St Mary's RC Voluntary Aided Primary School

St Mary's Catholic Primary School

Dates of inspection: 6 th to 9 th June 2005

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St Mary's Catholic Primary School

Inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 2 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 Mary'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 Mary's Catholic Primary School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Type of school: Primary School category: Voluntary Aided Age range of pupils: 4 - 11 Gender of pupils: Mixed Number on roll: 237

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Lockington Road Battersea London Postcode: SW8 4BE

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Telephone number: 020 76225460 Fax number: 020 76224922

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The Governing Body Name of chair of governors: Mrs Julia Brotherhood

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: 14 th June 1999

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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCHOOL

This average sized voluntary aided Catholic primary school serves pupils between the ages of 4 and 11 from the local area, which experiences a high degree of social disadvantage. A well above average proportion of pupils joins or leaves during the school year. Pupils come from a very wide range of ethnic backgrounds, with over nine-tenths of the pupils coming from backgrounds other than White British. Of the 237 pupils on roll, 72 percent have English as an additional language and 45 are supported through external funding. This is a very high proportion with 22 different languages spoken. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs is about average and the proportion with a statement is low. Special educational needs include specific and moderate learning difficulties, behavioural problems, speech or communication, physical disabilities and autism. Attainment on entry to reception is well below average. The school is situated in an area which is part of an

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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SCHOOL

EiCEAZ (Excellence in Cities Education Action Zone). The school has experienced significant disruption to staffing recently with the absence of the deputy head for most of the year as well as two other members of staff due to illness. There has been a high level of staff change this year and, at the time of the inspection, four supply teachers were working in school. St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 4

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Members of the inspection team Subject responsibilities

20086 David Speakman Lead inspector Science Information and communication technology (ICT) Physical education (PE) English as an additional language 14214 Gillian Smith Lay inspector 19994 Lys Bradley Team inspector English Art and design History Personal, social and health education and citizenship Special educational needs 12997 Chris Cheong Team inspector Foundation Stage Mathematics Design and technology Geography Music

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Members of the inspection team Subject responsibilities

Altecq Inspections Limited 102 Bath Road Cheltenham GL53 7JX

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Members of the inspection team Subject responsibilities

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be made initially to the contractor. The procedures are set out in the leaflet ‘Complaining about Ofsted Inspections’ , which is available from Ofsted Publications Centre (telephone 07002 637833) or Ofsted’s website (www.ofsted.gov.uk). St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 5

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED BY PUPILS 8

Standards achieved in areas of learning, subjects and courses Pupils’ attitudes, values and other personal qualities

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QUALITY OF EDUCATION PROVIDED BY THE SCHOOL 10

Teaching and learning The curriculum Care, guidance and support Partnership with parents, other schools and the community

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OVERALL EVALUATION

The school has many satisfactory features, but has serious weaknesses in its leadership and management and in its curriculum. The school’s effectiveness is satisfactory and pupils at all stages of the school achieve satisfactorily. The quality of education provided, including the quality of teaching and learning, is satisfactory , but the breadth and balance of learning opportunities are unsatisfactory and fail to meet the learning needs of some pupils, especially those in mixed-age classes. Leadership, management and governance are poor and, due to serious staffing difficulties this year, there are some outstanding leadership and management issues that have not been addressed. The school gives unsatisfactory value for money

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The school’s main strengths and weaknesses are:

• Leadership, management and governance are poor and have failed to move the school forward at an acceptable rate. • Although achievement is satisfactory overall, standards in English, mathematics and science are well below average. Achievement in ICT and music are good. • Good provision for pupils’ personal development, teachers’ good relationships with pupils and good behaviour management all ensure pupils have good attitudes to school and behave well. • The use of core skills in literacy, numeracy and ICT are weak overall. • The curriculum fails to ensure that pupils at all stages have equality of access to the learning opportunities provided by the school. • Specialist support for pupils with English as an additional language is effective in giving these pupils sufficient English to enable them to access the curriculum quickly. • The marking of pupils’ work does not let them know how to improve. • Attendance has fallen this year to below average and is not monitored well enough.

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The school’s main strengths and weaknesses are:

The level of improvement since the previous inspection has been poor. The school was last inspected in 1999 and standards in English, mathematics and science have fallen since then, but there has been an improvement in ICT standards. The curriculum is now unsatisfactory. Leadership and management are not as good. The school has not successfully tackled many of the key issues identified then; the use of assessment information has not ensured better standards, the curriculum still lacks balance and there is still too little delegation of responsibility to enable senior staff to monitor and evaluate pupils’ progress effectively. Some minor issues related to learning methods and standards in some non-core subjects are still outstanding.

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED

all schools similar schools Results in National Curriculum tests at the end of Year 6, compared with: 2002 2003 2004 2004

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED

English D E E B Mathematics D E E C Science E E E C Key: A - well above average; B - above average; C - average; D - below average; E - well below average. Similar schools are those whose pupils attained similarly at the end of Year 2

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED

Achievement is satisfactory in the Foundation Stage and in Years 1 to 6. Pupils start reception with well below average levels of attainment and they do not meet the goals St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 7 children are expected to reach by the end of reception in any areas of learning. Standards in all areas of learning are well below average by the end of reception. In Years 1 to 6, pupils achieve satisfactorily and attainment by the end of Year 2 and Year 6 remains well below average overall. Standards are well below average in English, mathematics and science. Standards in information and communication technology, art and design and physical education are in line with those expected nationally for pupils of this age and in composing and performing music are above. Pupils’ application of the core skills of literacy, numeracy and ICT is unsatisfactory in other subjects. Pupils’ personal development is

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STANDARDS ACHIEVED

good . Their behaviour and attitudes to learning are good. Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Attendance is unsatisfactory and punctuality is satisfactory.

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QUALITY OF EDUCATION

The quality of education provided by the school is satisfactory overall . Teaching and learning are satisfactory . Teachers encourage pupils to work hard and, as a result, pupils apply themselves well and are productive. Teachers have good expectations of pupils’ behaviour, make these expectations clear and, consequently, pupils behave well and have positive attitudes to learning. The marking of pupils’ work does not sufficiently inform them of how they can improve. Relationships between teachers and pupils are good. The breadth and balance of learning opportunities are unsatisfactory. Resources and accommodation are satisfactory. All staff show real care and concern for the pupils in their classes, but procedures to ensure pupils’ care, welfare, health and safety are unsatisfactory overall. There is a satisfactory partnership between the school and its pupils’ parents.

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LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

The leadership and management of the school are poor overall. The leadership of the headteacher is poor and that of other key staff is unsatisfactory. The school has experienced a very difficult time with staff absence which has led to important aspects of leadership and management having been neglected. Governance is poor. Although supportive, governors have a very limited understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses, do not provide sufficient challenge and many statutory requirements are not met. Management systems are poor and have failed to get to grips with school improvement. Procedures for performance management are not fully in place. Because the governing body does not effectively monitor school improvement, the approach to financial management is unsatisfactory

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PARENTS’ AND PUPILS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

Parents have satisfactory views about the school. They expressed some unjustified concern about pupils’ behaviour, but the inspection team agrees with them that learning opportunities are limited. Pupils are generally satisfied with the school, but would appreciate having a greater say in how it could be improved.

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The most important things the school should do to improve are:

• As a matter of urgency, strengthen leadership at all levels and improve management procedures to monitor and evaluate effectively the quality of provision, standards and achievement. • Raise standards in English, mathematics and science and in other subjects where they are below average. • Establish a curriculum overview and ensure enough teaching time and attention are given to all subjects in every class, particularly for pupils of the same age in different classes. St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 8 • Restore levels of attendance to their previously very good levels and strengthen procedures to monitor attendance. • Improve the quality of marking so that pupils have a better understanding of how to improve the quality of their work.

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The most important things the school should do to improve are:

and to meet statutory requirements: • Make sure that all statutory requirements with regard to health and safety, particularly those relating to child protection, are fully met. • Fully implement performance management procedures for all teachers. • Ensure that the governors’ annual report to parents and the school prospectus contain all the required items. St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 9

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Standards achieved in areas of learning and subjects

Standards are well below average at the end of Years 2 and 6. Achievement is satisfactory at all stages of the school.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Results in the National Curriculum tests and standards in core subjects are not as good as at the time of the previous inspection and remain low at both Years 2 and 6. • Year 2 pupils in the mixed-age class do not achieve as well as those in the single-age class. • Pupils who are at the early stages of learning English as an additional language achieve well in learning sufficient English to access the curriculum. • Pupils’ application of the core skills in literacy, numeracy and ICT in other subjects is weak overall.

