St Bartholomew's CofE Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Inspection of St Bartholomew’s C of E Voluntary Controlled Primary School Strawberry Lane, Tong Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS12 1SF

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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 Previous inspection grade Good 10 and 11 December 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

St Bartholomew’s School places families at the heart of all it does. There is a strong sense of community here. Everybody is welcome. Staff work closely with parents and carers to build positive relationships. This helps to remove any barriers to attendance and learning. Parents are delighted with the support they receive.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is aspirational for all pupils. The curriculum is ambitious. Pupils achieve well from their starting points. Staff are committed to all pupils’ inclusion and achievement. Effective support is in place for pupils who need it. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve the best possible outcomes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend this school. They enjoy their learning and the many visits to places such as theatres, museums, and art galleries. Pupils take part in a wide variety of sporting and musical activities and have many opportunities to participate, compete and perform.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Relationships between adults and pupils are warm, positive, and respectful. Pupils feel confident that staff will always listen and help if they have any worries. Pupils are safe here. They are taught how to stay safe in the community and online. Pupils behave well. They helped to write the rules and know to be kind and respectful.

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

Provisional data 2024 at the end of key stage 2 is below national expectations for reading, writing and mathematics. However, the school does provide an effective education for pupils. Many pupils leave and join the school at different times throughout the year. There is also a high proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language. This presents the school with significant challenges in ensuring all pupils receive an education that is closely matched to their starting points. The current curriculum and effective teaching are now helping pupils to make stronger progress from their varying starting points.

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

The school provides a well-designed, ambitious curriculum. The school has identified and sequenced the key knowledge that pupils should learn in each subject. This helps teachers to know what to teach and in what order.

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

Teachers have secure subject knowledge. They explain concepts clearly and ask questions skilfully to help pupils think deeply. The activities that pupils complete help them to secure their knowledge. For example, in geography, pupils use a range of maps to help them develop their locational knowledge.

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

The school has developed its own strategies to help pupils to remember more of the curriculum over time. Strategies such as ‘use it or lose it’ sessions help pupils remember key knowledge consistently well. 10 and 11 December 2024

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However, during some whole class teaching sessions for mathematics and English, including a small proportion of early reading sessions, teachers do not always check pupils’ understanding. This leads to the curriculum not being tailored to meet pupils’ individual needs and some pupils becoming distracted. In these instances, the school does not identify and respond to gaps in younger pupils’ knowledge and skills quickly enough. Instead, the school relies heavily on a later range of additional catch-up sessions in order to support pupils to catch up successfully.

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Reading is a high priority throughout the school. There is a sharp focus on ensuring those at the early stages of reading get off to a strong start. However, in some sessions, checks on what pupils know and remember lack consistency. Pupils enjoy sharing interesting stories from the school’s reading spine that reflect the school’s diverse community. They benefit from choosing books to read at home from the school’s inviting and well-resourced library.

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Pupils with SEND are supported by staff who know them well. Information about pupils’ specific needs is detailed and is used by staff to adapt learning in lessons effectively. The school fully includes pupils with SEND in every aspect of school life, including enrichment visits, sports, and leadership roles.

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Children get off to a positive start in early years. In nursery, adults work on important basic skills, such as turn-taking and sharing equipment. They develop warm and positive relationships with children. The school prioritises children’s communication skills. Some children join the school with limited language. Adults model important new vocabulary for children to repeat and practise.

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The school has an extensive offer to support pupils’ personal development. This includes personal, social, health and economic education lessons and linked assemblies. The school works with other agencies, such as the fire service, to ensure pupils know how to stay safe. Pupils demonstrate a deep understanding and respect for other cultures and the wide diversity within their community.

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The local governing body is knowledgeable and proactive in its support and challenge of the school. Governors have a clear understanding of the strengths and next steps for the school. Leaders are mindful of staff workload, and staff feel supported by them. They are proud to be part of the team at St Bartholomew’s.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers do not consistently check pupils’ understanding in mathematics and English lessons. In these lessons, the curriculum is not adapted well to meet pupils’ needs, 10 and 11 December 2024

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leading to a lack of attention from some pupils. As a result, these pupils develop gaps in their learning. The school should ensure that teachers consistently check pupils’ understanding and attention in lessons so that any errors and misconceptions can be addressed in a timely manner.

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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

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.st-bartholomews.leeds.sch.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 10 and 11 July 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  The school has a religious character and is a Church of England school. It was last inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005 on 2 July 2019. The school’s next section 48 inspection will be within eight school years.

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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. 10 and 11 December 2024

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 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors spoke with the headteacher, other senior leaders, other school staff, representatives of the local governing committee, a representative of the local authority and a representative of the Diocese of Leeds.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, geography, and music. 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 looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects, looked at samples of pupils’ work in these subjects and visited classes.  An inspector listened to pupils from Years 1, 2 and 3 reading to a familiar adult.

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 Inspectors met with some parents at the beginning of the school day.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the 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 analysed the responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and Ofsted’s pupil survey.  Inspectors reviewed responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments.

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Inspection team

Tracy Duffy, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Terri Leighton Ofsted Inspector 10 and 11 December 2024

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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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