St Teresa's Catholic Primary Academy

Inspection of St Teresa’s Catholic Primary Academy Malins Road, Parkfields, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV4 6AW

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Stacy McHale. This school is part of St Francis and St Clare Catholic Multi Academy Company, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Toni Ellis, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Christopher Walker. 16 and 17 April 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

St Teresa serves a community which is richly diverse, with families from many faiths and backgrounds. Leaders have created a warm and welcoming school, where difference is celebrated and where everyone can thrive. Pupils love to learn and enjoy attending school. Pupils’ behaviour is very positive.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are positive relationships between pupils and staff. When they join in the early years, children are supported to make a smooth transition into school. This includes inviting families into school and visiting pupils in their homes. The school also welcomes pupils at different points in the school year. Whenever pupils join, the staff go the extra mile to help them to feel part of this school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school offers very many clubs to all pupils. These are attended well by all pupils. These include crafts, sports and academic classes. Pupils appreciate the opportunities to enhance their learning outside of school. For example, they particularly enjoy going to the local theatre to see performances of the books they are reading.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are many opportunities for pupils to fundraise and help people in the local community. The school’s ethos of ‘Pray together, Aspire Together, Achieve Together’ resonates through school life. This helps to prepare pupils to play an active role in society.

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better?

Since the last inspection, the school has reviewed and amended the curriculum. Leaders identified the important content they wanted pupils to learn. As a result of this intensive work, the curriculum is well planned and sequenced right through from the early years to the end of Year 6.

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better?

Leaders are carefully monitoring the impact of the new curriculum. This has worked well to improve assessment in some subjects. Most teachers check pupils’ understanding and identify any gaps in pupils’ subject knowledge. They use this information to give effective feedback to pupils. This means that pupils are learning more and remembering more over time. However, some subjects are not monitored as well. As a result, some pupils are taught new knowledge when they do not have a secure understanding of prior knowledge.

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better?

Leaders have ensured that pupils develop a love of reading and there is a well understood reading strategy across the whole school. There are ‘reading corners’ in every classroom and the school library is well used by pupils. Pupils can choose to read books of interest to them alongside the ‘classroom reader’. Pupils read frequently for pleasure. Many pupils join the school with English as an additional language and some with gaps in their reading knowledge. Staff have the expertise 16 and 17 April 2024

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to teach reading effectively and they support pupils who struggle to read. As a result, pupils quickly catch up and are able to read more fluently.

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Staff are trained well to meet the needs of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils are assessed as soon as they join the school in order to identify any unmet special needs. The staff use their expertise to help pupils with SEND access all parts of school life. As a result, pupils with SEND are well supported.

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The behaviour policy is clear and tailored to the needs of pupils. Everyone knows what is considered acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in this school. Pupils are taught that talking through problems is the best way to sort things out with each other. As a result of leaders’ clear strategies, pupils behave well. Pupils make friends quickly and get along well together.

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There is a focus on the development of the whole child. Leaders want pupils to discover their talents and interests and go to places they may never think to visit. Pupils talk positively about their visits to local places of interest and experiencing competitive sport for the first time. The school’s personal, social, health and economic curriculum teaches pupils how to be healthy and stay safe, and prepares them for life in modern day Britain. Pupils learn about the different cultures and religions and understand the importance of tolerance and respect.

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Trustees, local governors and executive leaders are knowledgeable about the school. With their help school leaders have been able to recruit staff with the right expertise. This has helped to ensure that the school is now providing pupils with a good quality of education.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school has not monitored the implementation or impact of a few subjects well enough. As a result, some pupils do not retain the subject-specific knowledge they need to do well. The school should ensure that subject leaders develop expertise so they are able to monitor the quality and delivery of their subject across the school.  In some subjects, teachers do not use assessment well enough to check that pupils have understood what has been taught. This means that misconceptions are not always identified or addressed as quickly as they should be. The school needs to ensure that all teachers use assessment consistently well to check pupils’ understanding and adapt their teaching so that all pupils can gain and retain new knowledge. 16 and 17 April 2024

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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 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). 16 and 17 April 2024

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 23 and 24 November 2021, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of St Francis and St Clare Catholic Multi Academy Company.  The school has a high proportion of pupils who have English as an additional language.  The leadership team is comprised of the headteacher and an assistant headteacher.  The school does not make use of any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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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

 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 16 and 17 April 2024

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 The inspectors held meetings with the headteacher and the assistant headteacher, subject leaders, the Catholic senior executive leader of the trust, the chair of trustees and another trustee who chairs the education subcommittee of the trust, and governors from the school’s local governing committee. The lead inspector spoke on the telephone to a representative from the diocese and met with a representative from the local authority.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in the following subjects: reading, English, mathematics, science and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects and looked at a sample of work from other subjects.  To gather evidence on pupils’ wider development, an inspector met with the

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headteacher and personal, social, health and economic education subject leader and groups of pupils.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: checked the school’s single central record; spoke to senior leaders about safeguarding procedures; took account of the views of 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 lead inspector reviewed a range of other school documentation and policies, including the school development plan and minutes of governor meetings.  Inspectors spoke to leaders, staff and pupils about the wider work of the school.  Inspectors reviewed the school’s records of behaviour, including bullying, and records of suspensions. Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school.  The lead inspector spoke to parents and considered responses, including free-text

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comments, to Ofsted Parent View and the online questionnaire. They also reviewed the responses to the staff survey and gathered the views of staff and pupils on site through discussion.

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Inspection team

Jane Edgerton, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Carli Mccallin Ofsted Inspector 16 and 17 April 2024

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