St Mary of the Angels Catholic Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 10 July 2024

Everyone is welcome at this happy and caring school. Staff know all the pupils as individuals. Relationships between adults and pupils are warm and respectful. Because of this, pupils feel happy and safe at school. The school is proud to be at the heart of the community. The school's values and ethos permeate throughout all aspects of school life. Pupils are well mannered and behave with respect and thoughtfulness. Pupils are very supportive of each other. One pupil echoed the views of many when they stated, 'Friends are right beside us, nobody is left out.' The school has high expectations for all pupils to succeed. Most pupils achieve highly, particularly in English and mathematics. Older pupils learn the importance of responsibility through the opportunities the school provides to take on many leadership roles. They do this with enthusiasm. The school develops pupils' talents and interests well. Pupils benefit from many activities that enhance the curriculum, including various school trips and enrichment days. Pupils have many clubs to choose from, including sports, gardening, and the popular choir, who enjoy performing in community events and at a local care home.

What the school should improve

• In a few foundation subjects, the school does not check carefully enough on how well the curriculum is delivered and how well pupils are achieving. As a result, the quality of education in some subject areas is variable and some pupils have gaps in their knowledge. The school needs to develop strategies to support pupils to recall the key knowledge and vocabulary set out in the curriculum.
• In some subjects, teachers do not use assessment well enough to check that pupils fully understand what they have been taught. This prevents pupils from building their knowledge securely on what they already know. The school should ensure that teachers use assessment strategies effectively in all subjects to support pupils' next steps in learning.
• In the early years, some of the planned learning activities are not ambitious enough. This limits children's opportunities to be curious and creative learners. The school should ensure that staff are well trained to plan learning opportunities that enable pupils to meet the aims of the ambitious curriculum.

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