Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School

SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 3 1st March – 1 st April 2003

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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. Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Type of school: Infant and Junior School

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mrs C Skelly

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 6 th October 1997 Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 4

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Team members 28076 Mr D Byrne Registered inspector 9593 Mrs B Sinclair Lay inspector 17543 Mr R Coupe Team Inspector

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Lynrose Marketing Ltd Bungalow Farmhouse Six Mile Bottom Newmarket Suffolk CB8 0TU

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

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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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Holy Spirit 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

This is a Catholic Voluntary Aided primary school situated in the West Yorkshire town of Heckmondwike with 203 boys and girls, aged from 4 to 11 on roll. The governing body’s admission policy allows for accepting up to 20% of pupils who are not baptised Catholics. Children start school in the Reception class in either the September or the January according to their age. The attainment of the majority of children when they start school in the Reception class is below average. Across the school, the percentage of pupils eligible for free school meals (13%) is below the national average and the percentage of pupils identified as having special educational needs (21%), including statements, is slightly above the national average. The percentage of pupils with statements of educational need (3%) is above the national average. The socio-economic circumstances of the pupils are mixed and average overall.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Almost all pupils are of white ethnic origin and the percentage of pupils requiring support for English as an additional language is very low at 1%. The number of pupils entering and leaving the school at times other than the usual time of entry and departure is relatively low.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

Holy Spirit provides pupils with a caring and secure education that promotes high standards of attitudes and behaviour and establishes excellent relationships between pupils and staff. By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils achieve well and attain standards that are above average in English, mathematics, science and art and design. Attainment by the end of Key Stage 1 could be better overall. The quality of teaching is good in Key Stage 2 where pupils make very good progress overall. Parents have high opinions of the education the school provides and give good support to the school. The school is well led and satisfactorily managed. The school provides good value for money.

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What the school does well

• The head teacher provides good leadership for the school. • Good teaching in Key Stage 2 ensures that pupils achieve well and attain good standards in English, mathematics, science and art and design by the end of Key Stage 2. • Provision for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Pupils develop very good attitudes and behave very well. Their personal development is good and they form excellent relationships. • The school provides a good level of care support and guidance for the pupils and has good procedures in place for child protection. • Parents are very supportive of the school.

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What could be improved

• The level of achievement of higher attaining pupils by the end of Key Stage 1. • The planning, organisation and management of some aspects of the Foundation Stage curriculum. • Procedures for assessing attainment and progress in subjects other than English, mathematics, science and religious education. 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

Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 7 The school was last inspected in October 1997 and since then it has improved satisfactorily overall. Pupils’ performance in the Key Stage 2 National Curriculum tests for English, mathematics and science has improved significantly since 2000. Standards in art and design are much higher and the curriculum provision for science, design and technology, geography and English has improved overall by the end of Key Stage 2. The provision for information and communication technology is much better and effective plans exist to ensure that computers are used to support learning across the school. The standards attained at the end of Key Stage 1, especially for higher attaining pupils have not improved at a fast enough rate, however, and higher attaining pupils could achieve higher standards. Resources for children in the Foundation Stage are still weak in some areas and need further improvement. The

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

governing body has extended its role in curriculum development but remains very dependent on the guidance of the head teacher. The school has a satisfactory capacity to develop and improve in the future.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by pupils at the end of Year 6 based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests.

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schools

English C C B A well above average above average A B mathematics E B C B average below average C D science C C B B well below average E

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schools

The majority of children start school in the Reception class with below average skills, particularly in their skills of communication, language and literacy and in their personal, social and emotional development. As a result of the care and support provided by the school and effective teaching of communication, language and literacy and mathematical development children make good progress in these areas and achieve the Early Learning Goals by the end of the Reception class. Children also make good progress in terms of their personal, social and emotional development. Children could achieve better in other aspects of their learning i.e. their knowledge and understanding of the world and in their creative and physical development. Although they reach the Early Learning Goals in these areas of development, some children could do better if some aspects of teaching and provision were improved.

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schools

In Key Stage 1, the majority of pupils make satisfactory progress and reach standards that are expected for their age by the end of Year 2. Pupils with special educational needs also make satisfactory progress. There are, however, a significant number of higher attaining pupils who are not challenged sufficiently and therefore are not achieving as well as they could or should by the end of Year 2. This depresses the end of Key Stage 1 test results and means that pupils need to make extra progress in lower Key Stage 2. There is little evidence of any improvement in standards in recent years and attainment in the National Curriculum tests is lower than it was in the last inspection. In 2002, attainment in reading, writing, mathematics and science was well below the national average and the average for similar schools. An analysis of test results shows that too few pupils achieve higher than the levels

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schools

expected for their age in each subject. Inspection evidence confirms the end of key stage Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 8 National Curriculum tests results and shows that higher attaining pupils are not challenged enough to achieve standards of which they are capable.

