St Margaret Mary's Catholic Infant School

SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 2 nd – 3 rd July 2001

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SCHOOL

Short inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated.

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SCHOOL

Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Type of school: Infant and nursery school

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Pilch Lane Huyton Liverpool

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The governing body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mr F T Roose

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: April 1997 St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 4

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Team members

11590 Frances Forrester Registered inspector 22452 Wendy Sheehan Lay inspector 18027 Sheila Mawer Team inspector 11807 Keith Bardon Team inspector

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Team members

HeadStart & Associates Higherland Bridge 49 West Street Gargrave Skipton North Yorkshire BD23 3RJ

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Team members

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints that are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor should be raised with OFSTED by writing to:

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Team members

The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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Team members

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 5

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6

Information about the school How good the school is What the school does well What could be improved How the school has improved since its last inspection Standards Pupils’ attitudes and values Teaching and learning Other aspects of the school How well the school is led and managed Parents’ and carers’ views of the school

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PART C: SCHOOL DATA AND INDICATORS 15

St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 6

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School is situated in Knowsley, Liverpool. The school has 405 pupils on roll, which is above average for an infant school. It is popular and over subscribed, and the number on roll has increased since the last inspection. The school is in an area of mixed private and council housing; the area suffers from some unemployment, and there are a high number of single parents . The school has two nursery classes that provide part time places for 120 children. There are 180 children who are under six. Children start school with below average skills and there are three children in the nursery who have special educational needs. Eighty-seven pupils are entitled to free school meals, which is above average. There are 49 pupils on the school’s register of special educational needs, which is low. There are no pupils with statements of special educational need . Almost all of the pupils are of white European origin.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a very good school with many strong features. The pupils achieve high standards in English, mathematics and science, and their attitudes and values are very good. The very strong leadership and management of the senior management team and the governing body, together with consistently good teaching throughout the school, ensure that the school gives very good value for money. The school has improved its standards since it was last inspected.

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What the school does well

• The Roman Catholic faith and the total commitment of headteacher and staff are fundamental aspects of the school’s most successful ethos. • The good quality of the teaching has a very positive impact on maintaining high standards. • Pupils have excellent relationships, very good attitudes and very good behaviour. • The very good leadership from the headteacher and her senior management team ensures that the school is efficiently managed.

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What could be improved

• The number of pupils who attain higher than average results in the National Curriculum tests. • Opportunities for pupils to be independent and to gain an insight into their own learning. • The outside play facilities for the four reception classes. • The quality of the school’s annual reports of pupils’ progress to parents. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school has successfully maintained the high standards attained by pupils since the last inspection. The good leadership and management are now even better. The senior management team is stronger, and governors are well aware of the school’s improvements. The needs of pupils of different abilities are well catered for, and all statutory requirements are fully met. In 1997, standards in science were lower than those in English and mathematics but they have since risen, and they are high. Pupils’ computer skills have been improved and they are broadly in line with national expectations for this age group, even though the school’s computer equipment was stolen and this hindered the progress made since the last inspection. The good nursery provision in 1997 has been further developed so that there are now very good learning opportunities for the children. The library was criticised in the last inspection, but it has been relocated and successfully improved. The school

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

is very well placed to make further improvements. St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 7

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by seven year olds based on National Curriculum test results.

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Key

1998 1999 2000 2000 very high A* reading A A A A* well above average above average A B writing A C B A average below average C D mathematics A A B A well below average E

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Key

When children start school in the nursery, their speech is often immature. They have only a limited knowledge of literacy and numbers. They encounter a wide range of very good learning experiences, and their personal, social and emotional development, creative development, physical development and knowledge and understanding of the world is appropriate for their age group. By the time they leave the reception class, their attainment in all areas of learning for this age group will be broadly average and they fully meet the Early Learning Goals for this age group. Throughout the school, pupils achieve very well so that, by the time they are seven years of age, they have made good progress and attain high standards in English, mathematics and science. Pupils’ standards of attainment in these subjects are well above average when compared to all schools and to schools with similar intakes. The standards of English are particularly high; the school’s results in reading are

