St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

St Joseph's is a calm and nurturing place to learn.

Pupils are happy and enjoy school. However, they experience an inconsistent curriculum. Pupils, including children in the early years, do not always receive the teaching and support they need to achieve as well as they should.

Pupils are courteous and respectful towards their peers and adults. They have strong relationships with adults, which helps them to feel safe. Pupils know what it means to be a good friend and to look after one another.

They are proud of their friendships.

Pupils focus well in lessons. They follow the school's learning behaviours that include curious crocodile, resilient rhino..., teamwork tiger and the newest addition, which is the focused fox.

Pupils are keen to learn and share what they have learned with others.

Pupils enjoy the range of extra-curricular activities on offer. The well-organised playtime activities help them to stay physically active.

Pupils enjoy the visits that deepen their understanding of the local area.

Pupils benefit from the leadership opportunities available, such as through the school council and being mental health champions. This helps them to play an important part in their school community.

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

The school has a strong, aspirational vision to ensure that it prepares pupils well for their next stage of education. However, these aspirations are not being met consistently. The school has been through a period of staff instability.

Changes of leadership and high staff turnover have hindered the school's ability to improve provision.

The school has developed a curriculum that builds up pupils' knowledge over time. Where the curriculum is planned and taught effectively, pupils learn well.

In mathematics and phonics, well-structured lessons follow a clear sequence of learning. Pupils build on previous learning when they encounter new concepts.

However, in other subjects and in the early years, the curriculum is less well established.

Teachers do not have the knowledge they need to teach these areas successfully. This includes adapting the curriculum for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Teachers do not make the connections with pupils' prior learning as precisely as they should.

This leads to pupils having weak recall of the knowledge they need to access new content. Consequently, pupils do not build their knowledge sufficiently over time.

The school does not monitor how well pupils are learning the planned curriculum.

Subject leaders do not have the knowledge they need to check how effectively the curriculum is taught. This leads to variability in the teaching of some subjects. As a result, some pupils have long-term gaps in their knowledge.

The school has not adapted the curriculum to ensure that gaps in pupils' knowledge are being addressed.

Staff teach phonics well. They identify precisely the gaps in pupils' phonics knowledge.

Pupils secure the letter sounds they are learning in lessons. This has a positive impact on how well pupils learn to read. Pupils apply their learning to books that are well matched to the sounds they know.

However, the reading curriculum for older pupils is not well established. Teachers in key stage 2 do not teach reading well. Consequently, pupils do not develop as quickly as the should into confident readers.

Behaviour in lessons and around the school is calm. Staff reinforce the high expectations for behaviour. The school monitors behaviour and attendance closely.

Staff ensure that where pupils are not attending regularly, they provide support to families to improve attendance.

The school promotes pupils' wider development well. Pupils learn about local safety issues, for example how to stay safe in the park.

Pupils understand how to be safe online. They learn about being healthy, including why physical activity is important for mental health. Pupils share any worries and concerns.

They feel safe to talk to adults and know that they will be looked after. Pupils enjoy the extra-curricular clubs that they attend. They are proud of their sporting achievements where they represent the school.

School leaders and trustees know what needs to improve. However, on some occasions, they have not acted as quickly as they should have. The trust is providing support in securing necessary improvements.

The school has had difficulty in recruiting teachers, and this has affected the consistency of the quality of education. Trustees have not always ensured that they are supporting the school to deploy staff effectively.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The reading curriculum for older pupils is not well established. The school has not set out precisely what pupils will learn in the reading curriculum or been clear with staff about how it will be taught. This means that some pupils do not develop the skills to become confident readers.

The school should ensure that staff in key stage 2 receive the support they need to teach the reading curriculum effectively. ? In many areas, including early years, the curriculum is at an early stage of implementation. Staff are developing their expertise in teaching the intended curriculum.

This has led to inconsistency. As a result, pupils, including pupils with SEND, have work that is not well matched to their learning needs and do not do as well as they should. The school should ensure that staff have the skills needed to adapt the curriculum for all pupils.

• The monitoring of the curriculum is not fully effective. The school does not always know how well subjects are implemented and so is not aware of inconsistency in the delivery of the curriculum. The school should ensure that subject leaders can carry out their roles effectively and check that the curriculum is enabling pupils to learn more and remember more over time.

• The school has been through a period of staff instability. This has hindered the school's ability to secure consistency in the quality of education. The school and the trust need to stabilise and develop the staff body so that pupils have teachers that can deliver the curriculum as leaders intend and pupils can make good progress in their learning.