St John’s Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The headteacher joined the school at the end of an unsettled period, during which outcomes dipped sharply. Her determined leadership and commitment to raise standards have resulted in substantial improvements across the school.

Senior leaders are a strong and effective team. St John's is a school founded on caring, respectful relationships. The well-being of pupils is at the heart of the school's work.

All staff embrace their responsibility to ensure that pupils are safe and well cared for. Pupils' behaviour around school and in lessons is impeccable. Pupils are thoughtful, kind and friendly to adults and to each other.

The quali...ty of teaching, learning and assessment has improved considerably and is now good. Staff have strong subject knowledge which enables pupils to learn well. Governors provide strong leadership for the school.

They provide the right balance of support and challenge for leaders. Morale among staff is very high. People enjoy working at the school and are proud to be part of the team.

Children get off to a good start in the early years. Most are well prepared for the next stage of their education. This is a highly inclusive school where cultural diversity is celebrated.

Pupils have a clear appreciation of other cultures and issues such as fair trade. Pupils currently in the school are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities are mostly making good progress.

Staff understand the challenges they face and provide suitable support. Senior leaders do not have a readily accessible way of tracking the progress of groups of pupils across the school. This prevents them from quickly identifying groups who are achieving well, or who are at risk of falling behind.

Too few most-able children achieve the higher standards at the end of early years, especially in writing. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 take great pride in the presentation of their work. However, further down the school pupils' handwriting is inconsistent, and this results in some untidy presentation.

Information about this school

St John's Catholic Primary School is a smaller-than-average primary school. There are seven classes, one for each year group. The headteacher joined the school in September 2016 after a year in which there had been three temporary headteachers.

The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is below the national average. The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is similar to that seen in other schools across the country. Most pupils are White British.

However, there are several groups of pupils from different ethnic minorities. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is above that seen nationally. The school met the government's floor standards in 2017, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' progress and attainment in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

Also at this postcode