St Peter's Catholic Primary School

St Peter’s Catholic Primary School Adams Hill, Bartley Green, Birmingham, West Midlands B32 3QD

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders and governors have created a culture of excellence where staff and pupils have high aspirations to be the best that they can be.  Under the expert guidance of the headteacher, leadership is strong in every part of the school. Senior and middle leaders are passionate about researching good practice in teaching, learning assessment and curriculum design across the school.  The quality of teaching is exemplary. Teachers’ subject knowledge is excellent. They use this very effectively to engage and inspire pupils.  Since the last inspection, attainment and progress have risen significantly and are well above the national averages at the end of Year 6. Nearly all pupils make significant and sustained progress across the school.  Different groups of pupils, including pupils who are disadvantaged and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make excellent progress.  Pupils love reading. Outcomes in the phonics

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

screening check have been consistently high and this has helped pupils read unfamiliar words. Pupils have a very good understanding of what they read.  Pupils in all year groups show an impressive zest for learning. They are confident, articulate learners who work very well with others and independently.  The school provides outstanding opportunities for pupils’ personal development and welfare. Pupils are caring, responsible citizens who relish responsibility.  Pupils greatly enjoy a rich and exciting curriculum that promotes plenty of opportunities for visits and trips. It is expertly planned to allow pupils to deepen their knowledge, vocabulary and understanding.  Children get off to a flying start in the excellent early years provision. A very strong emphasis is placed upon learning basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics through well-thought- out learning activities.  Governors are skilled, knowledgeable and

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

supportive, providing an appropriate level of both support and challenge.  Leaders have correctly identified that there are a number of low prior-attaining, disadvantaged boys in Reception who need extra support with their letter and number formation.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Continue to place greater emphasis in the Reception class on ensuring that low prior- attaining, disadvantaged boys improve their letter and number formation.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

 Over time, staff have worked relentlessly, under the expert guidance of the headteacher, to ensure that standards continue to rise. Staff have been supported by experienced colleagues from The Quad (a cluster of four Catholic schools working together), the Teaching School Alliance and the local authority in sharing good practice. Through ensuring consistently strong teaching, leaders have brought about significant improvements. Since the last inspection, pupils have made substantial progress across the curriculum.  The headteacher leads her team from the moral stance of ensuring that there is equality of opportunity for every pupil. Information from assessment is thoroughly analysed in relation to the gaps in learning. This information is used to set rigorous performance management targets for teachers so that pupils continue to make very good sustained progress. Staff thrive under the clarity of her vision, guidance and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

support because expectations are clearly set out.  Leaders have excellent knowledge of the strengths and areas for development of the school. No stone is left unturned. Self-evaluation is accurate and planning for improvement is meticulously undertaken and involves all stakeholders.  The monitoring of teaching and learning is very thorough and any areas for development are readily followed up. Leadership has ensured that teachers are reflective practitioners who think deeply as to how they can consistently improve upon good practice.  The leadership of provision for pupils with SEND is highly effective. Adults receive thorough training and are skilled in supporting pupils who have a range of difficulties. Pupils who need support with managing their feelings learn strategies for demonstrating excellent behaviour. Teachers provide personalised support for pupils because they know their barriers to learning. Consequently, pupils with SEND make

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

very strong progress from their starting points.  Pupil premium funding for disadvantaged pupils is used very effectively to give focused support for pupils’ learning and their social and emotional needs. As a result, the progress and attainment of disadvantaged pupils are well above those of other pupils nationally.  The school uses additional funding for primary physical education (PE) and sport very well. Pupils participate in an extensive and diverse range of clubs and competitive sports, such as ‘kwik-sticks’ hockey and handball. Trips to Hadley Stadium enable pupils to compete with other schools. This has led to an increase in pupil participation in competitive sports and healthy, active lifestyles.  The curriculum is a strength of the school because leaders ensure that all pupils have valuable learning experiences. Termly topics such as ‘Magnificent Mayans’ and ‘The Enchanted Woodland’ bring together aspects of many different subjects, including

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

music and art, and are effective in capturing pupils’ interests and curiosity. Outdoor education, visits, visitors and extra-curricular provision all enrich pupils’ experiences and enable them to deepen their knowledge and understanding. There is a strong focus on learning poetry ‘off by heart’ so that pupils are given opportunities to memorise the vocabulary that they have encountered in the topics studied.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent. British values and the Jesuit values are woven into all learning opportunities.

