St Michael and All Angels Catholic Primary School

Overview

The report describes a school where leaders have established a "strong standard" across curriculum, teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership, and personal development. While pupils achieve well from their starting points, attainment in core subjects is "close to average" nationally, with specific areas for improvement identified in writing and attendance.

Strengths

• Leaders provide "comprehensive support and training for staff," enabling them to deliver the curriculum well and correct misconceptions effectively.
• The early years provision is highly effective, with staff using interactions to develop communication skills, resulting in an increasing proportion of children attaining well by the end of Reception.
• Inclusion is robust; the school "accurately identifies pupils’ individual needs" and provides swift support, ensuring disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND access the same curriculum.
• Personal development is promoted well, with pupils developing respect for others and a detailed knowledge of fundamental British Values through a "well thought-out" PSHE curriculum.
• Staff manage behaviour "consistently well," creating a calm environment where poor behaviour is rare and bullying is swiftly addressed.

Areas to improve

• Leaders should continue to tackle the persistent absence of a minority of pupils who miss too much learning.
• Leaders should ensure pupils' achievement in writing is developed more consistently between year groups, focusing on sentence structure in key stage 1 and handwriting across the school.

Safeguarding

The safeguarding standards are met, with leaders establishing an open culture where concerns are actively identified and managed to ensure pupils feel safe.