Saint Mary's Catholic Primary

Saint Mary’s Catholic Primary School Gladstone Street, Glossop, Derbyshire SK13 8NE

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement Outcomes for pupils Inadequate Early years provision Requires improvement Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders at all levels, and governors, have not addressed the rapid decline in pupil outcomes.  Improvement planning is not effective. Plans are not precise enough to ensure that actions are effective. The plans do not include opportunities to monitor impact. As a result, governors are unable to hold leaders to account.  Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, do not make sufficient progress from their various starting points.  Large proportions of current pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, are working below age- related expectations in reading, writing and mathematics.  The proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check has been below, and sometimes well below, the national average over recent years.  Teachers’ expectations of what pupils can achieve, particularly in mathematics and writing, are too low.  Teachers do not use assessment information effectively to plan activities that challenge all

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

pupils appropriately. Pupils’ progress is not monitored regularly enough.  Teachers do not provide frequent enough opportunities across the curriculum for pupils to develop spelling, punctuation and grammar skills in extended pieces of writing.  The proportion of children achieving a good level of development in the early years has been below the national average over recent years. Currently, children in the Reception class are making faster progress.  In the early years, staff do not consistently use assessment information accurately to plan the next steps in children’s learning. The provision in the outdoor area does not always match the foundation stage curriculum closely.  Pupils do not have a secure enough understanding of faiths and cultures different from their own.  Pupils’ absence rates and persistent absence rates are above the national averages.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils behave very well. Relationships between staff and pupils are extremely positive.  The early years provides the children with a stimulating start to their education.  Pupils enjoy a wide variety of extra-curricular activities, including sport, music and the arts.

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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?

 Improve the quality of leadership and management by ensuring that: – school improvement plans at all levels are more precise, in order to enable more effective actions to be taken and the regular monitoring of actions for their impact – the roles of subject and other leaders are developed, so that the leaders are able to have a positive impact on their areas of responsibility – teachers’ assessments of pupils’ attainment are accurate and pupils’ progress is monitored frequently – pupils are better prepared for life in modern Britain by having a secure understanding of a range of faiths and cultures – governors use information about the pupils’ progress and other monitoring records to hold leaders to account – links are developed with other schools to provide teachers with opportunities to share good practice and to moderate pupils’ work.  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment so that outcomes for pupils,

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

including disadvantaged pupils, improve by ensuring that: – staff have high expectations of what pupils can achieve, especially in mathematics and writing – teachers provide opportunities for pupils to practise their grammar, handwriting, punctuation and spelling skills in English and other subjects – teachers use assessment information accurately to plan activities that challenge all pupils appropriately and monitor their progress regularly – phonics teaching is consistently effective to make sure that more pupils achieve the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics check.  Improve the quality of personal development, behaviour and welfare by ensuring that the school works with families and pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, to decrease the rates of absence, including persistent absence, so they are at least in line with national averages.  Improve the quality of the early years foundation stage by ensuring that:

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

– attainment and progress information is used consistently to make sure that next steps in children’s learning are planned for carefully – the outdoor environment matches the requirements of the foundation stage curriculum closely. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium funding should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

 Leaders, including governors, have not reacted swiftly or decisively enough to halt the rapid decline in pupils’ outcomes. Pupils leaving the school in 2017 made inadequate progress in mathematics and writing.  Leaders’ plans for school improvement are not precise enough. Actions taken have not had the required impact on provision and outcomes because they have lacked rigour and urgency.  Governors have not challenged leaders over the decline in pupils’ outcomes. Minutes of governing body meetings show that few, if any, questions are asked regarding pupils’ historical and current low attainment and slow progress. The governing body is not checking closely enough on how well the school is doing, especially against the main priorities.  Leaders have not ensured that teachers are assessing pupils’ attainment and progress accurately. Some teachers are unclear about the standards expected of pupils. They

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

are presenting inaccurate assessment information to leaders and governors. Governors require training to understand this information better.  Leaders are not using the information gathered from meetings with teachers to provide appropriate support to individual pupils. It is unclear how the support is checked to see if it is being successful. These meetings are, therefore, not as effective as they should be.  Leaders have not ensured that teachers have frequent enough opportunities to make links with other schools. The opportunities for staff are limited to share good practice and to moderate pupils’ work to check if assessment judgements are accurate.  Pupil premium funding is not spent effectively. Leaders are unclear how the funding is being allocated and the impact it is having on disadvantaged pupils’ attainment and progress. Absence and persistent absence rates for disadvantaged pupils are high.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

Leaders have no current actions in place to address this issue.  Intensive support from the local authority adviser has focused on raising standards across the school. Leaders have not used this support swiftly and effectively. Its impact has therefore been limited.  The recently appointed leader for pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities has acted quickly to ensure that the code of practice is in place. She is keen to ensure that pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities receive high-quality teaching and are not over-reliant on interventions led by teaching assistants. The additional funding for this area of the school’s work has not been used effectively in the past.  Pupils are not as well prepared for life in modern Britain as they could be. For example, their knowledge of faiths and cultures different from their own is weak.  Leaders have ensured that there is a broad and balanced curriculum. The pupils have

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

opportunities to enjoy a wide variety of extra-curricular clubs, including a school band and multi-sports clubs.  The additional physical education (PE) and sport premium is used effectively. Pupils have increased their participation in, for example, gymnastics and dance. The pupils have opportunities to compete against other schools in, for example, girls’ football.  The headteacher has created a caring and nurturing environment. Pupils and their families are known well by staff. Parents and carers overwhelmingly state that their children are happy and safe at St Mary’s.  The school may appoint one newly qualified teacher.

