St Boniface RC Primary School

St Boniface Roman Catholic Primary School Yew Street, Salford M7 2HL

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Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is a good school

 From their below-average starting points, pupils make good progress in each subject, particularly in English and mathematics, in most classes in the school.  All groups of pupils make good progress. There is no difference in the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and others in the school. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities also achieve well.  Pupils make a very good start to their learning in early years because of the good teaching they receive. They are independent and confident, and make particularly good progress in reading.  Teachers know their pupils well and take care to set work which interests and motivates them. As a result, pupils enjoy school and their behaviour is good.  Teachers provide pupils with clear feedback about how well they are doing with their work. This enables them to learn from their mistakes and to make corrections. Pupils are confident to try new

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This is a good school

things and are not afraid of getting things wrong.  Pupils are courteous, respectful and value the opinions of others. They value diversity and say that ‘it’s ok in this school to be different’.  Leaders and governors have a very accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development. They have very high expectations and tackle weaknesses robustly. This has led to improved achievement and teaching since the previous inspection. Standards have risen, particularly in the early years, where improvements have been rapid.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Though attendance is average overall, too many pupils are persistently absent.  Pupils do not make as much progress in their imaginative development in early years as they do in other areas of their learning.  Work for the most able pupils occasionally lacks challenge, particularly in reading and mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that all pupils, particularly the most able, are challenged by their work, especially in reading and mathematics, by:  providing opportunities for pupils to master mathematical concepts through problem-solving and investigation  ensuring that older pupils are directed towards reading books which are not too easy for them and make them think.  Reduce the number of pupils who are persistently absent by working closely with parents.  Develop children’s imagination in early years by providing them with stimulating role-play areas which are closely linked to their learning.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The determined leadership of the headteacher has ensured that the school has made rapid improvements since the last inspection. She and other senior leaders have been unflinching in their drive to improve any area of weakness and have been very open to any support which has enabled them to do so. They have therefore formed effective partnerships with both the diocese and the local authority, and have used their support wisely. Action plans have clear priorities and are regularly reviewed to check that they are working.  Leaders use a range of strategies to check how well the school is doing, including observing lessons and checking on the quality of work in pupils’ books. Their judgements about what is going well and what needs to be improved are accurate. They use this information to set targets for teachers which are challenging and which will improve outcomes for pupils. This has had a direct impact on improving the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

quality of teaching.  The middle leaders with responsibility for English and mathematics are skilled teachers and understand their subjects well. They are very knowledgeable about the quality of teaching in their areas and deliver training for all teachers, as well as bespoke one-to-one support, to enable them to improve their practice.  The special educational needs coordinator has the skills and knowledge to undertake her role successfully. She has a good knowledge of the pupils and clear systems for identifying and supporting any pupils with additional needs. She ensures that support staff are well trained so that they can help identified pupils effectively and work closely with a range of outside agencies and staff, including speech and language therapists, to ensure that the needs of individual pupils are met.  The curriculum is broad and balanced and meets the needs of the pupils. In order to ensure that weak

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

teaching has improved, leaders have provided high-quality resources for mathematics and topic subjects. This has been effective in securing a consistent approach to what and how pupils are taught. As teachers have grown in confidence, this is now being developed to allow for more adaptations to fit in with the changing needs of the pupils. Pupils are provided with a range of experiences to enhance their understanding, such as visits to the museum, theatre and the seaside. Assemblies have clear themes such as ‘I notice that we are the same and we are different’. These themes are then followed up by teachers in circle time in classrooms. The school’s policy on sex and relationships education is well planned and designed to fit in with the age of the pupils and the Catholic teaching. Parents are provided with helpful guidance on how to support their children and answer their questions. All this ensures that

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

the curriculum makes a good contribution to children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, and develops their understanding of British values.  Leaders use additional funding sources wisely to meet the needs of the pupils. Pupil premium funding has ensured that disadvantaged pupils achieve well, and that gaps between their attainment and that of others, both in school and nationally, are closing. The sports premium has been used to employ two sports coaches who provide activities for pupils at lunchtime, as well as supporting class teachers to improve their delivery of physical education lessons. Pupils’ enjoyment of this is clear. As a result, the school has received the bronze Sports Mark, and will be going for gold next year. Pupils are also participating in inter-school competitions, and the football team won the league last year. In addition, sports coaches lead the breakfast clubs, providing very good role models and a very positive start to the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

day for those pupils who attend.  Parents typically view the school very positively and feel that they receive good information about how well their child is doing and what they can do to help their learning. School reports provide detailed information on what pupils can do well and, in most cases, what they need to do to improve.  The governance of the school Since the previous inspection, governors have taken a number of steps to ensure that they are better able to support and challenge the school. The governing body now has new members and a new chair and vice chair, and a monitoring committee has been established to check on the progress of the pupils and the school. Governors have undertaken additional training, and have worked in partnership with the local authority to ensure that their understanding of the school’s performance is accurate. They visit the school regularly and have a presence at key events so that they understand parents’

