St Saviour's C of E Primary School

Inspection of St Saviour’s C of E Primary School Alum Rock Road, Saltley, Birmingham, West Midlands B8 1JB

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 8–9 January 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are loyal to their school. They enjoy learning and playing together. Pupils behave well in lessons and during social times. Pupils talk about their lasting friendships and about their respect for everyone.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders ensure that pupils are safe. Incidents of bullying are rare. Pupils know what bullying is and what to do if it happens.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school values, including honesty and perseverance, reflect the school’s Christian ethos. Trusting relationships exist between staff and pupils. Pupils learn about and celebrate diversity. They are respectful of different cultures and faiths in the local area and around the world.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The indoor and outdoor spaces are clean and tidy. All around the school, displays and resources encourage pupils to read as often as they can. Pupils enjoy reading the range of books in the library and in classrooms.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The headteacher is ably supported by the deputy headteacher. The quality of education has improved since the last inspection. Staff have higher expectations of what pupils can achieve, notably in reading. Subject leaders look closely at the subjects they are responsible for and have made sensible changes. This has led to pupils gaining a deeper understanding of what they have been taught.

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better?

Leaders have improved the curriculum. They have thought carefully about what pupils should learn about in each subject. Leaders make sure that plans show how lessons should be ordered, so that pupils are taught well. Leaders provide appropriate training for subject leaders. This means that subject leaders can give effective support to teachers.

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better?

Pupils enjoy learning a wide range of topics. In subjects such as history and geography, pupils revisit what they have learned about. This helps them to know and remember more. However, sometimes teachers do not ensure that pupils develop their writing skills in other areas of the curriculum. This means that they do not apply and develop their subject vocabulary as often as they could.

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better?

In mathematics, pupils build their understanding of different topics well. Teachers have good subject knowledge. They use this to explain new learning clearly. Pupils tackle mathematical problems confidently. They enjoy, and are able to explain, their thinking.

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better?

The coordinator for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) supports teachers successfully. This helps teachers plan tasks that are matched to the needs of this group of pupils. As a result, these pupils learn well in their lessons. 8–9 January 2020

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Occasionally, the quality of support for pupils who need to catch up in their learning varies. Some staff do not check on pupils regularly enough. This means that some pupils do not make the progress they could.

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Pupils are supported effectively in their personal, social and emotional development. Sporting, musical and other activities are available after school. Pupils recently visited Coventry Cathedral as part of their Second World War topic. This helped pupils understand the difficulties faced by people living during wartime.

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Leaders ensure that reading is a priority. They have provided effective training for all staff. Phonics is now taught well. This marks strong improvement since the previous inspection. All teaching staff use the same techniques when helping pupils sound out words. They provide appropriate support for any pupils at risk of falling behind. This includes pupils with SEND. Parents and carers receive a wide range of guidance to help them when reading with their children at home.

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Governance has improved since the previous inspection. Governors know the school’s strengths and what needs to improve. Governors have positive relationships with parents and the local community. Staff enjoy working at the school. They feel valued. They appreciate leaders’ efforts to reduce their workload.

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In the early years, a new leader has been recently appointed. Staff make sure that children enjoy learning and playing in an organised early years environment. Staff teach early reading effectively. Children build up their phonic skills effectively. Staff ensure that children practise their early reading and mathematical skills frequently. This ensures that children are prepared for Year 1.

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Pupils conduct themselves positively around the school, during breakfast club and when in lessons. They are eager to learn, and low-level disruption in lessons is rare. They listen attentively when adults and their classmates speak. Staff have developed the outdoor areas, enabling pupils to play safely.

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Attendance remains below the national average. Leaders are determined to continue their work with families to improve attendance. They have seen a reduction in persistent absence this academic year. Nevertheless, too many pupils miss important time at school. This affects their learning.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Parents, pupils, staff and governors are able to explain why their school is a safe place. They recognise that trusting relationships are important. This means that people are confident in challenging others if they are concerned about something. Staff act quickly when they need to. Leaders keep careful records and inform the right people when additional professional help is needed to safeguard pupils. 8–9 January 2020

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Staff teach pupils how to keep themselves safe in different situations. For example, pupils talked about what to be aware of when playing or learning online. Visitors, including the police, help pupils understand potential dangers in their local community.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils write well in English. However, pupils have too few opportunities to write at length in other curriculum subjects. This means that they do not apply and embed their subject vocabulary as often as they could. Teachers should plan a wider range of opportunities for pupils to write in different subjects.  On occasion, the support provided for pupils who need to catch up in their learning is variable. This means that some pupils make less progress than they are capable of. Leaders should monitor the quality of support and resources provided, so that all pupils achieve along with their peers.  Leaders have worked hard to improve attendance and have had some success in reducing persistent absence. Nevertheless, attendance remains below the national average. This means that too many pupils still miss important schooling. Leaders should continue to work with parents to instil the importance of regular

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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 are the school and you are 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. 8–9 January 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10122444 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Fr Alan Thompson

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School details

Date of previous inspection 27 November 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 St Saviour’s is a voluntary controlled school. The most recent section 48 inspection took place in June 2018.  The early years is made up of two Reception classes. There are two classes for each year group in Years 1 to 6.  The school runs a breakfast club for its pupils.

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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

 We held meetings with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and some subject leaders. We met with governors and a local authority representative.  During the inspection, we visited lessons, often with senior leaders.  We looked at pupils’ work in a range of different subjects to evaluate how the curriculum is applied. 8–9 January 2020

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 We met with groups of pupils and teachers to talk about the quality of education and their experiences at the school.  We visited the breakfast club.  We talked with parents and took account of the views submitted to Ofsted through Parent View.  During the inspection, we considered a range of documentation provided by the school, including documents relating to safeguarding.  We looked at published information on the school website.  We carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics, geography and history as part of this inspection. We also visited lessons and looked at pupils’ work in other subjects in less depth.

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Inspection team

Jeremy Bird, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Justine Lomas Ofsted Inspector 8–9 January 2020

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