St. Joseph's Infant School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 9 November 2023

This is a friendly and welcoming school. Pupils feel safe. They feel confident about reporting any concerns that they have, including bullying. If bullying occurs, leaders address it swiftly and effectively. One parent summed up the thoughts of many by saying: 'The school is a home away from home for my child.' This caring environment helps pupils to feel happy at school. Staff have increasingly high expectations of pupils' achievement, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, in a number of subjects, recent improvements to the curriculum are underdeveloped and the intended learning is not clear enough. This limits how well pupils achieve in these subjects. Pupils in different year groups work well together. Most pupils behave well. Staff develop good relationships with pupils, helping them to be positive about their learning and feel valued. One parent reflected the views of others by saying: 'The staff are very welcoming and kind.' Pupils enjoy a wide range of clubs, activities and visits that are on offer to them. For example, pupils take part in the popular choir and the illustrators' clubs, as well as gaining much from visits to places of historic value, such as the nearby Chichester cathedral.

What the school should improve

• The reading curriculum is not delivered sufficiently well. This means that pupils do not learn to read quickly enough. Leaders need to ensure that pupils experience consistently effective phonics teaching that builds on their prior knowledge and helps them achieve greater success with their reading.
• In some subjects, the school has not identified precisely enough the knowledge that pupils should learn and the sequence in which the knowledge should be developed. This hinders the systematic improvement in pupils' knowledge and skills. The school should ensure that every curriculum area sets out clearly what will be learned and the order in which this is taught.
• In some subjects, assessment strategies are not in place. This means the school has a limited view of how well pupils are learning across the curriculum, which impedes how well future learning matches pupils' needs. The school should ensure that routine checks are in place that enable pupils' progress through the curriculum to be monitored more closely, supporting staff to plan future work more precisely.

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