St Hugh's Catholic Primary School

ST HUGH’S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 20 - 21 January 2003

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ST HUGH’S CATHOLIC PRIMARY 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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ST HUGH’S CATHOLIC PRIMARY 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 Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Type of school: Nursery, infant and junior

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Park Road Timperley Cheshire

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 8 th -11 th December 1997 St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 4

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Team members

16041 Mr O L Thomas Registered inspector 19344 Mr D W Jones Lay inspector 22578 Mr G Jones Team inspector 30243 Mrs A Heakin Team inspector

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Team members

Network Management Services Star Farm Llangynhafal Ruthin Denbighshire LL15 1RU

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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 Hugh’s Catholic Primary 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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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

St Hugh’s Roman Catholic Primary School serves the parishes of St Hugh and St John. The school is much bigger than other primary schools with 526 boys and girls on roll including the nursery. The percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals is well below average at three per cent. The percentage of pupils with special educational need is broadly average and the percentage of pupils with statements of special educational need is low. Some year groups have high levels of pupils with special educational need. Many pupils come from high social class households in Timperley and Timperley West, with about 20 per cent travelling in from nearby local authority housing estates. The percentage of pupils from families in minority ethnic groups is very low, most are of white UK heritage. The attainment of many but not all pupils on entry to the school is better than average. New building has been undertaken and in

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

September 2002 a 52 place nursery was opened. Staffing turnover has been minimal. The school has Investor in People status.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

This is a very effective school with significant strengths across all aspects of its work. Many pupils achieve good standards in their work and some do very well. The ethos of the school is excellent; providing a secure foundation from which pupils learn to become responsible citizens. The atmosphere is warm, supportive and welcoming, and firmly based in its Catholic mission statement. The pupils like school, they say it is ‘a happy place because everyone looks after you’. The teaching is of high quality and is the main reason why pupils achieve so well. There are very good arrangements to support pupils’ personal and academic needs. The Headteacher provides excellent educational direction and is supported by the high quality leadership and management of key members of staff, in partnership with the governing body; he has steered the school to its present level of success. The areas for improvements identified by the inspection are matters of fine tuning some of the well

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

established practices within the school. As a result of these many strengths and the school’s effective use of its limited budget, the school gives very good value for money.

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What the school does well

• The good standards reached by the vast majority of pupils in literacy and numeracy and the strong progress pupils of all abilities make. • High quality teaching, which is well planned, motivating and sets the tone for a positive work ethic especially for those with special educational needs. • The leadership and management of the Headteacher, key staff and governors, not least the monitoring of teaching and learning and setting targets for improvement. • The very good attitudes, behaviour and relationships of the pupils. • The very good social, moral and cultural development and excellent provision for pupils’ spiritual development • The high quality of care and the assessment of the pupils’ personal and academic needs. • The development of the Foundation Stage of learning, including the newly built nursery.

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What could be improved

• Ensure pupils’ basic skills are more broadly used in the other subjects and pupils are offered greater challenges in investigation and discovery, notably in mathematics and science. • Consistency in the areas of presentation of work by pupils and marking by all staff which helps pupils to understand how to improve. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan. St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 7

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school was last inspected in December 1997. Since that time it has sustained its strengths and addressed very well the areas identified for improvement. Very good progress has been made in implementing national initiatives and further improving the school. For example: • a comprehensive system of assessment has been established with well informed systems for tracking pupils’ progress and target setting to minimise weaknesses; • all policies and procedures are in place, including for health and safety; • extensive monitoring of pupils’ work and teaching and learning has taken place; • staff have received training in how to monitor and individuals have been well supported by other staff, senior management team (SMT) and local education authority (LEA) so that teaching and learning are systematically monitored on a regular basis; • a strong emphasis has been placed on ensuring all pupils are catered for personally

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

and academically; • the identification of staff training needs has improved and been used to secure an ongoing programme of staff development; • the leadership and management, training and contribution of non-teaching assistants; • the development of information and communication technology has been extensive. A new computer suite is now operational as well as broadband Internet linked computer stations in every class.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

Recently the school has set up a purpose built nursery and this is contributing very well to the children’s progress in the Early Years.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

The school is well placed to go from strength to strength.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by 11 year olds based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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STANDARDS

compared with Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

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STANDARDS

2000 2001 2002 2002 English A A* A B well above average above average A B mathematics A B A A average below average C D science B B C D well below average E

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STANDARDS

Over time the school achieves good results in the national tests for both seven and 11 year old pupils when their prior attainment is taken into account. There is a regular commitment to ensuring standards rise as far as possible taking into account year group variations. This is no more evident than in the 2002 results where the year group had a high level of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) and still the pupils’ performance in English and mathematics was above national comparisons and above similar schools. In science, more pupils attained at the expected Level 4 than is found nationally but because slightly less attained at the higher Level 5 this brought the school’s average points score down. This inspection identifies that more emphasis is needed on experimental science. St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 8 The school knows pupils’ needs and abilities well and is giving valuable support especially

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STANDARDS

where classes have large groups of pupils with special educational needs. Teachers use test data effectively to track pupils’ learning and set attainment targets for individuals, all of which is having a positive impact on standards and progress. Good efforts have been made to improve the quality and range of writing.

