Our Lady and St John's Catholic Primary School

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

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Mrs Sue Cunningham Our Lady and St John’s Catholic Primary School Boston Park Road Brentford Middlesex TW8 9JF

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Short inspection of Our Lady and St John’s Catholic Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 9 October 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 October 2014.

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Short inspection of Our Lady and St John’s Catholic Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Our Lady and St John’s Catholic Primary School

Leaders have accurately identified areas for improvement and put in place appropriate actions to address these. Since joining the school as headteacher in June 2018, you have continued this work. The school has a strong leadership team which has high expectations of staff and pupils. The school has a strong community ethos where leaders know pupils and their families well. Parents, carers and staff express great confidence in the school’s leadership.

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Short inspection of Our Lady and St John’s Catholic Primary School

Pupils look after one another and take their responsibilities seriously. The school’s governing body has grown in number over the last year, and is led well by the chair of governors. Governors have a good understanding of the school’s priorities. They provide effective support and challenge through their questioning, their analysis of information and their visits to school. They share leaders’ high expectations.

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Short inspection of Our Lady and St John’s Catholic Primary School

Leaders have prioritised the areas for improvement identified in the last inspection. The quality of provision in the early years has improved and is now a locally recognised model of good practice. My observations of children’s learning and their work confirm this. Children’s progress is checked regularly so that they receive the right support to learn and develop appropriately for their age.

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Short inspection of Our Lady and St John’s Catholic Primary School

Leaders have focused on improving the quality of teaching to further improve the rate of pupils’ progress across the school. This is demonstrated by the increased proportions of pupils reaching the expected and greater-depth standards at the end of key stages 1 and 2. The quality of teaching is now stronger across the school.

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Short inspection of Our Lady and St John’s Catholic Primary School

Leaders have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are effective. Staff understand the systems and processes for reporting concerns. Designated safeguarding leads escalate concerns appropriately. The school works well with external agencies to support their safeguarding work.

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Short inspection of Our Lady and St John’s Catholic Primary School

Staff are provided with regular training which keeps them updated with the latest statutory guidance. Leaders have considered changes in local risks, and prepared staff for these.

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Short inspection of Our Lady and St John’s Catholic Primary School

Governors have a good oversight and understanding of the school’s safeguarding arrangements. The chair of governors has responsibility for safeguarding and regularly monitors arrangements, including pre-employment checks. The school has conducted an externally led audit to ensure that processes are effective.

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Short inspection of Our Lady and St John’s Catholic Primary School

Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe and are clear that they feel safe in school. The curriculum supports this well. Pupils I spoke to have a good understanding of how to use the internet safely and how to report a safety concern. The curriculum provides good opportunities for exploring different cultures and fostering mutual respect, which pupils and staff say promotes a culture of inclusion.

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Inspection findings

 I focused on three key lines of enquiry to confirm that the school remains good. Firstly, I considered how well leaders’ actions have improved the teaching of writing so that pupils are challenged to produce higher-quality written work. This was an area for improvement in the previous inspection.  Leaders ensure that pupils have a range of opportunities to practise their writing across the curriculum. For example, pupils write explanations and reports in science and religious education. Leaders expect that the quality of writing must be at the same high standard as in literacy tasks. This is evident in pupils’ books and work on display.  Teachers make good links between high-quality reading texts and writing tasks. These are often linked to a theme or topic so that pupils can draw on content that results in writing of a rich quality. Pupils that I observed are motivated by this approach. Teachers have high expectations of the vocabulary and grammar

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Inspection findings

in pupils’ writing. They use good subject knowledge to identify a range of opportunities for teaching these skills. This was a common feature of lessons I saw.  Useful feedback from adults helps pupils to know how to improve the quality of their writing, and pupils understand this process well. Pupils showed me examples of how this has helped them. They learn to edit their work with the support of clear guidance, and often with their peers. This has ensured that they have a sense of ownership of the writing process, and this motivates them to improve their work. Leadership in English has strong subject and pedagogy knowledge, which supports teachers’ professional development. This has ensured a consistency of approach across the school.  Improving the quality of pupils’ writing has been a priority of leaders’ work. Leaders have set high expectations and have provided staff with helpful training. Where teaching is particularly skilled, you have shared this good practice.

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Inspection findings

Through clear and timely guidance, pupils know how to improve their work. Teachers have provided good models through their teaching and the use of high- quality texts. Pupils are motivated to write well because they know how to succeed and enjoy what they write about.  Secondly, I considered how well teachers ensure that pupils with middle prior attainment at the end of key stage 1 make progress across key stage 2. This is so that they reach the expected standard by the end of Year 6. In past years, this group of pupils has not always made progress in line with other pupils, especially in reading. Leaders identified this as an area for improvement.  Teachers are provided with assessment information which gives them a greater awareness of who the pupils with middle prior attainment are. Leaders track the progress of this group carefully, and set ambitious targets for their progress. Teachers use strategies for teaching reading that ensure that all pupils are

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Inspection findings

exposed to high-quality texts. Learning is pitched at a high, but manageable, level. Teachers focus on the development of language, and analyse and discuss texts skilfully. Targeted interventions promote pupils’ comprehension skills and help pupils to develop their love of reading. Pupils in this attainment group talk enthusiastically about reading, and recognise that the skills and knowledge they develop also support improvements in their writing.  Teachers are building their confidence to use new strategies to teach reading. However, the quality of teaching of reading is not yet strong across all classes. While there is evidence that the progress in reading of pupils in this group is improving, this has not yet impacted consistently on the progress they make by the end of key stage 2.  Thirdly, I considered how well teachers support pupils eligible for the pupil premium to catch up with their peers. Many of these pupils have additional

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Inspection findings

needs, including special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities, or are new to learning English. A number of these pupils make less progress than their peers by the time they reach the end of key stage 2.  Leaders and teachers have a growing understanding of the needs of these pupils, and teaching time in most lessons targets their needs well. Pupils have positive attitudes to their learning and, with adult support, have developed learning strategies that help them to improve their progress. Pupils explained to me how their teachers’ feedback to them helps them to improve their work. Adults observed in lessons knew when to provide support and when to step back. Teachers have high expectations for these pupils. Many pupils are targeted to achieve the greater-depth standard. To help pupils make strong progress, teachers break down learning into small steps, which pupils find helpful.  Leaders have implemented a range of interventions that have had a positive

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Inspection findings

impact on pupils’ learning in this group. For example, teaching some concepts and vocabulary discretely to this group of pupils gives them the opportunity to make progress in line with other pupils. However, improvements in teaching for these pupils have not yet impacted consistently on the progress they make by the end of key stage 2.

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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 impact of strategies for the teaching of reading continues to be monitored closely to ensure that, by the end of key stage 2, pupils make the progress they should  teachers meet the specific needs of pupils eligible for the pupil premium, pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and pupils who speak English as an additional language so that the gaps in progress and attainment between these pupils and others close.

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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 Westminster, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Hounslow. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I held meetings with leaders, including governors, to discuss their evaluation of the school’s effectiveness and its improvement plans. I considered documentation provided by you and information on the school’s website. All classes were visited together with the headteacher or deputy headteacher. Pupils’ books were also reviewed. I spoke to pupils about their learning during my visits to classrooms and in the playground. I also met with a group of pupils from key stages 1 and 2. The 66 responses to Ofsted’s survey for pupils, the 68 responses to Parent View and the 20 responses to Ofsted’s survey for staff were taken into account.

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