St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Primary School, Padiham

Overview: St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Primary School, Padiham continues to be a good school. Pupils are well mannered and respectful, and they enjoy coming to school. They demonstrate the school's mission to 'Love One Another' in their interactions with each other and with adults in the school.

Strengths:

• Pupils are well mannered and respectful.
• Pupils enjoy coming to school and describe it as 'amazing, friendly and welcoming'.
• Pupils demonstrate the school's mission to 'Love One Another' in their interactions with each other and with adults in the school.
• Pupils achieve well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• Pupils behave well in school, with older pupils relishing their responsibility to ensure that behaviour in the corridors at breaktimes is safe and orderly.
• The school has a strong culture of helping those who are in need, with the Growing in Faith team coordinating the school's fund-raising activities for local, national and international charities.

Areas to improve:

• A small number of younger pupils are not able to read as well as they should, unable to blend sounds to make words. Leaders should ensure that staff are supported well to help these pupils to catch up quickly.
• A small number of teachers do not teach some aspects of the curriculum as leaders intend, resulting in some pupils not learning as well as they could. Leaders should ensure that those responsible for the subject curriculums have the time and training necessary to enable them to oversee the implementation of their curriculums effectively.

Safeguarding: The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders have established a strong safeguarding culture, and staff are fully aware of their responsibilities to ensure that all pupils are safe.