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STANDARDS

Standards of day to day work across the school are often above national expectations. The use of assessment to focus on pupils’ strengths and weaknesses aids the process of learning and provides pupils with a clear pathway for improvement. Pupils with special educational needs are achieving well due to early and accurate identification followed by structured and high quality support programmes focused on appropriate individual education plans.

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STANDARDS

To further improve pupils’ progress the school might review the reliance on core books, commercial material, overly structured work sheets and at times narrow learning outcomes, which result in the range and depth of investigative work, particularly within mathematics and science, being limited.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Pupils like school and they rise very well to the high expectations of them to concentrate and always do their best. The school is not yet providing fully for all pupils to take on responsibility and use initiative in their own learning. Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Pupils are polite, chatty and welcoming. Their very good behaviour in lessons and about the school has a positive effect on the overall quality of their learning. Personal development and relationships Relationships are very positive both between pupils and between pupils and staff. They show respect for their playmates. The ‘buddy’ scheme encourages pupils to befriend each other and they show an eagerness to do so. Attendance Good, above national averages.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Teaching of pupils: aged up to 5 years aged 5 - 7 years aged 7-11 years

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Quality of teaching Very good Good Very 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 AND LEARNING

Teaching is very good overall, with about half of the lessons observed being very good or excellent. Strengths include, planning for the range of pupils; the use of assessment to support individual progress; the management of lessons so that little time is wasted; direct teaching of basic skills; teachers’ relationships; all teachers have high expectations of behaviour and drive for a positive work ethic and the management and use of support staff is high quality. There is not yet complete consistency in the presentation of pupils’ work, transferring basic skills to day-to-day work and marking to help pupils improve for themselves across all classes. All have yet to rise to the level of the best. St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 9

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum There is a fully inclusive curriculum, which meets the needs of all pupils regardless of gender, social or ethnic background. The curriculum in the Foundation Stage is vibrant and appealing to children. The curriculum in Key Stage 1 and 2 fully meets requirements and is both broad and balanced and relevant to pupils. Extracurricular provision is very good. The school makes good use of the literacy and numeracy strategies; however, the time is right to ensure pupils’ basic skills are more broadly used in the other subjects and pupils are offered greater challenges in investigation and discovery. Provision for pupils with special educational needs Good. Quality of teaching and non-teaching support available is very good but provision in some classes is limited. The school is very aware of the changing social and emotional needs of its pupils. This is noted in planning and supports the school’s overall ethos.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils with English as an additional language The very small number of pupils is supported well.

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Aspect Comment

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Overall provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very good and is a strength of the school. The Catholic philosophy of the school is very evident and gives excellent support for pupils’ spiritual development.

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Aspect Comment

How well the school cares for its pupils The quality of pastoral care is a significant strength in ensuring the safety and well being of pupils and the progress they make in school. Procedures for assessing attainment and progress are very good as is their use. The recording of assessment data provides teachers and the assessment coordinator with a significant amount of additional work. A streamlining of the format of this recording would reduce the workload and make access to the information easier for all staff.

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff The educational leadership of the Headteacher is excellent and he has created a dedicated team of staff. The senior management team fulfils its duties very well as do subject coordinators. The management and impact of training for non-teaching assistants are very supportive to raising standards for all pupils. How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Governors monitor performance and have a very good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of their school. Bearing in mind the school’s minimal budget, the principles of best value are very well applied. The school’s evaluation of its performance The school knows itself well. The School Improvement Plan is very comprehensive and provides relevant targets aimed at raising standards. Teaching and learning are consistently monitored on a regular cycle with follow up support given to improve and fine tune practice further.

