St Oswald's Catholic Primary, Wrekenton

Inspection of St Oswald’s Catholic Primary, Wrekenton Easington Avenue, Wrekenton, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE9 7LH

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Inspection dates: 10 and 11 December 2024

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good

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Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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The headteacher of this school is Tracy Musgrove. This school is part of Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Nick Hurn OBE, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Martin Gannon. 10 and 11 December 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a school that welcomes everyone. Staff quickly get to know pupils well, which helps them to care for individual pupils’ needs. This includes pupils who speak English as an additional language. Pupils enjoy learning from the school’s ambitious curriculum. The school is determined for all pupils to achieve highly. Pupils achieve well as they move through the curriculum. They are well prepared for their next stage of learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The ‘St Oswald’s Way’ sets out the expectations for behaviour in the school. In lessons, pupils behave well and show pride in their work. Pupils have positive attitudes towards learning. In the early years, children learn routines and concentrate well on their learning. Pupils develop trusting relationships with the staff who help them. This helps pupils to feel safe. They are confident that staff will help them if they have a problem.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school offers a range of extra-curricular clubs and experiences. Pupils particularly enjoy the business club. This teaches them basic financial skills as they complete activities to raise money to pay for an end-of-year trip. Staff teach pupils how to keep safe in the local community and when online. Pupils remember what they have been taught. This helps to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain.

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

Since academisation, the school has refreshed its curriculum. The curriculum identifies what pupils need to learn from Nursery to Year 6. Pupils start lessons by recalling the important knowledge from previous lessons. This helps them to remember important content. For example, in mathematics, pupils revisit learning from the previous week or term so that they do not forget it. In history, older pupils remember the vocabulary associated with their Roman Empire study. They use the vocabulary to explain their learning. They recognise similarities between different empires previously studied. Across the subjects taught, teachers check what pupils know and remember. However, where pupils have gaps in their knowledge, for example because they have missed lessons, the school does not have a consistent system in place to help pupils to catch up.

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

Pupils love reading. They enjoy daily reading from the wide variety of books available. Reading is prioritised in the school’s new English curriculum. The school ensures that older pupils read novels in their entirety. Older pupils enjoy reading books such as Louis Sachar’s ‘Holes.’ The themes in the selected books stimulate discussion about challenging themes and viewpoints. In the early years, children learn rhymes and become familiar with stories such as ‘The Three Little Pigs’. The focus on communication and language helps children to recognise the sounds that letters make. Staff are experts at teaching phonics. The school’s phonics programme is taught well. This ensures that all pupils, including those who speak English as an additional language, learn to read straight away. Pupils practise reading often. This ensures that they learn to read fluently. When pupils struggle, staff identify pupils who require extra help with reading. Pupils benefit from this

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

individualised support. 10 and 11 December 2024

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The school supports pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) effectively. External professionals, such as the educational psychologist, make regular visits. The advice that external professionals provide helps staff to identify the best way to support pupils’ specific needs. Staff are provided with helpful information so that they know how to support pupils in lessons. Pupils with SEND achieve well.

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The ‘St. Oswald’s Way’ is taught from the early years to Year 6. This helps children to learn how to manage their behaviour. In the early years, children work and play alongside each other harmoniously. Most older pupils show kindness and consideration for each other. However, some pupils use derogatory, homophobic language during social times. They do not recognise that this should be reported to staff.

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The school’s provision for personal development helps pupils to understand that they need to be good role models. Older pupils enjoy being ‘buddies’ to younger children. The eco club works to create a positive school environment. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding is developed well through experiences such as visits to local places of worship, including the church, mosque and synagogue. The school’s curriculum for personal, social, health and economic education supports pupils to learn about life in modern Britain. The school teaches pupils about the importance of respect for differences between people. Some aspects of the curriculum are new. This means that some protected characteristics are not as well understood by pupils.

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The trust supports the work of the school well. Those responsible for governance work together to ensure improvement across the school. Staff feel valued at work. They feel that leaders care about them and consider their workload and well-being. This motivates staff to maintain the school’s vision to value every individual and support them in reaching their full potential.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school does not have a consistent approach to addressing gaps in knowledge when pupils have missed lessons. As a result, some pupils do not have the necessary prior knowledge to support them to complete the next step in learning successfully. The school should ensure that teaching consistently resolves gaps in knowledge so that pupils achieve highly.  Some pupils use derogatory, homophobic language during social times. Pupils do not report this because they do not understand that this is offensive. The school should ensure that pupils develop an understanding of acceptable language so that they can demonstrate respect for the protected characteristics and understand the importance of reporting incidents to adults, where this is not the case. 10 and 11 December 2024

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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). 10 and 11 December 2024

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School details

School category Academy converter Age range of pupils 3 to 11

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School details

Website www.stoswaldswrekenton.bwcet.com

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 St Oswald’s Catholic Primary School, Wrekenton converted to become an academy in March 2021. When its predecessor school, St Oswald’s Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good for overall effectiveness.  This school is one of 47 academies in the Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school is a member of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle and has a Catholic character.  As this school has a religious character, it is inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005. The predecessor school’s last section 48 inspection was in July 2019. 10 and 11 December 2024

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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.

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Information about this inspection

 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. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, subject leaders and other school staff. The lead inspector also met with the chair and vice-chair of the local governing committee and the deputy CEO of the trust. The lead inspector spoke on the telephone with the vice-chair of the board of directors of the trust and the director of education for the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.  Inspectors 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

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Information about this inspection

looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector listened to some pupils read to an adult.  An inspector spoke to leaders about the curriculum in other subjects, including geography, reviewed some pupils’ English books, and scrutinised information relating to support and provision for pupils with SEND.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: 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.  Inspectors spoke to some parents informally and considered the responses to Ofsted’s surveys for parents, pupils and staff.

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Inspection team

Kathryn McDonald, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Philippa Kermotschuk His Majesty’s Inspector 10 and 11 December 2024

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