pre-arranged discussions with pupils. They also talked informally to pupils at break and lunchtime. The lead inspector also had informal discussions with parents when they brought their children to school.  A wide range of documentary evidence was scrutinised. This included the school’s own self-evaluation, the school improvement plan, minutes of governors’ meetings, records of assessments of pupils’ work and information about their progress. Documents relating to safeguarding and child protection were also checked, as were the school’s records of the checks it makes on teachers.

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Information about this inspection

 In making their judgements inspectors took into account 13 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online parental questionnaire. There were no responses to the online staff questionnaire and two responses to the pupil questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Stephen Lee, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Simon Cowley Ofsted Inspector Violet McLaren Ofsted Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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