St Benet’s Catholic Primary School, Ouston

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

This is an outstanding school which fulfils its mission statement 'to be a happy and holy place of learning and the centre of a thriving community'. The determination and drive of senior leaders have been successful in sustaining pupils' good achievement across the school. Children enter the nursery with knowledge and skills that are typical for their age.

They make good progress in each key stage and leave the school with above average attainment in English and mathematics. Some lower attaining pupils make very good progress from their starting points. The school's inclusive ethos ensures that there are no differences between the attainment and progress of different pupil groups.

Particularl...y strong features of the school are pupils' outstanding behaviour, excellent attitudes to learning and high attendance. They enjoy coming to school, behave impeccably and have a heightened awareness of their own and others' safety. As a consequence, the school is a harmonious learning community where every child feels valued and respected and their learning flourishes as a result.

Pupils are held in very high regard locally and the school itself sits at the heart of this community. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding and pupils develop into considerate, well principled and caring individuals as a result. The school has a range of very effective links with schools around the world and these enhance pupils' understanding of cultural diversity.

This is recognised by the school's status as an International School. The outstanding curriculum provides pupils with a wide range of interesting and often exciting opportunities which support both their academic and personal development. It is greatly enriched by the school's involvement with the innovative 'thinking schools programme'.

Techniques acquired through this approach are very well-embedded across the school and have a significant impact on pupils' ability to plan, reflect and solve problems. They apply these skills regularly as they learn in other subjects and demonstrate them both in their written and oral work. Pupils are able to think deeply about their own and others experiences, respecting the rights of others to hold different beliefs to their own.

The large majority of teaching across the school is at least good. Teachers have secure subject knowledge and plan activities that meet the needs of all pupils and engage their interest. The senior leadership team has identified correctly strengths in teaching and areas for further development.

While monitoring and evaluation currently emphasise the quality of teaching, there is a recognition that, in order to drive up the quality of teaching still further, the time is right to refocus on the quality of pupils' learning. Marking in pupils' books is focused and ensures that pupils know how well they have done and what they need to do next to improve. Where marking is most effective, pupils are provided with opportunities to respond to teachers' comments, carry out corrections and learn from their mistakes.

Safeguarding is given a high priority and systems for child protection are robust and fully meet requirements. Pupils, parents and carers regard the school as an exceptionally safe place to be. Pupils say that bullying and racism are not tolerated and during the inspection older pupils were seen to be taking their extra responsibilities to care for younger pupils very seriously.

Care, guidance and support are of an exceptionally high quality. Senior leaders have ensured that all staff have a shared vision for the work of the school. There is a commitment to continuous improvement.

Monitoring is rigorous and self-evaluation accurately identifies where further improvements are required. The school's capacity for sustained improvement is good and much progress has been made since the previous inspection. Pupils' achievement remains good and all aspects of their personal development are now outstanding.

Leaders have begun to recognise the need to refine the use of a wide range of information about pupil performance in order to secure outstanding teaching, further improve pupils' progress and raise attainment.

Information about the school

This school is similar in size to primary schools nationally. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is well below the average.

The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is broadly average, although the proportion at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below that usually found. The vast majority of pupils are from a White British heritage with few from minority ethnic backgrounds. The school has achieved a number of awards including the Healthy School award and has International School status.

Eden Garden Nursery is not administered by the school's governing body. It therefore receives a separate inspection. The report is available on the Ofsted website.

Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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