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schools

Pupils make very good progress in Key Stage 2 and by the end of Year 6, pupils achieve well and attainment is good. Pupils with special educational needs make good progress towards the targets in their individual education plans. Standards have been rising rapidly since 2000 and are better than they were at the time of the last inspection. In the 2002 end of key stage National Curriculum tests, attainment was above the national average in English and science and average in mathematics. When compared to similar schools it was well above the average in English and above average in mathematics and science. The needs of higher attaining pupils are much better met in Key Stage 2 and this is a major factor in the improvement that is seen. Inspection evidence shows that attainment in English, mathematics and science is above national expectations at the end of Key Stage 2 with some very good levels attained by higher attaining pupils in writing and aspects of

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schools

mathematics and science. The procedures for setting statutory targets for pupils’ attainment in English and mathematics are effective, and realistic and challenging targets are established. There has been a difference between the attainment of girls and boys with girls performing better. The school has identified this problem and has introduced good methods that are narrowing the gap in attainment. Strategies are based in boosting boys’ confidence and self-esteem and, for some boys, improving their attitudes to learning.

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schools

In other subjects, pupils do as well as expected for their age at the end of each key stage and in art and design at the end of Key Stage 2, the quality of pupils’ work is above national expectations. Good progress is being made in information and communication technology since the introduction of better resources and staff training. Pupils are doing as well as expected in their information and communication technology work although there are still some gaps in their learning because of the impact of lack of resources in the past.

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Aspect Comment

Attitudes to the school Very good. Almost all pupils of all ages have very positive attitudes to work and to school, although at times some higher attaining pupils lose interest in Key Stage 1.

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Aspect Comment

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Very good. Pupils behave very well both in and out of the classroom and are very polite, friendly and helpful.

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Aspect Comment

Personal development and relationships Excellent. Pupils treat each other with respect and make every effort to make new pupils and those with special educational needs welcome and part of their class. Relationships across the school are excellent. Pupils use their initiative well and develop a good sense of responsibility.

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Aspect Comment

Attendance Good. Pupils like school. Attendance is above the national average. Punctuality is good. Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 9

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Teaching of pupils in: Reception Years 1-2 Years 3-6

Quality of teaching Satisfactory Satisfactory 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 in: Reception Years 1-2 Years 3-6

The quality of teaching varies across the school. All teachers provide effectively for pupils’ personal and emotional development, but there are some areas for development in the Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 in some aspects of developing pupils’ academic skills. Throughout the school, teachers have excellent relationships with pupils and these promote amongst pupils very good attitudes and behaviour and a willingness to learn.

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Teaching of pupils in: Reception Years 1-2 Years 3-6

In the Foundation Stage, good teamwork between the class teacher and teaching assistant encourages the development of children’s early skills of literacy and numeracy. Planning in these areas is effective and activities are well organised and managed. In some areas of learning, however, particularly in the development of children’s knowledge and understanding of the world and creative development, planning does not fully reflect the Foundation Stage curriculum and activities lack focus and structure. In Key Stage 1, teaching is satisfactory overall. The majority of pupils make satisfactory progress in all subjects and, in subjects other than English, mathematics and science, do as well as expected for their age. The teaching of reading and writing tends to focus on the needs of the average attainers and lower attaining pupils and not enough challenge is provided for higher attaining pupils. A similar picture exists in the teaching of mathematics and numeracy and in science where

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Teaching of pupils in: Reception Years 1-2 Years 3-6

most pupils also achieve satisfactorily but the minority of higher attaining pupils are not challenged enough and could and should do better.

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Teaching of pupils in: Reception Years 1-2 Years 3-6

In Key Stage 2, teaching is good overall, and at times very good and excellent. This results in pupils making very good progress. Expectations are high for all pupils and higher attaining pupils achieve as well as they can and perform well in the end of key stage National Curriculum tests. Very good use is made of information and communication technology to communicate with pupils during lessons. The interactive whiteboard is used very well to stimulate and interest pupils during many lessons and pupils respond by listening well and working hard. The teaching of mathematics and numeracy and of English and literacy is good overall and is very good in upper Key Stage 2. Lessons are carefully planned and managed so that the needs of all pupils are met. Good teamwork between special educational needs support staff ensures that the needs of all pupils are met and good teaching by teachers challenges the abilities of higher attaining pupils. Science in Key Stage 2 is well taught with

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Teaching of pupils in: Reception Years 1-2 Years 3-6

good attention given to pupils developing skills of investigation as well as learning scientific knowledge. In Key Stage 2, art and design is taught well and pupils produce imaginative, creative and very well presented work.

