St Francis RC Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.

Pupils are making good progress with considerable proportions meeting or exceeding national expectations. Since the last inspection, pupils have made faster progress in acquiring skills, particularly in reading and writing. Children in the Nursery and Reception make exceptionally good progress because they are taught particularly well.

Teaching has improved greatly over recent years. Almost all teaching is at least good, with an increasing number of outstanding lessons. Teachers create a stimulating and purposeful learning environment where pupils are engaged and thrive well.

The quality of marking is outstanding. Pupils are pol...ite and well behaved in lessons and around the school. Good relationships between adults and pupils, and amongst pupils, are strong features of the school and ensure that both adults and pupils flourish well in a motivating environment.

Pupils enjoy school, they are happy and feel safe. The headteachers and governors demonstrate a clear commitment which is shared by all staff, particularly the newly recruited subject leaders, to secure further improvement. The headteachers evaluate the school's performance rigorously and accurately which helps to identify priority areas for improvement.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : The newly recruited subject leaders have not had time to develop their roles in monitoring lessons so that they can accurately support and challenge staff to drive forward school improvement further. Information on pupils is not always used well to set challenging targets, especially for the more able, so they make even better progress, particularly in mathematics. Pupils, especially the less able, are not always supported well by other adults in lessons.

Occasionally there are not enough opportunities in lessons for active and independent learning.

Information about this school

St Francis is a larger-than-average-sized primary school. The vast majority of pupils come from minority ethnic heritages, with the largest proportion being from Nigerian and Ghanaian backgrounds.

Three quarters of pupils speak English as an additional language, with a high proportion at the early stage of learning English. A larger than average proportion of pupils is known to be eligible for support through the pupil premium, additional funding provided by the government. The proportion of pupils supported at school action is below the national average, but the proportion of pupils who are supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.

Most of these pupils have speech, language and communication, behavioural, emotional and social difficulties or autism. Since the previous inspection, the school had gone through a period of staff turbulence. A large number of teachers left the school and new ones have joined.

The school is led by two part-time headteachers who job share the position. The school does not use any alternative provision. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress.

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