Our Lady of Victories Catholic School

Inspection of Our Lady of Victories Catholic School Guard House Road, Keighley, West Yorkshire BD22 6JP

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Inspection dates: 27 and 28 September 2022

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Overall effectiveness Inadequate

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Early years provision Good Leadership and management Inadequate Previous inspection grade Good 27 and 28 September 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have failed to take the necessary steps to ensure that arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders’ actions in response to concerns about some of the most vulnerable pupils are sometimes unclear. This places pupils at risk of potential harm. However, staff know pupils well, which helps pupils to feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils receive a good standard of education and leaders have high expectations of them. Leaders want pupils to enjoy and value their time in primary school, and they believe that the time spent at the school should be the ‘best years of their lives’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. They are kind and respectful and they participate positively in lessons. They say that there is no bullying at the school, but are confident that adults would deal with it if it did happen.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s distinct Catholic ethos is demonstrated by the core values of love, forgiveness, trust and acceptance. These values are conspicuous in the things pupils say and do.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school and particularly enjoy the large number of opportunities that they have for extra-curricular activities, including opportunities to undertake trips to Paris and Amsterdam.

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better?

Leaders, including those responsible for governance, have not ensured that a culture of safeguarding exists. Both historically and recently, leaders have not ensured that robust processes are in place for the recruitment of staff. Systems and processes for reporting, recording and monitoring concerns about pupils lack consistency. Some staff lack clarity relating to previous safeguarding training. Consequently, follow-up arrangements to support vulnerable pupils are often unclear, and the support leaders think is in place does not always happen. The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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better?

Leaders have focused on providing a high-quality education and have prioritised reading. Pupils say that they love reading, and talk with excitement about their opportunities to read a range of books. When pupils fall behind with their reading, teachers are quick to identify them, and support them well to keep up. Curriculum leaders are ambitious and passionate. There is a strong curriculum in the early years. Leaders focus on developing children’s vocabulary and communication skills. As a result, children get off to a good start.

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better?

Long-term curriculum plans identify the important knowledge and vocabulary that pupils should learn. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have their academic needs supported well. Leaders make sure that adaptations are in place so that these pupils access the full curriculum. Some subjects’ curriculums are better developed than others. In mathematics, plans are well sequenced and 27 and 28 September 2022

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identify the important knowledge pupils need to learn. In subjects such as geography and art, leaders are less clear about what pupils need to learn and when. This means that pupils do not always remember important knowledge.

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Pupils have many opportunities to access a wide range of experiences beyond the classroom. There is a variety of after-school clubs available for pupils to choose from. Pupils talk with enthusiasm about their residential visits. Members of staff have taken pupils to Amsterdam and pupils in Year 6 are excited about their forthcoming trip to Paris.

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Pupils behave well in lessons and around school. Pupils are enthusiastic and eager to learn. They enjoy positive relationships with each other and with adults. In early years, children settle in well and are familiar with well-established routines.

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Pupils are caring and inclusive. They understand, and are accepting of, differences between people. One pupil, echoing the views of many, stated, ‘Anyone is welcome at our school.’ Pupils understand the concept of democracy and vote for a school mayor. They are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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Governors and trustees are passionate about the school and, for the most part, understand their roles. They visit the school and are aware of improvement priorities. However, despite receiving information about safeguarding, they have taken this information at face value and have not identified where weaknesses lie.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are not effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders at all levels have failed to ensure that there is a robust culture of safeguarding. This potentially leaves pupils at risk of harm.

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Safeguarding

Inspectors found significant flaws in the process for recruiting staff. Appropriate references had not been sought and reviewed for some staff members who have been appointed. Attempts were made to rectify this during the inspection, providing some assurances, but there is still more to do to confidently meet the expectations of the ‘Keeping children safe in education’ statutory guidance.

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Safeguarding

There are also inconsistent approaches to reporting and recording concerns about pupils. Some important records are incomplete. This leads to a lack of understanding about who will see pupils and provide the necessary follow-up support. Checks on vulnerable pupils do not happen consistently.

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Safeguarding

There is not a robust oversight of safeguarding by leaders at all levels. Individual leaders for attendance, safeguarding and pupils with SEND hold individual information about pupils, but do not routinely connect this together to consider the wider support needed for pupils. 27 and 28 September 2022

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Some adults are unable to explain the safeguarding training that they had undertaken or how this helps them in their role in keeping children safe.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Checks to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children when they start at the school are not well defined or rigorous enough. Before the inspection, leaders had not sought and reviewed references for all staff working in the school. Although leaders worked to put this right during the inspection, leaders need to have a longer-term definition of roles and responsibilities in requesting, following up and checking on the suitability of staff to work with children.  There is not an effective culture of safeguarding in the school. There is a lack of strategic oversight. Too much is left to chance, and information around specific pupils is not sufficiently connected to know exactly what risks they face, how these risks can be mitigated and how these pupils should be supported. Leaders at all levels must ensure that they have effective processes in place to support vulnerable pupils and to identify local risks. They must make sure that all

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

information about vulnerable pupils is recorded and that actions, and who will take them, are clearly noted so that no pupils’ needs are missed. Leaders should ensure that they have effective arrangements to check on the suitability of these processes and how well pupils in the school are safeguarded.  Not all staff remember, or understand the impact of, their safeguarding training. This means that they might not recognise the signs that a pupil is at risk. Leaders should ensure that all staff undertake and understand safeguarding training and that appropriate safeguarding updates are regularly provided.  In some subject areas, such as geography and art, the exact knowledge children need to learn, and when they need to learn it, is not explicit enough. As a result, children do not always remember important knowledge. Leaders need to ensure that in all subjects it is clear exactly what pupils need to learn, and when, in a

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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. 27 and 28 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. 27 and 28 September 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 23 May 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use alternative provision.  The school is a member of the Blessed Christopher Wharton Catholic Academy Trust.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

In accordance with section 44(2) of the Education Act 2005, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than it might in all the circumstances reasonably be expected to perform.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 27 and 28 September 2022

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 Inspectors met the executive headteacher, the head of school, other leaders, a group of governors, a group of trustees and the CEO of the trust.  Inspectors conducted deep dives in reading, mathematics, geography and art. During deep-dive activities, inspectors met with subject leaders, considered curriculum planning from early years through to Year 6, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors visited early years and spoke with leaders and staff about how the curriculum is implemented.  Inspectors spoke to pupils about their learning and heard pupils read with familiar adults.  Inspectors spoke to pupils and staff at breaktime and during lunch and in separate focus groups.  Documentation was reviewed, including school improvement plans, minutes of meetings of the governing body, documents linked to pupils with SEND, records

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of behaviour and exclusions, and safeguarding records.  Inspectors considered the responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey, including any free-text responses. Inspectors also spoke to parents at the beginning of the school day.  Inspectors met with the designated safeguarding lead to consider how staff log concerns and the actions that leaders take in response. Inspectors also met with a range of staff about the training that they have received for safeguarding.  Inspectors observed pupils playing at lunchtimes and at breaktimes.

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Inspection team

Dughall McCormick, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Melissa Milner Ofsted Inspector 27 and 28 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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