St Osburg's Catholic Primary School

Inspection of a good school: St Osburg’s Catholic Primary School Upper Hill Street, Coventry, West Midlands CV1 4AP

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Outcome

St Osburg’s Catholic Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of their school and learn a lot. They do well in a wide range of subjects, including sport and music. Pupils enter local competitions and gain success in these. This helps them to grow in confidence and have high aspirations for what they can achieve.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils get on well with each other and with staff. They talk to visitors in a mature and confident way. Behaviour around the school is excellent. Pupils know that bullying of any sort is unacceptable and that teachers would stop it if it happened. They feel safe in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take part in a wide range of activities, for example visiting a Roman fort and dressing as a Roman soldier. Pupils also visited the ‘Knife Angel’, a statue made of confiscated knives, when it visited Coventry. This enabled pupils to discuss the dangers of gangs, and consider risks present in the wider community. Pupils also take part in community events and carry out important jobs around the school. They are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations of pupils. The school is inclusive and provides excellent guidance for families who need extra support.

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

There is expert oversight of the youngest children, who are well cared for. The early years classes are well organised, and children learn well inside and outside of the classroom. Consistent routines ensure that children settle at the start of the year and behave well. They are well prepared for learning in Year 1.

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

The school succeeds at teaching pupils to read. Phonics lessons start in Nursery, and reading has a high priority throughout the school. Most pupils are reading fluently by the time they are in Year 3. Pupils who need extra support get help from well-trained staff. A ‘bedtime box’, where pupils take home a box with a book, hot chocolate and a blanket in, 30–31 October 2019

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encourages parents to read bedtime stories to their children. Pupils speak positively about their enjoyment of books. Some of the books that pupils take home to read are not always matched to the sounds they already know. This hinders pupils being able to practise the phonics learned in school.

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In other subjects, such as mathematics, teachers know what pupils should learn and when. They match teaching and support to pupils’ different abilities. More able pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well catered for. Work makes pupils think, and they know their next steps in learning. Pupils weigh and measure ingredients as part of a bake-off challenge. This enables pupils to apply mathematics to real-life tasks.

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In history, lessons are interesting. Pupils are beginning to know some famous people from the past. Pupils debate and discuss as part of their lessons. They use different information sources from the past to learn about their topics. In contrast to other subjects, some of the historical knowledge and skills that teachers want pupils to remember is not retained. This is because there is not a clear system for checking what pupils know more of and can do more of. Staff know there is some fine-tuning to do and are also looking at ways to strengthen geography.

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The school is very well and effectively led. A focus on staff well-being and workload has strengthened the team. Staff are proud to work at the school. They enjoy coming to work as they say the school has a ‘cheerful feel’ to it.

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Parents say good things about the school. They say they are particularly pleased with the care, guidance and support the school gives to both their children and their families. This nurturing ethos is a strength of the school. The school is an oasis of learning and care within the city centre.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Pupils’ welfare is leaders’ top priority. Leaders train staff so they know what to do if they have concerns about pupils’ well-being or safety. Staff and leaders are swift to act when they have concerns.

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Safeguarding

The school works well with other organisations to support pupils, and their families, to get the help they need.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and governors check that staff are suitable before they begin work at the school.

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Safeguarding

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe and learn about water safety and the dangers surrounding railway lines. 30–31 October 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In history and geography, pupils are taught the right things. However, the way they are taught and assessed means that the subject knowledge pupils should know is often not remembered over a longer period of time. Leaders need to ensure that pupils remember what they have learned in history and geography in order to build on this knowledge in the future.  Pupils are taught to read well. However, the fact that pupils do not take home books that are carefully matched to the sounds they know hinders their ability to practise their sounds. Leaders should ensure that the reading resources available to pupils are matched carefully to their reading and phonics skills.

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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 second section 8 inspection since we judged St Osburg’s Catholic Primary School to be a good school.

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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. 30–31 October 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10111809 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 1 March 2016

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Information about this inspection

 During the inspection, the inspector focused on the following subjects: reading, mathematics and history. The inspector visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work, examined teachers’ plans and talked with pupils and staff about the way these subjects are planned and taught. The inspector also looked at work from some other subjects in less detail and spoke with pupils, staff and parents about the school curriculum.  The inspector examined external performance data about the school and looked at the school’s website.  The inspector talked to pupils, staff, leaders, parents and governors about safeguarding arrangements and routines at the school. They examined the record of employment checks on school staff.  The inspector watched pupils’ behaviour in class and at other times during the day and spoke to parents, staff and pupils about behaviour.  During the inspection, the inspector had formal meetings with the headteacher, deputy

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Information about this inspection

headteacher, subject leaders, the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo), 30–31 October 2019

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governors, teachers, the school’s learning mentors and pupils. The inspector also talked informally with pupils and parents to gather information about school life. The inspector had a short conversation with a local authority education adviser and with an adviser from the archdiocese.  By the end of the inspection, there were 26 recent responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. The inspector considered these and looked at the 23 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for staff.

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Inspection team

Heather Phillips, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 30–31 October 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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