Regina Coeli Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Regina Coeli Catholic Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 5 December 2018, 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 March 2015. This school continues to be good.

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. The school has benefited from support provided by the Federation of St Elphege's Catholic Schools. The focus of this work has been to improve the quality of teaching and learning.

Through the federation, it has been possible fo...r staff to share knowledge and expertise, and for more experienced teachers to lead on specific areas of school improvement. You work closely with governors to ensure that improvements are embedded. Leaders manage the school effectively, and you support them to develop their skills so that improvements are sustained.

As a result, leaders are reflective, and evaluate the impact of their work on the quality of teaching and pupils' outcomes. You have identified strengths and areas to develop across the school. Leaders have set challenging targets, which you monitor carefully to ensure continuous improvement.

Since the last inspection, there has been a strong focus on developing teachers' skills. Expectations of what pupils can do have been raised and, as a result, pupils make stronger progress. Standards at the end of key stages 1 and 2 show that pupils make good progress and that their attainment has been stronger than the national average in recent years.

Leaders know that while they must maintain the strong outcomes in Years 2 and 6 it is equally important to strengthen progress across all year groups. Parents told me that the school is a kind and friendly place. Typically, they said their children are safe and well looked after.

Many parents commented on the positive changes that have been implemented since the school joined the Federation of St Elphege's Catholic Schools. Pupils are proud of their school. Older pupils told me they learn more, and are expected to do their best in all of their lessons.

Parents were equally positive about the school and the changes that have been implemented. They typically reported that their children are happy to come to school, are safe and well cared for, and enjoy their learning. Safeguarding is effective.

Leaders have ensured that safeguarding procedures are robust and fit for purpose. Governors make regular checks on the single central record of staff checks. This is to ensure it is in line with current legislation, and that all adults are suitable to work with children.

Leaders have established a culture of vigilance to safeguard pupils. Staff receive regular training on how to keep children safe, and they are aware of their statutory duties and responsibilities. The school works well with other agencies to protect children.

Records show that the school is robust in making referrals and following up on cases. Pupils told me that their school is a safe place. They said that bullying was not tolerated.

Pupils would be confident to report any concerns about themselves or one of their friends to an adult. They are taught how to stay safe through the curriculum, and have an awareness of risks and how to manage them, for example when online. Inspection findings ? At the start of the inspection, we agreed on key lines of enquiry.

The first was to consider the impact of leaders' work to improve outcomes in writing. Although attainment and progress are good at the end of key stages 1 and 2, they are not as strong as in reading and mathematics. Leaders have worked hard to develop pupils' resilience and self-confidence.

Pupils' work in books supports this, and, by the end of key stage 2, pupils write independently at length. In addition, pupils stated that they do not give up when things get difficult. Pupils expect learning to challenge them and know that they have to work hard in order to improve.

• Developing vocabulary to improve pupils' writing has been a school priority. Pupils' written work is most effectively developed when teachers model how to use language techniques. Teachers follow up and check pupils' understanding of new language features in their written work.

• Leaders provide effective guidance to staff on the curriculum. Clear links have been made between reading and writing, and a range of texts is used to expose pupils to a variety of genres. A structured approach to the teaching of phonics is having a positive impact on spelling in key stage 1.

Pupils are provided with opportunities to talk about what they want to write before committing it to paper. This has a positive impact in developing pupils' confidence and the quality of their written work. ? Work in pupils' books shows that presentation is good, handwriting is neat, and pupils take pride in their work.

Generally, resources are used well to support the development of pupils' writing skills. For example, pupils were observed using story maps to note down their ideas and, so, keep their writing focused. ? We then considered how effective leaders' actions have been in improving outcomes in the early years.

This was because at the time of the last inspection, the school was asked to ensure that adults accurately assess children's learning. Leaders were advised to plan activities to challenge children in their learning and to have consistently high expectations of their achievement. ? The outside learning environment is used to promote learning opportunities more effectively than the indoor classroom.

This is because the outdoor area is vibrant and stimulating and encourages turn-taking. As a result, children's engagement and concentration in the outdoors area is high because they enjoy their learning. For example, in the outdoor provision children have opportunities to select their own resources and make choices about how they learn.

Teachers plan opportunities for purposeful talk and for the sharing of ideas. As a result, children's thinking, problem-solving and social development are well promoted in the outdoor provision. ? Interactions between adults and children are positive.

Adults model speaking and listening well for children and, as a result, children's vocabulary develops well. However, leaders and adults do not systematically assess children's skills and use this information for planning their next steps. ? Lastly, we agreed to consider the wider curriculum to see how effective leaders' actions are in ensuring a rich and balanced curriculum.

Leaders have implemented a creative curriculum, where clear and meaningful links have been made between subjects. Pupils are very positive about their learning. The curriculum is enriched with a range of trips and visitors, and pupils said that this supports their learning and makes it 'more exciting' and 'real'.

• Many subjects are covered and bright displays around the school show that success is celebrated. Leaders have been careful to ensure that the curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to develop their talents across a range of areas including dance, music, and sport. Pupils are competitive and enjoy success in local competitions.

The teaching of Spanish is a strength and there is a focus on developing grammar and comprehension skills. This further supports the work covered in English reading and writing across the school. There is an expectation that pupils will speak and respond in Spanish throughout their lessons, and, as a result, pupils develop an effective working knowledge of the language, accent, structures and vocabulary.

• Non-core subjects, such as history, provide opportunities for pupils to apply a range of skills, including reading, writing and mathematics across other areas of learning. Currently, although broad, the curriculum is not deep enough to challenge the most able. The school is keen to develop this so that pupils, particularly those in upper key stage 2, have more autonomy in how they research and present their learning to others.

Plans are in place to develop subject-specific skills. Leaders are confident that this will not only improve pupils' enjoyment further, but will help challenge the most able across more subjects. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? the assessment of writing in the early years is used more accurately to plan next steps in learning ? the quality of the learning environments in the early years, both inside and out, challenges children to develop problem-solving and social skills, and promotes reading and writing skills effectively ? they continue to develop the curriculum to provide more challenge and opportunities for most-able pupils to study some areas at greater depth.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees, the director of education for the Archdiocese of Southwark, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Croydon. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Lou Anderson Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection I met with the executive headteacher, head of school, senior leaders, governors and a representative from the local authority.

I scrutinised pupils' work in English, mathematics, and topic books. I visited a range of lessons in the early years and key stages 1 and 2 to observe learning. I talked to pupils about their learning, both at formal and informal times throughout the day.

I listened to pupils read, in key stages 1 and 2. I met with parents at the end of the school day, and analysed responses to Parent View, Ofsted's online questionnaire for parents. I also analysed responses to the staff questionnaire, and scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school's self-evaluation, the school's improvement plans, pupils' attendance information, documentation related to safeguarding and the school's assessment and behaviour information.

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