St Francis Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Adults care deeply about the children at St Francis. The school's Christian mission of 'living life to the fullest' shapes what leaders and staff do.

The relationships between everyone are special. It is a happy and welcoming place. Children enjoy coming to school to learn.

Leaders are determined in raising the aspirations of the school community. Pupils know that they are expected to work hard and behave. Classrooms are for the most part calm, and staff teach routines that help children to move around school sensibly.

Children model this well from the start of Nursery.

Outside, pupils love playing in the spacious grounds, and staff ensure that there... are always things that pupils can do. Pupils said that behaviour is much better, and that adults stamp out any bullying quickly.

Pupils said that they feel safe wherever they go. They know the school rules of 'be kind, be ready, be safe'.

Pupils appreciate how adults arrange experiences they have never tried before.

This year, pupils are working on a project with a professional opera singer. They have supported one of the city's homeless charities, and older pupils have worked with students from an eminent independent school.

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

The acting co-headteachers are carrying the mantle in establishing an ambitious curriculum that develops children both academically and personally.

Leaders have tailored this to suit the local community the children live in. In 2019, pupils' attainment in national tests was low. Many did not meet standards expected for their age.

Leaders knew that this was not acceptable. Since then, they have swiftly established new curriculum plans in English, mathematics and science, so that pupils learn the knowledge they need to succeed.

The new early years leader rightly identified that the teaching of phonics was not effective enough.

Thus, a new, comprehensive phonics programme has recently started. This is making a difference already. Staff in Reception follow the new plans exactly as set out.

Children can recall the sounds they know so far, and are able to accurately read short words that contain these sounds. Leaders carry out ongoing assessments from the programme to check that all children are on track. For those children behind in their reading, staff provide extra one-to-one sessions to help these children catch up.

They use the programme's plans and resources highly effectively.

Due to stock delays, some of the phonics programme's resources, including the accompanying reading books, have only just arrived. Leaders have not yet got all staff expertly trained to teach all parts of the programme.

This has led to some inconsistencies in teaching phonics, which are hampering some pupils' progress in learning to read, spell and develop their handwriting.

Across the curriculum, learning is planned through projects which combine different subjects. Leaders recognise that this can lead to some subjects not being taught in as much as depth as they would like.

They are reviewing this. Subject leaders are working on mapping out the essential knowledge for each year group. At the moment, this is not well sequenced in some subjects.

Therefore, pupils are not necessarily learning content in the right order, and teachers' assessments are not always closely matched to what should be taught. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the pace of leaders' plans to fix this.

In lessons, pupils do the right thing and focus on the task in hand.

However, there are times where pupils can distract others and not always follow an adult's instructions straight away. Sometimes, teachers do not pick up on this quickly. Occasionally, teachers' expectations of pupils' conduct and how routines are consistently applied are not high enough.

The new special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) supports teachers well in providing what pupils need in the classroom. All pupils are expected to learn the same content. Staff skilfully break down new learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities into smaller steps.

They challenge all pupils to think deeply, and provide regular practice to recall prior knowledge. The SENCo liaises effectively with other agencies to help with identifying if a child may have additional needs.

Governors know the school well.

Each committee drills down in detail to understand what leaders are doing and whether this is improving pupils' education. Governors make good use of reports from the local authority to help them check on the progress of the school development plan.

Staff described working at this school as being like family.

They were complimentary about what leaders do to look after their well-being and workload.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Children are always at the centre of leaders' decisions.

The safeguarding team members do what they can to reach out to families in need. They take the initiative, for example, by being the lead agency in securing help for children. Leaders' record-keeping is thorough.

This ensures that case histories are accurate and up to date.

Staff are well trained to spot any safeguarding concerns. They know what may be happening in the city, for example female genital mutilation and county lines.

Staff know how to raise a concern. When they do, leaders act fast. Governors carefully check the school's safeguarding culture.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Not all adults are experts in teaching phonics. In addition, new resources and matched reading books have only just arrived. This means that pupils do not get exactly what they need in order to learn to read, spell and develop their handwriting.

Leaders should ensure that every adult is trained to deliver the phonics programme effectively. ? Sometimes staff do not pick up quickly enough when pupils are off task or not following the rules. This can occasionally lead to pupils not behaving as well as they should.

Leaders need to ensure that all staff have the highest of expectations, and that routines and consequences are consistent across all classes and around school. ? In some foundation subjects, leaders have not precisely laid out what knowledge is taught, and when and how it is taught. This can lead to teachers being unclear about what to teach across a series of lessons.

Subject leaders require further training to sequence this knowledge step by step from early years to Year 6. Leaders have already begun to do this. For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied.

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