St Wilfrid’s Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at this school are enthusiastic about their learning. They know that their teachers want them to do well. They listen carefully in lessons and work hard.

The school has introduced a new curriculum for pupils. This is developing well and helping pupils to deepen their skills in subjects such as science and history.

All staff want the best for pupils.

The school ensures that pupils experience a variety of local visits that support their learning. Pupils make good use of the extra-curricular clubs on offer. These clubs vary throughout the year.

They give pupils opportunities to develop their talents and interests beyond the classroom.

Ma...ny pupils achieve well in most curriculum areas. Pupils, including children in the early years, behave well during lessons.

However, their behaviour during social times is not as positive. Some pupils, predominantly in key stage 2, engage in rough behaviour, or they act in a way that is not kind or caring to others. Staff do not always challenge these incidents.

As such, some behaviour goes unchecked and becomes the norm outside of learning time. In addition, staff do not deal with some bullying and behaviour reports as well as they should. Despite these weaknesses, pupils are safe at this school.

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

The school is developing a curriculum that is becoming more ambitious for pupils. The school has identified the essential knowledge that pupils need to know. Subject leaders have specified the order in which content should be taught.

For instance, the school has amended the sequence of learning in mathematics. This now reinforces identified areas of weakness. Teachers know when, and what, to teach.

In some subjects, trips are carefully planned to enrich pupils' learning. For example, in geography, pupils visit local beaches to understand more about coastal erosion and deposition. This enables pupils to understand significant change within their local context.

Links with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) partners allow pupils to learn more about the importance of science. Teachers have begun to refine assessment strategies. This ensures that pupils are remembering what they should.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive support from experienced staff. Some learning is not always sequenced to meet their particular needs. The school is aware of this and is taking appropriate action, through the modification of schemes of learning, to ensure that learning is suitable for all.

The school has a phonics curriculum in place. In Reception, children are becoming confident in reading the sounds they have learned. In key stage 1, some pupils do not read with appropriate fluency, as some reading books are not well matched to what pupils know.

Early interventions are not always precise, and pupils do not catch up as quickly as they should. In key stage 2, pupils make progress and deepen their knowledge. High-quality texts are used in lessons.

Pupils demonstrate a love of reading and share this with adults. Across the school, pupils enjoy their daily reading lessons, talking with enthusiasm about the books that teachers share in class.

Children in both the Nursery and Reception Year enjoy a well-designed curriculum.

This helps children to make a good start to school life. Children develop good habits and behaviours for learning. Children listen attentively to their teachers.

All staff model language effectively and encourage learning through careful interventions. The early years learning environment is well organised. There are opportunities for children to develop new skills and practise their learning.

This prepares children for the next stage of their education.

The school promotes pupils' personal and physical development well. Pupils are supported to develop their physical and mental well-being.

The school has a mental health lead, who works alongside both staff and parents. They help to design support strategies for pupils. The school ensures that pupils learn about different faiths.

Pupils develop a sense of tolerance and respect for different cultures. The school has identified opportunities, such as local trips, that enhance the curriculum. Work with other providers allows pupils the opportunities to raise their career aspirations.

Pupils behave well in lessons, where they listen to instructions. Pupils move around the building in a calm and respectful manner. However, some pupils do not maintain these high standards at breaktimes and lunchtimes.

The interactions of some pupils with others are rough and unkind during these more unstructured times. Staff members do not deal with them consistently, and relationships with adults other than teachers are not as strong. This has resulted in some pupils expressing concern for their own well-being.

Local attitudes and influences can also negatively impact on some playground behaviour.

The school does not keep sufficiently detailed records of behaviour and any linked SEND concerns. Incidents are logged in separate systems, making analysis difficult.

This means that leaders and governors miss opportunities to review patterns of behaviour or need. Exclusions and suspensions are higher than average for a school of its size.

Governors engage with the life of the school, supporting events and attending meetings.

However, they do not have the level of information needed to check the work of the school effectively. This means that they are not aware of some of the school's challenges. For instance, although governors are aware of the number of exclusions, they have not looked in depth at the reasons behind them.

Senior leaders engage well with staff. They have taken action to reduce teachers' workload. Staff appreciate these changes and feel well supported.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Sometimes, the school's actions in response to concerns are not as well thought out as they could be. This includes how staff record these actions and how they report them to others.

This means that leaders could miss opportunities to identify patterns of behaviour or bullying. The school should improve its approach for recording or evaluating actions taken to keep pupils safe. ? The school has not given staff the training they need to deliver the phonics curriculum with fidelity.

As a result, pupils are sometimes taught sounds in an order that does not help them to build their phonics knowledge over time. This means that pupils struggle to apply these sounds to their reading. The school should ensure that staff receive the training they need to deliver the phonics curriculum consistently and in an order that helps pupils learn and apply sounds fluently in their reading.

• The school does not deal swiftly with some incidents of poor behaviour during more unstructured times. This means that pupils accept some unkind and rough behaviours as the norm. The school should review its current policies and, with the wider school community, develop a shared culture of high-quality behaviour.