St Edward's Catholic Primary School

Inspection Report St Edward's Catholic Primary School

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111319 Unique Reference Number Halton LEA 278653 Inspection number 28 September 2005 to 29 September 2005 Inspection dates Mr Colin Smith 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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Wivern Place School address Primary Type of school Runcorn Voluntary aided School category Cheshire WA7 1RZ 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01928 572317 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01928 576034 Fax number 99 Number on roll Mrs A Farrell Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs J Lawrence Headteacher 20 September 1999 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 278653 28 September 2005 - 4 to 11 29 September 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 an additional inspector.

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Description of the school

St Edwards is a small Catholic Primary School near the centre of Runcorn, although some children attending live outside the locality. The immediate area is socially disadvantaged, hence the school provides family learning facilities and qualifies for support through national projects. The percentage of children eligible for free school meals is twice the national average, although the percentage with learning difficulties and disabilities is broadly average. Virtually all of the children are white and all of them speak English. The school gained an Achievement Award in 2003 and has been awarded Investors in People status. More recently, it achieved the Healthy Schools 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 Edward's Catholic Primary School, 28 September 2005 to 29 September 2005

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Grade: 2

St Edwards is a successful school with outstanding features. It provides good value for money. Staff and governors correctly judge the school to be good and are accurate in their assessment that leadership and management are outstanding. Central to the school's work is the constant search for excellence, which fuels its considerable capacity for improvement. Consequently, some areas that the school originally judged to be good, such as children's personal development and care provided, are now outstanding. Links with outside agencies are highly beneficial in providing an exemplary level of care. The quality of teaching and learning are good with examples of excellent teaching, particularly in Year 5/6. A rich and interesting curriculum caters well for children's different needs. The moment children enter the reception class their learning begins to accelerate in response to very good provision. By the end of the reception year, the vast majority

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Grade: 2

achieves the standards expected for their age. Children continue to make good progress throughout the school. Consequently, by the time they complete Year 6, standards are significantly higher than average overall. The standards achieved and quality of teaching and learning have improved well since the previous inspection. Standards in writing and information and communication technology (ICT) have been raised and the provision in music improved. The school was also required to improve the progress of more able children, which it has largely done. However, there are still occasions when these children could achieve even more by teachers setting demanding challenges for them.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure that the more able children are provided with challenging tasks in all lessons.

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Grade: 2

Staff and governors' accurate view that children achieve well is based on meticulous assessment of learning. This enables challenging targets to be set and reached. Children's standards on entry to school are broadly typical for their age, although often lower in their social and language development, especially amongst boys. Children in the reception class make particularly good progress in these areas and boys gradually catch up. High quality support helps children who find learning difficult make very good progress throughout the school. Infant and junior age children make good progress and achieve significantly higher than average standards in English, mathematics and science overall by the end of Year 2 and Year 6. Although standards in Year 2 were broadly average in 2005, the children had started from a lower level of attainment. Junior children's progress in English, particularly writing, has previously lagged behind mathematics and science. Moreover,

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Grade: 2

more able children have not always achieved as well as they should. A determined 2 Inspection Report: St Edward's Catholic Primary School, 28 September 2005 to 29 September 2005 effort to improve children's writing led to a substantial increase in the percentage reaching higher levels in English in 2005. That said, there is scope to promote even better progress for the more able children in some lessons. Children use their literacy, numeracy and ICT skills well to extend their learning in other subjects.

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Grade: 2

Children's personal development is outstanding, even better than the school had judged it to be. The ethos and relationships within the school are excellent. Children's self esteem and confidence, regarded as essential to successful learning, are impressively nurtured. Children are guided skilfully to understand themselves and make the right choices. They have a remarkably mature understanding of the needs of others and show a high degree of sensitivity and support. As a result, behaviour in and around school is very good and parents and children comment on the peaceful atmosphere and absence of bullying. Lessons are interesting and children's achievement is quickly recognised and rewarded. This impacts profoundly on their enjoyment of school, which is outstanding. Attendance is well above average and punctuality is good. Within the Catholic family ethos, children's spiritual, moral and social development are exemplary. Their awareness of

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Grade: 2

cultures other than their own is adequate and they regard racism as totally unacceptable. Children's sense of personal and social responsibility is extremely well developed. School council activities and numerous links with the local community very successfully promote children's understanding and respect for their environment and they acquire an acute awareness of healthy lifestyles and personal safety. In these respects, children gain essential skills and knowledge that will help them to face the challenges of growing up.

