St Patrick’s Catholic Voluntary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils' experience of school has been impacted negatively during a period of considerable turbulence in staffing and fragility in governance.

Many staff are new to the school, or new to their role. The school does not have the leadership capacity to give staff the support that they need to carry out their role effectively or bring about the necessary improvements to pupils' education.

There are weaknesses in how well the curriculum is taught.

The school does not have high enough expectations of pupils' achievement, particularly for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils with SEND do not get the support that they need. Consequ...ently, pupils, including pupils with SEND, do not achieve as well as they should.

While some lessons are calm and orderly, others are disrupted by low-level behaviour and noise. The school does not support staff to implement the behaviour policy effectively. Pupils reported that there are frequent incidents of poor behaviour and bullying.

They have varying levels of confidence in staff to resolve these issues.

Despite these weaknesses, many pupils enjoy school. This is reflected in their good attendance.

They learn how to keep themselves safe through the personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education lessons. There are some opportunities for pupils to take on leadership responsibilities. This helps them to develop their confidence and communication skills.

For example, they can become a prayer warrior or part of the school council. However, these opportunities are limited.

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

The curriculums for most subjects are coherently designed.

The school has given thought to what pupils need to learn and how their knowledge will build over time. However, in some year groups and some subjects the delivery of the curriculum is weak. Teachers do not consistently choose the most appropriate tasks and resources to support learning.

For example, pupils rarely use practical resources in mathematics lessons to help them understand mathematical concepts. This hinders pupils' learning. The school does not make regular checks on whether staff are teaching the curriculum as intended.

This prevents it from ensuring that teachers receive the support that they need to help pupils achieve well.

The school has made learning to read a priority. Staff are trained in how to teach phonics and reading books are matched to the sounds that pupils know.

However, phonics lessons are often disrupted by poor behaviour. This impedes pupils' ability to learn new sounds. The school identifies pupils who find reading difficult, but it does not put support in place quickly enough to help them catch up.

The curriculum for the early years is designed to ensure that children are prepared well for Year 1. However, not all children have equal access to the early years curriculum.When this is the case, the school has not given careful enough thought to the curriculum that this group of children receive.

As a result, this arrangement is having a detrimental effect on their achievement and their readiness to access their learning in key stage 1.

In some subjects, such as mathematics, teachers check pupils' learning well to identify gaps in their knowledge. Teachers adapt their teaching to help pupils to understand what has been taught.

However, in other subjects, assessment strategies are less effective. In English, for example, teachers expect pupils to complete complex writing tasks without the basic knowledge that they need to do so. This means that pupils are not able to build their knowledge over time.

The school does not provide pupils with SEND with a high-quality education. It does not have a suitable system to identify pupils with SEND. Consequently, the school does not know exactly how many pupils with SEND there are on its roll.

Most pupils who are on the SEND register do not have an up-to-date support plan. Staff do not understand the needs of the pupils in their class, nor how to support them. As a result, many pupils' needs are not met.

This leads to them struggling to access learning and becoming unsettled. This is particularly true in the early years.

The school does not have a consistent approach to managing behaviour.

The behaviour policy is relatively new. The school has not ensured that staff know how to apply the policy. This means that staff have differing expectations of pupils' behaviour.

Staff do not feel supported to manage more challenging behaviour. Lessons are often noisy with teachers and pupils competing to be heard. This has an impact on pupils' ability to learn.

The school's systems for reporting and recording behaviour incidents are not sufficiently robust. Sometimes, staff and parents do not know that incidents have happened. This has caused worry among parents.

Pupils learn how to lead safe, healthy lifestyles and about a range of different faiths. However, teachers do not check whether pupils remember this learning. Consequently, pupils' recall of learning is variable.

Pupils know the importance of respect and tolerance for others, but they do not consistently demonstrate their understanding in their actions or words. The school is working to broaden the range of extra-curricular clubs that are on offer to pupils. It uses some educational visits to enhance teaching and to give pupils wider experiences.

There is fragility in relation to the governance of the school. The governing body has not acted swiftly enough to stabilise the school, strengthen leadership, build capacity and bring about improvement. Staff morale is low, although staff do acknowledge that managing their workload has improved this academic year.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There are some weaknesses in how the school records safeguarding concerns. Records show that concerns are not consistently logged in a timely manner.

Some records do not indicate what action was taken to resolve the concern. Staff do not fully appreciate how small concerns can form part of a wider picture.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• High staff turnover and turbulence in governance have had a significant impact on the leadership capacity of the school.

Consequently, there are significant weaknesses in the quality of education that pupils receive. The school has not made sure that weaknesses in the delivery of the curriculum are identified and resolved. The school must act swiftly to strengthen leadership capacity at all levels to bring about rapid and sustainable improvement to pupils' education and their experience of school.

• The school does not identify pupils with SEND well enough or provide an education that meets their needs. Staff are unclear about pupils' needs. They do not adapt the curriculum well enough to enable these pupils to flourish.

Consequently, the achievement of pupils with SEND is weak. The school must ensure that staff are fully trained in how to identify and meet the needs of pupils with SEND. ? Many staff are not equipped to implement the new behaviour policy, and there is a distinct lack of clarity around the rewards and consequences that should be used.

As a result, lessons are frequently interrupted by disruptive behaviour, and classrooms are, on occasion, loud and chaotic. Some pupils have lost confidence in the school's ability to solve incidents of bullying. The school must ensure that staff are suitably informed about the behaviour policy so that it is implemented consistently well to reduce bullying and improve pupils' behaviour.

• Children in the early years do not receive equitable access to the curriculum. A significant minority of children are registered in the Year 1 class and spend their time between the Reception Year and Year 1. This is having a detrimental effect on their achievement.

It lessens their readiness to access the key stage 1 curriculum. The school must ensure that all children of Reception age get full and equal access to the curriculum so that they are prepared well for the next stage of their education. ? Staff do not check whether pupils remember what they have learned in some of subjects, including PSHE lessons.

Consequently, pupils' recall of learning in these subjects is variable and pupils have gaps in their knowledge. This limits their readiness for life beyond school. The school should ensure that pupils know and remember what they have been taught so that they are well prepared for their next steps.

• There are weaknesses in how well the school records safeguarding concerns. Some records are not completed in a timely manner. The school does not consistently record the action taken following a concern.

The school must ensure that strong systems are in place to ensure that all safeguarding concerns are appropriately recorded, including the action that was taken.HMCI strongly recommends that the school does not seek to appoint early career teachers. The position regarding the appointment of early career teachers will be considered again during any monitoring inspection we carry out.