The complete OFSTED report from May 2008 can be downloaded here as a pdf.

Click here to download the Westminster Diocese Inspection Report which was carried out on the same day.

(For the purposes of comparison, click here to see the equivalent OFSTED report from December 2004)

OVERALL EVALUATION MAY 2008

Our Lady and St Joseph's is a good school. A major strength is the exemplary pastoral care that staff provide. This high level of care results in pupils' outstanding personal development and this contributes to their good achievement. Adults and pupils follow the school's motto, 'shine with love, kindness and respect', which, alongside the strong Catholic ethos and good achievement, means that pupils leave the school well prepared for their future lives. Pupils thoroughly enjoy coming to school, which is reflected in above average levels of attendance. Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school, a typical comment being, 'It does a fantastic job in teaching my son, who just loves going to school. He feels
safe and cared for, like a home from home really.' Staff pay particular attention to the school environment, spending a good deal of time displaying pupils' work which successfully encourages them to present it neatly and be proud of their achievements. The school grounds are maintained very attractively which is a sign of the commitment of the staff, the parents and other community members, and adds to pupils' enjoyment of school.

A small proportion of children enter the Nursery with skills above the expected level for their age but an increasing number have skills that are well below expectations. Pupils make good progress as they move through the school and standards are generally above average by the time they move on to their secondary schools. This is because the teaching is good. Teachers use their good subject knowledge in lessons to ensure that explanations are clear and well understood. Teachers assess pupils' work accurately and regularly. They mark work conscientiously and supportively, telling pupils how well they have done. In most classes, marking gives pupils information about what they need to do next in order to improve their performance but this is not consistent across the school. Also, on occasions, pupils are not given sufficient opportunities to act on the teacher's comments which reduces the effectiveness of the marking.

The curriculum is broad and balanced and covers all statutory requirements. There is a good range of well attended extra-curricular clubs that promote pupils' excellent social development and help them to adopt high levels of healthy lifestyles. However, whilst the curriculum is good, and provides details of the knowledge pupils will be learning, it does not provide sufficient details of the progression of skills pupils need to develop, for instance in scientific investigation. This slows pupils' achievement in some subjects.

Leadership and management are good. The headteacher, very ably supported by his deputy, has been inspirational in developing the skills of the school's subject and key stage co-ordinators to form an effective management team. Senior and middle leaders are all involved in monitoring the work of the school and do so accurately. As a result of their involvement, they all feel very committed to continuing to make improvements by implementing the ambitious development plan and achieving the challenging targets they set themselves. Exceptional care, guidance and support, and pupils' good achievement and outstanding personal development, indicate that the school has a good capacity to improve further.

Inspectors make judgements on the following scale:

Excellent (1); Good (2); Satisfactory (3); Inadequate (4)

(which incidentally is different from the last inspection, if the previous judgement criteria were followed, we are told that the school would have achieved the "Very Good" status!)