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Aspect Comment

St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 10 The strategic use of resources The school makes very best use of the limited resources available to it. The number of support staff is somewhat limited because of budgetary constraints. The newly established nursery provides a very good quality environment and curriculum for young children. The overall accommodation, grounds and resources support the wide range of learning opportunities well.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• That their children like school. • The progress their children make. • The pupils’ good behaviour. • The quality of teaching. • The approachability of the school. • The school’s expectations for hard work. • That the school is helping their children become responsible and mature. • Some parents are dissatisfied with the amount of homework given. Some say there is too much and others too little. • The amount of information received on their children’s progress at school. • How closely the school works with parents.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

Thirty five per cent of parents responded to the pre inspection questionnaire and 70 attended the parents’ meeting.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The inspection agrees with the positive points raised by parents. The amount of homework is appropriate and complements school work well. The quality and regularity of information are good and above what are usually found. The school has effective links with most parents and carers which help to consolidate and extend pupils’ learning. Parents are, in the main, satisfied with the standards achieved by the school and what the school provides for their children.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

Overall, the school makes good provision for working in partnership with parents and overall parents have a positive view of the school. The partnership established by the school with parents and their contribution to the children’s learning has a significant positive impact on pupils’ progress and achievement. St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 11

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The good standards reached by the vast majority of pupils in literacy and numeracy

and the strong progress pupils of all abilities make.

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The good standards reached by the vast majority of pupils in literacy and numeracy

1. Overall standards in both English and mathematics, across both infants and juniors, are regularly above expectations with some small exceptions. Pupils achieve well by the age of 11, because of the way good teaching capitalises on good assessment data. Improvement in assessment procedures and the use teachers make of assessment information, have been at the heart of consistently good, and sometimes very good, achievement of pupils of all abilities.

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The good standards reached by the vast majority of pupils in literacy and numeracy

2. In English, standards in speaking and listening are very good with pupils being given many and varied opportunities to use these skills. The school has focused on improving standards in reading and has been successful in raising standards above national expectations. Pupils in both Year 2 and Year 6 read to inspectors with confidence, understanding and expression. Almost all pupils attained at the expected Level 2 or above in writing in the tests for seven year olds in 2002. Good examples of poetry were seen in Year 6, using both metaphor and simile, whilst further good examples of persuasive writing were noted in Year 5, when pupils were writing to describe their talents and positive points as they were putting themselves up “for sale”. In another Year 6 class, pupils had practised writing school reports. This necessitated writing in the third person, giving a balanced view and using some technical terms.

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The good standards reached by the vast majority of pupils in literacy and numeracy

3. In mathematics, standards in work seen on both number and shape, space and measuring, are again above expectations. This is particularly gratifying for the school, considering that the current Year 6 have at least a quarter of the pupils noted as having special educational needs. Standards in data handling and investigational mathematics are in line with expectations but are not yet at the same level as other aspects of the subject. Here, the further use of information and communication technology would help pupils with their data handling, while more regular opportunities to carry out simple open ended investigations and record findings would assist development of this aspect of the work.

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The good standards reached by the vast majority of pupils in literacy and numeracy

4. Work in science is generally good throughout the school but pupils’ opportunities to design and carry out investigations are a little too controlled by teachers. Pupils miss out on gaining confidence and understanding by designing and putting into effect their own even simple investigations. This is not unsatisfactory, but is in need of further development and consideration.

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The good standards reached by the vast majority of pupils in literacy and numeracy

5. In information and communication technology, the school has changed its computer systems completely since the last inspection, it is moving forward well with not only the development of skills, knowledge and understanding in the subject, but equally in making progress in applying these across the curriculum to support areas such as English, geography, history and mathematics. With access to computers, on a regular basis, pupils could have more opportunities to both learn and practise newly found skills. The work of older pupils showed they had used a presentation program in order to create a multi-media presentation in quite a sophisticated way. St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 12 6. The standards described above, have been achieved by the school taking note of pupils’ needs and creating the opportunities for them to achieve their potential. For example, the pupils currently in the top two classes were noted as not

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The good standards reached by the vast majority of pupils in literacy and numeracy

achieving as well as they could when they were in the infant classes. The school kept very good records of their needs and their progress. In doing so it provided extra support in reading, spelling, writing and mathematics. It is continuing to do so even though its budget resources are very limited. The current organisation of daily literacy and numeracy lessons, where the classes are subdivided into three sets, is allowing specialist teachers to give very good support to pupils who have specific needs.

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The good standards reached by the vast majority of pupils in literacy and numeracy

7. Pupils with special educational needs often make very good progress in their learning. This results from an early diagnosis of their needs, followed by regular and very good support directly related to their known needs. The few pupils from ethnic minority groups are making good progress.

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The good standards reached by the vast majority of pupils in literacy and numeracy

8. The school has, since the last inspection, changed all of its computers so that there is now a small suite, together with two or three stand-alone computers available in each class. The school’s major problem is that due to the small size of the suite, only half a class can work on-screen at a time. As a result, pupils’ access to computers has been halved. In spite of this, through teachers having good subject knowledge, teaching direct skills well and working from the nationally recommended scheme of work, standards are still acceptable.

