Our Lady and St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend Our Lady and St Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary School. They show a high level of respect towards each other.

The school's vision creates a caring and nurturing environment. This helps pupils to form positive relationships with adults and each other. As one pupil stated, 'everyone is kind at this school.'



The school has high expectations of what pupils can achieve and how they should conduct themselves. Most pupils meet these expectations consistently well. Pupils have positive attitudes to school.

They behave well in lessons and at playtimes.

Pupils feel safe in school. They know they can talk to trusted adults... if they are worried about anything.

Pupils have many opportunities to contribute to the life of the school. One example is the play leaders, who help organise equipment and activities during social times. Pupils describe the importance of these responsibilities.

They state, 'we work together to improve our school.'

Pupils and staff do not tolerate bullying or discrimination. Pupils are certain that people from all backgrounds are welcome in their school.

The school has developed an engaging range of clubs. Some examples are football, computing, Spanish and badminton. Pupils enjoy taking part in extra-curricular activities.

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

The school has worked hard to address the development areas identified at the previous inspection. A curriculum has been designed which is ambitious for all pupils. Children get off to a positive start in the early years.

They learn in a vibrant environment. Adults know the needs of the children well. Children develop positive learning behaviours.

They demonstrate good manners when interacting with each other. Adults support children in the early years to develop their vocabulary. Adults are adept at knowing when to listen and when to facilitate discussion.

Children develop their independence and are well prepared to move on to the next stage of their learning.

Pupils demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. Adults check on pupils' understanding regularly.

For example, when learning about angles in mathematics, some pupils work independently. Other pupils receive the additional support they need to build their confidence. Pupils enjoy learning.

When describing their learning in history they state, 'in this school learning is brought to life and you feel like you are there.'

The curriculum sets out the key knowledge pupils need to know and remember in all subjects. Pupils' knowledge is more developed in some subjects than in others.

In history, pupils can make links between different time periods by thinking about common themes, such as crime and punishment. However, in some areas of the curriculum, pupils' knowledge is not in as much depth. Assessment is not yet used with enough precision to check what pupils know over time as they move through the curriculum.

As a result, in some areas of the curriculum pupils do not build their knowledge as well as they could.

The school prioritises pupils learning to read. The teaching of phonics begins in the early years.

Children are enthusiastic about story time. They respond well to questions about characters and make links between different traditional tales. This demonstrates their learning over time.

Daily phonics takes place in early years and key stage 1. There is an effective assessment and support programme in place if pupils fall behind. Older pupils enjoy reading.

The school carefully plans opportunities for them to engage with a wide range of texts. Pupils develop their reading comprehension skills as they move through the curriculum. They build on their phonic knowledge to become confident and fluent readers.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are accurately identified. Learning is adapted effectively to enable pupils to access the curriculum. Consequently, pupils with SEND make strong progress throughout the curriculum in line with their peers.

The school has designed a curriculum which teaches pupils how to stay safe. They learn how to stay safe online and in the wider community. This is relevant to the context in which they live.

For example, pupils learn about the dangers of the sea. They can recognise the different types of flags on the beach to keep people safe and the dangers of rip tides. Pastoral support at the school is strong.

The school knows its pupils and families in the community well. Pupils contribute to the wider community. The school chaplains visit a local care home to make biscuits with the elderly residents and volunteer in a local soup kitchen.

Trust leaders and local governors have an accurate view of the school's strengths and priorities for development. They understand their roles and provide meaningful support and challenge.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Assessment in the foundation subjects is not precise enough to check that pupils have remembered the knowledge they have been taught. As a result, some pupils do not build their knowledge well over time. The trust needs to ensure that assessment is used effectively to check on pupils' understanding and use this information to inform future learning.

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