St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend St Joseph's Catholic Primary School. Leaders, governors and staff are ambitious for all pupils to achieve well and develop the values and skills to 'live wisely, think deeply and love generously'.

Pupils enjoy living up to these aspirations.

Pupils are polite. They enjoy, and are motivated by, the rewards for punctual attendance.

They behave well around school, for example by holding doors open for others. However, in some lessons, low-level disruption means that pupils are distracted from learning.

The school has ensured th...at if pupils have worries, they can raise them in a number of different ways.

As a result, pupils know that the adults in school care for them. This makes them feel safe.

Pupils eagerly take on leadership roles in school, such as being 'bistro buddies', school councillors or members of the chaplaincy team.

Through these opportunities, and others, pupils learn what it means to be caring, responsible members of their community. They raise money for charity and think of others.

Parents and carers speak highly of the school.

Voicing the views of many, one parent said, 'We couldn't be more proud of being part of the St Joseph's family.'

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

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Curriculum 'teams' have identified the important knowledge and skills that pupils should learn from Reception to Year 6.

Effective training and carefully considered resources mean that teachers know precisely what to teach, when and how. Where this is most effective, for example in art and design, this enables all pupils to produce impressive work. In mathematics, pupils thoroughly enjoy learning and using practical equipment to deepen their understanding.

The school's strong focus on mathematics teaching has not yet had the intended impact on recent published outcomes.

Across the curriculum, questioning is not always as effective as it could be. Sometimes, teachers do not choose questions which help them to understand what pupils already know or that help to move learning on.

On occasion, this slows learning and means that pupils could learn misconceptions from each other.

Reading has been made a high priority. As soon as children start in Reception, they begin to learn the sounds that letters make.

All staff have been trained to teach phonics so that they can support pupils effectively with their reading. Pupils practise reading using books carefully matched to the sounds they know. Regular assessment means that pupils who might be at risk of falling behind are swiftly identified.

Extra support is put in place so that everyone can succeed. Strategies such as 'word of the month' mean that pupils widen their vocabulary.

All pupils are fully included in all learning.

The school identifies the needs of pupils with SEND swiftly and accurately. Support and careful adaptation, where needed, mean that all pupils can learn and play together. Where more personalised support is needed, this is done skilfully to ensure that pupils with SEND can succeed.

Pupils behave well around school and at breaktimes. Older pupils are eager to take on responsibilities at lunchtimes. However, at times in some lessons, pupils do not listen and behave as well as they could.

This leads to low-level disruption. Teachers address this, but this takes too much time away from teaching.

Initiatives such as the 'Joseph pound' have improved pupils' attendance.

Collecting 'Joseph pounds' also gives pupils an opportunity to learn about spending and saving. Older pupils, in their role as 'bankers', also learn valuable life skills.

A carefully planned programme for personal development means that pupils are being very well prepared for life beyond school.

The school's values and opportunities to enhance pupils' personal development are carefully woven through all aspects of school life. Links with schools overseas give pupils an opportunity to learn about the lives of others. Multi-faith weeks help pupils to value peoples' differences and 'vocation week' helps widen pupils' understanding of the world of work.

Activities linked to current affairs encourage pupils to debate some important questions as they learn about the world around them.

Staff are proud to work at the school. They feel very well supported and know that leaders are mindful of their well-being.

Parents are very positive about this inclusive, welcoming 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, assessment is not used as effectively as it could be to check whether pupils have remembered previous key learning.

As a result, some questioning does not match what pupils know and could allow misconceptions to persist and be spread. The school should ensure that in-lesson assessment is used to check the right things at the right time so that pupils can use, and build on, previous learning. ? In some lessons, pupils' low-level disruptive behaviour detracts from learning.

Sometimes, this affects other pupils' learning, and teachers spend too much time managing off-task behaviour. The school should ensure that the behaviour policy is consistently applied and understood by all so that all pupils are able to learn consistently well in lessons.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in February 2014.