St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School

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

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Mrs Anne Keywood Headteacher St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School Canon Close Maidstone Road Rochester Kent ME1 3EN

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Short inspection of St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 9 May 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 March 2014.

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Short inspection of St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Your strong, skilled and highly effective leadership inspires and motivates staff and pupils. Your determined and ambitious approach has ensured that the school is a place where hard work and positive attitudes are encouraged and valued. As a result, pupils continue to make good progress and achieve well. They develop as well-rounded, responsible individuals. A parent wrote: ‘The headteacher leads the school incredibly well with consistent high standards and expectations which in turn encourage the children to develop this ethos.’ You are supported very effectively by your deputy headteacher and together you make a strong team.

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Short inspection of St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School

You have built a determined team of leaders who share your vision and make a valuable contribution to the school’s improvement. You give staff development a high priority and teachers are motivated to develop and enhance their skills. Your staff work well together as a strong team. They all enjoy working at the school and have confidence in and high regard for your leadership. Teachers ensure that learning typically builds on what pupils know and that, generally, all groups of pupils make good progress. You have effective arrangements in place to support pupils who may be falling behind in their learning, and for those pupils who may struggle in their emotional and social development.

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Short inspection of St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School

Parents are extremely positive and supportive of the school. The evidence from this inspection wholeheartedly supports the comment of one parent, which echoed the views of many: ‘The school is managed exceptionally well by Mrs Keywood and her dedicated and professional team. The teachers’ passion and enthusiasm shines through and really shows in the children's learning. Partnership with parents is also very strong and our views are regularly sought and acted upon. It is an inclusive and diverse school which presents all faiths in a positive way and values every child as unique.’

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Short inspection of St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School

Pupils enjoy coming to school and attendance is above the national average. Pupils want to do well, work hard and thrive in the calm, orderly and aspirational environment. Pupils are polite, friendly, well behaved and respectful towards each other and adults. There is a strong sense of belonging to the school community. As one parent confirmed: ‘There is a great sense of pride in being a part of the school community from pupils, leaders, teachers and parents alike.’ The school’s Christian character, values and ethos permeate all aspects of the school’s work and are evident in the way pupils support and care for each other.

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Short inspection of St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School

You took decisive and successful action to tackle the previous inspection’s areas for improvement. For example, in 2017, the proportion of Year 6 pupils who achieved the expected standard or greater depth in writing was above that found nationally. You and your governors have an accurate view of the school’s current performance and the priorities for further development. The curriculum is broad and balanced and successfully enthuses pupils to learn. You are rightly aware that there is scope to provide even more creative learning opportunities within your curriculum. These will give pupils memorable learning experiences and ensure that all groups achieve their very best.

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Short inspection of St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School

The leadership team’s monitoring ensures that you have an accurate view of the strengths in teaching and learning across the school. Your coaching and mentoring approach delivers effective support where any weaknesses are identified, so that improvement is secured. Staff welcome this strong, supportive teamwork and feel encouraged to develop their skills and expertise.

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Short inspection of St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School

Pupils are safe and well cared for and their well-being is given the highest priority. There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. Pupils are diligent in ensuring that their own conduct keeps them and others safe. This is evident, for example, in the way they enter school at the start of the day and move around the school. It is also observed in their behaviour in the playground, where they look out for each other. Pupils were keen to share their knowledge about keeping safe on the internet from a recent special event, when older pupils actively promoted safe practice to younger pupils.

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Short inspection of St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School

You and your leadership team have ensured that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Staff receive regular training and they know that it is everyone’s responsibility to keep pupils safe. There are clear procedures which staff follow if they have a concern. The school’s good links with other agencies enable pupils and their families to receive appropriate and timely support, when needed.

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Short inspection of St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School

Pupils said that they feel safe in school and that staff are approachable and will help them if they have any problems. All of the staff, and all of the parents who responded to the Ofsted’s online questionnaire Parent View, agree that pupils are kept safe in school. One parent commented that children, ‘Love going everyday as they feel safe and cared for.’

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Inspection findings

 At the start of the inspection, we agreed to focus on: pupils’ progress in mathematics and writing; how well the curriculum supports the learning of all groups; children’s progress in early years; and the effectiveness of safeguarding.  Mathematics has been a major focus for the whole school. The deputy headteacher provides strong leadership in the subject and forges improvement. Actions to improve pupils’ achievement in mathematics have successfully strengthened their mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills, which were the areas holding them back. In the mathematics lessons that we observed together, and in their books, we saw that pupils are increasingly able to show and explain their thinking and are developing a deeper understanding. You are correctly continuing to focus on further increasing the proportion of pupils who are working at the higher standard in mathematics.  Teachers make sure that pupils have many opportunities to write in different

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Inspection findings

styles for different purposes. Teachers model writing and show pupils how to improve their work. Pupils use their spelling and grammar skills effectively and the new handwriting policy is helping them to present their work neatly. Pupils say they enjoy writing and particularly like work that is linked to the high-quality and motivating class texts. Pupils are developing their awareness of the choices that authors make about styles of writing and vocabulary and the effects of these. This is having a positive impact on their own writing. Pupils’ books show clear and rapid progress.  The curriculum is well planned and incorporates termly topics. An extensive range of performing arts and sports events, educational visits and clubs add breadth to learning for all pupils. We agreed that there is scope to build further creative learning opportunities into the curriculum. Increasing these would have even greater impact on the depth of pupils’ knowledge and understanding.

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Inspection findings

 Children generally start in early years with skills and knowledge that are typical for their age. They mostly make good progress in all areas of learning. The proportion of children who achieve a good level of development is usually above that found nationally. In 2017, however, the proportion dipped to slightly below the national figure. This was as a result of some change in staffing. Children currently in Reception are making good progress overall and are clearly on track to achieve stronger outcomes by the end of the year. The aspects of learning in which children had the lowest starting points, this year, show that this cohort are making rapid progress. These areas include reading, shape, space and measure and the development of self-confidence and self-awareness.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 the curriculum includes more creative and challenging activities to deepen pupils’ knowledge and understanding and practice core skills.

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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 Southwark, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Medway. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I met with you and your deputy headteacher and with other leaders in the school. I also met with members of the governing body and the local authority’s senior adviser. You and the deputy headteacher accompanied me on visits to classes. During these visits, I spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at their work. I observed pupils arriving at school in the morning and in the playground and asked them for their views on the school. I reviewed the school’s website and sampled a range of documents and records including: information about pupils’ achievement; the school’s development plan; and documents related to safeguarding. We discussed your evaluation of the school’s effectiveness. I took into account 97 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, including 47 free-text comments and spoke to some parents at the start of the school day. I also considered 17 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.

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