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Commentary

1. Starting from a well below average baseline, children in reception make satisfactory progress overall, but achievement is unsatisfactory in communication, language and literacy and physical development. Standards still remain well below those expected nationally in the early learning goals 1 in all areas of learning. Children’s achievement is satisfactory overall.

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Key Stage 1

Standards in national tests at the end of Year 2 – average point scores in 2004 Standards in: School results National results reading 10.9 (11.8) 15.8 (15.7) writing 9.6 (11.1) 14.6 (14.6) mathematics 13.4 (14.9) 16.2 (16.3) There were 41pupils in the year group. Figures in brackets are for the previous year.

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Key Stage 1

2. Results in national tests at the end of Year 2 in reading and writing, and teacher assessments in science, have generally remained very low (in the bottom 5 per cent of all schools nationally) for the last four years. This is partly because of the high proportion of pupils with English as an additional language who are at an early stage of learning English. In mathematics, results have been variable and, with the exception of 2002 when they were average, results have generally been well below average and were very low last year. The trend in results has not been as good as the national trend of improvement since 2000 and the gap between national and this school’s results is now greater. All of these results are consistent with inspection findings, which indicate that attainment by the end of Year 2 is well below average in English, mathematics and science and pupils achieve satisfactorily overall. Low

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Key Stage 1

1 These are expectations for most children to reach by the end of the Foundation Stage. They refer mainly to achievements children make in connection with communication, language and literacy; mathematical development; personal, social and emotional development; knowledge and understanding of the world; physical and creative development. St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 10 standards are also affected by the difference in the achievement of two groups of pupils in Year 2 - those pupils in the Year 2 class and those who are taught with Year 1 pupils in a mixed-age class. Samples of work show that the achievement of pupils in the mixed-age class is lower than those in the Year 2 class in both English and mathematics and, in spite of the additional support they receive from external providers, they do not reach the same standards.

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Key Stage 2

Standards in national tests at the end of Year 6 – average point scores in 2004 Standards in: School results National results English 25.5 (25.1) 26.9 (26.8) mathematics 25.3 (23.6) 27.0 (26.8) science 27.2 (26.5) 28.6 (28.6) There were 37 pupils in the year group. Figures in brackets are for the previous year.

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Key Stage 2

3. Test results at the end of Year 6 are not as good as they were at the time of the previous inspection and the school has not kept pace with the national trend overall. They have fallen since 2001 and the most recent test results indicate well below average standards in English, mathematics and science. Teachers’ predictions for the outcomes of tests this year indicate low standards yet again this year, with well below average standards in English, mathematics and science. Inspection evidence supports this view. Pupils achieve satisfactorily in Years 3 to 6 but, by the end of Year 6, standards remain well below average overall.

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Key Stage 2

4. Pupils with special educational needs have made good progress until recently when well-targeted individual and group work with the special educational needs co- ordinator ceased. Since then, although pupils have received satisfactory support overall in class, they no longer have access to well-planned individual and group lessons that took very good account of their individual learning targets. Their achievement has been satisfactory overall.

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Key Stage 2

5. The high proportion of pupils with English as an additional language achieve satisfactorily, except for those at the early stages of learning English, when they receive direct support of two teachers with specific responsibility for developing English language skills. At these times, they achieve well and soon have sufficient English to access the curriculum and make equivalent progress to other pupils.

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Key Stage 2

6. Pupils achieve well in ICT, where standards are as expected for pupils of their ages by the end of both Years 2 and 6. Standards in art and design and physical education are in line with those expected in both Years 2 and 6 and pupils’ achievement is satisfactory in these subjects. Pupils achieve well in music in Years 3 to 6 and standards by the end of Year 6 are above those expected in composing and performing with percussion instruments. Pupils’ application of the core skills of literacy, numeracy and ICT are poor in other subjects, where there is little opportunity to develop and improve them further.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and other personal qualities

Pupils’ attitudes to learning are good and they behave well . Pupils’ personal development, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, is good overall. Pupils’ punctuality is satisfactory, but attendance is unsatisfactory. St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 11

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Good provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral and cultural development encourages pupils’ responsible behaviour and warm and supportive relationships. • The number of fixed-period exclusions has increased this school year. • Falling attendance rates have not been monitored closely enough. • There are too few opportunities for pupils to take on responsibility.

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Commentary

7. The previous inspection found that pupils’ behaviour and attitudes were good and this positive picture has been maintained over the intervening six years. Teachers expect a high standard of behaviour and most of the pupils respond by being polite and sensible. Pupils of all ages, abilities and ethnic origins enjoy coming to school and their consideration for each other makes a significant contribution to the school’s calm and friendly atmosphere. Play and lunch times are very well supervised and pupils say that there are very few incidents of racist or bullying behaviour. Pupils work hard during lessons and this helps them to make steady progress in their learning. They collaborate and support each other well, readily translating if someone who is at an early stage of learning English does not understand what their teacher is saying. Some pupils, however, face very difficult personal circumstances and their behaviour

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Commentary

can become quite challenging and sometimes unpredictable. Good teamwork amongst the adults in school and close links with external agencies help to ensure that these pupils receive the support and care they need, thus improving their behaviour. There were no exclusions during the school year preceding the inspection, but there have been six fixed-period exclusions during the current year, all for justifiable reasons. Pupils are keen to make the most of the opportunities provided and extra- curricular sporting clubs are popular. Children in the reception class are equally enthusiastic about school. They quickly become accustomed to the daily routine, enjoy learning and interact well with each other and with adults.

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Commentary

8. Pupils with special educational needs are integrated well into activities both inside the classroom and at play. The school provides good support for pupils who find it difficult to control their emotions and behaviour, and instances of inappropriate behaviour are contained effectively.

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Commentary

9. This school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral and cultural development well. Assemblies help pupils to deepen their Catholic faith and provide opportunities to reflect upon issues such as the importance of goodness and how kind words improve our daily lives. Pupils respond well to the school’s moral code and are very aware of the difference between right and wrong. They are keen to accept responsibilities and enjoy using their initiative. There are, however, relatively few opportunities for them to do so and they regret the loss of the school council, positions such as head boy and girl and class prefects in Years 4, 5 and 6. Through the school’s regular support of national and international charities and through their response to global emergency appeals, pupils learn to consider and support others less fortunate than themselves and have an insight into citizenship. Pupils’ cultural development is good and teachers

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Commentary

actively celebrate the many languages and cultures within the school. During religious education lessons, pupils learn about other faiths and visit places of worship such as a Buddhist temple. In subjects such as art and design and history they also learn about aspects of other cultures such as Maori paintings and major civilisations such as the ancient Greeks. St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 12 10. Over the three school years preceding the inspection, attendance improved steadily and was consistently above the national average. Information provided during the inspection, however, shows that, although the marked deterioration in the attendance of Year 1 pupils during the current school year can be largely accounted for, overall rates of attendance are now below the national average. The school has not responded adequately to recognise and halt this fall.

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Commentary

Attendance in the latest complete reporting year (%)

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Commentary

Authorised absence Unauthorised absence School data: 3.7 School data: 0.5 National data: 5.1 National data: 0.4 The table gives the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year.

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QUALITY OF EDUCATION PROVIDED BY THE SCHOOL

The quality of education provided is satisfactory . The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory, as is the assessment of pupils’ achievement. The curriculum is unsatisfactory throughout the school and does not provide sufficient breadth, balance or equality of opportunity for pupils. There are weaknesses in the care, welfare, health and safety of pupils, which are unsatisfactory overall. The school’s links with parents are satisfactory.

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Teaching and learning

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory at all stages of the school. Assessment procedures are satisfactory.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Teachers manage pupils’ behaviour well, which helps create a good atmosphere for learning. • There are good levels of encouragement for pupils to do well. • There are weaknesses in the teaching of communication, language and literacy and physical development in the Foundation Stage. • There is insufficient challenge for Year 2 pupils in the mixed-age class. • The marking of pupils’ work does not inform them how they might improve. • Pupils who are at the early stages of learning English are supported well in class.

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Commentary

11. Judgements are based not only on the observation of lessons, but also on the scrutiny of pupils’ work throughout the year and examination of teachers’ planning and marking. Whilst pupils were seen to be achieving well in a good proportion of lessons during the inspection, other evidence makes it clear that teaching and learning are no better than satisfactory overall because of the variations in the quality of teaching and learning between classes, and the and the high level of staff change in some classes this year

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Commentary

12. The quality of teaching and learning is good in ICT, and in music in Years 3 to 6. It is satisfactory in all other subjects where there was enough evidence on which to base reliable judgements. St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 13 13. In the best lessons, such as some seen in Year 6, teachers have very high expectations of pupils’ performance and deliver the lessons with a very lively and engaging approach. Complex ideas are explained fully and, as a result, pupils’ learning is very good and supports very good achievement. Assessment information provides teachers with a good idea of the pupils’ individual learning needs, which are met well. In less effective lessons, some of which were still judged to be satisfactory, planning is ineffective in meeting the learning needs of all pupils. In a poor lesson, planning indicated a limited understanding of how the literacy strategy, for example, can be used to meet the very

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Commentary

diverse learning needs of all pupils. The marking of pupils’ work is mainly supportive, but rarely indicates where they might improve and makes no reference to their targets. In the classes with children of reception age, limited resources and inadequate planning at times in physical development and weaknesses in subject knowledge of literacy constrain the effectiveness of teaching and learning in these two areas of learning.