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The good standards reached by the vast majority of pupils in literacy and numeracy

9. Pupils are now using their technology skills in literacy, writing poems, persuasive texts and book reviews with word processing skills. Year 3 pupils were seen giving instructions to an on-screen turtle in order to negotiate a maze. Pupils in Year 5 were able to add information to a database about planets, understanding the technical terminology used, whilst Year 6 pupils created a multi-media presentation making use of words and pictures from the Internet to enhance their work.

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The good standards reached by the vast majority of pupils in literacy and numeracy

10. Although not all aspects of the information and communication technology work were seen during the inspection, the comprehensive scheme of work shows that all aspects are planned for. The small weakness in CD ROM resources for the modelling element of the work is to be remedied by the purchase of extra copies of the most useful resources.

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The good standards reached by the vast majority of pupils in literacy and numeracy

11. In the other subjects, limited observations were made but scrutiny of pupils’ books, discussions with them and a survey of work presented through displays shows standards to reflect the core subjects, being at least in line with national expectations.

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High quality teaching which is well planned, motivating and sets the tone for a

positive work ethic especially for those pupils with special educational needs.

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High quality teaching which is well planned, motivating and sets the tone for a

12. Teaching is very good overall and improved since the last inspection. The incidence of very good teaching is higher than previously found and no lesson was judged to be less than good. Within each key stage some very good teaching was seen. High expectations, pace and challenge being evident, particularly on the occasions when the lessons which the youngest and older pupils received were of an excellent standard. Well-organised and stimulating classrooms add to the high quality teaching and enhance progress and learning. Overall, relationships St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 13 are very good and high levels of care prevail throughout the school. Teachers and support staff, know their pupils well. This has a positive effect on relationships and the pupils’ personal development. Planning of work is detailed and generally well matched to the needs of individual pupils. Work is mainly well marked and a

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High quality teaching which is well planned, motivating and sets the tone for a

strong feature is the setting of targets for groups across all age ranges. Best progress is made where a range of strategies is used. Teachers have good subject knowledge, teach with pace, thereby motivating the pupils well and planning is clearly constructed to take account of the range of need. As a result, pupils respond very well to the teaching, show concentration and good attitudes to their work and achieve very well individually.

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High quality teaching which is well planned, motivating and sets the tone for a

13. In the nursery and reception classes, the very competent teaching is based on a clear understanding of how young children learn coupled with high quality organisation and classroom management. Planning is very thorough and uses assessments accurately, especially for the key skills of language, literacy and mathematics. Very good questioning to promote thinking and active intervention in the pupils’ learning, constantly challenges the pupils to look closely at what they are doing and encourages them to produce work to the best of their ability. This enables them to achieve well and to make good or very good progress.

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High quality teaching which is well planned, motivating and sets the tone for a

14. A significant number of committed parent volunteers support the work of the school; this allows teachers the freedom to organise their classes so pupils are given more individual attention resulting in improved rates of progress. The setting system employed by the school for the teaching of literacy and numeracy to the older pupils is well considered and successful in ensuring pupils good progress. The effective use of individual targets based on literacy and numeracy and shared with parents, ensures that pupils are motivated and focused, and parents can be involved in and encourage their child’s learning process.

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High quality teaching which is well planned, motivating and sets the tone for a

15. The very high quality teaching of pupils with special educational needs, combined with the caring and inclusive ethos that characterises the school, ensures that pupils’ individual needs whether they have learning difficulties, experience emotional trauma or are particularly gifted are very well met. The provision made by the school for pupils who have educational needs continues to be good. The school quite rightly places a firm emphasis on accurate assessment and early identification of pupils’ individual needs. This means that pupils who have learning difficulties in any aspect of the curriculum are quickly identified and action is taken to improve the rate of progress. Within this inclusive school teachers are aware of the different needs of individual pupils in their class. Lessons are planned appropriately so additional assistance or more appropriate tasks are given to ensure all pupils who have special educational needs achieve well.

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High quality teaching which is well planned, motivating and sets the tone for a

16. Withdrawal groups are appropriately organised to make sure that pupils receive well-informed support during their class literacy lessons. Despite the financial constraints, the school manages to provide good quality reading support for groups of pupils who need more individual attention. This has proved to be a very good management decision that impacts directly on the achievements of pupils who have special educational needs. The reading support teacher continues to monitor the progress of these pupils on a regular basis to ensure the very good progress they make in small groups continues within the classrooms. Where the school is able to fund classroom assistants, they provide good quality support, working closely with teachers to make sure that learning is consolidated. The coordinator with responsibility for pupils who have special educational needs St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 14 maintains an overview, and provides an up to date source of information and

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High quality teaching which is well planned, motivating and sets the tone for a

advice for teachers in managing different aspects of the provision.

