St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School and Nursery on Long Elmes, Harrow Weald has once again emerged triumphantly in its recent Ofsted inspection on September 13 and 14, 2023.
The school proudly retains its ‘Good’ rating, as affirmed by the recent inspection, showcasing the school’s ongoing commitment to providing a high-quality educational experience for its pupils.
The report stated, “Pupils are happy and safe at St Teresa’s. The school’s values of trust, appreciation, respect, honesty and love are at the heart of this community. Pupils describe school as friendly and caring.
“Pupils have high expectations of themselves and others. They consistently rise to these high standards.”
It added, “Leaders are ambitious for pupils to succeed. The curriculum has been carefully designed in response to what pupils need to learn. Behaviour and attitudes to learning are strong. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education. A broad range of opportunities and experiences are provided that enrich the curriculum.
“For example, pupils complete a finance challenge as part of learning about money in mathematics. Additional activities, such as karate, boxing and French, develop pupils’ talents and interests.”
Students at St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School and Nursery exhibit pride in their school, evident through various accomplishments.
Examples include choir members performing at Wembley Arena, active participation in the school council, organising charity fundraisers, and demonstrating a strong sense of community pride by engaging in activities like shared litter picking duties.
The report continues, “Pupils learn a broad curriculum which meets the ambition and scope of what is expected nationally. The most important knowledge pupils need to learn has been identified from early years onwards. This helps pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to build their knowledge and understanding in different subjects.”
“Careful thought has been given to how the curriculum is sequenced so that pupils practise and embed important concepts. For example, in mathematics, children in early years practise making numbers in different ways.
“This helps older pupils to work more confidently with larger numbers, including those with decimals. Similarly, in history, pupils learn about different sources of information. This helps them to find out about different events in history, such as the Harrow and Wealdstone train crash.”
According to the Ofsted report, the school can improve by ensuring that assessment is used effectively in all subjects to check if pupils have secured essential knowledge.
The report states, “Assessment is not used as effectively to check that pupils have secured the most important knowledge they need. This means that pupils’ understanding in these areas is not as secure.”
To address this issue, the school should, “ensure that assessment is used to check pupils know and remember the most important ideas across the curriculum. This will better help staff to identify and address any misconceptions pupils may have.”
