St Josephs Catholic Primary School, Lancaster

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at this welcoming school where differences between people are valued and nurtured.

Pupils feel loved and accepted. This helps them to feel safe and secure.

The school wants the best for pupils' achievement.

However, in some subjects, this aim is not realised. Weaknesses in how well the curriculum is delivered in these subjects mean that some pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do not develop a deep body of knowledge over time. They do not achieve as well as they could.

Pupils generally behave well. They are kind to one another and most play cooperatively together. Pupils delight in the a...rray of rewards that they receive for behaving well and working hard.

However, staff have varied expectations of pupils' behaviour. At times, some pupils do not behave as well as they should.

Pupils are proud to care for their local and wider community.

They learn that they can make a positive difference by raising money for charities. Pupils benefit from the opportunities that the school provides beyond the academic curriculum. For example, they spoke excitedly about visiting the seaside and attending clubs.

This helps pupils to develop confidence and broaden their interests.

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

The school has developed an ambitious and well-thought-out curriculum in most subjects from the early years to the end of key stage 2. This means that staff know what pupils need to learn and when this should happen.

Staff have benefited from some curriculum training in recent times. This is starting to help them to deliver the new subject curriculums more effectively. Nevertheless, some staff do not implement some new curriculums well.

On occasion, the activities that some staff choose do not support pupils to deepen their knowledge as well as they could. This hinders pupils' achievement.

The school has improved its approaches for checking and evaluating the delivery of the curriculum.

However, this work is in its infancy. This means that, at times, weaknesses in how well some staff deliver the curriculum, including in the early years, are not identified or addressed.

Some pupils have gaps in their knowledge as a result of weaknesses in the previous subject curriculum.

The school has not put strategies in place to help staff to check what these pupils remember from previous learning. For some pupils, including those with SEND, learning does not build on what they know or address gaps in their knowledge. This means that, over time, some pupils do not acquire some of the knowledge that is expected by the school.

In these subjects, their understanding of important concepts is superficial.

Recent changes to the early reading curriculum mean that pupils are starting to read with greater fluency and accuracy. Pupils are enthusiastic about reading.

They enjoy choosing books from the new, well-stocked library. Typically, children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 read books that are well matched to their reading knowledge. Most staff have received training so that they know how to deliver the recently introduced early reading curriculum.

Nevertheless, the school's chosen phonics programme, like other aspects of the curriculum, is not delivered consistently well. This hinders some pupils in becoming fluent readers as quickly as they should.

The school supports pupils' personal development well.

Pupils understand how to manage their mental health and well-being. They know about the importance of getting enough sleep and staying hydrated, as well as eating a balanced diet.The school takes every opportunity to ensure that pupils respect diversity.

Pupils understand that everyone is different and that there are many different types of families in society. They learn about important values such as respect, tolerance and democracy. These experiences prepare pupils well for life in modern Britain.

Children in the early years enjoy playing and investigating in the well-equipped classrooms and outdoor areas. Children in the provision for two-year-old settle in quickly. Staff help them to play cooperatively and to make new friends.

However, at times, some children do not learn as well as they should. This is because some staff do not engage in conversations with children to build their knowledge and deepen their learning effectively.

Most pupils enjoy coming to school.

Typically, they respond enthusiastically to what is on offer. Even so, at times, some pupils do not behave as well as they should. Staff do not follow the approach to managing behaviour consistently well.

The school is reviewing its actions to promote higher rates of attendance at school. This work is at an early stage. Many pupils are persistently absent from school.

This means that they miss out on learning all that they should.

The trust has supported the school to improve the quality of education that pupils receive. There have been many changes in the school.

However, the school pays close regard to the impact of these changes on staff's workload and well-being. The school considers how best to implement new initiatives without overburdening staff. Most staff feel valued and supported in their roles.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In several subjects, pupils have gaps in their knowledge due to weaknesses in the previous curriculum. This makes it difficult for them to make connections when they learn new content and results in a superficial understanding of some concepts.

The school should ensure that staff are suitably equipped to use assessment strategies with confidence and accuracy, ensuring that gaps in pupils' learning are identified and addressed quickly. ? In many subjects, the school is not effective at evaluating the delivery and impact of the curriculum. This means that some weaknesses are not identified and acted on a timely manner.

This hinders pupils' achievement in these subjects. The school should ensure that it gathers and evaluates monitoring information effectively so that it can quickly address any shortcomings in the implementation of subject curriculums. ? Many pupils are absent from school too often.

This means that they miss important learning and have gaps in their knowledge. The school should ensure that it quickly and decisively reduces the rates of persistent absenteeism so that pupils attend school regularly and achieve well. ? The school's expectations for pupils' behaviour are not consistently high.

In some lessons and subjects, some pupils do not display positive attitudes towards their learning. On occasion, this can interrupt other pupils' learning. The school should raise its expectations for pupils' behaviour and ensure that staff follow the agreed approaches consistently well.

• Some staff do not engage in high-quality interactions with children in the early years. This means that some children do not learn the key vocabulary that they need to deepen their learning. The school should train all staff to use their conversations with children to enhance learning.