St Edmund Campion Catholic Primary School and Nursery

Inspection of St Edmund Campion Catholic Primary School & Nursery Altwood Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 4PX

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Inspection dates: 11 and 12 January 2023

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Ofsted has not previously inspected St Edmund Campion Catholic Primary School & Nursery as an academy school under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 as, until November 2020, the school was exempted by law from routine inspection, so there has been a longer gap than usual between inspections.

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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 of the predecessor school. 11 and 12 January 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school. Leaders have created a deeply inclusive and welcoming community where bullying is not tolerated. Pupils are confident that if bullying were to happen, then teachers are ‘roadblocks to bullying’. When things go wrong, the caring and thoughtful approach of staff means that actions are taken immediately, and pupils are supported to learn from any mistakes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are motivated to work hard. Teachers make sure that lessons are interesting and explain key ideas clearly. Furthermore, rich experiences help pupils to develop their gifts and talents. For example, every pupil learns the clarinet for a year and all pupils represent the school in at least one sporting event.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave exceptionally well throughout the day. In the early years, children learn to share and look after resources. Throughout the school, pupils listen carefully to the thoughts and opinions of others and cherish the increasing diversity of the school community. They are inspired by ‘Catholic Social Teaching’ to undertake acts of service, for example through collecting resources to support those in the community who are homeless.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are safe, and feel safe. However, inspectors found a number of issues with the recording and oversight processes for safeguarding. Leaders have taken this on board and are in the process of rectifying these.

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better?

Leaders have adopted a well-sequenced curriculum. They have identified the most important knowledge that pupils need to remember. Teachers ensure that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are supported well to learn. Teachers check pupils’ work routinely in lessons to make sure that everyone is achieving well. They, and other adults, identify who is finding things tricky and provide support there and then to help them catch up. In some subjects, the way that learning builds over time from Nursery to Year 6 is not as clear as it is in others. This means that the curriculum in the early years does not prepare children as well as it could for learning in Year 1.

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better?

Pupils make highly positive contributions to the life of the school, and attendance is good. Pupils are keen to be elected to the wide variety of pupil leadership roles. Pupils explain their role as ‘upstanders’ in the community: those who act when it is needed. The relationships between pupils and adults in school are extremely warm and respectful. Adults have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour, and good manners are modelled by all. In particular, pupils in the early years chat politely as they enjoy their lunch together. Pupils consistently demonstrate empathy. They understand that some of their classmates have different needs. Pupils actively support each other to do well. 11 and 12 January 2023

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Reading is at the heart of the curriculum. Leaders have carefully selected the books that pupils will hear and read in lessons. In the early years, children enjoy the books adults share with them. All staff have been trained to teach early reading well using a carefully structured programme. Teachers spot pupils who are not keeping up with the programme. They work with these pupils to help them catch up quickly. Pupils, including those with SEND, read to an adult regularly. This helps them to read with confidence and fluency. All pupils benefit from this individual attention.

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The way that pupils’ character is developed is exemplary. Staff are passionate about the way in which they provide opportunities for all, regardless of background, SEND or any other factor. Pupils describe themselves as ‘global neighbours’. The rich wider curriculum and the choice of class reading texts opens pupils’ eyes to different cultures and situations. For example, after reading ‘The Boy at the Back of the Class’, pupils organised a collection of books and other materials to support local refugees. All pupils are part of the pupil parliament that takes place each half term. They value this opportunity to debate ideas and suggest changes to the school.

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Those responsible for governance do not work together effectively. This means that they do not make sure that the right things are being done at the right time. The local governing body has a clear vision for the school. It has worked to develop provision for pupils with SEND and to ensure that the quality of education is secure. However, trust leaders have not provided effective support for the local governing body. Trust leaders’ oversight of other areas, for example safeguarding, has also not been timely or effective. Recent changes to the trust board are positive, but the impact is not yet visible in the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff are trained well, and leaders act swiftly to make referrals to, and to work with, children’s services and their partner agencies. A well-considered curriculum means pupils learn how to keep safe. For example, pupils learn about river safety and how to stay safe around the River Thames.

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Safeguarding

During the inspection, inspectors found inconsistencies in record-keeping and the application of the safeguarding policy. While these were addressed swiftly during the inspection, leaders at all levels had not previously identified these as areas requiring attention. 11 and 12 January 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders, including those responsible for governance, do not have effective systems to identify key aspects in need of improvement, such as the weaknesses in safeguarding record-keeping. This means that some issues are not identified or addressed in a timely way. Leaders, including trustees and local governors, need to establish effective and efficient systems to monitor all aspects of school life.  The relationship between trustees and the school is distant. Trustees do not ask probing enough questions about how statutory obligations are carried out at the school. Consequently, they do not have a thorough enough understanding of the school. Trustees need to ensure that they provide the robust challenge and capacity required to ensure that the school benefits from the support of the trust.  The curriculum is not fully and successfully embedded across the school in all foundation subjects. This means that pupils are not as well prepared as they

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

could be for learning in Year 1. Leaders have rightly recognised this, and should continue to embed the curriculum so that the journey from Nursery to Year 6 is clear in all subjects.

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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. 11 and 12 January 2023

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 St Edmund Campion Catholic Primary School & Nursery joined the Frassati Catholic Academy Trust in July 2017. When its predecessor school was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be outstanding overall.  The headteacher took up post as co-headteacher in September 2019 and then became headteacher in September 2021.  The school is a Catholic school and received a section 48 validation in November 2019. The school’s provision was judged to be outstanding.  Leaders do not currently make use of any alternative provision.

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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. 11 and 12 January 2023

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 The inspectors carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics, computing, art and history. For each deep dive, the inspectors met with curriculum leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors held meetings with members of the local governing body, trustees and leaders of provision for SEND, behaviour and attendance and personal development. The inspectors also observed lunch and breaktimes.  An inspector met with the chief executive officer of the Frassati Catholic Academy Trust.  The inspectors explored the school’s safeguarding culture through considering safeguarding records and procedures, meeting with a range of pupils and staff and talking to safeguarding leaders.  The inspectors considered the 143 responses and 76 free-text responses made by

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parents to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View. Inspectors also considered the 43 responses to Ofsted’s online staff survey and the 127 responses to the online pupil survey. Inspectors gathered the views of pupils and staff through meetings with them, during visits to lessons and during other times of the school day.

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Inspection team

Lizzie Jeanes, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Simon Francis Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 January 2023

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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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