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Governance of the school

 The majority of governors are new to their roles and have not received relevant training. Although governors check on the school’s work, such checks do not focus sharply enough to the priorities in the school improvement plan. As a result, governors are not in a position to challenge leaders on all aspects of school development, particularly underperforming areas of the school. Governors agreed that leaders’ recent actions to improve the school have lacked urgency and have been lacklustre.  Governors have not ensured that the pupil premium funding is allocated and monitored effectively. They are unclear as to how this funding is affecting the progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils.  Governors are passionate about improving the school and are determined to succeed.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The headteacher has ensured that all relevant checks are made on adults before they are allowed to work or volunteer at the school.  Staff have received safeguarding training recently about, for example, child sexual exploitation and the potential dangers of pupils using social media. A recent safeguarding audit conducted with a governor correctly identified the need for staff to undertake further training in e-safety.  The local authority provides frequent safeguarding updates that are shared with staff.  There is a strong safeguarding culture at the school. Staff are aware of the procedures to follow, should they be concerned about the welfare of a pupil. Any pupil or family requiring extra support receives it swiftly.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

 Teachers do not have high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve. This is particularly the case for pupils’ learning in mathematics and writing. For example, teachers do not always check that pupils choose the appropriate level of challenge in mathematics. Consequently, pupils often complete work that is too easy for them.  Teachers do not provide enough opportunities for pupils to practise their writing in English and other subjects. As a result, pupils do not develop punctuation, handwriting, grammar and spelling skills frequently enough.  Teachers do not use assessment information accurately to plan the next steps in pupils’ learning. Therefore, pupils do not make sufficient progress from their various starting points.  Disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are not receiving sufficient academic support to help them to overcome the barriers to learning that they

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

face. Too often, these pupils are working on intervention strategies. Leaders do not check on or evaluate pupils’ progress frequently enough. Consequently, these pupils do not make good progress from their various starting points.  Despite recent training, the teaching of phonics is still not effective. For example, time in phonics lessons is wasted waiting for pupils to collect resources. Lower-ability pupils do not use phonics knowledge or strategies to decode unknown words when reading aloud.  The pupils are motivated by the homework activities that they are given, which help them successfully to develop knowledge and skills in a wide range of topics and subjects.  Teaching assistants often provide effective support to individual pupils and those working in small groups. When appropriate, they ask relevant questions that help to challenge and develop pupils’ thinking.  There are some good pockets of practice at the school. For example, pupils in Year 2

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

and Year 6 are currently making better progress in writing and reading respectively than has been the case over the last few years. This stronger practice is beginning to be shared more widely.  The recently implemented assessment and marking policy is being used consistently across the school. It is beginning to inform pupils of what they have done well and what they need to do to improve.  End-of-year reports are detailed and informative. They provide parents with a good overview of the effort that the pupils have made across the curriculum. They contain supportive and personal comments from the headteacher.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.  Rates of pupil absence and persistent absence have been higher than the national averages recently. This is also the case for disadvantaged pupils. Current information provided by the school suggests that these figures are improving.  Pupils have a very good understanding of bullying and the different forms it can take. They told inspectors that bullying incidents are extremely rare and that, if any incidents did occur, ‘the teachers would stop it straight away’.  Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. For example, pupils in Year 5 take part in ‘bikeability’ and children in the early years take part in ‘scooterbility’. Pupils are particularly knowledgeable about keeping themselves safe when online. They know that they must not give out personal information and that not everyone online is who they say they are.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils relish the opportunity to experience educational visits. Recently, pupils have extended their knowledge of the Egyptians and science by visiting local museums. Year 5 and Year 6 pupils have the opportunity to experience an outdoor, adventurous residential at White Hall.  The democratically elected school council is active in organising school events and raising money for charities. Pupils enjoy the added responsibility of being members of the eco-council, assembly helpers and cloakroom inspectors.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Their conduct in classrooms, corridors and at breaktimes is positive. Incidents of low-level disruption are extremely rare.  Pupils understand the school behaviour system very well and adults apply it consistently. Pupils are adamant that adults settle any disputes quickly and fairly. The headteacher keeps thorough records, which show no incidents of racist or homophobic language in recent years.  Pupils enjoy receiving ‘proud points’ for a wide variety of reasons, including good behaviour, working hard, being polite and caring for others. Points are allocated to different houses, with the winning house being rewarded with a treat each week.  Pupils look smart in their school uniforms. They are polite and respectful to visitors and to each other. Pupils spoke maturely to inspectors regarding their class work and held appropriate conversations with inspectors when working in classrooms and during

