Barkston Ash Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and feel safe at this school. The school's vision of 'with God's guidance, we grow and learn' is central to the ethos at Barkston Ash.

Pupils are kind, polite and respectful. Staff expect pupils to behave well, and they do. Pupils work hard and are proud of their work.

They welcome new pupils to the school and make sure they feel part of the school family. Pupils say that bullying is rare. If it does happen, they know adults and pupils, who are trained as peer mentors, will sort it out quickly.

Relationships between adults and pupils are highly positive.

Pupils attend school regularly and often. Pupils like coming to school.

...>They say teachers make learning fun with memorable experiences to help bring the curriculum to life. Pupils consider significant events or ways of living in history by visiting places like Jorvik Viking Centre and Abbey House Museum.

Pupils relish participating in a wide variety of extra-curricular opportunities, such as clubs, educational visits and inter-school sports competitions.

Pupils gain confidence through activities such as yoga, drama, computing and debate club. Pupils are keen to have responsibilities. They are eager to make a real difference in their school and the local community.

For example, pupils raised money through 'The Young Apprentice' project to fund new Christmas lights for the village.

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

Reading is prioritised by senior leaders. Staff help children to learn phonics as soon as they start school.

This ensures that they get off to a rapid start learning the sounds and words they need to read with fluency. Adults check the progress that pupils make regularly. As a result, the books pupils read are well matched to their reading ability.

If pupils are at risk of falling behind, support is in place to help them catch up quickly. Older pupils read together to develop their reading comprehension. Pupils read a wide range of books in whole class lessons and have a good understanding of these texts.

Class stories are carefully selected and are linked to learning in other subjects, such as history.

Leaders have taken decisive action to improve the quality of the curriculum. They have thought carefully about the important knowledge that they want pupils to learn and the order in which it will be taught.

This helps pupils to remember and build upon their previous learning. However, some curriculum plans have not been in place long enough for leaders to check if pupils are remembering the essential knowledge that they need over time. Here, assessment is at an early stage of being implemented.

Leaders make sure that pupils participate in every lesson. Teachers think about the specific needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and they plan and adapt lessons accordingly. As such, pupils with SEND achieve well.

Subject leaders and teachers benefit from appropriate subject-specific training to strengthen their subject knowledge across the curriculum. This means that they teach the planned curriculum with confidence. However, leaders have focused this training on the wider curriculum subjects.

Some teachers have not accessed recent training in mathematics. This means that the way in which teachers use mathematical resources or teach the mathematics curriculum varies across the school.

Leaders' high expectations for pupils' behaviour are clear.

Pupil prefects remind pupils to follow the five golden rules. Children's positive attitudes to school begin in the early years. Pupils in all year groups are enthusiastic about their learning and proud of their achievements.

Classrooms are calm environments where pupils can concentrate. They listen carefully and follow teachers' instructions. Pupils respond well to staff's high expectations of how they will behave in lessons.

Pupils are exceptionally well prepared for life in modern Britain. The curriculum for pupils' personal development is excellent. The leadership roles that pupils hold allow them to experience helping others in meaningful ways.

Peer mentors understand how to support pupils to restore their behaviour to what is expected. Pupils in the school have developed a deep sense of respect for themselves, for others and for the school and wider community. Pupils and staff are very proud of their school.

Leaders encourage pupils to be active citizens. This is both within the curriculum and through the work of the school council, 'Mini Vinnies' community work and the 'Faith in Action' group.

Children make a positive start in Reception.

They receive a high level of care. This helps them to settle quickly and feel secure. The curriculum is interesting and sequenced across all the areas of learning to make sure the children are ready for key stage 1.

Children access a well-structured curriculum in the outside learning environment.

Leaders have taken steps to rapidly improve the school where it is needed most. This has had a positive effect on the quality of education for all pupils.

Governors are well informed about the work of the school and its strengths and areas for development. They have supported the headteacher to improve the curriculum. Governors check regularly on the impact of changes that leaders have made.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have developed a strong culture of safeguarding. Leaders go above and beyond to ensure that staff and pupils are aware of safeguarding issues.

Staff receive regular training. This gives them confidence when reporting concerns. Leaders support pupils and their families when this is needed.

Safeguarding is an integral part of the curriculum. Pupils learn how to be aware of risks to their safety with modern technologies. Staff ensure that pupils' knowledge of staying safe online remains up to date.

Leaders make safeguarding a high priority when employing new staff by carrying out the necessary safety checks with rigour.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In mathematics, there is some inconsistency in teachers' subject knowledge and how effectively they teach pupils to use equipment and resources. This is because there has been limited access to recent training.

Leaders should ensure that they provide high-quality training in mathematics to ensure that there is a consistent approach to the teaching of this subject by all staff. ? In foundation curriculum subjects, assessment is at an early stage of implementation. This means the teachers do not have a comprehensive picture of how well pupils are achieving over time.

Leaders should ensure that opportunities for checking what pupils know, remember and can do are fully established across all curriculum subjects

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