St Catherine's RC School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 22 June 2022

Pupils are proud to be a member of the school community. They value everyone and feel that differences should be celebrated. The relationships between pupils, staff and families are strong, including in the early years. Pupils are kept and feel safe because staff know them well. Pupils understand what bullying is and trust their teachers to deal with it if it does occur - which they do. Pupils produce work of a good standard in a range of subjects. This is because teachers expect them to work hard and do well. Teachers have thought carefully about how the classroom environment enables strong learning. For example, in key stage 2 there is 'shoeless learning'. Pupils explain that this aids their concentration. Pupils are happy, polite and articulate. They love learning and try hard in their lessons. Pupils enjoy the opportunity to share their ideas about improving the school through the school council. They benefit from opportunities for learning outside the classroom, which include an extensive range of clubs and visits. Pupils told us that they love these experiences as they help them to make sense of their learning.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, leaders have not identified the knowledge pupils need to learn. As a result, teachers do not focus sufficiently on important concepts. Leaders should ensure that teachers understand the precise knowledge pupils need to learn so that their understanding builds cumulatively over time.
• In some subjects, leaders have not clearly identified the vocabulary early years children need to learn and practise. This means that pupils cannot always easily access different areas of the curriculum in key stage 1. Leaders should ensure they identify this vocabulary in all subjects so that children are well prepared for the curriculum in Year 1.

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