St John Fisher Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy

Overview

This ungraded inspection confirms that St John Fisher Catholic Primary School has “taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.” The school continues to provide a high-quality education where pupils are “eager to learn” and achieve well across the curriculum. Leaders are described as “highly reflective and focused on improving the school further,” ensuring that staff feel valued and supported.

Strengths

• The curriculum is “carefully planned” with a clear sequence, allowing pupils to “build their knowledge progressively over time.”
• There is a strong emphasis on reading, with daily phonics lessons and targeted support helping pupils become “confident and fluent readers.”
• Pupils display excellent behaviour, guided by the ‘behaviour bees’ of “be ready, be respectful, be safe,” creating a “calm, purposeful atmosphere.”
• The school effectively supports pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those learning English as an additional language.
• Pupils develop leadership skills and a sense of responsibility through roles such as librarians, school chaplains, and elected school councillors.

Areas to improve

• Systems for checking how well the curriculum is working are “not as well developed” in some subjects, meaning the curriculum does not support learning as effectively as it could in those areas.
• The standard of pupils’ writing in subjects other than English is “variable,” as teachers do not always provide regular opportunities for pupils to practise writing in subjects like history, geography, and science.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”