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Governance of the school

 Governors are extremely proud of their school. Alongside the headteacher and other leaders, they have helped to create the strong ethos and vision for the school and community. Governors are ambitious for all pupils in their school.  They have a very good understanding of school finances, including how the pupil premium for disadvantaged pupils and the primary PE and sports funding are spent.  Governors have a clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. Since the previous inspection, governors and senior leaders have ensured rapid and sustained improvements in the standards that pupils achieve across school.  Governors receive detailed and accurate information from the headteacher and this enables them to ask challenging questions and hold leaders fully to account. They place a strong emphasis on safeguarding. Their training is thorough and up to date.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  Leaders have made sure that all employment checks are in place and in line with statutory requirements. Safeguarding records are thorough and well maintained. All staff and governors receive regular training and updates regarding safeguarding.  Parents say that the school is very safe and they know that staff are very vigilant. Parents know that there are opportunities in the curriculum for their children to learn how to keep themselves safe online. Parents trust leaders to do whatever is in the best interest of the pupils.  All staff have been trained in the ‘Prevent’ duty and the school is very vigilant in ensuring that pupils are kept safe from any forms of radicalisation and extremism. Pupils know about the dangers of belonging to gangs and knife crime.  The designated safeguarding lead responds to any concerns by taking prompt and effective action. The school works closely with other professionals and agencies to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

 Highly effective teaching motivates and inspires pupils to achieve very well. Consequently, pupils make substantial and sustained progress across a range of subjects, including English and mathematics.  Careful monitoring and guidance by senior leaders have ensured that teachers have expert knowledge of pupils to match the learning activities to pupils’ abilities. This, together with teachers’ continuous and effective use of assessment and questioning, enables lessons to flow smoothly and productively.  Very well-thought-out teacher-made resources enable all groups of pupils to concentrate well on learning. In a Year 6 English lesson, pupils were learning how to develop the setting of a story using Marcus Sedgwick’s ‘Floodland’ as a stimulus for writing. The teacher expertly demonstrated how, using flashbacks and flashforwards, pupils could engage the interest of the reader. Using well-thought-out prompts devised

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

by the teacher, pupils were able to enhance the meaning of their poems by using rhyme and rhythm.  The teaching of mathematics is highly effective. For example, in a Year 3 mathematics lesson, the teacher questioned pupils’ understanding of telling the time at quarterly intervals. Pupils were expected to answer with precision and this enabled them to sort out problems based upon time, quickly and effectively.  The highly effective teaching of phonics has ensured that pupils can build words effectively and develop their early reading skills confidently. Teachers promote reading extremely well throughout the school. There is a strong emphasis on reading for enjoyment as well as accuracy. Pupils are avid readers and relish every opportunity to immerse themselves in reading.  Pupils learn and progress exceptionally well across a wide range of subjects in addition to English and mathematics. For example, PE is popular with pupils, and teachers make

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

interesting links between subjects such as art, design technology and geography. This adds interest and develops pupils’ understanding and skills very well. In history, the older pupils debate thought-provoking, big questions, such as: ‘What good has come out of wars?’

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.  Pupils are confident learners who are well equipped for their lessons and settle quickly to their work. Books are neat and tidy. Pupils enjoy helping each other when working together on tasks and activities. They rise very well to challenge, and persevere even when they are finding tasks difficult.  Pupils speak with warmth and pride about their school, saying that it is a safe and happy place where all pupils are valued. ‘Teachers listen to us and constantly ask us what we want to learn and how best we learn’ and ‘They give us courage to do our very best and they help us by breaking learning down into small bits’ were typical comments made by pupils.  Pupils were very clear that instances of bullying are extremely rare and this was confirmed by checking school records. Pupils have received effective teaching on

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Personal development and welfare

bullying, and their understanding of the issues is mature and appropriate.  The outstanding relationships throughout the school are as a direct result of the highly effective implementation of the school’s mission statement of ‘Loved by Jesus, we love, we learn, we live and grow together for Him’.  Pupils are polite and courteous to one another and respect one another’s differences. They show frequent acts of supportive kindness to one another. They understand that pupils with SEND may require some extra assistance and they are always happy to help out.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.  Pupils know the high standards of behaviour expected of them. The school is a very calm, orderly community. In lessons, pupils listen attentively, contribute to discussions confidently and work very hard.  Relationships are excellent. Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding, both in lessons and around school. They are consistently polite to adults and caring towards each other.  Pupils are very proud of their school. The school buildings and grounds are impressively litter free, bright and filled with stimulating resources. Pupils speak positively about how much they enjoy being a part of the school and this is evident in their smart appearance and very good manners.  Leaders and staff provide excellent support for the small number of pupils who demonstrate challenging behaviour. As a result, pupils who have had difficulties in managing their behaviour are gaining a more adult approach to controlling their

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Behaviour

emotions.  Attendance is above the national average because pupils are eager to come to school.  Parents reported unanimously that their children are very happy in school, and that their behaviour in school is commendable.