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Commentary

Summary of teaching observed during the inspection in 43 lessons

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Commentary

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very poor 1 (2 %) 1 (2 %) 25 (58 %) 14 (33 %) 1 (2 %) 1 (2 %) 0 (0 %) The table gives the number of lessons observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about lessons; figures in brackets show percentages where 30 or more lessons are seen.

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Commentary

14. Teachers generally manage pupils’ behaviour well and this helps to create a good atmosphere in which pupils feel confident enough to learn. Relationships between teachers and pupils are good and enable some teachers to be adventurous in their teaching methods, such as in the ICT lesson in which pupils had to make a lot of noise so that they could see how it was monitored by the sensor. No pupils took advantage of the situation and the lesson was both an enjoyable and productive learning experience. This is linked with the teachers’ encouragement for pupils to do well. During question sessions, pupils’ answers are valued, even if their answers are not always correct.

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Commentary

15. Pupils in Year 2 are taught in either a single-age class or in a mixed-age class with Year 1 pupils. There is a difference in the provision for these two groups and work samples show that pupils in the single-age class do better because much more is expected of them.

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Commentary

16. Both the quality and amount of support for pupils with special educational needs have declined in the last term, but are satisfactory overall. Detailed planning, assessment and evaluation records indicate that pupils received very good support on a one-to- one basis and in small groups from the special educational needs co-ordinator until she left the school at Easter. Since then, pupils have been supported exclusively within class lessons. The quality of planning and support is dependent on the knowledge and expertise of teaching and support staff and is very variable. Teaching is satisfactory overall, but teachers pay little or no attention to the targets in pupils’ individual education plans. The situation at the time of the inspection was not of the school’s making, but is unsatisfactory in all but the very short term. Those pupils at the early stages of learning English receive good support from specialist staff and achieve

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Commentary

well in gaining confidence in using English as a means of communication. As a result, they are soon able to access the full curriculum. St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 14

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The curriculum

The curriculum provided by the school is unsatisfactory at every phase. Enrichment of the curriculum is satisfactory. Accommodation and resources are satisfactory.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• The quality of learning opportunities depends to an unacceptable degree on which class pupils are in. • There is a lack of balance between subjects in many classes and the time that teachers give to subjects varies greatly across the school. • The curriculum lacks imagination and sparkle and little curriculum innovation is taking place. • Participation in sporting activities is good, as is the range of visits and residential experiences, but the number of school clubs is limited. • Accommodation for outdoor play for reception children is limited, as it was at the time of the last inspection • Computing resources are unsatisfactory.

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Commentary

17. The school has not established a curriculum overview or monitored the quality of the curriculum recently and this has resulted in an unacceptable variation in the amount of time allocated to different subjects across the school and an imbalance between subjects in some classes. This was a key issue at the time of the previous inspection, which the school has done far too little to remedy.

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Commentary

18. The curriculum for children in their reception year is unsatisfactory. The class with only reception-aged children receives a better balance between adult-directed and child- initiated tasks than the other. In this other class, where reception children are taught alongside pupils in Year 1, some parts of the curriculum, such as knowledge and understanding of the world, are inappropriate for children of this age. This class also has less opportunity for outdoor learning than the other. Some lessons in both classes are too long and too little use is made of visits and visitors. Accommodation for outdoor play is limited and adversely affects the children’s physical development. Many of these issues were identified at the time of the previous inspection.

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Commentary

19. The curriculum for pupils in Year 1 to 6 is also unsatisfactory. The school meets the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum. The provision for personal and social education is good and for health education it is satisfactory. In classes with pupils from the same age groups, variation in the curriculum time and content is leading to lack of equality of opportunity and access. In junior classes, time given to some subjects by some teachers is insufficient, for example in geography, history and design and technology. Consequently, pupils are not learning or recording enough. Some lessons for infants are too long, particularly English as well as some physical education and mathematics lessons: this leaves too little time for other subjects. Teachers do not plan regularly enough for pupils to use their literacy, numeracy and ICT skills in other subjects. Very little innovation of the curriculum is taking place. The

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Commentary

curriculum content is sometimes unsuitable for the very large numbers of pupils learning English as an additional language, especially when direct support is not available. In spite of the school’s assertions that there is an emphasis on practical activities, too little time is given to practical subjects such as art and design and design and technology, subjects which are particularly beneficial for pupils who are at an St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 15 early stage of learning English. There is little group work or problem solving other than in science.

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Commentary

20. Provision for pupils with special educational needs is satisfactory overall. Until the special educational needs co-ordinator left at Easter, the provision was good overall, but is currently unsatisfactory. Curriculum arrangements enabled pupils to make good progress towards the specific and pertinent targets in their individual education plans. Support in lessons, while broadly satisfactory, is of a lesser quality. This is because many support staff have not received sufficient training and few teachers involve them well enough in planning and assessing pupils’ work. The present quality of support falls far short of what was previously offered as staffing issues have made it difficult for the school to make a short-term appointment.

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Commentary

21. The previous inspection commented on the lack of a secure, outdoor area for children in the reception classes. No such area has since been provided and this is hampering the range of learning activities these children can undertake and lowering achievement in children’s physical development and their personal, social and emotional development. The environment is enhanced well by the attractive display of pupils’ work. Although the existing resources are used well, ICT resources are not sufficiently up to date and this limits their use in other subjects

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Commentary

22. Participation in the Battersea Education Action Zone (EAZ) is enabling the school to provide an enhanced range of trips and visits. For example, pupils in Years 4 and 5 undertake residential trips to outdoor activity centres and pupils have been able to visit nearby sites of interest such as The Globe Theatre and local museums, which promotes their cultural development well and adds interest to learning. Other links with the community include support for pupils’ reading from a people working in local businesses, involvement with the development of Battersea Power Station and with Youth Enterprise to support the creative curriculum. The range of extra-curricular clubs, however, is limited. Although pupils are able to take part in football and athletics, the extent to which pupils are able to participate in activities related to the arts is unsatisfactory.

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Care, guidance and support

Arrangements to ensure pupils’ care, welfare and health and safety are unsatisfactory . The school provides satisfactory support, advice and guidance to pupils. The extent to which it involves pupils in its work and development is unsatisfactory .

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Health and safety procedures are poor and those for child protection are unsatisfactory . • Induction procedures to reception are satisfactory. However, pupils who have English as an additional language are well looked after. • Pupils have high levels of trust in the adults who work in the school and say they would be able to confide in them, should any difficulties arise. • There are few opportunities for pupils to make their views known.

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Commentary

23. The previous inspection found an above average standard of care, but this positive picture has not been maintained over the intervening six years. Wandsworth Borough St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 16 Council has undertaken a number of health and safety audits, but the school’s response to the recommendations has been inadequate. There are now shortcomings in several important areas of health and safety, including risk assessment, fire drills and the routine testing of electrical equipment. There are also numerous shortcomings relating to child protection procedures.

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Commentary

24. Routine medical procedures are in place and adults are aware of the needs of pupils who have specific medical conditions. The proportion of pupils joining the school during the year is high and sensitive induction procedures meet the needs of each individual well. Pupils for whom English is an additional language share this positive view and say that they feel very well supported. They receive a warm welcome when they join the school and appreciate being introduced to, and helped by, other pupils who share their first language.

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Commentary

25. The care and concern that individual members of staff show towards the pupils is good. During discussions, pupils say that they feel well looked after at school. They like their teachers and regard them as friendly and very approachable. Pupils say their teachers explain work clearly and provide useful support that helps them to improve. Procedures for assessing and monitoring pupils’ academic achievements are satisfactory and contribute to the steady progress pupils make in their learning.

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Commentary

26. Pupils, however, are dissatisfied with the arrangements whereby they can voice their opinions about school life and make suggestions for the future. The school council was abandoned two years ago and pupils do not understand why. They do not feel that the school is interested in their views and therefore see little point in putting them forward.

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Commentary

27. The school has good links with a wide range of agencies to support pupils with special educational needs. Parents are actively encouraged to contribute to reviews, although not all choose to do so.

