St Francis’ Catholic Primary School, Maidstone

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

St Francis is a school community that strives to live out its Catholic mission to others. With 35 languages spoken, pupils actively celebrate people from all around the world.

A highlight is the annual 'diversity week', where families of different nationalities share their customs and traditions. Here, pupils love tasting new foods, wearing native clothing and broadening their international knowledge.

Pupils are cheerful, behave well and want to make a difference.

They understand right from wrong. Pupils are encouraged to see the good in everyone. When pupils report bullying, the school acts promptly to address this.

Pupils know they can talk to adul...ts who will look out for everyone.

The outdoor space is carefully designed so pupils can play organised games and activities during break and lunchtimes. These are popular and really help pupils' physical development and social skills.

Pupils welcome and remember fondly the range of clubs and school trips that are on offer.

Academic expectations are high with hard-working pupils who achieve well. This helps most pupils be ready for their next education stage.

However, in early years, children currently do not always learn literacy skills and other knowledge as well as they could before starting key stage 1.

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

The school's ambitious curriculum teaches pupils a broad range of knowledge combined with immersive experiences to hook pupils' interests. Time has been taken to ensure that the curriculum reflects the school's community and its Catholic faith.

By the end of key stage 2, pupils achieve above national expectations.

Across different subjects, the school has identified key knowledge and skills that pupils need to learn. Although these are connected across year groups, there remains work to do in how this starts from early years.

Planning within the areas of learning lacks precision in what essential knowledge children should grasp. This leads to children being not as sufficiently equipped as they could be when beginning the scope of the national curriculum in Year 1.

The curriculum is newer in some subjects and teachers are beginning to implement this in an effective way.

Teachers demonstrate good subject knowledge in their explanations and present ideas simply to pupils. Questions in lessons enable pupils to think about what they remember and how this links to previous learning. However, the work set for pupils is inconsistent.

Some activities do not enable pupils to gain a deeper knowledge. In addition, the school is not consistently assuring itself of how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum in every subject. Leaders have already recognised this and are in the process of training staff to ensure that the appropriate checks on the curriculum can be made.

Reading is actively promoted across the school. Pupils develop their language and vocabulary through listening and reading diverse books. They are enthusiastic about the many books they can choose to read.

The school is embedding a new phonics programme and has trained its staff to know how best to teach a child to read, spell and write. Staff are clear about following the programme's planning and structure. However, in early years, adults are not providing children with enough effective practice in letter formation and writing sentences within the teaching of the phonics programme.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive a wide range of support and have their needs identified as early as possible. The school works closely with parents to help pupils meet aspirations. The school provides an additional learning space, where trained staff provide pupils with therapies and extra instruction to help pupils achieve successfully across the curriculum.

Behaviour rules and routines ensure that pupils in this large school know what to do and how to move about sensibly. In lessons, pupils are eager to do well. They love receiving rewards for their hard work and good choices.

Older pupils are role models who help younger pupils settle and play happily together.

Different opportunities to enhance pupils' social, moral, spiritual and cultural development serve them well. Pupils are respectful of other faiths.

They take on responsibilities, help those in need and contribute their voice to make the school the best it can be. Pupils who do not speak English fluently are fully immersed in school life and closely supported.

Governors are new to their role and demonstrate a good understanding of their contribution in the strategic direction of the school.

They know what questions to ask of school staff, so that they can check that agreed priorities are having the right impact for pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The implementation of the curriculum in some subjects is not consistently embedded.

Sometimes, staff can set work that does not always help pupils learn the planned knowledge. The school should continue with supporting staff to develop greater expertise in teaching the curriculum so that pupils can achieve even higher. ? The learning in some subjects is not always consistently checked.

This means that the school is not always clear how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum. The school should continue its work to provide staff who lead individual subjects with the expertise needed to ensure that pupils achieve well in every subject. ? In early years, the curriculum does not ensure that children build up their knowledge securely.

In some areas of learning, knowledge is not clearly identified and planned activities do not always help pupils acquire what they need. This means children are not well prepared in some curriculum areas when starting in Year 1. The school needs to review and reconsider the current curriculum and provision in place.