St John Vianney Catholic Primary School, West Denton

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

St John Vianney Primary School prepares pupils to be confident, lifelong learners.

It effectively supports pupils' social and emotional well-being, which ensures pupils are ready to learn.

The school teaches pupils its behaviour expectations through the 'ready, respectful, safe' mantra. Adults use the same script when they speak to pupils who have not made the right choice.

The school 'positively praises and private sanctions' pupils. This ensures that there is a consistent and fair approach to behaviour management.

Pupils understand the significance of the 'board of recognition'.

Each half term, pupils focus on displaying a character trait.... For example, at the time of the inspection, it was to be respectful to others. Pupils confidently demonstrate this trait by holding doors open and being kind to each other.

Pupils have great respect for the adults that support them. They trust these adults to keep them safe.

The school has made changes to their curriculum in recent years.

The staff who lead curriculum improvements are passionate, knowledgeable and equipped to develop their subjects further.

The school provides leadership opportunities to pupils, such as school councillors, eco-warriors and subject ambassadors. These roles promote responsibility.

Pupils have opportunities to show their Catholic faith in action. They actively seek to do good for others, for example supporting the local soup kitchen and food bank.

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

The school's curriculum has undergone necessary changes since 2021.

The school ensures each subject is well planned and sequenced. The school has considered the essential knowledge and skills that pupils need to know from Nursery to Year 6. The school uses knowledge organisers to support pupils to understand the important aspects of a unit of work.

These organisers include the appropriate vocabulary that the school has identified it wants pupils to use. However, in some subjects, pupils do not consistently use the subject-specific vocabulary to explain what they have previously learned.

The school prioritises the teaching of early reading from Nursery.

It has carefully selected texts and uses these as 'a book as a hook' to enhance the curriculum. There is a consistent structure to the school's phonics lesson. Pupils use their phonics knowledge to sound out new words.

As a result, most pupils can read at an age-appropriate level. The school regularly checks which pupils need extra catch-up sessions if they are not keeping up with the phonics programme. These are additional sessions that focus on the sounds that pupils do not know.

The school ensures that their mathematics curriculum gives pupils the opportunity to access a mastery approach. This means that pupils are developing their ability to problem solve. Pupils enjoy mathematics and talk enthusiastically about the 'tough 10'.

This aspect of mathematics focuses on pupils improving their arithmetic automaticity. As a result, pupils' outcomes at the end of key stage 2 are positive.

The school uses 'blasts' at the start of each lesson to support pupils to recall and revisit prior learning.

This activity allows pupils to blast the knowledge they have learned before. Pupils confidently talk about their learning as it happens in lessons. However, in some subjects, pupils struggle to remember what they have previously learned.

The school is highly ambitious for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school has a focused monitoring system that enables leaders to continually review provision for groups and individuals. Pupils with SEND are particularly well supported in English and mathematics with appropriate, adaptive resources.

The school's demographic has changed since the last inspection. As a result, leaders are accurately early identifying more pupils with SEND.

The practitioners in the early years support children to develop a love of learning.

The school supports children to be resilient, capable and self-assured learners. In the areas of provision such as the water or sand trays the school displays vocabulary. This supports practitioners to focus on modelling and repeating the right language.

In Nursery, the adults promote listening skills, share stories and sing rhymes to lay the foundations to develop children's language and communication skills. However, in some areas of the outdoor provision, like the construction zone, the learning intention is not clear.

The school's programme to develop pupils' character and citizenship links closely to their Catholic ethos and values.

Staff sensitively nurture and reassure pupils to boost their self-esteem and confidence. Golden book assemblies celebrate pupils' achievements in school and at home. Pupils know how to stay safe online.

The staff know that leaders are mindful of their workload and feel that they have been part of the school's improvement journey. The local governing committee holds leaders to account through its visits to the school and its questioning. As a result, it has a good understanding of how the curriculum changes impact on pupils' achievement.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, some pupils do not use the subject-specific vocabulary, identified by the school, to talk about their previous learning. This means that pupils are not using the right language to discuss what they know.

The school should ensure that the subject-specific vocabulary is appropriately emphasised so it builds over time. ? In some subjects, some pupils are less able to recall and make connections between aspects of their learning than they are in others. The school should provide opportunities for pupils to revisit learning consistently well across all subjects so that it is better embedded in pupils' long-term memory.

• The school has not ensured that some activities in the early years areas of provision have meaningful learning intentions. This means that some skills do not build progressively from Nursery to Reception. The school should ensure that all activities are purposefully chosen to build children's knowledge and skills over time.

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