St Gerard’s RC Junior and Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Gerard's RC Junior and Infant School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

St Gerard's is a happy and harmonious community. Pupils learn that everyone is equal and should be treated with respect.

Initiatives such as 'Friendship February' and 'Make me smile March' promote the importance of care and kindness. As a result, pupils get along together. They are thoughtful, polite and considerate.

Pupils' behaviour is exemplary in lessons and around school.

Leaders and staff have high expectations of all pupils. They have developed a curriculum that enables pupils to achieve well in a broad range of subjects.

In some subjects, ...pupils are already flourishing. In others, the groundwork has been done. Leaders and teachers are now refining their expertise so they can support pupils to learn equally well in all subjects.

Pupils know that adults care about them. They trust adults to help if they are stuck with their work or have any worries. Pupils feel safe.

If bullying occurs, adults deal with it effectively.

Leaders want pupils to be proud of where they live. They teach them about Castle Vale and Birmingham.

Leaders also want to broaden pupils' experiences beyond their local area. They do this through trips and visitors to school, which pupils thoroughly enjoy.

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

Since September 2022, the deputy headteacher has led the school as acting headteacher.

He has done this with the support of a senior leader from another school. Alongside other leaders, the acting headteachers have quickly established an accurate view of what the school does well and what needs to improve. They have kept the school moving forward during a time of change.

Leaders have recently reviewed the curriculum. Subject leaders, many of whom are new to their roles, have thought about how they want pupils' knowledge to build from the early years through to Year 6. They have set out what pupils will learn in each subject and class.

In some subjects, leaders have identified the precise building blocks of knowledge that pupils need to learn. For example, in mathematics, pupils' knowledge builds lesson by lesson. Teachers make effective choices about the activities pupils will do to help them learn.

Pupils achieve well.

In other subjects, teachers decide on the most important things to teach and how they will teach them. Where teachers' subject knowledge is secure, they do this effectively.

Pupils develop a strong understanding of what they have learned. For example, pupils in Year 5 talked confidently about how the equator affects climate. Where teachers' subject expertise is less secure, they do not always prioritise the most important knowledge to teach.

Sometimes they teach content that does not build in a logical order. Occasionally, the activities and resources that teachers choose contain inaccuracies or are of poor quality.

Leaders make sure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) can learn the same curriculum as other pupils.

There is an effective process for identifying the needs of pupils with SEND. Leaders work with teachers and specialist agencies to provide these pupils with the support that they need to succeed.

The process of checking that pupils remember the most important parts of what they have learned works well in mathematics.

Teachers provide extra support for pupils who need it, including pupils with SEND. This ensures that everyone is ready to learn the next thing. Leaders have started to introduce this approach in other subjects.

Pupils read in school every day. Skilled staff teach the phonics curriculum to pupils in Reception and key stage 1. They keep a careful check on the sounds that pupils know.

Pupils who start to fall behind receive extra teaching each day. This teaching focuses on the sounds these pupils do not know. It helps most pupils to catch up.

However, there are a small number of pupils who do not catch up as quickly as they could. This includes a very small number of pupils in key stage 2 who are still at an early stage of learning to read.

Right from the early years, pupils follow the school's well-established rules and routines diligently.

Classrooms are calm and purposeful. Pupils can focus on their work and learn without disruption.

Staff teach pupils about the main world religions.

Pupils are tolerant of difference. They learn to care for others, for example by raising money for charity. Leaders encourage all pupils to be physically active.

Pupils enjoy taking part in a range of after-school sports clubs. These clubs are very popular, and places fill quickly.

Governors and leaders check on staff well-being.

Staff work as a team and value the care that senior leaders show them. They appreciate the actions that leaders take to help them manage their workload.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff know the signs to look out for that suggest a pupil might need help. They receive regular training to keep their knowledge up to date. Staff report concerns promptly and leaders take appropriate action to keep pupils safe.

Leaders understand the context of the local community. They get to know families well and offer support to those who need it. Some of this support comes from within school.

Leaders also signpost families to external services that can help.

Staff teach pupils about how to keep themselves safe in a timely way. For example, pupils in Year 6 learn about the risks of anti-social behaviour before moving to secondary school.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The curriculum in a small number of subjects is at an early stage of implementation. Teachers are not delivering some parts of these curriculums effectively. This means that pupils do not develop a secure understanding of some important content.

Subject leaders should continue to develop their subject expertise so that they can further support staff to deliver all aspects of the intended curriculum well. They should ensure that staff have the necessary subject knowledge to make effective choices about what they teach, when they teach it, and which activities will help pupils to remember their learning. ? A small number of pupils in the early stages of learning to read do not get enough teaching and practise of the sounds they need to learn.

As a result, these pupils do not learn as well as they could. Leaders should refine their approach to supporting pupils in the early stages of learning to read so that they catch up quickly.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in January 2013.