St Mary’s Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils' individual personalities are allowed to shine at this small, rural school. They are confident, enjoy coming to school and are very happy. Pupils said that their teachers are caring.

There are positive relationships between pupils and staff.

Pupils said that they appreciate being in a small school like this. They feel that it helps them to form closer bonds with other pupils.

Fall outs are extremely rare. Pupils are sensible and feel safe.

Since the last inspection, the school has raised its expectations for what pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), can achieve.

Pupils are achieving partic...ularly well in their learning of phonics. However, the school still has some work to do to clarify what children should learn in the early years.

Pupils take great pride in the variety of meaningful responsibilities that they can undertake.

For example, the woodland warriors maintain a nearby wooded area and put food out for the birds.

Pupils have access to wide a range of extra-curricular opportunities that include art, drama and sports clubs. These are well attended.

Pupils also take part in local competitions. They appreciate the additional curriculum trips and residential visits that the school organises for them. Pupils take part in many charitable activities such as foodbank collections and coffee mornings.

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

Since the previous inspection, the school has experienced further instability in staffing. Nonetheless, it managed this period well. During this time, the school was still able to prioritise improvements to the delivery of its phonics programme, which was an issue identified during the last inspection.

The school's effective actions have led to a high proportion of pupils meeting the most recent Year 1 phonics screening check.

Staffing has now stabilised. Permanent staff have returned from periods of absence.

The school has now driven forward most other necessary curriculum changes at pace. Many subject curriculums have either been redesigned or adopted recently. The school has ensured that most subject curriculums clearly identify the crucial knowledge that pupils need to know.

This is starting to help teachers to deliver subject content in a logical order. It is also helping teachers to carry out more effective checks on what pupils have learned.

The curriculum changes – while still relatively new – are already having a notable impact on what pupils know and remember over time.

However, the school still needs to give some further thought to how the delivery of some subject curriculums should be adapted to cater for pupils in mixed-age classes. This is so that pupils do not unnecessarily repeat learning that they have already secured.

The school has taken some steps to develop the early years curriculum since the last inspection.

It has now broadly outlined the expectations for children's learning each term. However, the school still has more to do in this area. Other than in phonics and mathematics, the school is not clear about the precise knowledge that it expects children to learn.

This leads to too much variability in what children are taught. As a result, children are not as well prepared for learning in key stage 1 as they could be.

The school fosters a genuine love of reading and makes it a high priority.

Books are given pride of place around the building. Pupils develop their knowledge of authors and stories. They enjoy reading books that help them to learn more about the topics that they are studying, such as those about the Ancient Egyptians and the Mayans.

Children learn phonics through the school's chosen programme as soon as they start in the Reception Year. Staff receive appropriate training and expertise in this programme. They teach phonics consistently well.

The school makes sure that the books that pupils read are suited to the sounds that pupils know. The school provides excellent, highly focused levels of additional support to pupils who need extra help with learning to read. This means that the vast majority of pupils quickly become fluent, confident readers.

The school has started to develop new approaches to evaluate how well staff are implementing curriculum changes. However, in a few subjects, these approaches need further refinement. This is so that the school can intervene more swiftly to address some deficiencies in how well some subject content is currently being delivered.

The school quickly identifies pupils who may have additional needs. It ensures that pupils with SEND receive effective support in their learning. These pupils achieve well.

The school caters particularly well for pupils' personal development. Pupils develop a strong understanding of how to look after their own mental well-being. They know how to develop safe, positive relationships with others.

They know how to stay safe online. Pupils show tolerance and respect for people's different backgrounds. They learn about fundamental British values.

Older pupils have a secure knowledge of democracy and its foundations in ancient civilisations. Pupils at this school are prepared well for life in modern Britain.

The school encourages positive attitudes to school attendance.

Pupils enjoy coming to school and do so regularly. Pupils show an equally positive attitude to their learning. In most classes, most pupils engage well.

They follow classroom routines and play nicely together during social times.

Staff appreciate the efforts of leaders to consider their workload. They value that leaders consult them on any proposed changes to policies and procedures.

Governors provide appropriate levels of challenge. They carry out their statutory duties 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 school has not precisely identified what children will learn in many parts of the early years curriculum. This means that children do not build the foundations for future knowledge coherently. The school should develop the early years curriculum further so that staff are clear on the intended knowledge that children should acquire and at what point.

• In some subjects, the school is in the early stages of establishing systems to evaluate the delivery and impact of new subject curriculums on what pupils know. This means that some variability in how the school curriculum is taught is not addressed as quickly as it could be. The school should develop more robust approaches to evaluating the delivery of some curriculums and how well these are helping pupils to build their knowledge over time.

• In a few subjects, the school has not sufficiently considered how curriculum content should be taught to pupils in mixed-aged classes. On occasion, this means that some pupils repeat learning that is already secure. The school should provide further curriculum guidance so that teachers can deliver new content more effectively to pupils of different ages in the same class.