Our Lady and St Joseph Brooms Catholic Primary School, Leadgate

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

There is a strong sense of community at this school.

The school promotes its Catholic ethos clearly and with pride. Pupils start their day with a calm and settled routine. Adults are welcoming and engage pupils in conversation.

The learning environment is calm with clear expectations. Pupils follow well-established routines sensibly. Strong relationships support pupils' well-being, ensuring they are comfortable and safe.

The school has high expectations for learning and behaviour. Pupils are polite and respectful to adults and each other. They are happy to engage in conversation with trusted adults and share their news.

Pupils care for each other by ...showing kindness and friendship. They respect difference and understand equality. One pupil said, 'We are all unique and all as special as each other.'



The programme to support pupils' wider development is firmly built on the school's Catholic ethos. Pupils enjoy taking on responsibilities. The school council shares ideas to improve the school.'

Mini Vinnies' gives pupils the opportunity to actively support the community. They visit the local care home to decorate cakes, sing carols and make cards. Pupils enjoy after-school clubs in football, art and multi-sports.

The football team, open to both boys and girls, competes weekly. Pupils enjoy learning to play musical instruments. These activities foster a strong sense of teamwork and responsibility.

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

The school has developed an ambitious curriculum that carefully builds knowledge logically across all subjects. Clear endpoints have been identified and take account of mixed-age classes. In lessons, teachers introduce new ideas and check understanding before moving on.

Teachers prioritise oracy and vocabulary in lessons. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have tailored support that enables them to access the same curriculum and achieve well.

The school has put clear actions in place to improve mathematics outcomes.

This includes support from trust leaders and training for staff. The school identifies gaps in learning and organises targeted support for pupils. The school implements daily practice to build pupils' knowledge of number bonds and multiplication facts.

Though some gaps remain for older pupils, the school has clear strategies in place to continue these changes to ensure that all pupils achieve their potential by the end of key stage 2.

Pupils achieve well in reading, with support for those who need extra help. Phonics is taught consistently by well-trained staff through daily phonics lessons.

Pupils follow clear routines, read on their own and correct mistakes. Misconceptions are addressed straight away. Teachers make regular checks in lessons to build in further repetition.

Pupils discuss stories with enthusiasm. This develops their understanding of the stories that they read. Books are precisely matched to pupils' reading ability.

This improves their confidence and fluency. The school involves parents and carers in reading through workshops, newsletters and a reading café.

The school has identified the specific knowledge pupils need to learn in the writing curriculum.

However, specific methods for teaching handwriting are not as detailed. Pupils improve their letter formation in the early years and key stage 1 and start using joined-up handwriting. Older pupils show inconsistency in handwriting.

Mistakes are not always corrected and some pupils struggle to write fluently.

The early years curriculum builds essential skills and knowledge to ensure children are ready for Year 1. The school provides activities so that children are familiar with the school before they start.

Children settle quickly into school life. Language and number are threaded through carefully thought-out activities. Adults guide children's learning through conversations that encourage their thinking and language.

Children sustain their concentration, follow routines and play well with others. They manage their learning and tidy up without help.

Behaviour expectations are embedded through daily routines.

Positive behaviour is rewarded with house points, class rewards and in celebration assemblies. The school has improved attendance, including for pupils with SEND and those who are disadvantaged, by setting high expectations and engaging well with parents.

The school's relationships and health education curriculum is closely aligned with the Catholic ethos and the wider curriculum.

For example, pupils learn about important issues such as immigration and diversity in geography. Pupils learn about different faiths and understand the fundamental British values. They know how to keep themselves safe online and in the local community.

Educational visits focus on the curriculum. For example, pupils visit museums to embed their learning in history. Other visits support pupils' personal growth, including the whole-school visit to the pantomime, tree planting and residential trips.

The school has made carefully considered improvements over time. Leaders, including governors and trust leaders, have built capacity to improve the school further. Staff feel well supported with workload.

The trust provides resources and ongoing professional development. Staff value working together in subject leader networks.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some pupils have gaps in their mathematical knowledge. This means that some older pupils have not achieved as well as they could in mathematics at the end of key stage 2. The school should continue to review and refine the curriculum in mathematics to ensure that pupils gain and retain the important mathematical knowledge they need.

There is inconsistency in the formation of older pupils' handwriting. This means that some pupils struggle to present their work neatly and write fluently. The school should ensure that there is a detailed and structured approach to teaching handwriting to enable pupils to write with greater fluency.