St Gabriel's CofE Primary School

Inspection of St Gabriel’s CofE Primary School Ellis Ashton Street, Huyton, Liverpool, Merseyside L36 6BH

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Inspection dates: 30 and 31 January 2024

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Overall effectiveness Good

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

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Overall effectiveness Good

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

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Amanda Bushell. This school is part of the Rainbow Education Multi-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, Gina Donaldson, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by David Cadwallader. 30 and 31 January 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are exceptional ambassadors for St Gabriel’s School. They shine in the many leadership roles they have. Pupils are happy, active and responsible citizens. They live and breathe the school values. For example, they strive for excellence and treasure friendships.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are diligent and conscientious. They conduct themselves sensibly during playtimes and breaktimes. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are positive.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff expect pupils to work hard and to achieve highly. Pupils respond well to these high expectations. This helps to ensure that most pupils learn well in different areas of the curriculum.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn about democracy, the rule of law and equality. They raise funds for many worthy causes, including children’s charities. Pupils also care about the community. Recently, pupils helped to brighten up the local area by planting flower bulbs. They also gave thank you cards and gifts to local shop workers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils participate in the many enrichment activities available to them. For instance, a group of pupils recently visited the Houses of Parliament. Pupils fondly recall visiting museums, theatres and art galleries, as well as a zoo and planetarium.

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better?

The school has created an ambitious, focused and logically ordered curriculum. This is designed to meet the needs of pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), successfully.

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better?

The curriculum is delivered effectively by skilled, well-trained staff. Most pupils build on their knowledge as they move through the school. However, at times, learning is not adapted well enough to enable pupils to build a deeper understanding of the topics that they study.

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better?

The early years curriculum is equally ambitious. There is a sharp emphasis on developing children’s communication and language skills. Even so, some aspects of the curriculum are not delivered well enough to help children learn all that they should in all areas of learning. For a few children, this hinders their readiness for Year 1.

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better?

Typically, teachers check pupils’ understanding of their learning. This means that, in most subjects, teachers have an accurate insight into what pupils know and where there are gaps in their learning. Teachers use this information well to help pupils overcome their learning deficits so that they can catch up with their peers.

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better?

There is a strong culture of reading in the school. Pupils have a secure appreciation of the work of many popular children’s writers. They enjoy reading. Children begin 30 and 31 January 2024

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to learn to read from the start of the early years. Children in the Nursery class enjoy a rich variety of songs, stories and nursery rhymes that set them up well for the phonics programme. In the Reception class, children gain a secure grasp of sounds and letters. The early reading and phonics curriculum is taught expertly by knowledgeable staff. Staff ensure that pupils who find reading more difficult get the extra help that they need to catch up. Pupils become fluent and confident readers.

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The school identifies pupils with SEND quickly. Staff work with many different specialist partners, as well as parents and carers, to make sure that pupils get the tailored support that they need. Staff are careful to make sure that pupils with SEND can access the same curriculum as their peers. This helps to ensure that pupils with SEND achieve well across the school.

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Attendance is a high priority. The school has a range of effective strategies in place that help to support pupils to improve their attendance over time. Lessons are rarely disrupted by poor behaviour. Pupils focus on what their teachers are saying. If pupils find it difficult to manage their own behaviour, they use different strategies to help them to maintain their focus.

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Pupils participate in an extensive array of activities that support their personal development exceptionally well. Pupils enjoy attending a wide range of clubs, including choir, coding, drama, science and crochet. Pupils are responsible and active citizens. They thrive as school council members, digital and sports leaders and anti- bullying ambassadors. Pupils have an in-depth understanding of safe and appropriate personal relationships. They develop their talents in singing and playing various musical instruments, including the piano. Pupils have a strong understanding of cultural and religious diversity. They have access to a well-being team and mental health experts. These experiences ensure that pupils are fully prepared for life in modern society.

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The trust and the local governing body keep a watchful eye on the school’s performance. They support and challenge the school in equal measure. The trust makes sure that staff are trained well and have access to suitable resources to deliver the curriculum.

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The school engages well with staff. With the trust, it makes sure that staff’s well- being and workload are considered when changes are introduced.

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Parental engagement is strong. Parents enjoy participating in phonics and mathematics workshops. They often come into the school to find out about their children’s learning. Typically, parents are of the view that their children are happy, safe and achieving well.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 30 and 31 January 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few areas of the curriculum, learning is not adapted well to enable some pupils to deepen their knowledge of the subjects that they are studying. This prevents them from learning all that they could. The school should ensure that the work that teachers give to pupils enables them to deepen their learning over time.  Some aspects of the early years curriculum are not delivered as well as intended. This means that a few children do not learn all that they should across all areas of learning. The school should ensure that staff are suitably equipped to deliver the early years curriculum so that children are fully prepared for Year 1.

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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' 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). 30 and 31 January 2024

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School details

Local authority Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council

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CEO of the trust

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 St Gabriel’ CofE Primary School converted to become an academy school in September 2019. When the predecessor school, of the same name, was last inspected by Ofsted in December 2018, it was judged to require improvement overall.  This school is part of the Rainbow Education Multi-Academy Trust.  The school does not make use of alternative provision.  T he school is a voluntary controlled Church of England school. The last section 48 inspection of the school’s religious character was conducted by the Diocese of Liverpool in January 2017. The school’s next section 48 inspection is planned for the next academic year.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. 30 and 31 January 2024

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 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 inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The lead inspector held meetings with the headteacher and the deputy headteacher. He also held meetings with other staff, including those responsible for attendance and pupils’ behaviour, welfare and personal development.  Inspectors held meetings with the leaders responsible for SEND and the provision for children in the early years.  The lead inspector met with members of the local governing body. He also met with the CEO of the trust and the chair of the board of trustees. The lead inspector held a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority. He also spoke with a representative from the Diocese of Liverpool.

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, and history. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector listened to pupils read.  Inspectors met with pupils to discuss their learning in some other subjects. They spoke with staff about their workload and well-being.  Inspectors met with parents and reviewed the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. They took account of responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: 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.

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Inspection team

Lenford White, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

James Marsh Ofsted Inspector 30 and 31 January 2024

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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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