Archdiocese of Cardiff
Inspection Report
Our Lady of the Angels
Catholic Primary School,
Cwmbran.
Inspection dates
June 23rd – 24th, 2014.
Reporting Inspector
Accompanying Inspector
Mr. Lyndon Watkins
Mr. Gareth Rein
Type of school
Primary
Age range of pupils
3-11yrs
Number on roll
225
Local Authority
Torfaen
Chair of Governors
Mrs. Patricia Landers
School Address
Victoria Street
Cwmbran
Torfaen
NP44 3JR
Tel. no.
01633 484673
E-mail address
[email protected]
Parish(es) served
Our Lady and St. David’s
Date of previous inspection
June 2nd-5th, 2008
Headteacher
Mrs. S. McCool
Canonical Inspection under Canon 806 on behalf of the Archdiocese of
Cardiff and Inspection of denominational education under Section 50 of the
Education Act 2005
During each inspection, inspectors aim to answer three key questions:
Key Question 1: How good are outcomes?
Key Question 2: How good is provision?
Key Question 3: How good are leadership and management?
Inspectors also provide an overall judgement on the school’s current performance
and on prospects for improvement.
Judgement
Excellent
Good
Adequate
Unsatisfactory
What the judgement means
Many strengths, including significant examples of sector leading
practice or practise that is both consistent and highly effective.
Many strengths and no important areas requiring significant
improvement
Strengths outweigh areas for improvement
Important areas for improvement outweigh strengths
The table below shows the terms that Archdiocesan inspectors use and a broad
idea of their meaning. It is for guidance only.
Proportion
Description
With very few exceptions
Nearly all
90% or more
Most
70% or more
Many
60% or more
A majority
Close to 50%
Half/around half
Below 40%
A minority
Below 20%
Few
Less than 10%
Very few
Copies of this report are available from the school and from the Archdiocesan
website: www.rcadc.org
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Context
Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Primary School is situated in the
settlement of Cwmbran, to the south of the town centre, in the local
authority area of Torfaen, within the Archdiocese of Cardiff. Its 225 pupils
cover the full socio-economic spectrum and their ability on entry to the
school also covers a wide range.
Some 71% of pupils are baptised Catholics, 20% are of other Christian
denominations, 1% are of other faiths and 9% are of no faith.
The school has identified 16% of its pupils as having additional learning
needs (ALN): this comprises 15 at School Action (SA) and 20 at School
Action + (SA+); 11% have English as an Additional Language (EAL) and 5%
are from ethnic minorities. No pupils at the school speak Welsh as a first
language. Five pupils are currently ‘looked after’ by the Local Authority and
17% of pupils are entitled to free school meals (FSM).
A new Deputy Headteacher has been appointed since the last inspection.
All teachers at the school are Catholic and two thirds of them hold the
Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies (CCRS). There are eight full-time
and two part-time teachers working at the school. Nine Learning Support
Assistants are employed, eight of them being Catholic and one Higher Level
Teaching Assistant (HLTA) who is also Catholic. Overall, therefore, 95% of
classroom based staff are Catholic. There have been no significant changes
to the Governing Body (GB) in recent times and therefore, it has remained
stable.
In relation to the current academic year the school has identified the
following area of priority in Religious Education:

To Continue to raise standards in RE throughout the school by
improving the quality of teaching and learning with focus on
Gweddiwn (pupil led prayer and worship).
The school has planned to develop its work in this area through the
purchasing of Gweddiwn materials, the use of staff training time (INSET),
the development of ‘sacred spaces’ and by developing the use of Welsh in
prayer and
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To begin the implementation process of the ‘Come and See’ Scheme
of Work for Religious Education. This will be fully introduced in
September 2014.
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Summary
Good
How effective is the school/college in
providing Catholic education?
Our Lady of the Angels provides a good Catholic education because:
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Standards of teaching overall are good.
The quality of assessment is good.
Pupils across the school make good progress.
The quality of collective worship is excellent and
Leadership and Management are excellent.
What are the school/college’s prospects for
improvement?
Excellent
Prospects for improvement are excellent because:
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The leadership team, consisting of the Headteacher, Deputy
Headteacher and the joint Curriculum Leader for Religious Education
exhibit the necessary commitment and talent to continue the
improvements in standards achieved to date.
They have established positive momentum that is set to continue.
The teachers in the leadership team exhibit significant elements of
excellence in their practice. They have the potential to effectively
disseminate this practice.
A significant proportion of lessons judged to be ‘good’ during the
inspection would have required relatively minor adjustments and
improvements in order to become excellent. The school has
sufficient levels of excellent practice at its disposal, which can be
used as a model. Therefore, significant progress is likely in the short
to medium term.
The commitment and support of the Governing Body is a strength of
the school. Governors will be able to hold leaders to account in
order to ensure that the desired progress is made.
