St Gildas Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at St Gildas belong to a warm and diverse community. Many pupils join the school at different times of the school year.

The school works effectively with families to help pupils settle quickly. The many pupils who speak English as an additional language are well supported. The support for pupils' well-being is a strength of the school and professional relationships between staff and pupils are strong.

Pupils like their school because they have lots of friends. They say that other pupils are kind and that bullying is extremely rare.

The school's curriculum is undergoing significant change.

The majority of this work is very new. The school is re...fining curriculum plans and the ways in which staff need to deliver them. Currently, pupils do not learn effectively across year groups and subjects.

The curriculum in Reception is more established. The school ensures that the youngest children are happy and enjoy their learning.

Pupils have a secure understanding of the school's values, such as resilience and stewardship.

They demonstrate this through their respectful and polite behaviour. Pupils can take part in a range of extra-curricular activities, including within sports, art and drama. Many pupils enjoy educational trips, such as to places of worship.

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

The school's curriculum is more developed in some areas than in others. For example, the school's phonics programme is well established. Pupils read books matched to the sounds they know.

Staff have received appropriate training to deliver this with confidence. This means that children in Reception, and other pupils who need to catch up, do so effectively. This includes pupils who speak English as an additional language and older pupils who require additional support.

Most other subjects are not well developed. The school has not set out precisely what pupils need to know and in which order. They have not broken down knowledge sufficiently.

In addition, they have not provided clarity on which resources teachers should use to support effective learning. Learning activities do not securely ensure pupils learn what is intended. As a result, pupils' learning experiences are too variable.

The school has not established effective ways to check pupils' understanding. As a result, when new content is introduced younger pupils, and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), can flounder. Learning is not always adapted to support these pupils to work with increasing independence.

Nevertheless, the school accurately identifies pupils with SEND. It works effectively with external agencies to secure additional support for these pupils, when needed.

The early years foundation stage curriculum is well designed.

The school is tenacious in identifying barriers to children's learning, such as for those who speak English as an additional language, and putting effective practices in place to support these children. For example, children often use signs to help them communicate their needs. The sequence of topics helps to build on children's knowledge over time.

The school has identified areas to improve across all curriculum subjects. However, its analysis of information, including checks on the quality of education and the progress of pupils with SEND, is in its infancy. The trust has begun to support the school by training subject leaders, but this work is also very new.

Staff and leadership changes have inevitably posed challenges. Currently, the school's evaluation of its work lacks the detail needed for the local governing committee to provide challenge and support effectively.

The development of children's language and communication skills underpins the early years foundation stage curriculum.

The interactions between staff and children effectively teach children new vocabulary. Staff help them to build positive relationships with one another. Children in Reception enjoy listening to stories and using their learning in other areas of the provision.

Children in Reception play and learn harmoniously and with purpose.

Older pupils also develop a love of reading. The books which pupils read help to develop pupils' understanding of a range of pertinent issues, such as racism.

Pupils enjoy talking about the books they read with their teachers and all pupils have opportunities to meet visiting authors. Pupils enjoy learning about other religions and cultures alongside the school's own religious character. They develop a strong understanding of how to keep themselves safe, including online.

Pupils, including children in Reception, behave well. The school is calm and orderly. Expectations about how pupils should behave at different times of the school day are clear.

On occasions where pupils are not engaged in their learning, this is often due to weaker curriculum practices.

The trust has supported the school by appointing two interim headteachers. There are appropriate plans in place to strengthen leadership at all levels.

It is currently too early to measure the impact of this work.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school's curriculum does not outline the small steps of knowledge that all pupils need to learn with enough precision.

This means that there is too much variability in the way teachers implement the curriculum. The trust must provide clarity about what pupils need to learn and when, so that all pupils can learn effectively. The school does not use the checks on pupils' learning effectively to identify gaps in their knowledge.

This hinders teachers' ability to address pupils' misconceptions or pick up on any missed learning. The trust must support teachers to use appropriate strategies to check that all pupils, including those with SEND, have secured their learning and are ready to move on. ? There have been significant changes to the curriculum recently.

The school has not sufficiently supported staff members who are responsible for making these changes. As a result, it has not ensured that teaching staff deliver the curriculum as intended, and it is unable to evaluate its impact accurately. The trust must ensure that leaders at all levels have the training to monitor the impact of their work and address staff development needs robustly.