St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy

Inspection of St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary Academy Utting Avenue East, Norris Green, Liverpool, Merseyside L11 1DB

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

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The interim headteacher of this school is Katie Warner. This school is part of the Liverpool Joint Catholic and Anglican Multi 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), Heather Duggan, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Angie Holden. 25 and 26 March 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff know pupils well. Strong and positive relationships are evident across the school. Staff effectively support pupils’ physical and mental well-being. This is particularly true for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and for pupils with more complex SEND who attend the Nest.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high aspirations for all pupils. However, pupils’ achievement is variable. This is particularly true for older pupils. Some of these pupils are not as well prepared as they need to be for secondary education. They have not developed the fluency that they will need in reading, writing and mathematics.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils enjoy school. They strive to follow the school’s values. The majority of pupils demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning. They get on well with each other, including at social times. Pupils are keen to earn the many ‘ALIVE’ rewards on offer for trying their best and being kind to others. Staff deal with infrequent incidents of poorer behaviour well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are eager to learn about the world beyond the school gates. The school ensures that pupils are well informed about how to stay safe, including in their local community. Pupils enjoy school trips. These include singing at the cathedral and in nearby care homes.

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

The school benefits from the support of the trust. The trust helps governors and the school to focus on areas that need to improve the most. The school has introduced many new initiatives in recent months. It has ensured that staff are supported to manage their workload during this time. Morale is high. The school and those responsible for governance are focused firmly on improving how well pupils achieve.

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

The school has recently improved pupils’ attendance and punctuality. Most pupils now attend school regularly. Punctuality is also improving. This increases the time available for learning. However, the rate of improvement in other aspects of the school is uneven, such as curriculum development. This is because some areas of leadership are less effective than others.

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

In some subjects, including in mathematics, pupils do not learn the intended curriculum as well as they should. For example, children in the early years are not supported to practise and embed their learning as routinely as they need. In addition, there is often too much content for older pupils to learn in subject curriculums. The identified vocabulary that pupils are expected to learn is unnecessarily complex. This means that pupils do not fully understand what they are learning. Although most pupils remain focused on their learning during lessons, some pupils become overwhelmed at times and lose heart.

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

The school does not ensure that teachers address fundamental gaps in pupils’ knowledge sufficiently well before introducing new information. As a result, pupils’ misconceptions or 25 and 26 March 2025

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gaps in their learning persist as they progress through the school. For example, the school has not ensured that pupils develop fluency in their written work. This begins in the early years where the school provides insufficient support for children to produce consistently legible and correctly formed letters. Underdeveloped writing skills hinder many pupils’ achievement across the curriculum.

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The school does not identify pupils’ SEND consistently well. This makes it more difficult for teachers, including those in the Nest, to support pupils with SEND to learn what they most need. It also makes it harder for teachers to select the most appropriate strategy that is likely to help these pupils access the curriculum successfully.

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The school places a high priority on reading. It has an effective phonics programme in place. Children begin to build up a secure understanding of how to use phonics to read words in the early years. Most children build on this firm foundation as they progress into Year 1 and beyond. There is a robust programme to support pupils who find reading more difficult. These pupils practise their reading frequently with well-matched books until they become fluent and can read unfamiliar words with accuracy. There is a high proportion of older pupils in the school who require additional reading support due to the less effective delivery of the school’s phonics programme in the past. The insecure reading knowledge that these pupils have increases the difficulty that they face in accessing the rest of the curriculum.

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The school focuses on building up pupils’ confidence and resilience. It provides a wide range of new experiences for pupils to broaden their experiences and build character. For example, pupils carry out roles of responsibility that contribute to the smooth running of their class and the school. These include taking part in the school council and being a prefect or eco warrior. Activities such as these help pupils to develop an understanding of how to contribute to and shape society through active citizenship.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s curriculum is not focused sufficiently well on the most important information that pupils need to know. Pupils struggle to understand, recall and apply their learning in a number of subjects, including mathematics. The school should consider what knowledge is crucial to prepare pupils effectively for their next stages of education and refine the curriculum accordingly.  The school does not address the considerable gaps in pupils’ knowledge with sufficient rigour. Pupils are not well prepared for their next stage of education as a result. The school should make sure that pupils successfully develop a secure body of knowledge as they progress from one year group to another. 25 and 26 March 2025

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 The leadership of some key areas of the school is underdeveloped. This means that staff are not as well supported as they should be in ensuring that all pupils learn as well as they can. The trust should ensure that leaders have the knowledge and expertise that they need to carry out their respective roles efficiently and effectively.  There is inconsistency in how accurately the school identifies and meets the needs of pupils with SEND. This means that some of these pupils do not achieve as well as they should. The school should ensure that teachers are well-equipped to ensure that pupils with SEND receive a consistently high-quality education.

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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 March 2025

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 St Teresa’s Catholic Primary Academy converted to become an academy in April 2024. When its predecessor school, St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good for overall effectiveness.  The school has a religious character. It is part of the Archdiocese of Liverpool. The most recent section 48 inspection took place in November 2018.  There have been interim leadership arrangements in place for considerable periods of time since the school was last inspected. A newly appointed headteacher is expected to take up their role imminently.  The school makes use of one registered alternative provider for pupils.  The school provides a breakfast club for pupils.

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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 25 and 26 March 2025

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(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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 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 spoke with the headteacher and other leaders in the school, including the CEO and the director of primary education for the trust.  An inspector met with a group of members of the local governing body, including the chair of governors.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history, geography and computing. They spoke with the leaders of these areas of the curriculum. Inspectors also visited lessons, looked at examples of pupils’ work, held discussions with teachers and talked with pupils.  Inspectors also visited other lessons and looked at samples of pupils from other areas

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of the curriculum.  An inspector listened to pupils from Years 1 to 3 reading to a familiar adult.  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 with parents and carers at the end of the school day. They also considered the responses to Ofsted’s online Parent View survey and parents’ free-text responses.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff.  There were no responses to the online survey for pupils. However, inspectors spoke with groups of pupils about their experiences at school.  An inspector visited the school’s breakfast club.

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Inspection team

Claire Cropper, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Stephanie Swift Ofsted Inspector 25 and 26 March 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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