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Partnership with parents, other schools and the community

Links with parents, the community and other schools are all satisfactory .

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Parents receive insufficient information about the school and the curriculum. • Links with other schools and the community are strengthening. • Pupils’ annual reports contain insufficient information about their progress and their targets for improvement. • Some parents do not ensure that their children have good attendance.

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Commentary

28. The previous inspection found that the school had satisfactory links with parents and the community and this continues to be the case.

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Commentary

29. Parents who attended the pre-inspection meeting expressed concerns about the level of information provided about the school and the work their children undertake. Inspectors agree that parents receive little information about the curriculum and significant sections are missing from the governors’ annual report to parents and the school prospectus. Parents also receive no information about the finances of the St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 17 school, levels of attendance or the results of national tests undertaken at the end of Years 2 and 6. Several parents said they would like to help their children with their work but receive no guidance about how to do so.

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Commentary

30. There are two consultation meetings during the school year and the overwhelming majority of parents manage to attend. Good use is made of these opportunities to discuss pupils’ progress, but parents are not involved in the setting of their children’s targets for improvement. In addition, pupils’ annual reports do not include these targets and pupils and their parents cannot record a written comment on the progress made over the last year.

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Commentary

31. The school does all it can to provide parents whose children have special educational needs with access to a wide range of specialists. Unfortunately, some parents fail to keep these appointments and this limits the work that the school can do to support their child’s learning.

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Commentary

32. The school’s membership of the Battersea Education Action Zone (EAZ) is enabling it to develop links with other schools and increase pupils’ involvement in community activities. For example, pupils in Year 5 undertake residential trips to outdoor activity centres and Year 6 have visited The Globe Theatre and witnessed the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Members of staff from the EAZ schools and the Battersea cluster meet regularly to discuss on-going initiatives and developments. Good links with the nearby Elsley Centre help to support pupils with emotional and behavioural and learning difficulties and those at risk of exclusion.

p.17

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

The quality of leadership and management is poor overall. The leadership of the headteacher is poor and the leadership of key staff is unsatisfactory overall. Both management and governance are poor .

p.17

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Although the headteacher has given high priority to providing a place where pupils want to learn, she has failed to tackle falling standards and attendance and leadership of the curriculum are poor. • The governing body is poorly organised, fails to meet many statutory requirements and has been slow to challenge senior managers. • Management systems have deteriorated and provide neither structure nor support for teaching staff to carry out their responsibilities. • Strategic planning is weak and financial decisions are not linked clearly to the school improvement plan. • Monitoring and evaluation of the curriculum, teaching and learning are poor throughout the school. • Communication between the headteacher and the governing body is unsatisfactory.

p.17

Commentary

33. The quality of leadership and management has deteriorated significantly since the previous inspection and the school’s rate of improvement has been poor. Standards have declined at both key stages and too many of the key issues identified at the time of the previous inspection have not been tackled, most tellingly those related to the St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 18 leadership of the curriculum and the delegation of responsibilities to senior and middle managers.

p.17

Commentary

34. The headteacher works hard with her staff to create a happy learning environment for pupils, a significant number of whom come from troubled backgrounds. She has been largely successful in promoting good attitudes and behaviour and in nurturing pupils’ personal development. However, even in this area there have been important oversights with regard to pupils’ health and safety because of the inadequacies of monitoring procedures. This is in large part because the headteacher has shouldered far too heavy a burden in the last year as a result of very high levels of staff absence through ill health. The deputy head has been absent for almost the entire year, two other staff have also been on long-term absence and the school has been without a special educational needs co-ordinator since Easter.

p.18

Commentary

35. Leadership of the curriculum is poor. No-one has responsibility for maintaining a curriculum overview and there is no whole school curriculum plan, a weakness identified at the time of the previous inspection. This results in inequality of opportunity, particularly for pupils of the same age in different classes, both in terms of content and coverage. Most subject co-ordinators do not provide satisfactory leadership. They do not have a clear enough picture of standards and are not sufficiently aware of inconsistencies in teaching and planning. This leads to an inability to identify and share good practice within the school. Subject co-ordinators have also had to contend with a very high turnover of staff in four out of nine classes during the year, including the reception class. This has limited their ability to establish a common approach. Until Easter, when the co-ordinator left, the leadership and management of

p.18

Commentary

special educational needs was at least satisfactory with very effective organisation of documentation and detailed records of pupils’ progress. Currently, both leadership and management of this vital area of the school’s work are unsatisfactory. Although the headteacher has taken on a watching brief, the school has not deployed staff to provide the quality and level of support that pupils previously enjoyed.

p.18

Commentary

36. Until very recently, governors, although supportive of the school, have played an insignificant part in school improvement and have not fulfilled their responsibilities well enough. The governing body has failed to ensure that statutory requirements are met in relation to performance management, health and safety, and the information given to parents. The governing body has not conformed to its own terms of reference and has been slow to meet the recommendations of the latest audit report. Committee meetings have not been minuted and important school policies have not been ratified. Minutes of meetings of the full governing body do not focus on priorities for improvement relating to standards. Governors visit the school regularly, but have not undertaken formal monitoring visits. The headteacher’s reports contain very little information about standards and make no reference to the school improvement plan

p.18

Commentary

and there is no evidence that the governors have asked probing questions. There have been significant changes in the membership of the governing body during the year and governors are at last grasping the nettle. They have taken positive action to resolve a very difficult senior staffing situation and to lay firm foundations for more effective governance when an acting headteacher takes up her appointment in September.

p.18

Commentary

37. Management systems are very ineffective. Although arrangements have been made to release staff for planning and preparation, there have been no opportunities for subject co-ordinators to observe teaching and learning this past year. The headteacher has undertaken very little monitoring of teaching and learning, which has St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 19 weakened substantially the school’s ability to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses accurately. External support from literacy and numeracy consultants from the local education authority and advisory teachers from the Education Action Zone has provided valuable support, advice and guidance to teachers and subject co-ordinators, although a few are confused by so much advice. Staff are not supported adequately in their professional development. Performance management and induction procedures are both unsatisfactory and, on the headteacher’s own admission, are less effective

p.18

Commentary

38. The latest school improvement plan is insubstantial, poorly structured and not costed in full. Success criteria are aspirational rather than measurable and the plan does not identify monitoring arrangements or professional development requirements. Governing body minutes do not provide a clear audit trail to link spending decisions with the school’s priorities for development. The day-to-day management of finances is satisfactory. However, strategic financial management is unsatisfactory. The governing body does not have good quality information on which to base its spending decisions and does not take sufficient account of best value principles. The carry forward is very high at over 14 per cent, but the school has a major building maintenance to finance over the next three years.

p.19

Financial information

Financial information for the year April 2004 to March 2005

p.19

Financial information

Income and expenditure (£) Balances (£) Total income 997,612 Balance from previous year 106,139 Total expenditure 962,881 Balance carried forward to the next 140,870 Expenditure per pupil 4,434 St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 20

p.19

AREAS OF LEARNING IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

The overall provision for children in the Foundation Stage is unsatisfactory .

p.20

AREAS OF LEARNING IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

39. Children start school with levels of attainment well below those expected nationally. Children’s achievement is satisfactory overall, but they do not attain the expected goals in any area of learning by the time they leave the reception class, with overall standards remaining well below those nationally expected. Children with special educational needs and pupils with English as an additional language achieve at a rate similar to the rest of their age group. Although the school does not have its own nursery, most children have experience of a pre- school setting prior to joining the reception class. The induction process is satisfactory, with children starting in September. Children are taught either in a single-age reception class or in a class with Year 1 pupils. There are weaknesses in the curriculum provision, particularly for the children who spend their time in the mixed-aged class, and the curriculum is unsatisfactory

p.20

AREAS OF LEARNING IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

overall. There are also weaknesses in the provision for outdoor play, as there were at the time of the previous inspection.

p.20

AREAS OF LEARNING IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

40. The quality of the teaching and learning is satisfactory overall. Both current teachers for this age group are recent temporary appointments and there have been several staff changes, particularly in the pure reception class this year. Leadership and management are unsatisfactory. Lack of guidance has resulted in unequal provision for children in the two classes with the result that some learning opportunities, teaching methods and expectations are unsuitable for reception children in the mixed- aged class. The adult teams of teachers and teaching assistants working in the reception classes have good relationships with the children in their care and provide a happy environment for them in their first year of schooling. There has been an unsatisfactory level of improvement since the previous inspection.

p.20

AREAS OF LEARNING IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

p.20

AREAS OF LEARNING IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

Provision in personal, social and emotional development is satisfactory .