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High quality teaching which is well planned, motivating and sets the tone for a

17. There is no doubt that teachers know their pupils very well. Without doubt what makes teaching so influential is the enthusiasm and skill of most teachers to capture pupils’ imaginations and motivate them to learn. The school recognises that to raise all teaching quality to the highest levels greater emphasis is needed on broadening the use of basic and investigative skills in the other subjects.

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The leadership and management of the Headteacher, key staff and governors, not

least the monitoring of teaching and learning and setting targets for improvement.

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The leadership and management of the Headteacher, key staff and governors, not

18. The direction the Headteacher gives to the school is first rate. The programme of school improvement has been extremely effective in building on the good practice since the last inspection and in steering the school to its present high level of success. Improvements to the school have all been geared to the important areas of maintaining and improving standards. The recognition of the shifting nature of the school’s intake has placed a strong emphasis on ensuring all pupils, regardless of their ability or background, are well catered for. A highly skilled senior management team has been established whose responsibilities span all aspects of life. For example, the Deputy Headteacher is responsible for assessment and the very good systems for tracking pupils’ progress, setting targets and monitoring improvements. A key strength of the leadership has been the instigation of well understood and regularly carried out monitoring of teaching

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The leadership and management of the Headteacher, key staff and governors, not

and learning. This ensures that the systems in place impact effectively on standards. As an outcome staff training needs are noted within an on-going programme of professional development. Improvement to information and communication technology has made a positive impact in addressing prior weaknesses. The resources for ICT are well managed.

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The leadership and management of the Headteacher, key staff and governors, not

19. The leadership and management, training and contribution of non-teaching assistants are very valuable to supporting pupils’ needs. However, as yet the school does not have sufficient non-teaching staff to assist in all classrooms and ensure that both the most and least able are effectively helped.

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The leadership and management of the Headteacher, key staff and governors, not

20. The school improvement plan hits at the heart of what needs to be done and exemplifies a school, which knows itself very well. The school has responded actively to implementing national initiatives and through analysis of data and observation of pupils’ at work it has formulated clear agendas for improvement; all of which aid in raising standards and supporting progress. A fine example of this is the improved results in writing in the infants.

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The leadership and management of the Headteacher, key staff and governors, not

21. The school’s budget is very low and resources are carefully targetted at the areas of greatest need. The management of the school has applied the principles of best value very well, not only in purchasing and securing services but in reviewing test performance and comparing its results with others to ensure challenge is offered. Whilst this leads to challenge there is scope, detailed elsewhere in this report of how challenge can be offered further.

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The leadership and management of the Headteacher, key staff and governors, not

22. The governors are active, enthusiastic, questioning and well informed. They contribute many personal and professional skills to the school’s work. They meet their statutory responsibilities well and have a keen eye to financial matters and the review process. St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 15 St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 16 The very good attitudes, behaviour and relationships of the pupils.

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The leadership and management of the Headteacher, key staff and governors, not

23. The pupils’ attitudes to their school, their behaviour and their personal development and relationships are very good. Their attendance is good. 24. The very positive responses of the pupils are a reflection of the school’s achievement in providing a holistic environment for their learning. They benefit from lively, challenging lessons in an atmosphere of cooperation and support, and the expectations and encouragement of teachers and parents.

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The leadership and management of the Headteacher, key staff and governors, not

25. Due to the consistency of expectation and support by parents and the school, the children respond easily and naturally to the school’s codes of conduct and enjoy the challenge of learning. They are eager to contribute to lessons and take pride in their achievements. In a lesson for reception pupils, their attitudes and behaviour were excellent. They were learning to recognise numbers and to count. The classroom atmosphere was very friendly and pleasant and the lesson was stimulating, with high demands made of the children to count; they were very keen to learn. In a mathematics lesson for pupils in Year 5, they were learning how to double and halve numbers up to 10,000. They were eager to show their previous learning and explain their reasoning. Their cooperation and relationships were excellent.

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The leadership and management of the Headteacher, key staff and governors, not

26. The very good behaviour of the children makes a significant contribution to the progress of learning. The school is active in promoting the positive features resulting from good behaviour and is successful in engaging the support and co- operation of parents. The children are lively and active but show appropriate restraint and consideration for others. They have the opportunity to contribute to rules for behaviour through the school council.

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The leadership and management of the Headteacher, key staff and governors, not

27. The children enjoy school and their levels of attendance are good. They generally attend promptly and lessons start on time and without interruption. The school is alert to the welfare aspects of non-attendance and provides early follow up in the event of a child’s absence not being reported by a parent.

