Our Lady's Catholic Primary Academy

Overview

The report describes a school where pupils are “happy to come to school” and feel they “belong,” benefiting from “warm relationships with adults.” Leaders provide “clear direction” and have established a “calm and orderly” environment where bullying is “uncommon.” While personal development is rated at a “strong standard,” most other aspects of the school’s provision meet the “expected standard.”

Strengths

• Personal development is “rich and coherent,” helping pupils understand “values such as kindness and equality” and engage “maturely with current and global events.”
• Pastoral support is “highly effective,” with staff who “know pupils extremely well” and respond “promptly and appropriately to needs.”
• Pupils achieve “well over time,” with most reaching “expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics” by Year 6.
• Attendance has “improved over time” and is “close to the national average,” supported by strategies like the “breakfast club.”
• The curriculum is “broad and ambitious,” with teachers who “explain new ideas clearly” and use “practical experiences well.”

Areas to improve

• Leaders should strengthen the “precision and consistency of classroom adaptations” so pupils needing extra help can “build even more securely on prior learning.”
• Staff in the early years should use “consistently high‑quality interactions” to “deepen children’s language and communication skills.”

Safeguarding

The safeguarding standards are met, with an “open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility” ensuring pupils are “made safer and feel safe.”