Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school's mantra of 'Christ at the centre, children at the heart' is securely lived out at this school.

Children are wholly at the centre of all the school's work. Staff foster positive relationships with parents, carers and the wider community through, for example, offering food parcels and assistance with travel to school. This directly benefits the pupils.

Leaders have the highest of ambition for all pupils, both in their learning and behaviour. The school rules of 'ready, respectful, safe' are securely embedded. A new behaviour policy is having a positive impact.

Pupils demonstrate an enthusiasm for being in school, which is evident in their commitment... to consistently meet adults' expectations.

Pupils are safe, happy and enjoy coming to school. They are caring, considerate and supportive of one another.

Pupils know that bullying will not be tolerated. They know that there are trusted adults in school who they can talk to if they have any worries. Children in the early years benefit from positive relationships with adults, which enables them to thrive and flourish as they begin their educational journey.

There is a range of opportunities for pupils to develop their talents and interests. Educational visits are used to enhance pupils' knowledge and skills, for example a residential visit to the Youth Village and a visit to the Great North Museum: Hancock to learn more about the ancient Egyptians.

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

Leaders have a clear vision for the school.

They know their pupils and school community well and are determined that all pupils receive a broad and ambitious curriculum.

Leaders have reviewed the curriculum over recent months. They have high expectations for how the curriculum should be taught.

The curriculums in most subjects are coherently sequenced and organised. Leaders have identified the key knowledge that pupils need to learn. Several subjects are securely embedded, for example mathematics and geography.

Pupils can talk about their learning in these subjects. However, some subjects, such as art and design, are not currently fully embedded.

Teachers effectively adapt the curriculum to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

They use appropriately matched resources, additional adult support and focused intervention. This ensures that all pupils can access the full curriculum. As a result, pupils with SEND achieve well.

Adults foster children's love of reading from the moment children start Nursery. They quickly introduce children to nursery rhymes, songs and stories. From Reception Year, letter sounds and words are taught in a structured, planned sequence through the school's phonics programme.

Adults accurately pronounce the sounds that letters represent, and children reflect this precision. As pupils develop their phonic knowledge, they are given books that carefully match the sounds that they know. Teachers regularly check what children know and can do.

Those who struggle with learning to read are swiftly identified. Interventions are put in place to enable them to catch up quickly. Leaders prioritise learning to read.

The environment in the early years is welcoming. Adults create rich and varied learning opportunities that enable children to learn about the world around them. Adults' interactions with children are focused on developing their communication and language skills.

The high expectations outlined in the curriculum enable children to thrive in the indoor learning environment. However, this is not replicated in the outdoor provision, which presents as uninviting. This impacts on the children's ability to learn more widely in different environments.

Leaders have started to act on this.

Leaders give pupils opportunities to prepare for their next steps in education and life outside school. Pupils benefit from a personal development programme that is woven through the curriculum and centred on their needs.

A range of extra-curricular clubs are on offer to the pupils including cheerleading, dance fitness, choir and individual music tuition. Adults support pupils to learn about relationships, different beliefs and tolerance. However, pupils' depth of knowledge of fundamental British values is less embedded.

All leaders, including members of the local governing body and trust, share the same vision and high ambition for the school. Both the governors and trust leaders play an active part in the life of the school. They effectively hold school leaders to account for the performance of the school.

They supportively challenge leaders on decisions made and ensure that finances and resources are appropriately used to have the biggest impact for pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The designated safeguarding leads provide exemplary support for pupils and families.

They provide targeted help and advice, but also ensure that vulnerable families access the right agency support when required. Early identification, detailed record-keeping and monitoring ensure that all reported concerns are taken seriously. Staff have received up to date training so that they are aware of all procedures to follow to keep pupils safe.

Leaders ensure that pupils are taught about how to keep safe. This includes online safety, as well as specific work on water safety given the school's location.

Appropriate procedures are in place to ensure that the right staff are recruited to the school.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• A new curriculum has recently been introduced for some foundation subjects. As such, the transition from one curriculum design to another has led to some gaps in pupils' knowledge. Leaders must ensure that measures are put in place to fill these gaps and then fully embed the new curriculum.

• The early years outdoor learning environment is not sufficiently developed to reflect the early years curriculum. This means that some of the children's needs, such as independent exploration of the natural world and development of gross motor skills, are not fully met. Leaders should ensure that the outdoor environment is developed further so that the early years curriculum can be fully delivered.

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