St Anthony's Catholic Primary School

Inspection of a good school: St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School Dunkery Road, Woodhouse Park, Manchester M22 0NT

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Outcome

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

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a happy, successful and welcoming place to learn. Staff are determined that every pupil will thrive.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take on a variety of leadership roles. They are keen to contribute to school life and the world around them. For example, pupils regularly visit older people. Such experiences help pupils to become respectful citizens.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn to appreciate the importance of health and fitness. They enjoy a wide range of sports, including basketball, hockey and cricket. Pupils enjoy taking part in frequent events and competitions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Reading lies at the heart of the school’s curriculum. Staff share a wide range of books and stories with pupils. Pupils develop as enthusiastic readers who read for pleasure. One pupil described reading as ‘diving into another world’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders provide pupils with a wide range of carefully tailored support, including for well-being. For example, pupils take part in meditation and art therapy. The school’s dog Arlo helps pupils to feel relaxed and calm. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get the help they need to succeed.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave very well. In lessons, they listen respectfully to adults and are keen to try their best. Staff deal effectively with any bullying.

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

Leaders are ambitious for every pupil to acquire a wide range of skills and knowledge across all subjects. They have planned a broad and interesting curriculum. Pupils achieve well. This includes pupils who have SEND and disadvantaged pupils. This is because staff identify any barriers to learning that these pupils may have and act to remedy them. For example, in phonics, pupils falling behind are given additional support to help them keep 10–11 December 2019

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pace with lessons, so they know and remember new sounds. Most pupils reach the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. They are well prepared for the next stage of education.

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Leaders plan activities which meet the diverse needs of pupils. For example, pupils who have SEND enjoy a residential trip and take part in sporting events. They learn valuable life skills, including cooking and road safety.

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Pupils enjoy their learning and can remember details of what they have learned. This is because staff make sure pupils regularly revisit their learning. In mathematics, pupils revise important facts such as multiplication tables. They become confident and accurate in their written calculations. In science, pupils build the skills and knowledge to plan investigations independently. For example, in a Year 5 lesson we visited, pupils formed a research question to test water resistance and buoyancy. Pupils in Year 5 remembered details about their topic on Ancient Greece.

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Across different subjects, teachers develop pupils’ understanding and use of vocabulary. For example, in a Year 1 history lesson, the teacher checked that pupils knew the meaning and pronunciation of ‘artefact’. Reception staff helped children use words such as ‘underneath’ and ‘inside’ when describing the location of penguins.

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Pupils develop as confident and fluent readers, including pupils who have SEND. From Nursery, children learn sounds and letters. No time is lost before teaching children to read in Reception. Pupils read regularly. Their reading books match the sounds that they are learning, so that they can practise and remember them. The phonics leader is rigorous in making sure that all staff use a consistent approach when teaching phonics. Last year, the proportion of pupils who achieved the expected standard in the phonics screening check was above the national average.

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Pupils do well across all subjects. Even so, leaders are taking steps to enhance teaching in the wider curriculum. For example, in history, leaders are improving the curriculum plans. This is to help pupils deepen further their knowledge of historical concepts, such as continuity and change, across the different topics that they study.

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In mathematics and English, staff make regular checks on pupils’ learning. Teachers use these checks to plan additional support. This helps pupils keep up with the pace of learning. In some subjects, including history, leaders are improving the checks that teachers make, so that staff have a more accurate view of how well pupils are learning. In the early years, staff make frequent observations of children. They use this information effectively to plan the next steps in children’s learning. This ensures that staff build children’s development over time.

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Pupils learn that all are equal. As one pupil said, ‘we class ourselves as all the same’. Pupils learn about British values, including democracy. For example, pupils led election campaigns for the school’s head boy and head girl.

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Pupils’ behaviour is a strength of the school. From Nursery, children follow adults’ instructions, so that everyone can learn. Staff provide a carefully tailored package of 10–11 December 2019

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support for pupils with additional behavioural needs. This has a positive impact. Through the curriculum, pupils know the different forms that bullying may take. Pupils are confident that staff will sort out any worries or concerns.

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The trust places a high priority on staff well-being and staff training. Staff feel valued by leaders. Teachers appreciate the regular training that they receive and the chance to work across the trust.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders provide staff with regular training. This means that staff are alert to dangers that pupils may face. Leaders work closely with a wide range of agencies and professionals to ensure that pupils and their families get support when needed. Leaders check the staff recruited to work in the school to ensure that they pose no threat to pupils.

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Safeguarding

Through the curriculum, staff teach pupils about the risks they might face in their everyday lives. Pupils learn how to stay safe, including when using technology. Pupils learn that they should speak to an adult in the school if they have any concerns.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have planned a broad and balanced curriculum which develops pupils’ knowledge across different subjects. Pupils remember their learning over time. In subjects other than mathematics and English, leaders are refining the coherence of curriculum plans. This is to help pupils make deeper connections about what they have learned in different topics. Leaders need to ensure that the revised curriculum plans help pupils acquire the knowledge and skills as intended.  Teachers use assessment across different subjects. In subjects other than mathematics and English, these assessments are being developed to match the revised curriculum plans. Leaders need to ensure that these checks are used by teachers to improve pupils’ learning. 10–11 December 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 St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School to be good on 3–4 February 2015.

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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. 10–11 December 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10058073 Type of school Primary

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School details

Website www.stanthonysrcprimaryschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 3–4 February 2015

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Information about this school

 The school had a section 48 inspection on 18 November 2015.  A new headteacher and deputy headteacher have been appointed since the previous inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with the headteacher and senior leaders.  We held meetings with four members of the local governing board. We met with the chief executive officer and a director from the trust, and a representative from the diocese.  We checked the safeguarding policies and procedures and the single central record. We met with leaders, staff and pupils to check how effective safeguarding is in the school.  We met with parents and carers at the school gate to seek their views. We also considered 52 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents, including freetext responses.  We also spoke to staff to seek their views of the school. We considered 42 responses to Ofsted’s survey for staff. 10–11 December 2019

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 During the inspection, we spoke with pupils from classes in Year 2 to Year 6 and observed lunchtime.  We spoke with representatives from the diocese and the local authority.  We examined a range of documents. These included minutes of the governing body meetings and safeguarding documentation. We met with leaders, staff and pupils to check how effective safeguarding is in the school.  We considered history, mathematics, science and reading as part of this inspection. For each of these subjects, our inspection activities included discussions with leaders, visits to lessons, discussions with teachers, scrutiny of pupils’ work and discussions with pupils about their learning. In reading, we also observed members of staff listening to pupils read.

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Inspection team

Elizabeth Stevens, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Joan Williamson Ofsted Inspector 10–11 December 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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