St Charles’ RC School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Key Findings

This is a good school. Under the leadership of the new headteacher, the school is improving rapidly.

Pupils enjoy coming to school and this is reflected in their high level of attendance. They are happy and have a positive attitude to learning. Behaviour is good and pupils have a highly developed sense of right and wrong and feel safe.

They relate well to each other and to adults and have a good awareness of their responsibilities towards others. Achievement for the majority of pupils, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, is good. The rate of pupils' progress has accelerated since the last inspection.

Teaching is lively and engaging. Lessons are care...fully planned to ensure that pupils are challenged and make good progress. Assessment is used skilfully to see where support is needed to ensure that pupils do not fall behind.

Marking does not always ensure that pupils develop an understanding of their achievements and how they can improve. The curriculum offers pupils a wide variety of engaging activities. Music is a particular strength.

Attainment is rising rapidly throughout the school. Attainment in mathematics and in reading is now above average. Progress in writing has been accelerating but at a slower rate.

This is because pupils do not have a sufficiently wide range of writing tasks and there are not enough opportunities to develop writing skills in a variety of different subjects. The recently appointed headteacher has a very clear sense of direction and purpose for the school. Her dynamism and commitment have established a sense of shared ambition and drive.

Other key staff and members of the governing body are increasingly involved in evaluating the school's progress and in planning for improvement. The school engages well with a large majority of parents and carers, although information about progress and learning is not shared systematically in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Information about the school

This is a smaller than average-sized primary school.

The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is just below the national average. Almost all pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is very small and very few are at an early stage of learning English.

The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is close to average but the percentage who receive external support including those with a statement of special educational needs is slightly above average. The school is above current government floor targets, which set minimum expectations for attainment and progress. Since the time of the last inspection, a new headteacher has been appointed and a deputy headteacher who retired has not been replaced.

The school has Healthy Schools status and the Eco Schools Bronze Award. There is a privately run out-of-school club on site. This is subject to separate inspection arrangements.

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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