St Leonard's Catholic Primary School, Silksworth

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 23 November 2022

Staff and multi-academy trust aspirations for this school and its pupils are high. A transformation is happening at St Leonard's. Parents and carers and pupils wholeheartedly agree. One pupil summed up the views of many adults and pupils in saying, 'The new headteacher has sorted the whole school out.' All staff in the school work tirelessly to make their school the best that it can be. Pupils are proud of their school. They 'Learn, Grow and Shine' together harmoniously. Behaviour across the school day is excellent. From the youngest children in Reception Year to the oldest pupils in Year 6, they show motivation and a thoughtful, positive attitude to learning. Warm relationships between staff and pupils are evident in every space of the school and at every point in the day. Pupils say, 'You can always trust the adults and make new friends at our school.' Pupils welcome new classmates with open arms. They say that bullying no longer happens in the school and that they feel happy and safe. Pupils are learning a new and exciting curriculum. They learn to read with accuracy and show a good appreciation of books and authors. They feel well prepared and ready for secondary school.

What the school should improve

• The curriculum is at an early stage of implementation in some subjects. Some subject curriculum planning is very new. This means that, on occasion, pupils are learning concepts without the prior knowledge required being well embedded. As the new curriculum develops, leaders should devise systems to ensure that the most important key content is revisited and assessed to check that pupils can build their learning in the longer term.
• Subject leaders do not have a clear understanding of what is taught in the early years foundation stage in relation to their national curriculum subjects. This makes it challenging for subject leaders to be assured that the early years curriculum is consistently building the specific knowledge and vocabulary that children need in preparation for key stage 1 and beyond. Leaders need to review curriculum planning to ensure that the foundations of learning and how these link to the curriculum content across the school are clear.

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