St Godrics Catholic Primary School, Thornley

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The variability in teaching that was evident at the time of the last inspection has been eradicated.

Pupils are once again making good progress in most subjects across each phase of the school. The acting headteacher manages her staff well. Teachers are motivated and keen to learn from one another.

They are all increasingly committed to subject leadership and consequently they influence and support one another effectively. The standard of phonics teaching has improved. Last year, an above-average proportion of pupils attained the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check.

However, some pupils in key stage 1 are not ...yet fluent readers because they do not immediately recognise some common words. Standards in reading, writing and mathematics improved to be above average last year. The trend is being sustained this year.

More pupils are also on course to attain the higher standards than last year. However, some most- able pupils need to eradicate persistent errors in spelling. The quality of teaching is good across the school.

Lessons are well planned and tailored to reflect the different starting points of pupils in the mixed-age classes. Pupils' accuracy in spelling, punctuation and grammar is too variable and teachers do not use consistent approaches to bring these to pupils' attention. Pupils make good progress in most subjects.

However, some topics in history and geography are not covered in enough depth. Pupils show positive attitudes to learning and apply themselves diligently. They enjoy school.

Attendance was in line with the national average last year and is improving this year. The school has a warm, friendly and caring ethos. Pupils feel safe because they feel included in a cohesive community.

Parents feel that the school is good at recognising and responding to their children's individual needs. Governance is effective. Vacancies on the governing body have been filled and governors are well organised and active in their monitoring of the school's performance.

Information about this school

St Godric's Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is smaller than average. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for support through the pupil premium is below the national average.

The proportion of pupils with SEND is below the national average. An average proportion of pupils have an education, health and care plan. The school has a Catholic religious character.

The most recent section 48 inspection of the school took place in June 2016. The school is federated with another local school. The headteacher has led the school in an acting capacity since September 2017, when the substantive headteacher began a secondment.