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Teaching of pupils in: Reception Years 1-2 Years 3-6

Teachers make satisfactory use of homework to support learning at home but marking is not always used as well as it could be. At times, astute comments are included in the marking of pupils’ work and pupils use these comments as targets to do better. Not all marking includes such comments but, when it does, it can push the standards of pupils’ work even higher. Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 10

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Aspect Comment

The quality and range of the curriculum Satisfactory The school provides a satisfactory curriculum for all pupils with an appropriate emphasis on teaching literacy and numeracy. Pupils’ experiences are extended beyond the classrooms with a satisfactory range of educational visits and visitors. The planning for some aspects of the Foundation Stage curriculum is unsatisfactory. Provision for pupils with special educational needs Good. Pupils with special educational needs receive good support from skilled teaching assistants so that they make good progress in their personal and academic development. Provision for pupils with English as an additional language Good. Pupils have a good understanding of spoken and written English and receive suitable support with all aspects of school life. Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural development Good. The school makes good provision for pupils’ spiritual

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Aspect Comment

development. The provision for developing pupils’ moral and social development is very good and promotes very positive attitudes and values. The school is developing good strategies to raise pupils’ awareness their own culture and satisfactory ways of developing pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the multi- cultural society in which we live. How well the school cares for its pupils Good. Child protection procedures are well understood by all staff and provide all pupils with a safe and secure environment. The school ensures that all aspects of equality of opportunity are met and there is an effective policy in place to promote racial equality. Teachers know each pupil very well through personal knowledge and assessment data. Procedures for assessing pupils’ attainment and progress in English, mathematics and science are satisfactory but in other subjects they are unsatisfactory.

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Aspect Comment

Parents have very high opinions of the head teacher and all that the school does. Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 11

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Aspect Comment

Leadership and management by the head teacher and other key staff Satisfactory overall. The head teacher provides good leadership and enjoys the total confidence of the staff, pupils and governing body. There is a good team spirit between staff, very good levels of communication and a strong desire to find ways of giving pupils the best possible quality of education. The senior management team is very narrow and this reduces opportunities for the views of staff in Key Stage 1 and the Foundation Stage to be heard and for developments to be planned.

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Aspect Comment

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Satisfactory. The governing body fulfils its statutory duties and supports the school well. Governors tend to be over-reliant on the views and guidance of the head teacher.

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Aspect Comment

The school’s evaluation of its performance Satisfactory. Assessment data is analysed and used to modify the quality of teaching in Key Stage 2 to raise standards for all pupils but not in Key Stage 1. The school improvement plan reflects such evaluations but does not target the needs of higher attaining pupils in Key Stage 1. The school employs satisfactory procedures to ensure that the school gets the best value from its budget.

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Aspect Comment

The strategic use of resources Satisfactory. The school uses its available resources to ensure that income is spent sensibly to provide for the needs of pupils. Decisions to use resources to boost information and communication technology are wise but this has had a negative impact on the number of teaching assistants for pupils other than those with special educational needs.

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Aspect Comment

The accommodation is satisfactory overall although the toilet provision is poor overall despite the best efforts of the caretaker and cleaner. Resources for learning are satisfactory overall but resources for the Foundation Stage could be better. Teaching staff are suitably qualified and there is a good number of special educational needs support staff. The number of teaching assistants is relatively low and this reduces the impact of teaching at times, especially for higher attaining pupils in Key Stage 1. Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 12

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

• The attainment and progress of their children and the care and support of all staff. • The behaviour attitudes and level of personal development promoted amongst pupils. • The ethos of the school and the way it is part of the local parish. • The quality of communication between the school and parents and the approachability of staff. • The support given to pupils with special educational needs. • The quality of leadership by the head teacher. • A few parents feel that too much homework is given • Over a quarter of parents felt that the range of activities outside lessons could be better.

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What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved

The inspection evidence agrees with the parents’ positive comments. The level of homework is about right for pupils of this age. The range of extra-curricular activities is satisfactory but relatively narrow in range. Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 13

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

The head teacher provides good leadership for the school.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

7. The head teacher provides the school with a secure and clearly articulated vision for its future. The head teacher successfully achieves the school’s aim of promoting strong Christian values within a Catholic context throughout the school. As a result of this, the school has a very good ethos that promotes amongst pupils very good behaviour, attitudes and levels of personal development and excellent relationships and successfully provides for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

8. The head teacher has the total confidence of staff, parents and governors and ensures that Holy Spirit is part of the local community and church parish. He provides high levels of support for teaching staff and is sensitive and caring about their personal development. Recent difficulties encountered as a result of the retirement of long-term staff have been sensitively dealt with so that academic standards at the end of Key Stage 2 have been maintained and the warm, friendly and caring ethos of the school has not suffered. The head teacher has developed amongst teaching and support staff a strong team spirit and a sense of acceptance of the need to constantly evaluate the impact of the school’s actions on the standards achieved by pupils, both in terms of their academic and personal development. The head teacher has very good relationships with staff and there is no animosity when areas for improvements

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

are identified. Staff follow the head teacher happily and respond to recognised areas for improvement.