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Key

in the top five per cent nationally. Work seen during the inspection confirmed pupils’ attainment in the national tests. Examples of work of a high standard in art, geography and history were also observed. The school has set appropriately high targets for improvement, which it expects to successfully achieve this year. There is no difference between the results of boys and girls. The school makes it a priority to give teaching support in small groups to pupils with special educational needs. This support is successful and is valued by parents because pupils make good progress.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Throughout the school, pupils have very good attitudes. They are totally committed to working hard and doing their best. Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Behaviour is very good. In very hot weather, pupils tried really hard to contribute fully to discussions and participate actively in physical education and outside science experiments. Personal development and relationships Pupils have very good personal development and consequently they have excellent relationships with each other. They are very polite and considerate of other people’s feelings. Attendance The levels of attendance are satisfactory.

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Aspect Comment

Pupils are interested in their work. Inspectors were impressed to see pupils thanking each other for picking up coats that had fallen from a peg. Their attitudes towards visitors and volunteer helpers from the parish are generally delightful. Promoting pupils’ personal development is a fundamental aspect of the school’s work. St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 8

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Teaching of pupils: aged up to 5 years aged 5-7 years

Lessons seen overall Good Good Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses.

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Teaching of pupils: aged up to 5 years aged 5-7 years

The good quality teaching is a strength of the school’s provision. Over three-quarters of lessons observed were good or very good. Two lessons were satisfactory. In the nursery, the teachers provide a very good range of learning opportunities for the children and this gives them a good foundation for the rest of their education. Throughout the school, the teachers ensure that they focus successfully on basic skills, and English and mathematics are skilfully taught. Literacy and numeracy skills are regularly practised and pupils learn successfully. Teachers know their pupils and their families well, and pupils find this reassuring and helpful. The school successfully meets the needs of all pupils, and those who have special educational needs are successfully supported, often in a small group withdrawn from class. In this way, the school ensures that these pupils are learning as well as their peers and that their progress is carefully monitored to check they are not falling behind. The

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Teaching of pupils: aged up to 5 years aged 5-7 years

teachers maintain tight control of their classes. Where lessons are less successful, the teacher tends to control the activities too much and there are only limited opportunities for independent work. For instance, not allowing pupils to mix paint in an art lesson or investigate a problem in numeracy without adult intervention. Throughout the school, teachers do not always share their learning intentions with their classes, and this means pupils do not always have a clear understanding of how well they are progressing. The school has recently introduced individual target setting in the nursery and reception classes. This makes it easier for the children to understand what they need to do to improve their work.

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum The school provides a good range of learning experiences for its pupils, which has a positive impact on pupils’ attitudes. There was a very good range in the nursery and good learning opportunities in the reception classes. Provision for pupils with special educational needs Pupils who have special educational needs benefit from having good support from a specialist teacher, which successfully impacts on their learning. This has a positive impact on learning. Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Spiritual, moral and social development is very good, and a strength of the school’s ethos. Cultural development is good, and the school’s exceptional support for a village in Romania is recognised and well supported by the local community. How well the school cares for its pupils All teachers are trained to administer first aid, and staff demonstrate

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Aspect Comment

The school makes the curriculum for English, mathematics and science a high priority. Other subjects are carefully planned and usually linked to a topic. A suitable range of other activities is offered to pupils. This includes visitors, who talk to pupils about their work, and a football club that is run by parents. The dinner supervisors make time to introduce pupils to a range of playground games, which keeps them fully occupied. The school meets all legal requirements in respect of the curriculum. The school successfully cares for all its pupils. Although there are inadequate outdoor facilities for the reception classes, the negative impact of this is compensated by teachers who take classroom equipment outside and organise physical education lessons in the school hall. St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 9

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff Very good leadership from the headteacher and her senior management team ensures that the school is efficiently managed. How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities The school has a very good governing body that functions as a critical friend and positively fulfils its responsibilities. The school’s evaluation of its performance The school appropriately evaluates its own performance, and governors monitor improvements and trends in performance. The strategic use of resources The support staff are effectively used. Resources are adequate for all subjects, but outside play equipment and facilities for the reception classes are inadequate.

