St Thomas of Canterbury RC Primary School

Inspection Report St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School

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105970 Unique Reference Number Salford LEA 277458 Inspection number 5 July 2006 to 6 July 2006 Inspection dates Mrs Marie Cordey CfBT Lead Inspector Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Hadfield Street School address Primary Type of school Higher Broughton Voluntary aided School category Salford, Manchester M7 4XG 3 to 11 Age range of pupils 0161 7923973 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 0161 7922896 Fax number 214 Number on roll Rev Fr David Macfarlane Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs J McDermott Headteacher 9 October 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 277458 5 July 2006 - 3 to 11 6 July 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report 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.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

The school is a slightly smaller than average voluntary aided Roman Catholic school in an area of mixed housing in the inner city area of Salford. Just over half of the pupils are from minority ethnic backgrounds, including African, Polish and Czech and many are not fluent in speaking English. Many pupils leave and start the school at different points in their primary education. The proportion of pupils who are eligible for free school meals is well above average and just over a quarter of the pupils have learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The school has gained the Activemark award.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School, 5 July 2006 to 6 July 2006

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Grade: 4

In accordance with section 13 (3) of the Education Act 2005, HMCI is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing and governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. When children start school many lack the skills and knowledge typical of three-year-olds. Nevertheless, standards and achievement and expectations of what pupils can achieve are all too low. Teaching and learning are inadequate overall and not good enough to improve the progress of pupils. Achievement and standards have deteriorated in the past two years; standards in the current Year 6 have declined further and are now exceptionally low. The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage are satisfactory because of satisfactory teaching. Assessment information is not used

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Grade: 4

effectively to set sufficiently challenging targets and to check pupils' progress closely enough. Systems for monitoring and evaluating the school's performance are insufficiently robust to bring about the necessary improvements at a fast enough pace. The school has worked hard to move forward but various initiatives have not been totally suited to pupils' needs and therefore have only been partially successful. The school does not demonstrate the capacity to improve, and it provides unsatisfactory value for money. However, the leaders of the school welcome pupils from a wide range of backgrounds and much effort is taken to ensure they settle well. Pupils' behaviour is satisfactory and relationships are harmonious. A strength of the school is the pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The pupils are caring of each other and sensitive to the needs of different faiths and cultures. Provision for their care,

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Grade: 4

guidance and support is satisfactory overall.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Raise standards and achievement throughout the school especially for pupils in Key Stage 2. • Improve the quality of teaching and raise expectations of what pupils can achieve. • Improve monitoring and evaluation and the use of assessment data to accelerate pupils' progress.

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Grade: 4

Achievement and standards are too low. Over the past two years standards have fallen; they have further declined for the current Year 6 pupils, whose standards are exceptionally low. This picture of underachievement has not been tackled successfully. Pupils have not met their targets by a significant margin. The pupils' achievement has also declined; last year it ranked in the bottom 1% in the country. The reasons for low standards and inadequate achievement are the staff's low expectations of pupils' performance, the limited use of assessment and some inadequate teaching. Pupils' 2 Inspection Report: St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School, 5 July 2006 to 6 July 2006 writing is much poorer than their reading; they are not given enough tasks where they have to write at length. There are also too few opportunities for them to learn investigative skills in science. The school's efforts to enable pupils to reach the levels

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Grade: 4

they are capable of are not good enough. Pupils who have learning difficulties and/or disabilities, looked-after children and pupils for whom English is not their first language do not achieve as well as might be expected. Children enter school with low levels of attainment, particularly in speech and social skills. They make satisfactory progress in the Nursery and Reception classes, although they do not reach the levels appropriate for their age. The school's recent results in the national assessments for Year 2 have risen but the overall improvement is too slow.

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Grade: 3

Pupils' personal development is satisfactory, and their spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development is good. Children in the Foundation Stage learn to share with others and to tell the difference between right and wrong. However, a few children do not behave as well as they should and need regular attention from teachers. Throughout the school, pupils from a wide range of cultures and home backgrounds get on well. They work and play happily together and help each other when the need arises. Smiling faces are proof of pupils' enjoyment. Pupils' attendance is satisfactory overall: most attend regularly but a significant minority are persistently absent. Most pupils are well behaved and show respect for their teachers and for other pupils. Pupils have good relationships with staff, have few concerns about bullying and feel safe and cared for in school. Although staff stress the need for regular exercise and a

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Grade: 3

sensible diet, pupils have only just begun to appreciate how important this is to their health and well-being. Pupils readily take on responsibilities and they relate well to others but weaknesses in their literacy and numeracy often leave them short of the basic skills they need for later life.