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WHAT THE SCHOOL DOES WELL

9. The head teacher makes sure that resources are spent in accordance with the aims of the school’s school improvement plan. For example, the current aim is to ensure that information and communication technology resources are up to the highest possible standards. The head teacher compares the end of Key Stage 2 results with similar schools and those nationally and has challenged what the school does by improving aspects of teaching in Key Stage 2. He has encouraged staff to develop a clear picture of how the existing teaching styles impact on the performance of pupils and this has resulted in teachers adapting both what they teach and how it is taught. This has improved the progress and standards attained at the end of Key Stage 2 since the last inspection.

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standards in English, mathematics, science and art and design by the end of Key

10. The quality of teaching in Key Stage 2 is good overall with some very good and excellent aspects to teaching in Years 5 and 6. Teachers make good use of their knowledge of each pupil and use information from assessment data to successfully provide work that matches the pupils’ needs. In Years 5 and 6 in particular, higher attaining pupils are given work that is demanding enough to challenge their existing level of attainment. By the end of Key Stage 2, pupils achieve good standards in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science and have made good progress. In art and design, pupils are introduced to a wide range of art techniques from British and other cultures and develop good skills of expressing themselves artistically. Good teamwork between teachers and special educational needs support staff ensures that Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 14 pupils with special educational needs make good progress towards their individual

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standards in English, mathematics, science and art and design by the end of Key

11. Excellent relationships between teachers and pupils contribute to lessons being well managed and pupils generally behave very well. Teachers make skilful use of resources, in particular the interactive whiteboard, to engage pupils’ interest and maintain their attention. Teaching is typified by using a good balance between whole class teaching and effective use of group work. Lessons start with clear and purposeful aims that are shared with pupils.

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standards in English, mathematics, science and art and design by the end of Key

12. English and literacy are taught well and many pupils achieve high standards by the end of Key Stage 2. Pupils are provided with a broad and balanced English curriculum with a good emphasis on developing their written and spoken skills. Good attention is given to promoting discussions with pupils during lessons and this encourages pupils to express what they think and develop confidence in speaking in front of others. Most pupils speak well and listen with good levels of attention by the end of Year 6. The quality of presentation of pupils’ work across the key stage is high, with most pupils using a very neat and legible handwriting style. By the end of Year 6, pupils use grammar effectively and punctuate their work accurately. The use of paragraphs is applied well and pupils know the conventions of distinguishing between direct (spoken) and reported speech. Pupils have developed a good knowledge and

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standards in English, mathematics, science and art and design by the end of Key

understanding of the features of different types (genres) of writing. As part of work on using persuasive text, pupils have mastered the skill of designing a leaflet, for example, for a theme park, using the correct style of language and presentation. Pupils write well to support learning across the curriculum. Some high standard writing about the ‘A Day in the Life of a Victorian Classroom’ showed how effectively most pupils can create well written, extended pieces of writing that include a clear opening, create a good picture in the readers mind of the setting and go on to build a picture of a sequence of events. Good teaching of writing has resulted in pupils starting to master techniques such as using short sentences to build up tension, leading to a climax at the end of the story. Pupils also develop a good knowledge and understanding of poetry and, as part of geography work, Year 4 pupils demonstrated

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standards in English, mathematics, science and art and design by the end of Key

good skills of creating shape poems representing the seal.

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standards in English, mathematics, science and art and design by the end of Key

13. Pupils’ make good progress in Key Stage 2 in the development of their mathematical skills and knowledge. There is a good emphasis placed on demanding that pupils develop and apply their mental arithmetic skills. This results in pupils having very quick mental recall skills. Pupils make good progress in developing a good understanding of number, shape and measures, graphs and data handling. Teachers make good use of real life situations in mathematics to enable pupils to develop good problem solving skills that involve the application of basic mathematical knowledge. Teaching of mathematics is particularly good in upper Key Stage 2 where good attention is given to identifying and challenging the needs of higher attaining pupils. The practice of withdrawing higher attaining pupils for ‘booster work’ is successful in ensuring that the needs of all pupils are as well met as possible. For less able pupils,

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standards in English, mathematics, science and art and design by the end of Key

good teamwork between the class teachers and special educational needs support staff ensure that the particular needs of these pupils are met. Higher attaining pupils in Year 6 are familiar with procedures for converting metric measures into imperial and are quick at mentally solving money problems. Pupils competently explain the strategies required for finding solutions to problems and through the use of Mental Arithmetic notebooks, pupils record the thoughts they have had and the activities they have performed in mathematics. Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 15 14. Science is taught with a good emphasis on developing pupils’ enquiry skills as well as the acquisition of scientific knowledge. Inspection evidence shows that pupils make good progress in science across Key Stage 2 and reach standards that are above national expectations. Teachers give good attention to the teaching of scientific facts

