St Osburg’s Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Osburg's Catholic Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of their school and learn a lot.

They do well in a wide range of subjects, including sport and music. Pupils enter local competitions and gain success in these. This helps them to grow in confidence and have high aspirations for what they can achieve.

Pupils get on well with each other and with staff. They talk to visitors in a mature and confident way. Behaviour around the school is excellent.

Pupils know that bullying of any sort is unacceptable and that teachers would stop it if it happened. They feel safe in school.

Pupils take pa...rt in a wide range of activities, for example visiting a Roman fort and dressing as a Roman soldier.

Pupils also visited the 'Knife Angel', a statue made of confiscated knives, when it visited Coventry. This enabled pupils to discuss the dangers of gangs, and consider risks present in the wider community. Pupils also take part in community events and carry out important jobs around the school.

They are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

Leaders have high expectations of pupils. The school is inclusive and provides excellent guidance for families who need extra support.

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

There is expert oversight of the youngest children, who are well cared for. The early years classes are well organised, and children learn well inside and outside of the classroom. Consistent routines ensure that children settle at the start of the year and behave well.

They are well prepared for learning in Year 1.

The school succeeds at teaching pupils to read. Phonics lessons start in Nursery, and reading has a high priority throughout the school.

Most pupils are reading fluently by the time they are in Year 3. Pupils who need extra support get help from well-trained staff. A 'bedtime box', where pupils take home a box with a book, hot chocolate and a blanket in, encourages parents to read bedtime stories to their children.

Pupils speak positively about their enjoyment of books. Some of the books that pupils take home to read are not always matched to the sounds they already know. This hinders pupils being able to practise the phonics learned in school.

In other subjects, such as mathematics, teachers know what pupils should learn and when. They match teaching and support to pupils' different abilities. More able pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well catered for.

Work makes pupils think, and they know their next steps in learning. Pupils weigh and measure ingredients as part of a bake-off challenge. This enables pupils to apply mathematics to real-life tasks.

In history, lessons are interesting. Pupils are beginning to know some famous people from the past. Pupils debate and discuss as part of their lessons.

They use different information sources from the past to learn about their topics. In contrast to other subjects, some of the historical knowledge and skills that teachers want pupils to remember is not retained. This is because there is not a clear system for checking what pupils know more of and can do more of.

Staff know there is some fine-tuning to do and are also looking at ways to strengthen geography.

The school is very well and effectively led. A focus on staff well-being and workload has strengthened the team.

Staff are proud to work at the school. They enjoy coming to work as they say the school has a 'cheerful feel' to it.

Parents say good things about the school.

They say they are particularly pleased with the care, guidance and support the school gives to both their children and their families. This nurturing ethos is a strength of the school. The school is an oasis of learning and care within the city centre.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Pupils' welfare is leaders' top priority. Leaders train staff so they know what to do if they have concerns about pupils' well-being or safety.

Staff and leaders are swift to act when they have concerns.

The school works well with other organisations to support pupils, and their families, to get the help they need.

Leaders and governors check that staff are suitable before they begin work at the school.

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe and learn about water safety and the dangers surrounding railway lines.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

In history and geography, pupils are taught the right things. However, the way they are taught and assessed means that the subject knowledge pupils should know is often not remembered over a longer period of time.

Leaders need to ensure that pupils remember what they have learned in history and geography in order to build on this knowledge in the future. . Pupils are taught to read well.

However, the fact that pupils do not take home books that are carefully matched to the sounds they know hinders their ability to practise their sounds. Leaders should ensure that the reading resources available to pupils are matched carefully to their reading and phonics skills.

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 school 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 or that 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 second section 8 inspection since we judged St Osburg's Catholic Primary School to be a good school.