Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Sacred Heart is a close-knit, caring and vibrant school.

Staff have built a community with kindness and compassion at its core. Pupils beam with pride when they talk about their school and share everything that makes it a happy place to be. They are polite and considerate to each other, staff and visitors.

Pupils live the school's values through their actions. Everyone is welcome.

Staff expect pupils to behave well, work hard and achieve academically.

Pupils rise to this challenge. They concentrate in lessons and talk about their learning with each other keenly. Classrooms buzz with lively and purposeful chatter.

Pupils learn how to keep the...mselves safe and have a trusted adult they can speak to about any concerns or worries.

Pupils enjoy the many different experiences that the school provides. They fundraise, volunteer and compete in sporting, debating and public speaking competitions.

These activities foster pupils' interests and talents and help them grow into active local and global citizens. For example, a trip to the Houses of Parliament inspired pupils to set up their own 'Pupil Parliament' in school. Pupils have learned that their opinions matter.

They believe in themselves and their capacity to change the world for the better.

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

Leaders lead the school with integrity and fortitude. Their strong moral compass and vision are shared by all.

Staff know that their efforts are valued and that their ideas will be listened to. This culture of mutual respect and togetherness runs through the whole-school community. Executive leaders, trustees and local governors play their part.

They provide the right level of support and challenge to leaders. This means that, when there are things that need fixing, everyone comes together as a team to make things right.

The school took immediate, swift and decisive action to address the safeguarding issues highlighted at the previous inspection.

The systems for reporting, recording and acting on concerns raised by staff have been restructured and significantly improved. Staff are clear how to report concerns, and the school acts promptly to make sure that pupils and families get the help they need. Record-keeping is comprehensive and robust, and the school keeps detailed records of all the actions it takes.

The wider culture of safeguarding has been strengthened. All staff are clear about their responsibilities and have benefited from additional training. They know the signs that may indicate that a pupil is at risk of harm and how reporting any concern, no matter how small, enables the school to 'join the dots' to keep pupils safe.

Governors have taken effective steps to ensure they fulfil their statutory duty. They ask the right questions to assure themselves that suitable safeguarding procedures are in place and that they are followed effectively. Safeguarding now sits at the very heart of the school.

In most curriculum subjects, the substance of what pupils should learn, and when they should learn it, has been set out carefully. In the strongest instances, the curriculum highlights the important building blocks of knowledge that are vital for pupils' future learning. This helps teachers focus in on the important concepts and ideas and deliver the curriculum well.

However, in some subjects, this level of curriculum clarity is less developed.

The school is ambitious for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The learning needs of each pupil with SEND are identified concisely and accurately, and targets set for pupils are meaningful and relevant.

The school shares information with staff so that they can support pupils to learn well in lessons. This helps pupils with SEND learn well and play an active part in school life.

The school has prioritised reading.

Staff deliver the phonics curriculum effectively because of the training they have received. Consequently, pupils learn to decode texts and read with increasing accuracy and fluency. Staff identify any pupils who are struggling with their reading and help them to catch up.

Teachers read to pupils each day from a range of carefully chosen books. They regularly read stories about different faiths and cultures to promote respect and celebrate diversity.

Many key stage 2 pupils started their education elsewhere.

When they join, the school takes steps to check what they already know and identify any gaps in their knowledge. However, the school does not use this information to close these gaps in pupils' knowledge quickly enough. This means that some pupils are not fully prepared for their next steps when they reach the end of Year 6.

The school monitors pupils' attendance carefully. Staff use their analysis of attendance records to identify pupils who are struggling to attend regularly. The school then offers timely support so that attendance improves.

Pupils' good attendance is celebrated and rewarded.

In the early years, the school has designed an effective curriculum. This sets out clearly what children should be learning.

Skilled staff use imaginative and creative activities to bring this to life. They help children to develop and extend their vocabulary well. For example, children could explain to inspectors that an owl has a beak and talons, not a nose and feet.

Staff model good manners, kindness and politeness, and children respond in kind by sharing, taking turns and helping each other. This prepares children for the challenges that lie ahead in Year 1.

Pupils benefit from an effective personal, social and health education curriculum.

This equips them with the knowledge they need to navigate through their changing world. The school invites visitors in who can inspire pupils and broaden their horizons. Pupils learn how to build healthy relationships and look after their physical health.

Staff teach pupils about mutual respect, equality and tolerance. Pupils model these important values that sit at the heart of the school community.

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 use the information it gathers about gaps in pupils' knowledge when they join the school partway through key stage 2 effectively. This means that some pupils do not catch up as quickly as they might and do not gain the knowledge and skills they need for their next steps in education. The school should ensure that staff use the information they collect about pupils when they join the school effectively so that they catch up, keep up and achieve well.

• In a small number of subjects, the curriculum does not identify the prior knowledge that pupils should have learned and the important foundational knowledge that they will need for future learning. This means that, sometimes, teachers do not know exactly what pupils should have learned before, the exact detail of what they are learning now and how this will prepare them for future success. The school should ensure that the precise knowledge in all subjects is set out so that teachers know the key knowledge that pupils should learn and remember at each stage of their learning.

Also at this postcode