St Boniface RC Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at St Boniface.

They enjoy being part of a welcoming, friendly and caring community. They have positive relationships with their peers and staff. Pupils, including children in the early years, typically behave well in class and around the school.

Most pupils listen attentively and remain focused on tasks during lessons.

The school encourages pupils to develop their talents in a variety of areas, such as in football, music and choir. Pupils also have opportunities to broaden their experiences through educational trips and visits, including to an outdoor residential centre, a zoo and a science museum.

Pupils contribute to the life of t...he school by taking on various leadership roles.

The school has high expectations for pupils' achievements, but these ambitions are not fully realised. This is because previous curriculum choices and significant staff changes have had an impact on the achievement of some pupils.

Pupils now benefit from more stable staffing and follow new curriculums. However, the quality and delivery of some curriculums, including in the early years, vary. In addition, the school has not fully identified or addressed some of the barriers to pupils' learning.

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

The school has made significant improvements in several areas, including the school culture, attendance and pupils' behaviour. Previously, a high proportion of pupils were persistently absent from school. The school has put in place a range of effective strategies, such as a new reward system, which have successfully reduced the number of pupils who are regularly absent from school.

The school has a calm and orderly atmosphere. It has established clear rules and routines for behaviour. These are understood and followed by children in the early years and by older pupils.

Pupils who struggle to regulate their behaviour receive effective support from the school's pastoral team.

The school's provision for pupils' wider development prepares them well for later life. For example, pupils learn about respect and tolerance.

The school promotes an understanding of physical and mental health. Pupils make presentations about their work at a local university. This helps to raise their aspirations.

The school has developed an ambitious curriculum structure. It is in the process of reviewing and refining its subject curriculums. In some subjects, the school has logically ordered the knowledge that it wants pupils to gain.

This helps pupils to build on prior learning and remember more. However, in other subjects, the school is still in the process of developing what it wants pupils to learn and the order in which this new content should be taught. This is also the case in the early years, where the school has not defined some of the important knowledge that children should learn in some areas of learning.

This hinders staff in designing appropriate activities for pupils. In addition, it prevents pupils from developing a solid body of knowledge.In subjects where there is a lack of clarity about what pupils should be learning, including in some areas of learning in the early years, staff do not use their checks on pupils' learning well.

This prevents staff from identifying and addressing pupils' misconceptions effectively. As a result, some pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

The school places a strong emphasis on developing communication and language in the early years.

The school has recently introduced a new phonics programme. Many staff have received training and this has helped to improve the delivery of the phonics scheme. However, there is still some variability in its implementation.

Some staff have not been suitably trained to support pupils who find reading difficult. This limits some pupils' ability to read with confidence and fluency.

In the recent past, the systems to identify and support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) were not effective or timely.

Although improvements have been made, further work is needed to ensure that pupils' needs are identified quickly and accurately. This makes it difficult for staff to provide the necessary support for these pupils. Weaknesses in curriculum design further limit the progress that pupils with SEND make through the curriculum.

Governors have supported the school in achieving stability in staffing. They are committed to working with the school to improve the quality of education. While some of this work is still in its early stages, governors are increasingly challenging the school to improve.

Staff are proud to work at the school. They appreciate the efforts made to consider their workload and prioritise their well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, including in the early years, the school is still in the process of defining what pupils should learn and in what order. This makes it difficult for staff to design activities that help pupils to build their knowledge over time. The school should finalise its curriculum thinking so that staff are clear about what should be taught and when.

• In some subjects, including in the early years, staff do not use assessment strategies well enough to check on how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum. This prevents staff from identifying and addressing the gaps in pupils' knowledge. The school should ensure that staff are well equipped to use assessment strategies effectively to identify gaps in pupils' prior learning and adjust their teaching accordingly.

Some staff lack the necessary expertise to implement the phonics scheme effectively to support weaker readers. As a result, some pupils do not develop their phonics knowledge as quickly or securely as they should. The school should continue to improve staff expertise in teaching phonics to help pupils become fluent and confident readers.

• Until recently, the systems and processes for identifying pupils with SEND lacked sufficient rigour. This means that the school did not always identify the needs of these pupils' promptly to ensure that the support for these pupils had the desired impact. The school should continue to improve its systems for identifying and supporting pupils with SEND to ensure they are supported effectively to achieve well.