SS John and Monica Catholic Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 14 November 2023

The school's mission statement permeates all aspects of school life. Pupils are kind to each other. They learn to respect difference and to include everyone. Pupils who are new to the school, including those who arrive from other countries, settle quickly. Staff know pupils well. Relationships are positive and nurturing and this brings out the best in pupils. Pupils develop knowledge in a broad range of subjects. They find lessons interesting and enjoy learning new things. A highlight is the lessons pupils have in the school's impressive forest. This provides a rich environment for pupils to learn different skills. Pupils come alive when talking about how they have worked as a team to make dens and complete craft activities. The school has high expectations of pupils' behaviour. These start in the early years. In most classes, pupils behave extremely well. They pay close attention to teachers, and absorb all that is shared with them. Pupils move sensibly around the school in single file. Pupils socialise happily, although some pupils find lunchtime play a little boisterous. There are a variety of after-school activities on offer across the year. These develop pupils' interests in areas such as football, music, construction, computing and art.

What the school should improve

• Some pupils in the early stages of learning to read find it difficult to blend sounds when reading aloud. As a result, their reading lacks fluency and they are unable to read without adult support. The school should provide these pupils with more practice with reading books that match the sounds they are learning. This will improve pupils' fluency and enable them to build up a larger bank of words they can read automatically.
• In some subjects, the school is not specific enough about the essential knowledge it wants pupils to learn. Sometimes knowledge does not build in a logical order. This means that some teaching does not prioritise the most important knowledge and skills. Consequently, pupils do not always have the prior knowledge they need to make sense of new learning. The school should make clear what essential knowledge it wants pupils to learn and ensure that this knowledge builds logically.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)