St John's Primary School In Rishworth

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 13 July 2022

St John's Primary School in Rishworth is a very happy school. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the culture of the school. One parent summed up the thoughts of many when they explained, 'You can feel the warmth of the welcome on the coldest of days when you walk onto the playground'. It is clear to see that pupils love their learning. Teachers have high expectations of them. Pupils want to do well and they work hard. They are thoughtful and are keen to look after one another. The older pupils excel in this caring approach when they are part of the 'buddy' programme. They explain how important this is as they help the very youngest pupils to settle in quickly and become part of the school community. Respect and inclusion are strongly promoted. All pupils have equal access to all that the school has to offer. They participate fully in the life of their school. The school's many extra-curricular clubs encourage pupils to find new interests and to discover and develop new talents. Pupils behave sensibly around the school. They are attentive in lessons and respond positively to leaders' high expectations of their conduct. Pupils are polite and well mannered during social times. Bullying is not tolerated. It happens rarely. Pupils trust that adults would stop any unkind behaviour straight away. They feel safe and cared for in the school.

What the school should improve

• In some aspects of the curriculum, leaders have not fully identified or tightly sequenced the essential knowledge that pupils need to know. This means that teachers are unclear about what should be taught in some subjects. Leaders need to ensure that subject and phase leaders have identified and sequenced the most important things that pupils should know and remember at each stage of their education.
• Leaders have not fully developed systems for assessing how effectively pupils have retained knowledge and skills in the longer term across the wider curriculum. As a result, teachers cannot be sure how well pupils are remembering their learning over time. Leaders should ensure that there are focused and robust approaches that allow teachers to gather this important information when assessing pupils' learning in these subjects. This can then be used to inform future curriculum planning more precisely.

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