p.20

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Staff have established good relationships between children and adults and, as a result, the Foundation Stage is a happy place. • Some children have a greater experience of learning through play than others and this affects the development of relationships with other children. • Not enough is done to encourage co-operative play.

p.20

Commentary

41. By the end of reception, standards in personal, social and emotional development remain well below the national expectation. Staff teach this aspect of children’s education satisfactorily and this results in children’s learning and achievement from their well-below-average starting point being satisfactory. Late in their reception year, most children are able to choose an activity for themselves and persist with their game for a reasonable amount of time, although their play often takes little account of the children around them. Then play becomes over-repetitive and unproductive and teachers do not have sufficient strategies or outdoor facilities to encourage better co- operation and extension. More could be done to improve this by the provision of St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 21 suitable equipment or by more adult intervention. There is unequal provision between the two classes. As with other areas of the curriculum, children in the mixed-age class

p.20

Commentary

have less opportunity for child-initiated play.

p.21

Commentary

42. Staff teach ‘right from wrong’ well. As a result, children are aware of the boundaries set in the different situations throughout the school day and most behave appropriately. A few children have poorly developed social skills and find it very hard to conform to the high expectations and boundaries set by staff. The adults have good, consistent practices and strategies to improve this. Staff establish good relationships with the children and, as a result, children feel happy and settled. They seek help when they require it and leave their main carer with confidence.

p.21

COMMUNICATION, LANGUAGE AND LITERACY

Provision in communication, language and literacy is unsatisfactory .

p.21

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Although staff work hard to promote enjoyment in reading, until very recently little knowledge of letter sounds was taught in one class. • Good support is provided for children who are at an early stage of learning to speak English as an additional language. • The teaching of writing lacks rigour. • Some inappropriate methods are used to promote speaking and listening.

p.21

Commentary

43. The teaching of communication, language and literacy is unsatisfactory. The well- below-expected starting point for many children means that their ability to learn at this early stage of their education is limited. Staff take good account of this in the engaging methods they use, such as the daily modelling of written words and phrases by the teacher. But some of the literacy teaching lacks rigour, sufficient repetition or the best methods to overcome the children’s difficulties. At the end of the reception year, children’s attainment remains well below national expectations and achievement is unsatisfactory overall. The class target for writing for the year is inappropriate; it does not fit in with the expectations of Foundation Stage curriculum.

p.21

Commentary

44. Standards in speaking and listening are poor, with many children struggling for simple words to explain their thoughts. Teachers provide a few good opportunities to extend vocabulary, such as through pairs of children discussing a given topic and reporting back their ideas to the group, but in the mixed-age class much precious time is wasted while children listen to very long ’news’. Here, teaching methods are sometimes dull and unproductive. Children who are at an early stage of learning to speak English as an additional language are supported effectively for part of the week by a specialist teacher whose focus is to improve early communication skills of these children. This is done effectively in small groups, where talking is encouraged and children are developing their English vocabulary well and gaining the confidence to communicate.

p.21

Commentary

45. Standards in reading and writing are well below average and only a very few children will reach the expected goals by the end of the reception year. Teachers provide some good experiences to engender a love of books. They read some suitable, lively texts to the children such as ’The Bear Hunt’. Children are given good encouragement to take books home and good systems are in place to encourage parents to help with St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 22 reading. These strategies motivate children to want to learn to read. However, until very recently, one class received very little teaching of letter sounds; as a consequence, the majority of the class are unable to attempt to write words for themselves and their reading level is low for their age. Late in the year, only the small number of more-able children in either class is beginning to break the flow of speech into written words and very few letters are correctly formed.

p.21

MATHEMATICAL DEVELOPMENT

Provision in mathematical development is satisfactory.

p.22

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Children are encouraged to use their developing understanding through well-planned play activities. • At other times, teaching methods fail to engage children’s interest and attention.

p.22

Commentary

46. Teaching and learning are satisfactory and children achieve satisfactorily. By the end of the reception year most children attain standards that are still well below average. Good quality play experiences enable children to practise skills and develop some mathematical concepts and language, such as when filling watering cans ’full’. As a result, children are beginning to show an interest in counting and relatively more-able children can recognise and record a few numbers. Some teaching, however, is mundane and misses strategies to enliven and extend learning.

p.22

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD

Provision in knowledge and understanding of the world is satisfactory.

p.22

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Some good learning activities are provided, but opportunities are missed to extend children’s knowledge and understanding of the world around them. • At times, the content of lessons and teachers’ expectations in the mixed-age class are unsuitable for children of this age and stage of development. • Information and communication technology is not used routinely.

p.22

Commentary

47. Although some suitable, and a few good, activities are provided, children achieve satisfactorily overall and standards in this areas of learning remain well below those expected by the end of reception. Teaching and learning are broadly satisfactory overall. Most children work at levels much lower than those generally found, showing very limited experience or understanding of the world around them. Some teaching is good, and good play activities, together with discussion and constant reinforcement, help children to learn well. An example of this is when children were learning about plants needing water. However, many other opportunities are missed, such as recording changes over time in the garden area or examining closely and handling objects to develop early scientific skills in using all their senses to gain understanding. In the mixed-age class, not enough account is taken of the early learning goals in this

p.22

Commentary

St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 23 area of learning and planning relies too heavily on methods and objectives more suited to the older children in the class. No use of information and communication technology was observed taking place during the inspection, indicating that children’s experiences of the value of computers and other hardware in learning is limited.

p.23

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

Provision in physical development is unsatisfactory.

p.23

Main strengths and weaknesses

• The lack of a freely available, secure outdoor play space is adversely affecting the development of children’s skills in large movement. • Too little is being done to enable children to attain the level expected for their age in the control of small objects. • Some outdoor play lacks focus and co-operation is not promoted well enough. • Children in the single-age reception class have more opportunity for outdoor play than those in the other class.

p.23

Commentary

48. Teaching and learning in this area are unsatisfactory. Children develop satisfactory large movements through activities such as running and riding bikes, but standards are well below those normally found because children have insufficient opportunities to use a wide enough range of equipment and climbing apparatus. This means that children’s achievement is unsatisfactory overall. Some outdoor play lacks focus and is really just a way to let off steam and to ride bikes unproductively. When this happens children are not sufficiently encouraged to co-operate or combine physical play with imaginative play. Children in the mixed-age class have much less regular access to this provision and have even less opportunity to develop their physical skills effectively.

p.23

Commentary

49. Children’s development of smaller, fine movements such as pencil control is also limited and is well below average. However, teachers do provide some good activities, such as the painting of letters with water, which develop their fine control skills well. Despite this, by the end of the year very few children have skills in line with expectations. Because of the lack of resources, this area of learning does not receive the priority that it needs and weakness in provision is particularly limiting for children who are at an early stage of learning to speak English as an additional language.

p.23

CREATIVE DEVELOPMENT

Provision in creative development is satisfactory.

p.23

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Teachers sometimes limit children’s creativity and exploration by providing too little choice. • Role play is used to develop creativity well

p.23

Commentary

St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 24 50. Children achieve satisfactorily from their well-below-average starting point and very few are likely to achieve the expected goals by the end of the year. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Children’s learning is sometimes constrained by the limited choice of resources and, as a consequence, all the results in art, for example, look similar. Children are encouraged to use their imagination satisfactorily in the home corner and the post office and to learn to sing simple songs and rhymes, which they enjoy and which gives them a taste for music making. St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 25 SUBJECTS IN KEY STAGES 1 AND 2

p.24

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Year 2 pupils in the mixed-age class do not achieve well enough. • Pupils who join the school speaking little or no English make good progress in language acquisition. • Pupils have very few opportunities to write independently in subjects other than English. • In spite of weaknesses in school management, the subject co-ordinator has made solid progress in identifying and tackling areas of weakness. • Marking does not relate to pupils’ targets or indicate how pupils can improve their work.

p.25

Commentary

51. Since the previous inspection, the rate of improvement has been unsatisfactory. Standards are lower at both key stages and rates of progress have declined. Teaching is no longer satisfactory in Years 1 and 2 and not enough has been done to improve the use of literacy across the curriculum. This has been in large part because of instability of staffing. However, in the past year, the newly appointed co-ordinator, with support from the local education authority, has made good strides in getting to grips with declining standards and has begun to reverse the trend.

p.25

Commentary

52. Test results for Year 2 pupils have been very low in both reading and writing for several years when compared with schools nationally and similar schools, with very few pupils reach the expected level. Standards declined year on year between 2002 and 2004 in both reading and writing, although there is evidence that, while still very low, standards have risen a little this year. Inspection evidence indicates that standards are well below average in speaking and listening, reading and writing. This is partly explained by the large number of pupils who are learning to speak English as an additional language, including a significant minority who join the school with little or no English at all. Achievement is unsatisfactory overall because not enough is expected of the Year 2 pupils who are taught in a mixed-age class with Year 1 pupils. Year 2 pupils in the single-age class achieve satisfactorily overall and make good

p.25

Commentary

progress in their use of spoken language.