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Recommendations and Required Actions
What does the school/college need to do to improve further?
R1: Ensure that the rigorous tracking system that is already in place is used
effectively to generate quantifiable and challenging targets for improvement for
pupils (as individuals) and for teachers (in relation to cohorts). Leaders will need to
monitor this process closely.
R2: Ensure that marking consistently provides a way forward for learners; thus
contributing directly to the raising of standards.
R3: Ensure that planning regularly provides opportunities for the potentially high
attaining pupils at the school to learn in an independent, in-depth and challenging
manner.
R4: Produce a plan which ensures that the excellent practice identified during the
inspection is effectively disseminated across the school.
What happens next?
The school will produce an action plan that shows how it will address
the recommendations.
Progress in addressing the recommendations will be monitored by the
Archdiocese.
Main Findings
KQ1. How good are outcomes?
Good
Overall, outcomes are good. Pupils become increasingly religiously
literate as they progress through the school. They develop
knowledge, understanding and skills that are appropriate for their
age. The rate of progress made by pupils is consistently good across
the school and there is no evidence of significant differences between
groups of pupils or by gender. During the inspection, the manner in
which pupils were able to think spiritually particularly at times of
collective worship was impressive. The school employs assessment
for learning (AfL) strategies and it aims to develop pupils’ thinking
skills. This work is good. It could be further improved if pupils were
more actively involved in developing their competence as learners
generally. Pupils are very well engaged in their learning and the
demeanour of nearly all of them during lessons is excellent. A few
children, during an adequate lesson, were observed to be ‘off-task’
during their lesson and they would have benefitted from being clearly
reminded about expectations at that time.
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Standards at the end of the Foundation Phase and at the end of Key
Stage Two are good. At the end of the Foundation Phase good
extended writing is evident; recently, for example, on the theme of
‘precious treasures’ and at the end of Key Stage Two on ‘treasures
and the ‘Five Pillars of Islam’. Teachers assess pupils’ learning at the
end of each topic studied according to Archdiocesan guidance.
Progress is tracked closely and it indicates that nearly all pupils make
at least good progress.
Pupils are proud to be a part of the school community and the
manner in which they participate in the Catholic life of the school is
excellent. They have, for example, contributed to the recent review of
the Mission Statement and they play a full role in the life of the
parish.
The manner in which pupils actively participate in prayer and worship
is excellent. They show impressive levels of reverence and respect,
both at times when prayer and worship are traditional and when they
are contemporary. Pupils benefit from regular opportunities to plan
and lead worship. At one such opportunity during the inspection,
parents were invited. They responded in large numbers and the
quality of the collective worship was excellent thanks to the manner
in which pupils had planned the occasion. One act of worship,
conducted mainly in Welsh, was outstanding.
KQ2. How good is provision?
Good
Overall, provision is good. The quality of teaching is good. During
the inspection, 18 judgements were made about teaching: 2 were
adequate (11%), 13 were good (72%) and 3 were excellent (17%).
Teachers use a range of creative strategies, involving for example
music and dance, to engage and motivate learners. Teachers
planning is good. It uses recommended materials and it results in
lessons that are well structured with activities that are pitched
well within the central quartiles of attainment. Pupils who have
the potential to attain highly would benefit from having
opportunities to learn in a more independent manner.
All teachers are Catholic; many hold the Catholic Certificate in
Religious Studies (CCRS) and their subject knowledge is sound.
This greatly benefits pupils as it contributes towards building
their levels of understanding. During the inspection, learning
tended to be largely adult led and therefore, there were limited
opportunities for pupils to develop as independent and
collaborative learners.
The quality of relationships between
teachers and pupils encourages an enjoyment of and a
commitment to Religious Education.
Elements of information
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technology were used in all lessons, mostly to good effect. In
some lessons, computers were used when a simpler, less time
consuming methodology would have been more effective. The
schools IT resources are numerous and impressive. They provide
many excellent opportunities for learning to be enhanced.
Religious Education resources, generally, are plentiful and of a
high standard.
They contribute to an impressive learning
environment throughout the school.
Other adults within the
learning environment (usually Learning Support Assistants) are
committed to the school and they are diligent in their work. They
have good relationships with pupils. At times, some tend to give
answers to pupils too quickly without encouraging them to arrive
at them independently. Overall though, they have a positive
impact on pupils learning and they are a valued part of the
school’s workforce. Teachers have appropriate expectations of
pupils. This is reflected in their planning and in their demeanour.
High attaining pupils, in Key Stage Two could be further extended
by engaging in more independent in-depth learning.
The quality of assessment is good. Pupils’ progress is tracked
closely by teachers and is overseen by the Curriculum Leader. This
system allows teachers to set appropriate targets for pupils.
Documentation is thorough and the school’s practices in this area
are good. Overall, the quality of marking is good. All learning is
marked and it is broadly positive in nature. At times, it is too
descriptive; pupils learning would further benefit from an
approach that consistently pointed the way forward towards
improvement.
