St Patrick’s CofE School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. The school has improved considerably over the past two years and improvement is gathering pace.

Standards are above average and rising and pupils are making increasingly rapid progress. Pupils are being increasingly well taught. Teachers are increasingly open to suggestions about how they can get better and take great pride in showing how they have done so.

Most pupils are well behaved. They are keen to learn and get on well with each other. They are very friendly and welcoming to visitors and are polite and inquisitive.

Leadership and management are much improved. The drive to raise standards by improving teaching has been effe...ctive. Parents are becoming more confident that their children are getting a good deal.

The headteacher has been successful in getting staff to work more effectively as a unified team to make sure that every pupil does as well as they can. Over the past two years the governing body has supported school improvement particularly well. They know the children and their families well.

Parents find governors approachable. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Occasionally, pupils are not given harder work when the work set for them is too easy, especially in mathematics. Too often, pupils get careless with their handwriting, spelling and use of punctuation.

Teachers do not always correct them quickly enough. Some targets for improvement that teachers are set are not actions to enable them to become more effective.

Information about this school

This is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.

Nearly all pupils are White British; there are broadly equal numbers of girls and boys but within each year group there is much variation. Last year there were five boys and two girls in Year 6; this year the figures are reversed. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is much lower than average.

(The pupil premium is additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals or children who are looked after by the local authority). There are no looked-after children. A smaller-than-average proportion of pupils is supported at school action and also at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs.

This varies widely from year to year. In 2013, five out of the seven Year 6 pupils were being given extra support on account of their special educational needs. All pupils are taught in mixed-age classes.