St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, Washington

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy being part of St Joseph's Catholic Primary School and they are proud of it. Pupils are happy and safe here. The school has high expectations of pupils' behaviour and achievements.

This reflects in the everyday life of the school, where pupils are well mannered and treat one another with kindness and respect. They take pride in their work and are keen to talk about what they have learned.

The school, with support from Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust, has worked hard to ensure that pupils benefit from an aspirational curriculum.

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well in most subject...s. They are well prepared for the next stages of their education.

The school has strong links with the parish.

Citizenship threads through all aspects of school life, underpinned by core faith values. Pupils make a positive impact within their community. They are involved in events and fundraising initiatives, including raising money through craft and hamper sales for harvest and Christmas.

Pupils say they enjoy the residential visits and the visits they take part in within their curriculum. They enjoy attending a range of clubs that are on offer. Pupils are currently working with the school council to develop an even more exciting range of clubs.

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School has undergone a period of change over the last two years. This change has been carefully managed by the trust. There has been an executive headteacher in place managing the change and, more recently, a new headteacher was appointed.

The impact of leadership at all levels can be seen in the development of many curriculum areas. For example, the curriculums for phonics, reading and mathematics, and provision for early years and for pupils with SEND, have all been revised and strengthened.

Across the school, there is high ambition for pupils with SEND.

Leaders have accessed high-quality training to further their professional development. This reflects in the high-quality provision evident. A clear and consistent cycle to review and assess the provision, and its impact, ensures that pupils' needs are effectively met.

Children in early years get off to a good start. Clear routines have been established and children are confident learners. Early years provision is carefully planned.

This is having a positive impact on children's communication and language development. Children happily take turns and engage in interesting conversations with each other, developing their vocabulary. Children are well prepared for learning in Year 1.

The school has put in place a well-planned and ambitious curriculum across most curriculum subjects. It is planned and sequenced in a way that provides pupils the opportunity to revisit and build on prior learning. From Nursery through to Year 6, the school has carefully thought out what it wants pupils to know and understand.

Reading has been prioritised. The phonics scheme is well embedded. This supports pupils in the early stages of learning to read.

It also ensures that those who have fallen behind catch up quickly and build their fluency so that they become more confident readers. Staff teach phonics each day in a consistent way. This is helping pupils to become fluent readers.

Teachers ensure that pupils have access to a wide variety of books and stories. Pupils are keen to talk about the books they are reading. They say they love reading, and particularly enjoy story time at the end of the day when their teacher reads to them.

Mathematics is taught with rigour and pace and delivery is consistent across the school. The curriculum has been carefully sequenced and planned to enable pupils to effectively build on prior learning. Staff regularly check what pupils know, understand and can do.

They use this information well to provide swift and targeted additional support to those pupils who need it. Expectations of the quality of pupils' work are generally high. This reflects in pupils' work in their mathematics books.

However, sometimes the work pupils complete lacks challenge. This is particularly the case for the most-able pupils. Work is not effectively extended when these pupils have already shown their knowledge and understanding is secure.

This hampers their ability to reach their full potential.

Leaders have focused on developing the knowledge, skills and expertise of staff in most subject areas, with focused and effective professional development and training. However, in some subjects the curriculum is relatively new and still developing.

For example, in geography a new curriculum is in the early stages of implementation in key stage 2, but has not yet been implemented in key stage 1. Plans are in place to do so in summer 2024. This means that, as yet, there is not a fully cohesive plan of progression for pupils' learning as they move through the school.

Leaders know that addressing this is an important next step.

Leaders at all levels, including governors, have significantly improved the quality of education for pupils. In doing this, they have paid careful attention to the well-being of staff in their decision-making.

Staff are proud to work at the school and appreciate the care for their well-being and consideration of their workload. Strong relationships exist between the school, pupils and their families. Parents speak positively about the changes that have happened in the school and feel part of a cohesive school community.

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 small number of subjects, such as geography and history, the school is in the process of transitioning to new curriculums. The school has correctly identified that their priority is to ensure full and effective implementation of these new curriculums so that pupils' knowledge and understanding always builds well on what they already know and can do across all curriculum subjects.

• In mathematics, the work provided for most-able pupils is sometimes too easy. This hampers pupils' ability to make rapid progress and achieve their full potential. The school needs to ensure the curriculum provides effective challenge for the most-able pupils throughout lessons and in the activities they complete.