St George and St Teresa Catholic Primary School

Inspection of St George and St Teresa Catholic Primary School Mill Lane, Bentley Heath, Solihull, West Midlands B93 8PA

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Inspection dates: 21 and 22 September 2021

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement 21 and 22 September 2021

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What is it like to attend this school?

St George and St Teresa Catholic Primary is a caring and friendly school, where everyone is welcoming. Pupils talk with pride about the school values. They told inspectors that ‘we live it, love it and learn it’ is at the heart of everything they do. Pupils said that they feel safe at school and that they have learned how to keep themselves safe, including on the internet.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers who share their views spoke positively about the care and support their children receive from the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils told us that bullying does not happen often, and if it does, it is quickly sorted out by staff. Pupils play well together at playtimes. However, expectations for how pupils behave in class are not high enough and sometimes they are not courteous and respectful to adults. Pupils feel that, at times, other pupils’ behaviour disrupts their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Many pupils read well. However, leaders do not ensure that the weakest readers catch up quickly enough. Staff are not trained well to deliver the school’s phonics programme effectively. This means that some pupils do not learn new sounds and words quickly enough.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s wide range of clubs focus on encouraging pupils to be physically active. At breaktime, staff encourage pupils to play energetic games to promote social skills and physical fitness.

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better?

Leaders have identified the need to improve the mathematics and reading curriculum. Clear, structured plans are now in place. However, these plans are at an early stage of being implemented. Leaders do not check on how well this planning is being used by teachers. Some pupils do not develop knowledge and skills as well as they should in these subjects.

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better?

Pupils told us that they enjoy listening to the teachers read to them. They take books home to read with their parents, and they were excited about being able to use the new library. Leaders are clear about the sounds and words pupils should be able to read by the end of each term. However, the teaching of early reading is not effective enough. Leaders do not ensure that all staff are well-skilled and up to date in teaching phonics. Pupils who are not confident readers do not receive effective help, and therefore struggle when reading. The books they are given to read are too difficult. This hinders their learning.

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better?

Although there are now clear curriculum plans in place for reading and mathematics, leaders have not made sure that the curriculum is ambitious enough in some of the other subjects. Planning is not comprehensive enough to guide teachers’ work. For 21 and 22 September 2021

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example, in art and design and technology, leaders have not identified enough of the knowledge and skills that pupils will learn, so teachers do not plan learning in a logical order. In lessons they do not help pupils make links between past learning and future learning well enough. This means that sometimes pupils do not remember well what they have been taught.

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Where curriculum planning and delivery is well thought out, pupils learn well. Physical education (PE), for example, is planned so that pupils can improve the skills that they have already learned. Pupils told us that they enjoyed PE. They talked about how they balance on different body parts and how this learning got more complicated as they got older. They know the rules they need to think about when playing netball and hockey.

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Teachers and teaching assistants do not consistently follow the school’s agreed behaviour procedures. At times, they allow pupils’ behaviour to interrupt others’ learning.

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Children settle well into the early years. Many children come into school already knowing some numbers, letters and sounds. For example, children in nursery enjoyed singing ‘five little speckled frogs’ and when asked by the teacher how many were left, most of the children knew the correct number straight away. However, children do not build on the knowledge they already have quickly enough. Leaders are not clear enough about what children should learn and when, or how to deepen and broaden their learning when they progress quickly through the planned curriculum.

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Leaders do not always take the effective steps to ensure that those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are taught an ambitious curriculum. This is because they do not clearly identify the difference between pupils who are not working at age-related expectations and pupils with additional needs.

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Pupils learn about the different religions and cultures that exist within and beyond their own locality. Pupils understand the importance of tolerance and clearly respect others’ differences.

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Local governors are committed to the school and its pupils. They know what the school does well and where improvements need to be made.

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The Multi-Academy Company is aware of the areas that need to be improved and are putting in place structures to support school improvement.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that children are safe in school. They have robust systems in place for safeguarding pupils. Staff are knowledgeable about safeguarding. This helps them to be aware of any potential risks and provide appropriate support for 21 and 22 September 2021

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vulnerable pupils. Governors make sure that the school meets the latest requirements. They ensure that all those working in the school have undergone checks on their suitability to work with children.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Not all staff have a good enough understanding of how to teach early reading. They do not know how to help pupils get better at reading sounds and words. Staff need to improve their subject knowledge so that they know how to teach phonics correctly. Leaders need to ensure that teachers make regular checks on what pupils know. They should ensure that teachers use this information to work more closely with those pupils who struggle to read. Leaders should also ensure that those pupils who struggle to read are not given books that are too difficult.  Leaders need to ensure that all subjects are planned and sequenced appropriately so that teachers know what they are teaching. Leaders need to check that teachers use these plans effectively in their teaching to help pupils build on their learning.  Pupils’ behaviour is not consistently well managed. The subsequent disruption limits some pupils’ learning. Leaders should take action to ensure that all staff

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

consistently and effectively follow the school’s agreed procedures for dealing with behaviour, so that lessons can flow without interruption.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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. 21 and 22 September 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10201054 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school has a breakfast and after-school club.  The most recent section 48 inspection of religious education took place in June 2018.  A new headteacher was appointed in April 2019.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team held meetings with the headteacher, other leaders, the chief executive of the trust, governors and staff.  The inspection team evaluated the effectiveness of safeguarding. The school’s single central record was reviewed. Inspectors met with the designated safeguard lead. 21 and 22 September 2021

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 Inspectors considered the views of 21 staff and 72 Parent View responses, including the 50 free-text submissions from parents.  Inspectors did deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, art and design and technology. This involved talking with senior leaders, subject leaders and class teachers about how these subjects are delivered. Inspectors then visited a range of lessons to see this in action, talked to pupils about what they have learned and looked at their work.  On the second day of the inspection, inspectors also considered information about the curriculum in PE.  Inspectors reviewed the information available for parents on the school website.

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Inspection team

Kerry Rochester, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Janet Satchwell Ofsted Inspector 21 and 22 September 2021

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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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