St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

Inspection of a good school: St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School Rowley Road, Whitnash, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV31 2LJ

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Inspection dates: 31 January and 1 February 2024

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Outcome

St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School. Leaders, governors and staff are ambitious for all pupils to achieve well and develop the values and skills to ‘live wisely, think deeply and love generously’. Pupils enjoy living up to these aspirations.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite. They enjoy, and are motivated by, the rewards for punctual attendance. They behave well around school, for example by holding doors open for others. However, in some lessons, low-level disruption means that pupils are distracted from learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has ensured that if pupils have worries, they can raise them in a number of different ways. As a result, pupils know that the adults in school care for them. This makes them feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils eagerly take on leadership roles in school, such as being ‘bistro buddies’, school councillors or members of the chaplaincy team. Through these opportunities, and others, pupils learn what it means to be caring, responsible members of their community. They raise money for charity and think of others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers speak highly of the school. Voicing the views of many, one parent said, ‘We couldn’t be more proud of being part of the St Joseph’s family.’

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Curriculum ‘teams’ have identified the important knowledge and skills that pupils should learn from Reception to Year 6. Effective training and carefully considered resources mean that teachers know precisely what to teach, when and how. Where this is most effective, for example in art and design, this enables all pupils to produce impressive work. In mathematics, pupils thoroughly enjoy learning and using practical equipment to deepen their understanding. The school’s 31 January and 1 February 2024

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strong focus on mathematics teaching has not yet had the intended impact on recent published outcomes.

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Across the curriculum, questioning is not always as effective as it could be. Sometimes, teachers do not choose questions which help them to understand what pupils already know or that help to move learning on. On occasion, this slows learning and means that pupils could learn misconceptions from each other.

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Reading has been made a high priority. As soon as children start in Reception, they begin to learn the sounds that letters make. All staff have been trained to teach phonics so that they can support pupils effectively with their reading. Pupils practise reading using books carefully matched to the sounds they know. Regular assessment means that pupils who might be at risk of falling behind are swiftly identified. Extra support is put in place so that everyone can succeed. Strategies such as ‘word of the month’ mean that pupils widen their vocabulary.

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All pupils are fully included in all learning. The school identifies the needs of pupils with SEND swiftly and accurately. Support and careful adaptation, where needed, mean that all pupils can learn and play together. Where more personalised support is needed, this is done skilfully to ensure that pupils with SEND can succeed.

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Pupils behave well around school and at breaktimes. Older pupils are eager to take on responsibilities at lunchtimes. However, at times in some lessons, pupils do not listen and behave as well as they could. This leads to low-level disruption. Teachers address this, but this takes too much time away from teaching.

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Initiatives such as the ‘Joseph pound’ have improved pupils’ attendance. Collecting ‘Joseph pounds’ also gives pupils an opportunity to learn about spending and saving. Older pupils, in their role as ‘bankers’, also learn valuable life skills.

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A carefully planned programme for personal development means that pupils are being very well prepared for life beyond school. The school’s values and opportunities to enhance pupils’ personal development are carefully woven through all aspects of school life. Links with schools overseas give pupils an opportunity to learn about the lives of others. Multi-faith weeks help pupils to value peoples’ differences and ‘vocation week’ helps widen pupils’ understanding of the world of work. Activities linked to current affairs encourage pupils to debate some important questions as they learn about the world around them.

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Staff are proud to work at the school. They feel very well supported and know that leaders are mindful of their well-being. Parents are very positive about this inclusive, welcoming school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 31 January and 1 February 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some lessons, assessment is not used as effectively as it could be to check whether pupils have remembered previous key learning. As a result, some questioning does not match what pupils know and could allow misconceptions to persist and be spread. The school should ensure that in-lesson assessment is used to check the right things at the right time so that pupils can use, and build on, previous learning.  In some lessons, pupils’ low-level disruptive behaviour detracts from learning. Sometimes, this affects other pupils’ learning, and teachers spend too much time managing off-task behaviour. The school should ensure that the behaviour policy is consistently applied and understood by all so that all pupils are able to learn consistently well in lessons.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in February 2014.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium 31 January and 1 February 2024

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funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 31 January and 1 February 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 14 June 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses no alternative provision.  The school runs on-site before- and after-school provision.  The school received its last section 48 inspection of church schools in May 2018. The next inspection is scheduled for the academic year 2024/25.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the inspector carried out deep dives into these subjects: reading, mathematics and art and design. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans where they were available, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector also listened to pupils read to a 31 January and 1 February 2024

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familiar adult.  The inspector held meetings with the headteacher and other senior leaders.  The inspector met with the chair and representatives of the governing body and spoke to representatives of the local authority and Birmingham Archdiocese.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons, around the school and at lunchtime. The inspector spoke to pupils about pupils’ behaviour.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector considered responses to Ofsted Parent View, including parents’ free-text responses. The inspectors also took account of responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys.  The inspector talked to parents and families at the school gate.

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Inspection team

Rachel Henrick, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 31 January and 1 February 2024

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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