St John’s Roman Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

St John's Roman Catholic Primary is a good school which provides pupils with a wealth of experiences to improve their learning and personal skills.

Pupils make a significant contribution to the life of the local community. The headteacher actively encourages pupils to take part in school and community events, building up pupils' affection for their neighbourhood and setting them up as responsible citizens for the future. Pupils talk with animation about trips and visitors that often give them experiences they might not otherwise have.

Parents and carers are unanimous in agreeing that their children like going to school and know they look forward to an interesting range of activities. One pare...nt commented, 'My son is very happy at school and likes to participate in everything that is going on' and another added, 'The school has good moral standards and some fantastic initiatives.' Staff are welcoming and friendly, with high expectations of behaviour.

Not surprisingly, pupils' behaviour is outstanding, so learning is hardly ever disrupted. Pupils feel extremely safe not only because they know adults will always look after them, but also because they have a very well-developed sense of looking after each other. Pupils make good progress from their starting points and leave at the end of Year 6 with attainment above national averages in English and mathematics as a result of good teaching.

Those pupils who do not speak English at home and arrive with limited language skills also make good progress. With thorough and patient support from staff, they are soon conversing easily with their classmates. Very good teamwork between teachers and teaching assistants provides a very strong foundation for supporting pupils with special educational needs.

Consequently, they make good progress and grow in confidence in their abilities. Teachers match work well to the needs of different pupils and inspire pupils to find out more by sparking ideas off each other. Marking is upbeat and thorough, but teachers do not find enough time to allow pupils to follow up suggestions to improve their work.

Pupils are clear about what they need to learn by the end of a lesson. However, teachers are not consistent in identifying the date when longer term targets are met and replacing them with more challenging ones. The headteacher leads an enthusiastic and committed team of teachers.

She is held in high esteem by pupils and parents and carers alike. The senior leadership team has an accurate view of the school's performance and knows what needs improving. Much thought is put into setting challenging targets for different groups of pupils.

Middle managers collect useful information about pupils' progress from observing in lessons and scrutinising work. However, they are not all yet confident in making the most of data to improve the attainment and achievement of pupils. The governing body is supportive and growing in its ability to challenge the headteacher about pupils' performance.

The school has successfully tackled the key issues raised at the last inspection and has moved its overall effectiveness from satisfactory to good. Improvement in pupils' attainment and achievement over recent years, particularly in writing, demonstrates that the school has good capacity for sustained improvement.

Information about the school

St John's Roman Catholic Primary is smaller than most primary schools.

Most pupils are of the Catholic faith. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is above average. Over half of pupils come from minority ethnic backgrounds, with the largest group from Black African heritage.

About a quarter of the pupils speak English as an additional language, but few are at early stages of learning the language. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is average. These pupils have a variety of needs, mostly relating to speech, language and communication needs.

The Early Years Foundation Stage comprises a Nursery class and a Reception class. Amongst other awards, the school has an award from the Council for Learning Outside the Classroom and also the Healthy Schools award. The governing body manages a breakfast club and an after-school club.

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