St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, a Voluntary Academy

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 14 April 2026

St Mary's is a welcoming school. Pupils receive a warm greeting at the start of the school day. This makes pupils feel safe and happy. They enjoy social times much more than they have in the past. Pupils understand what bullying is and the different forms it can take. Bullying does not happen often. However, when it does, a few pupils do not believe that staff resolve incidents quickly enough. Many pupils behave well during lessons, but some pupils lose concentration and distract others. This sometimes has a negative impact on other pupils' learning. Although pupils' attendance rates are improving over time, they remain below the national average. Pupils enjoy their learning. Leaders have improved the curriculum and the way that it is taught. These changes are beginning to have a positive impact, particularly in the early years and in key stage 1. Even so, this has not made enough difference to older pupils. Due to weaknesses in the past, these pupils have gaps in their knowledge, which limits their ability to achieve as well as they should. Leaders accurately identify the barriers that some pupils face to their learning or wellbeing. This is particularly true for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, staff's use of this information is variable. As a result, pupils with SEND do not learn consistently well. Pupils' aspirations for themselves are rising. This is because of the work that leaders have done on careers education. Pupils are proud of the 'Aspirations Wall', which illustrates their hopes and career ambitions for the future. Since the previous inspection, leaders, with the support of the trust, have stabilised the school. Leaders have identified the right priorities, in the right order, to secure improvement. As a result, pupils are getting a much better experience of all that is on offer.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure that the variability with which the curriculum is taught is reduced so that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils, learn all that they should and are ready for the next stage of their education.
• Leaders should continue to embed their systems for prompting regular attendance so that pupils' attendance rates rise and the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent reduces.
• Leaders should ensure that teachers use the information that they hold about pupils' needs to adapt their teaching so that these pupils overcome barriers to learning and achieve well.
• Leaders should ensure that their high expectations of behaviour are applied in all aspects of school life so that small incidents of disengagement are reduced further.
• Leaders should help staff in the early years to consistently use high-quality interactions to deepen children's learning.

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