St Bernard's Catholic Primary School, Preston

Overview

St Bernard’s Catholic Primary School is described as a place where pupils feel “valued and safe” within a “warm and caring” community. While attendance, behaviour, and personal development meet the expected standard, the report identifies that achievement and teaching quality currently need attention due to inconsistencies in delivering core skills.

Strengths

• Attendance is “in line with, or better than, national averages,” with disadvantaged pupils regularly outperforming the national average for their group.
• Pupils demonstrate “positive attitudes to learning” and are “particularly kind to one another,” creating a harmonious environment where discrimination is not tolerated.
• The personal development programme is “well structured,” helping pupils develop a “deep sense of tolerance and morality” and respect for others.
• Leaders have established “efficient systems” for identifying and supporting pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who are disadvantaged.
• Trust leaders provide “robust challenge” and effective support, ensuring staff workload is managed appropriately during significant organisational changes.

Areas to improve

• Leaders must ensure staff deliver the early years curriculum consistently, making interactions “purposeful” to enhance children’s learning and vocabulary.
• Staff need to identify and address pupils’ knowledge gaps and misconceptions “routinely and swiftly” to prevent repeated errors in reading, writing, and spelling.
• New approaches to teaching reading, handwriting, and spelling must be implemented effectively so pupils can “quickly secure the foundational knowledge and skills” required for future success.

Safeguarding

The safeguarding standards are met, with leaders establishing an “open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility” and concerns are actively identified and managed.