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

view of the school. They know the school’s strengths and areas for development in terms of pupils’ achievement and the quality of teaching, and can talk confidently about what they have done to address issues, for example with attendance. They have an overview of performance management for all staff, and know what additional training has gone in to support those teachers who may have been at risk of underperformance. They also have a good knowledge of the impact of the pupil premium funding and the sports premium.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All staff have received up-to-date training on a range of topics, including child sexual exploitation and the risks of extremism, and all are confident that they would know what to look for and what to do. Systems for safe recruitment of staff are robust. The school works closely with parents of any children who may be vulnerable, for example by accompanying them to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

appointments with outside agencies and by signposting them to where they can get additional support and advice on a range of issues.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 The quality of teaching over time has improved since the previous inspection and is now securely good. It ensures that pupils make good progress as they move through the school.  Teachers have a good understanding of how well pupils are doing because they check their work regularly and assess it accurately. This enables them to provide pupils with very precise guidance about what they are doing well and what they should do to improve. Pupils say that they value this and find it helpful. It is clear from their books that they use teachers’ guidance to improve their work and correct mistakes. Leaders have ensured a high level of consistency so that all teachers’ marking is in line with the school’s policy. Teachers also check regularly in lessons that pupils understand what they are learning, and they usually provide immediate support if it is clear that pupils are stuck.  Teachers use good questions to challenge pupils to think. In particular, they encourage them to explain

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

their thinking. Much of the work set is challenging for the majority of pupils. Pupils respond to this well. In an English lesson, for example, Year 4 pupils were trying to interpret the nonsense poem ‘Jabberwocky’. Pupils demonstrated high levels of independence in determining which were nonsense words and which might be real but unfamiliar words, and using a dictionary to check. This developed their vocabulary well.  Teachers plan lessons well and use a range of high-quality resources. The pace of learning is usually rapid. Little time is lost and pupils do not have time to get bored or drift off task. Expectations are high, both for behaviour and learning, and behaviour routines are well established. Considerable focus has been placed on the importance of handwriting, with great success. Pupils write neatly and accurately.  Teachers do not always provide pupils with sufficient opportunities to solve problems and undertake

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

investigations in mathematics. They provide word problems, but the most able pupils are aware that these are not really challenging. As one pupil said, ‘They’re called problems but really it’s just find one number, then another, then do a sum’.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  From the moment they join the school in the early years, pupils are supported to enjoy learning and to become confident and independent learners. In the vast majority of cases, this enthusiasm for learning is maintained across the school. Pupils are open minded, inquisitive, happy to learn and unafraid to make mistakes.  Pupils are courteous and respectful. They have a genuine regard for the views of others and treat each other with consideration. They understand that people are all different, but they have a respect for different cultures, faiths and beliefs. Leaders encourage this. For example, they are beginning to work closely with other schools and members of the Jewish community to ensure that pupils have a good understanding of people in the local community.  Pupils are unanimous in saying that they feel safe in school because teachers look after them and it is a

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Personal development and welfare

very caring community. They are also confident that they are taught to keep themselves safe. For example, they can talk about how to eat healthily and know about the risks of smoking. They feel confident that there is a no-tolerance attitude to bullying in school and that they are able to keep themselves safe from bullying, particularly online.  The school works hard to foster an understanding of British values. Pupils were aware of the recent change of Prime Minister, and have an understanding of how democracy works through the pupil council. They understand the importance of thinking of others and contributing to the community and have, for example, raised money for migrants living in camps near Calais. They also contribute through the use of pupil chaplains who support with the Catholic message of the school.  Pupils take a real pride in their school. They treat the school environment with respect and wear their

