St Bernard's Catholic Primary School, Preston

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 3 February 2026

The school’s motto of ‘you are precious in my eyes’ is fully lived out through the warm and caring relationships across the school community. This helps pupils feel valued and safe. It fosters a strong sense of belonging. It also helps pupils to form positive bonds with their classmates. Pupils rarely experience any kind of bullying. If isolated cases occur, staff deal with them decisively. Consequently, pupils are happy to come to school and attend regularly. When at school, they behave well and demonstrate a positive attitude to their learning. In recent years, pupils have typically attained at least close to national averages in the writing and mathematics tests at the end of key stage 2. However, some pupils, including children in the early years, do not develop the knowledge and skills they need. This is particularly so in reading and writing. Some pupils, including those who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, have gaps in their learning, which cause barriers to their success. These are not addressed by teachers as swiftly and effectively as they could be. As a result, some pupils are not well prepared for their next steps in education. Beyond the academic, pupils’ personal development is catered for well. Pupils develop their awareness and sense of responsibility for others. For instance, the school supports national charities and local organisations that help the homeless. This helps pupils to develop a sense of community and citizenship. They experience numerous curriculum enrichment opportunities, such as visits to different places of worship, a science centre and a Tudor house. Pupils also access a variety of extra-curricular activities, including music, dance and a range of sports clubs and competitions. These opportunities are open to all, which further underpins the fair and inclusive school environment.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure that staff deliver the early years curriculum consistently well, making sure that interactions are purposeful and enhance children’s learning.
• Leaders should ensure that staff identify and address pupils' knowledge gaps and misconceptions routinely and swiftly, so that errors are not repeated and pupils can progress through the curriculum unimpeded.
• Leaders should ensure that the new approaches to teaching reading, handwriting and spelling are implemented effectively and enable pupils to quickly secure the foundational knowledge and skills that they need for future success.
• Trust leaders and those responsible for governance should continue to provide both challenge and support to ensure leaders' planned actions are implemented effectively and achieve the intended impact over time.

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