St Joseph the Worker Catholic Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 1 October 2024

St Joseph the Worker is a warm and inviting place to learn. Pupils show excitement when arriving at school. They enjoy the learning that staff prepare for them. The school has high expectations for pupils to achieve in all aspects of school life. Pupils achieve highly as a result. They benefit from studying a well-balanced curriculum. Pupils enjoy the opportunities that they experience beyond the curriculum. They work with the local community and fundraise for the local care home and other charities. Pupils are positive about their extra-curricular activities and events such as choir, netball club, music lessons and the annual talent show. Pupils share the school values of 'we learn, we care, we listen, and we share' with pride. They behave well. They know the high expectations that staff set and strive to meet them. Pupils who need help meeting expectations are supported well. Pupils are confident to be themselves. Staff encourage pupils to share their ideas and respectfully debate their views. If pupils are worried about something they know who to talk to. They trust the adults in the school to help them and feel safe as a result.

What the school should improve

• In some instances, the school's actions to keep pupils safe are not always recorded clearly. This means that information is not easily located and does not concisely show the actions that leaders have taken to keep pupils safe. The school needs to ensure that actions are captured effectively in records so that information can be shared and accessed quickly.
• In some subjects, staff do not always have the subject knowledge they need to teach the curriculum well. This means that they are not checking on what pupils already know before moving on to new learning, and pupils develop gaps in their learning as a result. The school needs to ensure that staff have the subject knowledge they need to teach the curriculum effectively.
• Governors do not always ask questions to hold leaders to account effectively. This means that governors do not have the knowledge they need to ensure that pupils are achieving well and the school is improving. The school should ensure that governors always provide effective support and challenge to leaders and can assure themselves that pupils achieve as well as they should and that improvements are being made.

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