St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Morecambe

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 10 July 2024

Pupils very much enjoy coming to school. They have a strong understanding of kindness, compassion and respect. Pupils demonstrate this through the way that they behave towards one another and how they treat those outside of their school community. There is a calm environment around the school. The high expectations that the school has of pupils' behaviour are understood by even the youngest children in the Reception Year. Pupils feel safe. Routines are well embedded. The majority of pupils attend regularly. While the school is ambitious for pupils' success, some pupils do not achieve highly enough. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). These pupils are not as well prepared for secondary school as they should be. The school provides a wide range of opportunities for pupils' personal development beyond the academic curriculum. These experiences are woven carefully through the curriculum. Pupils, including the youngest children in the early years, take part in trips to the local area and beyond. They also have opportunities to learn musical instruments and attend a variety of clubs, such as choir and African drumming. Pupils with SEND, and those who are disadvantaged, frequently make use of these opportunities.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, the school has not identified the essential knowledge and skills that pupils should learn. This hinders staff from designing effective learning and from checking carefully what pupils know and can do. The school should make sure that staff are clear about the knowledge that pupils need for subsequent learning. This is to ensure that staff are better equipped to deliver the curriculum well and check that pupils' knowledge is secure.
• The school has not ensured that some pupils in key stages 1 and 2 have sufficient opportunities to practise their reading. Some of these pupils have gaps in their reading knowledge, which impedes how well they access the wider curriculum. The school should ensure that these pupils are provided with effective support to catch up quickly with their reading knowledge.
• In some subjects, the school does not have sufficient oversight of the quality of education that pupils receive. This means that the school is not aware of how well pupils, including pupils with SEND, are achieving in these subjects. The school should ensure that it has appropriate processes in place to evaluate the impact of the curriculum in all subjects.

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