St John Bosco Catholic Primary School, Town End Farm, Sunderland

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take great delight in their learning at this school.

They embrace the ambitious curriculum the school has for them. Pupils feel safe. They are well supported by kind and caring adults who know the school community exceptionally well.

Pupils achieve well and are well prepared for secondary school.

Throughout the school day, pupils' behaviour is exemplary. The school has high expectations for pupils' behaviour.

Pupils rise with ease to these expectations. They have high levels of respect for staff and their peers. When talking about a range of topics, pupils are courteous and polite.

They listen attentively and value other pupils' thoug...hts and ideas. Pupils take pride in how welcoming the school is to new pupils and visitors.

The school relentlessly focuses on raising aspirations for all pupils.

Pupils receive regular information about how they can take their knowledge and skills into different jobs and careers. Pupils meet employers from local and international businesses through carefully planned careers events. This helps them think about the world of work in different ways.

School visits and visitors to school help bring the curriculum to life. Pupils talk enthusiastically about residential visits that help them develop new skills and take on new challenges.

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

The school's curriculum is carefully mapped out from the start of Nursery through to the end of Year 6.

It is ambitious for all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

The school has thought carefully about the important key knowledge and skills pupils need to know and remember. This helps pupils build their knowledge over time.

Staff skilfully ensure that teaching is well matched to leaders' expectations. Pupils talk about recent learning in detail. They recall important artists they have studied such as Andy Warhol and Boris Schmidt.

Checks on learning are embedded across the school curriculum. In mathematics, memory joggers are used to ensure that pupils' skills and knowledge are revisited regularly. This helps pupils practise important skills to help them with new learning.

Children in early years make a bright start to learning to read. Adults use books and music to bring stories to life. Children in Reception enjoy practising the sounds they know.

They use them to write simple shopping lists with pride. Pupils benefit from a consistent approach to phonics teaching. Skilled adults use consistent language and strategies to teach the school's chosen phonics scheme well.

Each day starts with a 'book and a bagel' activity. This gives pupils regular opportunities to read. Pupils at the early stages of reading do not consistently have books that are well matched to the phonics they know.

This means they cannot use the sounds they know confidently to become fluent readers.

The school ensures pupils with SEND get the support they need to succeed. Staff and resources are used expertly to ensure barriers to learning are removed.

Pupils with SEND access the same ambitious curriculum as all pupils and do well.

In early years, adults support pupils through highly skilled interactions. Adults use carefully crafted questions and expert modelling of key language and skills.

These skilful interactions, alongside warm and caring relationships between children and adults, help children thrive when they start school. These secure relationships continue as pupils move through school. Pupils trust the staff they work with.

This fosters an exceptionally positive learning environment for all pupils. Pupils can focus on their learning without disruption.

Pupils' positive attitudes to learning help them embrace the wide range of opportunities the school offers them.

A carefully planned personal, social and health education means pupils are exceptionally well prepared for life in modern Britain. Pupils have a detailed understanding of fundamental British values. Their high levels of respect ensure that no one in the school community feels left out.

The school offers a range of tangible leadership experiences for pupils. The health and safety team works with the school to keep pupils safe. Curriculum ambassadors lead the organisation of parent workshops in mathematics.

These opportunities are highly effective in supporting pupils to lead and work collaboratively with others.

During the last academic year, the school experienced significant disruption. Issues related to Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) meant the school building was unsafe.

Steadfast leadership throughout this time ensured that pupils continued to learn. The school has successfully maintained its community ethos alongside a culture of high expectations despite these challenges. Staff are highly consistent in their work.

Opportunities to develop and strengthen the skills of the staff team are purposeful and well matched to the needs of the school community. Leaders, including trustees and local governors, live out the strong vision of the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some pupils at the early stages of reading do not read books well matched to their phonics knowledge. This means pupils spend too much time reading the individual sounds when they are reading. The school should ensure that books are well matched to pupils' phonics knowledge so pupils can read with increasing fluency and automaticity.