St Francis’ Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school Outstanding leadership and management have enabled the school to make very rapid progress over the last three years. The inspirational headteacher has provided a very clear and non-negotiable plan for school improvement.

The very strong spiritual, moral, social and cultural ethos of the school is evident in all its work. The leaders and governors are having a very positive impact on teaching and the pupils' outcomes. These aspects of the school's work are improving rapidly.

Teaching, learning and assessment are good. Teachers provide good-quality, individual feedback to pupils on how to improve their work, especially in literacy and numer...acy. The school provides outstanding support for pupils' personal development and welfare.

Pupils' behaviour is exemplary. They are exceptionally courteous and very keen to learn. Their rates of attendance are high.

Pupils feel very safe at school and are very knowledgeable about how to stay safe. Pupils' outcomes are good. Pupils of all abilities make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics and attainment is rising across the curriculum.

Provision for children in the early years provision is outstanding. Children in the Nursery and Reception classes make excellent progress in all areas of learning. In Years 1 to 6, teachers do not always have high enough expectations for pupils' work in science and topic work.

Teachers do not consistently adapt work within a lesson when pupils are stuck or are ready to move on to a more difficult task.

Information about this school

St Francis' Catholic Primary School is much larger than an average-sized primary school. There is a morning Nursery and two Reception classes in the early years provision.

Pupils come from a range of backgrounds, with most being of Black African or Black Caribbean heritage. Over half of the pupils speak English as an additional language, but only a few are at the early stages of learning to speak English. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is broadly average.

The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6. The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.