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 Large numbers of pupils are not currently working at standards expected of their age in reading, writing and mathematics. This is apparent from assessment information provided by the school and work seen in the pupils’ books. The number of these pupils has increased since July 2017.  Pupils, including the most able and those who have SEN and/or disabilities, are not making the progress of which they are capable.  Pupils, including the most able pupils, leaving key stage 2 in 2016 and 2017 made much slower progress from their various starting points than other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. In 2017, pupils’ progress in writing and mathematics was in the bottom 2% and 5% respectively of schools nationally.  Disadvantaged pupils leaving key stage 2 in 2016 and 2017 made significantly less progress than other pupils nationally. For example, disadvantaged pupils’ progress in writing has been in the bottom 1% of schools nationally for the last two years.

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Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

 In 2017, the proportions of key stage 2 pupils who achieved the expected and higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics were either below or well below the national averages. The proportion of pupils who achieved at the expected and higher levels in the spelling, punctuation and grammar test was also below the national average.  The majority of pupils are not prepared well for secondary school.  Pupils’ attainment in the Year 1 phonics screening check has been below, and sometimes well below, the national average in the last three years.  In 2017, the proportion of key stage 1 pupils who achieved the expected standard in reading and mathematics was broadly in line with the national average. The proportion who achieved the expected standard in writing was above the national average. This is an improvement on the 2016 outcomes.

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Early years provision Requires improvement

 The proportions of children achieving a good level of development over the last three years have been below the national averages. Consequently, not all children have been well prepared to start in Year 1.  Assessment information collected by staff is not always used consistently to plan the next steps in children’s learning. The system in place to record children’s achievements and track progress towards the early learning goals is in its infancy.  The outdoor environment does not always match the foundation stage curriculum closely. Children have limited opportunities to develop, for example, their writing, number and creative skills consistently when learning outside.  Inspection evidence suggests that the majority of current children are making faster progress and are on track to achieve a good level of development in 2018.  Transition arrangements into the early years are strong. The early years leader visits

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Early years provision Requires improvement

children in their pre-school setting. The parents and children have opportunities to visit the school in the summer term. Staff have a good knowledge of children before they start school and can access extra support swiftly should a child require it.  The school has good links with outside agencies, including a speech and language team and a school nurse.  The recently appointed early years leader has worked diligently to update resources and the learning environment. The classroom contains many opportunities for children to develop their knowledge and skills in a wide range of stimulating activities. For example, during the inspection, some children were extending their vocabulary by role playing the buying and selling of train tickets from the ‘ticket office’. Consequently, children are making much faster progress currently.  When the activities match children’s abilities and interests closely, they show sustained

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Early years provision Requires improvement

concentration. For example, a group of boys was observed being particularly engrossed in making a complex train track.  The school has very good links with the local community. Recently, children have welcomed a local police officer to the school and visited a police station. This helped children to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world. Children have also visited the local shop, where they wrote shopping lists and purchased items for the birthday party of Steve, the class cat.  Relationships between adults and children are extremely positive. The adults have clear expectations of behaviour and, as a result, children behave very well. Children get on well with each other. They share resources maturely and sensibly.  Safeguarding is effective. Staff are well trained and hold, for example, relevant paediatric first aid certificates. Both the indoor and outdoor environments are safe and

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Early years provision Requires improvement

appropriate places for children to learn.  Parents who responded to the Ofsted free-text service were very positive about their children’s education in the early years, with one commenting, for example, ‘The last term has been an extremely positive start to school life for my son!’

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School details

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

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.st-marysrc.derbyshire.sch.uk/

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School details

Email address info@st-marysrc.derbyshire.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 6–7 March 2014

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The proportions of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds and those pupils who speak English as an additional language are much lower than the national averages.  The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is higher than average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is in line with the national average.  The school has been receiving formal support brokered by the local authority.  In 2017, the school met the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed lessons in all year groups and examined a wide variety of pupils’ books from a range of subjects. Senior leaders accompanied inspectors on a number of these inspection activities.  Inspectors held a range of meetings with the headteacher and deputy headteacher, subject and other leaders, and a group of governors, including the chair, and held a telephone conversation with a local authority representative. Inspectors spoke with pupils in groups, in lessons and around the school, and listened to them reading.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documents, including minutes of governing body meetings, current assessment information provided by the school, the school improvement plan, self-evaluation information and records relating to safeguarding.  Inspectors took into account the 52 responses to Parent View and the 53 responses to the parent free-text service. There were no responses to Ofsted’s pupil and staff

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Inspection team

Peter Stonier, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Dorothy Stenson 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

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

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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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