St Augustine's RC Primary School

Inspection of St Augustine’s RC Primary School Disbrowe Road, London, W6 8QE

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Inspection dates: 19 and 20 October 2021

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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 Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Good

This school was last inspected nearly 15 years ago and judged ‘Outstanding’ under a previous inspection framework. This reflected the school’s overall effectiveness under the inspection framework in use at the time.

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Overall effectiveness Good

From then until November 2020, the school was exempted by law from routine inspection, so there has been a longer gap than usual between inspections. Judgements in this report are based on the current inspection framework and also reflect changes that may have happened at any point since the last inspection. 19 and 20 October 2021

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at St Augustine’s. They say they feel safe in school because staff care for them. They identify that following rules in school also helps to keep them safe. Pupils are particularly proud of the larger ‘family’ they say the school represents.

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What is it like to attend this school?

At lunchtime, pupils sit together with an older pupil at the head of the table to help and support younger ones. This promotes a calm and caring experience.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Bullying is not tolerated. Pupils report that it happens rarely, and that if it does it is always sorted out quickly by staff.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations for all pupils to succeed. They ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) access the same curriculum as their peers. Suitable adaptations are made to support learning where necessary.

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What is it like to attend this school?

A wide range of opportunities is available to enhance and enrich the regular curriculum. These include additional Spanish lessons, after-school clubs and learning a musical instrument. While these are enjoyed by many, leaders do not ensure that disadvantaged pupils benefit equally from these additional opportunities.

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better?

The teaching of phonics is strong. Children begin learning letter sounds as soon as they start school. Those directly teaching phonics are well trained. Regular assessment is in place to identify those who are at risk of falling behind, and suitable interventions are planned to ensure pupils catch up. Leaders identified last year that not all books used in class were supporting reading fluency as well as they could. They prioritised this as an improvement, and now all books are closely matched to the sounds that pupils know. Older pupils talk about favourite texts, and classroom book areas further encourage a love of reading.

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better?

While the teachers who deliver phonics lessons are well trained, some teaching assistants are not always as skilled. To address this, leaders have planned additional professional development opportunities.

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better?

The mathematics curriculum is well established. Leaders have identified the key knowledge that they want pupils to be fluent with, for example learning times tables. In Reception, interactive resources are used to engage children in mastering numbers up to 10. Older pupils talk confidently about their learning, using appropriate mathematical vocabulary. They can identify the most efficient methods to make calculations easier.

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better?

Wider curriculum subjects are well planned. Learning is sequenced clearly to support pupils to learn more over time. Their understanding of this learning, however, is not yet always embedded. In music, pupils can understand and explain the small steps of learning that help them achieve success with an ensemble performance. These 19 and 20 October 2021

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connections are not yet made as well in all subjects. Teachers do not always check carefully enough, through assessment, that pupils’ knowledge is secured over time.

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Leaders have an ambition for all pupils to succeed and develop, to be well rounded individuals ready for the next stage of their learning. Pupils with SEND are well supported. Education, health and care plans are used to support the modification of lessons for those with high levels of need. Parents are fully informed about plans and interventions. In some instances, additional family support is signposted if leaders believe it will further aid progress at school.

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Staff manage pupils’ behaviour consistently. Behaviour is calm and purposeful in lessons. Teachers set clear expectations that learning is important and pupils rise to this challenge. At playtime pupils are kind to each other. Older pupils often play with, and support, younger pupils.

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Leaders have chosen a personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum that also reflects the school’s faith values. Pupils learn about different types of families. They can identify similarities and differences between them and are clear that love is the most important thing.

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Leaders provide a range of enrichment activities to support pupils’ wider personal development. The school provides after-school club provision and signposts parents to individual musical instrument lessons. This offer, while paused due to the COVID-19 restrictions, has now been resumed in full. It is, however, not accessed equally by disadvantaged pupils. Leaders know they need to ensure that all pupils are benefiting from their wider curricular offer.

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Leaders, including governors, know the school well. They have a good understanding of the current strengths and areas for development. Governors provide both support and challenge to ensure that school priorities are met.

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Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the work of the school and leaders’ support. They are happy at St Augustine’s. They also say that leaders are mindful of their workload, only initiating new initiatives if they are beneficial to pupils’ learning.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders know their responsibilities for safeguarding. Staff and governors are well trained. Close relationships and trust exist between staff and parents. Staff are vigilant, and rigorous monitoring systems ensure that concerns are identified swiftly. This ensures the appropriate support can then be put in place as quickly as possible.

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Safeguarding

Leaders use assemblies and lessons to help pupils understand how to keep themselves safe. They work closely with the police, so pupils learn about local dangers. For example, workshops are delivered to key stage 2 pupils, to raise awareness about knife crime and drug trafficking. 19 and 20 October 2021

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The well-planned curriculum is now being implemented across all subjects. The impact of this curriculum, however, is not consistently strong. In some foundation subjects, such as music, it is much stronger than in others. This is because teachers do not always check on pupils’ learning as they progress through topics or make links to previous work. Leaders should promote the better use of assessment in lessons, to help pupils remember more.  Disadvantaged families who request financial assistance are supported through school funds to access wider enrichment activities. Leaders do not, however, proactively ensure that this offer is more widely available for after-school clubs and individual music tuition. This means that not all have equal access to these extra-curricular activities. Leaders need to ensure that this offer is extended, to include all disadvantaged pupils, so they receive the same opportunities to enrich their personal

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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. 19 and 20 October 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10199334 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 January 2007, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is a smaller than average primary school.  The school’s last section 48 inspection took place in 2017.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, and members of staff. They also spoke with a representative of the local authority and met with a group of governors, including the chair of governors.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history and music. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning, and looked at samples of pupils’ work. 19 and 20 October 2021

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 Inspectors also looked at curriculum plans for geography, PSHE, science and computing.  Inspectors considered early mathematics in the Reception class.  Inspectors looked at a range of documents, including leaders’ priorities for improvement.  Inspectors reviewed the arrangements for safeguarding by scrutinising records and through discussions with leaders, staff and pupils.  The views of pupils, parents and staff were gathered through discussions, and Ofsted’s surveys were considered.

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Inspection team

Samantha Ingram, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Meena Walia Ofsted Inspector 19 and 20 October 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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