St Stephen’s Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

St Stephen's Catholic Primary School is a welcoming place to be. The school provides a nurturing environment where pupils can learn well.

Staff foster a keen sense of pride among pupils, ensuring that they feel happy, safe and secure.

The school has established clear expectations for the behaviour of pupils, including for children in the early years. Pupils are polite and respectful to each other and to staff.

Pupils are aspirational for their futures. They enjoy learning and they are keen to participate fully in lessons. Staff have high expectations of pupils' learning.

They support pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disab...ilities (SEND), to achieve consistently well across the curriculum.

Pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment experiences, such as sports activities, board games and crochet clubs. Pupils have ample opportunities to develop their leadership skills and to learn how to work as part of a team.

They thrive on earning badges for their achievements.

Pupils are eager to take on a range of responsibilities within school. For example, some act as librarian leaders and relish the opportunity to help younger pupils select exciting books.

Other pupils act as digital leaders or as members of the school council. Pupils enjoy supporting their community, for example by raising money for the local hospice.

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

The school's curriculum is suitably ambitious and, for the most part, delivered well by highly skilled staff.

In most subjects, pupils, including children in the early years, benefit from carefully constructed learning activities that build on what they already know. At the end of Year 6, pupils, including those with SEND, are well prepared for secondary school. Nevertheless, the school is finalising the knowledge that pupils should learn in a small number of subjects.

This means that, on occasion, some teachers find it more difficult to design learning that helps pupils to gain important knowledge. At times, this leads to gaps in some pupils' learning in these subjects.

The school has ensured that teachers have benefited from appropriate training.

This is evident in their strong subject knowledge and in the way in which they present new learning to pupils. Staff use assessment strategies well to identify where pupils have gaps in their knowledge. However, at times, the school's approach to assessment does not support teachers to check that pupils have learned aspects of the intended curriculum.

Now and again, this prevents teachers from identifying and addressing the gaps in some pupils' learning swiftly enough.

The school has prioritised the teaching of early reading. As a result, pupils develop a love of reading from an early age.

For instance, some pupils said that reading takes them on an adventure and helps them to look after their mental health. The school ensures that high-quality books form an essential part of pupils' learning.

The school has made certain that staff teach the phonics programme well.

Staff ensure that the books that pupils read closely match the sounds that they have learned. This means that pupils experience success when reading. As a matter of routine, staff check on what sounds pupils know and understand.

Staff provide extra support for those pupils who find reading more difficult. This helps these pupils to keep up with their peers. Added to this, the school communicates well with parents and carers about how to support their children's reading at home.

Most pupils become confident readers by the end of key stage 1.

Staff identify the additional needs of pupils with SEND with accuracy and in a timely manner. Teachers successfully adapt the delivery of the curriculum so that pupils with SEND can learn successfully alongside their peers.

Children in the early years settle into school quickly. They form secure relationships with adults and with their friends. Pupils in key stages 1 and 2 build on this positive start.

On the rare occasion that a pupil forgets to follow the school rules, staff quickly and sensitively remind them how to behave.

Attendance is a high priority for the school. Staff apply the school's attendance policies and procedures consistently.

The school has raised expectations for pupils' attendance and punctuality through ongoing communication with parents. The school provides an appropriate balance of support and challenge for families when pupils do not attend as regularly as they should.

All pupils, including children in the early years, experience a range of opportunities to enhance their personal development.

Pupils develop a deep and meaningful understanding of British values, such as democracy and tolerance. They understand how to demonstrate these values in their daily lives. Staff encourage pupils to keep themselves healthy.

For example, pupils spoke fondly about the nourishing breakfast that that the school provides for them. Pupils said that starting the day with something warm to eat helps to be ready to learn.

Governors have a secure understanding of the schools' priorities.

They provide effective support and challenge to the school. Staff appreciate the guidance that they receive from leaders to help them to manage their workload, look after their well-being and deliver the curriculum with confidence.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of subjects, some teachers are not sufficiently clear about the important knowledge that they should teach and when this content should be taught. This hinders teachers in designing learning and prevents some pupils from gaining the depth of knowledge that they should. In these subjects, the school should finalise its curriculum thinking so that teachers are well informed about how to design learning for pupils.

• In a few subjects, the school's assessment systems do not support teachers well to check that pupils have learned the knowledge outlined in the curriculum. From time to time, this prevents teachers from remedying the gaps in pupils' learning swiftly. The school should ensure that teachers are fully supported to use assessment strategies well to identify and address the gaps in pupils' learning.

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