Penwortham, St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Penwortham, St Teresa's Catholic Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

St Teresa's Catholic Primary School is a warm and supportive community. Pupils are proud ambassadors for their school. Their school motto permeates everything that they do.

They are keen to be awarded the weekly 'role-model award' for being kind and respectful.

Positive relationships between staff and pupils are evident throughout the school. At breaktimes, pupils play happily together.

They feel confident that staff will listen to them if they have any worries. Leaders deal with any incidents of unkind words or behaviour, including bullying, promp...tly and effectively. This helps pupils to feel safe and happy.

Leaders and staff have high ambitions for the achievement, behaviour and personal development of pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). In lessons, pupils listen carefully to teachers' instructions and are eager to contribute to discussions. They live up to leaders' high expectations.

Across the school, most pupils achieve well.

Pupils benefit from a range of opportunities to develop beyond the academic curriculum. For example, they go on residential visits and school trips.

This allows them to gain an understanding of their local community and the wider world. They are fully involved in school life. They speak proudly about the sporting achievements of their school.

Older pupils enjoy roles such as being representatives on the school council, digital leaders and well-being ambassadors. Play leaders help to organise playtime activities for younger pupils.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have developed an engaging and ambitious curriculum.

They have constructed the curriculum while taking into consideration the mixed-age classes in the school. They have organised the curriculum effectively and designed it to help pupils build up their learning logically from early years to Year 6.

Teachers have the skills to implement the curriculum well.

This is because leaders ensure that staff receive relevant training to hone their subject knowledge. As a result, teachers select appropriate activities to help pupils to learn well.

Teachers make regular checks on pupils' learning.

They use this information effectively to find out how well pupils have remembered earlier work and to shape future teaching. Pupils develop detailed knowledge in most subjects.

In a small number of subjects, pupils struggle to connect new learning with earlier concepts.

This is because leaders have only recently clarified the most important knowledge and concepts that pupils need to learn in these subjects. As a result, pupils have not developed a deep understanding of these subjects over time.

Reading is central to the school's curriculum.

Pupils develop a love of reading. They enjoy reading the books that the pupil reading leaders recommend to them each month. These pupil leaders regularly read to younger children in the school library.

Older pupils strive to achieve awards for their reading. They read a wide range of books with confidence.

Leaders have implemented an ambitious curriculum that introduces children to phonics in a systematic way.

They have provided training for staff to teach this curriculum well. The teaching of phonics starts as soon as children join Reception class. Leaders ensure that the books that pupils read match the sounds that they are learning in class.

Staff give effective help to those pupils who need to catch up. This means that most pupils become confident and fluent readers.

Staff quickly identify pupils with SEND.

Effective systems are in place to help these pupils receive the support that they need in school. Leaders use external specialist support where required. Teachers know how to make appropriate adaptations to learning activities.

This ensures that pupils with SEND can follow the same ambitious curriculum as their peers.

Pupils behave well throughout the school. They can concentrate on their learning because lessons are rarely interrupted by low-level disruption.

Through the curriculum, pupils develop a strong understanding of British values, such as democracy. They learn about different types of family and different religions. They understand the importance of treating everyone with respect.

Through such opportunities, leaders help pupils to develop as caring and thoughtful citizens.

Governors know the school well. They work with leaders to ensure that they are mindful of the workload of staff in the decisions they make.

Staff appreciate the care that leaders show for their well-being. They feel that leaders value them.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders provide staff with regular and up-to-date safeguarding training. This helps staff to identify any signs of physical and emotional harm in pupils. Staff act in pupils' best interests.

Leaders deal with safeguarding issues quickly and effectively. They work with a range of other professionals, when needed, to ensure that pupils are safe.

Teachers use the curriculum well to ensure that pupils understand how to keep themselves safe.

They teach pupils about road safety and the risks associated with drugs and alcohol. Leaders ensure that pupils know what inappropriate online content is and that they should report this to an adult if they see it.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of subjects, the refinements that leaders have made to the key knowledge that pupils need to learn are relatively new.

As a result, some pupils struggle to make deeper connections between earlier knowledge and new learning. Leaders should ensure that they embed the changes to these curriculums well so that pupils develop deeper knowledge and understanding of key concepts over time.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in September 2013.

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