St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love attending St Joseph's Primary School. They are happy and proud to belong to this nurturing and friendly school community. Adults encourage pupils to have ambition.

Pupils learn about different careers and the opportunities available to them. They enjoy a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities. The school ensures that pupils can access places and events that they would not otherwise see.

For example, pupils enjoy theatre visits and trips to the zoo. The school is proud of the pastoral support it offers not just to pupils, but their whole family.

Pupils behave well in school.

They are respectful and polite. They listen to each other w...ell. Pupils learn new skills through playing with adults in the playground.

They speak confidently about respect, difference and acceptance. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. The school is highly inclusive and strives for all pupils to achieve well.

By the time they leave for secondary school, pupils are ready for the next stage in their education.

Pupils are enthusiastic about the leadership roles that they hold in school. They talk passionately about being reading ambassadors.

They can apply to be school councillors, Mini Vinnies and play leaders. These opportunities provide pupils with leadership skills for the future.

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

The school has an ambitious curriculum.

In the core subjects, such as English and mathematics, leaders have identified precise curriculum content. Teachers know exactly what pupils should learn and when. Teachers use subject-specific language that develops pupils' vocabulary and builds their understanding.

They check pupils' understanding regularly. Staff identify and address gaps in learning quickly. As a result, pupils achieve well in these subjects.

This is reflected in the results they achieve.

In the wider curriculum, subject leaders have identified how pupils' knowledge should build over time. However, the learning tasks that teachers choose do not help pupils to learn the most important subject knowledge.

The school has identified this and has begun to take steps to address it. However, pupils do not develop the depth of understanding they need for future learning.

Children in Reception get off to a flying start.

The school has recently strengthened the curriculum in the early years. Teachers implement this new curriculum well. Staff in the early years prioritise the development of new vocabulary.

They model this well. They make sure that children learn and can use new words linked to the curriculum. Staff ensure that there are strong routines in place.

Expectations are high. As a result, children develop independence quickly.

Support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is a strength of the school.

The school has a robust system in place to identify and meet pupils' individual needs. Staff in classrooms know the next steps that individual pupils are working on. Teachers make adaptations in lessons and provide pupils with bespoke support.

This helps pupils with SEND to achieve well.

The school prioritises reading. The teaching of phonics starts in the first week of Reception.

The well-structured approach helps pupils to learn to read quickly. Effective support ensures that pupils who need extra help catch up quickly. Pupils enjoy reading.

They delight in talking about their favourite books and authors.

Pupils develop positive attitudes to learning. Staff have high expectations.

Pupils enjoy meeting these. They want to do well and please adults. The school works hard to encourage high attendance.

When pupils' attendance is low, the school takes specific action to improve this. The school works with individual families to remove any barriers to pupils attending school. This is having a positive impact on pupils' attendance.

There is a shared ambition across the school for all pupils to experience a high-quality education. There has been some turbulence in staffing over the last two years. Leaders are working to stabilise this.

There are systems in place for leaders to check the quality of provision. However, in some areas, these systems are underdeveloped. The school has developed close links with a multi-academy trust, the local authority and many outside agencies.

They do this to help staff, pupils and their families. This support is strengthening experiences for pupils.

The governors are proactive and well informed.

Their work provides the school with valuable support. Staff enjoy working at the school. They feel valued and respected.

Leaders provide appropriate support to teachers in the early stages of their career. Staff at all levels have a determination to continue making key improvements to the school.

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 lessons, adults do not choose activities that link closely to the curriculum aims. This means that pupils do not learn the intended curriculum content as well as they might. The school should ensure that staff have the training and support they need to select teaching activities that meet the curriculum aims.

• The school's work to monitor the implementation and impact of the new areas of the curriculum is not fully developed. This limits leaders in their ability to develop the curriculum further. The school should ensure that there are robust systems in place to help them evaluate how well the curriculum is being implemented across the school.