Our Lady and St Anne's Catholic Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Our Lady and St Anne’s Catholic Primary School Summerhill Terrace, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear NE4 6EB

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Outcome

Our Lady and St Anne’s Catholic Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This school provides an oasis of calm, where pupils feel safe. The values of respect, tolerance, patience and kindness underpin the school’s ethos. Regardless of faith or no faith, everyone is welcome and treated equally.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Relationships with families are incredibly strong. Parents and carers describe staff as approachable. They value the good communication with the school and the support of staff.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are high expectations for pupils’ learning and behaviour. Pupils are polite, respectful and welcoming to visitors. The behaviour policy supports particularly the most vulnerable pupils well. Behaviour is good. Pupils focus on their learning in class without distraction. They say that bullying is very rare, but they are confident that if this happened, this would be addressed swiftly by a trusted adult.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There is a variety of after-school clubs on offer, such as cookery and girls’ football. Pupils are happy and eager to attend school. They enjoy a number of special roles and responsibilities. For example, there are ‘Mini-Vinnies’, who lead on charity fundraising, playground leaders and a junior leadership team.

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

Leaders are working in partnership with the trust to develop an ambitious curriculum. The curriculum is clearly sequenced. Important knowledge and skills are mapped out to ensure that they are practised and revisited. Pupils develop their understanding over time and they remember what they have been taught. In mathematics, children develop a secure understanding of numbers to 10 by the end of the early years. They can use mathematical equipment confidently to make simple calculations. They independently apply their learning through play. 13 and 14 June 2023

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In some subjects, pupils’ knowledge is not secure. For example, when placing important historical events on a timeline, pupils find it difficult to recall periods of time and make links between topics that they have studied. Teachers check often what pupils are learning but they do not always use this information effectively to adapt their teaching. This makes it difficult for leaders to have a secure understanding of how pupils are progressing through the curriculum. Some subject leaders are new to their roles. They have limited opportunities to check the effectiveness of teaching and learning in their subject.

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Reading is prioritised. Staff are trained to teach phonics effectively. Children are introduced to letter sounds from the Nursery Year. Pupils learn to use their phonic knowledge to read unfamiliar words with increasing confidence as they move through key stage 1. Pupils who struggle to read get the extra help that they need. Leaders provide support to parents for early reading at home. Information is translated into different languages for families who speak English as an additional language. The new ‘book bag’ initiative is helping to ensure that the books that pupils read at home match the sounds that they are learning. The school’s close links with the city library and regular visits from authors help to promote a love of reading.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported effectively to access learning alongside their classmates. Adults provide extra support when needed. Teachers adapt learning to meet pupils’ individual needs. They use visual timetables and practical resources to help pupils to understand and access learning.

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The curriculum to promote pupils’ wider development is effective. Pupils and staff are rightly proud of their achievement in gaining the ‘School of Sanctuary’ award. This is in recognition of the school’s inclusive culture and for being ‘welcoming to all’. Pupils learn about different faiths. They enjoy learning from people’s real-life experiences. When learning about Islam, Muslim family members are welcomed into school to share their practices. Diversity is recognised and celebrated. On World Book Day, pupils enjoyed reading the book ‘Remixed’. They learn to appreciate the different types of blended families.

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There are various opportunities for pupils to extend their learning beyond the classroom. The St Vincent de Paul Centre provides valued support for families in need. Year 6 pupils talked enthusiastically about a recent visit to Rome, where they visited Pope Francis.

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Governors and trustees keep a close eye on the school improvement priorities. Staff feel appreciated and supported by leaders. They describe the school as ‘one big family’ where everyone looks out for one another. The introduction of an online app helps staff to let their line manager know how they are feeling and if they need help. 13 and 14 June 2023

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong culture of safeguarding. Staff understand that safeguarding is everyone’s responsibility. Appropriate referrals are made in a timely manner. Vital support is accessed from external agencies to achieve positive outcomes for families.

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Safeguarding

Leaders are aware of the local risks that pupils may face. They work effectively with the community police to address issues such as knife crime and drug misuse.

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Safeguarding

The curriculum supports pupils to stay safe, for example road safety and water safety. Pupils know about potential online dangers, such as ‘cat phishing’, and why they should not share personal information with someone that they do not know.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The assessment information that teachers gather in some subjects is sometimes not meaningful or used to adapt the curriculum. Sometimes, pupils do not remember the content that they have been taught. Leaders should refine the system for assessment so that is meaningful and supports pupils’ learning.  Some subject leaders are inexperienced. They do not have a secure understanding of curriculum priorities or the standards that pupils need to achieve. Leaders must ensure that subject leaders are supported to lead their areas of responsibility effectively.

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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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the predecessor school to be good in March 2020. 13 and 14 June 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. 13 and 14 June 2023

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school converted to become an academy in November 2020.  Our Lady and St Anne’s Catholic Primary is part of the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust.  The school offers wraparound childcare with a breakfast club and after-school club.

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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 met with the headteacher, senior leaders and the special educational needs coordinator. He met with governors, including the chair of the local governing board, the chair and chief executive officer of the Bishop Bewick Catholic Education Trust and spoke to representatives from Newcastle local authority and the Diocese of Hexham & Newcastle. Discussions were also held with some teachers and support staff.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, he discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a 13 and 14 June 2023

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sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector considered the views of parents via responses to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey.  The inspector listened to pupils reading to a familiar adult, observed their behaviour moving around school and at lunchtime, met with pupils formally to gather their opinions and held informal discussions across both days of the inspection.  A wide variety of safeguarding information and documentation was scrutinised, including referrals to external agencies and other records.

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Inspection team

Andy Jones, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 13 and 14 June 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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