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Grade: 2

The quality of teaching and learning are good, as the school rightly asserts. The basis of the successful teaching is rooted in excellent assessment of children's learning. For example, accurately targeted support from effective classroom assistants enables children with learning difficulties to achieve their targets successfully. The climate for learning is always good. Children try their best and derive enjoyment from their lessons. This was evident in the delight on the new reception children's faces when they saw projected photographs taken of themselves on pre-school visits. One child excitedly exclaimed, "That's me, but my hair was shorter then!" Children know exactly what they are expected to learn and benefit greatly from teachers' clear explanations and probing questions, which make them think. Regular practise at home helps them to improve. 3 Inspection Report: St Edward's Catholic Primary School, 28 September 2005 to 29 September 2005

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Grade: 2

In outstanding lessons, children become totally absorbed and cannot wait to write down their ideas, for example when playing the roles of reporters in Year 5/6 or testing different brands of toothpaste in science in Year 3/4. In most lessons, the needs of the more able children are fully taken into account. However, on a few occasions they have to complete the work set for the rest the class before moving on to more challenging activities. They learn more quickly when demanding tasks are provided from the outset.

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Grade: 2

The school provides a good curriculum, as staff and governors believe. It meets statutory requirements. The curriculum is adapted very well to cater for the needs of children with learning difficulties and disabilities. The school is now developing the curriculum further to provide for children who have special gifts and talents. The good range of out-of-school activities already plays an important part in this. The diversity of the curriculum has increased considerably since the previous inspection. Children now learn French and Spanish and more are learning to play musical instruments. Encouragement to use their literacy, numeracy and ICT skills has brought children's independent learning skills up to a good level. Local artists are frequent visitors to the school and many community projects are underway, which enhance environmental awareness, understanding of personal safety and economic well-being.

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Grade: 2

Several children serve on planning committees with local authority personnel to control litter, plan safe journeys to school and develop conservation sites. The school has achieved a Healthy Schools Award in recognition of children's very good understanding of the importance of diet and exercise.

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Grade: 1

The care, guidance and support provided are outstanding and at the heart of children's good achievement and exceptional personal development. In this school every child matters. From the moment children enter school their personal and emotional development are exceptionally well nurtured. To achieve this, the school has built very productive relationships with parents and agencies involved in childcare. The headteacher is highly effective in co-ordinating the work of learning mentors, social workers and child protection officers. Considerable expertise is focused on dismantling barriers to children's learning and social development. Responsible adults are welcomed into children's homes, where concerns can be quickly identified and support provided. The school provides very successful learning opportunities in personal, social, health and citizenship education. Consequently, children are very aware of dangers they may

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Grade: 1

encounter, ranging from meeting strangers to the hazards of drugs and traffic. Security and safety are paramount and backed up by rigorous risk assessments. The guidance offered to children is first-class. Accurate assessments of their progress are converted into meaningful targets for improvement: children know exactly where they stand and what they need to do next. 4 Inspection Report: St Edward's Catholic Primary School, 28 September 2005 to 29 September 2005

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Grade: 1

Leadership and management are outstanding, precisely in line with the school's evaluation. The excellent leadership provided by the headteacher is clearly demonstrated in the personal responsibility she takes to ensure that each child's learning is checked meticulously and strategies for improvement devised where learning appears to falter. This ensures that children make good progress. The process applies equally to children's outstanding personal development and well-being. It is this high level of effectiveness that enables a judgement of outstanding leadership and management to be made. Individual subject leaders play a vital part in school improvement by closely checking work in their subjects and providing plans to strengthen particular aspects. Teamwork, the very high quality of performance management and staff training and excellent communications lead to a consistency of approach in which all children's learning and

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Grade: 1

development flourishes. There is no hint of complacency in this well regarded school. The search for excellence goes on, reflecting a marked capacity for self-improvement. The very good improvements made since the previous inspection are evident in higher standards, particularly in writing and ICT, and in better provision in several areas, such as music and children's independent learning. Excellent co-ordination of the work of staff and external agencies has led to outstanding levels of childcare and children's exemplary personal development. The school's previous budget surplus has been significantly reduced to ensure that small class sizes are maintained and additional support staff employed. Parents regarded these factors as very influential in their children's learning. Governors provide good support and ensure that resources are prudently deployed, enabling the school to provide good value for money.

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Grade: 1

5 Inspection Report: St Edward's Catholic Primary School, 28 September 2005 to 29 September 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: St Edward's Catholic Primary School, 28 September 2005 to 29 September 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 1 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 2 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 1 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 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 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 2 The behaviour of learners NA 1 The attendance of learners NA 1 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 1 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 1 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 1 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 1 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 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

I very much enjoyed my visit to your school. Thank you for answering my questions and helping me to gather information. I am pleased to tell you that your school is a good one, just as you thought. The best things about your school are: - Your sensible and caring attitudes to learning and towards each other - The good teaching, which helps you to learn successfully and achieve high standards. - The excellent way in which the headteacher works with staff, governors and people outside school to provide the very best education and care for you Your school is getting better all the time and very few improvements are needed. However, there are occasions when the more able children have to complete work set for the rest of the class before they can get onto more challenging tasks. It would help their learning if they were given the harder work straight away.

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