Our Lady and St Gerard’s Roman Catholic Primary School, Lostock Hall

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including children in the early years, are happy and safe. They enjoy coming to school.

Pupils' behaviour is mostly positive and sensible, reflecting leaders' high standards. Pupils were proud to tell inspectors about the school's behaviour charter, which they recited with confidence. Pupils share the view that teachers deal well with bullying.

Pupils were delighted to meet with inspectors to talk about their learning. Pupils' efforts, as well as their achievements, are recognised by leaders and staff. This includes through the school's house point system.

Pupils are also taught about the importance of respect. They are accepting of each other's diffe...rences. Pupils said, 'You don't have to be friends with everyone, but you have to be polite.'



Pupils gain new skills from the many opportunities that leaders and staff provide for their personal development. For example, they learn to play musical instruments and to develop new physical skills through a wide range of sporting activities.

Leaders have high expectations of pupils' learning.

Pupils achieve well in some subjects. However, they do not learn well in every subject. This is because the curriculum in some subjects, including in the early years, is not well thought out.

Some pupils and children do not learn the knowledge that they need to be ready for the next stage in their education.

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

Leaders and governors have identified that the school's curriculum is underdeveloped. They have started to provide training and support for subject leaders, many of whom are new to the school.

For example, leaders have successfully worked with the mathematics subject leader to improve the curriculum. This has resulted in pupils achieving better in mathematics than they did in the past. Nonetheless, pupils are not achieving as well as they should across the full range of different subjects.

Where subject leaders have carefully designed the curriculum, pupils achieve well. However, in some other subjects, leaders have not identified clearly enough the most important knowledge that pupils should learn. The same problem is found in the early years, particularly in the Nursery provision.

As a result, some staff are unclear about what knowledge to teach and in which order. This means that some pupils and children do not learn as well as they should.

In addition to the weaknesses in curriculum design, some teachers do not think deeply enough about the most appropriate activities to select in order to support pupils' learning.

Consequently, teachers miss opportunities to help pupils to remember key subject information.

Leaders are working effectively with staff to improve their systems for checking how well pupils are learning. Where the curriculum is well designed, staff are more aware of exactly what pupils should know and remember.

Teachers spot and remedy errors in pupils' understanding more quickly. This approach benefits all pupils at the school, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Throughout the school, beginning in the Nursery class, children benefit from frequent access to a wide range of worthwhile fiction and non-fiction books.

Many older pupils are skilled, confident readers who read widely and often. However, there are some inconsistencies in the teaching of early reading. This is because leaders have not ensured that all staff are equally well trained to deliver the phonics programme.

Staff attempt to support pupils who struggle to read. However, not all staff do this effectively enough. This hinders how quickly some pupils learn to read.

Leaders ensure that pupils with SEND are identified accurately and quickly. Staff support pupils with SEND effectively, so that they can follow the same broad curriculum as their peers.

In the early years, children benefit from kind, gentle relationships with staff.

Children know how to behave. However, some of the curriculum in the Nursery is not as well thought out as it should be. Nevertheless, by the end of the Reception Year, staff remedy the deficits in the Nursery curriculum.

They ensure that most children in the Reception class are well prepared for the demands of Year 1.

Low-level disruption in classrooms is rare. This is because pupils are keen to learn.

Pupils' positive behaviour and conduct mean that even when learning activities are lively, pupils are self-controlled and focused on their work.

Leaders and staff organise many different opportunities to promote pupils' personal development. Pupils understand fundamental British values and the importance of being a good citizen.

Governors and leaders make sure that pupils learn about Britain's rich cultural heritage, including through school visits to the theatre and the ballet.

Governors identify the long-term priorities to improve the quality of education that pupils receive. They actively support the work of leaders and staff.

However, it is too early to see the full impact of this work on the quality of the curriculum.

Leaders and governors keep a close eye on the workload of staff. Staff working at the school feel well supported by leaders.

Parents and carers said that they welcome the frequent communication that they receive from leaders and staff.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and governors make sure that staff consider carefully how to keep pupils and their families safe.

Through regular training, leaders and staff are well informed about potential local and national safeguarding risks to pupils.

Leaders and staff listen to what pupils say about their experiences and their worries. They focus their work often on supporting pupils' feelings and well-being.

Leaders and staff record information carefully about any safeguarding concerns. Leaders make regular links with other agencies and take action to protect pupils from harm. Governors make regular, careful checks on the safeguarding work of the school.

Leaders and governors use experts from outside of the school to provide additional challenge to leaders' work.

Pupils know how to stay safe and how to raise their concerns at school, as well as through national helplines.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, including in the early years, leaders have not considered the essential knowledge that pupils should learn.

This hinders children's and pupils' achievement. Leaders should identify the most important subject knowledge that pupils should learn. This is so that pupils deepen their knowledge of subjects.

• In some areas of the curriculum, staff do not give enough thought to the pedagogical choices that they make to deliver subject content. This means that pupils do not build up a secure body of knowledge. Leaders should train staff to enable them to select the most appropriate activities to help pupils to remember the intended curriculum.

• Not all staff are sufficiently well trained to deliver the phonics programme. This hinders some pupils from developing a secure body of reading knowledge. Leaders should ensure that all teaching staff have the skills and knowledge that they need to teach phonics through the school's chosen phonics programme.

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