St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Castleford

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School provides a warm, welcoming atmosphere for all. The school embodies its Catholic values. Relationships between adults and pupils are nurturing and positive.

This contributes to a supportive and happy school culture where pupils feel encouraged to succeed.

Leaders set high expectations. Pupils rise to these.

Pupils behave well in lessons and during social times. Pupils achieve well. In lessons, pupils are engaged and are keen to participate.

Throughout corridors and in the playground, pupils display excellent manners, kindness and respect.

The curriculum is enriched with many meaningful activities. Pupils vi...sit the seaside and woodlands to learn about different geographical features.

Pupils also get the opportunity to visit an outdoor activity centre. This helps them to develop teamwork skills. Pupils appreciate these experiences.

Pupils learn to become responsible citizens, for example by joining the school eco-council. Pupils also get the chance to embody one of the school's Catholic virtues of kindness by being a 'faith friend'.

Pupils are safe and supported well at this school.

Strong pastoral care means that pupils know they can turn to adults for help. Pupils say that any adult in the school would successfully address any concerns or worries they might have.

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

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School is highly ambitious for all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

The school prioritises early reading. Staff receive regular and effective phonics training, ensuring that they are confident in teaching phonics across different year groups. Staff teach high-quality phonics lessons with consistency.

Pupils at risk of falling behind in reading receive targeted help, which helps to close any gaps in phonics knowledge. Pupils are enthusiastic about reading and demonstrate increasing accuracy in applying their skills to read unfamiliar words. The early reading programme is well resourced, with a wide range of books that are matched to pupils' reading abilities.

The school has carefully considered the wider curriculum. Subjects are well sequenced and structured so that pupils can develop their knowledge over time. Pupils with SEND experience success through well-considered adjustments to meet their different needs.

Teachers' checks on pupils' knowledge are effective in reading and mathematics, enabling targeted support if needed. This includes revisiting number facts and multiplications in mathematics on a daily basis. Assessment practices across the wider curriculum are less developed.

As a result, the school does not always precisely address gaps in pupils' understanding.

Staff use the school's behaviour management approaches effectively. Pupils are motivated by the reward system in place.

Pupils behave well in lessons, allowing them to concentrate and learn. Relationships between adults and pupils are nurturing, contributing to a positive school culture.

The school prioritises the professional development of staff.

Staff access training from external experts and from within the trust. This has led to a culture of collaboration and continuous development. As a result, teachers have the required subject knowledge to deliver the ambitious curriculum with confidence.

Staff appreciate the consideration leaders have around their workload and well-being.

The early years is well resourced, providing a supportive environment for children's development. Staff know the children well.

They use this understanding to extend children's learning through meaningful interactions. However, the activities adults give children to complete are sometimes not closely linked to children's next steps in learning. This means, at times, children are not learning as much as they could be.

The school provides a broad range of after-school clubs that enrich pupils' experiences and encourage their personal growth. These include multi-skills, football and choir. The school encourages pupils to take on leadership roles, such as school council representatives.

Pupils appreciate how these opportunities can make a difference to others. This develops pupils' awareness of how they can contribute positively to society.

Pupils demonstrate an understanding of how to stay safe online, reflecting the school's effective digital safety education.

Pupils are knowledgeable about physical and mental health. They understand the connection between the two. Pupils engage in practical activities that reinforce this understanding, including meditation.

Pupils learn about fundamental British values in lessons and assemblies. Most pupils have a strong understanding of values such as democracy. However, understanding of other British values such as the rule of law and individual liberty is less developed.

Governors and trustees understand their roles. They access training to support them in fulfilling their duties. They use appropriate systems and processes to work together and check that their actions are having the intended impact.

Governors and trustees use this information to successfully support the school to improve.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some activities in early years are not tightly focused on what children need to learn next.

As a result, some children do not learn as much as they could. The school should ensure that learning activities precisely support children to learn the intended curriculum in preparation for key stage 1. ? Assessment processes in some foundation subjects do not provide clear information about what pupils know and remember.

This can lead to gaps in pupils' knowledge. The school should refine assessment practices to check that pupils learn the intended knowledge across all subjects. ? Pupils' understanding of British values is less developed in some areas than it is in others.

The school should refine these aspects of the curriculum to further prepare pupils for life in modern Britain