Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils live out the school's values of care, courtesy and commitment in all that they do. They are proud to attend this welcoming school. Staff nurture pupils to develop their confidence and self-esteem.

Pupils value their education. They know that staff will support them if they need it. This helps pupils feel happy and safe in school.

Leaders and staff set high expectations for all pupils, including children in the early years. Leaders expect pupils to achieve well and behave appropriately. Leaders are successful in making this happen.

Pupils focus on their... learning and are motivated in lessons. Pupils, including children in the early years, achieve well.

The school is a calm and orderly place, including at social times.

Pupils show respect towards fellow classmates and any adults whom they encounter. They understand the different forms of bullying. Pupils know that leaders will act on any concerns that arise.

On the few occasions bullying is reported, leaders tackle it effectively.

Staff provide a wide range of experiences to support pupils' wider personal development. Pupils spoke about attending an activity club, where they get the opportunity to try out lots of different sports.

Pupils enjoy fundraising for people less fortunate than themselves.

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

Leaders have developed an ambitious curriculum for all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils enjoy learning the curriculum because it is relevant and interesting.

Children in the early years also benefit from an engaging curriculum which sparks their imagination.

Leaders have carefully designed the curriculum so that it builds up pupils' knowledge from the Nursery Year through to Year 6. They have identified the essential topics and concepts that pupils must learn.

The curriculum has been crafted so that information is presented in a logical order. Overall, pupils achieve well across the curriculum. Pupils, and children in the early years, are ready for the next stage in their education.

Teachers have strong knowledge of the subjects that they teach. They select appropriate activities to enable pupils to learn the intended curriculum. Pupils value the work that teachers put into preparing lessons for them.

Across many subjects, teachers use a range of suitable strategies to check that pupils are learning new content. They also address any misconceptions that pupils may have. However, in a minority of curriculum areas, leaders are in the process of refining their systems to assess pupils' learning.

In these subjects, teachers' use of assessment is inconsistent. As a result, some teachers do not use the assessment information that they have collected to pinpoint exactly what pupils know and remember. Consequently, on occasion, some pupils do not make the necessary connections between different parts of their learning.

Reading has a high priority in school. Pupils love to read. They spoke enthusiastically about the books that they have read and the authors that they have studied.

Children begin to learn to read in the Nursery class. Children learn letters and sounds through nursery rhymes and songs. In the Reception Year and in Year 1, leaders have implemented a structured phonics programme.

The staff who deliver the phonics programme have received suitable training to make sure they deliver it successfully. Staff also identify pupils who find reading more difficult. They provide appropriate support to help many of these pupils to catch up.

Leaders ensure that staff know how to identify, assess and meet the needs of pupils with SEND. They work with a variety of external agencies to support pupils with SEND with their learning and development. Pupils with SEND access the full curriculum and they achieve well.

Relationships are positive between adults and pupils. Pupils work cooperatively together. Children in the early years also benefit from staff who take the time to support and guide them with their work and play.

Children in the early years settle in quickly and follow the school's routines. Children and pupils focus when they are learning in classrooms. Lessons are rarely disrupted.

Leaders ensure that pupils follow an effective programme of wider personal development. Pupils learn about different types of relationships. Children in the early years learn about what constitutes friendship.

Pupils develop a deep sense of respect for all religions, faiths and beliefs. They have an age-appropriate understanding of how to keep physically and mentally healthy. Pupils learn about what life is like in modern Britain.

They learn the importance of treating everyone fairly and equally.

The governing body has a broad range of experience and skills. This allows its members to hold leaders to account for the performance of pupils and the quality of education that pupils receive.

Staff said that leaders and governors support them well. They explained that leaders consider their workload and well-being when designing new policies. They are proud to work at Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The school has a strong culture of safeguarding. Leaders and staff know pupils and their families well.

Staff receive high-quality training in safeguarding. Leaders ensure that staff are informed regularly about any safeguarding issues in the school. Staff are well trained to spot any potential signs of harm that pupils may face.

When required, leaders work with a wide variety of external agencies to provide timely support to pupils and their families.

Pupils learn to keep themselves safe from danger, including when they are online. They learn how to spot dangers in the environment.

This includes road, bicycle and water safety.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a minority of subjects, leaders' systems for assessing how well pupils are learning new subject knowledge have not been finalised. As a result, some teachers are not fully clear about what pupils know and can do.

This hinders how well pupils are making connections between different topics. Leaders should finalise how teachers should use assessment systems in these remaining subjects.Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in July 2017.