Bishop Parker Catholic School

Inspection Report Bishop Parker Catholic Combined School

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110481 Unique Reference Number Milton Keynes LEA LEA 278443 Inspection number 6 December 2005 to 7 December 2005 Inspection dates Keith Sadler AI Reporting inspector

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

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Barton Road School address Primary Type of school Bletchley Voluntary aided School category Milton Keynes MK2 3BT 3 to 11 Age range of pupils 01908 372129 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01908 645031 Fax number 200 Number on roll Mr John Scott Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Colette Donohue Headteacher 11 October 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 278443 6 December 2005 - 3 to 11 7 December 2005 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

Bishop Parker is a one form entry combined school serving an economically and socially mixed area of Bletchley. It has 200 pupils on roll; an additional 27 pupils attend the nursery on a part-time basis. The number of pupils eligible for free school meals is less than half the national average. 17 pupils have been identified as having special educational needs. About a quarter of pupils speak English as an additional language, which is about three times the national average. Almost all of these are at an early stage of acquiring English.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Bishop Parker Catholic Combined School, 6 December 2005 to 7 December 2005

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Grade: 3

Although the school's view is that the overall effectiveness of the school is good, inspection findings are that it is satisfactory and the school provides satisfactory value for money. The pupils enjoy school and their progress is satisfactory in most year groups. Provision in the Foundation Stage is satisfactory. At age seven, attainment is significantly below average in writing and mathematics. At 11, standards are close to national expectations although fewer pupils reach the high levels, particularly in English. Although there are strengths in the quality of teaching and learning, pupils' progress, especially in English, is hampered because teachers' expectations of what pupils can achieve are too low. This is particularly the case for more able pupils where work set does not sufficiently match their learning needs.Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of all aspects of the school. In particular, they say that their children are

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Grade: 3

safe, well cared for and enjoy school. Inspectors agree with these views. The quality of care and support are very good. Leadership and management are satisfactory overall. The headteacher provides very good leadership in the areas of ensuring that the pupils are well cared for and the development of a strong and positive atmosphere. She recognises that there is a need to improve standards and strengthen the quality of the school's provision, particularly in providing more consistency in teaching and learning and developing the curriculum. Although there has been some monitoring and evaluation of the quality of teaching and learning, the impact in terms of gaining consistency has been limited. There has been satisfactory improvement since the last inspection and there is sufficient capacity to secure the necessary improvements. The school has the committed support of effective governors.

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What the school should do to improve further

* Improve the progress made by more able pupils, particularly in English* improve the quality of teaching and learning by ensuring that teachers consistently match work well to the needs of their pupils* strengthen the quality of the curriculum by making stronger links between subjects.

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Grade: 3

When children enter the Foundation Stage they have skills and knowledge that are below that typical of three-year-olds, particularly in the area of communication, language and literacy. This is because a high proportion of the children are at an early stage of learning English as an additional language. Due to the sound provision, children make steady progress in the Foundation Stage. Standards attained in national tests for seven-year-olds are below expected levels. The proportion of pupils gaining and exceeding nationally expected levels is small. National data and inspection evidence shows that standards are broadly in line with national levels at the age of 11 in both mathematics and science. In English, particularly in writing, standards are below the national average because too few pupils gain nationally expected levels and too few 2 Inspection Report: Bishop Parker Catholic Combined School, 6 December 2005 to 7 December 2005

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Grade: 3

reach the higher level. The school is on course to achieve its challenging targets for 2006.Pupils generally make sound progress throughout the school. However, their achievement in hampered by inconsistencies in the quality of teaching and learning, particularly for the more able pupils whose progress is limited because teachers sometimes set work that is too easy for them. Pupils' progress is strongest in science. In mathematics progress is broadly average. It is in English where progress is particularly slow. The progress of all groups of pupils, including those with learning difficulties and disabilities, matches that of their peers.

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Grade: 2

Pupils enjoy school and have positive attitudes. The excellent relationships and pupils' well developed social skills contribute strongly to the very positive atmosphere in the school. Pupils have a good awareness of what it means to have a healthy lifestyle and to keep safe. The great majority are confident and have high self-esteem. There are good opportunities for pupils to contribute to the local community, such as their participation in Parish masses on feast days. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very good. In a religious context, pupils' spiritual awareness is excellent and they show a very good awareness of the feelings of others and of their own emotions. Pupils have a clear understanding of right and wrong, and their behaviour is generally excellent. Pupils' work in fundraising and attracting sponsorship gives them a good insight into the importance of economic awareness. Attendance is good.