p.25

Commentary

53. Test results present a more positive picture at Key Stage 2. For three of the last four years, including 2004, results for Year 6 pupils have been well below average when compared with schools nationally and below average when compared with similar schools. This is in part because of staffing issues and in part because of changing numbers of pupils with special educational needs and those joining the school at a very early stage of speaking English. When compared with schools where pupils reached similar standards at the age of seven, pupils made good progress. Inspection evidence indicates that pupils’ achievement is satisfactory overall. Standards are set to fall again this year, in spite of the very good teaching in Year 6, because of the high percentage of pupils with special educational needs in that class. Across the school, standards in both reading and writing are well below average, with standards in

p.25

Commentary

speaking and listening below average. St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 26 54. At both key stages, pupils who are at an early stage of speaking English make good progress in language acquisition because of effective targeted support which enables them to participate in lessons across the curriculum. The achievement of pupils with special educational needs is satisfactory overall. Up until Easter, they made good progress towards their individual targets because of the high quality support they received from the special educational needs co-ordinator. Since then, the quality of classroom support from teaching assistants has been very variable, although satisfactory overall, and pupils’ progress has slowed. More is now expected of higher- attaining pupils in most classes and they achieve as well as their peers.

p.25

Commentary

55. Teaching and learning are satisfactory overall, although there are significant differences between the two key stages. In Years 1 and 2, teaching and learning are unsatisfactory because teachers in the two mixed-age classes do not plan effectively to meet the needs of pupils of different abilities. In particular, the quality of the curriculum and the level of challenge for pupils in Year 2 vary unacceptably between the two classes with Year 2 pupils. In the Year 1/2 class, pupils are not encouraged to write for a range of purposes and use limited strategies when reading unfamiliar texts. The teacher’s planning is unsatisfactory because work is often pitched at the same level for pupils of all abilities and stages of learning English. Teaching and learning in Years 3 to 6 are satisfactory, although during the inspection the teaching seen was good, with one excellent lesson. In this lesson, because of the teacher’s very good

p.26

Commentary

subject knowledge, imaginative planning and very high expectations, Year 6 pupils were highly motivated by the challenging text of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Achievement was high as they grappled confidently with archaic phrases and vocabulary in writing their own script accompanied by pertinent and subtle asides.

p.26

Commentary

56. The school has identified writing as a key priority and most teachers are effective in enabling pupils to understand different purposes for writing and in guiding them step by step in structuring their compositions. Key vocabulary now features prominently in many lessons, although practice is not consistent, particularly in other subjects. The co-ordinator has rightly identified the need for all teachers to pay greater attention to teaching phonics. Most pupils have a reasonable knowledge of key vocabulary and recognise an increasing range as they move up the school. Very few, however, are able to use their knowledge of letter sounds and blends when meeting new vocabulary and many guess wildly. This lack of awareness also impacts on pupils’ ability to spell new words with any degree of accuracy. Marking remains unsatisfactory. Most teachers rely on ‘smiley’ faces, stars and ticks with comments to praise or occasionally

p.26

Commentary

to censure. Although some teachers indicate why a piece of work is good, they rarely point out how pupils can improve their writing. The school has introduced literacy targets for all pupils in both reading and writing and pupils are aware of these Regrettably, these are not referred to in teachers’ marking.

p.26

Commentary

57. Leadership is satisfactory. The co-ordinator has good subject knowledge and provides a good role model for other staff. Action planning is of good quality and accurately identifies areas for improvement. Management is unsatisfactory. Although some monitoring has taken place in the past, not enough has been done to stem falling standards. Since the co-ordinator was appointed in September, there has been no opportunity to observe teaching and learning because of staffing difficulties. This has meant that inconsistencies in planning and inadequacies in marking have been left unchecked. However, productive work has been undertaken to enable teachers to assess written work accurately. St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 27

p.26

Language and literacy across the curriculum

58. Literacy across the curriculum is unsatisfactory overall. Most teachers provide satisfactory opportunities for pupils to speak and listen in lessons, although few make use of strategies such as talking partners, circle time or role-play. Pupils have access to a range of non-fiction books linked to subjects such as science and history. Pupils in Year 6 made good use of information books about the 1950s to discover similarities and differences in aspects, including fashion, housing and leisure activities. However, teachers rarely identify ways in which pupils can write for different purposes in subjects across the curriculum. Pupils from the youngest to the oldest spend too much time copying text and colouring in pictures and rarely write independently or at length.

p.27

MATHEMATICS

Provision in mathematics is satisfactory.

p.27

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Standards are not high enough at the end of both key stages, particularly in numeracy and problem-solving skills. • The best teaching is lively and holds pupils’ attention well. • Pupils lack the necessary vocabulary to explain their understanding and often do not know the correct mathematical language. • Marking of pupils’ work does not identify ways in which they can improve. • Little monitoring of the subject has been undertaken recently, and none of teaching. • Too little use is made of mathematics in other subjects.

p.27

Commentary

59. Standards in mathematics have been inconsistent in the last few years but declining overall. The results of the 2004 national tests were in the bottom 5 per cent of all schools nationally at the end of Year 2 and well below those reported at the time of the previous inspection. Teacher assessments for the current Year 2 indicate that the results of this year’s national tests are likely to be well below average. Inspection evidence confirms this judgement. Pupils enter Year 1 with well below average standards so their achievement is satisfactory. In the 2004 tests, Year 6 pupils achieved standards that were well below average and well below those attained at the time of the last inspection. Teacher assessment indicates that, while a majority are likely to achieve the nationally expected level, none is likely to do better than average and a considerable minority will not achieve the expected level. Inspection evidence

p.27

Commentary

indicates that standards are still well below average. Based on the results that pupils attained when they were in Year 2, achievement is satisfactory. Pupils with special educational needs and those learning English as an additional language achieve similarly to other pupils.

p.27

Commentary

60. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall, although some good and very good teaching was observed during the inspection, particularly in Years 3 to 6. The better teaching was lively, with upbeat methods being used to hold pupils’ attention and help them learn. Behaviour management is generally unobtrusive and effective. Teachers have good relationships with their pupils and know their learning needs well, including those teachers employed on a temporary basis. Teachers St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 28 generally have good knowledge of the National Curriculum. They encourage pupils to talk about their achievement, but most pupils are not used to doing this and find it difficult. Pupils also find problem-solving aspects of mathematics hard and this accounts for their well below average performance in tests where they have to work independently and without help and encouragement. Not all teachers place enough

p.27

Commentary

emphasis on developing pupils’ skills in solving problems or investigating patterns and relationships in mathematics. Teaching assistants make a satisfactory contribution to pupils’ achievement. Marking of pupils’ work does not consistently help them to understand what they need to do to improve. Assessment is satisfactory overall. Class targets are set in all classes, but pupils are unsure of their targets and the system is currently not used effectively to help raise standards sufficiently.

p.28

Commentary

61. Leadership and management of mathematics are unsatisfactory. Little recorded analysis of results is taking place and there has been no monitoring of lessons and the school has failed to identify that the curriculum in Years 1 and 2 is unsatisfactory. It is unbalanced, with the time given to mathematics varying greatly for pupils of the same age in different classes. The development plan for the subject is limited in content and lacks precise strategies to drive standards upwards. The improvement of co-ordination of individual subjects was part of a key issue in the last inspection report and this has not been achieved for mathematics. Improvement has been unsatisfactory.

p.28

Mathematics across the curriculum

62. The use of mathematics across the curriculum is unsatisfactory. Opportunities for using and applying mathematics in other areas of the curriculum are limited. On occasion, good use is made of mathematics in geography with the oldest pupils.

p.28

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Pupils’ written work shows little evidence of the development of investigative skills. • The subject leader has not been given sufficient opportunity to monitor the quality of provision and standards. • Marking of pupils’ work does not guide their improvement well enough.

p.28

Commentary

63. Standards in science are well below the national average at the end of Years 2 and 6, but all pupils, including those with special educational needs and pupils with English as an additional language, achieve satisfactorily in building their knowledge and understanding in science. This is confirmed in lesson observations, discussions with pupils, a scrutiny of pupils’ books and the results of teacher assessment and National Curriculum tests. Standards are not as good now as at the time of the previous inspection, when they were judged to be satisfactory. The results of the National Curriculum tests at the end of Year 6 have remained well below average since 2002. However, comparison of results at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 for the same group of pupils shows that they achieve satisfactorily overall in the junior classes. Science is not a priority in the present school improvement plan and there has, as yet, been no

p.28

Commentary

monitoring or tracking of pupils’ achievement by the subject leader. Subject leadership and management are unsatisfactory. The subject leader has some ideas about how to St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 29 bring about improvement, including improving creative links between science and other subjects and improving the assessment systems. However, there is no action plan to document these and guide development in science. There has been an unsatisfactory level of improvement since the previous inspection.

