St Finbar's Catholic Primary School

Overview

St Finbar’s Catholic Primary School is described as a “happy and welcoming place” where pupils feel safe and valued. The inspection found that leaders have developed an “ambitious curriculum” enabling most pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to achieve well. Overall, the school provides a high-quality education with strong behaviour and personal development.

Strengths

• Pupils are “well mannered” and work in “calm and orderly classrooms,” showing respect for staff and peers.
• The curriculum in many subjects, such as science, is “well organised,” allowing pupils to build knowledge securely and use vocabulary “fluently and accurately.”
• Early years provision is strong, with a “well-structured approach to learning phonics” ensuring almost all pupils become “confident, fluent readers” by Year 2.
• Staff effectively support pupils’ well-being and diversity, helping children understand “equality and diversity” and preparing them for later life.
• Staff workloads are manageable, and they “value the support that leaders and governors provide.”

Areas to improve

• Governors must gain an accurate understanding of how well pupils are learning the curriculum to “hold leaders to account more effectively.”
• Leaders should ensure curriculums in a “small number of subjects” are organised more carefully so pupils can “make links with their prior knowledge.”

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are “effective,” with “robust procedures” in place and staff who are “alert to the potential signs of harm.”