St Edward's Catholic Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 2 November 2022

St Edward's is a welcoming school. Pupils from different backgrounds get along together. They value the friendships they make. Pupils are polite and friendly to adults and each other. They work hard and are keen to learn. Leaders and staff have high expectations. They plan the curriculum carefully, so that pupils achieve well. Pupils say they learn interesting things. They talk enthusiastically about the many trips they go on, for example, to the theatre, the zoo and local castles. Termly outdoor days develop pupils' confidence and resilience. Pupils enjoy spending time with Ralph and Millie, the school dogs. Staff take time to get to know pupils. They help pupils who join the school partway through the year to settle quickly. This includes pupils who arrive with little or no spoken English. Support for these pupils, and for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), is improving but there is more to do. Most of the time, pupils behave well. They follow the school rules 'kind hands, kind feet, kind words'. Pupils understand what bullying is. When it happens, adults take action to make it stop. Every pupil has five adults they can talk to if they are worried or upset, the 'five paws'. Pupils are happy and safe at school.

What the school should improve

• Pupils who are behind in the school's phonics programme do not get enough teaching that is matched to the sounds they need to learn. This means that some of these pupils are not catching up as quickly as they could. Leaders need to ensure that all teaching is tailored to the sounds pupils need to learn, so that all pupils become fluent, accurate readers as quickly as possible.
• Teachers do not receive enough support to break learning down into small, well- sequenced steps for some pupils with SEND and for some pupils who are at an early stage of learning English. This means that some of these pupils do not make the progress they should. Leaders need to help teachers to identify precisely what each of these pupils needs to learn and ensure that they put this into practice, so that they can achieve the ambitious end points that leaders intend.
• Leaders know what is being taught but do not have a thorough understanding of how well pupils are learning it in some subjects. This means that leaders cannot target their actions as precisely as they need to. Leaders need to have better oversight of how well pupils are learning in different subjects to help guide further refinements to the curriculum.
• Parents continue to have mixed views about the school. Some parents have concerns about the way leaders and staff communicate with them. Leaders and governors should continue to engage with parents to strengthen relationships between school and home.

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