St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School

Inspection of a good school: St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School Canon Close, Maidstone Road, Rochester, Kent ME1 3EN

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Inspection dates: 17 and 18 October 2023

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Outcome

St William of Perth Roman Catholic Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite, well mannered and welcoming. They enjoy their lessons and are keen to talk about their learning. There are several ways that pupils can develop their character, including through taking on leadership roles, raising money for charity, being part of a school council and reading in the local community. They particularly enjoy trips into the local area as part of their lessons.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand the ‘golden rules’ for behaviour. They know how to follow them as they learn about them together in assembly and over the year. They know that adults will help them if they ask and are confident to support their peers with any issues. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe, including when online.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn well through the curriculum and enjoy the broad and balanced range of subjects and activities. They rise to the high expectations the school has for them and are proud of their achievements in and out of the classroom. They are resilient and enjoy doing well. They proudly explain their work and activities to visitors.

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

The school has developed a structured and ambitious curriculum which is sequenced to enable pupils to build up their knowledge over time. Much of the time, pupils are helped to remember more by the themes that link carefully. Here, pupils apply their understanding when learning new concepts because they are taught to retain and recall knowledge. Children make a good start to their learning in the early years. The school has designed the early years curriculum to focus on their priorities of communication, language and number. Children develop basic skills well and they are beginning to use their knowledge deliberately when learning new things.

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

There is a comprehensive, well-planned approach to reading across the school. The library contains books by a variety of authors and across a breadth of text types. Pupils enjoy their regular library sessions. The staff are well trained and phonics lessons help 17 and 18 October 2023

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pupils to learn the skills needed to be fluent and accurate readers. Pupils who are identified as needing extra support are helped swiftly and effectively. As a result, pupils catch up quickly and enjoy their reading. The school enhances its culture of reading through the use of visiting local authors, trips to the local library, joining in with national events such as Book Week, and in-school events such as pupils reading with their parents and carers.

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Pupils’ knowledge is checked carefully in some subjects. Where this is successful, learning activities are adapted quickly and effectively. This supports all pupils and particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. However, the routine checking of what pupils know and understand is not yet secure in some subjects across the school. Where assessment is not fully developed, staff do not know what knowledge pupils have securely understood and what they need more support with. Additionally, in these subjects, the school does not know which aspects of the planned curriculum are working well and which need to be refined. This limits pupils’ learning in these areas.

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The school has ensured that the curriculum supports pupils’ broader development, and also has a wide range of extra-curricular activities on offer. Pupils apply for roles within the school and are proud to be a member of the prayer, eco or house team. They are helped to prepare for life in modern Britain through applying and standing for election and their work in the wider community. They learn about healthy relationships and growing up but are not always confident about being able to talk about these.

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Pupils attend school regularly and focus well on their learning in class and around the school. They help each other readily. During break and lunch, the pupils behave well and are keen to enjoy the outside spaces. Incidents of low-level disruption are rare as all pupils know and understand the school rules. Pupils are confident that any issues, if they occur, will be dealt with fairly by their trusted adults.

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Well-being is considered carefully by leaders and staff feel that they are listened to and supported. Governors are ambitious for the school to be successful and they provide appropriate support and challenge where needed. They know the school well and carry out their statutory duties carefully, including those that relate to safeguarding.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some areas of the curriculum, assessment is not yet fully developed. As a result, in these areas, staff are less able to pinpoint the next steps that are needed to move pupils on swiftly and successfully. The school should continue to develop assessment across the curriculum so that pupils are supported to secure their learning over time.  In some subjects, the school does not know if recent changes to the curriculum have had the planned impact in helping pupils to know more and remember more. The 17 and 18 October 2023

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school needs to ensure that it knows if the curriculum is improving pupils’ outcomes and make any required adjustments quickly.

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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 2014.

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 17 and 18 October 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 9 May 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not currently use any alternative providers.  The school’s most recent section 48 inspection for schools of a religious character was in February 2023.  There is a new headteacher and some new governors at the school since the last inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  The inspector held meetings with the headteacher, senior leaders, subject leaders and the special educational needs coordinator. He also met with members of the governing body and representatives from the local authority and the diocese. 17 and 18 October 2023

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 To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, French and computing. For each deep dive, the inspector held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector also listened to pupils read to an adult at the school.  The inspector also talked to the school about their self-evaluation, looked at information, including with regard to attendance, looked at responses to surveys and spoke with pupils, staff and parents.

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Inspection team

Howard Fisher, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 October 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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