St Mary's Catholic Primary School

Overview

St Mary’s Catholic Primary School has “taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.” Pupils are described as “happy and proud” to attend, benefiting from a community that ensures “everybody is treated with respect, equality and kindness.” The school fosters a “strong sense of family” among leaders, staff, and pupils, preparing children well for the next stage of their education.

Strengths

• Pupils “enjoy learning” and demonstrate enthusiasm, settling to tasks with confidence and responding well to staff’s high expectations.
• Provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils is a “strength of the school,” with clear systems for swift identification and tailored support.
• Leaders ensure the curriculum is “ambitious” and clearly sets out important knowledge, while dedicated staff deliver lessons with enthusiasm.
• Early years practitioners create an effective environment where children are “settled, happy and ready to learn,” ensuring they are well prepared for key stage 1.
• Pupils’ personal development is strong, with the curriculum preparing them well for “life in modern Britain” and fostering maturity and citizenship.

Areas to improve

• The school must ensure that “all subjects are taught consistently” because some curriculum changes are not yet fully effective, meaning pupils do not consistently learn key knowledge securely in some subjects.
• Learning activities must enable all pupils to achieve well from their starting points, as those who grasp key knowledge quickly are “sometimes not given the opportunity to deepen their understanding.”

Safeguarding

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