St Anne's Catholic Primary School

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

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Mrs Catherine Davis Headteacher St Anne’s Catholic Primary School 6 Durham Street London SE11 5JA

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Short inspection of St Anne’s Catholic Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 22 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 November 2013.

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Short inspection of St Anne’s Catholic Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have focused on improving the teaching of English, especially reading. This is because you identified that outcomes in reading, although improving across the school, need to be stronger for some groups.

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Short inspection of St Anne’s Catholic Primary School

Governors and senior leaders are clear about the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. The school has rightly focused on developing the teaching of reading in this year’s improvement plan. Leaders have taken a range of appropriate actions, including training for staff, and, as a result, staff and pupils talk confidently about the improvements they have made. You and your team regularly check the progress of pupils and support staff by completing an analysis of gaps in pupils’ understanding. You use this information effectively, providing pupils with additional support that helps them maintain good progress.

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Short inspection of St Anne’s Catholic Primary School

You are developing leadership at all levels. You work with senior and middle leaders to help them understand their roles and responsibilities. Where middle leaders are new to their role, they have the opportunity to work alongside more experienced colleagues.

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Short inspection of St Anne’s Catholic Primary School

Pupils are engaged and focused on their learning. They are confident, and approach lessons with commitment and enthusiasm. They learn in a calm, friendly atmosphere. The school is a positive and welcoming place, where staff and pupils demonstrate respect for each other. Staff are proud to work at the school. Safeguarding is effective.

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Short inspection of St Anne’s Catholic Primary School

Records related to safeguarding are detailed and accurate. The designated safeguarding lead works effectively with other staff and external agencies. Staff are knowledgeable about safeguarding because training takes place regularly, including on the ‘Prevent’ duty.

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Short inspection of St Anne’s Catholic Primary School

Pupils feel safe in the school, and are clear about whom they can approach if they have any concerns or problems. They understand how to keep themselves safe, including online. Pupils articulate threats to their safety outside of school, but talk confidently about how to stay safe and when to seek adult support.

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Short inspection of St Anne’s Catholic Primary School

Pupils, parents, carers and staff consider this to be a safe, happy and welcoming school, where bullying is rare and concerns about a pupil’s well-being are dealt with effectively. Parents are positive about the school, and the majority say their children enjoy school and that they would recommend the school to others.

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Inspection findings

 Key stage 2 outcomes in 2017 indicate that middle-ability pupils do not make the same rates of progress in reading as their peers. We agreed, therefore, that the progress of this group of pupils across key stage 2, particularly in reading, would be our first line of enquiry for the inspection.

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Inspection findings

 Our visits to key stage 2 lessons confirmed that teachers demonstrate strong subject knowledge. The teaching of reading is lively and engaging. Teachers include a range of strategies that leaders have identified as effective, for example whole-class reading sessions. Teachers’ application of these strategies has resulted in clear evidence of improvement in pupils’ reading. Middle-ability pupils now read a wide range of challenging texts, and enjoy reading. As a result, more pupils are making good progress towards their end-of-year targets.  Teachers use effective questioning to check pupils’ understanding of what they have read. Although middle-ability pupils are able to read texts fluently, at times they do not always demonstrate full understanding of what they are reading. Teachers address this through their use of questioning in whole-class and small- group sessions. However, some pupils need further support in tackling

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Inspection findings

comprehension activities.  Since the last inspection, leaders have prioritised improving outcomes for disadvantaged pupils, particularly in reading. The use of pupil premium funding to tackle this concern has been an area of focus for the school. Because of this, it was the second line of enquiry for the inspection.  Leaders have planned and implemented a wide range of strategies to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. As a result, disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes are improving. Booster groups funded by the pupil premium grant have secured strong progress for identified pupils, particularly in reading. The school’s assessment information shows an increase in the number of disadvantaged pupils who are on track to achieve their end-of-year targets in English.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders demonstrate the impact of the funding most effectively where their strategies are clear and evidenced based. Improvements can be seen in interventions, which include teacher-led reading ‘catch-up’ groups which focus on increasing pupils’ comprehension skills.  Our third line of enquiry looked closely at how leaders ensure that pupils are safe in the school, including improving pupils’ attendance for those who are persistently absent.  Pupils’ overall attendance is better than the national average. However, last year the level of persistent absence was higher than the national average. Leaders have subsequently taken effective action to improve the attendance of this group of pupils. They have emphasised the importance of regular attendance, and work closely with the local authority to enable additional support for pupils who are persistently absent.  Governors play an important role in holding leaders to account to ensure

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Inspection findings

improvement in attendance. They ensure that leaders analyse attendance information rigorously, and take effective action where needed, particularly when pupils are persistently absent.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that they:  further develop the teaching of reading to address specific areas of difficulty for pupils, especially middle-ability pupils, to improve their comprehension skills  analyse and evaluate attendance information rigorously, in order to further reduce rates of persistent absence.

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Next steps for the school

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

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Information about the inspection

 The inspector visited lessons to observe learning jointly with members of the school’s senior leadership team.  While in lessons, the inspector reviewed pupils’ work and discussed their learning with them.  The inspector listened to pupils read.  The inspector held meetings with a variety of leaders, staff, pupils and governors in order to explore the key lines of enquiry and the progress made by the school since the last inspection.  The inspector spoke to a representative of the local authority.  The inspector reviewed documentation, including leaders’ evaluation of the school’s performance, improvement plans and a variety of safeguarding documentation.  The inspector evaluated the views of 12 parents who completed Parent View, of 49 pupils who completed Ofsted’s pupil survey and of 39 staff who completed the staff questionnaire.

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