Holy Family Catholic Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Grainne Griffiths Headteacher Holy Family Catholic Primary School Penny Park Lane Coventry West Midlands CV6 2GU

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Short inspection of Holy Family Catholic Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 9 March 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in November 2013.

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Short inspection of Holy Family Catholic Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have inspired your school community and as a result, pupils thrive, achieve well and enjoy their learning. Your leadership team is well informed and passionate about the school. You say in your school vision statement that you ‘try to create an atmosphere of welcome, compassion and acceptance to all who enter our school’. You have achieved this aim and you are not complacent. You have ambitious expectations for each pupil and each member of staff. You and your team are role models of good practice for the staff. Teachers are dedicated, committed and ambitious for the pupils. Your governing body is a strength of the school. Governors are well trained and informed. They support you and hold you and your staff to account. They have a depth of relevant experience and are proud of the school and ambitious for its future.

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Short inspection of Holy Family Catholic Primary School

In every lesson I visited, the dedication of the staff to the learning of your pupils was clearly evident. Books are of a high quality and pupils are proud of what they do. Displays are imaginative and thoughtful, showing pupils what they have learned and helping them become curious about reading, writing and mathematics. You have a well-stocked library at the front of the school, which makes it easy for pupils to browse more frequently, talk about their books and enjoy reading.

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Short inspection of Holy Family Catholic Primary School

At the heart of the school is what you call a ‘sacred space’, for pupils to have a quiet moment or to pray. Outside, you have plenty of play areas that invite pupils to use their imagination and take part in construction activities. You even have a yurt next to the playground where pupils can go at break-times if they want to spend some time quietly and safely, listening to music, talking and playing team games. Pupils told me how proud they were of attending the school. One said, ‘It’s fine to make a mistake here. The teachers reassure you. That’s how you get even better.’

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Short inspection of Holy Family Catholic Primary School

Parents are also pleased with the education their children receive. Typical of the comments in Parent View was this one: ‘I can see how much both of my children love this school and how much of a positive difference the school makes in their lives.’ The school is oversubscribed because you have built and maintained a positive reputation in the local community.

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Short inspection of Holy Family Catholic Primary School

You have secured improvements since the last inspection, when you were asked to attend to a number of issues. For example, you were asked to make sure that all teachers react promptly in lessons to pupils’ errors and misunderstandings, especially in mathematics. This is now much improved. I saw, in pupils’ books and during lessons, teachers quickly helping pupils when they encountered difficulty. This has been particularly successful with pupils who have special education needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. These pupils’ progress throughout the school is good because teachers’ plans and resources help them overcome errors in their work. You have reviewed the way you teach mathematics and improved the way your teachers help pupils with problem solving and mathematical reasoning. As a result, pupils in all year groups make good progress in mathematics.

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Short inspection of Holy Family Catholic Primary School

You were also asked to challenge more able pupils by giving them harder, more open-ended work, and you have had success here for most pupils through improving levels of challenge. But higher ability disadvantaged pupils made less good progress in reading and we addressed this in our discussions. Current pupils are now doing much better, enjoying their reading and reading more widely.

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Short inspection of Holy Family Catholic Primary School

You were also asked to maximise the time pupils in all lessons spend working independently. I saw pupils right through the school taking up opportunities to work without direct instruction by teachers. For example, pupils said that they found homework to be generally helpful and regularly set. This enables them to think for themselves and to ask for help when they need it.

