St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School Inspection report

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107345 Unique Reference Number Bradford Local Authority 309387 Inspection number 15–16 October 2008 Inspection dates Carmen Markham Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare, managed by the governing body, was inspected under section 49 of the Childcare Act 2006.

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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 473 School (total) 0 Government funded early education provision for children aged 3 to the end of the EYFS 0 Childcare provision for children aged 0 to 3 years The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Cameron Ronson Chair Mrs Dorothy Hamer Headteacher 23 May 2005 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection Queen's Road School address Ingrow Keighley West Yorkshire BD21 1AR

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3–11 Age group 15–16 October 2008 Inspection dates 309387 Inspection number 1535 605880 Telephone number 1535 690419 Fax number

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3–11 Age group 15–16 October 2008 Inspection dates 309387 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. 3 of 12 Inspection Report: St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, 15–16 October 2008

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by three Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

St Joseph's is a large Catholic primary school that serves a wide area of mixed social and economic circumstances. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is broadly in line with the national average. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities has recently risen above the national average for the first time and so have the number of pupils from minority ethnic groups. A quarter of the pupils are from Catholic families; these numbers are decreasing. The school admits children from the age of three into its Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). It has a learning support provision that serves a group of local primary schools but this was not in operation at the time of the inspection. The school has Investor in People status and the Healthy School Standard.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 4 of 12 Inspection Report: St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, 15–16 October 2008

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Grade: 2

St Joseph's is a good school that is meeting the challenges of a changing school population effectively. The school has very strong links with a broad and varied community and its contribution to community cohesion is outstanding. It therefore fully meets its aim of 'building community and celebrating diversity' and is providing good value for money. The leadership and management of the school are good. They ensure that the majority of pupils make good progress and that they get the most out of school. The school environment is bursting with exciting activities, out of school clubs and wonderful displays of pupils' work. The many improvements made by the school, in its changed circumstances, are attributable to the vision and skills of the new headteacher. She has reorganised staff and encouraged governors to review their committee structure to ensure that the new educational challenges facing the

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Grade: 2

school could be successfully met. Governors, leaders and managers form a strong team and the impact of a variety of well planned initiatives to improve pupil achievement is beginning to emerge. This demonstrates good capacity to improve. Overall, pupils make good progress in relation to the below average skills with which they enter the EYFS. Standards by the end of Year 6 are above average. This represents good achievement particularly for many of those pupils who have entered the school lately with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. However, some of these pupils are not yet making good progress, particularly in mathematics, because work does not always meet their needs and their overall progress has not been tracked effectively. Efforts to address this issue are ongoing. Pupils from minority ethnic groups and able pupils achieve well. An innovative approach to teaching and learning in information and communication technology (ICT) has ensured impressive standards and

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Grade: 2

achievement in ICT by Year 6. The quality of teaching is good overall as teachers plan and deliver most lessons effectively and have good relationships with pupils. They make good use of the new creative curriculum to develop and reinforce the learning of new skills. Teachers use information on pupils' performance effectively to check that they are making good progress. Pupils are well cared for and are increasingly well supported by assessment and personal target-setting. Parents are very positive about the quality of teaching and the help and support their children receive from teachers. They are clear that the school listens to parents and takes active steps to respond to their concerns. Typically they write: 'we have nothing but praise for St Joseph's. As well as teaching the core subjects, they also teach the children the importance of self-worth and good manners.' Pupils' personal development is good. They behave well and enjoy school, although attendance

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Grade: 2

is a little lower than the national average and could be better. Pupils know how to stay healthy and enjoy the excellent sporting and fitness programmes provided by the school. They mix well with pupils of all ages and enjoy the competition and responsibilities linked to the house system. By Year 6, pupils are effective members of the school community and the wider world beyond school because their overall spiritual, moral and social development is good. Their cultural development is outstanding. Throughout school they have had many excellent opportunities to work with communities representing a range of traditions and cultures. The performance of pupils in the local Bollywood dance festival and a visit to a mosque, at the pupils' request, proved inspirational. Pupils' participation in an international day where people of all cultures celebrated their language and traditions also stimulated a great deal of interest.