The way in which the school’s learning environment has been
developed is impressive. This is particularly the case with the
external area. The manner in which a relatively small space now
enhances learning is excellent. The school uses the ‘Here I Am’
scheme of work. It satisfies pupils’ learning needs appropriately
and the curricular Bishop’s Conference requirements are met. The
school’s provision for pupils’ spiritual, social and moral
development is excellent. Areas of strength relate to: the quality
of worship, charitable works (CAFOD, Mission Together for
example), the manner in which the Mission Statement has been
reviewed, parish links and the manner in which staff act as
witnesses. Our Lady of the Angels is a Fairtrade and Eco-School
and pupils show a good degree of awareness of issues in relation
to global citizenship and sustainable development.
The school
has worked hard at developing its Welsh language dimension and
practice in relation to its incidental use is either good or excellent
in all areas.
The legal requirement to provide a daily act of collective worship
is fully met. Collective worship is a particular strength of the
school and standards are excellent. Worship strongly reflects the
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Catholic nature of the school. An atmosphere of reverence is
created by all providers ranging from the Headteacher to young
children. Worship is vibrant and it contributes significantly to the
pupils’ spiritual development. Pupils have opportunities to plan
and lead worship effectively. A very successful prayer group, led
by pupils, further enhances practice. The parish priest is a regular
visitor to the school and pupils take leading roles during some
Sunday Masses at the parish. The sense of community that exists
between the school, the parish and parents is very strong.
KQ3. How good are leadership and management?
Excellent
Leadership and management are excellent. The judgement for this
key question is higher than that for the other two because clear
evidence is in place to indicate that the work of the Headteacher, the
Deputy Headteacher and the joint Curriculum Leader has already
begun a process of improvement which has the potential to grow in
the future. Their work shows that momentum is in place that is
creating a shift in standards towards ‘excellent’. The Headteacher acts
as an excellent role model for all in the school community. She is
dedicated to the school and its pupils. She is deeply committed to the
Faith and she is a source of inspiration to those around her. The joint
Curriculum Leader is an excellent practitioner. She too, has a very
strong sense of commitment to her role. Her work has already
contributed significantly to the raising of standards. The Deputy
Headteacher also exhibits a strong commitment to her role and has
excellent elements to her practice. This relatively new leadership
group possesses the requisite skills to drive standards upwards in
the future. There is potential for this work to continue and thrive.
Governors have the necessary drive and an impressive ‘visible’
approach which will allow them to hold leaders to account effectively
in their work.
Governors show a strong sense of commitment to the school. They
fulfil all of their legal responsibilities. Some governors are
particularly active in school life. They often attend collective worship
for example. They are well informed about how well the school is
doing and they have overseen the excellent process in which learning
resources have been developed. They contribute fully to community
cohesion, particularly with regard to parish life.
The school’s self-evaluation document is thorough and honest. Staff
and governors were involved in its completion. The arrangements in
place in relation to the monitoring, evaluating and reviewing of the
Catholic Life of the school and of academic religious education are
good. Leaders draw upon a wide range of evidence including: lesson
observations, work sampling, learning walks, teachers’ self-reflections
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on practice and on a selection of pupil questionnaires; in addition to
making use of the rigorous tracking system which is in place. A
broad range of training opportunities have been orchestrated; some
of which involve cluster partner work in relation to standardisation
and moderation. Leaders are fully aware of areas for improvement in
the future.
Partnerships and Community cohesion are both very strong. The
partnership at the core of school life between the school, the parish
and the home is excellent. Each element supports the other two with
great commitment. Other effective partnerships exist with CAFOD, St.
George's School, Africa, Melin Homes and Cwmbran Library. World
faiths, other than Catholicism are effectively studied according to
guidance provided in the ‘Here I Am’ scheme of work.
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Appendix 1
Responses to parent questionnaires.
Responses were received from 42 parents. All except one of these were
positive in nature. Common comment related to:
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The school’s positive reputation locally.
The strong Catholic ethos of the school.
The ‘open door’ and welcoming approach of the school.
Positive rates of progress made by pupils and
The strong ‘home, school parish’ links that exist.
Appendix 2
Evidence Base
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Pre-inspection team consultation.
Self-Evaluation documents.
School Improvement Plan.
School Information Form.
Lesson observations in eight classes.
Observations of collective acts of worship.
Observation of the ‘Prayer Club’.
Scrutiny of Pupils’ workbooks.
The school environment.
Foci for prayer and reflection.
Discussions with staff.
Interviews with the Headteacher, the Curriculum Leader, the Link
Governor and the Governing Body.
Meeting with parents.
Meeting with the School Council, the Fairtrade group and the EcoCommittee.
Parental questionnaires.
A range of Portfolios provided.
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