St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

3 and 4 July 2024 Inspection of a good school: St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School The Fairfield, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 2UP

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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?

Parents and carers speak highly of how well the school supports their children. They would recommend it. While the school rightly celebrates its own faith, it is also inclusive, welcoming pupils’ different faiths and backgrounds. Pupils enjoy coming to school, they feel safe and attend regularly. They feel part of the school’s ‘close-knit’ community. Pupils behave well, they respond positively to the school’s rules and routines. Pupils are friendly towards each other and most have positive attitudes to their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for pupils and they achieve well at school. One reason for this is because staff get to know pupils well and effectively adapt their teaching to meet pupils’ different needs.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders provide lots of opportunities for pupils to develop their character. This includes leadership roles such as well-being ambassadors and peer mediators. Pupils appreciate and value the range of clubs that they can take part in, such as football and gardening. Pupils particularly enjoy participating in residential visits, where one pupil’s comment echoed others when they said: ‘We learn to trust each other even more.’

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

The school makes sure that pupils are taught an ambitious curriculum. Leaders have also given a lot of thought to what pupils learn and when they learn it. This helps pupils to learn in a logical way. For example, children in the Nursery provision were excitedly learning to estimate which objects were the heaviest. Staff had made sure that the children had the knowledge needed to take part in the activity. Pupils in Year 3 were able to apply what they had been taught previously by interpreting mathematical data and recording the information accurately.

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

Teachers have strong subject knowledge. Most explain concepts well and use purposeful activities, models and examples to help pupils learn. In Year 4 physical education, pupils were being taught rounders. Demonstration from adults helped pupils learn how to catch 3 and 4 July 2024

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and pass the ball with greater accuracy. However, sometimes, teachers’ activity choices and strategies do not help pupils to know more and remember more of what they are being taught. When this happens, knowledge does not ‘stick’ in pupils’ long-term memory.

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Pupils love reading. Older pupils confidently recall the plot and characters from the books that they have read. The school teaches pupils to read well. Children in the Nursery build up their knowledge of sounds through rhymes and songs. In Reception, adults have well established routines that enable pupils to practise their phonics confidently. The school swiftly identifies those pupils who need support with their phonics, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They take effective action to help pupils keep up. Their actions include using a range of adults in different ways to support pupils to develop a love of reading.

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Staff are alert to any signs that a pupil may have SEND and are quick to put support in place. Pupils with more complex needs such as an education, health and care (EHC) plan are also well supported. Leaders ensure that staff have the information and training needed to successfully adapt their teaching.

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The school is calm and orderly. Pupils, right from Nursery, learn the importance of routines. Throughout the school, pupils learn to cooperate and work together. While bullying is rare, pupils are confident that the school deals with it when it does occur. The school uses a range of rewards to help motivate pupils with their learning and behaviour. It also provides effective support for pupils who display more challenging behaviour.

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Leaders promote pupils’ spiritual development particularly well. For example, pupils take part in daily collective worship and experience different festive celebrations. Pupils also visit places like the local church and mosque. The school’s personal, social, health and economic education curriculum is well embedded. Pupils are confident in knowing how to keep themselves safe online and how to keep their minds healthy, for example.

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Staff enjoy working at the school. They really appreciate how leaders help them to manage their workloads, including the school’s approach to assessment.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Sometimes teachers’ activity choices and strategies do not help pupils to learn and remember subject content as well as they should. As a result, some important knowledge is not sticking in pupils’ long-term memory. The school should refine its training for staff to help them develop their support for pupils in knowing more and remembering more of what they are being taught. 3 and 4 July 2024

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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 April 2015.

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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 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). 3 and 4 July 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Andrew Waterworth

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School details

Date of previous inspection 19 March 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher commenced their role in April 2022. The deputy headteacher took up their post in April 2023.  The school does not use any alternative providers.  The school is a Catholic school within the Diocese of Southwark. It had its last section 48 inspection in November 2022.

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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. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector spoke to members of the leadership team, including the headteacher and deputy headteacher. The inspector also met with representatives from the local governing body and the local authority. 3 and 4 July 2024

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 The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, and physical education. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning, and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector also reviewed the curriculum in other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector reviewed the single central record, considered 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 took account of responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View. The inspector also considered the responses of pupils and staff to Ofsted’s online surveys.  The inspector spoke with groups of pupils during lessons and social times.

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Inspection team

Ray Lau, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 3 and 4 July 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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