St Thomas More’s Catholic Primary School, Colchester

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils attend a school where excellence is standard. Adults expect pupils to achieve the very best. Pupils leave the school at the end of Year 6 having achieved extremely well academically, while also being well rounded young people who are ready to face the world.

Pupils are polite and courteous. Classrooms are calm, yet they bubble and brim with excitement as pupils learn together. In lessons, pupils love contributing and sharing their ideas.

They feel safe to do so, because they know it is okay to make a mistake and learn from it. Adults have created a climate where pupils feel safe to speak out.

The very youngest children in the early years benefit from t...he caring and nurturing environment.

They understand what school is about, learn the routines and quickly set about laying strong foundations for their future time in school.

Pupils benefit strongly from the many and varied wider opportunities on offer. They sing joyfully and with gusto in the school choir, while others take on their extra responsibilities with diligence.

Pupils benefit from being on the school council, becoming 'buddies' for younger pupils or working to reduce their carbon footprint. Pupils in these positions can confidently explain their part in improving the school for themselves and others.

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

The strong, shared vision weaves through all the school does.

Over time, leaders including governors, have realised this vision. Pupils receive a top-class education. Staff are truly valued and are supported by school leaders to hone and refine their practice and to become experts in what they do.

This high level of expertise means pupils learn from the best.

Pupils learn and achieve exceptionally well across the curriculum. They develop a broad and rich body of knowledge that builds as they move through the school.

Pupils are skilfully guided to use what they know and can do to help them become ever more proficient. For example, in history, younger pupils develop an excellent understanding of chronology. As they get older, pupils use this knowledge to build a rich picture of the past.

Similarly, older pupils are adept at designing scientific investigations to test their ideas because they have a strong understanding of how experiments work from their past learning. Teachers hold strong subject knowledge. They use this to check that pupils understand new information, and quickly step in to correct a pupil if they misunderstand.

Pupils with special educational need and/or disabilities and those pupils who speak English as an additional language are supported extremely well to access the curriculum. Effective plans are in place. Provision for these pupils is successfully implemented in class.

Their various needs are well considered and provided for. Adults make careful adaptations to lessons to ensure pupils access the full curriculum alongside their peers. As a result, these pupils achieve exceptionally well.

Reading sits at the heart of the curriculum. The school ensures that well-trained staff effectively deliver the phonics programme. The books that pupils read are carefully matched to the sounds they know.

This means that in early years and key stage 1, the vast majority of pupils learn to read well. The school puts timely additional support in place for pupils who need it. As a result, pupils quickly become fluent and confident readers.

Children in the early years receive high-quality provision. They take part in activities with energy and excitement. They work and play well together, with kindness and smiles a plenty.

Adults skilfully guide children to start activities, offering help and reassurance when it is necessary. Children develop high levels of concentration and independence, setting them up extremely well for Year 1.

Pupils' behaviour is exemplary.

They have very positive attitudes to learning in class. Lessons are very rarely disturbed.

The school provides an excellent range of opportunities that enhance pupils' personal development.

Equally, the school responds to events in their community and beyond to ensure children understand these and can empathise with those involved. Pupils' fundraising efforts to help children in another country exemplifies this.

A well-designed and coherent personal, social and health education curriculum is taught.

Pupils talk confidently about fundamental British values and are very respectful of different cultures and beliefs. Consequently, pupils are very well prepared for life in modern Britain.

Trustees and the governing body work closely with the school.

They have an accurate view of the many strengths of the provision. They do not take their foot off the pedal, continuing to challenge and support leaders to make the school even better.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.