Catshill First School

Inspection of a good school: Catshill First School Gibb Lane, Catshill, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B61 0JP

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Inspection dates: 14 and 15 September 2022

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Outcome

Catshill First School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at Catshill First School. This is a friendly school with kindness at its heart. The motto ‘where individuals matter’ is evident everywhere. There is an ethos of valuing everyone. Most parents and carers are positive about the school. This includes parents who have children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils study a broad range of subjects. Leaders are ambitious in their expectations of what pupils can achieve, including those with SEND. Pupils talk excitedly about their learning and how their teachers support them to do their best.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Adults show pupils how to build and maintain relationships based on respect. This helps pupils form strong relationships with trusted adults and each other. Pupils feel safe. Most pupils behave well. Pupils say that the behaviour of a few pupils can distract learning at times. However, staff manage these situations with sensitivity and consideration.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Bullying is rare and pupils know that adults will act to stop it straight away if it does happen. Pupils are confident that if they have any kind of worries, they can tell their teachers who will help them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the variety of trips, visits and clubs that the school has on offer.

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

The school is led and managed well. Senior leaders and governors are clear in their ambition for the pupils. Every staff member plays their part in helping pupils to achieve their best.

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

Leaders ensure that all groups of pupils have access to a broad, relevant and exciting curriculum. The curriculum from early years to Year 4 identifies in each subject the things pupils need to know. Teachers make learning fun and enjoyable. For example, in science, pupils acquire knowledge through many hands-on opportunities. Pupils in Year 2 explore 14 and 15 September 2022

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the properties of materials and can explain which materials absorb water more.

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Teachers regularly check pupils’ understanding. Pupils have acquired enough knowledge across a range of subjects to prepare them for learning at the middle school by the time they leave Year 4. However, in a few subjects, leaders haven’t considered the order of delivery of the curriculum content. Sometimes, pupils struggle to remember what they have been taught.

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Leaders prioritise reading. Staff benefit from high-quality training, and they deliver the phonics curriculum confidently. Children in the early years, and pupils in key stage 1, learn new sounds in a logical order. Pupils use the sounds they know to read books with confidence and increasing fluency. Pupils practise their reading using books that are matched well to their phonics knowledge. Leaders have rightly identified where some pupils have gaps. Staff ensure appropriate support is put in place to enable these pupils to catch up quickly, including those in key stage 2 who struggle with their fluency skills. Pupils understand the importance of being able to read. Staff read to the pupils every day from a range of books. This supports their comprehension skills and vocabulary development effectively. Pupils enjoy reading.

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The mathematics curriculum is ambitious. It is coherently sequenced and has made clear the important information pupils need to learn. Teachers build upon this in later years. Pupils can talk confidently about their learning in mathematics. Pupils demonstrate a wide range of mathematical knowledge and competence from an early age.

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The school offers a wide range of experiences for pupils, including opportunities for leadership experiences. These include being a member of the ’values council’, which rewards others for showing the school’s values. Pupils talk enthusiastically about trips out of school, such as a visit to Warwick Castle. All pupils can take part in a performance to show parents and carers what they have learned.

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Pupils with SEND receive carefully planned and adapted support. Leaders involve external agencies where relevant. Pupils with SEND thrive in an environment where they can fully take part in school life.

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Most pupils attend well. However, there are a minority of pupils who have a high absence from school. These pupils miss important aspects of their education. Leaders are improving their attendance systems to ensure that more pupils attend school regularly. Staff are proud of their work and proud of their school. Leaders consider the well-being of all staff members. Staff are positive overall about the actions taken to reduce their workload.

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Governors share the ambition of the school’s leaders and are knowledgeable about the curriculum. They work effectively in partnership with school leaders to further develop and strengthen the quality of education.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 14 and 15 September 2022

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Leaders ensure there is a strong culture of keeping pupils safe. Staff receive regular and up-to-date training. Systems for reporting concerns are effective. Staff understand what to do if they are worried about a child. They know leaders take their concerns seriously and that no concern is too small to report. The support for vulnerable pupils is strong.

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Leaders complete the necessary checks to ensure that all staff are safe to work with pupils. Pupils feel safe. Leaders have ensured that the curriculum supports pupils’ understanding of risk, including those within the community, and how to stay safe online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few subjects, leaders haven’t considered the order of delivery of the identified curriculum content. This means pupils struggle to remember what they have been taught. Leaders need to ensure the curriculum is sufficiently well sequenced so that new learning builds upon what they already know.  Rates of persistent absence remain high. This means that some pupils miss too much of their education. Leaders need to work with children and their families to develop and use a range of strategies to ensure that all pupils attend school regularly and that rates of persistent absence are reduced.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in February 2013.

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 14 and 15 September 2022

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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. 14 and 15 September 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Paul Essenhigh (Executive Headteacher) Georgia Plant (Head of School) Website www.catshillfirst.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 16 May 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not make any use of alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and has taken that into account in the evaluation.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and science. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector met with the leader for early years and observed children within the setting.  The inspector listened to pupils read and talked to them about their reading. 14 and 15 September 2022

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 The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around school, including at lunchtime. The inspector also met with groups of pupils to discuss their views of the school and personal development opportunities.  To judge the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector scrutinised the records for the safer recruitment of staff and held a meeting with the designated safeguarding lead. The inspector met with staff to check their understanding of safeguarding and the impact of any training received.  The inspector spoke with several members of staff and considered the responses from staff to the online inspection questionnaire.  The inspectors spoke with parents and considered the responses, including written responses, to Ofsted Parent View, the online questionnaire.  The views of pupils were also considered through discussions.

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Inspection team

Lynda Townsend, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 14 and 15 September 2022

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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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