St Hugh’s Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Many pupils from different countries and backgrounds arrive at this school throughout the year.

They all receive a warm welcome, and no time is wasted in helping pupils who speak English as an additional language. Pupils like their school and appreciate their teachers.

Pupils make good use of the many extra-curricular clubs on offer.

These clubs vary throughout the year and give pupils plenty of opportunities to develop their talents and interests beyond the classroom.

Many pupils do achieve well in most curriculum areas from their varying starts to formal schooling. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
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Pupils, including children in the early years, typically behave well during lessons. They work hard and focus on their learning. However, their behaviour during social times is not as positive.

Some pupils engage in rough behaviour or they act in a way that is not kind or caring to others. Teachers do not routinely put a stop to these incidents. Consequently, such behaviour goes unchecked and becomes the norm outside of learning time.

Pupils have a limited understanding of bullying. In addition, leaders do not deal with some bullying and safeguarding reports as well as they could. Nonetheless, despite these weaknesses, pupils are ultimately safe and happy at the school.

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

Leaders have designed a coherent curriculum which builds from the early years to Year 6. The curriculum helps pupils to develop their knowledge securely over time. Leaders have identified the important knowledge that pupils need to know and the order in which it will be taught.

Teachers know what to teach. They use assessment strategies effectively to check that pupils are learning what they should.

In 2022, the attainment of most pupils in key stages 1 and 2 was much lower than the national average in reading, writing and mathematics.

However, this data does not reflect the progress that many pupils make, across a range of subjects, once they arrive at school, often from very low starting points. Leaders and teachers are effective at adapting their delivery of the curriculum to support new pupils who arrive at the school at different times of the year. Leaders also ensure that teachers have the skills that they need to make sure that pupils with SEND can access the same learning as their classmates.

Staff have been suitably trained to identify the needs of pupils with SEND quickly.

Leaders prioritise reading. They have a sharp focus on helping pupils learn to read as quickly as they can.

Leaders and teachers are highly attuned to the importance of promoting pupils' speaking and listening skills throughout the curriculum. Teachers promote language skills effectively. Teachers deliver the phonics programme well.

They match books well to the sounds that pupils know. Leaders organise additional support for pupils at the early stages of learning to read. The staff who provide this extra help are well trained.

This helps pupils to catch up quickly.

Leaders have ensured that children in the Reception Year benefit from a well-designed early years curriculum that helps them get off to a good start. Children who join the school in the early years develop good habits and behaviours for learning quickly.

Teachers model language effectively and foster positive relationships between the children in their care. The early years learning environment is organised well to help children learn and explore. This supports children to be prepared for the next stage of their education.

Leaders promote pupils' personal development well. They help pupils to develop their knowledge of how to maintain their physical and mental well-being. They also ensure that pupils learn about different faiths and develop a sense of tolerance and respect towards people who are different to themselves.

Leaders have carefully identified additional opportunities, such as school trips, to enhance the curriculum and develop pupils' understanding of the world around them.

Pupils behave well in lessons. However, pupils do not maintain these standards at breaktimes and lunchtimes.

Some pupils' interactions with others are rough and unkind during these social times. Leaders do not give staff clear guidance on how to respond to these issues, and staff members do not deal with them consistently. Equally, the curriculum is not sufficiently well designed to help equip pupils to identify or raise a concern about repeating behaviours and bullying concerns.

This compounds the issue and results in pupils accepting unkindness outside of lesson time.

Leaders do not keep sufficiently detailed records of bullying concerns nor do they provide detailed guidance to teachers on how to respond to such concerns. This means that leaders and governors miss opportunities to evaluate patterns of behaviour that may be present and respond to issues as effectively as they could.

Governors engage positively in the day-to-day life of the school. However, they do not gather the level of information that they need to fully evaluate their work or that of leaders. This means that they are not alert to the weaknesses within the school.

Leaders engage well with staff and take steps to reduce teachers' workload. Staff appreciate these actions and feel supported by leaders.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders ensure that staff know how to identify the signs that a pupil might be at risk of harm. Staff know how to report any concerns that they may have and alert leaders to these concerns quickly. Leaders take action to provide support for vulnerable pupils when concerns are raised by staff or other agencies.

However, occasionally, leaders' actions in response to these concerns, including how they record their actions and report on them to governors, are not as robust as they should be.

The curriculum helps pupils to learn how to keep themselves safe online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Sometimes leaders' actions in response to concerns raised about a pupil's welfare are not as robust as they should be.

This includes how leaders record these actions and report them to governors. This means that leaders and governors miss opportunities to identify patterns in behaviour, bullying and safeguarding. Leaders should improve their approaches to recording and evaluating the actions that are taken to help keep pupils safe.

• Governors do not fulfil some of their core functions as effectively as they should. This is because governors do not gather the level of information that they need to evaluate what is going well at the school and what is not. This limits governors' ability to identify emerging priorities or issues and act swiftly to address them.

Governors should ensure that they gather the information that they need to help them fulfil their duties more effectively. ? Leaders and staff do not deal effectively with some incidents of behaviour and bullying. Equally, leaders have not designed the curriculum sufficiently well so that pupils develop a secure understanding of what constitutes bullying.

This means that pupils accept some unkind and rough behaviours as the norm and do not raise some of their concerns with staff. Leaders should review the curriculum to ensure that it helps pupils to develop a secure understanding of bullying. Leaders should also review associated policies and guidance to ensure that staff members have robust strategies for helping pupils with any bullying or behaviour concerns that they may have.