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The very good social, moral and cultural development and excellent provision for

28. The provision made by the school for this aspect of the pupils’ personal development is overall very good. Provision for their spiritual development is excellent and for their moral and social development, very good. Provision for cultural development is good.

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The very good social, moral and cultural development and excellent provision for

29. The school’s ethos flows naturally from its strong Catholic foundation and is a significant influence on the development of pupil’s spiritual values. It is evident in the daily life of the school and in the values and responses of the children. The celebration of worship is used to emphasise the special nature of individuals and the need to respect and care for one another. The practical demonstration of this can be seen in their Harvest Festival collections that are donated to charity along with a range of fund raising activities to support local, national and international charities. In art pupils have reflected on the styles of a range of artists including Cezanne, Andy Warhol and Miro’ and their own efforts to replicate the artists’ work is celebrated in displays around the school. St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 17 30. The provision made by the school for pupils’ moral development is guided by the

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The very good social, moral and cultural development and excellent provision for

philosophy of encouragement and praise and raising their awareness of personal responsibility. In this, the role model provided by the staff is immensely effective in supporting and influencing their responses. The pupils understand and respect the rules and recognise that their learning benefits from the calm environment that they create through good conduct. Through the school council they introduced the ‘Buddy’ bench in the playground where pupils can sit if they feel isolated or upset and other pupils will support them.

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The very good social, moral and cultural development and excellent provision for

31. The pupils enjoy a wide range of contacts with other schools through sports competition, attending residential activity venues and through educational visits as part of extended curricular work. As well as their contact outside school, they receive and welcome visitors who come into school to help and support them in their work. They are confident and relaxed with adults and enjoy sharing their work. Although capable of appropriate independence, they are readily cooperative with one another in lessons and about the school. They demonstrate an awareness of their obligation to others through the many charities that they support.

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The very good social, moral and cultural development and excellent provision for

32. In its provision for the development of pupils’ cultural values the school includes a good range of learning opportunities of world cultures, other faiths and traditions as well as insight into the heritage and development of their own culture. In the school reception area is a greetings poster in a wide range of world languages and in extra-curricular work the pupils can learn the French language. Several of their study projects show their research into life in other parts of the world such as the Caribbean and Africa, and their donation of funds for water aid in Asia and for child victims of the Chernobyl disaster. Some pupils have looked at how the Roman invasion of Britain affected the Celtic communities and others have researched their own local community. They have compared other world religions including Sikhism and Judaism. They instinctively accept fellow pupils from ethnic background without discrimination.

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The high quality of care and the assessment of the pupils’ personal and academic

33. The school makes very good provision for child protection and for ensuring the welfare of the pupils along with very effective procedures to assess pupils’ needs and support achievement.

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The high quality of care and the assessment of the pupils’ personal and academic

34. The quality of the learning environment and the security and confidence of the pupils are measures of the excellent pastoral knowledge and relations that exist between the staff and pupils. This has a very positive effect on pupils’ progress and learning and is seen during lessons when teachers use this knowledge effectively to support and involve pupils. Child protection procedures are equally as effective as a consequence of the close pastoral relationships that exist, and staff are well informed of their responsibilities for child protection. The school has introduced the ‘Rainbow for Children’ programme in which teachers receive training to provide counselling and support for children who suffer trauma in their family life. The school follows up instances of non-attendance when no report is received from a parent giving reasons for the absence.

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The high quality of care and the assessment of the pupils’ personal and academic

35. The school has made significant improvement to its assessments procedures since it was last inspected. These procedures are now very good and the school St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 18 makes equally very good use of the information it has, in order to support individuals and groups of pupils.

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The high quality of care and the assessment of the pupils’ personal and academic

36. Although the school carries out early assessments of children’s abilities when they enter school, showing that the majority, appear to be above expectations in many aspects of the tests, the current tests are not as reliable as they might be. However, the school uses these checks in order to see how children settle at school and the initial progress they make. Basic predictions are made about their possible progress to the end of their period in the infant classes. The school has adopted further tests in Year 1 in order to keep track of children’s progress.

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The high quality of care and the assessment of the pupils’ personal and academic

37. The results of the national tests, taken at age seven and 11, are carefully analysed by subject co-ordinators in order to highlight individual strengths and weaknesses both in teaching and learning. Once again, predictions are made for pupils at the start of their time in the junior classes and each year optional national tests are taken in order to check progress. These results are not always checked against the expected progress pupils might make, but in Year 4, the tests are used directly to note progress against the predictions made in Year 3.

