St Nicholas Catholic Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 24 September 2024

Pupils at St Nicholas Catholic Primary School are friendly and welcoming. They attend well. The school is emerging from an unsettling time. There have been significant changes to leadership and staffing. The school recognises that the curriculum needs strengthening and has made a positive start. However, an ambitious curriculum is not yet securely in place. As a result, the quality of education that pupils receive is not yet good. The personal development of pupils is a strength of the school and is informed by its distinctive values. Pupils appreciate the rewards they receive for demonstrating these values. Pupils sometimes join the school mid-year. Each new pupil gets the help they need to settle in swiftly. Pupils are safe. They are confident that if they have any worries or concerns, staff will help them sort these out. However, behaviour expectations are not commonly understood. As a result, some pupils do not have positive attitudes towards their education. Pupils develop their talents and interests through extra-curricular clubs. They take part in activities such as football and chess. Pupils are proud to represent their school at sporting events. They visit places of interest, such as museums. Through these experiences, pupils build an appreciation of wider cultural opportunities.

What the school should improve

• The curriculum is not fully developed or implemented as intended. Consequently, pupils are not sufficiently supported in building their subject knowledge incrementally. The school needs to ensure that the curriculum in all subjects is well designed and implemented effectively.
• Not all staff have received the necessary training to deliver the curriculum to meet the needs of pupils. Consequently, pupils are not fully supported to achieve the aims and ambitions of the curriculum. The school needs to ensure that all staff have the expertise to teach the current and planned curriculum effectively.
• The use of assessment does not identify whether pupils have learned the curriculum as intended. Therefore, gaps in pupils' understanding are not identified and rectified. The school needs to ensure that teachers' use of assessment informs subsequent curriculum planning, so that all pupils learn successfully.
• The behaviour policy is not implemented consistently. As a result, pupils do not always exhibit positive behaviour and conduct. The school should ensure that staff are suitably equipped to implement the behaviour policy consistently, so that pupils clearly understand the expectations.

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