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Grade: 2

5 of 12 Inspection Report: St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, 15–16 October 2008

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Grade: 2

Children enter the EYFS with skills lower than expected for their age, particularly in communication skills and social development. Consistently good teaching ensures that children make good progress so that by the end of EYFS most children are working securely within the early learning goals in line with national expectations. Adults are welcoming and help children to settle into routines very quickly. Parents and carers speak very highly of the care and provision their children receive. Induction procedures are good and include home visits for all Nursery children and Reception children who are new to the school. Good behaviour is actively taught and encouraged and any incidence of poor behaviour is dealt with firmly and sensitively. This contributes well to the children's personal development and well-being. The learning environment in the Nursery is stimulating and encourages independence. Children enjoy the carefully selected activities available to them and work well together. The

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Grade: 2

outdoor area is very well used and all six areas of learning are well represented. The Reception staff make the best use of the space available to them, particularly the shared area and the outdoor space. Teachers' planning is thorough, detailed and evaluated to inform future learning. Detailed observations ensure all adults know exactly how well children are progressing and what they need to do next. Visits and visitors are used well to enhance the curriculum. The leadership and management of the EYFS are good and the new framework has been carefully implemented. However, there are insufficient opportunities for Nursery and Reception staff to work and plan together. Despite a good balance between teacher-led and child-initiated activities, opportunities are missed to extend children's thinking skills by careful questioning. This prevents some children from making better progress.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that the increasing number of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities in Key Stage 2 make better progress, particularly in mathematics. ■ Provide more opportunities to enable the EYFS to plan as a unit to ensure continuity and progression. ■ Improve attendance for all pupils.

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Grade: 2

The above average standards at the end of Year 6 represent good progress from the sometimes well above average standards at the end of Year 2. This is because many of the extra pupils joining the school in Key Stage 2 have a low starting point. This pattern of progress throughout the school has been apparent for the last three years. The school has tackled these fluctuations in achievement well, despite the remaining pockets of pupils, who find learning difficult, that progress satisfactorily, mainly in mathematics. These pupils continue to perform at a lower level than their peers nationally. Nevertheless, the school has shown that it can be successful at accelerating pupils' progress. For example, an effort to improve the performance of boys has borne fruit. The achievements of boys and girls are now broadly similar, although there are still minor variations in relation to subjects and year groups. Moreover, pupils from minority ethnic

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Grade: 2

groups achieve well throughout the school. 6 of 12 Inspection Report: St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, 15–16 October 2008

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Grade: 2

An effective behaviour policy and caring staff who are determined to raise pupils' aspirations are key contributors to pupils' good personal development. Pupils are invariably polite and respectful towards adults and one another. All know what to do on the rare occasions that bullying happens. They enjoy school and all obey the rules for their safety and well-being. Attendance is a little below average but is improving slowly. Pupils' participation in school life is excellent. They are knowledgeable about living a healthy lifestyle through running the healthy tuck shop and in taking part in a vast range of sporting activities. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good overall with additional strengths in cultural development supported by the very innovative Keighley schools bridging project. Staff provide a wealth of different learning experiences to develop pupils' life skills. Pupils evaluate the impact of data

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Grade: 2

collection in mathematics, enjoy links to local services and use computers and the school website at every opportunity to support their learning and to prepare them for the world of work.

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Grade: 2

Warm relationships between staff and pupils contribute significantly to the good progress made by most pupils. The sensitive but firm management of behaviour also ensures that there is a calm atmosphere for learning in most lessons. Teaching assistants are effective and play a vital role in helping pupils to understand and complete their work. Where teaching is good, teachers plan appropriate tasks to match pupils' capabilities, ensure close support for pupils who experience difficulty with new learning and are quick to praise those who do well. In outstanding lessons, the teacher's enthusiasm, subject knowledge and well structured tasks enable pupils to work independently and to make excellent progress. Teaching is not as effective when teachers' planning fails to provide suitable tasks, especially for pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. This usually occurs when the same work is set for the whole class and some

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Grade: 2

pupils struggle to complete the task or rely on adult support for guidance. This slows their learning, particularly in mathematics. The school's interactive website is supporting learning effectively at home and at school. Information from the regular and careful assessment of progress is used well by most staff to identify any pupils who may need additional support to help them make expected progress. Effective marking in most classes supports this but the quality of this is not consistent throughout the school.

