St Francis Catholic Primary School

Inspection of St Francis’ Catholic Primary School Nursery Road, Handsworth, Birmingham, West Midlands B19 1PH

p.1

Inspection dates: 26 and 27 November 2024

p.1

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good 26 and 27 November 2024

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate the wide range of subjects on offer to them, particularly mathematics. They say, ‘It brings something out of us. It challenges us.’ They are enthusiastic in collecting ‘happy sides’ for good behaviour or working well. Leaders want all pupils to succeed in their learning. As a result, they are ready for secondary school by the time they leave.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy learning about Handsworth through history and geography lessons. They also have the chance to undertake local trips, such as to the botanical gardens and local museums. Some pupils went to the Birmingham Repertory Theatre to see a live performance of a classic story. Older pupils enjoyed a residential weekend in Staffordshire. They take on responsibilities such as house captains (who contribute to assemblies), play leaders, well-being champions, and the ‘Saint Francis helping hands’, who help with lunchtime duties in the dining hall.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in class and are polite and courteous. They live up to the Saint Francis values ‘to show care and respect for each other and our world’.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils reported that they know how to keep themselves safe online and using social media. The ‘worry boxes’ help them to report any concerns they have.

p.2

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

The school’s redesigned curriculum ensures that all pupils gain access to a full range and depth of subjects. Subject leaders are well trained to check how effectively teachers deliver it.

p.2

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

Children get off to a prompt start with early reading in Reception. Adults consistently use technical language in phonics lessons. Children are comfortable using terms such as ‘digraph, phoneme’ and ‘grapheme’ and know what they mean. Children in Reception can explain ‘oral blending’ and ‘segmenting fingers’. Pupils new to reading or at risk of falling behind receive effective support. There are ‘keep-up’ and regular daily reading sessions for pupils with an adult for as long as needed until pupils become confident and fluent readers. Adults encourage pupils to read with expression.

p.2

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

In mathematics, teachers use the curriculum scheme effectively to ensure that pupils achieve well. There are some inconsistencies in early years in the effectiveness of the provision and the use of resources in mathematics. In other subjects, older pupils are familiar with key vocabulary, such as ‘innovation’ and ‘conquer’ in history. Pupils learn key concepts, such as ‘changes over time’, ‘the past’ and ‘modern day’. Experiments in science, for example designing circuits, help pupils to develop their scientific knowledge and understanding.

p.2

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

Adults are effective at targeting pupils who do not raise their hands to answer questions or appear to be disengaged. This keeps them on track and enables staff to identify gaps or misconceptions in learning. 26 and 27 November 2024

p.2

3

Staff from Reception through to Year 6 are skilled in supporting the increasing number of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who struggle to regulate their behaviour . The school has rightly identified adaptions of the wider curriculum for pupils with SEND as a priority for further development.

p.3

3

Pupils attend school regularly. Individuals in each class are nominated as ‘attendance champions’ to encourage their peers to come to school regularly and on time.

p.3

3

Pupils are enthusiastic about raising money, including for homeless people, refugees, and people who have experienced domestic violence. Saint Francis is designated as ‘a school of sanctuary’ by the School of Sanctuary Network. Families gave generously, donating over 1,000 tins at the harvest festival. Pupils help the school deliver weekly food parcels.

p.3

3

There are numerous clubs, such as chess, art and craft, science and the library. There are regular school productions and performances, including the recent ‘Beauty and the Beast’ from a theatre company. Leaders’ monitoring of the uptake of clubs and activities is under-developed, meaning that some pupils who are disadvantaged, do not always participate highly in extra-curricular opportunities.

p.3

3

Governors know the school well and are highly experienced and knowledgeable. They consider the headteacher’s welfare, who in turn ensures that staff workload is reduced wherever possible. Leadership of early years has gone through a period of change, which has led to inconsistencies in the provision. The school is benefiting from external support in this area.

p.3

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

p.3

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Provision for learning in the early years foundation stage is of a variable quality. As a result, some children are not sufficiently well prepared for the next phase in their learning. Leaders should ensure that the provision is of a consistently high standard.  Adaptions to the wider curriculum for pupils with SEND are not yet consistent across subjects and classes. This leads to some pupils becoming disengaged with their work. Leaders should ensure that adaptions are effective so that all pupils can access the learning.  The school does not check that disadvantaged pupils access extra-curricular activities often enough. This means that these pupils may miss out on opportunities. The school must do what it reasonably can to ensure that all pupils benefit from its extra-curricular offer. 26 and 27 November 2024

p.3

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.

p.4

How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

p.4

Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

p.4

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). 26 and 27 November 2024

p.4

School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

p.5

School details

Chair of governing body Veronica Middleton

p.5

School details

Date of previous inspection 10 July 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

p.5

Information about this school

 The headteacher and deputy headteacher have both been appointed since the last inspection.  The school currently uses no alternative provision.  The school has a Catholic ethos. It is part of the Archdiocese of Birmingham. The last section 48 inspection took place in January 2023. The next scheduled inspection should take place by 31 August 2028.

p.5

Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 26 and 27 November 2024

p.5

6

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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 lead inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, other leaders and staff.  Inspectors spoke to groups of pupils to learn their views of the school.  The lead inspector met with members of the board of governors, including the chair.  An inspector spoke by telephone to two school improvement advisors.  The lead inspector spoke by telephone to a representative from the diocese.  Inspectors considered responses to the online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View. This included free-text comments. They also considered additional feedback from parents. Inspectors reviewed responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for staff and pupils.

p.6

6

 Inspectors considered information on pupils’ behaviour, attendance and personal development.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, English, mathematics, history and science. For each deep dive, they held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The lead inspector listened to pupils reading.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the lead 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.

p.6

Inspection team

Mark Sims, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

p.6

Inspection team

Vanessa Payne Ofsted Inspector 26 and 27 November 2024

p.6

7

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.

p.7

7

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.7

7

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open- government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

7

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

7

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7