Our Lady and St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school School leaders have a good understanding of the school.

Their self-evaluation and plans for school improvement identify accurately areas in need of further development. Governance is strong. Governors provide an appropriate balance of challenge and support to senior leaders and understand what the school needs to do to improve further.

The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good. Pupils develop a secure knowledge and understanding from their different starting points. They make good progress overall in English and mathematics.

Teachers and teaching assistants work well together to motivate pupils and ensure their goo...d progress. Pupils feel safe in school. They have positive relationships with staff and enjoy being at school.

Pupils' behaviour is good. Their attitudes to learning and school are positive. Pupils are confident and self-assured.

Leadership of the early years is good. Teachers have high expectations and a thorough knowledge of each child's individual needs and interests. As a result, children make good progress.

Parents are positive about the school. They confirm that outcomes for pupils are improving and that the school works effectively to keep their children safe. Some pupils, particularly those in key stage 1, do not achieve the standards they are capable of in mathematics.

This is because they are unable to confidently use and apply calculation strategies to support their mathematical reasoning and development. The most able pupils are not challenged consistently to use their skills to write at length and to demonstrate their ability to reach the higher standards in the end of year tests in key stage 2. While pupils make good progress overall in writing, for too many the presentation of their work, including handwriting, is not as good as it could be.

Information about this school

The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website. The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish. Our Lady and St Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school, and is part of the Plymouth CAST.

The Trust was formed in April 2014. The work of the Trust is overseen by a board of directors. The Trust is responsible for: one nursery; one first school; 32 primary schools; and two secondary schools across seven local authorities in the south west region.

The school joined the Trust and became an academy on 1 April 2014. When its predecessor school, Our Lady and St Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be inadequate overall. The headteacher took up her substantive post in September 2015.

The proportion of pupils who receive support in school for their special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average. The proportion of pupils who are supported through pupil premium funding is below the national average. The percentage of pupils from minority ethnic groups is below the national average.

The percentage of pupils who speak English as an additional language is also below the national average. The early years provision is part time for Nursery children and full time for Reception children. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.