Saint Winefride’s Catholic Voluntary Academy, Shepshed, Leicestershire

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Saint Winefride's Catholic Voluntary Academy continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school because they have fun. They feel safe and well cared for.

Pupils say that teachers help them with their work and resolve any friendship problems. They say that bullying is rare and that if it happens, adults deal with it well.

The school's vision of 'we pray, we live, we pray, we learn' is central to the ethos at St Winefride's.

Pupils are polite, respectful and well mannered. Learning about 'character muscles' helps pupils to recognise their own feelings as well as the feelings of others. Pupils behave well during lesson...s because lessons are interesting.

All staff are ambitious for the pupils and want them to thrive as individuals.

Pupils enjoy participating in a wide variety of curriculum opportunities. They take part in clubs, visits and the regular 'wow' days.

Pupils enjoy activities such as hockey, chess, pottery and science. Pupils are keen to have responsibilities. They are proud to be members of the eco team, the school council and the chaplaincy team.

They make a real difference to their school and local community. For example, pupils went to sing at a local care home and made a Christmas card for each resident.

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

Pupils enjoy a rich curriculum.

Leaders firmly believe that it is important that pupils experience a broad education that will give them the skills they need to succeed in the future. Staff and governors share this aspiration. Staff feel valued and morale is high.

Teachers help children to learn phonics as soon as they start school. This ensures that they gain the understanding of sounds and the words they need to read fluently. Adults check the progress that pupils make through the well-planned phonics programme.

There are daily reading lessons in every class. The books pupils choose are well matched to their reading ability. When pupils are at risk of falling behind, support is in place to help them catch up quickly.

In key stage 2, pupils read together to develop their reading comprehension. Pupils say that teachers read to them in a dramatic style which adds to the thrill and excitement of the story. Class stories are carefully selected and are often linked to learning in other subjects, such as history or geography.

Pupils say that they enjoy the challenge of mathematics. They use previous learning to help them understand new topics. Teachers frequently check pupils' progress through the mathematics curriculum.

The new scheme of work has increased the number of opportunities for pupils to apply their knowledge and develop their reasoning skills. For example, in Year 5, pupils could confidently explain their methods and reasoning for solving a problem using the correct mathematical vocabulary.

Leaders plan topics that are exciting to widen pupils' experiences and vocabulary.

Leaders have developed these plans well so that learning is sequenced and taught through a range of subjects. Pupils can explain the different ways they recall their previous learning. This is helping them to know, understand and remember more.

History is well planned, which helps pupils to make links in their learning. Pupils can explain connections between different periods of history. They ask searching questions about historical events and can explain how these events have influenced the present day.

However, pupils' written work in history is not always accurate. Pupils do not consistently apply their knowledge of grammar and punctuation in their written work. Teachers do not check if pupils use accurate grammar and punctuation across the curriculum.

Leaders have not ensured that pupils' achievement in all curriculum areas is assessed consistently.

Leaders make sure that all pupils can participate in every lesson. Teachers know what pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) need to learn next.

They think about their needs when they are planning lessons. Pupils with SEND achieve well, because of the expertise of the school staff.

Children make a positive start in Reception.

They receive a high level of care. This helps them to settle quickly and feel secure. Children start learning their sounds straight away.

Regular practice helps them to commit the sounds to memory. They practise handwriting alongside their phonics. The learning environment is packed full of areas to stimulate each child's curiosity.

This is developing children's skills, knowledge and confidence. Tasks and challenges are exciting, and children concentrate for sustained periods of time to complete their task.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Pupils' safety and well-being are of great importance to leaders and staff. All staff understand and follow the school's procedures for raising concerns about pupils' welfare. There is good support for new staff.

Leaders act immediately on concerns that are brought to their attention. Leaders ensure that all staff receive up-to-date training in safeguarding procedures.

Staff teach pupils to be aware of the potential risks they may face in life.

For example, pupils learn how to use social media responsibly, visit the Warning Zone and act out scenarios, and meet with the community police officer.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Teachers and leaders use assessment well in English and mathematics so that pupils embed and use knowledge with increasing fluency. Assessment in other subjects is not as well developed.

Leaders should continue to review and refine assessment in all subjects. They should ensure that teachers use assessment information to help pupils apply their knowledge and skills in all subjects.

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 a section 8 inspection of a good or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good/standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 4–5 May 2016.