St Osmund's Catholic Primary School, Salisbury

Inspection of a good school: St Osmund’s Catholic Primary School, Salisbury Exeter Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP1 2SG

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Outcome

St Osmund’s Catholic Primary School, Salisbury continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at St Osmund’s belong to a diverse and vibrant community where heritage and culture are celebrated. The school is welcoming, providing a rich range of experiences and opportunities for pupils to develop character. There are high expectations of pupils. These expectations are matched with kindness and warmth. Staff and pupils understand and reflect the school’s values of ‘love for God, love for each other, love for learning’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The vast majority of pupils achieve well, including those who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school has developed an ambitious curriculum which fosters a love of reading, and which is enriched by a range of additional activities, such as trips in the local area.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy an array of clubs and activities, including sports competitions and festivals. The school ensures that all pupils can take part, when possible. Many pupils take on positions of responsibility. They provide staff with useful feedback about life at the school, including the curriculum. Pupils in the early years get off to a strong start, including those who are at the early stages of speaking English.

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

The school’s curriculum is ambitious for all pupils. The curriculum is reviewed regularly to ensure pupils, including children in the early years, gain the knowledge and skills they need for their next steps. The school has thought carefully about what pupils should learn, and in which order. Topics have been thoughtfully chosen, reflecting the school’s diverse community. The school ensures that pupils revisit their learning, so it ‘sticks’. In the early years, the activities that children complete are precisely matched to their individual needs. As a result, pupils remember much of what they learned. 26 and 27 March 2024

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Pupils develop strong learning habits and have positive attitudes to their work. They work well independently and have many opportunities to put their learning into practice. In the early years, children work with sustained focus. They work well on their own and quickly learn to share, work together and take turns. Teachers are knowledgeable and expertly guide pupils through the curriculum. Throughout the school, staff consistently show pupils how to use a range of vocabulary. They promote a love of reading. Pupils read regularly for pleasure.

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Children learn to read quickly. They learn to match sounds to letters confidently. Pupils read books matched to the sounds they know. Staff are well trained and regularly check pupils’ progress through the school’s phonics scheme. Pupils who are struggling to keep up receive additional help.

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In a few areas of the curriculum, the school has not clearly identified how pupils’ learning should be checked, so it cannot be sure that all pupils have learned what is intended. Occasionally, teaching moves on to more complex learning before all pupils have a secure knowledge. This means that misconceptions are not always addressed and pupils fall behind. Children’s learning in the early years is continuously checked and gaps in their knowledge or understanding are quickly filled.

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The school accurately identifies pupils with SEND. Teachers have a good knowledge of the pupils in their classes and regularly review the impact of any additional support pupils receive. Pupils behave well in lessons and routines are well-established. This means that pupils learn effectively.

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The school’s personal, social and health education programme is equally ambitious. It is responsive to issues in the school community. For example, the school has provided additional learning about online safety, for both pupils and parents. Pupils enjoy opportunities to discuss and debate ideas. They are encouraged to be global citizens through fundraising activities. The academic curriculum is complemented with additional opportunities for pupils, including children in the early years, to take part in French workshops, music performances, science enrichment days and the school’s annual international day. Pastoral care at the school is strong. Pupils trust staff to help them to sort out problems when they arise.

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Leaders at the school welcome review and challenge. The professional development of staff is prioritised. This means that subject leaders have time to improve and monitor their curriculum areas. While some of this work is fairly new, there is a relentless drive, including from governors, to ensure that it is successfully implemented.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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 In a few curriculum areas, the school does not have a consistent approach to assessment. It is not clear how pupils should be assessed in some foundation subjects, so the school cannot be sure that the curriculum is having the desired impact for all pupils. In addition, routine checks on what pupils know are not always effective. Pupils’ knowledge is not secure before they are expected to apply this to new learning. As a result, misconceptions persist and these pupils fall behind. The school must ensure that there is a consistent and effective approach to assessment so that all pupils learn the curriculum as intended.

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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 October 2018.

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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 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). 26 and 27 March 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 2 October 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is designated as having a religious character. The school is in the Diocese of Clifton. At the most recent section 48 inspection of the school, carried out in April 2018, the school was judged to be good.  The school does not use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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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 the school and has taken that into account in this evaluation of the school.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, inspectors 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 looked at pupils’ work in science and writing. 26 and 27 March 2024

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 The inspector analysed responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View.  The inspector also considered the responses of staff to Ofsted’s online survey.  The inspector spoke with groups of pupils during lessons and social times.  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 met with the special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator and discussed how pupils with SEND are identified and supported.  The inspector met with staff who oversee the personal development and behaviour of pupils.  The inspector met with members of the governing body and spoke to representatives from the local authority and the diocese.

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Inspection team

Victoria Griffin, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 26 and 27 March 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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