The Cathedral School of St Saviour and St Mary Overie

Inspection of The Cathedral School of St Saviour and St Mary Overie Redcross Way, Southwark, London, SE1 1HG

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

The quality of education Outstanding Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Early years provision Outstanding Previous inspection grade Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding

Until November 2020, the school was exempt from routine inspection because it was judged as outstanding at its previous inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The school has not been inspected since October 2008. 7 and 8 December 2022

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What is it like to attend this school

Pupils are very proud to attend this school, where they feel part of a big family. They appreciate the strong sense of community that leaders and staff foster. Pupils are very happy here. They benefit hugely from the excellent education on offer. Pupils are highly articulate. They discuss their learning and experiences of school life in a very mature manner for their age.

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What is it like to attend this school

Pupils’ behaviour is exceptional and is guided by the school’s values. They are incredibly polite, respectful, kind and considerate of each other. Pupils conduct themselves superbly in class, around the school and during social times. Bullying is extremely rare. Staff deal with it swiftly and effectively, should it happen.

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What is it like to attend this school

Pupils know that leaders and staff care for them. Pupils are safe. They can talk to a trusted adult should there be anything that is worrying them.

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What is it like to attend this school

Leaders and staff have high expectations because they want all pupils to learn and be successful. In turn, pupils rise to these expectations that are set for them. They enjoy the wide range of enrichment activities on offer, which are designed to broaden their horizons and extend their learning. Leaders and staff help pupils to become curious and independent learners. The excellent curriculum means that pupils are exceptionally well prepared for Year 7.

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better?

Leaders have adeptly developed a highly ambitious curriculum for all pupils. The curriculum is very well sequenced. It builds in logical steps on what pupils have already learned, from the early years foundation stage all the way through to Year 6. This approach is consistently strong in all subjects. In art and design, for example, the curriculum enables pupils to progressively gain a deep understanding of the work of different artists. It also supports pupils to explore and increase their knowledge of a broad range of techniques, from colour mixing to the use of different media.

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better?

Teachers check regularly that pupils have understood what has been taught. They swiftly identify any gaps in pupils’ knowledge and offer support promptly. Consequently, all pupils achieve highly.

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better?

Reading is at the heart of the school curriculum. Staff are well-trained experts in the school’s phonics and early reading programme. They teach pupils to use phonics to decode unfamiliar words and ensure that pupils develop reading fluency swiftly. Pupils who are falling behind in their phonics and reading are given additional support and catch up quickly. Pupils are given plenty of opportunities, both at home and school, to use their phonics knowledge. Staff make sure that they practise with decodable books that match the sounds that they have learned. 7 and 8 December 2022

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Older pupils know about the importance of reading. They understand, for example, that reading books by a variety of authors can help them to learn more new words and phrases. Pupils are keen to read widely, and this expands their vocabulary, which they use in their own writing. Pupils also enjoy reading lots of non-fiction books to extend their learning. For example, they read about artists to gain more knowledge about the techniques that are used, for instance tessellation.

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Pupils display excellent attitudes to their learning. They remain fully engaged in the task at hand during lessons because of their teachers’ high expectations.

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The school promotes pupils’ personal development exceptionally well from the early years through to Year 6. Older pupils are given many opportunities to develop their leadership skills. For example, they lead collective worship from beginning to end every Friday. Older pupils proudly take on other roles, such as school librarians and play buddies who support younger pupils.

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When planning the wider curriculum offer, leaders and staff capitalise on the school’s geographical location in London. All pupils are given rich opportunities to extend their learning beyond the classroom. Pupils enjoy many trips to the theatre, museums and art galleries.

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Leaders work very closely with staff and other professionals to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), including children in the early years. Pupils’ needs are swiftly identified, and bespoke support is put in place. Where necessary, staff make adaptations to the teaching of the curriculum, so that these pupils access the same learning as their peers. As a result, they also achieve highly.

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Leaders and staff are very proud to work at this school. Staff said that leaders and governors ensure that there is a positive work-life balance, and that the workload is manageable.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All staff are well trained and know how to spot signs and symptoms of abuse or if a pupil needs help. They know and follow the school’s internal procedures for raising concerns about a pupil.

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Safeguarding

The safeguarding team works well with external agencies to swiftly secure the help and support that their families need.

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Safeguarding

Leaders make sure that all the appropriate staff pre-employment checks are made.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn about how to stay safe online. Older pupils have developed ‘Digi-tell’, an online tool, which is used by their peers to raise any concerns or worries that they may have when using the internet. 7 and 8 December 2022

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Pupils are taught about relationships and consent appropriate to their age through the school’s personal, social, health and economic education curriculum.

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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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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. 7 and 8 December 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10242278 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website http://www.cathedralprimaryschool.com

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School details

Date of previous inspection 22 October 2008 under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This is a Church of England primary school in the Diocese Board of Southwark.  Leaders do not use any alternative provision for pupils.  The school’s most recent section 48 inspection took place in March 2018.

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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

 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.  Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, assistant headteachers and subject leaders. They also held meetings with the members of the governing body, representatives from the local authority and the Diocese Board of Southwark. 7 and 8 December 2022

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, art and design and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum 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.  Inspectors also spoke with leaders and pupils and looked at samples of pupils’ work in other subjects.  In considering the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors reviewed the single central record of pre-employment checks, held meetings with the leaders with responsibility for safeguarding and spoke with staff and pupils. They also reviewed documentation related to pupils’ behaviour and welfare.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys completed by parents and carers and staff. In addition, they spoke with parents informally at the start of the school day.

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Inspection team

Raj Mehta, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Jonathan Newby Ofsted Inspector 7 and 8 December 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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