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The high quality of care and the assessment of the pupils’ personal and academic

38. An important benefit of the current very good assessment system, has been the tracking and support of pupils in the current Year 6. Many of these were noted, through assessment, as having special educational needs very early on in their school career and their progress has been well documented. As a result, specific support has been given to a great many pupils in both the development of literacy and numeracy skills, knowledge and understanding. This has allowed those pupils to make good and sometimes very good progress in their work.

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The high quality of care and the assessment of the pupils’ personal and academic

39. As a result of good use of assessment information, over the last three to four years, pupils in the current Year 6 cohort have been targeted for special support. Not only have they received extra support for their mathematics, but extra support for reading, which has helped them come to terms with the wordier mathematical problems.

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The high quality of care and the assessment of the pupils’ personal and academic

40. The recording of assessment information is not yet consistent throughout the school and as a result does not always give an easy “at a glance” picture of individual pupil progress. If class teachers are to have easy access to results in order to plan better the courses of study for pupils, then a more standardised form of recording is required across the whole school, in line with current best practice.

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The development of the Foundation Stage of learning, including the newly built

41. The provision for children under the age of five continues to be a strength of the school. Since the last inspection the school has set up a purpose built nursery class. The high quality accommodation and resources in the nursery including the outdoor facilities, provide the basis of a very good start to childrens’ education at the school. Children attend on a part-time basis, either mornings or afternoons. The curriculum is the same for both groups of children and provides vibrant and exciting learning opportunities based on the Foundation Stage curriculum and giving children a very good start towards achieving the Early Learning Goals. Portfolios of photographs indicate a wide range of learning opportunities in developing early reading, writing and number skills, exploring modelling materials, investigating the local environment and appreciating customs associated with St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 19

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The development of the Foundation Stage of learning, including the newly built

different cultures. Teaching is very good, allowing children to interact, develop collaborative skills and enjoy themselves as they learn. Adults are good role models and children emulate them, this results in children developing positive attitudes to school and behaving very well.

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The development of the Foundation Stage of learning, including the newly built

42. The school provides three classes for pupils of reception age. The very good standards of teaching are sustained with some exceptional teaching seen during the inspection. Teachers continue to work according to the Foundation Stage curriculum and one of the strengths of the department is the collaborative approach to planning lessons so teachers share ideas and successes and are able to provide a cohesive and appropriate curriculum for all the children in the department. The children continue to respond to the high expectations of their teachers to work hard and behave very well. Very good classroom organisation and routines encourage children to have a positive attitude to school and provide well-ordered surroundings with an in-built work ethic and a safe learning environment. The high quality teaching throughout the Foundation Stage ensures that the majority of children not only achieve but exceed the Early Learning Goals

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The development of the Foundation Stage of learning, including the newly built

by the time they move to the next stage of their formal education.

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offered greater challenges in investigation and discovery, notably in mathematics

43. The National Literacy Strategy has been adopted by the school and is well embedded in its work. Teachers have for some time felt constrained by the organisation of the literacy hour and also feel it has diminished a previously valuable emphasis on improving and using pupils’ speaking skills and linking the skills acquired in literacy to work in other subjects. The inspection agrees that the highly skilled and knowledgeable staff have a clear picture of the benefits focused literacy teaching has added to pupils’ learning. However, the time is ripe for them to revisit the teaching of the statutory English curriculum to ensure all elements are given due consideration and keener thought is given to how time may be better spent to maximum effect, to make learning as meaningful as possible, whilst safeguarding the current high quality direct teaching and learning of key literacy skills.

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offered greater challenges in investigation and discovery, notably in mathematics

44. In scrutinising pupils’ work and teachers’ planning, the curriculum provision is well planned and there are some very good examples of pupils using, for example, their writing skills in the other subjects. However, this could be taken further. In planning the other subjects, colleagues could discuss how drama and structured role play may be used to stimulate learning and how reading and writing skills may be used as a vehicle for research, recording, organisation and presentation of work. There are some lost chances to seize on every opportunity for pupils to read and write for real reasons and to transfer their acquired skills to every day work. For example, when recording their investigation into which substances dissolve in water, older pupils were logical in their approach and neat in their presentation but their work lacked individuality. They could have profitably been encouraged to use bullet points to record their methods or used numbered lists to

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offered greater challenges in investigation and discovery, notably in mathematics

catalogue equipment, thus improving presentation and readability and making the text fit the purpose. A review of how, why and to what end commercial materials and printed worksheets are used would usefully identify how they support pupils in St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 20 applying their skills to explain what they know. The pre determined format requiring one word short phrase answers restricts the use of sentences, description, flow charts and their own words. These would give pupils more autonomy in making decisions for themselves, support assessment of what pupils have really gained from the task and enable them to be proactive, use initiative and show their creativity.

