St Cuthberts Catholic First School, Berwick

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school Under the strong leadership of the new headteacher and governors, the school has improved continuously since the previous inspection. Pupils are proud of their school and recognise improvements made, saying 'our lessons are much better now and we learn more every day'. Leaders and staff share a determination to eliminate underachievement and to ensure high expectations.

Even so, performance targets set for teachers do not link well enough to outcomes for pupils. Pupils' outcomes are good across the whole curriculum. Current pupils make swift progress.

A large majority of pupils achieve the expected standards for their age in mathematics a...nd writing. However, fewer pupils work at the higher standard in these subjects. Pupils' achievement in reading is extremely high.

This is because leaders have changed the way reading is organised across the school. Staff teach the skills of reading most effectively and large proportions of pupils work at greater depth in reading compared to pupils nationally. Most-able pupils read challenging books that develop their wider general knowledge well.

Teachers and assistants give lots of feedback to their pupils during lessons. Staff intervene quickly if they spot any errors or misconceptions. This sensitive guidance helps pupils learn from their mistakes.

Middle leaders understand their roles in school and monitor outcomes carefully to support the good progress made in different subjects. Governors make sure that money spent on disadvantaged pupils supports their high achievement. Similarly, governors also ensure that pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities make strong progress too.

Pupils behave well in lessons and show respect for all staff in school. Teachers create positive relationships in classrooms and pupils cooperate sensibly and with maturity. Children get off to a good start with learning in the early years.

Standards are much higher at the end of Reception now than in previous years and staff prepare pupils well for Year 1. Pupils' phonics skills are improving because : teaching is more precise and targeted at different abilities.

Information about this school

St Cuthbert's First School is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.

Most of the pupils at the school are of White British heritage. Although very few in number, the proportion of disadvantaged pupils in the school is broadly in line with other schools nationally. The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is higher than the national average.

The proportion of pupils who have a statement of special educational needs or an educational, health and care plan is below average when compared to other schools nationally. A small but increasing proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language. The school provides a minimum of 15 hours of education for Nursery children either in the morning or the afternoon.

Some parents buy additional hours for their Nursery children during the week. The school offers 30 hours of free provision for working parents of children in the Nursery if families qualify for this government-funded support. Reception children attend full-time.