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Aspect Comment

The main strength of the leadership and management is the exceptional commitment that is given to the local community. This means that members of staff have very good relationships with parents, and local knowledge is often used in lessons to good effect. The budget is used wisely, and funds are allocated cautiously. The school positively applies the principles of best value to its work.

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IMPROVED

• The good standards of work. • Pupils enjoy coming to school. • Pupils’ behaviour is good. • Parents are kept well informed. • The improvements that have been made. • High standards of cleanliness in the building. • More homework in mathematics. • A wider range of interesting activities outside lessons. • The toilet accommodation in some parts of the school building. • The congestion in corridors. • The speed of the traffic outside the school.

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IMPROVED

The inspection team agree with parents’ positive views. Inspectors scrutinised Year 2 homework books that contain regular work in English and mathematics, and they disagree with parents over homework; the school already gives its pupils more homework than many other infant schools. The school provides an appropriate range of activities outside lessons for this age group. The building was not constructed as a purpose built infant school, and the team feel that the toilets are very out of date, in need of refurbishment and inappropriate for this age group. Parents are correct in their opinion that the corridors are often too congested. Despite this congestion, parents seem very much at ease collecting their children from their classroom. Inspectors noted that this opportunity gives parents regular contact with the teaching staff. The road is very busy outside the school gates and, because pupils leave the premises through a single door, there is congestion outside the school at

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IMPROVED

the end of the day, which could prove dangerous.

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HEADTEACHER AND STAFF ARE A FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF THE

SCHOOL’S MOST SUCCESSFUL ETHOS. St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 10 1 The school has a very successful ethos based on its mission statement. It aims to encourage pupils to have a loving relationship with God. The staff try hard to ensure all pupils are given the best opportunity to be happy in school. Members of staff provide good role models; a good example of this is that they greet each other and their classes at the start of the day and never leave the building without saying ‘Good night’. The site manager always ensures he is on duty early, and he is an important member of the school team and widely respected. Pupils emulate the staff attitudes to each other, and they even say ‘good morning’ to visitors when they pass them in the corridors. Staff try to laugh and be positive about life. They try hard to give pupils an understanding of their individual importance in the world. Respect is a key word in the school’s

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HEADTEACHER AND STAFF ARE A FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF THE

philosophy and, not only do staff encourage pupils to respect the people in school, they also show pupils that they respect them. This was evident in a music lesson at the end of an afternoon. The class sang a simple song saying, ‘Goodbye and thank you’, and the teacher sang the words back to them. In the morning, pupils often sing songs to thank God for another new day. The school dinner supervisors show their dedication to their school by working hard to involve pupils in games at dinner times.

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HEADTEACHER AND STAFF ARE A FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF THE

2 The school’s very good provision for spiritual development ensures that pupils develop a strong awareness of the importance of quiet reflection and prayer. Spiritual development is successfully enhanced by lessons that focus on ‘Here I am’, a programme of work designed by the Catholic bishops of England and Wales. During the inspection, the topic being covered in these lessons was ‘Neighbours’. Pupils were encouraged to think not only about their immediate neighbours, but also about different groups in the school that they might support as a neighbour. All teachers are practising members of the Catholic church, and they try hard to live good lives and to influence pupils by their example. The provision for pupils’ moral and social development is also very good. It pervades all aspects of the school’s daily life and is actively supported by all members of the school community. The pupils’ good cultural development has

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HEADTEACHER AND STAFF ARE A FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF THE

been successfully enhanced by the school’s Millennium Promise to help a small Romanian village community. A parent who was already involved, driving a lorry to deliver goods to Romania, originally suggested the project. It has captured the enthusiasm of the school and already over £3,000 has been sent to help refurbish facilities in the village school. Some pupils have been so enthusiastic that they have persuaded other family members to contribute their savings to the project. This is a good example of the importance the school places on promoting the Catholic faith and on good moral values as well as giving care and practical support to its community.

