St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Thame

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Key findings

St Joseph's is a good school. It provides a warm, welcoming environment where pupils feel cared for, safe and secure and in this environment make good progress. The school is on a journey of sustained improvement and has many strengths but is not yet outstanding because although teaching is good, and some is outstanding, a few inconsistencies exist.

Pupils build well on the good start they make in the Early Years Foundation Stage. All groups, including those with disabilities and special educational needs, achieve well and the current Year 6 pupils are on track to reach above average levels of attainment by the end of the year. Teaching is good.

Teachers use their own subject knowledge well an...d relationships are good. However, the effective practice of marking to targets which are accurately matched to the needs of pupils in literacy is not reflected in mathematics. Where pupils play an active part in their own learning and teachers give them measurable success criteria and keep a check on learning throughout the lesson, progress is accelerated.

However, this is not always the case. The behaviour and safety of pupils is good; the result of the school's caring and inclusive ethos which contributes to the very strong promotion of pupils' social, moral, spiritual and cultural development. Pupils' behaviour in lessons contributes well to the positive climate for learning in the school.

Leadership and management are good. The improvements made since the last inspection have been driven by the effective leadership of the headteacher, ably supported by members of the governing body and leaders at all levels. In particular, the effective management of teaching and monitoring of performance has led to better teaching which in turn has resulted in improved progress, especially for more able pupils at the end of Year 2.

Information about the school

St Joseph's is a smaller than average sized primary school. Its pupils come mainly from Catholic families in the town and in surrounding villages. Most pupils are of White British heritage.

The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is below average. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is well below average. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below average.

Children enter the Early Years Foundation Stage into one Reception Year class. There is an after-school club on the school site which is managed by the governing body. The school meets the government's current floor standards which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress.