St Kentigern's RC PrimaryOfsted inspection, 22 Mar 2007

St Kentigern's RC Primary Inspection report

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105584 Unique Reference Number Manchester Local Authority 287273 Inspection number 21 °22 March 2007 Inspection dates Saleem Hussain 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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Primary Type of school Voluntary aided School category 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 465 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Rev Fr Tom Connolly Chair Mr P Jackson Headteacher 19 March 2001 Date of previous school inspection Bethnall Drive School address Fallowfield Manchester Greater Manchester M14 7ED

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0161 2246842 Telephone number 0161 2564946 Fax number

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3 °11 Age group 21 °22 March 2007 Inspection dates 287273 Inspection number .

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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

St Kentigern's is an inner city school situated just south of the city centre of Manchester. The percentage of pupils eligible for a free school meal is well above average. The percentage of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is broadly average. Most pupils are of White British heritage. A small number of pupils are at the early stages of learning English. Attainment on entry to Nursery is generally below average. The school has Active SportsMark and School Achievement Awards and is a Leading Aspect Award holder for its Brain Zone learning facility.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: St Kentigern's RC Primary, 21 °22 March 2007

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Grade: 1

This is an outstanding school. It provides pupils with golden opportunities to achieve their very best within a caring, Catholic ethos. Parental comments include, 'this is a wonderful school with outstanding teachers who make the school a warm and happy place for all children'. Achievement is outstanding and standards are generally above average because teaching and learning is outstanding. Excellent links with other agencies ensure the well-being of all pupils. Full time Nursery provision gives the youngest children a gentle start to their learning. Children quickly develop a sense of independence because they are encouraged to take part in various learning activities. Outstanding personal, social and health education enables pupils to develop very healthy lifestyles. Excellent opportunities to reflect enable pupils to come to their own conclusions about the difference they can make to the lives of others through simple acts of kindness.

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Grade: 1

Consequently, values such as making the most of learning chances, enjoying life to the full and contributing to the community are deeply ingrained and personal development is outstanding. Care, support and guidance are outstanding. Pupils are constantly praised and rewarded for effort and achievement. Consequently, pupils develop confidence, self-esteem and basic skills very quickly. These factors, together with the academic progress they make, prepare them exceptionally well for the future. The headteacher is passionate about developing the school community, and leadership and management at all levels are outstanding. Leaders and managers share a common vision and there is a great commitment towards inclusion reflected in all the school's work. Many challenges have faced the school in recent years including staffing matters and the school has coped well. For instance, several new staff have recently started at the school, yet the quality of teaching

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Grade: 1

remains outstanding because of excellent induction and professional development procedures. Innovative and creative approaches to teaching and learning are hallmarks of the school. For instance, the brain zone has rightly attracted the interest of the wider community because of the immense stimulation this learning area offers. The strong curriculum provides well for the needs of all pupils. However, more can be done to take advantage of outdoor learning chances for the youngest children. Several significant improvements have taken place since the last inspection. These include teaching, progress, monitoring, evaluation and attendance, illustrating the school's outstanding capacity for further improvement. In view of the many outstanding outcomes, the school provides excellent value for money.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Provide more opportunities for outdoor learning in the Foundation Stage.

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Grade: 1

Achievement is outstanding. Standards on entry to Nursery are generally below average, though they vary from year to year because of differing proportions of children with speech and communication difficulties. In the Nursery, children make good progress because almost all attend full time and are taught well. Those children at an early stage of learning English as an additional language make good strides at mastering English because of good support from 4 of 11 Inspection Report: St Kentigern's RC Primary, 21 °22 March 2007 staff and plenty of opportunities to engage in discussions with adults and other children. Good progress is maintained in the Reception and by the time pupils enter Year 1, standards are about average. Because of good teaching and pupils' outstanding attitudes to learning, pupils continue to make good progress in Years 1 to 6 to achieve above average standards overall. The school has successfully maintained significantly above average standards since the last

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Grade: 1

inspection. Most pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities reach, or come close to reaching national expectations by the time they leave the school. Standards of the present group of pupils in Year 6 in English and mathematics are on course to be similar to those in previous years.

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Grade: 1

Pupil's personal development is outstanding and this makes a significant contribution to their progress. They develop self-confidence and mature particularly well as they get older. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent. Pupils show much awe and wonder in their learning. They marvel at the beauty of the world around them as they learn facts in science about the size of the universe and the vastness of space. They often consider moral issues. For instance, there was pin drop silence during an assembly as pupils heard how far one of King Arthur's knights was prepared to go to keep his promise to help the king. Pupils have many chances to learn about the beliefs, traditions and customs of others in our culturally diverse society. For instance, they enjoyed performing their lively Irish dancing at a local school, and will welcome that school's Indian dancers to St Kentigern's shortly. Behaviour is outstanding.

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Grade: 1

The vast majority feel very safe and secure in school. Pupils say that bullying is not a problem and there are many adults they can turn to if they have any worries. Relationships are excellent. Pupils work very effectively together in lessons and delight in each other's achievements. Attendance is above average for the majority of pupils and much improved since the last inspection. Pupils show excellent attitudes towards healthy living and there is a very high level of participation in sports. They have many chances to find out about the world of work and are particularly well prepared for their economic future.

