St Thomas More Primary School, Belmont

Overview: St Thomas More Primary School, Belmont is a good school where pupils are happy and safe. The school has a caring, friendly, and welcoming ethos, and the headteacher and staff go the extra mile to ensure that the school's high expectations are realised. Pupils achieve well in reading and mathematics, and the school's curriculum raises pupils' understanding of personal responsibility.

Strengths:

• Pupils are happy and safe at the school, with a caring, friendly, and welcoming ethos.
• The headteacher and staff go the extra mile to ensure that the school's high expectations are realised.
• Pupils achieve well in reading and mathematics, with a strong focus on phonics and early reading.
• The school's curriculum raises pupils' understanding of personal responsibility, with opportunities for pupils to take on a range of responsibilities and develop their independence and social skills.
• The school's values of 'family, aspiration and love' are evident in all that the school does.

Areas to improve:

• Leaders have not completed the revision of planning, and the associated checks on pupils' learning, in some foundation subjects.
• Sometimes teachers' adaptations to pupils' tasks and the use of suitable resources are not fully meeting the needs of pupils with SEND.
• Leaders have begun to revise the planning for early years, taking account of the recent addition of nursery provision, but this is not yet fully completed.

Safeguarding: The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with leaders and staff promptly identifying pupils who may be vulnerable to safeguarding risks and working well with other agencies to get help for pupils and families where required.