p.28

Commentary

64. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Lessons seen during the inspection, in Years 2 and 6, provided pupils with good opportunity to observe, investigate and work collaboratively with other pupils. Some other lessons were very teacher-directed and did little to engage pupils in practical activity and direct involvement. Although pupils did well when they were investigating and experimenting, there is little evidence in pupils’ written work to show that they are provided with this style of learning frequently enough. Teaching generally takes account of the learning needs of all groups of pupils, particularly the high proportion of pupils with English as an additional language in each class. Teachers raise pupils’ awareness of the specific vocabulary used in lessons, clearly explaining the meaning of key words. Frequently the words are also displayed in front of the class throughout the lesson so pupils can refer to them in their

p.29

Commentary

recording and discussions. Support for those pupils who are at an early stage of English acquisition is good when they are directly involved with the teacher whose role it is to ensure these pupils have sufficient English to access the curriculum satisfactorily. At other times support for these pupils is satisfactory.

p.29

Commentary

65. Teachers’ marking of pupils’ work does not sufficiently identify what pupils need to do to improve and often just provides a simple comment on pupils’ effort. This prevents both teachers and pupils from identifying what the pupils need to do to improve and is unsatisfactory.

p.29

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

Provision in information and communication technology (ICT) is satisfactory.

p.29

Main strengths and weaknesses

• Standards have improved since the previous inspection • Inadequate availability of resources limits the use of ICT in other subjects and at times other than in ICT lessons. • The school receives good support from the Education Action Zone, which has supported the temporary subject leader well in forming good ideas for future development and improvements in the curriculum and assessment.

p.29

Commentary

66. At the time of the previous inspection standards were below those expected nationally at the end of both Years 2 and 6 and raising standards in ICT was a key issue. From the work seen, standards in Years 2 and 6 match National Curriculum expectations and pupils achieve well. The school has been effective in raising standards and improvement in this aspect has been good. However, resources have not been sufficiently developed. Although the school has a set of desktop computers and a room designated as a future computer suite, this is not yet been set up. The school relies on a portable suite of lap top computers that has to be set up in classrooms before whole class lessons can take place. This arrangement puts an added burden on staff and limits pupils’ use of computers in other subjects and at times other than in St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 30 ICT lessons. Progress has been limited in part due to problems with the

p.29

Commentary

accommodation and for financial reasons. Furthermore the subject leader has been off school this year and this has further limited development.

p.30

Commentary

67. The school receives valuable support from an advisory teacher funded by the Education Action Zone. He has very good subject knowledge and was responsible for teaching many of the lessons seen during the inspection. Although teachers’ knowledge and understanding of ICT is satisfactory, these lessons serve as a good source of professional development for staff. The quality of teaching and learning is good and the high expectations of pupils’ attainment enable pupils to achieve well and reach the standards expected nationally for pupils of this age. Pupils experience a wide range of learning opportunities in lessons, including producing computer- generated art work in Years 1 and 2, learning about e-mails and programming devices in Years 3 and 6, designing and completing data bases in Year 4 and using sensing equipment in Year 5 to monitor sound and light. However, there is insufficient opportunity for pupils to undertake follow-up work and to consolidate these valuable

p.30

Commentary

learning experiences effectively by applying their newly acquired knowledge and skills.

p.30

Commentary

68. Teaching seen was challenging and motivated pupils effectively. Questioning was effective and focused pupils’ minds, competently directing their thought processes and giving them confidence. Pupils were very effectively managed and the teacher encouraged a positive approach to learning. Even within the limitations posed by the resources, teachers overcame these well. High expectations, very good levels of challenge and quick pace ensured that good amounts of work were covered in the short time available.

p.30

Commentary

69. Leadership and management are unsatisfactory overall. There is a recently appointed ‘caretaking’ subject leader who has worked well with the advisory teacher to identify where there are weaknesses and to formulate good ideas about how to improve provision further in order to consolidate standards.

p.30

Commentary

70. Improvement since the previous inspection has been satisfactory overall. Standards at Year 6 are improved and the curriculum for ICT now meets statutory requirements. However, there are areas that still need to be developed. These include: • considering a different way of organising computers to encourage better use of resources and to raise the profile of ICT in the school; • implementing assessment procedures and using the information gained to further challenge pupils and move them on; • developing structured links with other subjects, thereby promoting the wider use of ICT to enhance learning.

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Information and communication technology across the curriculum

71. The use of ICT across the curriculum is unsatisfactory. There is insufficient use of computers and plans for links into other subjects are not yet sufficiently structured or planned. The accommodation and current organisation of resources limit pupils’ access to computers at times other than in weekly ICT lessons.

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HUMANITIES

St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 31 Religious education is reported on separately as part of a Section 23 inspection. There was insufficient opportunity to gather sufficient evidence of teaching in geography or history to make a judgement on provision in either subject.

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HUMANITIES

72. In history, evidence was gathered from a lesson in Year 6, scrutiny of pupils’ work at both key stages, discussion with the very recently appointed co-ordinator and examination of teachers’ planning. Standards and achievement are both much lower than expected for pupils of the same ages. Improvement has been poor. Issues from the last inspection have not been addressed well enough and unsatisfactory progress across the school has not been tackled effectively. There are still weaknesses in the history curriculum and there is insufficient recorded work at both key stages. The time devoted to history is not consistent for classes in either key stage, with significant differences in the amount of time allocated in the two classes with Year 2 pupils. In one Year 2 class, where far too little time is allocated, only one piece of recorded work had been undertaken during the year. The quality of written work in Years 3 to 6 is

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HUMANITIES

variable, with far too much emphasis given to copying work and colouring in worksheets in the oldest class.

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HUMANITIES

73. In the main, teachers lack confidence in the subject and rely too heavily on national guidance without adapting it to meet the needs of the pupils. Nor do teachers make enough use of artefacts, visits and visitors to bring the subject alive. This is particularly important for those pupils who are at an early stage of speaking English and pupils with special educational needs. However, scrutiny of planning identified good use of the guidance being adapted well to make the subject relevant to Year 4 pupils. In addition, in the Year 6 lesson seen, teaching made good use of resources to enable pupils to examine photographs and research books about the 1950s for evidence, although pupils did not understand the difference between first and second-hand evidence and had a limited awareness of chronology. Leadership and management of the subject are both poor. A temporary teacher has very recently been given

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HUMANITIES

responsibility for the subject, but is not currently in a position to influence much- needed development in the subject. Not enough thought has been given to the development of pupils’ historical skills and the subject also makes a poor contribution to the development of pupils’ ability to write for different purposes.

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HUMANITIES

74. In geography only one lesson was observed. As a result, no secure judgements can be made on provision or teaching. Judgements are based on the one lesson observed, work displayed and an examination of pupils’ books and teachers’ plans. Last time the school was inspected there was no whole-school document to show an overview of the subject. This is still the case and is unsatisfactory. Evidence from pupils’ exercise books shows that too little time and attention is being given to the subject. Analysis of timetables shows that unequal time is being given to the subject for pupils of the same age group in different classes. Standards are below the expected levels nationally at the end of both key stages and pupils’ achievement is unsatisfactory. These findings are similar to those of the last inspection.

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CREATIVE, AESTHETIC, PRACTICAL AND PHYSICAL SUBJECTS

75. Only one lesson was observed in design and technology . As a result, no secure judgements can be made on teaching or provision. Judgements are based on the one lesson observed, work displayed and an examination of pupils’ books and teachers’ plans. Last time the school was inspected there was no whole-school document to show an overview of the subject. This is still the case. As a result, unequal time and attention is given to the subject for pupils of the same age group and teaching and St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 32 learning therefore vary. In the one lesson seen as part of the inspection, teaching, learning and achievement were good. There are some good quality objects, such as slippers, made by pupils on display. Teachers’ plans suggest that the whole design cycle of research, design, making and evaluation is covered. However, the lack of recording by the oldest pupils of the planning or evaluation phases indicates that the

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CREATIVE, AESTHETIC, PRACTICAL AND PHYSICAL SUBJECTS

whole programmes of study are not being taught in sufficient depth and standards are unsatisfactory. The situation is similar to that at the time of the previous inspection and there has therefore been insufficient improvement since then.

