Mount Carmel Catholic Primary School

Inspection Report Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Primary School

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101919 Unique Reference Number Ealing Local Authority 286222 Inspection number 19 °20 October 2006 Inspection dates Keith Sadler Reporting inspector

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

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Little Ealing Lane School address Primary Type of school Ealing Voluntary aided School category London W5 4EA 3 °11 Age range of pupils 02085674646 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 02085795362 Fax number 462 Number on roll (school) Sister Mary Jo Martin Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Josephine Mary Wales Headteacher 5 March 2001 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 286222 19 °20 October 2006 3°11 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 three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

This is a very large Catholic primary school with attached nursery. Pupils' social circumstances are generally better than average. About half of the pupils are from White British backgrounds. A further third are from other white backgrounds, the largest group being Irish. There are a few pupils from each of 11 other ethnic groups. Nine languages are spoken in the school and there are 12 pupils who are at an early stage of speaking English. The proportion with learning difficulties and disabilities is about average. Attainment on entry to the school is above average, particularly in the areas of personal, social and emotional development and communication, language and literacy. The school has just gone through a sustained period of on-site building work to draw the two separate buildings into one.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Primary School, 19 °20 October 2006

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Grade: 3

Mount Carmel is a satisfactory school with some good features. Its key strength lies in the careful and nurturing approach that is taken by all adults to ensure that there is a calm and supportive environment in which pupils can develop. As a result of the good care, guidance and support, the pupils' personal development is good. Children settle quickly and well in the Nursery class and both in the Foundation Stage and throughout the rest of the school pupils enjoy school, have positive attitudes and their behaviour is good. Relationships are good throughout. These aspects of the school are confirmed by parents as being strengths. One said, 'My son is developing into a confident and mature young man. We feel privileged and grateful for the opportunities our children have received.' Another said that her children have been '...taught to be polite, confident with strong moral values.' However, almost a third of parents who

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Grade: 3

responded did not agree that the school sought their views and took them into account. Although the school has a strong community association and there is a rich tradition of raising very substantial funds for the school, day-to-day contact is not encouraged sufficiently. The quality of teaching and learning varies between classes and year groups. It is satisfactory overall. It is occasionally outstanding and sometimes good. Teachers have good relationships with the pupils, manage them well and provide good opportunities for them to work and collaborate together. These good aspects of teaching and learning contribute well to the pupils' personal development. However, there are weaknesses in teachers' planning. Plans lack sufficient detail to ensure that pupils make good progress over the units of work being studied. In addition, lessons are not always planned with activities that provide suitable challenge to meet the wide range of

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Grade: 3

learning needs in each class. In consequence, at the end of both Years 2 and 6, standards are above average which means that pupils' achievement is satisfactory in light of their above-average starting points. However, standards in science are not so strong as in English or mathematics. This is partly because the school has not focused on developing teaching and learning in science in the past few years. In addition, pupils do not spend enough time on investigative work. As a result, at the end of Year 6, standards are slightly above average in science whereas they are significantly above average in English and mathematics. There have been some good improvements in provision since the last inspection. The curriculum for information and communication technology (ICT) does not now have the gaps that were evident in the last inspection. The quality of teaching and learning has been improved in the infant years to its

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Grade: 3

current satisfactory level and the effectiveness of the Foundation Stage is satisfactory. Leadership and management are satisfactory. The headteacher has a clear vision in terms of the school's central Catholic mission. However, she has not brought sufficient rigour to monitoring and evaluating teaching and learning and to the curriculum or pupils' progress. In addition, senior staff and those that have responsibility for subjects are not allocated enough time to monitor the quality of teaching or to check how much progress pupils are making. As a result, the impact of the monitoring and evaluation procedures is not as strong as it could be. This is a further and important 2 Inspection Report: Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Primary School, 19 °20 October 2006 reason why pupils' achievement and their progress are no better than satisfactory overall. Governors are deeply committed to the school, support it well and have become

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Grade: 3

much more involved in strategic leadership. For example, they have provided a strong steer and leadership in the development of the excellent built environment and have recently raised telling questions of the headteacher regarding the school's provision and pupils' achievement.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure that the checking of the quality of the school's provision and pupils' progress is rigorous and systematic. • Raise standards and achievement in science, particularly in pupils' investigative skills. • Improve teachers' planning to make it more thorough and to ensure that work set provides good challenge for the learning needs of all groups of pupils. • Make parents feel more welcome on a day-to-day basis and ensure that notice is taken of their views.

