St Ethelbert’s Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. This school has improved considerably.

Pupils make good progress because the school has an exciting and challenging curriculum which is well taught. Leaders and the interim executive board have worked relentlessly, and successfully, to improve teaching and achievement. The school is in a strong position to continue to improve further.

Teachers and leaders know pupils' strengths and weaknesses very well and use this knowledge to plan useful additional activities and support. Children get off to a sound start in Nursery. Reception has improved beyond recognition.

As a result, children are being much better prepared for Year 1 than... they were in the past. Pupils' behaviour is good. They are respectful of each other's backgrounds, polite around school and work hard in lessons.

The school is a safe environment and all the necessary checks are completed to make sure pupils stay safe. Parents are very positive about the changes in school. It is not yet an outstanding school because : There are occasions where teachers lack in-depth subject knowledge and some additional adults are not as skilled as they need to be in developing early language and literacy.

Some groups of pupils have still got a way to go to catch up on previous underachievement, particularly in Years 1 and 4. The school is still governed by an interim executive board and this needs to evolve into a governing body which is truly representative of the school community.

Information about this school

This is a larger-than-average Catholic school.

The school meets government floor standards, which set out the minimum standards expected at the end of Key Stage 2. There have been many staff changes since the last inspection. The leadership team is new and each member has been appointed at different points over the last two years.

Most recently, an inclusion leader and an early years leader were appointed in September 2014. Most teachers have joined the school since the previous full inspection and several new appointments have been made this academic year. Currently, the school has two teachers who have been trained overseas and two Teach First graduate trainees.

The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above average. At 14%, the proportion of pupils eligible for additional pupil premium funding is below average. This funding is available for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those in the care of the local authority.

The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is high. Almost 70% of the school's population is believed not to speak English as their first language. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is very high.

The largest group is Polish, followed by White British and Asian or Asian British. The early years consists of a part-time Nursery and Reception. The school has received support from Upton Court Grammar School as part of a package, organised by the local authority, to assist the school through special measures.

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