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CREATIVE, AESTHETIC, PRACTICAL AND PHYSICAL SUBJECTS

Provision in art and design is satisfactory.

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CREATIVE, AESTHETIC, PRACTICAL AND PHYSICAL SUBJECTS

• The subject heightens pupils’ awareness of other cultures and beliefs in some classes, although these opportunities are not planned as part of the whole school provision. • Monitoring and evaluation of standards, teaching and learning are inadequate. • Teachers make effective use of visits to broaden the curriculum. • Not enough thought is given to how the subject can enable pupils with limited English to express their ideas.

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CREATIVE, AESTHETIC, PRACTICAL AND PHYSICAL SUBJECTS

76. There has been satisfactory improvement since the last inspection when standards were below average at the end of Year 6 and progress was unsatisfactory. Overall, standards now match expectations across the school and achievement is satisfactory. However, weaknesses in leadership and management have not been tackled well enough.

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CREATIVE, AESTHETIC, PRACTICAL AND PHYSICAL SUBJECTS

77. Pupils are encouraged to work with a range of media and show satisfactory skills in using paint, pastels, pencil and charcoal. At the time of the last inspection, insufficient time was given to three-dimensional work. This aspect of provision is now satisfactory. Pupils are enabled to observe closely and to experiment with form. The display of Year 2 pupils’ fairies from familiar stories demonstrated careful use of watercolours and application of delicate collage materials for their wings. The work followed a visit to the Royal Horticultural Society’s exhibition of gardening and flower fairies. Year 6 pupils produced large, bold sketches of buildings in the locality and achieved good results using a restricted palette, although easy access to erasers did not encourage them to understand the process of composition.

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CREATIVE, AESTHETIC, PRACTICAL AND PHYSICAL SUBJECTS

78. Teaching and learning are satisfactory overall, although two good lessons were observed during the inspection. The amount of time allocated to the subject, although adequate, does not support the school’s view that it places strong emphasis on practical subjects, particularly for developing the learning skills of younger pupils and for those who are not yet at a stage of expressing themselves fluently in English. Although there was some evidence of pupils drawing on the work of other artists in lessons and in displays around the school, teachers’ planning does not ensure that pupils have access to a wide range of art and design from different artists, times and places as they move from year to year. Too much is left to individual teachers to decide for themselves. However, pupils in Year 4 have benefited greatly from the knowledge and skills of a teacher from overseas to learn about Maori and Aboriginal

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CREATIVE, AESTHETIC, PRACTICAL AND PHYSICAL SUBJECTS

art and culture and to produce pastel work of a high standard showing bold use of St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 33 colour. In a good Year 2 lesson, the teacher’s good subject knowledge and enthusiastic approach inspired positives attitudes and a willingness to experiment with folded card in creating 3-D sculptures.

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CREATIVE, AESTHETIC, PRACTICAL AND PHYSICAL SUBJECTS

79. Leadership and management of the subject are unsatisfactory. The subject co- ordinator has a limited curriculum overview, has not been given time to monitor planning, teaching or learning and has limited evidence on which to base her assessment of standards.

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Teachers’ knowledge and good teaching skills help add interest and enjoyment to lessons. • Pupils have good attitudes to the subject and are keen to learn. • A good emphasis is given to composing and performing.

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Commentary

80. Last time the school was inspected, standards in music were found to be in line with national expectations. They have improved and are in line with nationally expected by the end of Year 2 and above by the end of Year 6. Achievement is satisfactory in Years 1 and 2 and good in Years 3 to 6. Throughout the school, pupils’ standard of singing is in line with that generally expected for their age. The school’s real strengths are in composition and the playing of percussion instruments, and in older pupils’ knowledge and understanding of music. Improvement since the previous inspection has been good.

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Commentary

81. Teaching is good, overall. It is satisfactory in infants and good in juniors. The interest and enjoyment of older pupils are significantly enhanced by the musical skills and enthusiasm of the staff. Pupils are very keen to learn and nearly all play a full part in lessons. Teachers have good subject knowledge and good ways of transmitting that knowledge to pupils. They use effective methods. For example, in the good performance seen with a Year 6 class, very good teaching skills and high expectations enabled pupils to perform a complex rhythm from memory with every pupil in the class fully involved. Leadership and management are satisfactory and have helped to raise the profile of music. The curriculum is good. There is a good coverage of all aspects of music, in particular regular opportunities for performance. The subject is well supported by a music accompanist, giving pupils access to music of a professional

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Physical education

Provision in physical education is satisfactory .

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Main strengths and weaknesses

• Lessons are constructed well so that pupils use skills satisfactorily and develop them further. St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 34 • Those pupils who do not take part are not usefully occupied during lessons. • Resources and facilities are good and enable pupils to take part in a satisfactory range of learning opportunities.

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Commentary

82. By Year 6, standards match expectations and this shows a decline since the last inspection, when standards were above those expected by the end of both Years 2 and 6. All pupils, including those with special needs and those who are learning to speak English as an additional language, achieve satisfactorily in most year groups as they move up the school.

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Commentary

83. In response to the overall satisfactory quality of teaching and learning, pupils develop satisfactory skills in games. Where teaching was good, demonstration was effectively used as pupils observed examples of good throwing by skilled pupils, with the teachers also providing good prompts and development points to improve pupils' performance. High expectations enabled the pupils to focus well and keep a good pace. Effective demonstrations of techniques, like throwing underarm and overarm, enabled pupils to practise these techniques and improve their performance. In most lessons, warm-up sessions were used effectively. Where teaching was less effective, this was due to lack of organisation, with the pace slowing down and some pupils growing restless and becoming less attentive. In most cases, activities ended with evaluation of progress and some of this was good. Those pupils not involved in lessons, either through illness or forgotten kit, were not adequately supervised or

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Commentary

given meaningful or related tasks. Reading their books on the sidelines did not sufficiently occupy them and their behaviour was, for much of the time, unsatisfactory and went unchecked.

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Commentary

84. The curriculum is enhanced satisfactorily with a good range of additional sports activities. Currently the subject leader is out of school and there is insufficient guidance or monitoring taking place. Leadership and management are therefore unsatisfactory.

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND HEALTH EDUCATION AND CITIZENSHIP (PSHE&C)

85. It is not possible to make a judgement on provision as no lessons were timetabled during the inspection period. The school pays satisfactory attention to pupils’ personal, social and health education overall. Teachers follow a good scheme for sex and relationships education, based on the teachings of the Catholic Church, which involves parents as partners in supporting pupils’ learning. There is no overall policy or programme of work for personal, social, health education and citizenship. Drugs education draws heavily on the involvement of the Police, but is not consistent across the school, and health education is largely incorporated into the science curriculum. The younger pupils are involved in an initiative to eat more fruit and pupils benefit from good quality school meals.

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PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND HEALTH EDUCATION AND CITIZENSHIP (PSHE&C)

86. Provision for education in citizenship is unsatisfactory. The school does not plan regular sessions, such as circle time, when pupils can discuss problems and concerns on a regular basis, although the learning mentor provides a useful point of contact for individual pupils and small groups. The draft policy for English has highlighted circle time as a valuable strategy for developing speaking and listening, but no firm plans have been made to introduce a regular slot into the timetable. There is currently no St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 35 school council and the school has no mechanisms in place to canvass pupils’ views in a systematic way. Pupils are right to feel that they are not involved sufficiently in the life of the school, either by making suggestions or taking on a range of responsibilities. St Mary's Catholic Primary School - 36

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

The overall effectiveness of the school 4 How inclusive the school is 5 How the school’s effectiveness has changed since its last inspection 6 Value for money provided by the school 5

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Overall standards achieved 6 Pupils’ achievement 4

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Pupils’ attitudes, values and other personal qualities (ethos) 3 Attendance 5 Attitudes 3 Behaviour, including the extent of exclusions 3 Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 3

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

The quality of education provided by the school 4 The quality of teaching 4 How well pupils learn 4 The quality of assessment 4 How well the curriculum meets pupils’ needs 5 Enrichment of the curriculum, including out-of-school activities 4 Accommodation and resources 4 Pupils’ care, welfare, health and safety 5 Support, advice and guidance for pupils 4 How well the school seeks and acts on pupils’ views 5 The effectiveness of the school’s links with parents 4 The quality of the school’s links with the community 4 The school’s links with other schools and colleges 4

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

The leadership and management of the school 6 The governance of the school 6 The leadership of the headteacher 6 The leadership of other key staff 5 The effectiveness of management 6

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PART D: SUMMARY OF THE MAIN INSPECTION JUDGEMENTS

Inspectors make judgements on a scale: excellent (grade 1); very good (2); good (3); satisfactory (4); unsatisfactory (5); poor (6); very poor (7).

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