St Gregory’s Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Gregory's Catholic Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at this school.

They enjoy learning and playing in the vibrant and nurturing environment that staff have created for them.

Two- and three-year-olds in the early years settle down quickly, listen to adults and each other, take turns and share resources. This very positive behaviour continues through to the end of Year 6.

Pupils follow instructions immediately, enjoy sharing ideas in pairs and groups and concentrate intently on learning activities.

Pupils know that staff expect them to do their best at all times and to persevere when t...hey encounter difficulties. They enjoy the challenge of rising to these high expectations, and most achieve well in many subjects.

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), take full advantage of the wide range of activities that the school provides. The school encourages pupils to put themselves in the shoes of those less fortunate than themselves. For example, they help to organise activities to raise money for local and global charities.

As they get older, pupils have increasing opportunities to take on responsibilities. For instance, some lead assemblies and some are play leaders or ambassadors for subjects, including mathematics.

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

The school has ensured that its curriculum in all subjects is well devised and ambitious.

The curriculum has been carefully designed so that new learning builds on what pupils already know. This extends to the early years, including the provision for two-year-old children. The curriculum gradually develops the subject-specific vocabulary that pupils need to be successful learners.

In a range of subjects, the curriculum ensures that pupils learn about the local area. Pupils with SEND successfully follow the same curriculum as their peers and confidently learn alongside them.Teachers know what to teach and the order in which pupils should learn subject content.

Staff use a wide variety of resources effectively to explain tasks and concepts. They choose appropriate activities to help pupils learn.

In the main, staff use appropriate strategies to help pupils remember what they have learned in the past.

This helps most to connect new learning to what they already know. However, for some, the strategies that staff use to build long-term memory do not work well enough. As a result, in some subjects, some pupils struggle to remember important learning.

The school regularly checks pupils' knowledge and understanding of the curriculum in each subject. Teachers often use this information to adapt teaching to address any gaps in learning. However, some teachers do not check pupils' understanding carefully enough.

On occasion, they do not spot those pupils who have not fully understood and who might benefit from further explanation or practice. Consequently, at times, unaddressed misconceptions hinder learning.

Reading is a priority in this school.

Children in the Nursery classes, including those who access the two-year-old provision, learn about letters and their corresponding sounds. They enjoy joining in with stories, songs and rhymes. From the start of the Reception Year, children follow the school's phonics programme.

Teachers and teaching assistants are highly skilled at teaching early reading. They make sure that pupils keep up and that most become confident and fluent readers.

Pupils enjoy reading.

Staff encourage them to read a wide range of books for pleasure. They share their own enthusiasm for reading and give pupils frequent opportunities to listen to adults reading to them.

The school quickly identifies the needs of pupils with SEND.

It liaises with parents and carers, and outside agencies to ensure that these pupils receive the best possible support. The school makes sure that pupils with SEND benefit from all that the school has to offer, socially and academically. Pupils with SEND achieve well.

Staff's infectious enthusiasm for the subjects that they teach contributes to pupils' positive behaviour and attitudes to learning. Pupils enjoy well-established learning routines. When they encounter difficulties, they help each other and use resources to find things out for themselves.

The school gives pupils many opportunities to develop personally and socially. Pupils learn about people who are different from themselves, including in culture, race and religion. They gain an age-appropriate awareness of consent and healthy relationships.

They learn about their responsibilities as citizens, including responsibility for the school's carbon footprint.

Staff are proud to work at this school. They feel valued.

Changes to the school's policies and procedures take account of their impact on staff's workload. Governors use their considerable experience, expertise and knowledge of the school to contribute strongly to its development. The school involves parents as partners in their children's education, including inviting them to workshops about how to support their child's reading.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• For some pupils, the strategies that teachers use to help them remember learning over time are not sufficiently effective. As a result, some pupils do not remember enough of what they have learned in the past.

The school should ensure that teachers make effective use of opportunities to revisit learning so that pupils know and remember more over time. ? Sometimes, teachers do not spot when some pupils have not fully understood their learning. They move on to new learning too quickly for some pupils.

As a result, at times, learning is hindered by lingering misconceptions. The school should ensure that teachers check that all pupils have understood what has been taught before new knowledge is introduced.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in November 2018.