Ofsted Inspection - 14th & 15th June 2023

13^th July 2023

Dear Parents,

Ofsted Inspection and Final Report

I am writing to share some very exciting news with you that fills me with great pride and joy.  As you are aware, our school recently underwent an inspection by Ofsted.  I am pleased to inform you that we have received the final report and St Thomas More Catholic Primary School has been judged us a “Good” school.  We have received a Good judgement in all five areas and the report highlights the distinctive achievements and progress that we have made as a school.  Please see the full report below.

One aspect that the Ofsted report particularly celebrates is our dedication to inclusive education. Our school prides itself on creating a warm and welcoming environment, where every child feels valued and supported.  The report commends our commitment to providing equal opportunities for all students, regardless of their individual needs or backgrounds.  This recognition fills us with immense pride as it showcases the inclusive ethos that we have fostered within our whole school.

Another area that the report emphasises is our success in developing a reading culture within our school.  Our focus on cultivating a love for reading and developing strong literacy skills has been acknowledged and the Ofsted report commends our efforts to expose children to challenging texts.  The development of phonics is identified as being a strong beginning to developing confident readers and reading underpins the whole curriculum.  By nurturing our students' reading habits, we are equipping them with a lifelong passion for learning and empowering them to become confident communicators and critical thinkers.

At St Thomas More Catholic Primary School, we believe in nurturing our students' abilities and pushing them to reach their full potential.  The Ofsted report commends the high standards we have set and our focus on providing a challenging curriculum that engages and inspires our students.  It highlights our maths curriculum which builds on children’s prior learning and stretches and challenges the pupils.  It is through our collective efforts that we have cultivated a culture of high expectations, and I am thrilled that the report recognises this.

As we reflect on this report, let us not forget that there is always room for improvement.  We will continue to build upon the foundation that we have established, seeking new opportunities to enhance our curriculum and tighten our assessment points.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincerest gratitude to all the parents who have supported us throughout this journey.  Your support and involvement have contributed to our achievements.  I also want to extend my deepest appreciation to our dedicated staff and governors whose hard work and passion have been instrumental in our school's success.  They truly embody the values and ethos of St Thomas More Catholic Primary School.   

We have achieved such a pleasing outcome through our collective efforts and unwavering commitment to the school.  Together, we have achieved something truly remarkable.  Let us take pride in this success and continue to work together to provide the best possible education and experiences for our children.

With very best wishes,

Mrs N Tippen

Head Teacher

School Assessments

Please note that children are assessed externally at key points:

• Reception - Baseline Assessment
• Year 1 - Phonics Screening Check
• Year 2 - SATs Assessments
• Year 4 - Multiplication Tables Check
• Year 6 - SATs Assessments

Early Years Foundation Stage 2022 - 60% of pupils achieved GLD

Year 1 Phonics Screening Check 2022 - 51% of pupils passed

Ofsted Inspection

We had full Section 5 inspection in June 2019.

Here is a letter from the Chair of Governors:

12^th July 2019

Dear Parents/Carers,

After the last Ofsted Inspection in January 2014, the school experienced a number of changes including several short-term appointments for the role of Head Teacher, which inevitably has had an impact on teaching and learning. We have now had a more stable period for the last two years and as a result we have seen huge progress.

At the Ofsted Inspection in March 2018, the Inspectors gave verbal feedback that the school would be unlikely to be ‘Good’ at the next full inspection if improvements were not made.   At this point, the new Senior Leadership Team and Governing Body had started to implement many new initiatives – we all know that changes take time to have an impact.

At the most recent Ofsted Inspection, in June 2019, the Inspectors recognised all of these changes that have taken place in the last two years including staffing changes, curriculum changes and changes to assessment processes.  It was acknowledged that the changes are beginning to have a positive impact but that more time is needed for them to embed and achieve consistency throughout the whole school.  For this reason, the school was judged to be requiring improvement overall which means that Ofsted will keep a close eye on the school to ensure the improvements that have been started will continue.

Ofsted identified that Personal Development, Behaviour and Welfare is a strength of the school and is already able to be judged as ‘Good’.  This recognises all the good practices and hard work that has been implemented in this area and is now firmly embedded in our school.  This is to be applauded and is as a result of huge efforts by Senior Leaders, teachers, pupils and parents/carers to improve attendance, behaviour and safeguarding – all key to improving outcomes in the other areas that Ofsted judge.

It was good to see that the Inspector commented on how the teaching of Maths and Phonics is becoming increasingly effective in promoting pupils’ learning  - these are areas that we have introduced many new changes and ideas into.  They also felt that more progress needs to be made with pupils’ writing skills and outcomes for all abilities – these are areas we already had on our action plan and have started to address.  The Inspection brought up no surprises for us and it was good to have the hard work acknowledged along with our next steps being confirmed.

