St Joseph's RC Primary School

[EduCativ]

St Joseph's is a Catholic primary school in Penarth, which serves children and families from across the Vale of Glamorgan. We are an inclusive community where children and adults feel happy, safe, and respected. We have very high expectations at St. Joseph's and we constantly strive to achieve the very best for our children. We achieve very high standards and help each child to realize their potential through targeted support and a focus on wellbeing. At St Joseph's we place Gospel values at the heart of our teaching and learning and develop the whole child.

Children are welcome to join our nurturing and stimulating Nursery from their 3rd birthday, no matter what time of the year it occurs. In St Joseph's Nursery, we have fun learning about sounds, letters, colors, numbers, and the world around us in many different and exciting ways. Our children spend lots of time singing songs and playing games in our stimulating indoor environment and enjoy Forest Schools in our superb grounds including our woods, pond, orchard, and meadow.

The statutory areas of learning in the foundation phase are:

• Personal and social development, well-being, and cultural diversity.
• Language, literacy, and communication skills
• Mathematical development
• Welsh language development
• Knowledge and understanding of the world
• Physical development
• Creative development.

For each area of learning the educational program sets out what children should be taught and the outcomes set out the expected standards of children’s performance.

St Joseph’s is a voluntary aided Roman Catholic primary school in the Archdiocese of Cardiff. It is situated in a semi-rural location on the outskirts of Penarth. The school is currently in Standards Group 2 and is ‘Yellow’ school in the National Categorisation Model. The percentage of children in receipt of Free School Meals has risen each year for the last five years from under 5% in 2010 to nearly 10% in 2015. The school remains in Benchmarking Group 1 with an FSM three-year average of 7.8%.

The school population has grown significantly recently, rising by approximately 30% in the past three years. St Joseph’s RC Primary School has 209 pupils, aged 3 to 11 years of age, and represents the full range of ability. The socio and economic backgrounds of pupils are varied, including a minority of economically disadvantaged families. Approximately 11% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, which is lower than local and national averages.

Around 15% of pupils are identified as having additional learning needs (ALN) including two pupils with statements of special education need (SEN). Around 74% of pupils are of White British ethnic origin, with 26% from other ethnic backgrounds. Approximately 12% of pupils come from homes where English is an additional language and no pupils speak Welsh as a first language. Four pupils are ‘looked after by the local authority.

The headteacher was appointed in November 2010. The school’s last Section 50 inspection was in June 2010 and since this time there have been significant changes in the staff team: four teachers, ten support staff, an administrative assistant and a caretaker have been appointed. The Deputy Headteacher has been in post since April 2015.

The 2014-15 individual school budget per pupil at St Joseph’s RC Primary School was £3,362, which compares with a maximum of £6,237 and a minimum of £2,727 for primary schools in the Vale of Glamorgan. The overall school budget (including EIG and PDG) fell by circa £30,000 in 2015-16 resulting in the loss of three LSAs. The EIG is insufficient to provide CPD opportunities for practitioners and all school improvement planning is funded by PDG and the main school budget.

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