St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Key findings

This is a good school.

It provides a warm and welcoming environment in which pupils learn and flourish. The school's ambitious leadership provides a clear educational direction to ensure that all pupils have access to an imaginative curriculum. The school is not yet outstanding because the expectations of pupils in a few lessons are not always high enough and, as a result, a few more-able pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

Pupils' achievement is good. They develop good communication skills and reach standards in English and mathematics that are above average by the time they leave the school. Disabled pupils or those who have special educational needs are well catered for and they m...ake good progress.

The quality of teaching is good. It is usually lively with exciting lessons planned to engage the interest of all pupils. The curriculum is imaginatively planned, with a wide range of activities that make learning purposeful and relevant.

The high quality of music and art make a good contribution to pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils enjoy school and this is reflected in their attendance which is above average. They behave well in their lessons and around the school.

They are courteous and polite and they get on well together. Safeguarding is of high priority and there are good systems in place to ensure that pupils are safe. School leaders, including governors, are ambitious.

The effective leadership of teaching is supported by a robust programme of monitoring and professional development, allied to performance management, to improve teaching from good to outstanding.

Information about the school

The school is larger than the average-sized primary school and it serves pupils from the local community. The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals is lower than usual.

The proportion of pupils who are from minority ethnic groups is broadly average, although the percentage of pupils who speak English as an additional language is higher than average. The proportion of pupils who have disabilities or special educational needs is lower than average. There is provision in the Reception classes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

There have been some significant changes to the teaching team since the previous inspection. The school has a number of recent awards including Artsmark and Level 1 International Schools. The school exceeded the current floor standards for academic performance.

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