St Chad’s Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at this school. They value the warm, supportive relationships that they have with staff. Pupils told inspectors that staff 'really care' about how they feel.

They know that their school is accepting of everyone and that no-one is left out.

Pupils enjoy a growing number of opportunities to be involved in school life. Older pupils show great pride when they talk about helping their younger peers, for example as reading ambassadors and playtime leaders.

Pupils spoke positively about some of the recent changes at school, such as increased ways that pupils can take part in sports activities.

Pupils understand that the school has high expe...ctations for them. They live up to these expectations by demonstrating the St Chad's values.

Pupils behave well. They treat each other with kindness and respect.

The school is ambitious for all pupils.

However, weaknesses in the delivery of the curriculum mean that many pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do not achieve as highly as they should. The trust is supporting the school to strengthen the quality of education that it provides for pupils. There is a clear understanding of what needs to improve.

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

The school is committed to providing a high-quality education for pupils. Recently, support from the trust has helped the school to implement this vision. Nevertheless, the improvements that the trust has made are uneven.

Some changes are too recent to have had an impact on pupils' achievement.

The trust has helped the school to design a more ambitious curriculum. Across all subjects, it is clear what pupils should know and when they should learn it.

In some subjects, and in the early years, staff have benefited from high-quality training. This has developed their subject knowledge so that they can deliver the curriculum effectively. For example, children in the Nursery and Reception classes learn well.

They are increasingly well prepared for the curriculum in key stage 1.

In other subjects, despite well-designed curriculums, staff expertise is underdeveloped. The activities that some staff choose are not well matched to the knowledge that pupils should learn.

This means that pupils sometimes do not learn and remember some of the important knowledge that is set out in the curriculum.

The school has made reading a priority. In the early years, staff support children to build a wide vocabulary.

Overall, in the Reception Year and key stage 1, an effective phonics programme helps most pupils to read accurately. Older pupils enjoy reading books that they have chosen for themselves. However, a small number of pupils who find reading difficult do not catch up as quickly as they should.

They have not had enough practise in matching letters to the sounds that they represent. This delays how quickly pupils learn to read with fluency.

Strategies to check how well pupils are learning the curriculum are not developed.

Some pupils have gaps in their knowledge, including their knowledge of phonics, due to experiencing a weaker curriculum in the past. At times, these gaps go unnoticed. This makes it difficult for staff to address pupils' missed learning.

Added to this, some of the support that pupils receive to help them to catch up is not as effective as the school intends.

Recently, the school has improved how it identifies and assesses pupils with SEND. Staff receive detailed information about these pupils' additional needs.

However, at times, some staff do not use this information well enough to adapt their delivery of the curriculum for these pupils. As a result, some pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they should.

From the beginning of the Nursery Year, children quickly settle into strong routines.

They learn to take turns and demonstrate good manners to their peers. Across the school, pupils are eager to learn. Most attend well.

The school is working with a small number of pupils who often miss school. This includes helping their families to access support from external agencies.

The school has developed a strong programme to support pupils' personal development.

This helps pupils to build independence and to learn about healthy lifestyles and different faiths. Pupils learn the importance of respecting differences between themselves and others, preparing them well for life in modern society.

Support from the trust has ensured that all levels of leadership at this school are stronger than they were in the past.

Trustees have an honest view of the school. They are helping governors to be better equipped in holding the school to account.

Staff are positive about recent changes in the school.

For example, they told inspectors that the school has consulted with them to ensure that their workload is more manageable than it has been in the past.

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, staff have not had sufficient support to select appropriate activities and to deliver curriculums as intended.

This hinders some pupils, including those with SEND, from learning the curriculum as well as they should.The school should ensure that staff receive appropriate guidance and support so that they deliver the curriculum consistently well. ? A small number of pupils who struggle with reading are not catching up quickly enough.

This limits their success in other areas of the curriculum. The school should ensure that these pupils receive enough opportunities for accurate phonics practice, so that their reading becomes increasingly fluent as words become more familiar. ? In many subjects, and in the early years, staff do not have a thorough enough understanding of how well pupils are learning the curriculum.

Staff are sometimes unaware of the gaps that pupils have developed in their knowledge. As a result, the school's strategies to address these gaps are not effective. The school should ensure that assessment strategies enable teachers to accurately identify any missed or forgotten learning and help pupils to secure that knowledge in their long-term memory.