Ormskirk St Anne's Catholic Primary School

Inspection of Ormskirk St Anne’s Catholic Primary School Aughton Street, Town End, Ormskirk, Lancashire L39 3LQ

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement 10–11 December 2019

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What is it like to attend this school?

Over the past two years, this school has gone from strength to strength. The headteacher has succeeded in getting all colleagues to sign up to his ambitious vision for the school. Together, they have made dramatic improvements to the range of subjects taught, the environment, the resources and the spirit of the school. Everyone wants the very best for the pupils. Parents, carers and pupils are full of praise for the way that the school has been turned around.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are extremely well behaved. They get on very well with each other and with adults. Bullying is very rare. If it does happen, it is dealt with very quickly. Pupils seldom miss a day of school. They feel happy, safe and well cared for. Pupils take full advantage of the increasing range of sporting, musical and artistic activities available to them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The achievement of pupils in the early years and key stage 1 has clearly improved. At key stage 2, writing standards are high. Standards in reading and in grammar, punctuation and spelling are not as high as they should be. Pupils enjoy reading but the books that they read tend to be limited to fiction by a small number of authors.

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better?

The headteacher is a strong role model for his colleagues. He ensures that all staff contribute to the leadership of the school. He trusts them to get on with their work but also holds them to account. The staff value the opportunities for their professional development and the care that senior leaders take over their well-being.

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better?

The governors know the school well. They have high ambitions for the staff and pupils. They provide leaders with the right balance of support and challenge.

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better?

Leaders have planned a broad and rich curriculum that meets the demands of the national curriculum. Teachers are well trained and have good subject knowledge. They plan the work carefully, so that pupils learn more and remember more. In geography, for example, pupils use their understanding of environmental issues to discuss whether we should build on green belts. In art, they draw on experiments with a range of techniques to develop large-scale paintings. In French, they apply their knowledge of grammar to writing short sentences in the language. In history, they use their mental arithmetic skills to work out the number of centuries between one date and another.

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better?

The curriculum meets the needs of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They take a full part in all lessons.

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better?

The teaching of reading is central to the school’s work. From the moment they arrive, children begin to read letter sounds. They quickly move on to reading and writing simple words and sentences. The books pupils read are carefully matched to the words they are learning. Those who are falling behind receive additional support 10–11 December 2019

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Teachers read regularly to the pupils, making sure that they bring the stories to life. Pupils read a lot at home. The books they read are mainly fiction books by a small number of authors. They read a limited amount of poetry and cannot remember the poems they have read. The library is growing but includes comparatively few non- fiction books.

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Pupils have a wide range of opportunities for writing. However, in subjects other than English, they pay too little attention to grammar, punctuation and spelling.

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Leaders are rightly proud of the very high standards of behaviour in the school. Pupils learn to respect a variety of faiths and lifestyles. They make a valuable contribution to the life of the school in roles such as school leaders. They contribute to the life of the local community through their charitable work. They are also very conscious of their responsibility for helping to make the world a better place.

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The school has been successful in extending its early years provision to include a Nursery class. Staff are well qualified and experienced and keep themselves up to date with the most recent developments. They plan the work carefully to ensure that children build up their skills and knowledge in a logical way. This is particularly the case where the development of writing is concerned. Staff work closely with parents to check regularly on how well each child is doing and to give extra help where this is needed. The children settle in quickly, behave well and clearly enjoy their time in this safe, caring environment.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All staff and almost all parents are confident that children are safe at the school. They learn how to keep themselves safe near roads and railways and when using the internet and social media. They learn to swim, so that they are safe in and near water. The school checks carefully on the suitability of adults to work with children. Staff and governors receive regular training on safeguarding. They know how to identify possible signs of abuse and what to do if they have any concerns about the welfare of a pupil.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils do not consistently pay attention to spelling, punctuation and grammar in subjects other than English. As a result, this aspect of their work is not as well developed as it should be. There is a need to sharpen the focus on grammar, punctuation and spelling across all subjects, so that writing standards rise further.  The improvements in reading lower down the school have not yet worked through 10–11 December 2019

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to key stage 2. As a result, the progress made by Year 6 pupils in the national reading tests was below average in 2019. The school should build on the good practice in the early years and key stage 1 to ensure that, by the time they leave school, pupils’ reading attainment is at least in line with that found nationally.  The range of books that pupils read tends to be restricted to fiction by a small number of authors. As a result, the genres with which they are familiar are limited. There is a need to introduce pupils to a wider range of literature, including poetry in addition to non-fiction texts, in order to further develop pupils’ love of reading.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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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 10121983 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 19–20 September 2017

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Information about this school

 Since the last inspection, the school’s provision has expanded to include nursery- aged children.  The school had its most recent section 48 inspection, undertaken by the Archdiocese of Liverpool, in November 2014.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 During this inspection, we met with the headteacher and other senior leaders.  We held meetings with teachers, support staff and subject leaders.  The lead inspector held a meeting with nine governors, including the chair of the governing body. He also spoke to representatives of the local authority and a representative from the archdiocese.  We visited lessons in each key stage. We spoke to pupils from the lessons visited and viewed examples of their work. We spoke to pupils about behaviour and expectations in the school and observed behaviour around the school and in lessons. 10–11 December 2019

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 We considered the 95 responses to Parent View, the 11 responses to the staff survey and the one response to the pupil survey. The lead inspector also spoke to parents as they brought children to school.  We examined records in relation to safeguarding and met with the designated safeguarding lead to discuss how pupils are kept safe in the school.  As part of this inspection, we considered carefully how phonics and early reading are taught at the school. We also considered how the curriculum is planned in mathematics, French, art, geography and history. During these activities we met with subject leaders and visited samples of lessons. We spoke to the teachers about the lessons they had taught and to the pupils about their learning. We also examined examples of pupils’ books and listened to pupils read.

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Inspection team

Aelwyn Pugh, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jon Ashley 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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