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HEADTEACHER AND STAFF ARE A FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF THE

3 The consistency of the good quality teaching is a great strength of the school’s provision and is clearly an important influence on raising standards. In the nursery and reception classes, good teaching and successful staff teamwork ensure the children have a positive foundation to their future education. A wide range of learning opportunities is provided, for instance the nursery staff St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 11 planned a summer term topic on ‘holidays’ and the children made their own passports. Role-play activities included a departure desk, the aeroplane (with visiting air hostess) and the final destination, where sun hats and beach towels were waiting for them. The children happily participated and, as well as learning that hostesses give instructions about safety, their personal development was enhanced and language skills reinforced.

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HEADTEACHER AND STAFF ARE A FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF THE

4 Evidence of work seen during the inspection indicates that the pupils at the end of Year 2 always achieve as well as expected for their age. This is because the teaching of basic skills is well organised to ensure pupils learn well so that they have a secure understanding. For instance, in a mathematics lesson, the lesson had a lively start with the teacher asking quick questions and challenging the pupils to double and halve a series of numbers. The pupils were expected to recall number facts quickly, and this gave the lesson a productive start. A particularly strong characteristic of the teaching is the teachers’ good understanding of the subject, which they use to make the lesson challenging for the pupils. This is well illustrated by a very good Year 1 English lesson about a book called ‘Whatever next!’. Introducing the lesson with the story, the teacher developed the pupils’ vocabulary by asking questions about the text. This

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HEADTEACHER AND STAFF ARE A FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF THE

required the pupils to respond independently, and she encouraged them to articulate and refine their words. The teaching motivated and interested the pupils successfully, and this helped her to gain their full attention throughout the lesson. The class enjoyed their work and concentrated very well. They were learning successfully throughout the lesson. As a result, they made particularly good progress during the lesson and achieved very well. There are other aspects of teaching that contribute much to pupils’ achievements. Teachers are very skilled at managing their classes and getting the best out of the pupils. In a good music lesson for example, Year 2 pupils were using percussion instruments to make different sounds. The teacher had good relationships with her class, and her high expectations meant that the pupils were always well behaved, despite being tired and hot at the end of a long day. As a result, the

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HEADTEACHER AND STAFF ARE A FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF THE

pupils made sound progress and they were able to sing a number of songs from memory and remember musical terms such as ‘symphony’ and ‘composer’. Similarly, in a very good history lesson, Year 2 pupils were considering the report of the fire of London in Samuel Pepys’ diary. They had written their own diaries prior to the lesson, and some members of the class were willing to share their accounts of family events. The lesson was well organised and, as a result, the pupils were very positive about their work, enjoyed the activity and were very proud of their achievements.

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HEADTEACHER AND STAFF ARE A FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF THE

5 In the otherwise good teaching, an area of weakness is the tight class management that limits the opportunities for independent learning. For instance in a music lesson that was otherwise good, the teacher composed a simple tune herself by putting together the rhythm of different words. The pupils had no opportunity to make up a sequence of sounds on their own. In a science lesson, pupils were testing how far sound travels, and they did this as a class and had no chance to experiment in small groups or to agree their own conclusions. Furthermore, the teachers do not always share their objectives with the class at the start of the lesson. This means that, although the pupils St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 12 are very clear about which activities they must cover, they are not aware of the learning intention. Consequently, at the end of the lesson there is no objective to evaluate, and pupils have only limited understanding about their own

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HEADTEACHER AND STAFF ARE A FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF THE

progress. The school has introduced target setting for the foundation year in the nursery and reception classes, but individual target setting for all of the pupils would give them a better understanding of their rate of progress. It would help them to understand what they need to do to improve further. The annual reports on pupils’ progress contain information about all National Curriculum subjects. However, there are many similarities in the written comments in each report, and in some subjects there is very little information that is specific to individual pupils or the progress they have made.

