St Robert Bellarmine Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Key Findings

¦ This is an outstanding school where pupils achieve exceedingly well. Most children's skills are below expectations for their age when they join the nursery class; from these low starting points, they go on to make excellent progress throughout their time in school and attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 has been consistently high for the past four years. Although a very large proportion of pupils reached the higher level in reading at the end of Key Stage 2 in 2011, the proportion that did so in writing was average.

Actions are currently being taken to ensure that more-able pupils achieve as well as possible in writing and inspection evidence shows that pupils are already on track to meet ambitious ...improvement targets in writing in the current year..¦ Outstanding teaching is a key factor contributing to these very positive outcomes for pupils.

Teachers continuously review and develop their methodology and practice to ensure that pupils' learning needs are met. Individual learning targets are used very effectively and marking is predominantly extremely constructive and helpful. Sometimes, however, writing is not marked as strategically in pupils' topic work as in their literacy books; because teachers focus mainly on the content of written work, errors in writing are not always picked up.

¦ Pupils thrive in an environment where every child is known, cared for and valued; this is helping them to progress very well in both their academic and their personal development. They feel extremely safe and secure in school. Their behaviour is exemplary and they are considerate and well-mannered.

. ¦ The headteacher provides extremely effective leadership. With the support of able senior staff and well-informed governors, she has created a strong team ethos, with a clear focus on continuous school improvement.

A vibrant curriculum engages pupils' interests very well and provides memorable experiences for them. Regular and very effective monitoring assures the high quality of teaching across the school.

Information about the school

The school is similar in size to most other primary schools.

The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is average. The proportion of disabled pupils and pupils with special educational needs is also average. Most pupils are White British, with a very small proportion from other minority ethnic backgrounds, and all have English as their home language.

The school meets the current government floor standard, which sets the minimum expectations for attainment and progress. Since its previous inspection, the school has renewed its Healthy School status; it has also achieved the Extended Schools Mark, the Information and Communication Technology Mark, the Dyslexia-Friendly Mark and the Basic Skills Quality Mark; the governing body has renewed its accreditation under the Financial Management Standard in Schools. The school provides a breakfast club each morning during term time.

Additional wrap-around care sessions are provided each afternoon for children who attend the nursery class in the morning. An extensive programme of refurbishment and extensions to the building has been carried out since the previous inspection, providing additional space for teaching and learning and for community activities. A new reception classroom has linked the existing nursery accommodation to the main school building, creating an Early Years Foundation Stage suite with new outdoor areas for both classes.

Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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