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Short inspection of Holy Family Catholic Primary School

Safeguarding is effective. Your safeguarding policies are fit for purpose. Staff use them to identify any early signs that they need to intervene and get help for pupils at risk of harm. You work with other agencies in Coventry to make sure that the school offers high quality care and support to all your pupils. You train your staff well. Staff say that they know how to make referrals in a timely manner. Your staff take great care in their planning and teaching to keep children safe. Pupils say they feel safe. They know who they would go to if they had a problem. They say there is no bullying at the school, but if there was, they are confident it would be dealt with well. You help pupils learn about life in modern Britain and pupils learn throughout the school what it means to have rights and responsibilities.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils in key stage 2 did well in their writing and mathematics tests in 2017, making good progress. Pupils also did well in their assessments at the end of key stage 1, where a much higher proportion than the national average achieved at least the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics. More pupils than the national average achieved the expected standard in phonics.  You were disappointed with the progress made by disadvantaged pupils in reading. We made this a focus for the inspection. You told me how thoroughly you have analysed each pupil’s test scores and demonstrated that you know the reasons for each child’s reading test score. This year, you reinforced the work you do to promote pupils’ reading throughout the school. As a result, pupils are now making better progress. You have set challenging targets for each pupil and this reflects the high ambitions and expectations you have for pupil

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Inspection findings

progress.  I saw high quality imaginative play in the Reception and Nursery classes, with pupils learning how to make sense of basic letter shapes. They enjoy the challenges that teachers set them and proudly talk about the stories teachers read with them. Children are well prepared for reading demands as they get older.  In Years 1 and 2, pupils are now asked to read even more demanding books and they are carefully guided on how to make sense of new and unfamiliar words. Pupils enjoy this and have no fear about making mistakes. You make a virtue out of being brave enough to try difficult work. Pupils say that they feel encouraged and supported when they don’t get word meanings or sounds correct first time. This is part of your whole school ethos. You want pupils to be curious about new knowledge and I could see how this was reflected in their books, and their talk about reading.  In Years 3, 4, 5 and 6, you have now reviewed the reading skills required by all

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Inspection findings

pupils. You have increased the levels of challenge and pupils are now making progress more quickly. You have supported disadvantaged pupils’ reading by carefully choosing books for them that are of interest to them and improve their skills of inference and comprehension. You want to make it even more clear to pupils what skills they have acquired so they have a secure idea of what they have achieved and what they need to improve next. Your teachers are skilled at discussing reading with their pupils.  Another area we focused on was pupils’ attendance. In particular, the attendance of pupils with SEN and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils. This was not as good as you wanted last year. It is now much improved. This is because you have worked closely with the local authority and give regular support to families. You have provided sharper targets for speedily improving pupils’ attendance where it is too low.

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Inspection findings

 Most pupils’ attendance is high. This is because pupils enjoy coming to school, they enjoy achieving and they have excellent relationships with your staff. Teachers are exceptionally caring. You have a learning mentor who works effectively with many parents and pupils. Your record keeping enables you to see early on which pupils are at risk of having poor attendance and take appropriate action. Pupils’ punctuality and readiness for learning is good throughout the school.  Your commitment to social, moral, spiritual and cultural education makes the school a welcoming and secure place. Pupils told me how much they have learned about a range of different faiths and traditions. They spoke of assemblies and lessons when they learn to respect one another and people who come from a heritage different to their own. Without exception, the pupils I spoke with were proud of their school and of one another.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that they:

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Next steps for the school

 secure and sustain rapid improvements in the progress that disadvantaged pupils make in reading  ensure attendance continues to rise for disadvantaged pupils and for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Archdiocese of Birmingham, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Coventry. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I carried out the following activities: a scrutiny of the single central record of recruitment checks and a scrutiny of other documents relating to safeguarding and child protection. I conducted a review of the school’s safeguarding policy and other policies relating to governance, pupil behaviour and attendance. I held meetings with the headteacher and other senior leaders and members of the governing body. I completed a review of the school’s self-evaluation documents and improvement plans. I undertook observations of learning across the school, and work analysis in each lesson of pupils’ writing, mathematics and the wider curriculum. I conducted observations of pupils in a range of situations, including at break and lunchtime. I held discussions with a group of pupils and with pupils in lessons. I listened to pupils read in their lessons. I completed a scrutiny of 51 parent responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, as well 30 free-

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Information about the inspection

text responses from parents, 25 responses to the pupil questionnaire and 28 responses to the staff questionnaire.

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