St. Joseph's CofE Junior School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 1 November 2022

St. Joseph's CofE Primary School is an inclusive, nurturing school, with a clear Christian ethos. The school's chosen bible verse, 'Love one another as I have loved you', underpins the way in which every pupil is individually valued and celebrated, by school staff and by each other. Pupils benefit from a wide range of personal development opportunities. Pupils talk with great enthusiasm about the range of trips and visits that leaders provide. Pupils in Year 6 particularly enjoyed a recent visit to Fort Nelson, the Royal Armouries' national collection. Leaders have ensured that there are high expectations both of pupils' behaviour and of what each pupil can achieve in their learning. New curriculums, designed to ensure that all pupils can achieve the best possible outcomes, have been introduced in several subjects. Most pupils now have very positive attitudes to learning. Pupils know the school rules of 'ready, respectful, safe'. Behaviour in classrooms and around the school is calm and pupils are respectful of staff. Pupils recognise that staff are there to help them with their learning, and also with any worries that they might have. Parents, particularly parents whose children have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), feel very well supported by the school.

What the school should improve

• Curriculum thinking in some subjects is not sufficiently precise, which leads to a lack of common understanding about what needs to be learned and in what order. It also makes it harder for leaders to monitor how well teachers are implementing the curriculum in these subjects, and how well pupils are making progress through the intended curriculum. Leaders need to ensure that curriculum thinking is sharpened so that leaders and teachers understand exactly what pupils need to learn in each subject. As this work is completed, leaders need to be rigorous in checking that the curriculum in each subject is being delivered as intended, and that teachers are ensuring that pupils are retaining the key knowledge and understanding they require to make the best possible progress.
• Following the start of the pandemic, leaders identified a sharp increase in the number of pupils arriving at the school an early stage of learning to read. Some of these pupils are also at an early stage of learning English. Leaders are in the process of transitioning to a new phonics programme intended to strengthen the support for these readers. Leaders must ensure that as the new phonics curriculum is implemented, all pupils who are at an early stage of learning to read are quickly identified and assessed so that they get the right support from the moment they join the school to ensure rapid access to the full curriculum.

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