Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School Manchester Drive, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex SS9 3HS

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Safeguarding systems are not sufficiently robust to ensure that timely and effective action is always taken in response to child protection concerns.  Leaders and governors have not ensured that child protection systems are rigorous and that detailed and thorough records are kept of concerns about individual pupils.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils make good progress and attain high standards in English and mathematics. A much higher than average proportion of pupils achieved the expected standard at the end of key stage 2 in 2016.  Standards have been high for many years. Pupils’ average attainment in reading, writing and mathematics has been well above national averages at the end of key stages 1 and 2 every year since the previous inspection.  Pupils’ progress in some subjects is not as strong as in English and mathematics.  The early years provides children with a very strong start to their educational careers. Children make good progress in the Reception Year and the vast majority achieve a good level of development before they move on to Year 1.  The school offers a rich and interesting curriculum to its pupils. Pupils show great interest in, and engagement with, their learning as a result.  Pupils behave extremely well. The school has

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

very high expectations of pupils’ conduct and how they should behave as members of a community. There is a strong emphasis on good manners and respect.  The headteacher, the deputy headteacher and other leaders are effective in ensuring that the outcomes remain high and that behaviour continues to be excellent.  Good teaching is evident throughout the school. Teachers work closely with teaching assistants to ensure that pupils have the right support to enable them to make good progress.  Governors are increasingly able to hold leaders to account. The governing body has members with a good range of relevant skills, knowledge and experience.

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Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 As a matter of urgency, improve child protection procedures so that they are effective and fit for purpose by ensuring that: – concerns are recorded in a consistent way, with the same information included each time (such as the name of the person recording the concern and their relationship to the pupil) – the action taken in response to a concern about a pupil is always recorded clearly on the appropriate record of concern – all child protection records are kept together, centrally and securely – prompt and decisive action is taken in response to potentially serious allegations and disclosures – an accurate chronology is kept when there are multiple concerns about an individual pupil.  To raise outcomes from good to outstanding ensure that: – pupils make sustained and substantial progress across a wide range of subjects – the most able pupils are stretched and challenged sufficiently to make the rapid

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

progress that they are capable of – a greater proportion of disadvantaged pupils make very rapid progress across the curriculum.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 The school’s leaders and governors have not ensured that statutory safeguarding guidance has been followed closely enough. The requirement that all concerns of a child protection nature and associated discussions and decisions made should be recorded in writing has not been met.  The school’s system for reporting and recording child protection concerns is inadequate. Staff’s concerns about pupils are written on blank sheets of paper, without sufficient attention to what each record includes. This means that individual records of concern do not contain all the information necessary, such as details of the person reporting the concern, whom it was reported to, when it was reported and what action was taken.  The school’s child protection files do not show that robust action is taken when concerns are raised about pupils. In a number of cases, files amount to no more than a single sheet of paper with no evidence that timely and appropriate action was taken in

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

response to the concern raised.  The school’s system for recording concerns allows information to be kept in different places. This means that the system is too haphazard and pupils could be put at risk as a result. For example, by failing to store all concerns about a child in a central place the designated safeguarding lead risks failing to identify patterns of neglect.  The school’s website has not been well maintained and some of the information contained within it is out of date. The school does not meet statutory requirements for the publication of information on its website. A new website that meets requirements is currently being constructed.  The headteacher has created a happy school where every child is valued as an individual. She knows every pupil by name. This personal touch is one of the reasons why the headteacher is so well loved by pupils. Pupils describe her as ‘amazing’ and say that ‘she’s always there for us’.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 The headteacher, the deputy headteacher and the senior teacher work very closely together. Their personalities and skills differ but complement each other well. As a result they provide strong leadership and display a shared sense of purpose. Leadership below the senior team is developing well. Leaders are deeply committed to the school and share the senior leaders’ vision for its development.  The school’s curriculum is suitably broad and balanced. Leaders and governors have chosen to invest in specialist teachers in science, music and physical education (PE) and they have found that this has strengthened the quality of subject teaching. It is the headteacher’s firm belief that ‘the children have to have a love of learning’ and the school’s well-constructed curriculum is one of the reasons for pupils’ excellent attitudes to learning at Our Lady of Lourdes.  Although standards are high, the headteacher is very clear that the school ‘is not an