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standards in English, mathematics, science and art and design by the end of Key

and expect pupils to make appropriate use of such terms. Some excellent use is made of information and communication technology resources to support work on biological science. As part of work looking at mini-beasts in the school grounds, pupils gathered living creatures that were then projected onto a screen in class using the electronic microscope and interactive whiteboard. This was good class teaching as everyone was able to see different creatures and the teachers skilfully used the projections to point out essential scientific facts, for example, the features of insects. Good use is made of planning sheets to guide pupils in their scientific investigative work. During one good lesson, pupils showed a good knowledge and understanding of fair testing in the context of investigating evaporation rates and in so doing showed a good knowledge of the way some things need to be kept the same whilst others are

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standards in English, mathematics, science and art and design by the end of Key

changed. In a Year 6 lesson, pupils responded enthusiastically to the expectation for them to devise a way of identifying the factors that affect the rate of growth in plants. High expectations from the class teacher, supported by teaching assistants, resulted in pupils making logical and sensible plans for solving the problem.

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standards in English, mathematics, science and art and design by the end of Key

15. Art and design is taught well across Key Stage 2 and by the end of Year 6, pupils achieve standards that are above national expectations for their age. Teachers use many curriculum areas to teach art and design and this means that pupils develop confidence to express their feelings using a variety of visual techniques and materials. Pupils explore a wide range of art from other cultures including styles of art from Japan and India. Pupils copy the styles of great artists such as Picasso and Klimt to create their own designs and develop an understanding of the features of different forms of art. As part of a study of the appreciation of the work of L S Lowry, some good techniques of using torn paper very effectively recreated the images of ‘matchstick people’ on industrial backdrops. Three-dimensional art and design work is valued and pupils achieve good standards of work. Pupils develop good techniques in

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standards in English, mathematics, science and art and design by the end of Key

making clay models and in Year 6 pupils have used modelling materials to create some very effective models representing the movement and positions of dancers.

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develop very good attitudes and behave very well. Their personal development is

good and they form excellent relationships.

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develop very good attitudes and behave very well. Their personal development is

16. The head teacher and his staff successfully create a warm and supportive atmosphere throughout the school. This is a key factor in the development of excellent relationships between pupils and between pupils and staff. Teachers and support staff are caring and help pupils in both their personal and academic achievement development. Lessons are mostly well planned and made relevant to the life of the pupils and pupils therefore show good levels of attention and concentration during lessons. Pupils enjoy learning. The good quality provision for pupils’ spiritual development is chiefly promoted through assemblies and the quality of care shown by staff. In many lessons seen during the inspection, teachers provided good opportunities for fostering pupils’ spiritual development. Pupils have opportunities to develop feelings about the natural environment and to appreciate art and design work. The whole school assemblies are very well organised so that pupils are made aware

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develop very good attitudes and behave very well. Their personal development is

of the needs of others. The high quality of singing and contributions from the school orchestra create a very strong sense of harmony and togetherness amongst everyone in the school community. Pupils in Key Stage 2 especially are given Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 16 opportunities to make decisions and act independently. The approach of teachers in teaching science and mathematics involves the setting of good expectations for pupils to work with reasonable independence so that pupils develop the confidence to make decisions and act with initiative. Teachers treat pupils with respect and value their opinions and provide very good models for pupils in developing their own views about fairness, integrity and respect for others. The provision for developing pupils’ social skills is good. Because pupils are listened to, they are developing good ways of resolving arguments that may occur with others and thereby developing good

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develop very good attitudes and behave very well. Their personal development is

approaches to resolving conflicts later in their lives. The levels of trust established between pupils and teachers and amongst pupils are very high and reinforce the whole idea that honesty and integrity are crucial in all that the pupils do. The access for pupils in Year 6 to a residential educational visit provides a good opportunity for them to extend their social skills in a different situation.

