St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Carterton

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are confident, happy and feel safe at this school.

They enjoy each other's company and behave in a kind way to one another. The school helps pupils to build warm and positive relationships. Pupils know they are part of a respectful and diverse school, where everyone gets along.

The school has high ambition and expectations for all pupils. Staff encourage pupils to be resilient learners and provide support for pupils who need additional help to do this. This helps pupils to usually learn well.

Pupils swiftly learn the clear routines when they join the school, so they understand the school's high expectations of behaviour. Children learn the importance o...f sharing and taking turns as soon as they start in Nursery.

Recently, many new pupils have joined the school.

New pupils are warmly welcomed, which helps them to settle in quickly. As one parent stated, 'The school is truly inclusive and gives the children a real sense of securely belonging to the school community.' The school provides opportunities for pupils to develop leadership skills, such as being class ambassadors.

Pupils also benefit from a range of clubs, including choir, sports clubs and dance workshops.

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

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum. Leaders have carefully considered what knowledge and skills they intend pupils to learn and remember.

This builds through the school from Nursery onwards. The school swiftly identifies pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff are equipped with expert knowledge to adapt their teaching to support these pupils to learn the curriculum effectively.

Staff have secure subject knowledge in most subjects. This helps teachers to present new concepts clearly and to accurately check pupils' understanding. In many subjects, staff carefully identify gaps in pupils' knowledge and use this information to inform future teaching.

In a few subjects, this is still being developed. The most recent published results in mathematics and writing do not reflect the current improved quality of pupils' work.

The teaching of early reading is effective.

Children get off to a strong start in the development of language and communication skills in Nursery. The school has provided high-quality training to ensure that staff provide precise guidance to teach pupils to read. This means that pupils learn to read fluently by sounding out words and blending sounds with accuracy.

For pupils at the early stages of reading, the school provides effective additional support, and pupils routinely practise their reading with adults. Adults carefully check pupils' reading to ensure they know that pupils understand what they are reading.

The school is a calm and orderly place for pupils to learn and play.

High-quality training supports staff to maintain high expectations, which help pupils to behave well, both in and out of lessons. Pupils are taught clear routines from early years onwards. For example, in Nursery, children are taught about the importance of sitting and listening, so they are ready to learn.

In lessons, most pupils focus well on their learning and show positive attitudes to their learning. There are occasional incidents of low-level disruption in lessons. Staff are quick to support pupils who become disengaged to focus on their learning.

The school teaches pupils about the importance of regular attendance and prompt punctuality. Leaders work effectively with parents to make sure that pupils attend well from when they join in early years. As a result, attendance is strong and improving.

Pupils' personal development is prioritised. The school engages fully with the wider community to promote this. For example, pupils recently worked with the community to clean the local river following their river survey work.

The school invites visitors from the local community to talk to pupils on a range of issues such as careers and culture. During a recent 'cultural day', Year 1 and 2 pupils enjoyed talking with visitors about the different countries in which they have lived. Pupils are taught to celebrate difference.

This means that pupils build an understanding and acceptance of the community around them. There are many opportunities for pupils to show leadership at this school. These opportunities help them to learn about important concepts, such as democracy and how Parliament works.

The school ensures that all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, benefit from leadership roles.

Leaders at all levels know the school well because of accurate information they receive and their frequent visits to the school. Leaders have prioritised professional development and well-being of staff.

Leaders' focus on staff training for reading, mathematics and strategies to support pupils with SEND means that pupils are learning increasingly well.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a few subjects, staff's subject knowledge is not fully secure.

As a result, some pupils' knowledge and understanding does not build systematically. The school needs to continue to improve staff's subject expertise. It also needs to support staff to emphasise the most important knowledge and skills to help pupils link new ideas to what they have learned previously.

In a few subjects, assessment is not sufficiently developed. This means that, sometimes, pupils are taught what they already know or move on to new learning before they are ready. The school should ensure that all staff know how to accurately check pupils' understanding and make effective use of this information to inform future teaching.