St George's Catholic Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 11 January 2023

This is a friendly school where pupils flourish and achieve well. They come happily through the gates every day and feel safe in the nurturing environment staff have created. Pupils behave exceptionally well. They have beautiful manners and treat each other kindly. Pupils have thoroughly understood the school's message of 'we give respect, and we get respect'. This, along with the strong Catholic ethos, results in a calm, caring school where pupils rise to the adults' high expectations. Unkindness is extremely rare. Pupils are adamant that bullying does not happen. They say if it did, the adults would sort it out straight away. Similarly, lessons are rarely disrupted by poor behaviour. If this arises, it is dealt with swiftly. The school's cultural capital programme enables all pupils to take part in carefully considered enrichment experiences. These range from spending an afternoon paddling and building sandcastles on the beach in Year 1, to learning to play the clarinet in Year 6. With each step they take at St George's, pupils are prepared for the next stage in their education. A careers programme, introduced as early as Year 1, ensures that they are also well set up for their future lives.

What the school should improve

• The phonics programme is not used in key stage 2 to support pupils who still need to learn phonics. Older pupils who are still in the early stages of learning to read are not progressing as rapidly as they could. Leaders should prioritise training of key stage 2 staff in use of the new programme and its resources, so that these pupils get the best possible support to become fluent readers.

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