St Paul’s Catholic Primary School has been named the Premier League Primary Stars January Spotlight School, recognising the positive impact of the programme across both the Autumn 2 and Spring 1 terms.
During Autumn 2, we delivered a range of targeted interventions designed to support both pupils and staff. English reading interventions were delivered on a 1:1 basis with Year 1 and 2 children across St Bernadette, St Joseph and St James classes, helping pupils to build confidence and enjoyment in reading. Alongside this, maths interventions supported Year 3 and 4 children through small group sessions across St Thomas, St Pio and St Francis classes.
Teacher confidence and curriculum delivery were also a key focus, with two PE teacher support lessons delivered in St Thomas and St Pio, helping staff develop engaging lessons and broaden the range of games and skills offered to pupils.
Spring 1 saw the continuation of English reading interventions with Year 1 and 2 pupils, alongside the introduction of three anti-discrimination workshops delivered to the Year 5 and 6 cohort across St Edith, St Teresa and St Scholastica classes. These sessions encouraged discussion, understanding and respect, supporting pupils’ wider personal development.
PE teacher support continued with two further lessons delivered in St Joseph and St Bernadette, and the school also launched a girls-only after-school football club for children in Years 2–6. The sessions have been extremely successful, with a noticeable increase in girls participating in football, an area that had seen lower engagement in previous years.
Premier League Primary Stars Joint Coordinator, Jordan Blair, praised the impact of the programme at the school, saying:
“It has been brilliant to see so many talented children engage across our interventions. A personal highlight has been the girls-only football sessions, which have led to an increase in girls participating in football. It’s been brilliant to see more girls getting involved in football, something we haven’t seen as much of in previous years, which shows the positive impact football is creating inside of St Paul’s.”
Staff at the school have also highlighted the positive impact on pupils’ confidence and enthusiasm. Martine Pottinger, St Paul’s PE Lead, added:
“The children who have read with Jordan have gained so much confidence and look forward to Thursday when he comes in to read with them. Across the school so many classes have gained extra confidence within PE lessons and have learned new games and skills to try out in the lessons. Thank you so much.”
St Paul’s Catholic Primary School is a fantastic example of how the Premier League Primary Stars programme can support academic progress, staff development and inclusive participation in sport. We look forward to continuing to build on this success in the coming term at St Paul’s Catholic Primary School.