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develop very good attitudes and behave very well. Their personal development is

17. The school’s very clear code of conduct successfully promotes amongst pupils a clear knowledge and understanding of the difference between right and wrong. The head teacher and staff strive very hard to successfully promote racial and religious tolerance. Behaviour management by staff is good overall. Behaviour is very good throughout the school and this means that there are few disruptions to lessons and pupils can work hard, without distraction. This makes a significant contribution to pupils' progress. The pupils show very high levels of respect for the feelings, values and beliefs of others. They say that people who are ‘different’ in any way deserve as much respect as anyone else. Such views demonstrate their good moral development. Pupils collaborate very well in tasks with their peers. For example, in a Year 6 personal, social and health education lesson, pupils worked very effectively in

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develop very good attitudes and behave very well. Their personal development is

pairs as they considered a survival situation and necessary decisions. The provision for pupils’ social development is very good. The school is very aware of the needs of its pupils and provides a very good environment in which to nurture and care for them. Close links with a range of charity organisations such as Christian Aid and CAFOD broaden pupils’ knowledge and understanding of other cultures and good provision within art and design and aspects of music educates pupils about the art and music of a range of cultures. There is a good range of musical instruments from ethnic minority cultures and pupils are familiar with these and the features of different styles of music. The school’s cultural values are very well supported through displays of posters that feature the lives of people from other cultures.

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develop very good attitudes and behave very well. Their personal development is

18. The school has worked hard in recent years to tackle the difference in attitudes between boys and girls. The attitude of all pupils to learning is now very good and inspection evidence shows that both boys and girls enjoy learning and are almost always enthusiastic. Particularly good attitudes to learning are evident in upper Key Stage 2 where the quality of teaching is often very good with high expectations being made of all pupils according to their ability. Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 17

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The school provides a good level of care, support and guidance for the pupils and

has good procedures in place for child protection.

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The school provides a good level of care, support and guidance for the pupils and

19. Child protection procedures are well understood by all staff and all pupils are provided with a safe and secure environment. The school ensures that all aspects of equality of opportunity are met and there is an effective policy in place to successfully promote racial equality. Staff are familiar with the local education authority guidelines for child protection and good support is sought and received from support services. The Catholic Care Social worker provides a much valued service and does a lot of effective work supporting pupils and families in need within the community. The service takes a lot of pressure off the staff of the school. There is also a good relationship with the local Social Services. The care taken to provide support to families within the community helps the children to be fully involved with all aspects of school life so that they can learn and achieve as well as they can by the end of Key

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The school provides a good level of care, support and guidance for the pupils and

20. All aspects of the pupils’ health and safety are carefully monitored so that pupils have a safe and secure place to learn. The governing body maintains a very good picture of all matters regarding health and safety through the expertise and knowledge of the non-teaching governor who is also the school caretaker. Every care is taken to ensure that all adults working with pupils, for example, coaches involved in out of school activities, are fully security checked.

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The school provides a good level of care, support and guidance for the pupils and

21. The day-to-day support and guidance offered to pupils with special educational needs is good with some very good features. Teachers and special educational needs support staff all work together very effectively to ensure that pupils are set targets in their individual education plans that are relevant and appropriate so teaching activities are adapted to meet the pupils’ needs. The needs of the high percentage of pupils with statements of special educational needs are fully met as a result of well-planned support and careful monitoring of the pupils’ progress towards their targets. Good links with external agencies, such as occupational therapist services and speech therapy departments, enable the specific needs of individual pupils to be met effectively.

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The school provides a good level of care, support and guidance for the pupils and

22. Staff show their commitment to supporting the needs of pupils with learning difficulties by the way that innovative ideas have been developed to support some of the pupils with the greatest needs. It has been recognised that some pupils struggle to learn because of their low self-esteem and low levels of confidence. In order to start to tackle this, three staff have launched what is termed the ‘Social Use of Language Project’ (SULP). This involves developing strategies to improve the way some pupils relate to other pupils by improving their confidence to speak and express their opinions. Imaginative use is made of role-play to engage pupils’ attention so that they can release their frustrations and feelings. The pupils involved gain an increased sense of security and emotional stability through increased social skills and self– confidence and this improves their educational development.

p.17

The school provides a good level of care, support and guidance for the pupils and

23. In upper Key Stage 2, higher attaining pupils are identified in literacy and numeracy and given additional support and this boosts the levels of achievement and standards of attainment. Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 18 Parents are very supportive of the school.

p.17

The school provides a good level of care, support and guidance for the pupils and

24. Parents value the school and hold the head teacher in high esteem. Parents value the way that the head teacher and staff are approachable and are available if there are matters of concern or information to discuss or convey. Parents support the homework policy and support teachers’ expectations for pupils to develop expertise in working on their own at home before moving to the high school. Parents are very happy with the quality of the induction policy for all pupils including new arrivals. Levels of communication with parents are good with regular newsletters and planned opportunities for parents to get involved in the school and to express any concerns.

p.18

The school provides a good level of care, support and guidance for the pupils and

25. Parents are very supportive of their children and of school events and many parents attend worship in the school buildings. The Friends of the School organisation is active and raises significant sums of money to supports aspects of the pupils’ education.

p.18

The school provides a good level of care, support and guidance for the pupils and