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

11+ factory’ and pupils are provided with a rich and varied educational diet, and are encouraged to become responsible and reliable citizens.  The school prepares pupils well for life in modern British society. Pupils are taught to take responsibility for themselves and others from an early age and they respond very well to this clear expectation. Each year group has its own particular responsibility and pupils enjoy the rites of passage associated with moving from one year group to the next. For example, all pupils in Year 6 take on the role of prefect during their final year. A small group of carefully-selected Year 6 pupils make a solemn promise to serve the school as part of the ‘headship team’, the ultimate accolade, rewarding particularly noteworthy service to the school.  The school teaches its pupils to value all people as individuals. Pupils show excellent understanding of the full range of protected characteristics described in equality law.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

They state very clearly and convincingly that people should be judged on their behaviour, not on their characteristics. In a meeting with the lead inspector, pupils talked with great maturity about how they would not judge transgender people and one pupil commented that ‘we’ve got to put ourselves in their shoes’.  The primary PE and sport premium is spent effectively. The school has a clear plan to ensure that the grant is spent appropriately. The school sensibly uses observation of the work of the specialist PE staff as an opportunity for teachers to develop their own knowledge and skills in the subject. The grant has also been used successfully to increase the number and range of sports clubs that the school offers. The take-up of places is now very high, with over 80% of pupils attending a sports club.  The pupil premium grant is spent effectively to ensure that disadvantaged pupils achieve well. A range of appropriate measures are put in place to ensure that individual

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

pupils’ needs are met. The success of the actions taken, such as providing ‘nurture’ sessions for some pupils, is monitored closely and changes are made as necessary.  Most parents are happy with the school and the vast majority would recommend it to others. Many parents chose to write positive comments about the school when responding to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire. One parent said, ‘The school has very strong values and a real family feel’ and another commented that ‘This school is unwavering in its promotion of moral and spiritual wellbeing and the children benefit massively from this.’ These examples sum up the views of many.  A small number of parents expressed negative views about the school. Dissatisfaction with the school’s communication with parents was the only common concern raised. Some parents said that leaders have not communicated well enough with parents, particularly on matters of particular importance. The school’s communication files show

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

clearly that the frequency and range of communication with parents is appropriate. Where the school has not communicated with parents about a particular issue, this has been for specific reasons and is a reasonable response. In some cases, parents’ expectations of the type and amount of communication they expect to receive appear to be unrealistic.

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Governance of the school

 Governors have not ensured that the school’s systems for dealing with child protection concerns are suitably robust.  The recently appointed chair of the governing body brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the new role. This is complemented by a range of other skills and experience brought by other members of the governing body.  Governors employ the services of an external consultant to provide an additional opinion on how well the school is doing. As a result, they know many of the school’s strengths and relative weaknesses.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective because child protection procedures are not sufficiently rigorous or robust.  The school’s processes to ensure the safer recruitment of staff, visitors and governors are robust. The school’s single central record of pre-employment checks is well maintained and meets statutory requirements.  Pupils feel very safe at Our Lady of Lourdes. Staff know them well as individuals and relationships between pupils and staff are very good. Pupils trust the staff and state with certainty that they would feel able to speak to a member of staff if they were ever upset by or worried about anything.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Pupils enjoy their learning because teachers make learning interesting, enjoyable and active.  Teachers’ use of open-ended investigations enables pupils to think deeply and make better progress. For example, during the inspection, in a Year 5 class pupils worked in pairs to observe snails and their response to different foods at close quarters.  Teaching assistants provide effective support to pupils, particularly those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Teaching assistants are well informed about the aims of each lesson and use resources appropriately to support pupils. This support has a clear impact on helping pupils to make good progress.  Teachers focus well on improving pupils’ grammar, punctuation and spelling in written work. As a result, pupils write clearly and accurately, and standards of writing are high.  Teachers have good subject knowledge across the range of subjects that they teach