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HEADTEACHER AND STAFF ARE A FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF THE

6 The school provides good support for pupils with special educational needs. As well as the good support from a specialist teacher, a large number of volunteers give good support by helping these pupils in class. The teachers are careful to plan their work to match the ability of different groups in the class. Usually, the pupils work well with other class members of similar ability and they readily help each other when they have difficulties with their work. The specialist support is regularly given in a small group withdrawn for more focused work out of the classroom. The pupils appreciate the opportunity to work quietly with the teacher, and parents say they value the impact of this good support and recognise the benefits this has for their child.

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PUPILS HAVE EXCELLENT RELATIONSHIPS, VERY GOOD ATTITUDES AND

7 In the nursery and reception classes, the children have very good attitudes and they seem to really enjoy being in school. They behave very well and seem to quickly establish good relationships with each other. Pupils relate well to each other and to adults, including volunteer helpers and visitors to the school. Even the most immature children are willing to talk confidently to visitors. With the help of a visiting air hostess, children in the nursery are increasingly confident to play at being flight attendants. They delight in pretending they are going on holiday and dressing up in sun hats and other holiday clothes.

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PUPILS HAVE EXCELLENT RELATIONSHIPS, VERY GOOD ATTITUDES AND

8 Throughout the school, pupils’ behaviour in lessons is often exemplary and, even in near tropical weather conditions, they managed to sustain their concentration and make good responses to teachers’ questions. The school's mission statement successfully aims to promote responsible attitudes through example. This philosophy is reflected in the enthusiastic attitudes pupils display towards their school. They work hard and they are proud of their achievements. For instance, they willingly read extracts from their own diaries to demonstrate that they have a good understanding of the importance of written records in understanding the past. The headteacher knows all the pupils well, and her good assemblies demonstrate her religious conviction. A family atmosphere pervades the school community and the fact that teachers know the parents well ensures that pupils feel relaxed when they talk together. For instance, in

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PUPILS HAVE EXCELLENT RELATIONSHIPS, VERY GOOD ATTITUDES AND

mathematics, one pupil had difficulties understanding simple fractions. The St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 13 teacher suggested he thought about sharing a pizza between his family of four. This immediately promoted an understanding of quarters. The pupils take great pride in their school, and they enjoy wearing their school uniform. They play happily together and especially enjoy the new playground games that have been attractively designed to capture their attention. They have excellent relationships and there is no evidence of any spiteful behaviour. Pupils know right from wrong and they treat people as they would wish to be treated themselves. They try hard to show kindness and concern for each other regardless and for adults in school. The pupils are courteous to visitors and readily say ‘good morning’ as they pass in the corridors.

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THE NUMBER OF PUPILS WHO ATTAIN HIGHER THAN AVERAGE RESULTS IN

9 Although the school already has an above average number of pupils who reach Level 3 in National Curriculum tests, and the percentage reaching this level increases each year, the inspection team feel more pupils are capable of achieving well. The introduction of individual target setting in the nursery and reception classes is good practice and these targets successfully inform teachers’ planning for children’s individual needs and abilities. In the older classes, pupils only have targets for improvement if they have special educational needs. In this case, they make good progress and parents are kept well informed about the progress they make towards reaching each target on their individual education plans. Other pupils have no targets and this means they have no benchmarks to measure their own progress.

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OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUPILS TO BE INDEPENDENT AND GIVING THEM AN

10 Although the quality of the teaching is consistently good, there was little evidence from lesson observations or scrutiny of pupils’ work of pupils having regular opportunities to work and investigate independently. For instance, teachers often plan investigations so that the whole class experiment together at the same time. In an art lesson, there were no opportunities for pupils to choose the colour of their paper or paint. Daily routines are tightly controlled, although often with good reason; for example, visits to the toilet are regimented as a class because the facilities are used by both boys and girls. Often teachers do not share learning objectives with their classes, and consequently pupils lack an understanding of their own learning .

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OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUPILS TO BE INDEPENDENT AND GIVING THEM AN

THE OUTSIDE PLAY FACILITIES FOR THE FOUR RECEPTION CLASSES. St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 14 11 The children who are under five and in the nursery have a very good outside area which staff use most successfully to promote their language skills and their creative and physical development as well as their personal, social, and emotional development.