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Grade: 3

Children enter the school with attainment that is above that found nationally. They settle well in the Nursery and are happy, secure and have positive attitudes. Their progress quickens in the Reception classes and, by the time that they enter Year 1, almost all meet the expected goals and a significant minority exceed them. Progress in Years 1 and 2 is steady and pupils' achievement is satisfactory. As a result, at the end of Year 2, standards are above average. Pupils continue to make steady progress in Years 3 to 6. The achievement of all groups of pupils is satisfactory. By the time that they leave the school, standards are significantly above average and have been so for the past five years. However, standards in science are closer to the national average though still slightly above.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' personal development and well-being, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, are good. Pupils are polite, articulate and have positive attitudes to learning and behave well. Attendance rates are above average and reflect pupils' enjoyment of learning. Pupils adopt good safe practices because these are promoted well by staff. They have a good understanding of healthy lifestyles, as shown in an assembly when Year 2 pupils demonstrated the importance of healthy eating through role play. Pupils demonstrate responsibility through an effective school council. They are proud of the 'buddy bus stop' in the playground where they support other pupils, especially those younger than themselves. In addition, they raise funds for charities, such as the Heart Foundation and Children in Need. By the time pupils leave, 3 Inspection Report: Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Primary School, 19 °20 October 2006

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Grade: 2

their good social skills together with competency in literacy, numeracy and ICT skills prepare them well for the future.

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Grade: 3

Teaching and learning are satisfactory overall, enabling pupils to make satisfactory progress throughout the school. Teachers have high expectations for behaviour and have established positive relationships with their classes. In the better lessons, teachers set a good pace, structure the learning well, show enthusiasm for the subject and make good use of resources, particularly ICT. This helps pupils to make good progress in their lessons. However, in too many other lessons, work is not closely matched to pupils' individual needs and lacks challenge, especially for more able pupils. This is because teachers do not make sufficient use of the assessments they make to plan work and, in addition, their planning is not thorough enough.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory and there has been considerable improvement since the last inspection in the ICT curriculum. The curricular provision for ICT and all other subjects now meets national requirements. However, in most subjects the school has not adapted the national guidelines or purchased schemes to meet the particular needs of its own pupils. Pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities and those learning English as an additional language receive satisfactory provision. Curriculum enrichment is strong and makes a positive contribution to pupils' personal development. The range of clubs and extra-curricular activities available to pupils is good, and pupils are keen to take part. There are good opportunities for school trips and a well-structured programme of residential visits which help pupils develop their independence.

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Grade: 2

Care, guidance and support for pupils are good overall and contribute well to pupils' personal development. There is a harmonious atmosphere. Good health and safety routines and risk assessment are in place. Child protection arrangements are effective and meet all requirements. Pupils express confidence that they have an adult to talk with should they feel the need to discuss personal matters. As one child commented, 'Teachers are nice and listen to us.' Provision is also enhanced by the school having a trained counsellor to support any pupils who feel sad or have behavioural needs. Induction for pupils new to the school is thoughtfully planned and ensures that pupils settle in quickly. The school works well with a range of service providers to ensure good care and support for all pupils. Thorough systems for tracking pupils' progress have been set up in all subjects, although in science, pupils' skills development is not

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Grade: 2

4 Inspection Report: Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Primary School, 19 °20 October 2006 sufficiently well checked. Pupils know about their targets in English and mathematics and receive regular comments from their teachers about how well they are progressing towards them.

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory and the school runs smoothly. Senior leaders have maintained the positive atmosphere found in the last inspection and have successfully managed the disturbances brought about through the development of the site for the past two years. However, the leadership team is stretched because it is small for such a large school and this puts too much burden on too few staff. Improvement planning is satisfactory. Although some important issues are tackled and its structure is good, the plan is not always detailed enough to pin-point improvements or show how progress towards targets will be tracked. Although the school has secure financial systems, the budget is not always appropriately allocated. For example, resources for ICT are very limited and the school has only half the recommended number of computers for a school of its size. In addition, the number of support staff

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Grade: 3

is small and hence their impact on pupils' learning is limited. There has been satisfactory improvement since the last inspection with the removal of all key weaknesses. Overall, capacity to improve further is satisfactory. 5 Inspection Report: Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Primary School, 19 °20 October 2006 .

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Grade: 3

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Primary School, 19 °20 October 2006

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 3 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

3 How well do learners achieve? 2 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

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

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and interests of learners?

2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 7 Inspection Report: Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Primary School, 19 °20 October 2006

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 8 Inspection Report: Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Primary School, 19 °20 October 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you very much for making us so welcome when we visited your school recently. We were really impressed with your friendliness and good behaviour and your sensible and helpful attitudes towards each other. We enjoyed your Harvest Festival celebration and thought you led the assembly really well. We think that your school, overall, is satisfactory and you make satisfactory progress in lessons. Here are some of the good things we found about your school: • Your behaviour is good, and you told us that you enjoy school and we could see that you do! • The school provides lots of clubs after school and you have good opportunities for visits. You are particularly lucky that you have the chance to go to Holland! • All the adults work hard to make sure that the school is safe and you are well cared for. We have asked the school to work on some things to make your school even better: • Improve the way that checks are made about how well you are doing and how good lessons

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

are. • Make your results even better in science by allowing you to spend more time on investigations. • Improve your teachers' lesson plans to make them more detailed and to make sure that everyone in the class has work that is not too easy or too hard for them. • Make your parents more welcome when they come to school. You can all help by continuing to work hard and to meet the targets set for you. With best wishes Keith Sadler Lead Inspector 9 Inspection Report: Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Primary School, 19 °20 October 2006

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