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offered greater challenges in investigation and discovery, notably in mathematics

45. Investigative work in mathematics’ and science, is not as well developed as other aspects of the curriculum. In some classes there are good individual examples of class investigations, as in a Year 5 class which has studied the Swiss mathematician Euler’s work. Elsewhere, work noted as being investigational is rather too much driven by the core book, directed by teachers or limited to solving word problems, instead of arising from pupils’ interests and being rather more open-ended in their nature.

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Consistency in the areas of presentation of work by pupils and marking by all staff

which helps pupils to understand how to improve.

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Consistency in the areas of presentation of work by pupils and marking by all staff

46. Subject managers need to encourage all staff to be constantly vigilant in ensuring that pupils use their handwriting and presentation skills, which are well taught, within a whole-school approach, in their day-to-day work. At times, some work was seen, which was below the usual high expectations of the staff and showed a somewhat less presentable attitude by some pupils, mainly boys.

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Consistency in the areas of presentation of work by pupils and marking by all staff

47. Marking is generally up to date and of a good quality. However, there are inconsistencies in the level to which pupils are required to be involved in evaluating their own work. Specific reference to individual targets is not as common as policy would suggest. Greater onus on pupils to check and self correct their own work, use dictionaries and thesaurus for reference or word banks from around the room could certainly add to the quality of spelling. These are in the main, capable pupils, who have the ability to take more responsibility for their own learning and achievement. The school should capitalise on this.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

48. The governors, headteacher and staff now need to :

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

- Ensure the pupils’ basic skills are more broadly used in the other subjects and pupils are offered greater challenges in investigation and discovery, notably in mathematics and science.

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

- Check for consistency in the areas of presentation and marking across all classes. St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 21

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 10

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactor y Poor Very Poor

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

The table gives the number and percentage of lessons observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about teaching. Care should be taken when interpreting these percentages as each lesson represents more than three percentage points.

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR – Y6

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 26 500

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 0 13

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y6

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 0 2

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 2 72

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

English as an additional language No of pupils

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 7

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 15

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 14

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

National comparative data 5.6 National comparative data 0.5 St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 22 Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 23 Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2) Year Boys Girls Total

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2002 35 38 73

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Boys 31 34 34 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 33 37 38

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Percentage of pupils School 88 (99) 97 (97) 99 (99) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (84) 86 (86) 90 (91)

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Boys 31 35 35 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 36 38 38

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Percentage of pupils School 92 (100) 100 (99) 100 (100) at NC level 2 or above National 85 (85) 89 (89) 89 (89)

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year.

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6) Year Boys Girls Total

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2002 39 30 69

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Boys 31 34 37 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 28 27 28

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Percentage of pupils School 86 (95) 88 (76) 94 (95) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (75) 73 (71) 86 (87)

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Boys 31 35 38 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 29 29 26

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Percentage of pupils School 87 (93) 93 (82) 93 (95) at NC level 4 or above National 73 (72) 74 (74) 82 (82)

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 24 Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Categories used in the Annual School Census No of pupils on roll Number of fixed period exclusions Number of permanent exclusions

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

White – any other White background 5 0 0

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Mixed – any other mixed background 0 0 0

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Asian or Asian British - Pakistani 0 0 0

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Asian or Asian British – Bangladeshi 0 0 0

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Asian or Asian British – any other Asian background 3 0 0

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Black or Black British – Caribbean 1 0 0

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Black or Black British – any other Black background 0 0 0

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

The table refers to pupils of compulsory school age only. It gives the number of exclusions, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded.

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Teachers and classes Financial information

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 21.3 Financial year 2001-2

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 23

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total income 790,054.00

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Total number of education support staff 10 Total expenditure 792,804.31

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Total aggregate hours worked per week 299 Expenditure per pupil 1585.00

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery Balance brought forward from previous year 44,569.00

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 1 Balance carried forward to next year 41,819.69

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 26

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Total number of education support staff 1

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Total aggregate hours worked per week 25 St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 25 Number of pupils per FTE adult 13

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 5.5

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 5.5

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 0

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of a term or more (FTE) 0

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of unfilled vacancies or vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of less than one term (FTE) 0

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

FTE means full-time equivalent. St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School - 26 Results of the survey of parents and carers

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Percentage of responses in each category

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

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

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

My child is making good progress in school. 58 36 6 0 1

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Behaviour in the school is good. 49 45 5 0 2

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 38 43 11 3 5

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 45 44 10 1 1

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 65 29 4 2 0

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 62 34 3 0 2

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

The school works closely with parents. 43 42 12 2 2

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

The school is well led and managed. 55 35 6 2 3

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 62 35 2 1 1

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 53 34 3 4 7

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