St Felix Roman Catholic Primary School, Haverhill

Inspection of a good school: St Felix Roman Catholic Primary School, Haverhill School Lane, Haverhill, Suffolk CB9 9DE

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Outcome

St Felix Roman Catholic Primary School, Haverhill continues to be a good school. However, inspectors have some concerns that standards may be declining, as set out below.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils told me that they like coming to school. They make friends quickly and get along well with each other and with adults. The school celebrates that pupils come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and speak different languages. Pupils learn to treat people equally and with kindness. They work with the local community, for example by visiting a local care home.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. Staff make sure pupils who need help to manage their behaviour get it. Instances of pupils repeating bad behaviour are rare. Pupils know what bullying is. They say teachers deal with it quickly on the few occasions it happens. Pupils feel well cared for and safe in school. They trust staff to help them with any problems.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy learning a range of different subjects. They want to do their best. Usually they concentrate and work hard. However, teachers have not made sure that pupils achieve as well as they should. Leaders have raised teachers’ expectations of what pupils can do. This is helping improve pupils’ achievement in mathematics.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Many pupils relish the opportunities to take part in clubs and trips or take on responsibilities, such being a house captain.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Pupils have not achieved as well as they should have because the quality of subject planning, teaching and assessment has been too patchy. Subject leaders’ and teachers’ expectations of what pupils should know were too low. The executive headteacher and head of school have acted decisively to change this. This has borne fruit in some subjects but there is still more work to do. 18–19 September 2019

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Leaders have made changes to how mathematics is taught. Subject plans now put ideas in a logical order. Teachers make sure pupils are confident with basic ideas before moving on to new learning. Pupils get the chance to recap important facts, such as their times tables. Teachers use assessments to identify what topics they need to teach better. Pupils are making better progress as a result, particularly in key stage 2.

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Pupils told me how teachers encourage them to read at home and in school because it helps learning in all subjects. Staff teach phonics (letters and the sounds they represent) consistently well. They quickly identify pupils who are falling behind and give them the help they need. This has not been the case in the past. Too many pupils in key stage 2 do not have the skills needed to make strong progress in reading. Some teachers do not check that pupils can read and understand unfamiliar words in the books or texts that they read.

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Pupils told me they enjoy science lessons. Subject plans cover what the national curriculum says they should learn. However, the important scientific knowledge which pupils need to remember from one year to the next, and how teachers assess this, is not clear. This means pupils have gaps in knowledge, such as which things living organisms have in common.

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Teachers’ higher expectations of achievement include pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This was not the case in the past, so the progress of pupils with SEND has been variable.

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Almost all pupils pay attention and work hard in lessons. Occasionally, when activities are too easy, or explanations are overly long, pupils become distracted. They quickly get back on task when teachers remind them.

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The school’s caring atmosphere helps pupils think about how their actions affect others. Small acts of kindness are encouraged, as I saw in an assembly that pupils led. Leaders make sure that the most disadvantaged pupils can take part in the full range of trips, clubs and activities too if they want to.

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Governors check that leaders’ actions are helping things improve. Work with the Our Lady of Walsingham Academy Trust, the local authority and other schools helps leaders focus on the right priorities.

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Staff share leaders’ ambition to raise pupils’ achievement. They know change is needed, but this is not made at the expense of their well-being. Staff value the opportunities they have to share ideas and develop teaching. However, subject leaders’ checks have not ensured that teaching and planning help pupils to learn and remember more in all subjects.

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Children make a good start in the early years. They quickly grow in confidence and independence. The curriculum meets children’s learning needs very well. The adults working in early years are knowledgeable about how children learn. They skilfully adapt activities so that they support learning effectively. Children leave ready for learning in Year 1, including in reading, writing and mathematics. 18–19 September 2019

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that staff can recognise the signs that a pupil may be suffering harm. Staff know when and how to pass on any concerns that they have. Leaders pass these on to other agencies when necessary. They follow these up to make sure pupils and their families get any help that they need swiftly.