26. Parents are very supportive of the school and in the questionnaires received by the school, high levels of satisfaction were expressed about: • The rate of progress made by pupils and the way the pupils work hard. • The quality of teaching. • The behaviour of pupils. • The quality of the leadership by the head teacher. • The way the school is approachable for parents.

p.18

The level of achievement of higher attaining pupils by the end of Key Stage 1

27. Within Year 2, the needs of the majority of pupils are effectively planned for and met. Pupils with special educational needs make good progress towards the targets in their individual education plans and lower attaining pupils and average attaining pupils learn satisfactorily and achieve as well as they can. Higher attaining pupils, however, are often not given work that is hard enough to effectively challenge their existing knowledge and understanding and therefore their progress is not as good as it could be. In 2002, the attainment of pupils at the end of Key Stage 1 in reading, writing and mathematics was well below the national average and well below the average when compared to similar schools. With the exception of 2000, when attainment was in line with national average in reading and well above national average in writing, pupils’ performance has fallen well below the national average each year since 1998 in

p.18

The level of achievement of higher attaining pupils by the end of Key Stage 1

writing and mathematics and below or well below national average in reading. Although still below or well below national average in reading and mathematics, standards have steadied in the last two years in terms of the percentage of pupils achieving the standard expected for pupils at the end of Key Stage 1 of level 2.

p.18

The level of achievement of higher attaining pupils by the end of Key Stage 1

28. Inspection evidence, however, shows that overall standards could and should be higher at the end of Key Stage 1 in reading, writing and mathematics. Even though there is a significant number of pupils in Year 2 who have the potential to reach the above average standard of level 3, very few do so. There is a combination of reasons for this. Firstly, the expectations for higher attaining pupils are not high enough when their work is planned. Secondly, the lack of regular support by teaching assistants in Key Stage 1, and especially in Year 2, reduces the opportunities for pupils of differing abilities to be given regular adult support. At the moment, the class teacher directs the bulk of available support to the lower attaining pupils and average attainers and the Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 19 higher attaining pupils are not given enough direct support and work is often not demanding enough. This results in these pupils not achieving as highly as they could,

p.18

The level of achievement of higher attaining pupils by the end of Key Stage 1

and exhibiting mild but noticeable restlessness at times during lessons because the work given is not gaining their full attention.

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The level of achievement of higher attaining pupils by the end of Key Stage 1

29. The school recognises that standards are not high enough at the end of Key Stage 1 and is planning to do two things to improve the achievement of higher attaining pupils. Better classroom support is being considered so that the class-teacher can direct more support to the higher attaining pupils. A second strategy is to strengthen the senior management team by adding a person responsible for monitoring and evaluating teaching and learning across Key Stage 1 so that areas for development are accurately represented. These measures have been delayed because of recent staff disruption owing to staff moving on or retiring.

p.19

Stage curriculum

30. Planning for aspects of children’s creative development and their knowledge and understanding of the world is unsatisfactory. Although a satisfactory range of activities is provided for the children to develop each of these areas, the activities are often not structured enough and resources are not available to enhance and stimulate learning. For example, children enjoy using a role-play area in the context of a shop, but the till does not have replica money and articles for sale in the shop are not priced. Both of these factors reduce the opportunity for children to act out to real life and children miss opportunities to develop aspects of mathematics in an imaginative situation. Activities provided to develop children’s creative and imaginative ideas, for example painting, building designs using construction kits and building materials are often lacking in direction and challenge for the children. This results in children playing

p.19

Stage curriculum

rather than learning as much from the activities as they could. The quality of planning to foster children’s personal, social and emotional development, for developing children’s early reading and writing skills and mathematical development is satisfactory.

p.19

Stage curriculum

31. Although the class-teacher and assistant know the children well, there is currently only a rudimentary method of assessing children’s attainment and progress as they move through the Foundation Stage. This makes it difficult to monitor the progress of children in each aspect of their development and reduces opportunities for the individual needs of children to be identified so that teaching is targeted to meet the children’s needs.

p.19

Stage curriculum

32. Resources for learning in the Foundation Stage are only just satisfactory. There are sufficient resources for developing children’s early skills of reading and writing and for mathematical development and aspects of outdoor physical development. In the areas of children’s creative and physical development, resources are limited in range and in need of upgrading. The furniture in the room is also not as child-friendly as is often the case in a Foundation Stage class and this reduces the vibrance and impact of the room.

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Procedures for assessing attainment and progress in subjects other than English,

mathematics, science and religious education.