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

and pupils make good progress as a result. The school has deliberately chosen to employ specialist teachers in some subjects, which works well to offer a deeper level of subject knowledge in some areas of the curriculum.  Questioning is used well to deepen pupils’ learning and as a method of assessment. Teachers systematically check pupils’ understanding of what they have been taught, throughout the lessons. This knowledge is then used to provide additional support or to plan future learning.  Assessment is regular and accurate. Teachers know their pupils well. They identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding and ensure that these are filled. They focus very well on ensuring that pupils’ individual needs are met. For example, regular and accurate assessment means that pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are given appropriate help and support in a timely fashion.  Teachers create safe learning environments in their classrooms where pupils feel able

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

to make mistakes. Pupils know that getting things wrong is part of the learning process and they develop a useful ability to correct their own mistakes as a result.  Very occasionally, low-level disruption, such as talking when the teacher is talking or not paying attention to what the teacher is saying, occurs where teachers’ behaviour management skills are less effective.  Teaching does not stretch the most-able pupils consistently enough. In some cases, pupils are given work to do that is too easy and does not give them the challenge they need to make the maximum possible progress.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is inadequate. Leaders and governors have not ensured that child protection procedures are sufficiently robust.  Pupils have been taught well about bullying. The schools ‘anti bullying committee’ is a particularly strong feature of the school. This group of pupils meets regularly with the headteacher and actions are taken in response to what the pupils report. Pupils support each other very well and have absolute confidence that staff can and will help them if a problem should ever arise.  There is a strong and long-standing emphasis on cycling as a means of promoting healthy lifestyles. Almost all of the school’s 420 pupils can ride a bicycle and the school uses a specialist to teach cycle safety skills. The success of this strategy is demonstrated by a recent ‘bike-it safari’ in which pupils completed a 12-mile round trip successfully.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils are given a wide range of roles and responsibilities throughout their time in the school. For example, pupils in Year 2 are ‘monitors’ for the youngest children in the school while Year 5 are ‘guardian angels’ for the Year 3 pupils as they move into key stage 2. This encourages a sense of responsibility and commitment as citizens within their school community.  Pupils love their school. They take great pride in it and they show good attitudes to learning. Pupils are taught to follow the school’s rules which are based around ‘the 5 Ps’: punctuality, presentation, prayerfulness, politeness and perseverance. These characteristics are clearly evident in the way pupils present themselves throughout the school day.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. The school’s rules and expectations are very clear and pupils respond accordingly. There have been no exclusions for many years.  The school places strong emphasis on the importance of good manners. Pupils are highly respectful of adults and each other. For example, the older children stand and greet the headteacher when she enters their classroom as a sign of respect.  Pupils’ excellent behaviour and teachers’ high expectations mean that little time is wasted between and during lessons. Pupils enter the building promptly after breaktimes and are ready to begin their work with a minimum of fuss.  Pupils’ individual needs are met very well. Where there is potential for pupils’ behaviour to be challenging, measures are put in place to address these and provide suitable support. This early intervention means that behavioural issues are dealt with before they become a problem.

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Behaviour

 Pupils attend school regularly and on time. The school monitors pupils’ attendance carefully and takes appropriate action to tackle absence when necessary.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Pupils’ outcomes are good at Our Lady of Lourdes. Standards have remained high over many years. For example, overall attainment has been well above the national average, at the end of both key stage 1 and key stage 2, every year since the previous inspection.  Children tend to enter the Reception Year with skills and abilities that are at least typical of their age. They make good progress throughout their time at the school. In 2016, almost all pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics in the key stage 2 national tests.  Pupils make good progress in learning phonics and they use this knowledge well to help them read very competently. The proportion of pupils who reach the expected level in the Year 1 phonics screening check is consistently well above the national average.  The most-able pupils attain well and make good progress. Approximately a fifth of the Year 6 cohort achieved the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics in the