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Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

 Since the last inspection, pupils’ progress and attainment in reading, writing and mathematics have improved substantially by the end of Year 6. In 2018, pupils’ progress and attainment were significantly above the national average. The school was among the top 3% of schools in England for pupils’ progress. The proportions of pupils working at the higher standard was also well above average.  The attainment of pupils at the end of Year 2 was well above average in reading and mathematics, and above average in writing. The proportions of pupils working at greater depth were above the national average. From their starting points, pupils in key stage 1 made excellent progress.  Work in pupils’ books and assessment information show that pupils continue to make substantial progress from their different starting points, across all year groups and in a range of subjects. Pupils are very well prepared for their next steps as they move

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Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

through the school, and leave Year 6 ready to start their secondary education.  Pupils’ progress in phonics is excellent. The proportion of pupils who reach the required standard in the Year 1 phonics check has been consistently above average for the last three years.  Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND make similarly outstanding progress in all subjects because of tailor-made plans and excellent teaching and support. The small proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language make very strong progress due to the very effective support they are given, which enables them to acquire and become better at English.  The most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are very well provided for. They are presented with work that requires them to demonstrate their mastery of both mathematics and the English language. Work in books shows they are reaching higher than age-related standards in reading, writing and mathematics across the

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Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

school.  Pupils make substantial progress in other subjects, in addition to English and mathematics. In art, pupils demonstrate a wide range of art techniques and creative skills. In history, pupils learn about the cultures and historical events in different countries.

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Early years provision Outstanding

 The newly appointed early years leader is passionate about ensuring that all children achieve their full potential. She has worked relentlessly with her team to make sure that parents are seen as true partners in learning, and that the outdoors is used effectively to develop children’s learning. She and her team use their knowledge of the children and their skills in assessment to adapt the curriculum and devise activities that equip children with the skills they need for learning in Year 1.  Children enter the early years with skills and understanding well below those typical for their age. By the end of the Reception class, the majority of children, including those who are disadvantaged, have caught up and have reached a good level of development. This represents outstanding progress from their starting points.  High expectations and the consistent reinforcement of daily routines in a nurturing

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Early years provision Outstanding

environment establish a firm base for children’s excellent behaviour. They work and play well together, know how to take turns, listen to what other people are saying and cooperate very well with each other.  Staff provide a very wide range of stimulating activities to support learning, both indoors and outdoors. Early mathematics skills are developed in the mud kitchen, parking cars in the correct bays outdoors aids number recognition, and acting out the story of ‘The Naughty Bus’ widens children’s vocabulary. Activities are precisely and effectively targeted towards supporting children’s language, phonics, early mathematics and social and emotional development.  Across the provision, vigilant staff take every opportunity to move children on in their learning by their use of questioning and their modelling of the learning that they wish to see. Nevertheless, there are occasions where insufficient emphasis is placed upon

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Early years provision Outstanding

the letter and number formation of a few low prior-attaining, disadvantaged boys.  The safeguarding procedures in the early years match the effective practice seen across the school. The area is safe and regular risk assessments are carried out. Relationships between children and adults are very warm and children are very well cared for.

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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

Email address enquiry@stpeterc.bham.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 10–11 January 2017

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Information about this school

 St Peter’s Catholic Primary School is a smaller-than-average primary school.  The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged and receive support from the pupil premium is above average.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is above average.  The majority of pupils are White British and smaller proportions are drawn from a number of different ethnic groups. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above average.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed all teachers in lessons, accompanied by the headteacher or a senior leader. Inspectors also observed the transition of pupils to their new classes on the first day of the inspection. They undertook checks on learning and small-group teaching, and observed pupils’ conduct at breaktimes and at lunchtimes.  Inspectors held discussions with senior leaders, middle leaders and class teachers. They also held discussions with the early years leader and the special educational needs coordinator.  The lead inspector met with governors, the head of the Teaching School Alliance and a representative from the Birmingham Education Partnership. A telephone conversation was held with the deputy director of the Birmingham Catholic Diocese.  Inspectors spoke with a large number of pupils informally about their everyday experiences in school. One inspector listened to pupils from Year 1 read and both

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Information about this inspection

inspectors observed pupils reading in lessons.  The inspectors looked at many workbooks during their visits to classrooms and, alongside senior leaders, scrutinised in depth the work done by some pupils during the academic year. They considered a wide range of information about pupils’ current and recent performance. They scrutinised documentation pertaining to senior leaders’ monitoring of teaching and learning, the school development plan, governors’ minutes and documentation relating to use of pupil premium and the primary PE and sports funding.  Inspectors took account of 41 free-text comments sent to inspectors by parents and 44 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire. They also spoke to many parents individually during the course of the two days. Inspectors also considered five staff responses to questionnaires and 40 responses from pupils.  The inspectors looked at a wide range of information pertaining to safeguarding.

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Information about this inspection

 The school’s most recent section 48 inspection for schools with a religious character took place in March 2017.

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Inspection team

B Matusiak-Varley, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Lynda Townsend 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

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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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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