Holy Name Catholic Voluntary Academy

Inspection of a good school: Holy Name Catholic Voluntary Academy Otley Old Road, Cookridge, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS16 6NF

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Inspection dates: 24 and 25 October 2023

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Outcome

Holy Name Catholic Voluntary Academy continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Jonathan Gibbons. The school is part of Bishop Wheeler Catholic Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Darren Beardsley, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Diane Gaskin.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend Holy Name Catholic Voluntary Academy. It is a welcoming school where everyone is treated with respect and politeness. Pupils are clear that everyone is treated equally in this school. They are enthusiastic to discuss their experiences with each other and with visitors. They especially like sharing views on their learning from the lessons that they enjoy or the clubs that they attend.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations for all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This is evident from the moment that children start school. Pupils respond to these expectations by trying their best in everything they do, in and out of the classroom. Older pupils support the younger children through a ‘buddy system’. Pupils take this additional responsibility very seriously. The younger children learn important social and personal skills as a result.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour is impressive. They work well in lessons and play cooperatively at social times. Everyone follows the school routines. Pupils have warm, respectful relationships with staff and are caring towards each other. Pupils feel safe and bullying is rare. When bullying occurs, staff deal with it swiftly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils attend a wide range of clubs, including music, sports, dance and baking. In the wider community, pupils raise money for charity and contribute to supporting food banks. These experiences broaden their interests and contribute to character-building. Attendance is high because pupils love coming to school. Leaders celebrate pupils’ achievements regularly with parents and carers. This fosters strong links between the school and the community. 24 and 25 October 2023

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

Leaders have designed an ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum. This enables pupils to achieve well. Standards in reading and mathematics are high. In mathematics, there is a relentless focus on developing mathematical fluency to support pupils’ confidence when calculating. Pupils really enjoy mathematics, and they achieve well.

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

The curriculum in the Reception class provides children with a very strong start to their education. Children listen attentively to adults. As a result, they make rapid progress from their starting points in literacy, mathematics and personal development. Links between home and school are strong. Events such as ‘stay and play’ are well attended by parents and carers. The way children manage their own behaviour during independent activities is impressive. Rich opportunities to deepen learning are evident through the provision. Children engage enthusiastically with all areas of the curriculum. As a result, they thrive with the support of the enthusiastic adults in the early years learning environment.

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

Leaders provide staff with regular high-quality training around the curriculum. This supports teachers to ensure that pupils know more and remember more in each subject. Regular quizzes and low-stakes assessments are used to check pupils’ learning. Where pupils’ gaps in learning are identified, they are quickly addressed.

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

Leaders foster pupils’ love of reading. Staff read to pupils every day across the curriculum. From the start of Reception, children make a swift start to learning phonics. Teachers model effective phonics practice. Reading books are well matched to pupils’ abilities. Pupils are exposed to a wide variety of authors and book genres. However, there are some children who do not have a secure knowledge of the sounds that they need to read with fluency. Adults do not consistently support these pupils using agreed phonic strategies. As a result, these pupils do not catch up to their peers quickly enough.

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

Pupils with SEND enjoy school. Leaders have ensured that they learn the same curriculum as their peers. Leaders identify pupils’ additional needs with precision and provide staff with appropriate information to support pupils with SEND. Teachers are highly skilled in adapting the curriculum if necessary for pupils with SEND. Teaching assistants also help the pupils where needed. As a result, pupils with SEND achieve well across the curriculum from Reception to Year 6.

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

In physical education (PE), pupils develop physical knowledge and skills to succeed in a wide range of sports. Essential learning is regularly revisited so that pupils can practise the skills that are not yet secure. Pupils learn through a carefully structured curriculum. In Reception, children learn the importance of spatial awareness when carrying out activities that require specific body movements. This skill is revisited in key stages 1 and 2 where pupils must dribble or pass a ball using good hand-eye coordination.

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

Leaders promote pupils’ personal development well. Pupils relish opportunities to develop their talents and interests through artistic, musical, sporting and culinary clubs. Staff encourage pupils to take on leadership roles, such as school council members, sports leaders or buddies. Pupils also know how to play an active role in the community through charity work, or the support that they provide to the less fortunate. Pupils talk with 24 and 25 October 2023

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enthusiasm about educational visits to places of interest. These visits are carefully linked to learning. The curriculum helps pupils to understand how to stay safe and who to talk to if they have worries and concerns. However, pupils cannot talk about eating healthily with confidence. Similarly, they struggle to remember the similarities and differences between the different world faiths and religions. Leaders are aware that there is more work to be done to strengthen this area of the curriculum for personal development.

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Staff appreciate the ways in which leaders consider their well-being and workload. They are proud to work in the school and feel highly valued. Leaders of the multi-academy trust know the school well. They provide very meaningful support and challenge to leaders.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In phonics, some pupils struggle at the earliest stages of reading to sound out and blend words correctly. This means that they do not have opportunities to build their reading fluency and confidence as quickly as they could. Leaders should ensure that there is a consistent approach to the teaching of phonics, including the support that the weakest readers receive.  Pupils struggle to recall what they have learned about eating healthily and about the different world religions and beliefs. Pupils’ knowledge of these concepts is not yet sufficiently developed at an age-appropriate level. Consequently, they cannot talk about them with confidence. Leaders must ensure that pupils’ understanding of heathy eating and different religions is secure to fully prepare them for the next stages of their education.

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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 school to be good in July 2018. 24 and 25 October 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' 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). 24 and 25 October 2023

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 10 and 11 July 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher has been in post since September 2023.  Leaders do not make use of any alternative provision.  The school’s wraparound, breakfast and after-school club care is provided by an external provider.

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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 their evaluation of the school.  The inspector carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and PE. For the deep dives, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited lessons, spoke to teachers and pupils and looked at samples of pupils’ work. 24 and 25 October 2023

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 The inspector held meetings with the headteacher, senior leaders, curriculum leaders and the special educational needs coordinator.  The inspector also met the chief executive officer of the trust, the executive headteacher of the trust and the chair of the governing body.  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 observed behaviour in classrooms and at breaktimes and lunchtimes. He spoke to teachers and pupils throughout the inspection about behaviour in school.  The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including free-text comments. He also spoke with groups of staff and considered responses from staff to Ofsted’s online inspection questionnaire.

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 The inspector listened to a sample of pupils in Years 1 and 2 read to a familiar adult. He also met with groups of pupils from across the school.

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Inspection team

Thomas Fay, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 24 and 25 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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