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Outcomes for pupils Good

key stage 2 national tests this year. This is well above the national average.  Outcomes for the school’s very few disadvantaged pupils are good and compare very favourably with outcomes for other pupils nationally. Their progress is monitored closely and appropriate measures are put in place, where necessary, to support pupils’ learning. Although disadvantaged pupils clearly make good progress across the curriculum, not enough make very rapid progress.  The progress of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is monitored closely. Pupils make good progress from their starting points because their individual needs are met well.  The work in pupils’ ‘special writing books’ shows that pupils make particularly good progress in writing throughout their time at the school. The quality of work in these books is notably strong and provides a very useful account of pupils’ learning journey

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Outcomes for pupils Good

through the school.  Outcomes are not yet outstanding because pupils do not make substantial and sustained progress across all year groups and across a wide range of subjects. The school’s evidence of pupils’ progress is limited in subjects other than English and mathematics.

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Early years provision Good

 Children make good progress during their time in early years. The proportion who achieve a good level of development by the end of the Reception Year is high. This means that children are very well prepared for the move into Year 1 at the end of their time in early years.  Leadership of the early years provision is effective. The early years leader is knowledgeable and well informed. She has a good understanding of the strengths of the provision and the areas that she would like to develop further.  Teaching is planned well to meet children’s individual needs. Staff use information from their observations and assessments to plan learning in response to children’s interests and abilities.  The early years team works very effectively together, across the two classes. Staff know the children very well, even at this early stage in the academic year, and are skilled in knowing when to intervene and when to stand back and allow children to

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Early years provision Good

discover things for themselves.  The early years environment is welcoming and stimulating. Children are provided with a wide range of suitable activities to choose from. They are given appropriate opportunities to learn to take risks safely such as by building and creating structures using the wood pile.  Children behave very well because the rules are clear and expectations are high. They are provided with engaging things to do that keep them interested and well occupied. Children choose sensibly from the range of activities that they are offered and persevere with them over extended periods of time.  Children’s learning journey books provide a clear record of their experiences and progress during their time in early years. These books provide a clear record of strong parental involvement in children’s education.

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School details

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

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Email address headteacher@ourladyoflourdes.southend.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 28–29 November 2011

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Information about this school

 The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about end of primary school results, the curriculum, pupil premium, sports premium, and governors’ information and duties.  Our Lady of Lourdes is almost double the size of the average primary school. It is a Catholic school and operates within the Diocese of Brentwood. The school population is very stable, with few pupils leaving or joining the school other than at the usual points of entry and exit.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is very small.  Most pupils are of White British heritage. The vast majority of pupils speak English as their first language.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, including those who have a statement of special educational needs and those who have an education, health and care plan, is well below the national average.  The school meets current floor standards. These are the minimum standards, set by

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Information about this school

the government, for pupils’ progress and attainment.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors gathered a range of evidence to judge the quality of teaching and learning over time. Inspectors observed parts of 27 lessons, some jointly with the headteacher.  Inspectors looked closely at the work in pupils’ exercise books, including those from the previous academic year. Inspectors listened to pupils read and talked to them about their work.  Inspectors looked at a range of the school’s documents including assessment information, records of leaders’ monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning, and examples of the school’s communication with parents.  Inspectors checked the school’s single central record of pre-employment checks and other documentation concerned with safer recruitment of staff and volunteers. The school’s child protection files were scrutinised.  Meetings were held with the headteacher and other leaders, a group of pupils, governors and staff. Inspectors spoke with pupils throughout the day and with parents

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Information about this inspection

before school in the morning. The lead inspector spoke with a representative of the local authority on the telephone.  Inspectors took into account the 113 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, including 98 written comments, and one letter received from a parent.

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Inspection team

Wendy Varney, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jeremy Rowe 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

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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 .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Inspection team

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

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