St Philip Neri Catholic Primary School, Dunston

Inspection of a good school: St Philip Neri Catholic Primary School, Dunston Ellison Road, Dunston, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE8 2QU

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Outcome

St Philip Neri Catholic Primary School, Dunston continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Sarah Williams. This school is part of Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Educational Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Nick Hurn OBE, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Martin Gannon.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school at St Philip Neri. Staff interact positively with pupils and get to know them and their families well. The school is ambitious that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) will achieve well. As a result, classrooms are purposeful, inclusive places where pupils from a range of backgrounds achieve increasingly well. Pupils respond positively to praise and are keen to collect house points.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The ‘St Philip Neri Way’ is a new initiative which sets expectations for how pupils should move around the building and behave. Pupils are proud to meet the high expectations the school sets for their behaviour. They are positive about learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the range of clubs available. Leadership opportunities, such as well-being ambassadors, eco-warriors and being a buddy to younger pupils, enable pupils to make meaningful contributions to the school community. Pupils also carry out wider-community work such as collecting food for local food banks. Pupils learn how to stay safe, including online, and how to keep themselves healthy. They appreciate the trips and visitors that help bring learning to life.

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

The school’s curriculum is broad and ambitious for all pupils, including those with SEND and other disadvantaged pupils. The school has reviewed subject curriculums carefully and there are ongoing refinements to ensure consistency. Pupils achieve well. The school identifies the needs of individual pupils accurately. Appropriate adaptations and support 5 and 6 June 2024

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ensure that all pupils, including those with SEND, have opportunities to learn and access the full curriculum.

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Teachers explain ideas clearly and model new learning accurately for pupils. They check pupils’ understanding to inform their subsequent teaching and make adjustments to meet pupils’ needs. Questioning is used well to check pupils’ knowledge and identify misconceptions. Teachers ensure that pupils get time to practise new learning, which helps them build fluency. Recent work on the curriculum is having a positive impact. Pupils frequently revisit prior learning through planned recall activities, and as a result, remember what they have been taught. The school is rightly aware that continued refinements are needed in the curriculum to ensure consistency and that all pupils achieve as well as they can across the curriculum.

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Children get off to an effective good start in the early years. They work and play together well. Staff are attentive and understand the individual needs of children. The school’s work to teach pupils to read starts in Reception. It has been strengthened over recent years. Staff have attended a range of training to support them to teach phonics. There is a high degree of consistency in the way that the programme is delivered. Pupils who are in danger of falling behind are supported well because staff have a clear understanding of their progress. Older pupils also benefit from a well-organised programme to support their reading. Pupils enjoy selecting books from their classroom libraries.

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Pupils behave well in classrooms and around school. They demonstrate a positive attitude to their learning. This starts in the early years, where routines are quickly established. Teachers set high expectations and model positive behaviours. Consequently, pupils exhibit positive attitudes to learning and a readiness for their next stage. Pupils attend school regularly. There have been improvements in attendance for some groups of pupils who had been persistently absent.

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The programme to support pupils’ wider development is a strength of the school. This is firmly built on the school’s Catholic ethos. Pupils talk about their weekly ‘Wednesday well- being’ assemblies which prepare them for life in modern Britian. They learn about respecting difference and know that people should not be treated differently. Pupils are very clear that everybody is equal.

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The school is aspirational for pupils. Adults share the same inclusive vision. Staff are positive about the support they receive for their workload and well-being. They are proud to work at the school. Governors know the school well and provide effective support and challenge. The trust also provides professional development and subject leader network meetings which staff appreciate and make regular good use of.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 5 and 6 June 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school is making revision and refinements to the curriculum and these are ongoing. Consequently, sometimes the depth of pupils’ knowledge and understanding is not as good as it could be in some areas. The school should continue to embed and refine its ambitious curriculum to ensure that all pupils consistently achieve as well as they can.

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Background

When we have judged 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 second ungraded inspection since the predecessor school, also called St Philip Neri Catholic Primary school, was judged to be good in March 2017.

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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). 5 and 6 June 2024

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Since the last inspection, the school has become an academy and is part of Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Educational Trust.  When the predecessor school, St Philip Neri Roman Catholic Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good.  The most recent Section 48 inspection of the school was in October 2023.  The school uses no alternative 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 his evaluation of the school.  Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision. 5 and 6 June 2024

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 The inspector met and spoke with leaders, staff, pupils, governors, the chair of the board of trustees and the trust’s director of performance and standards. The inspector also spoke to the diocese.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. She discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, teachers and pupils, visited lessons and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector also discussed with leaders how assessment is used in the foundation curriculum.  The inspector considered the responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey. She took account of the responses to the staff survey as well as the views of pupils that were gathered throughout the inspection.  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

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safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector met with the school’s special educational needs and disabilities coordinator.

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Inspection team

Jessica McKay, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 5 and 6 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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