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Grade: 1

The school modestly considered the quality of teaching and learning to be good, however the inspection judges it to be outstanding. It ensures that pupils make excellent progress. The school has capitalised on pupils' outstanding attitudes and developed many creative approaches to enhance learning; such as brain gym or mind mapping. The best lessons are challenging to pupils of all abilities and brisk in pace. Teachers involve pupils in lessons particularly well. For instance, in a Year 3 English lesson, pupils enacted Aesop's fable about the hare and the tortoise before a whole-class discussion about the structure of the story. Pupils are often involved in self-evaluation and this is one reason for their particularly good awareness of how well they are doing. Teachers' very good subject knowledge allows them to be confident and inject their individual teaching styles to prompt and encourage independence in learning. Excellent

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Grade: 1

behaviour management ensures that pupils always stay on task. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: St Kentigern's RC Primary, 21 °22 March 2007

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good and meets the needs of all pupils. Pupils' maturity and healthy lifestyles are enhanced through personal, social, health and citizenship education exceptionally well. The recently established Brain Zone is innovative and captures pupils' interest in learning. A pupil remarked that, 'I don't get bored in the Brain Zone. I am able to use computers to record my work and enjoy working on a range of different activities.' Basic skills in English and mathematics are developed well, although using and applying these skills in other subjects is at an early stage of development. Information and communication technology (ICT) provision is good. Educational visits and a good range of extra-curricular activities are used effectively to provide an extra dimension to learning. For instance, pupils learnt a great deal more about the environment during a recent visit to different locations on the River Mersey. In the Foundation

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Grade: 2

Stage, the provision is good. However, although the curriculum generally helps children to make good progress, there are not enough opportunities for the children to develop their learning outdoors in order to make even better progress.

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Grade: 1

The school provides outstanding care, support and guidance. Consequently, pupils feel very safe and secure and make excellent progress. Pupils' comments included, 'we're like a big, happy family. Everyone cares and looks out for you. Teachers want you to do well, they are patient and don't mind explaining things as many times as you need.' Appropriate safeguarding procedures are in place and are reviewed regularly. Vulnerable pupils, those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, and pupils with English as an additional language make outstanding progress because of excellent support in the classroom. Teachers, assistants and outside agencies work together very effectively. For instance, specialist teachers from the local authority's inclusion unit work very closely with staff to address individual needs. Assessment and tracking systems are very thorough. They provide very clear progress information and so

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Grade: 1

staff know just where to direct extra help and support. Challenging targets are set for all pupils based on these strong assessment procedures. Active links with local high schools ensure pupils are very well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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Grade: 1

Leadership and management are outstanding because the school is successfully focused on promoting pupils' personal development and raising standards. The headteacher's infectious belief in valuing all pupils and staff makes the school community glow about what can be achieved. Leaders and managers know the strengths and weaknesses of the school particularly well and everyone is playing their part in effectively tackling issues and meeting the challenges. The governing body possesses a good range of expertise and supports the school well by acting as a critical friend. Self-evaluation is particularly effective. Performance is monitored and evaluated exceptionally well, and this ensures that problems are quickly identified. Consequently, new strategies and interventions are developed where necessary in order that pupils can continue to achieve as well as possible. Parents are very appreciative of the school's work and are given

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Grade: 1

many opportunities to find out about how best to support learning at home. Resources are 6 of 11 Inspection Report: St Kentigern's RC Primary, 21 °22 March 2007 very effectively used to support learning. For instance, teaching assistants are strategically deployed and make a significant contribution to the progress made by pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and those at the early stages of learning English. Inclusion is at the heart of the school's work and every child's performance is carefully evaluated to make sure that they achieve as well as they can. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: St Kentigern's RC Primary, 21 °22 March 2007 .

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Grade: 1

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: St Kentigern's RC Primary, 21 °22 March 2007

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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? 2 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 1 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 1 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

1 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 1 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The behaviour of learners 2 The attendance of learners 1 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 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?

1 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. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: St Kentigern's RC Primary, 21 °22 March 2007

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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? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: St Kentigern's RC Primary, 21 °22 March 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Inspection of St Kentigern's Roman Catholic Primary School, Manchester, M14 7ED Thank you for all your help during the inspection of your school. We enjoyed watching your lessons and talking with you and the adults in the school. We especially enjoyed the assembly for older children about respect. We loved seeing the looks on your faces when you heard about 'the loathsome lady'. I learnt a lot from that story myself! We think that St Kentigern's is an excellent school. Your achievements are outstanding. It's great to see that you are enjoying your learning so much. I'm not at all surprised at this because adults give you such interesting and fun chances to learn in ways that you like. We agree with you about the 'brain-zone' - it is marvellous! Your personal development is excellent. We think you are super young people who are growing up and learning about safe and healthy living really well. We think that all adults are very caring

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

and help you to learn. Teaching at your school is excellent. We can see why you think so much of your headteacher. We think that the leadership and management of your school are outstanding and that the school is in really good hands. There is only one thing we think could be better. Although the youngest children in your school make good progress, we think they would do even better if they had more chances to learn in the outdoor areas. Carry on working as hard as you do in and I am sure you will always be the best that you can be. Well done children and thank you for making our visit an enjoyable one. 11 of 11 Inspection Report: St Kentigern's RC Primary, 21 °22 March 2007

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