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School Profile

    This good school has some outstanding aspects. Teachers' commitment to pupils' achievement and excellent relationships result in excellent personal development and well-being, typified by pupils' positive attitudes, exceptionally good behaviour and classroom environments that are purposeful and conducive to good learning. The school's strong focus on pupils' personal development results in high levels of self-esteem and produces an acute understanding of their own and others' feelings. High levels of care ensure everyone knows exceptionally well how to stay safe in school and nurtures an equally strong awareness of healthy living. As a result, pupils enjoy school greatly and attendance is good. Nearly all parents feel fully involved. They value the school's caring ethos and its commitment to ensure their children are 'rounded individuals by the time they leave'. Very strong partnerships enrich pupils' learning experiences highly effectively and enable them to make a good contribution to the school and local community.

Mission Statement

    Our school primarily aims to develop the whole child within a Christian
community of prayer and worship inspired by Gospel values and Catholic tradition.

We have a distinct educational philosophy with the spirit of Christ permeating all aspects of school life, promoting care and consideration for everyone.

We look for opportunities across the curriculum to deepen our pupils wonder and delight in God’s creation and to celebrate that awareness in prayer, song and action.

We see ourselves as having a clear duty to develop the intellectual, physical and spiritual potential of our pupils in partnership with the home, school and parish.  The development of faith and faith knowledge are our foundation stones.  In this way we aim to create a living Catholic Christian community.


Ofted Reports

Latest Inspection - 24-25 June 2008 click for full report

    Overall effectiveness of the school
    Grade: 2
   
    This good school has some outstanding aspects. Teachers' commitment to pupils' achievement and excellent relationships result in excellent personal development and well-being, typified by pupils' positive attitudes, exceptionally good behaviour and classroom environments that are purposeful and conducive to good learning. The school's strong focus on pupils' personal development results in high levels of self-esteem and produces an acute understanding of their own and others' feelings. High levels of care ensure everyone knows exceptionally well how to stay safe in school and nurtures an equally strong awareness of healthy living. As a result, pupils enjoy school greatly and attendance is good. Nearly all parents feel fully involved. They value the school's caring ethos and its commitment to ensure their children are 'rounded individuals by the time they leave'. Very strong partnerships enrich pupils' learning experiences highly effectively and enable them to make a good contribution to the school and local community.
   
    Teaching and learning are good. The school has revised the way it tracks pupils' progress. Consequently, the leadership team, teachers and pupils have a clear understanding of progress and achievement in core skills and can target learning accordingly. There are some examples of excellent practice in which teachers plan learning with exceptional precision, reviewing and guiding learning very effectively. However, in a few lessons, teachers do not identify precisely enough what they want pupils to learn. As a result, the pace of learning slows and the needs of those who would benefit from an extra boost are not always targeted consistently well.
   
    Achievement and progress are good. Standards are above average. Pupils are currently making particularly good progress in writing. Teachers plan imaginative ways to motivate pupils' writing across the curriculum. This has raised boys' achievement in particular. Improvements in the curriculum for children in the Reception year and in the quality of target setting throughout the school are resulting in focused support and guidance for pupils' personal and academic learning. Individualised teaching ensures that pupils who need extra support to learn effectively make excellent progress. The particularly rich curriculum gives superb opportunities for those with a particular gift or talent to excel, and helps all pupils to develop effective skills for their future well-being.
   
    Leadership and management are good. The excellent leadership of the headteacher and governing body has contributed much to the effectiveness of the new senior leadership team. Together, they are committed strongly to pupils' achievement, providing exceptionally clear direction and purpose. The school has good capacity to improve. Focused monitoring of its work and accurate self-evaluation have led to strong recent improvement. Nevertheless, there is more to be done to ensure that these processes become routinely established, so the excellent practice in some classes is spread across the school to maximum effect. Numerous changes in staff over the last few years have been managed well.