St Oswald’s Catholic Primary, Wrekenton

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a school that welcomes everyone. Staff quickly get to know pupils well, which helps them to care for individual pupils' needs.

This includes pupils who speak English as an additional language. Pupils enjoy learning from the school's ambitious curriculum. The school is determined for all pupils to achieve highly.

Pupils achieve well as they move through the curriculum. They are well prepared for their next stage of learning.

The 'St Oswald's Way' sets out the expectations for behaviour in the school.

In lessons, pupils behave well and show pride in their work. Pupils have positive attitudes towards learning. In the early years, children learn ...routines and concentrate well on their learning.

Pupils develop trusting relationships with the staff who help them. This helps pupils to feel safe. They are confident that staff will help them if they have a problem.

The school offers a range of extra-curricular clubs and experiences. Pupils particularly enjoy the business club. This teaches them basic financial skills as they complete activities to raise money to pay for an end-of-year trip.

Staff teach pupils how to keep safe in the local community and when online. Pupils remember what they have been taught. This helps to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain.

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

Since academisation, the school has refreshed its curriculum. The curriculum identifies what pupils need to learn from Nursery to Year 6. Pupils start lessons by recalling the important knowledge from previous lessons.

This helps them to remember important content. For example, in mathematics, pupils revisit learning from the previous week or term so that they do not forget it. In history, older pupils remember the vocabulary associated with their Roman Empire study.

They use the vocabulary to explain their learning. They recognise similarities between different empires previously studied. Across the subjects taught, teachers check what pupils know and remember.

However, where pupils have gaps in their knowledge, for example because they have missed lessons, the school does not have a consistent system in place to help pupils to catch up.

Pupils love reading. They enjoy daily reading from the wide variety of books available.

Reading is prioritised in the school's new English curriculum. The school ensures that older pupils read novels in their entirety. Older pupils enjoy reading books such as Louis Sachar's 'Holes.'

The themes in the selected books stimulate discussion about challenging themes and viewpoints. In the early years, children learn rhymes and become familiar with stories such as 'The Three Little Pigs'. The focus on communication and language helps children to recognise the sounds that letters make.

Staff are experts at teaching phonics. The school's phonics programme is taught well. This ensures that all pupils, including those who speak English as an additional language, learn to read straight away.

Pupils practise reading often. This ensures that they learn to read fluently. When pupils struggle, staff identify pupils who require extra help with reading.

Pupils benefit from this individualised support.

The school supports pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) effectively. External professionals, such as the educational psychologist, make regular visits.

The advice that external professionals provide helps staff to identify the best way to support pupils' specific needs. Staff are provided with helpful information so that they know how to support pupils in lessons. Pupils with SEND achieve well.

The 'St. Oswald's Way' is taught from the early years to Year 6. This helps children to learn how to manage their behaviour.

In the early years, children work and play alongside each other harmoniously. Most older pupils show kindness and consideration for each other. However, some pupils use derogatory, homophobic language during social times.

They do not recognise that this should be reported to staff.

The school's provision for personal development helps pupils to understand that they need to be good role models. Older pupils enjoy being 'buddies' to younger children.

The eco club works to create a positive school environment. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding is developed well through experiences such as visits to local places of worship, including the church, mosque and synagogue. The school's curriculum for personal, social, health and economic education supports pupils to learn about life in modern Britain.

The school teaches pupils about the importance of respect for differences between people. Some aspects of the curriculum are new. This means that some protected characteristics are not as well understood by pupils.

The trust supports the work of the school well. Those responsible for governance work together to ensure improvement across the school. Staff feel valued at work.

They feel that leaders care about them and consider their workload and well-being. This motivates staff to maintain the school's vision to value every individual and support them in reaching their full potential.

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 does not have a consistent approach to addressing gaps in knowledge when pupils have missed lessons. As a result, some pupils do not have the necessary prior knowledge to support them to complete the next step in learning successfully. The school should ensure that teaching consistently resolves gaps in knowledge so that pupils achieve highly.

• Some pupils use derogatory, homophobic language during social times. Pupils do not report this because they do not understand that this is offensive. The school should ensure that pupils develop an understanding of acceptable language so that they can demonstrate respect for the protected characteristics and understand the importance of reporting incidents to adults, where this is not the case.