St Mark's Catholic Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 4 February 2025

Staff, pupils, parents and carers are proud members of a vibrant and caring school community. Pupils see school as a happy and safe place. They enjoy coming to school each morning and therefore attend well. Everyone welcomes each other at the start of each new school day and looks forward to learning and growing together. Staff expect pupils to work hard and achieve well. Pupils do their best, listening attentively and working together to meet their teachers' expectations. They are polite, kind and diligent and know how they should behave in lessons and at breaktime and lunchtime. The playground buzzes with excited chatter and play. Classrooms are calm, orderly and purposeful. The school has introduced the 'St Mark's way' so that pupils are clear what is expected of them. They have risen to this challenge, following clear routines so that all can learn. The school puts pupils' personal development at the front and centre of its work. This promotes pupils' understanding of their local, national and global community. Pupils learn about the impact of pollution in distant countries and the impact of poverty on people in their city. In addition, pupils take advantage of the ample opportunities to develop their own talents and interests, from displaying their art at local exhibitions to Taekwondo, drama and dance.

What the school should improve

• The school has not ensured that staff use assessment effectively, to check pupils' understanding, identify misconceptions and deepen their thinking. This means that, sometimes, teachers do not take the necessary steps to reshape explanations and tasks to move all pupils' learning forward. The school should ensure that all teachers have the pedagogical expertise to respond to individual pupils' learning needs, including those with SEND, so that they all learn the curriculum well.
• The school does not monitor or evaluate the impact of its work to improve the quality of education consistently well. This means that the school's subsequent actions sometimes lack precision and do not lead to the rapid improvement that the school is aiming to achieve. The school and trust should ensure that monitoring leads to specific and detailed actions, and that the impact is evaluated rigorously to inform a cycle of continuous improvement.

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