St Mary's Catholic Primary School

Inspection of St Mary’s Catholic Primary School Hunter Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0AE

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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 Good 11 and 12 June 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

St Mary’s is a place where pupils feel safe and are well cared for. Kind interactions between pupils and staff influence the positive relationships pupils form with each other. Pupils are knowledgeable about the risks they face in the real and online world and understand the importance of reporting concerns to a trusted adult.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils have positive attitudes to their learning and recognise their responsibility in ensuring that they do well at school. They listen attentively to their teachers and answer questions thoughtfully when asked.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils who arrive new to the country are well supported to settle and become active members of the school community. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get equal access to all the school offers and feel well cared for.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the wider opportunities they are provided. Cooking and attending a range of sports clubs are just a few of the ways they develop their talents and interests. Pupils recognise the importance of making their school an inclusive and welcoming place for all. They greet visitors with an eagerness to share their experiences and with smiles on their faces.

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better?

The school promotes its Catholic ethos clearly and with pride. Staff demonstrate the school values by doing their best for the community they serve. Leaders show integrity and an openness to challenge and accept support when required. More recently, lower than expected outcomes in key stages 1 and 2 have led the school to make necessary changes to the curriculum to improve pupils’ learning. These changes have happened at speed. The rapid pace of such developments has meant that the school has not measured precisely enough how well the changes are being delivered or how they are improving provision.

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better?

Staff often hold several areas of responsibility. Despite the impact this has on workload, many feel well supported in doing so. Recent changes in staffing have presented new opportunities for staff to lead in key areas. Many are enjoying this challenge. Changes to the curriculum in some subjects have been received well by pupils, who enjoy their learning across subjects such as history, reading, computing and mathematics. In some subject areas, however, staff have not received the necessary subject-specific training to deliver learning sequences as intended.

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better?

A newly appointed special educational needs and disabilities coordinator has made improvements to how the school delivers support to pupils with SEND. The school ensures that parents and external support agencies are involved in reviewing pupils’ support plans. Staff make the necessary adaptations for pupils with SEND to support them to access the curriculum. However, the school has not established fully robust assessment processes and some identification of SEND needs is not as timely as it could be. 11 and 12 June 2024

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Pupils share a love of reading. They enjoy being read stories by teachers, and many practise their reading at home regularly. Those at the early stages of reading are increasingly well supported to do so. Staff deliver phonics lessons in line with agreed approaches. Where staff require additional support, they are offered coaching sessions to improve their teaching. Most pupils are able to read by the time they arrive in key stage 2, with those who still require support receiving this from well- trained adults.

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Children in the early years enjoy their time in school. Adults are kind and nurturing and provide opportunities for children to explore and develop their understanding of the world around them. Many children show sustained concentration during activities for prolonged periods, helping to prepare them for more formal learning. Carefully selected books underpin the early years curriculum, with provision often linked to the stories being read. Children enjoy role play and using new words to describe the feelings that characters might experience.

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Most pupils behave well and understand that the school rules are in place to support their learning. Those who require additional support with their emotions are provided with strategies to help to manage them. Pupils demonstrate resilience when faced with challenges in their learning and seek ways to improve their performance. An increasing number of pupils are attending school more regularly with the school finding new ways to support parents to understand the importance of regular school attendance.

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Pupils develop their leadership skills when being elected as school councillors or house captains. Many see this as an opportunity to make a difference in their school. Older pupils see their responsibility to act as mentors to younger children as important. Pupils develop a sense of social responsibility by collecting donations for a local food bank and raising money for local and global charities.

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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 ensured that there is effective monitoring of school improvement actions. As a result, it does not have a precise enough view of how well such actions are being delivered and are improving provision. The school should ensure that effective monitoring systems are in place to ensure that the school continues to improve.  Recent work to improve the early identification of the needs of pupils with SEND is at an early stage. As a result, some pupils do not receive support early enough. 11 and 12 June 2024

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The school should ensure that all pupils with SEND have their needs identified quickly and that robust evidence is gathered to support assessment processes.  In some subjects, the school has not ensured that staff receive the necessary support to deliver the disciplinary aspects of the curriculum. This has an impact on how well pupils develop subject-specific skills and knowledge in these subjects. The school should ensure that all staff receive the necessary support to deliver the curriculum as intended.

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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). 11 and 12 June 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.st-marys-cannock.staffs.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 6 November 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative providers.  This school is one of a religious character and received a section 48 inspection in March 2022. It will receive its next section 48 inspection in 2027.

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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.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and 11 and 12 June 2024

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considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors met with a range of leaders, including those responsible for the curriculum, teaching and learning, behaviour, attendance, personal development and safeguarding.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history and computing. For each deep dive, the 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 lead inspector also heard a selection of pupils read from Years 1, 2 and 3.  Inspectors also considered the curriculum in other subjects.  The lead inspector spoke with governors, including the chair, vice-chair and one other governor.  The lead inspector also spoke to the local authority school improvement officer

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and the diocese deputy director of education and considered evidence from recent improvement reports.  Inspectors considered the survey responses to Ofsted Parent View and the free- text comments from parents.  Inspectors considered the responses to staff and pupils surveys.

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Inspection team

Tony Bradshaw, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Gill Turner Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 June 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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