St Edmund’s Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are safe and happy in this nurturing and friendly school. They enjoy warm and respectful relationships with staff.

The school is ambitious for its pupils.

It has made considerable improvements to many subject curriculums. Current pupils achieve better than they did in the past. Pupils work hard to meet the school's raised expectations of what they can achieve.

Pupils behave well. There is a calm and purposeful atmosphere in lessons, which helps pupils to focus on their learning. Pupils listen carefully to adults and to each other.

They are considerate of others' views and opinions.

Pupils are enthusiastic about being part of this scho...ol. They told inspectors how their learning and other activities in school help them to have high aspirations for later life.

Pupils are keen to be in school and spoke with animation about the rewards that they can receive for good attendance and punctuality.

The school provides a range of clubs so that pupils can develop their interests and talents. These include arts and crafts and sports clubs.

Pupils learn to improve their leadership skills through being members of the school council and supporting others as well-being champions. They make a positive contribution to their community by arranging fundraising events and helping to organise assemblies.

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

In the last two years, the proportion of pupils who met the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2 was significantly below the national average.

Weaknesses in the previous curriculum and pupils' poor attendance rates meant that these pupils were not well prepared for their secondary school. However, the school has made considerable improvements to the design and delivery of the curriculum in all subjects. Pupils now enjoy a better quality of education than they did in the past.

The school has thought carefully about how to order subject knowledge across the mixed-age classes. It has identified clearly where important knowledge and vocabulary will be introduced and how it will be deepened over a two-year period. In the early years, staff model vocabulary effectively.

As a result, children use this vocabulary appropriately in their learning. Older pupils spoke confidently about their learning from more recent and previous topics. However, many subject curriculums are in the initial stages of implementation.

As a result, some pupils struggle to make connections between different areas of learning.

Teachers begin each curriculum unit by assessing pupils' understanding of new subject knowledge. During lessons, teachers check that pupils have a secure understanding of their learning.

However, assessment activities do not help teachers to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge quickly enough. This means that some pupils, including those who are new to the school or who have been absent, move on to new learning before they are ready.

The school prioritises reading.

Children in the Nursery Year learn the sounds that the letters in their names make. They are well prepared to begin to use phonics to read words by the time that they reach the Reception Year. Staff are suitably trained to deliver the phonics curriculum successfully.

Most pupils develop their reading fluency quickly. Any pupils who struggle with reading benefit from targeted support from skilled staff.

The school identifies pupils' additional needs quickly and accurately.

Beginning in the early years, staff work closely with parents, carers and external specialists to make sure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get the expert help that they need. Pupils with SEND access the same learning opportunities as their peers. However, opportunities for these pupils, and some younger pupils, to record their understanding are limited by the learning activities that teachers choose.

Pupils follow the school rules. Their calm behaviour means that learning is not interrupted. However, many pupils do not attend school regularly.

The school has strengthened its relationships with families to try to reduce pupils' absence. It has introduced several incentives and initiatives to support families to remove the barriers to attendance. These are starting to have a positive impact with some families, but not with others.

The school supports pupils' personal development well. In the early years, staff work with families to help children develop essential self-care skills. Across the school, pupils learn about different faiths and cultures.

They recognise and celebrate the differences between people and understand the importance of acceptance and tolerance. Pupils know how to stay physically healthy and how to look after their well-being.

Staff are proud to be a part of the improvement journey that the school has been on.

The school has engaged with staff every step of the way, so that everybody is pulling together.

Governors know their school and the community it serves well. They have an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and hold leaders to account for pupils' achievement.

Governors monitor pupils' attendance rates each term. However, they provide insufficient support to the school to address some pupils' high levels of persistent absence.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Pupils who are new to the school, or who have poor attendance, have gaps in their learning. This means they do not have the knowledge they need for later learning. The school should ensure that teachers are equipped to identify and address these gaps rapidly to ensure pupils are ready for the next stage in their learning.

• In some subjects, chosen recording activities do not enable younger pupils, or pupils with SEND, to demonstrate their understanding accurately. This means that teachers do not have all the information they need to design future learning accurately. The school should consider alternative forms of recording for these pupils so that they can demonstrate their subject understanding well.

• Some pupils are persistently absent from school. As a result, they do not benefit from the ambitious curriculum and the nurturing environment the school provides. The school, with the full support of the governing body, should intensify its work with families to further promote the importance of pupils being in school every day.