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Safeguarding

Governors give safeguarding the highest priority. They check regularly on safeguarding procedures. This includes checking whether pupils feel safe and why.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn how to stay safe from harm, including when working online. Pupils who are ‘online leaders’ regularly lead assemblies and workshops on this topic.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The quality of curriculum planning is too variable. In some subjects not enough thought has been given to what pupils need to know first to be able to achieve the final objectives. Leaders need to ensure that each subject identifies the most useful content and how it is ordered so that learning builds on prior knowledge and ensures that pupils acquire the intended knowledge and skills.  Inconsistencies exist in teachers’ choice of activities, including in reading and science. Teachers need to further improve their understanding of what pupils are expected to learn and know each year. Some teachers need more guidance in how to teach topics in different subjects. Leaders need to ensure that subject leaders develop the knowledge and skills needed to check that teaching in their subject is consistently effective.  Assessment is at different stages of development in each subject. It is used well, for

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

example, in mathematics and phonics to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and inform teachers’ planning. In other subjects, such as science, assessment is underdeveloped and does not have a clear rationale or purpose. Leaders should ensure that all subject leaders develop effective assessment systems that enable teachers to plan and adapt sequences of learning, so that pupils make strong progress across the curriculum.  Too many pupils in key stage 2 did not develop the phonic skills needed to read unfamiliar words. Some do not have basic skills and strategies embedded to retrieve, infer or deduce information from texts. Leaders need to ensure that the reading curriculum continues to be adapted to address these gaps in pupils’ reading skills. 18–19 September 2019

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, St Felix Roman Catholic Primary School, Haverhill, to be good on 8 and 9 June 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 18–19 September 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10110253 Type of school Primary

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School details

Headteacher Jill Sandvig (Executive Headteacher) Andi Dodds (Head of School) Website www.stfelixhaverhill.com

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School details

Date of previous inspection 8 and 9 June 2016

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Information about this school

 St Felix Roman Catholic Primary School joined the Our Lady of Walsingham Academy Trust (the trust) in September 2016. The trust has overall responsibility for all aspects of the school’s work. It has delegated some responsibilities.  The executive headteacher and head of school took up their posts in September 2018. This followed a year of interim leadership after the previous headteacher left the school.  The school is an average-sized primary school. It has classes in each year group. In addition, there is one mixed Year 3 and Year 4 class and one mixed Year 5 and Year 6 class.  The majority of pupils are not of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is very high and in the highest 20% of schools nationally.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is lower than in most primary schools. The proportion of pupils with SEND who have an education, health and care plan is much

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Information about this school

lower than the national average and in the lowest 20% of primary schools nationally.  The school is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia. The religious character of the school was inspected under section 48 of the Education Act (2005) on 18–19 September 2019

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20 June 2016 and judged to be outstanding.  The school does not make use of alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 The lead inspector held meetings with the executive headteacher, head of school, early years leader and special educational needs coordinator. The lead inspector also met with members of the local governing body and the trust. He had a telephone conversation with the chief executive officer of the trust.  The subjects that were considered as part of this inspection were reading, mathematics and science. In each subject, inspectors visited lessons, scrutinised pupils’ work (in reading this included listening to pupils read), and held discussions with subject leaders, teachers and pupils.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the lead inspector reviewed school policies, procedures and records. He met with the head of school to discuss her work as designated leader for safeguarding and review examples of the actions taken to keep pupils safe. The inspector also checked staff members’ understanding of how to

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Information about this inspection

keep pupils safe from harm.  The inspector reviewed a range of school policies and documents, including attendance and behaviour records, minutes of local governing body meetings and evaluations of the school’s work.  The 26 responses and free-text comments submitted to Parent View, Ofsted’s online parent questionnaire, were considered. The inspector also spoke to parents before school started on both days of the inspection.  The inspector held meetings with three groups of pupils, when visiting lessons and at other times, such as lunchtime, to gather their views of the school. He analysed the 25 responses to Ofsted’s online pupil survey.  The inspector also considered the 22 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.

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Inspection team

Paul Wilson, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 18–19 September 2019

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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