St Mary’s R.C. Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

St Mary's R.

C. Primary School is a warm, caring and welcoming school. Its vision of 'Love, Grow, Believe, Achieve' permeates all it does.

Pupils are secure and their relationships with staff are strong. As a result, pupils behave very well and are quick to settle and engage in their work. During their time at the school, most pupils, including those with English as an additional language (EAL) or with additional learning needs (ALN), make strong progress in their learning.

Teachers' development of the basic skills of all pupils is a strength of the school. In addition, learning support staff aid pupils in accessing learning extremely well. However, the independent learning skills, particularly of more able pupils..., are less well developed.

The school's curriculum is broad and balanced, providing a suitable range of learning experiences. Teachers' plan purposeful opportunities to develop pupils' oracy, reading, writing and mathematics skills well. Provision to support pupils to make progress in their numeracy and digital skills is less developed.

Teachers and support staff provide high quality feedback to pupils about the strengths and areas for development within their learning. As a result, most pupils make strong progress in their learning, knowing the steps required to improve their work. However, staff do not provide enough opportunities for pupils to make choices about their learning.

The school is well led by the headteacher, with able support from the deputy headteacher and senior staff. The team work purposefully to ensure teachers' expectations for their pupils are appropriate, including for more vulnerable groups of learners. Leaders ensure that the school sits at the heart of the community it serves.

Parents feel valued and part of the life of the school and parish, benefiting from the successful partnerships fostered between the home and school. Nearly all pupils are happy and proud to attend the school. Recommendations R1 Ensure that teaching challenges all pupils, including the more able, to develop their independent learning skills R2 Improve provision for pupils to develop and apply their numeracy and digital skills R3 Provide opportunities for pupils to make choices in their learning to develop a more engaging curriculum What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to address the recommendations from the inspection.