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OPPORTUNITIES FOR PUPILS TO BE INDEPENDENT AND GIVING THEM AN

12 The teachers in the reception classes ensure that children are given appropriate opportunities for promoting their physical development in hall lessons. In summer months, reception teachers also take a range of class equipment outside, such as wooden blocks and other small equipment. However, they rely on good weather because children have to play on the grass. The lack of a hard surface means that this opportunity is not available in the winter. This means that there are missed opportunities for further promoting children’s learning in a number of early learning goals. The provision of secure outside storage for the reception classes would also simplify the use of the grounds.

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THE QUALITY OF THE SCHOOL’S ANNUAL REPORTS TO PARENTS OF

13 The annual reports to parents cover all the legal requirements and they give parents an opportunity to comment on the content. However, when several reports are compared, the commentary is very similar in several subjects and not specific to the individual pupil. Often, the comments are only descriptive and do not include evaluations of pupils’ strengths and areas for improvement. This means that the reports are of limited value, because they do not give specific information about the progress made or identify targets for future improvement.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

14 In order to continue to further raise the high standards already being achieved, the governors, headteacher and staff should:

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

1. Extend the school’s procedures for setting individual targets for pupils, to make sure that; a. pupils are fully involved and that have a good understanding of how they can improve their work;

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

b. all pupils, particularly the most able, are fully challenged;

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

c. it is clear to pupils and their parents how much progress has been made.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

2. Provide more opportunities in lessons and daily routines for developing pupils’ independence. St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 15 3. Ensure the information in pupils’ annual reports to parents is based on accurate assessment information that is specific to each child and gives strengths as well as areas for development.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

4. Provide outside play facilities for the reception classes, so that the children have a wide range of learning opportunities throughout the year.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

. St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 16

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 3

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

0 17 75 8 0 0 0 The table gives the percentage of teaching observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR – Y2

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 60 405

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 0 87 FTE means full-time equivalent.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y2

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 0 0

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 3 49

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Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 1

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 3

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 2

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Attendance

National comparative data 5.2 National comparative data 0.5 Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 17

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2000 65 53 118

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Boys 61 61 63 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 51 50 51

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentage of pupils School 95 (92) 94 (93) 97 (93) at NC level 2 or above National 83 (82) 84 (83) 90 (87)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Boys 61 62 62 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 47 49 49

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentage of pupils School 92 (92]) 94 (92) 94 (93) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (82) 88 (86) 88 (87)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 18

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – Caribbean heritage 0 Black – Caribbean heritage 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black – African heritage 0 Black – African heritage 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Any other minority ethnic group 0 Other minority ethnic groups This table refers to pupils of compulsory school age only. This table gives the number of exclusions of pupils of compulsory school age, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded.

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 15 Financial year 2000

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 22

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR – Y2 Total expenditure 728889

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 6 Expenditure per pupil 1800

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 20 Balance brought forward from previous year 1335

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Balance carried forward to next year 9968

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 2

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 30

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 2

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 70

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per FTE adult 15 FTE means full-time equivalent. St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School - 19

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Questionnaire return rate

Percentage of responses in each category

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Questionnaire return rate

Strongly agree Tend to agree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know

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My child is making good progress in school. 71 27 0 0 3

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Behaviour in the school is good. 70 27 1 0 3

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My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 42 39 12 1 7

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I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 50 37 11 1 1

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I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 76 21 4 0 0

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The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 76 21 1 0 2

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The school works closely with parents. 54 37 6 0 3

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The school is well led and managed. 65 32 1 0 2

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The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 67 32 0 0 1

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The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 24 32 16 6 22

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Other issues raised by parents

• Toilets for children in the reception classes and Year 1 are in need of renovation and upgrading. • Some parents are concerned about the congestion in corridors at the end of the school day, possible safety issue. • All parents complemented the site manager for keeping the school clean and well maintained, as well as providing excellent security.

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