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Grade: 3

The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory and adequately meets the needs of the pupils. The strongest elements of the teaching are the excellent behaviour management, very good relationships and the skilled work of teaching assistants. The school is keenly aware that the weakest element is that teachers don't always match work accurately enough to meet the varying learning needs of pupils of different abilities, particularly in English and for more able pupils. This limits pupils' progress.The quality of teaching and learning is inconsistent. In the best lessons, teachers ensure that the pupils have a clear understanding of what is to be learned and what the teachers' expectations are. However, this is not always the case. The school has placed an emphasis on providing structured opportunities for pupils to be more directly involved in their own learning. This is paying dividends in Years 1 and 6 where this

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Grade: 3

project has been initiated. Here pupils work more independently and enjoy taking greater responsibility for their learning and progress. Pupils with learning disabilities and difficulties benefit from satisfactory teaching. 3 Inspection Report: Bishop Parker Catholic Combined School, 6 December 2005 to 7 December 2005

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Grade: 3

The school provides a satisfactory range of activities for its pupils. It is starting to plan links between subjects to make learning more relevant and purposeful, but teachers' planning shows that some are better at doing this than others. A good feature of the curriculum is the emphasis placed on motivating pupils through other activities, such as visits, to help make learning more attractive. For instance, all pupils enjoyed art sessions with visiting specialists who then mounted and exhibited the pupils' work. A further good feature is the emphasis placed on helping pupils to understand the importance of keeping safe and leading healthy lifestyles through an effective personal, social and health education programme. This helps pupils to grow in confidence and understand that they have a useful contribution to make to the community.Arrangements for pupils with learning difficulties and those with English

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Grade: 3

as an additional language are satisfactory. Pupils who are gifted and talented have been identified. A programme of extra help for them has been devised, but is not yet fully implemented.

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Grade: 2

The school is good at caring for its pupils. Child protection procedures are secure and rigorous. The guidance provided to help pupils improve their work is satisfactory. However, discussions with pupils showed that they do not always have a clear understanding of precisely what they need to do next to make their work even better. This occurs because of variations in the quality of teaching and learning. The school is a very orderly, calm and friendly community where pupils are learning happily. The school deals very effectively with rare incidents of bullying or misbehaviour and pupils feel safe and confident. Checks on possible risks to pupils' safety are carried out regularly. Parents are fully involved in the life of the school and in their children's learning.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory overall. The headteacher provides very good pastoral leadership and ensures that the school's vision for developing high quality care and support is well met. She is acutely aware of the need to quicken the pupils' progress. Self evaluation processes are satisfactory, though the impact of these are limited because there are inconsistencies in the quality of teaching and learning and more able pupils do not make enough progress in their learning. The headteacher is supported well by the leadership team and the acting deputy head, though new to the school, has already made a positive impact. This group works closely together to oversee the suitable range of improvement projects that have been initiated. There is sufficient capacity to ensure that the weaknesses are removed. A particularly strong feature is the way the school consults parents for their views. These views contribute

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Grade: 3

4 Inspection Report: Bishop Parker Catholic Combined School, 6 December 2005 to 7 December 2005 appropriately in the development of the improvement plan. In addition, a high priority is placed on the development of all staff. The learning support staff in particular have benefited from this policy and their skills are well used in their deployment. The work of the Senior Teaching Assistant is outstanding. Governance is good. Communication between governors and the school is good and they have a good understanding of the variability of its achievements. 5 Inspection Report: Bishop Parker Catholic Combined School, 6 December 2005 to 7 December 2005 .

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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: Bishop Parker Catholic Combined School, 6 December 2005 to 7 December 2005

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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 2 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 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 3 How well do learners achieve? NA 3 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 3 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 3 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 1 The behaviour of learners NA 2 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 2 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 2 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 2 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 3 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 3 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 2 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

You may remember that two inspectors came to your school recently to find out how good it was and how well you were doing. Thank you for being so friendly, for talking to us and telling us so many interesting things. We are writing to let you know what we found out. You told us how much you like school and described the interesting things that happen there. You told us that you generally like your lessons and some of you, though not all, had a good understanding of what your targets are. We were particularly impressed with the Year 6 learning journals.We were impressed by your excellent behaviour and how you care for each other. We know that people in the school take good care of you and are teaching you to be confident and responsible members of the community. You develop a clear understanding of right and wrong and how to develop your understanding and love of the Catholic religion. You told us that you enjoy many of your lessons, but some were not as interesting as others.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

We agree with you and we have asked your teachers to make some improvements so that you will make more rapid progress during your time at Bishop Parker, particularly in English and also for those of you who find lessons too easy. You are lucky to have such a caring headteacher as Mrs Donohue who is always concerned to make sure that you are happy and safe in school. We have asked the school to make sure that the teachers make good links between subjects in all classes so that your work is even better than it is at present.

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