Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School Wesley Road Hillside, Harlesden, London NW10 8PP

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Inspection dates: 25 and 26 February 2025

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Outcome

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a school with a strong sense of community, where pupils are happy and safe. The school lives out its mission ‘that every child is provided with the best opportunities to be successful citizens of the future.’ Pupils take part in a wide range of enrichment activities to gain valuable life experiences. They take part in trips, clubs, workshops and various charity drives. These provide pupils with a strong sense of responsibility and citizenship.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are taught to aspire and aim high in their academic work. They enjoy careers week and talks from a range of inspiring speakers. The school holds pupils to high standards of behaviour and promotes both dignity and empathy. This helps to ensure that pupils’ conduct is mature and highly respectful. They are calm and orderly around the school site and motivated to learn in class.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides a broad education. Pupils enjoy their learning and progress well through the curriculum. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), typically achieve in line with national outcomes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school works closely with families. Parents and carers speak warmly of the school. They feel their children are known well and nurtured.

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

Pupils follow a curriculum that is ambitious and enriched. Teachers have secure subject knowledge and present information clearly. There is an emphasis on learning new vocabulary and terminology. For example, in geography pupils learn the different parts of 25 and 26 February 2025

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a volcano and children in the Nursery are encouraged to describe and identify the different animals they cut out of play dough.

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Following some changes in staffing, the school has extended leadership capacity in order to develop the curriculum further. The school has decided on clear actions, which are beginning to be enacted. For example, the mathematics curriculum has been refined to build numerical fluency and address misconceptions. However, leaders have correctly identified that teaching in some subjects does not routinely return and secure previous knowledge before moving on to new content. This means that, on occasion, pupils do not commit knowledge to their long-term memory.

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Reading is a priority in the school and many pupils read for pleasure. Older pupils are guided to read a range of genres, while younger pupils enjoy story time. To promote a love of reading, pupils have allocated library time, and the school hosts author events and book fairs. The phonics programme begins in Reception and pupils take home books that match the sounds taught in class. Pupils at risk of falling behind are identified and given additional reading sessions. The school is in the process of strengthening this support for pupils to improve their fluency. However, some staff do not deliver the phonics programme as the school intends. In addition, they do not routinely encourage pupils to use their phonics knowledge in their spelling or writing. At times, this hinders pupils in learning to read and write accurately and confidently.

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Pupils with SEND make similar progress through the curriculum to their peers. Their needs are identified quickly, and staff are given useful information, so they can adapt work appropriately if required. Staff are deployed carefully to facilitate this and are skilled in offering support. Pupils with SEND benefit from a caring and inclusive environment.

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Reception and Nursery classes are well resourced, and the provision has expanded to include two-year-olds. This new addition is particularly inviting and designed to develop children’s curiosity well. Staff establish strong relationships with families. Many activities are imaginative and develop learning well. For example, staff make ‘pattern snakes’ with modelling clay and different coloured sparkles. Here, staff encourage children to share and draw out key language, such as ‘press roll’ and ‘stretch.’ However, sometimes interactions with staff and resources are not of a consistently high quality and occasionally the full intended learning of activities is not clear in their design. Likewise, while children learn to regulate their emotions and be kind, routines are not fully embedded and at times children do not have the reminders they need to take turns and share.

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Pupils attend school very well and value their education. They are polite and courteous. Many pupils take leadership roles, including as school council representatives, liturgy leads, librarians and lunchtime leaders. These positions support the school’s values, which are firmly embedded: faith, hope and courage. The school is quick to find opportunities that match pupils’ interests, whether that is bird watching, learning British Sign Language or taking them to see shows, including the opera. Pupils are very well prepared for life in modern day Britain and are taught how to stay safe, including online. 25 and 26 February 2025

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Staff are proud to work at the school and feel valued. Leaders and governors are resourceful and reflective in moving the school forward. They provide effective staff training that supports school improvement and have high ambitions for pupils.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the curriculum does not consistently revisit prior knowledge, and teaching does not routinely check that knowledge is remembered by pupils before moving on to new content. As a result, pupils sometimes do not fully recall the key knowledge needed to make progress through the curriculum or draw detailed links and connections with prior learning. The school should ensure that the curriculum is designed to help pupils remember knowledge long term.  The school’s phonics programme is not fully embedded. Staff do not routinely ensure that pupils can apply their phonics knowledge to their reading or writing. This means that some pupils do not develop their reading or writing skills as well as they could. The school should ensure that staff have the expertise that they need to deliver the programme confidently and that they consistently encourage pupils to apply their skills, particularly to their spelling and writing.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In the early years, some staff interactions with children are not of a consistently high quality and some of the activities are not designed carefully enough so that the intended learning is fully realised. This means that some children do not receive consistently high-quality learning experiences. The school should ensure that staff are clear about what children should learn from an activity and that their communications with children extend children’s knowledge.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the 25 and 26 February 2025

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last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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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This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in July 2016.

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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). 25 and 26 February 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Myranda Devonish and Veronica Officer (co- chairs) Headteacher Marie Halpin

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 15 and 16 January 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School is a Catholic school that is within the Archdiocese of Westminster.  The most recent section 48 inspection, which is an inspection of the school’s religious character, took place in January 2024.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school provides a breakfast and after-school club.  The school has nursery provision for two-year-olds.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 25 and 26 February 2025

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 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 their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with senior leaders, representatives from the governing body, a representative from the local authority, teachers and support staff.  The inspector visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning, spoke to teachers and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector scrutinised a range of documents, including leaders’ evaluation of the school and priorities for school improvement.  The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. They also spoke to pupils, parents and staff and took into consideration the responses to Ofsted’s online staff and pupil surveys.  The inspector checked the school’s policies and records, including those related to

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behaviour and pupils’ wider development.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour across the school, including as they arrived and left the school.  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 safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.

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Inspection team

Sarah Saunders, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 25 and 26 February 2025

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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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