St Francis CofE (Aided) Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. In this welcoming school, the behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils feel extremely safe in school and have high regard for the feelings of others.

Pupils settle quickly into learning because of the strong care and support they are given to address their individual needs. Progress is at least good for all groups of pupils from their entry to Year 3. By the end of Year 6 standards in all subjects are above average over time.

Pupils engage extremely well with their learning. They enjoy school, are eager to please and make thoughtful responses to questions. Teaching is at least good.

Some teaching is outstanding. Teachers and t...heir assistants are constantly challenged to improve the quality of their work. They work together to make a highly successfully team.

Marking is a strength of the school. Pupils understand the process and are fully engaged in opportunities to return to work and learn through correcting past errors or by improving the quality of their writing. The strong leadership of the headteacher and her senior leaders are central to school development.

Work to develop the roles of all leaders has resulted in a greater shared responsibility ensuring that actions identified for improvement are successful. Leaders ensure that the quality of teaching is high through a system of lesson observations, staff training and the tracking of individual pupils' progress with staff pay related to pupils' performance. Governors have a good understanding of the school and its pupils.

They recognise the need to develop pupils' skills and abilities beyond the academic. They ensure support for families so that pupils can make the best of the learning opportunities on offer. Governors are unafraid to challenge where appropriate and ensure that the allocation of finances is well directed for best impact.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : The achievement of boys is not yet as good as girls in reading and writing. Progress in mathematics is slower than that in reading and writing. There are fewer opportunities for pupils to use mathematics in other subjects.

The gap between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and others in the school, and nationally is too variable.

Information about this school

This is a small junior school. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils, who are supported through the pupil premium funding, is well above average.

This additional funding is allocated to those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and pupils looked after by the local authority care. The vast majority of pupils are of White British background. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is average.

The school meets the governments' current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress. The proportion of pupils joining and leaving the school other than at the usual time is higher than average. The school runs a breakfast club each morning.

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