Holy Cross Catholic Primary School in East Cowes received a visit from Ofsted back in July and the report has today been released.
Staff, parents and pupils will be pleased to hear the school was rated as ‘Good’ by the inspectors.
They say,
This is a good school because,
- Leadership and management are good. The determination and strong partnership of the headteacher and assistant headteacher in recent years have successfully improved teaching, leading to a steady rise in attainment.
- Governors offer effective challenge and support to leaders in their drive to continue to improve teaching and raise standards further.
- Children join the school with knowledge and skills that are typical for their age, although some aspects of literacy are weaker. Good provision in the early years ensures that they make good progress. They are well prepared for Year 1.
- By the time they leave, Year 6 pupils are reaching standards that are above average in reading and mathematics and average in writing. All groups of pupils make good progress from their various starting points.
- Extra funding is used well to support disadvantaged pupils. The gap between them and other pupils has closed for reading and writing and is reducing rapidly in mathematics.
- Pupils enjoy learning because of the creative and imaginative way different subjects are planned and taught. The school uses the local area especially well to provide activities that enthuse pupils. As a result, pupils’ attendance is above average.
- Almost all pupils behave well and display a good attitude to learning. A very small minority have challenging behaviour, but this is well managed and is not allowed to disrupt the learning of others.
- The school’s efforts to keep pupils safe and secure are good. Pupils say they feel very safe in school and this is confirmed by parents.
- The school’s mission statement of ‘A Holy Cross pupil C.A.R.E.S’ is consistently promoted.
- This encourages pupils to be confident, aspirational, resilient, enquiring and spiritual. It makes a strong contribution to the promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and underpins all of its work.
It is not yet an outstanding school because,
- Some teachers do not adapt tasks to challenge pupils sufficiently and move them on quickly.
- The school’s marking policy is not consistently applied in mathematics so some pupils do not know how to improve their work.
- Targets for learning and behaviour are not specific enough to meet the needs of some pupils.
- Interventions are not checked regularly enough to ensure that they are successful in helping some pupils to improve quickly
The report
Full details can be found in the report below.
Image: Nick Amoscato under CC BY 2.0