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Personal development and welfare

uniforms with pride, and the vast majority take care to present their written work beautifully.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils behave well both within and outside lessons. In some cases, in lessons, behaviour is exemplary because pupils enjoy their learning and have an excellent understanding of how they should behave.  The school is calm, purposeful and orderly. Pupils play well together at break and lunchtime, and all understand how to take turns and to share the outdoor equipment.  Although attendance overall is average, the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent is above average. Leaders have worked hard to address this with a range of strategies, including working with local schools; but though there have been improvements, these have been slow. Plans are in place to speed up improvements next year with the appointment of a family liaison worker who will offer additional support to parents.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Achievement over time has improved since the previous inspection and is now securely good. From below-average starting points in early years, pupils make good progress to reach standards in the majority of subjects which are at least average and sometimes above by the time they leave the school.  All pupils make good progress. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported in lessons and say that they feel happy with their learning. Disadvantaged pupils also make good progress because of well-targeted use of pupil premium funding.  Work in books confirms that pupils make good progress. In English, pupils write neatly and accurately and are able to write for a range of purposes. They enjoy learning new words and developing their vocabulary, and are encouraged to write in detail and to support and develop their ideas. Lessons are structured to enable them to do this, by providing them with ample time to discuss their ideas before they

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Outcomes for pupils are good

write anything down. The quality of writing is usually as good in topic books as it is in English books.  Pupils have a real enjoyment of reading and have a good range of opportunities to read in school. Phonics (knowledge of letters and the sounds that they make) is taught very well across the school. The proportion reaching the expected standard in phonics at the end of Year 1 is higher than average. This ensures that pupils have the skills and confidence to develop their reading by sounding out words which are unfamiliar to them. By the time they reach Year 6, most pupils read fluently, with enjoyment and understanding, and can talk confidently about what they are reading. However, some of the most able older readers receive limited guidance in their reading, which means that they often read books which are too easy for them.  Pupils make good progress in mathematics because the focus on mastery ensures that they have

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Outcomes for pupils are good

opportunities to secure their understanding of key concepts in a range of ways, including through use of ‘hands-on’ approaches such as counters and bricks where appropriate. However, though pupils regularly tackle mathematical problems that are written in words, they do not currently have sufficient opportunities to investigate and explore.

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Early years provision is good

 Children typically start Nursery with skills and knowledge which are well below expectations for their age. All, including those who speak English as an additional language, those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, and disadvantaged pupils, make at least good progress from their starting points in almost all areas of learning. The proportion of pupils who leave Reception with a good level of development and ready to start key stage 1 has increased for the last two years, so that 2016 outcomes are above the 2015 national average. However, children do not make as much progress in their imaginative development as they do in other aspects of their learning.  Children are confident in their learning, able to make choices and keen to try new things. This is because teachers have high expectations of what children can achieve, and check very closely on the progress that they are making. Teachers and other adults ask good questions which make pupils think and develop

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Early years provision is good

their vocabulary. They plan activities which will excite the pupils and which are closely linked to what pupils are interested in and what they need to learn. Phonics is taught very well, so that in a number of cases, in Nursery in particular, children are working at above the expectations for their age.  The curriculum is well organised to meet the needs of the children. Resources are well organised both inside and outside the classroom so that children can select for themselves the things that they need, and this means that they become very independent. They are taught to respect others and to work and play collaboratively.  Leaders and teachers have ensured that there are very good systems in place for checking how well pupils are learning. Detailed records are kept to show what each child can do and what they need to learn to do next. Teachers work closely with parents to support them with their child’s learning. They are

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Early years provision is good

regularly invited to ‘stay and play’ sessions, or to celebrate their child’s achievements in assembly.  The early years provides pupils with a safe and secure environment in which they flourish and make rapid progress in preparation for the next stage in their learning.

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School details

Unique reference number 105962 Local authority Salford Inspection number 10012171

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 234 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Victoria Davies Headteacher/Principal/Teacher in charge Julie Bainbridge Telephone number 0161 792 5659 Website www.stbonifacesalford.com Email address Stboniface.primaryschool@salford.gov.uk Date of previous inspection 14 May 2013

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Information about this school

 St Boniface Roman Catholic School is slightly smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is well above average. The pupil premium is additional government funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and for children looked after.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and who speak English as an additional language is broadly average.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average.  The school provides a breakfast and after-school club.  The school meets the current government floor standards, which set the minimum national expectations for attainment and progress.  The school meets requirements for the publication of information on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in a range of lessons.  Samples of pupils’ work in books were scrutinised in lessons. In addition, inspectors looked at a range of pupils’ books from across all key stages and subjects, particularly mathematics and English books.  A range of documentation was scrutinised, including minutes of meetings, information provided to governors, action plans, examples of anonymised performance management targets and records of leaders’ monitoring activities.  Inspectors spoke formally with senior and middle leaders, as well as with the chair and vice chair of governors, and a representative from the local authority. They also held formal meetings with a number of groups of pupils as well as talking to them informally at breaks and lunchtimes.  Inspectors took account of 12 responses to the online parent questionnaire (Parent View). They also spoke to parents informally as they were bringing their children into school.

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Inspection team

Christine Birchall, Lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Lesley Else 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

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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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