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Procedures for assessing attainment and progress in subjects other than English,

33. Although staff know pupils well, the systems for assessing and identifying how well pupils are achieving in subjects other than the core subjects of English, mathematics and science and religious education are ineffective. The school is in the process of Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 20 evaluating effective and manageable ways of assessing pupils’ progress in Key Stages 1 and 2. At the moment, there is no reliable way of identifying which pupils are achieving well in non-core subjects, identifying potentially gifted and talented pupils and highlighting those who find a subject difficult. The lack of such a manageable system reduces the effectiveness of the monitoring of the quality of teaching and learning across the school. This makes it harder to identify ways of improving what the school does in terms of the quality of the curriculum and the impact of teaching on pupils’ academic achievement. This reduces the range of information available for

p.19

Procedures for assessing attainment and progress in subjects other than English,

staff, the head teacher and governing body to evaluate how effectively some aspects of the school’s funds are contributing to the pupils’ education.

p.20

Stage 1 by:

• providing more challenging work for the identified higher attaining pupils; • adapting existing teaching strategies so that more attention and support is given to higher attaining pupils; • establishing strategies for pupils who are potentially level 3 to be given better support and providing clearly targeted work to challenge them; • extending the senior management team so that Key Stage 1 (and the Foundation Stage) are given a higher profile in monitoring what the school does well and where improvements should be made.

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Foundation Stage curriculum by:

• making sure that each aspect of the curriculum is planned in accordance with the Foundation Stage recommendations; • increasing planned activities so that children are given challenges and a purpose to what they are asked to do; • developing and implementing an effective way of assessing children’s attainment and monitoring their progress across the Early Learning Goals; • improving resources when funds allow.

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 21 Number of lessons observed 20

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 12

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactor y Poor Very Poor

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Summary of teaching observed during 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 five percentage points.

p.21

Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR– Y6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 0 203

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 0 27

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Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 0 6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 0 43

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Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

p.21

Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 2

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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 6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 4

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Attendance

National comparative data 5.9 National comparative data 0.5

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Attendance

Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year.

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Attendance

Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2) Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 22 Year Boys Girls Total

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Attendance

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2002 14 15 29

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Attendance

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

p.22

Attendance

Boys 11 9 14 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 12 13 14

p.22

Attendance

Percentage of pupils School 79 (82) 76 (79) 97 (86) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (84) 86 (86) 90 (91)

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Attendance

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

p.22

Attendance

Boys 10 14 8 Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Girls 13 14 13

p.22

Attendance

Percentage of pupils School 79 (75) 97 (79) 72 (75) at NC level 2 or above National 85 (85) 89 (89) 89 (89)

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Attendance

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

p.22

Attendance

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

p.22

Attendance

Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2002 12 9 21

p.22

Attendance

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

p.22

Attendance

Boys Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls

p.22

Attendance

Percentage of pupils School 81 (81) 81 (71) 95 (90 at NC level 4 or above National 75 (75) 73 (71) 86 (87)

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Attendance

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

p.22

Attendance

Boys Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls

p.22

Attendance

Percentage of pupils School 81 (81) 76 (71) 100 (87) at NC level 4 or above National 73 (72) 74 (74) 82 (82)

p.22

Attendance

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Figures given are school totals only where the number of boys or girls in the cohort is fewer than ten. Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 23

p.22

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

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

p.23

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

White – any other White background 1 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Mixed – any other mixed background 0 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Asian or Asian British - Pakistani 0 0 0

p.23

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Asian or Asian British – Bangladeshi 0 0 0

p.23

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

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

p.23

Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

Black or Black British – Caribbean 0 0 0

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

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

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Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

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. Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 24

p.23

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 8.5 Financial year 2002/2003

p.24

Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 23.88

p.24

Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR – Y6 Total income 429536

p.24

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 5 Total expenditure 422330

p.24

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 127 Expenditure per pupil 2080

p.24

Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery Balance brought forward from previous year 23874

p.24

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) N/A Balance carried forward to next year 31080

p.24

Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher N/A

p.24

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff N/A

p.24

Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week N/A

p.24

Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 2

p.24

Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 3

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Recruitment of teachers

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 0

p.24

Recruitment of teachers

Number of vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of a term or more (FTE) 0.5

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Recruitment of teachers

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

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Recruitment of teachers

FTE means full-time equivalent. Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School- 25 Results of the survey of parents and carers

p.24

Questionnaire return rate

Percentage of responses in each category

p.25

Questionnaire return rate

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

p.25

Questionnaire return rate

My child is making good progress in school. 65 35 0 0 0

p.25

Questionnaire return rate

Behaviour in the school is good. 65 35 0 0 0

p.25

Questionnaire return rate

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 47 47 6 0 0

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Questionnaire return rate

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 55 32 10 3 0

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Questionnaire return rate

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 87 13 0 0 0

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Questionnaire return rate

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 73 26 0 0 1

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Questionnaire return rate

The school works closely with parents. 53 36 7 2 2

p.25

Questionnaire return rate

The school is well led and managed. 77 23 0 0 0

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Questionnaire return rate

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 77 18 0 0 5

p.25

Questionnaire return rate

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 17 35 27 2 19

p.25