St Alban's Catholic Primary and Nursery School

Inspection of St Alban’s Catholic Primary and Nursery School Wadworth Street, Denaby Main, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN12 4AQ

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good

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Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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The headteacher of this school is Lindsey Ebsworth. This school is part of St Clare Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Steve Davies, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Kevin Smith. 17 and 18 June 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend St Alban’s. They are happy to come to school and enjoy their lessons. Relationships between pupils and staff are positive. Pupils know their teachers care for them. This means that pupils have a strong sense of belonging to this welcoming school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The expectations for pupils at this school are high. The school is ambitious about what pupils will achieve. There are many strategies to support pupils to reach these high expectations. Where these strategies are having an impact, pupils achieve well. The school’s high expectations for pupils go beyond classroom activities. Pupils also value the opportunities available to them to widen their experience. A range of pupil leadership roles and activities to improve the local area help to prepare pupils well for life in modern Britain.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Behaviour around school and in lessons is generally calm. There are few instances of low- level disruption. Many pupils engage well in lessons. A small number of pupils need extra support to manage their behaviour. Staff take sensitive and effective action to support these pupils.

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

The curriculum has undergone a period of significant change. It has been developed across each subject area and is ambitious for pupils. The school has identified the key knowledge and skills that it wants pupils to remember. Opportunities to check what pupils know have also been considered well. Many pupils produce work of a high standard.

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

The school has identified strategies to help teachers deliver the curriculum effectively. In some areas, staff do not clearly understand or use these strategies well enough. This affects some pupils’ understanding. In some cases, the school has not checked the impact of their work to develop the curriculum closely enough.

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

Reading is a priority for the school. Pupils enjoy using the well-stocked library to access a wide range of books. Pupils receive daily phonics lessons. Staff benefit from ongoing training to support them with teaching phonics. They use checks to identify pupils who need support to catch up. However, a small number of pupils have not secured the sounds they need to read well. These pupils take longer to learn to read, which hampers their learning of the curriculum.

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

The school’s work to improve the provision for SEND is having an impact. Due to ongoing training, staff are more confident with the identification of pupils’ needs. However, not all pupils’ support plans have been updated with the more helpful information as to how to adapt the curriculum for their needs. This means that, in some lessons, the support for pupils is not as precise as it could be. When this happens, pupils stall in their learning.

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

Pupils show high levels of respect for each other. This is because staff consistently model this well. Classrooms routines are well established. The school has taken effective action 17 and 18 June 2025

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to improve the attendance of pupils. High-quality support helps to identify and address pupils’ barriers to school attendance. As a result, more pupils are attending school.

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The school is very ambitious when generating opportunities to develop pupils’ personal development. This work is exceptional. Pupils benefit from a well-planned and rich curriculum offer. This includes teaching pupils about how to stay safe, including online. The school provides a variety of high-quality enrichment opportunities to pupils, including clubs and visits. Pupils benefit from visits to local care homes. They also work with the local council to improve their community. This work for others makes a significant difference to pupils’ own character development. The uptake of these opportunities is strong. Pupils speak with enthusiasm and high levels of articulation about the benefit of these on their own development. They understand that they gain valuable lessons about respect and how to treat others equally.

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The early years foundation stage curriculum is carefully designed and delivered. This means that children benefit from a range of quality resources and activities to help develop their skills across curriculum areas. Communication and language are a high priority in the curriculum. There is a sharp focus on widening children’s vocabulary. This helps children develop the skills they need when they begin reading. This work is beginning to make an impact on how ready pupils are for the next stage of their education.

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In recent years, leaders at all levels have implemented a significant level of change. Aspirations for the school are very high. Governors and trustees are knowledgeable and proactive. Staff are well supported and appreciate the steps leaders take to protect their workload. Parents and carers speak with overwhelmingly positivity about the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 There are inconsistencies in how well staff implement the new teaching strategies that the school has introduced. This means that pupils’ understanding is not secure and they sometimes do not learn as well as they could. The school should ensure that staff fully understand how to use new teaching strategies effectively, so that pupils achieve well.  In some lessons, pupils with SEND do not receive the precise support that they need to access learning. This means that, sometimes, staff’s approaches are generic and pupils with SEND do not learn as well as they could. The school should refine the information that staff receive about pupils with SEND to ensure that curriculum adaptations are effective for this group of pupils. 17 and 18 June 2025

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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). 17 and 18 June 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 St Alban’s Catholic Primary and Nursery School converted to become an academy in September 2022. When its predecessor school, St Alban’s Catholic Primary and Nursery School was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to require improvement.  The school is part of the St Clare Catholic Multi Academy Trust in the Diocese of Hallam. Its last section 48 inspection was in December 2023. The next inspection of the school’s religious character will take place within five years.  The school’s nursery provides care for two-year-old children.  The school uses one registered alternative provision.  The school operates an on-site breakfast club.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and 17 and 18 June 2025

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management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine 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.  Inspectors spoke to senior leaders, including the CEO, a representative from the diocese, the chair of the board of trustees and the local governing body.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, art and design and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered

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the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors also reviewed behaviour and attendance records.  Inspectors listened to a range of pupils read.  Inspectors met with the special educational needs coordinator, spoke to pupils with SEND and reviewed the plans in place to support these pupils. They visited lessons to see how well pupils with SEND are learning.  Inspectors observed behaviour at the start of the day, at playtimes, at lunchtimes and in lessons.  To gather parents’ views, inspectors took account of the views from Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey, including free-text comments. Inspectors also talked to parents at the start of the school day.  To gather the views of staff and pupils, inspectors reviewed the responses to the Ofsted surveys and discussed the school with them during other inspection activities.

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Inspection team

Scott Grason-Taylor, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Mike Smit Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 June 2025

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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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