I am sure you will join the Governors in recognising how much the school has improved and how we are all working together to ensure that with all these good practices we achieve good outcomes for all pupils.    We will be holding a meeting about the Inspection for parents/carers after school on Monday 15^th July at 3.15 pm which you are welcome to attend.

The Governors are confident that the current leaders and staff will continue to build on the good work they have begun, as recognised by the Inspectors, and ensure that more consistency is achieved together with good outcomes for all pupils.

Yours sincerely,

Cathy Hipkiss

Chair of Governors

Please click on the link below to read the report.

Parent View

During an Inspection parents are encouraged to give their views on their child's school through Parent View which gives you the chance to tell Ofsted what you think about your child’s school.  The link below will take you to the Parent View site:

www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/

We had a short Section 8 inspection in March 2018. This inspection identified some priorities for improvement for the school to address. There was no change to the school’s ‘overall effectiveness’ grade of good as a result of this inspection.

Here are some key findings from the letter:

• Safeguarding is effective.
• The impact of our work on attendance is impressive but some pupils still not attend regularly enough, which restricts pupils’ progress over time.
• We are making key improvements to the way Pupil Premium funding is used although it is too early to see the impact of this on raising the achievement of pupils.
• Pupils’ workbooks show that progress is accelerating although some underachievement still exists and leaders need to clearly communicate the short-term teaching improvements required.
• Writing has improved but spelling remains a weakness.
• There has been some improvements seen in KS2 reading outcomes but this remains below the national average.
• Phonics teaching is inconsistent and reading material isn’t matched to the pupils’ understanding of phonics.
• We are beginning to adapt the reading curriculum but this is recent so reading needs to be a core area for improvement.
•  

Next steps for the school:

Leaders and those responsible for Governance need to ensure:

• pupils apply phonics skills to read and spell accurately in KS1 and KS2 so pupils with low/ average attainment catch up quickly;
• children have a good understanding of what they’ve read and more pupils need to be challenged to meet the higher standard;
• leaders checks on teaching/ pupil progress need to be robust so underachievement is eradicated;
• teachers need to have consistently high expectations so disadvantaged pupils and middle-attaining pupils and most able pupils make consistently strong progress in reading/ writing/ maths (including in Early Years).

  The Ofsted report from January 2014 graded St Thomas More Catholic Primary School as ‘Good’.  It validated that we offer pupils a good general education in a faith-based environment where children enjoy their learning in a safe, happy school community

  The full report can be downloaded from the Ofsted website here.

  Here are some key findings from the 2014 report:

• Pupils enter the school with skills and abilities well below that of similar pupils nationally; they receive a good start to their education in the Reception class as a result of focused and stimulating teaching.
• Pupils continue to make good progress in Key Stages 1 and 2, so that by the time they leave in Year 6 pupils’ standards are in line with others nationally.
• This year the school has improved the way younger pupils are taught to read. Activities are now well planned and all pupils have daily sessions on recognising and making links between letters and sounds.
• The curriculum provides good opportunities for pupils to use their writing skills in other subjects.
• A range of exciting opportunities together with a strong Catholic ethos make a good contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
• Relationships between adults and pupils are strong, with an emphasis on care and support, so that the vast majority of pupils are keen to learn and eager to come to school.
• Behaviour is good in lessons and around school. The school makes good provision to ensure that pupils are safe.
• School leaders, including governors, have an accurate view of the school’s performance and know what needs to be done to move the school forward.

SECTION 48 REPORT MAY 2017

SCHOOL RECEIVES GOOD REPORT FROM CLIFTON DIOCESE

All Catholic schools, like every other school, are inspected by the government on a regular basis.  However Catholic schools are also inspected by their Diocese.  This inspection is known as a Section 48 Inspection and looks specifically at spiritual and moral development, whole school ethos, collective worship and religious education.

The St Thomas More Catholic Primary School in Hesters Way was visited by Ofsted in December 2011 when  the school was placed them in the Good category with some outstanding features.  This Section 48 monitoring visit follows on from that inspection.

Clifton Diocese found St Thomas More Catholic Primary School to be a good Catholic school which due to the dedication and commitment of staff, pupils and governors has made excellent progress over the last eighteen months.  Pupils are proud of the school and clearly excited by their learning.

Click to view the report for the inspection on 18-19th May 2017

https://schools.cliftondiocese.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/St-Thomas-More-May-2017-S48.pdf 

Here is the link to our online performance data:

https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/115710/st-thomas-more-catholic-primary-school

Here is the link to compare schools in England:

https://www.gov.uk/school-performance-tables