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Grade: 4

Overall, the quality of teaching and learning and that of assessment is inadequate. Because teaching is not challenging enough to promote learning and the expectations for the quality and quantity of work are too low, pupils underachieve. The pace of lessons is often too slow, as for instance in a science lesson when pupils spent too long copying instructions rather than working on the task itself. Better teaching and learning in the Foundation Stage and in Key Stage 1 lead to pupils making satisfactory progress in the younger classes. Teaching works best when pupils are actively involved, as seen in a briskly paced and challenging lesson in Year 2. There is too much inadequate teaching in Key Stage 2. Pupils do not exert themselves in these inadequate lessons; they work comfortably on low-level tasks which do not 3 Inspection Report: St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School, 5 July 2006 to 6 July 2006

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Grade: 4

challenge their abilities. Teachers do not plan lessons to match what pupils are capable of achieving; as a result the pupils do not make the progress they should. Target setting is at an early stage and pupils are not generally aware of how they are doing in their work or exactly what to do in order to improve it.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory and pupils study all the required subjects. The curriculum in the Foundation Stage provides children with a suitable balance of experiences covering all the required areas of learning. Although most pupils find lessons interesting, the curriculum in Years 1 and 2 promotes better learning than that in Years 3 to 6. Close attention is paid to the content so that it reflects and celebrates the cultural diversity of the pupils. This is evident in displays around the school, such as the attractive life-sized sculptures produced by pupils during lessons with a visiting artist. The programme of personal, social and health education and citizenship supports pupils' development and helps them acquire important personal skills. Older pupils enjoy a wide range of extra-curricular activities but there are only limited opportunities for the younger ones. Visits to places of educational interest, including residential

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Grade: 3

visits, add further enrichment. Provision is made to promote pupils' basic skills but these remain weak because work is not matched closely enough to pupils' needs.

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Grade: 3

Care, guidance and support are satisfactory overall. All staff have an understanding of the pupils' pastoral needs and work hard to provide a welcoming environment in which the pupils feel safe and secure. The caring ethos of the school promotes pupils' self-esteem and confidence. Pupils know that they can talk to staff if they are troubled. Behaviour is constantly monitored and pupils are safeguarded. Recent initiatives to improve behaviour are having a positive impact and behaviour is satisfactory overall. Risk assessments are carried out and arrangements for child protection are in place. Teaching assistants provide sensitive support, helping pupils to participate in lessons. Systems to assess and track pupils' progress are at an early stage of development. They are detailed but insufficiently robust to help accelerate pupils' progress or to inform the pupils how well they are learning.

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Grade: 4

Leadership and management are inadequate. Although management systems are developing the school does not have the capacity to improve quickly enough. Procedures for monitoring and evaluating the school's performance do not provide the clear and sharply focused information necessary to increase pupils' progress. The school has been involved in improvement initiatives, such as the Intensifying Support Programme with the local authority, but the headteacher and senior leadership team 4 Inspection Report: St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School, 5 July 2006 to 6 July 2006 have had difficulty adapting them to the needs of the pupils and consequently they have been only partially successful. Nonetheless, the leadership and management have been effective in establishing a calm orderly school, which welcomes and includes pupils from a wide range of different backgrounds. Parents are also welcomed into school and due account is taken of their views. Governors are regular visitors to the

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Grade: 4

school and support its work conscientiously. They have expressed concerns about the school's poor showing in the national tests but lack adequate systems for evaluating pupils' progress for themselves. They have not been able to ensure that pupils' underachievement is tackled. 5 Inspection Report: St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School, 5 July 2006 to 6 July 2006 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: St Thomas of Canterbury Primary School, 5 July 2006 to 6 July 2006

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 4 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 3 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 4 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA No The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA No Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 4 How well do learners achieve? NA 4 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 4 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 4 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 3 The behaviour of learners NA 3 The attendance of learners NA 3 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 3 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 3 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 4 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 3 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 4 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 4 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 3 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 4 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 4 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you for welcoming us to your school, you were very polite and thoughtful. The things we liked were: - the way you are taught to respect and care for yourselves and others - your improved behaviour. We have decided that your school needs special measures, which means that your headteacher will have some help in making your school better by: - making sure that all lessons are planned to expect you to achieve your very best and improve your standards - ensuring that the people in charge of the school know how to make it better - checking how well you are doing and setting you clear targets so that you can reach higher standards. Best wishes for your future.

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