St Anthony's Catholic Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School Genoa Road, Anerley, London SE20 8ES

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Inspection dates: 25 and 26 February 2025

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Outcome

St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Jonathan Sims. This school is part of the St Oscar Romero Catholic Academy 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), David Garrido, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Allison Thornton.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to this warm, friendly school. They look forward to the new learning that each day brings. They express this with pride in their self-written school song: ‘Every day is special, here at St Anthony’s!’ Pupils say that being part of this school feels like belonging to a community. They feel supported and are taken care of well by staff.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe at this school, knowing that there are systems in place to support them if they have any problems. They are confident that they can approach staff in school if they have any concerns.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s vision for its pupils is to ‘promote high achievement and mutual respect’. Pupils respond well to these high expectations. They work hard in lessons. Pupils typically learn and achieve well across the curriculum. They are prepared effectively for the next stage in their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has a strong culture of securing high standards of behaviour. This is reinforced through the school’s values of faith, love and resilience. Pupils behave well, in and out of lessons. They show positive attitudes to learning, follow clear routines and respond well to staff. They are kind and respectful. Pupils learn about healthy lifestyles. They participate in workshops about staying active, for example. They also work with the school’s caterer to promote balanced eating habits. 25 and 26 February 2025

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

The school has appropriate processes in place to identify the needs of pupils accurately. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who join at different points during the year, often from abroad. These pupils receive effective support, and they learn the curriculum well.

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

Reading is a priority in this school. Well-trained staff deliver the phonics programme effectively. From the time children start in the early years, they receive plenty of opportunities to practise getting better at reading. They read books that match the sounds that they already know. Staff are quick to identify those who are falling behind in their phonics knowledge. These pupils receive effective support, which helps them to catch up quickly. Across the school, pupils display a genuine love of reading.

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

The school has put in place a curriculum that is well considered and carefully organised. The endpoints identified for the curriculum are ambitious. It is designed so that pupils master the knowledge required before they move on to new learning. In geography, for example, pupils in Reception begin to use simple maps when they learn about the local area. This prepares them for Year 1 when they study the countries and cities in the United Kingdom.

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

Teaching follows the way that the curriculum is ordered. This allows pupils to acquire sufficient knowledge over time. They receive plenty of opportunities to practise and consolidate their learning. Sometimes, however, pupils’ misconceptions are not identified and addressed quickly. When this happens, pupils do not acquire a deep understanding of what they are learning.

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

In general, pupils receive effective support to learn the curriculum well. Teaching supports pupils to grasp new concepts, for example through using illustrations and examples to explain ideas. Pupils benefit from well-chosen resources to reinforce their learning. In a few instances, however, the work given to pupils does not fully match what staff intend for pupils to learn. This leaves gaps in pupils’ understanding.

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

Pupils have plenty of opportunities to prepare them for life in modern Britain. Pupils also engage in activities that help them to develop as responsible citizens. The school choir, for example, performs at the local Dementia Café. Year 6 pupils learn about the dangers of drugs and alcohol through a junior citizenship programme.

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

The school offers a wide range of activities to enrich pupils’ experiences. It offers a variety of educational visits that pupils enjoy. Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, enjoy the many after-school clubs on offer. They also compete against and collaborate with other schools when they take part in various sports tournaments. Diversity is celebrated within the school. Pupils get to know each other’s cultures through events such as ‘European Languages Day’.

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

The school has forged strong and positive partnerships with parents and carers. This has been particularly impactful in ensuring pupils attend school regularly. If attendance 25 and 26 February 2025

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becomes a concern, the school signposts parents to outside agencies to access appropriate support, including from the education welfare team. This helps to ensure that pupils’ attendance rates are high.

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Leaders, governors and trustees work well together to secure the best possible outcomes for pupils. They are accurate in their evaluation of the school’s strengths and areas that need further development. Experts from the trust continue to support the school to improve the quality of education on offer. This helps to ensure that all pupils achieve well.

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Staff are grateful for the support that they receive from leaders. Staff appreciate the streamlining of systems and processes to reduce their workload. This includes reviewing the way teachers provide feedback to pupils, making it more effective and less burdensome.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Sometimes, pupils’ misconceptions are not identified and addressed quickly. When this happens, pupils do not acquire a deep understanding of what they are learning. The school should ensure that teaching checks pupils’ understanding and promptly addresses misconceptions.  In a few instances, the work given to pupils does not fully match the intended learning outcome. This leaves gaps in pupils’ understanding. The school should ensure that learning activities consistently align with intended learning outcomes so that pupils develop a secure and coherent understanding in each subject.

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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 last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 25 and 26 February 2025

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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 March 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

School category Academy special sponsor-led

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 12 and 13 November 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of St Oscar Romero Catholic Academy Trust.  The school has a Roman Catholic religious character, and it is part of the Diocese of Southwark. The school’s most recent section 48 inspection was in June 2023.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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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. 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 held discussions with the CEO, the headteacher and other members of the senior leadership team. 25 and 26 February 2025

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 The inspector also met with governors and trustees, including the chair of trustees.  The inspector visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  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.  The inspector met with groups of staff and considered the opinions expressed through Ofsted’s online staff survey.  The inspector took account of the views expressed by parents through Ofsted Parent View.

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Inspection team

Edison David, lead inspector Ofsted 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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