The Rosary Catholic Primary School

Inspection of a good school: The Rosary Catholic Primary School Bridge Road, Saltley, Birmingham, West Midlands B8 3SF

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Outcome

The Rosary Catholic Primary School 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?

The school’s Catholic values are the heart of the school’s work. Pupils generally behave well, feel valued and are happy at the school. They want to learn and work together to help each other. They know what bullying is and say that adults help them when they have concerns. The school deals well with bullying if it does occur.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and teachers do not always have high enough expectations of what pupils can achieve. Curriculum plans are not detailed enough to ensure that teachers know what skills to teach. Some teachers lack the necessary subject knowledge to help pupils to achieve. Pupils sometimes find their work too easy or too hard.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are safe in the school and know how to keep themselves safe. Year 6 pupils have a good understanding of internet safety. They talked about making sure their parents knew how to add parental locks to their online devices at home. They know how to check if a website is safe and how to report their concerns online.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils attend a lot of after-school clubs. These include archery, Gaelic football, badminton and a running club. Pupils get the opportunity to take part in competitions with other schools.

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

Adults in the early years help the children to settle well. Children play and learn alongside each other well and enjoy their learning. Children begin learning phonics as soon as they start school. Teachers teach the same sounds to all the children at the same time. This means that some children do not get enough practice at the sounds they are not confident with. Others do not move on to new sounds quickly enough. Children enjoy listening to their teacher read stories every day. This is helping them to learn more words. Teaching assistants provide support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities 19–20 November 2019

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(SEND) in the early years. They encourage pupils to join in with activities and help them to develop their communication, language and number skills.

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Leaders understand what pupils should know at each stage of the phonics programme. But they do not make the right checks to ensure that pupils are learning the right sounds for their age, especially across Year 1. All staff have received training on how to deliver phonics. They do not, though, routinely use this training to find out the sounds the pupils can and cannot say well enough. Pupils are therefore not always taught at the right level. As a result, some pupils end up learning sounds that are too easy for them. Other pupils struggle with sounds that are too hard. Pupils therefore fall behind and do not gain the skills needed to become fluent readers by the time they leave Year 2.

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Leaders have introduced plans for teaching computing, reading and writing. These plans do not sequence the knowledge and skills that pupils need to learn over time, so teachers are not always clear enough about the skills pupils should learn in lessons. In some lessons, pupils carry out tasks without enough understanding and start to fall behind.

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Teachers’ subject knowledge is sometimes not strong enough. They do not always know the curriculum content well enough to teach the key skills across a range of subjects. This means that in some lessons pupils are not taught as well as they could be. Teachers do not always identify when pupils are struggling or are ready to move on to the next task. Consequently, some pupils fall behind. In particular, in key stage 1, teachers do not support those pupils who cannot write well enough to improve their writing skills. These pupils are often left trying to write independently when they do not understand how to write a simple sentence.

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The SEND leader has worked with teachers to ensure that pupils with SEND have individual targets to meet their specific needs. However, teachers do not consistently use these targets to help pupils in lessons. Too many pupils do not acquire the knowledge and skills they need to learn well across the curriculum.

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The headteacher ensures that staff workload is taken into consideration when introducing initiatives. She has involved the staff in reviewing and reducing workload burdens. Staff feel well supported by the headteacher and other senior leaders.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and staff know their pupils and families well. They understand the challenges in the local community. Staff and governors receive regular training and know how to keep pupils safe. Leaders make appropriate referrals when they have concerns about a pupil’s safety. They share information and work with other agencies to secure the necessary support for pupils and their families. Leaders carry out the right checks on all staff, governors and volunteers to ensure that they are suitable to work with children. 19–20 November 2019

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Phonics is not planned or taught well enough. As a result, pupils are not able to decode simple words and the weakest readers continue to read at a level not appropriate for their age. Leaders need to ensure that the phonics scheme and programme are planned in sufficient detail so that all teachers support pupils, especially those with SEND, to read at a level appropriate to their age.  Subjects leaders do not ensure that planning is sequenced and focuses well enough on what they want pupils to learn. As a result, teachers are not clear enough about what to teach. Leaders need to ensure that that the curriculum plans for all subjects show teachers the skills and knowledge the pupils need to learn. Teachers need to use these plans to ensure that their teaching builds on the key skills and knowledge pupils need to achieve.  Pupils with SEND do not always get the support that they need in lessons. This means

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

they often struggle with their work and find it too hard. Leaders need to check that teachers adapt the curriculum so that pupils with SEND can achieve and become successful learners.  Not all teachers’ subject knowledge is strong. In some lessons, teachers do not know the knowledge and skills they are teaching well enough and pupils’ misconceptions are not spotted and addressed. In particular, teachers do not have a secure grasp of how to help pupils develop their writing skills. As a result, pupils writing is not improving well enough. Leaders should ensure that staff receive the training they need to improve their practice.

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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 The Rosary Catholic Primary School to be good on 14-15 March 2011. 19–20 November 2019

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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. 19–20 November 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10111769 Type of school Primary

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provision

Appropriate authority The governing body

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provision

Date of previous inspection 26 January 2016

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Information about this school

 The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language has risen to above the national average.

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Information about this inspection

 I met with a representative from the diocese and spoke to a representative from Birmingham Education Partnership and the school improvement advisor over the phone. I also met with senior leaders, the special educational needs coordinator, the early years leader and a group of staff, including support staff.  I looked in depth at three subject areas: reading, including phonics in the early years and key stage 1; writing; and computing. I met with subject leaders, visited lessons, spoke with pupils, listened to pupils read and looked at pupils’ work.  I met with the headteacher about the school’s safeguarding procedures. I reviewed policies and records relating to safeguarding. I spoke to pupils, staff and parents about how safe pupils are at the school.  I considered information about pupils’ achievement from published information and 19–20 November 2019

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information on the school’s website.  I spoke to parents during the inspection and considered the views expressed on Ofsted’s online survey Parent View and the staff and pupils survey.

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Inspection team

Kerry Rochester, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 19–20 November 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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