Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils attend this warm and nurturing school happily and regularly.

They are proud of their school and describe it as a nice place to be. Positive relationships ensure that pupils settle quickly and apply themselves well in lessons. This starts in Reception, where children settle very quickly into school life.

Pupils behave well at all points of the school day. Playtimes are calm, with activities provided for pupils to enjoy. Pupils say there is always a 'trusted adult' they can speak to if they have any worries or concerns.

This helps them feel safe in school. Well-established expectations and routines support pupils to move safely and sensibly from the play...ground back to lessons.

The school places a high priority on ensuring pupils perform well in reading, writing and mathematics.

The ambition the school has for these subjects is realised. This is also true for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, too much emphasis is placed on these subjects at the expense of other curriculum areas, such as geography, history, art and design, and design and technology.

Pupils express frustration at not being able to learn these subjects as regularly as they would like.

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

The school recognises the importance of all pupils learning to read. Regular assessments in phonics ensure pupils receive lessons tailored to their different abilities.

This is supported with reading books that are matched to the sounds they know, which helps pupils to become fluent readers. Most pupils can read well. For pupils who need extra support to keep up with their peers, staff provide extra sessions, using a range of different approaches to address gaps in their learning.

Children in the early years are given many opportunities to apply their phonics knowledge to writing.

Mathematics is a strength in the school. Strong subject leadership, and a well-thought-out curriculum, ensures pupils revisit prior learning regularly.

Teachers identify gaps in understanding and address misconceptions well. Pupils with SEND are supported effectively to enable them to make the progress they are capable of. This also starts in the early years.

Children show very good levels of interest and concentration. They persevere with activities impressively. This leads to pupils making good progress and achieving very well in this subject.

However, too many areas of the curriculum are not developed to this high standard. Careful consideration has not been given to what will be taught, when or why. The precise knowledge pupils need to know and remember has not yet been identified in all subjects.

This limits pupils' ability to build on prior learning and make links across topics. It also means that checks on how well pupils have learned the intended curriculum are not as well developed in all subject areas. The school does not provide enough opportunities for pupils to learn all subjects in sufficient depth.

This leads to a curriculum that lacks the balance and breadth needed for pupils to be equally as successful in all areas. Staff do not ensure pupils present their work consistently well. This affects the quality of work in too many areas.

Pupils behave beautifully. They have wonderful manners and are very polite. They understand the school rules.

They have assisted in creating the 'School Charter' and helped shape the expectations placed on them. They rise to these expectations consistently. Pupils do not stop others from learning in lessons.

This makes for a calm learning environment.

Respect is commonplace. Pupils recognise and accept differences.

They learn about different religions. This is supported by visits to a variety of places of worship or through visitors to school. They understand that it is never acceptable to treat people differently because of how they look or what they believe.

Pupils send cards to lonely people in the parish and send flowers to people in the local area if they know they feel lonely or isolated. They look after the environment by picking litter. Pupils are taught about the importance of keeping themselves safe online and in the real world.

The school recognises the importance of pupils' mental health and has adopted many approaches to support this important issue.

Leaders have had to prioritise certain aspects of the school's work as a result of the many staffing changes. Some of these have been at the expense of the curriculum.

The trust delegates the responsibility of curriculum design and planning to the school. The local governing body rightly identifies the strengths in the core subjects but has not put enough focus on the wider curriculum areas. However, parents are highly appreciative and positive about the quality of care and nurture the school provides for their children.

This is a strength.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school does not provide sufficient opportunities for pupils to learn the wider curriculum, including in the early years.

This means that pupils do not develop their knowledge and skills in some of the foundation subjects well enough. The school should ensure that pupils have opportunities to learn all areas of the curriculum in sufficient depth. ? The school has not identified the key knowledge it wants pupils to know in all subject areas.

This means pupils sometimes learn isolated facts that do not allow for knowledge to build sequentially or cumulatively. Leaders should identify the key knowledge and skills in every curriculum area. They should give greater thought to what pupils will learn, and when, to enable them to deepen their understanding.

The school has not identified an effective approach to the use of assessment in all foundation subjects. This means teachers cannot assure themselves of how well pupils are progressing in some of these subjects. Leaders should introduce assessment systems to enable teachers to check how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum.

• The school does not place a high enough priority on how work is presented in books. This affects the quality of work that pupils produce. The school should ensure that there is a consistent and ambitious expectation on how pupils present their work, using neat and legible handwriting.