Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School St Mark's Road, Teddington TW11 9DD

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Outcome

Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is an inclusive school, where pupils feel they truly belong. Pupils are happy. They trust adults to support them if they have any concerns or worries. Leaders know their pupils well. They ensure that pupils’ needs are identified and met at the earliest opportunity. This helps all pupils to achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders aspire for every pupil to ‘grow in love’. Pupils are kind to each other and are respectful towards adults. Their positive behaviour results in a calm and orderly environment in classrooms and around the school. Bullying is very rare and, if it does happen, staff resolve it quickly. Pupils feel safe at school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Several pupils, often from abroad, join the school at different points in the year. These pupils receive a warm welcome from the school community, and they settle in quickly. They contribute to the diverse community, which is celebrated by all.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents appreciate that leaders and staff take every step possible to know pupils well. One parent’s comment echoed those of many: ‘The school sees each and every child as an individual. The fantastic sense of community within the school is amazing.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are developed as leaders in this school. They get to experience democracy first hand as they elect their school council representatives. Pupils also lead and run an eco- team, which looks at how they can care for their environment.

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

Leaders are ambitious for all their pupils. They have designed a curriculum with aspirational end points in all subjects, with the selection of subject content being well considered and carefully ordered. The curriculum is sequenced, so that pupils develop a secure understanding of essential knowledge before they are introduced to new ideas or content. 25 and 26 April 2023

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Teachers deliver the curriculum well. They organise learning into small, manageable chunks. Pupils are supported to learn subject-specific vocabulary. In the early years, for example, children learn the vocabulary of position as they search for objects hidden inside and outside of their classroom. Children become confident using the words ‘under, over, next to’, and ‘on top’, to describe position accurately. Similarly, in mathematics, teachers make sure pupils are clear about what a protractor and a vertex are before they begin to learn measuring different angles.

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Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are learning the curriculum well. The needs of pupils with SEND are identified at the earliest opportunity. All pupils benefit from the effective use of models, images, and resources to help support learning. When necessary, staff make appropriate adaptations to maximise pupils’ learning. Teachers use assessment information to identify and address gaps as soon as they arise. Occasionally, however, teachers give pupils too much information to understand in one go. When this happens, it makes it difficult for pupils to remember more of what they are learning.

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Pupils behave well in lessons. They participate actively in discussions. They collaborate well with each other. Disruptions to learning are rare.

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Leaders prioritise reading. Every class-based staff member is trained as an expert teacher of early reading. The phonics programme is delivered consistently well. As soon as children join the early years they begin to learn how to read. In the Nursery, children are supported to distinguish sounds within their environment. When they move to Reception, they immediately begin to learn the sounds that letters make. By the time they reach the end of Year 2, most pupils can read fluently.

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Teachers assess how well pupils are learning their phonics regularly. Those who are identified to be falling behind the programme receive additional sessions. These pupils are catching up quickly. Pupils practise their phonics knowledge every day. Typically, they read books with words which contain the sounds that they already know. In a few instances, however, the books teachers give to some pupils are too hard to support them to build up reading fluency.

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Leaders enrich pupils’ experience of school with opportunities beyond the formal curriculum. In learning about the Second World War, for instance, pupils visited an ex- Army headquarters where they were able to talk to veterans and learn about war evacuees. Pupils are proud that the local community hear the school choir sing as Christmas lights are switched on in the high street.

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Staff appreciate that leaders encourage them to have a positive work-life balance. They receive support in doing this by leaders’ streamlining of systems and processes in school. Leaders ensure that staff get sufficient time to carry out assigned tasks. 25 and 26 April 2023

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff are vigilant. They are quick to spot, and report, warning signs which might indicate a pupil is at risk of neglect, abuse, or exploitation. Leaders make prompt referrals to external agencies to ensure that pupils who are at risk are supported.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that staff safeguarding knowledge is up to date. New joiners undergo a period of induction, where they get to familiarise themselves with the school’s safeguarding procedures.

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Safeguarding

Pupils are taught about how to keep themselves safe at home, at school, or when online.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Occasionally, teachers do not consider the amount of information pupils can process and retain in one go. This reduces how well pupils are supported to know and remember more. Leaders should support teachers to reduce unnecessary information, so that essential subject content is understood and retained by pupils.  In a few instances, the books that teachers give to some pupils are too hard to support pupils to develop their reading fluency. In these cases, pupils are less able to practise decoding words speedily. Leaders need to make sure that teachers give these pupils books that are suitable for helping pupils to build up their reading fluency and confidence.

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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 March 2017. 25 and 26 April 2023

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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.

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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. 25 and 26 April 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 7 March 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 School leaders do not use any alternative providers.

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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 leaders and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  The inspector held discussions with the headteacher and other members of the senior leadership team.  The inspector also met with members of the governing body, including the chair of governors and vice chairs.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, and history. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers and pupils, and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Other subjects were considered as part of this inspection.  In inspecting safeguarding, the inspector carried out a scrutiny of the school’s single central record of pre-employment checks as well as other records. The inspector

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considered the views of pupils, parents and staff through discussions and their responses to Ofsted’s surveys.

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Inspection team

Edison David, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 25 and 26 April 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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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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