St Alban’s Roman Catholic Primary School Blackburn

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

St Alban's is a warm and friendly school where everyone is welcome. The secure relationships that pupils have with the nurturing staff help them to feel happy, safe and well cared for. Pupils are confident to talk to a trusted adult if they have any worries.

They know that adults will listen to them and will support them to resolve their concerns.

Pupils, including children in the early years, are kind and courteous to staff and to each other. Pupils behave well in lessons and enjoy positive interactions with their friends during playtimes and lunchtimes.

Pupils are proud to attend their school and to be part of its diverse community. They relish opportunitie...s to make a positive difference to the lives of others. For example, pupils take part in litter-picking and, through their roles in the 'A team,' raise money for charities.

The school has high expectations of what all pupils should achieve, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Since the previous inspection, the school has taken steps to strengthen the curriculum. This has enabled pupils to achieve increasingly well.

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

The school has strengthened its curriculum since the last inspection. Pupils benefit from a rich curriculum that identifies clearly what pupils should learn from the early years to Year 6. The school has considered the workload and well-being of staff when making these curriculum changes.

Staff have secure subject and pedagogical knowledge. They present new information to pupils clearly and design activities that help pupils to learn the intended knowledge. Pupils progress well through the curriculum from their starting points.

The school makes checks on learning to identify how well pupils understand and retain the knowledge that has been taught. However, in some subjects, these assessment practices are still being refined. In these subjects, checks on pupils' learning are not effective enough in identifying gaps in pupils' learning, to inform future teaching.

The school has made reading a priority. Pupils read widely and often. Children in the early years eagerly gather round and become engrossed in stories as staff read to them.

Staff have the knowledge and skills to be able to deliver the school's phonics programme. They provide targeted support where needed to help pupils to keep up. Pupils read books that match the sounds that they have learned.

Increasingly, more pupils are becoming confident, fluent readers by the end of key stage 1.

The proportion of pupils who join the school at different points in their schooling is well above average. Many of these pupils are new to learning English as an additional language.

The needs of these pupils, and those with SEND, are swiftly identified and effectively met. The school engages well with parents, carers and with external agencies.Staff make appropriate adaptations to the delivery of the curriculum to enable pupils with SEND to access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers.

St Alban's promotes positive attitudes to learning among pupils. Staff support and motivate pupils to keep on trying. Children in the early years concentrate for extended periods of time as they work creatively together.

Pupils offer each other help and encouragement to overcome challenges. They work diligently in lessons and show pride in their work.

The school is tenacious in its work to improve the attendance of pupils who do not attend school as regularly as they should.

It works closely with parents to ensure that they understand the negative impact that absence has on pupils' learning. The school has robust procedures in place to identify concerns about attendance, to understand the reasons for this and to take effective action to address these. These processes are having a positive impact on improving pupils' attendance over time.

The school has developed an effective personal, social, health and economic education curriculum that reflects the needs of the pupils and the local community. Pupils, including those with SEND, enjoy attending extra-curricular activities such as sports clubs. They broaden their experiences through, for example, completing their 'activity passports', having opportunities to hear a live orchestra and visiting museums.

Pupils learn about the importance of equality and diversity. Their wider development is supported well.

Those with responsibility for governance carry out their statutory duties effectively.

Since the last inspection, governors have been thorough in holding the school to account for its work to improve previously identified weaknesses. They use the information they receive about the school's work to provide effective challenge and support.

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 has not ensured that assessment strategies are used consistently and effectively in all subjects to check whether pupils have learned the intended knowledge before moving on to subsequent learning. This makes it difficult for the school to accurately identify whether pupils have secured this knowledge. The school should ensure that assessment strategies enable staff to identify and address the gaps in pupils' learning so that their knowledge builds securely over time.