St Benedict's Catholic Primary School

GOOD - Leadership and Management
- (There is a) sharp focus on improving the quality of education that pupils receive.
- Staff are proud to work at the school. They feel well supported by leaders and committed to the school’s improvement journey
- Governors’ oversight of the school’s work is also making a strong contribution to its improvement. 
- Leaders have ensured a focus on pupils’ physical and mental health.

GOOD  - Behaviour and Attitudes
- Pupils behave well. Low-level disruption is rare in lessons
- Children in Reception quickly learn how to share and play well together.
- Older pupils enjoy helping younger pupils during breaktimes
- Pupils feel safe and parents agree. Pupils learn how to stay safe. They know about cyber-bullying and other forms of online risks.

GOOD - Personal Development
- Relationships are at the heart of this school. Pupils, staff and parents feel a part of the warm, friendly school community,
- (Children) develop a strong sense of citizenship and service to others through a wide variety of charitable works
- Pupils learn about belonging to their local and global community
- Buddy (now Freya), the therapy dog, is a popular addition to the school community.
 - Leaders have carefully considered how to build pupils’ cultural capital through the curriculum, which is brought to life through a variety of visits and visitors

Requires Improvement - Teaching and Learning and EYFS
We were asked by OFSTED to think about how we adapt our writing provision across the school, including EYFS.  We have introduced The Write Stuff to the school and this is being used across all classes.  The Write Stuff provides clear training for staff, is engaging and supportive for children and ensures high standards.  

We were also asked to think about how we could further support some of our SEND children across the school.  We have conducted a full SEND review and adapted our targets on support plans to make sure they are always measurable and ensure taught lessons always meet the needs of the children.  As a school we have focused on adaptative teaching in the classrooms to ensure consistency in teaching methods which in turn ensures high standards for all children.  These areas are reflected on our School Development Plan (which you can see on the website).

Finally we were asked to continue to provide support for our subject leaders.  We have ensured training for all leaders and reviewed the curriculum to ensure clear progression in all subjects.  Subject leaders also have working connections with other schools that we work with to ensure colloboration.

All schools work with School Improvement Partners (SIP) each year and we have had a number of visits since our last OFSTED report.  During these SIP visits, we have received the following comments linked to our areas of focus:

"The sequence of learning in Writing has been secured and established using the ‘Write Stuff’ scheme. Lessons are no longer taught in isolation, but build of prior learning."

" In EYFS Writing activities are based on a theme and follow the approach of The Write Stuff.   Floppy’s Phonics is taught with high fidelity to the scheme and this starts for all pupils as soon as they start school.  Children's books indicate a strong use of Phonics knowledge and skills in pupil writing"

"Adaptations for SEND pupils are built into every year group’s planning and there was evidence of this in the pupil’s books.'

"Adaptive teaching has been a major area of improvement focus. SEND pupils were receiving good support in the lessons seen and they were skilfully supported in a range of ways. The use of TAs to take groups or support individuals was effective, also enabling teachers to work with SEND pupils."

"The Foundation Subjects are well planned and have a clear sequence of learning and progression. These are made clear for many subjects in ‘Roadmaps, which show the learning through each unit. Pupils understand the sequences well, for instance in History where they discussed a number of units with clarity."

"Pupils enjoy school and are proud to attend. One pupil stated, ‘At school we show respect to others and get respect back!'"

This is a good school because:

• Pupils, parents and staff are extremely proud of their school community.
• The governing body is committed to developing and supporting all aspects of the Catholic life of the school.
• Chaplaincy within the school is vibrant and is led effectively and enthusiastically.
• Prayer is central to the life of the school and the school has invested in training for both pupils and staff, as a result, pupils are competent at leading prayer within the school.
• The school has made rapid progress in developing the Catholic life of the school in a very short space of time, and the development of religious education is a priority for the school.