St Anthony’s Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of St Anthony's Catholic Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 3 October 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in July 2013. This school continues to be good.

An exceptionally strong leadership team, led by a highly motivated headteacher, has maintained the good quality of education at St Anthony's. You, as headteacher, have an uncompromising desire for the school to constantly improve. You correctly identify the effectiveness of the school as 'good and improving'.

There is a positive lear...ning culture throughout, and as a result, staff take collective responsibility for pupils' outcomes. Your relentless pursuit for developing the school further and providing the best for the pupils has meant that areas for improvement, highlighted in your last inspection, have been tackled with rigour. Attendance has improved year on year and pupils and parents know that 'every day every lesson counts'.

Staff at the school have shared good practice and have supported schools within the local authority and the Catholic Schools Partnership. Teachers tailor the work set to meet the needs of the pupils and pupils are clear about what they need to do to improve. The most able pupils in key stage 2 are challenged to reach the highest levels and make the best possible progress.

Pupils make good progress in English and mathematics; results for the latter at the end of key stage 2 are excellent. Writing is strong and attainment and progress in reading are improving. Provisional results for 2017, at the end of key stage 1, show that pupils' attainment was above national figures for the expected standard but slightly lower for the greater depth standard.

This, along with pupil's current work, highlight a lack of challenge for the most able. Phonics screening results have been consistently high over the past three years and well above national figures. A slight weakness was recognised in early years and strategies put in place to raise attainment in reading, writing and number.

Pupils are fully involved in the life of the school. They realise that they are all 'special' and possess a well-developed understanding of the part they play in making everyone feel valued and welcome. There is a shared sense of pride, purpose and responsibility.

Older pupils carry out jobs to assist the whole school community and carry out their support roles with diligence and enthusiasm. Pupils are caring, thoughtful and helpful. They said that they enjoy school and are given many opportunities.

They value the school's Catholic ethos and respect one another. The school has established strong links with the Catholic Schools Partnership of 18 primary schools and is held in high regard within this group. It has also provided effective support to other local authority schools.

Safeguarding is effective. The leadership team has ensured that safeguarding is effective. The recently updated single central record is comprehensive and meticulously kept.

Record-keeping systems for children at risk are robust and the deputy headteacher attends social services meetings regarding these children. All staff take safeguarding seriously and are fully committed to keeping pupils safe and free from harm. They know what they need to do should they have any concerns.

You have ensured that staff and governors have received up-to-date training. Pupils behave well and say that there is rarely any bullying. They feel safe and well cared for in school, and parents and governors agree.

Pupils said that they would always go to a member of staff for support. Pupils talk confidently about staying safe online and in the local community. Pupils show a good awareness of road safety and have attended training sessions.

Governors have made sure that safeguarding arrangements are fully compliant. In the past year, the safeguarding governor has worked on the single central record to bring about improvement. Other governors have received a variety of training, including in safer recruitment.

The health and safety governor ensures that the safety of the building is checked on a termly basis. Parents spoken to all agreed that they felt that the school was a safe environment for their children. These views were reinforced on Parent View, where 97% of respondents agreed that 'their child felt safe at school' and 98% agreed that 'their child was well looked after'.

Inspection findings ? Considerable work has been carried out to improve learning and provision in Nursery and Reception classes. A new early years leader was appointed in November 2016 and has established clear targets for improving the proportion of children achieving a good level of development. You described changes in the local area from your previous inspection, with an increasing number of children entering the school with starting points that are lower than those typical for their age.

In 2016, less than half entered with typical skill levels, but over two thirds left Reception class at the expected level. Measures for 2017 indicate improved outcomes, with over 70% achieving a good level of development in reading, writing and mathematics. All disadvantaged children achieved a good level of development, while attainment for boys and girls was similar.

The early years leader appreciates that attainment in reading, writing and number could be improved. Her work with parents, the provision of reading areas and increased opportunities for writing will all benefit progress. ? Attainment at the end of key stage 2 is higher than national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.

In 2017, nearly a quarter of all Year 6 pupils achieved the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics; this was significantly higher than the national average. Attainment and progress in mathematics are well above the national average and have been for a number of years. Teaching in this subject area is very strong.

In 2016, reading was broadly in line with national averages, so the school took prompt action to bring attainment up to the higher levels of the other areas. You implemented a number of strategies to improve reading across the school, starting in early years. One of these, 'FRED' (Family Reading Every Day), involves parents listening to their children reading on a daily basis.

Pupils who read to the inspector were keen to demonstrate their reading skills and nearly all read with fluency and expression from a range of texts. As a result of these strategies, attainment in reading in 2017 rose at both key stage 1 and key stage 2. The proportion of pupils in Year 1 achieving the required standard in the phonics screening check was considerably higher than the national average for the third year running.

All classrooms now have a reading area and pupils make good use of the school library. Planned outdoor opportunities for reading and writing will benefit learning across a range of curriculum areas. The work ethic that you and other staff have instilled in the pupils is admirable.

The pupils spoke of being 'extremely proud' of their achievements. ? The coordinator for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities was able to explain why the small group of pupils who have special educational needs in Year 6 did not meet the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics combined. It is clear that the progress of children who have special educational needs is closely tracked and appropriate interventions are provided.

The school operates a range of interventions and involves parents when setting independent education plans. Leadership support for those children who have special educational needs is effective. ? The leadership is aware that pupils with middle prior attainment in Year 6 did not make more than expected progress in writing in 2017.

Analysis of extended writing books for the present Year 6 cohort shows that teachers are providing clear targets, and checklists detail what needs to be done to reach the higher level. ? The recently appointed chair of the governing body, who is involved in education, has a comprehensive knowledge of the school and provides strong leadership to the governing body. He was able to accurately describe the school's strengths and weaknesses.

Governors are fully involved in the management of the school and provide strong support and challenge in equal measure. They make regular visits to the school and are knowledgeable about safeguarding, finance and attainment data. ? Pupil premium funding has been effectively used to support learning in reading and writing, and staff are working hard to diminish the difference between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and that of others.

Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that they: ? increase challenge for pupils in key stage 1 to ensure that a greater percentage achieve the greater depth standard in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 1 ? continue to develop learning in early years to improve standards in reading, writing and number ? ensure that there are opportunities to develop writing through moving, handling and mark-making in Nursery ? improve pupils' investigative skills and opportunities to further improve writing by the provision of more opportunities for outdoor learning. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Leeds (RC), the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Bradford. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

Yours sincerely Richard Knowles Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I held meetings with you, your administrative leader, the early years leader, the special educational needs coordinator, the school's local authority representative, the Catholic Schools Partnership representative and the chair of the governing body. I evaluated documentation, including the school's self-evaluation, the school's development plan, minutes of governing body meetings and information about safeguarding and children at risk. I spoke with several parents at the start of the day and considered 97 responses to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View.

I met with a group of 10 pupils from a range of year groups and listened to them all read. You and I visited most classrooms together to observe teaching and learning. During the afternoon, I carried out a book scrutiny and looked at written work from every year group.