Events we have celebrated and the story of St Margaret Clitherow

Our school has been open since 1976.

Silver Jubilee celebrations in 2000 were a highlight of that school year. The Bishop joined us for the celebration Mass and toured the school afterwards to meet our special visitors, parents, pupils and staff. It was a good opportunity for everyone to see the newly built Reception class and the new classrooms.

In 2001 new double glazed windows were installed throughout the school.

Hot on the heels of this improvement, the new admin block was begun. We were able to use our new staffroom for the first time on March 19th 2002.

We had a successful Open Morning on 22nd May 2002, when we celebrated the completion of the latest building work. After a special service of thanksgiving, the Mayor visited our school to help us with the celebrations.

If you have any photographs or information you would like to see on this web site, please contact Tina Poynter at tina.poynter@office.stmargaretc.bracknell-forest.sch.uk

THE VALIDATION REPORT - SUMMARY

This report to the Bishop of the Diocese under Canon 806 of the Code of Canon Law is also the report to the governors of the school on religious education under Section 23 of the 1996 School Inspections Act.

NAME OF SCHOOL
ST MARGARET CLITHEROW CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL

ADDRESS
Pembroke
Hanworth
Bracknell
Berkshire
RG12 7RD


CHAIRMAN OF GOVERNORS  Mr David Parkinson

 

HEADTEACHER Mrs Fran Valentine

NAMES OF VALIDATORS : Paul Armitage

DATES OF THE VALIDATION VISIT : 15th July 2008

Information about the school
Number of pupils on roll     -   205

Number of boys 105

Number of girls 100

Number of statemented pupils 2

Percentage of Catholic pupils 68%

Number of teaching staff      12

Percentage of Catholic staff  50%

St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School is an attractive, well-kept building in very pleasant grounds, which are well-used. It opened in 1976 and has recently benefited from refurbishment, extension and reconstruction to enclose open-plan classrooms. It is situated in a residential area on the outskirts of Bracknell, a short distance from the church in the parish of St Margaret Clitherow.
There are 205 pupils on the school roll, which is slightly smaller than average for a group 2 school and of these 68% are Catholic, 20% are of other Christian denominations and 12% of other faiths or none.
The socio-economic make-up of the school population is mixed, with a low percentage of ethnic minority children and a small number of traveller children.
Many of the support staff in the school and 50% of the teaching staff are Catholic.
Year six pupils transfer to a number of secondary schools including the Catholic schools of All Hallows, Blessed Hugh Faringdon, the Salesian College and St Bernard's.

The school has worked hard to put into practice the diocesan initiative of self-review and evaluation. This has involved a good deal of commitment and work for all involved and especially for the headteacher as religious education co-ordinator. The validators would like to acknowledge their recognition of this.

In the first year the school validation group completed the evaluation of the school as a Catholic community and in the second year the review was of the teaching and attainment of the religious education curriculum and of its leadership. The third year will deal with the section of the report covering spiritual and moral education, which has not yet been considered for the self evaluation process by the school. Therefore, the validators' judgements for this section are based on evidence gathered under the previous section 23 inspection format.

The school's effectiveness in providing Catholic education

St Margaret Clitherow Primary is a good school which provides a good, distinctively Catholic education in a setting where, according with the school's stated mission, everyone is valued and good relationships prevail. There is a strong, Catholic leadership team and a high level of commitment by staff and governors.

The provision for religious education is good and that for the spiritual and moral development of the pupils is very good.

a) Strengths of the school

* The validators observed that the recently rewritten mission statement reflects a community built on Christian values; it is a true and living statement of the shared vision of all those in the school community.
* The headteacher and deputy provide strong direction and leadership towards a shared vision of the Catholic nature of the school. The governing body is committed and well-organised; it is encouraging and supportive of the school, the staff and the children.
* The validators confirm that the school community has a well-developed and strong tradition of worship. Participation by the staff and children is purposeful and joyful. Children have a strong sense of liturgical understanding and of prayer, both formal and informal.
* The validators agree that the subject co-ordinator provides very good leadership for religious education (RE) in the school and she is supported by the deputy headteacher. There is a clear vision centred on the mission statement, which is shared by staff and governors. The good quality leadership has a positive impact on the standard of religious education in the school.
* The standards in Year 2 and Year 6 are in line with national expectations for religious education.
* The quality of teaching in RE is good overall. There are effective links between Here I Am and the personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum. Teachers made very good use of information & communication technology (ICT) teaching aids in all classes seen.
* Pupils' individual needs are well addressed by the effective use made of teaching assistants.
* Teachers' subject knowledge is good and there is a good range of teacher resources available for RE teaching and liturgical planning.
* Feedback from the RE co-ordinator's lesson observations is effective in driving up standards and further clarifying her expectations for the teaching of RE in the school.
* Parents' responses are positive and appreciative. They believe their children are happy and well cared for.
* There is very good provision for spiritual and moral development in the school.
* The school has addressed well the key issues from their previous section 23 inspection in 1998.

b) Areas for development

* The governing body should develop their understanding of how to monitor and challenge standards of attainment in religious education.
* There is a need for more clarity in analysing, defining and recording the school's self-evaluation findings for the validation process, in order to present the school achievements and objectives more effectively and to link them to school improvement targets, which measure achievement.
* Since 34% of the pupils and a high number of the teaching staff are non-Catholic, the school must ensure that it continues to implement strategies to maintain its strong Catholic ethos.
* The headteacher and governors should put in place an up-to-date job description for the RE co-ordinator and should consider the transfer of the management rôle of RE co-ordinator from the headteacher to a teacher within the school.
* More challenge should be evident in the tasks set for more able children at the end of the key stages.
* Through the dissemination of good practice, the school should ensure the continued improvement in the quality of teaching and learning, in order to achieve the school's target of 80% of pupils achieving level 4 at the end of key stage 2 in religious education.
* The school should continue to implement the effective moderation cycle to increase teachers' understanding of the levels of attainment in RE.

SOURCES OF EVIDENCE FOR THE VALIDATION

As part of the validation process:

* The validator spent a day in school, prior to the validation day, interviewing and gathering evidence;

* Interviews and discussions were held with the headteacher/religious education coordinator, the deputy headteacher, the chair of governors, the parish priest and a governor with responsibility for religious education;

* One validator carried out the validation over a period of one day;

* Four complete religious education lessons and one PSHE lesson were observed;

* Two class collective worships were observed;

* Informal discussions were held with pupils;

* Informal conversations were held with staff;

* A representative sample of religious education and English books, covering all abilities, was examined;

* Religious education resources were considered;

* Prior to and during the validation, both validators analysed the documentation and files of evidence provided by the school;

* An analysis was made of the responses of parents to the questionnaires;

* A brief informal feedback was given to the headteacher at the end of the validation.

Conclusion

The validators would like to thank the headteacher, deputy headteacher, staff, governors, parish priest, parents and pupils of St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School for their very warm welcome, their open and honest discussions and their generous co-operation during the validation.