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Grade: 2

The attractive displays of pupils' work reflect the breadth of the curriculum and help to create an attractive learning environment. The school has been awarded Artsmark Gold for the quality of art in school. Recently, work on improving literacy and numeracy skills has had a high profile. However, the curriculum for pupils with learning difficulties is not planned well enough to accelerate their progress in numeracy. The school has developed a good creative curriculum by building topics based on a theme. These topics draw on, and develop skills from other subjects and are beginning to improve the quality of learning. The contribution the curriculum makes to pupils personal development and well-being is good. Pupils enjoy learning to speak another language in the Nursery and this continues throughout the school. The school provides a large 7 of 12 Inspection Report: St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, 15–16 October 2008

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Grade: 2

variety of well attended enrichment activities such as fitness and computer clubs and excels in its involvement and commitment to sporting activities. Pupils took part in 77 sporting events or competitions last year, which is a remarkable achievement.

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Grade: 2

The school provides good pastoral support particularly for its most vulnerable pupils who have a place where they can 'drop in' when they need to talk to the learning mentors. The very well attended breakfast club helps pupils get the day off to a good start. The breakfast club is one of several good strategies that the school uses to encourage better attendance but there is still more to be done. Safeguarding arrangements meet statutory requirements and there are well established procedures to ensure the safety of pupils. New procedures for the monitoring and assessment of pupils' progress are good. Pupils know their learning targets and what they have to do to achieve them. However, these targets are not so effectively shared with parents. There are some effective intervention strategies for pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities delivered by a dedicated, skilful team of teaching assistants. However, support for

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Grade: 2

these pupils is not yet entirely good and this limits their progress at the moment.

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Grade: 2

The very able and experienced headteacher has reorganised the way that the leadership team and the governors operate. Staff and governors are now fully involved in decisions made, share monitoring and evaluation and are accountable for the outcomes of their work. All have an increased understanding of the work of the school. The school is fully aware of its strengths and weaknesses and has identified the correct priorities to bring about improvement. Although it is still a little too early to see the full impact of the work that has been undertaken, there have been significant improvements in relation to the EYFS, the use of data to monitor pupils' progress, the development of informed and challenging targets and the introduction of a more relevant curriculum. Weaknesses in the management of provision for pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities in Key Stage 2 have also been identified and support is in place

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Grade: 2

to ensure that the needs of this growing group of pupils are met. However, the full impact of this work has yet to be seen. 8 of 12 Inspection Report: St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, 15–16 October 2008 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 9 of 12 Inspection Report: St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, 15–16 October 2008

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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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needs of learners?

Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well being? 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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EYFS?

2 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? How good are the overall personal development and well-being of the children in the EYFS? 2 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 2 How effectively is the welfare of children in the EYFS promoted? 2 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed?

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Achievement and standards

2 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 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities make progress

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Achievement and standards

1 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. 10 of 12 Inspection Report: St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, 15–16 October 2008

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners enjoy their education 3 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 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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learners' needs?

How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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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 2 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 1 How well does the school contribute to community cohesion? 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? 11 of 12 Inspection Report: St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, 15–16 October 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Inspection of St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Keighley, BD21 1AR On behalf of the inspection team I would like to thank you for making us so welcome in your school. You were all very helpful and polite and helped us to find our way around. We admired the beautiful displays of your art work on the walls and can understand how your school gained the Gold Artsmark Award. We also enjoyed talking to you and finding out about your school council and the work you do in lessons. We think that your headteacher and the staff all work hard to make your school successful. We judge it to be a good school that has outstanding links with the community. You really enjoyed your experience of Bollywood dancing. Staff look after you well and most of you feel safe and happy in school. Most of you make progress in lessons because your teachers plan them carefully so you usually have work that suits you. Teachers also make sure that they involve you in a lot

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

of interesting topics, activities and visits so that you can practise new skills and improve your understanding of the world. Your Victorian project called Smellies and Wellies sounded very exciting. Most, but not all of you attend school regularly and arrive on time. You behave well and so you are able to listen and learn. We noticed that you take good care of each other so that you can all enjoy school. You also know how to stay healthy and safe and make the most of all the exciting activities the school provides before and after school. Your sport mascot, Joey the Lion, is obviously bringing you a lot of sporting success as you have got so many trophies! One of the reasons for our visit was to see how your school can improve. Although most of you are making good progress, some work is too difficult for some pupils. We have asked your teachers to make sure that all pupils have work that they can do well if they think hard and

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

make an effort. We have also asked the school to do more to ensure that you all attend school regularly as you cannot learn if you are not in school. 12 of 12 Inspection Report: St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, 15–16 October 2008

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