All Saints Church of England Primary School Stockport

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils value being part of this happy and welcoming school community.

Staff forge strong relationships with pupils and know their families well.

The school expects pupils to behave well. From the youngest age, children in the early years and pupils across the school listen attentively to their teachers.

Pupils' conduct embodies the 'All Saints Way.' They aspire to be rewarded with 'star of the week' awards and to be recognised as 'values ambassadors.'

Pupils are starting to benefit from the school's higher expectations of what they can achieve.

Most pupils have positive attitudes to learning. They are motivated to try their best. Pupils are... now experiencing a more ambitious curriculum.

Nevertheless, many of the improved curriculums are in the early stages of being implemented. As a result, pupils have gaps in knowledge across a range of subjects. Pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Pupils enjoy helping to make their school a better place. They are proud of the roles that they have within school, for example, as playground leaders or anti-bullying ambassadors.

Pupils are also keen participants in the school's band, choir, and sporting teams.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Through decisive actions and a sharp focus on improvement, the school has raised its ambition and expectations for pupils since the previous inspection. It has managed considerable change to staffing while maintaining a focus on the most important aspects of school improvement.

Effective leadership is empowering staff to make significant changes to the design of subject curriculums. For example, each subject now includes the important content that pupils need to learn. This provides clarity of what should be taught and when it should happen.

Staff value the clear direction provided by the school and the efforts that are made to ensure that their workload is manageable.

Staff appreciate the opportunities that the school has provided to develop their subject knowledge. Their confidence and consistency in teaching the improved curriculums has increased.

However, this work is at an early stage in some subjects. The delivery of some curriculums is not as consistently strong as others. At times, pupils are moved on to new learning without checks being made to ensure that they are fully secure with previously taught concepts.

This impedes pupils' ability to make sense of new curriculum content. As a result, gaps in pupils' knowledge persist. They do not have a rich body of knowledge in these subjects.

The school has strengthened its systems to ensure that the needs of pupils with SEND are identified swiftly. However, the school is at an early stage of supporting staff to adapt their teaching to meet the needs of these pupils. As a result, some pupils with SEND do not access aspects of the curriculum well.

This prevents these pupils from achieving as well as they could.

Conversely, children in the early years benefit from learning that is well matched to their needs. Children in the Nursery class join in with rhymes and songs to help develop their early language.

They are well supported by skilled staff to develop their communication skills. This helps to prepare them for learning the phonics curriculum as soon as they enter the reception class. Children settle quickly, behave well and are keen to learn.

They develop confidence and independence. Children learn the knowledge and skills that they require to be equipped for the challenges of the key stage 1 curriculum.

The school prioritises the teaching of reading.

Trained staff provide additional support for those pupils who are not keeping up with the phonics programme. The books that pupils read match the sounds that they have been taught. This helps pupils to practise what they have learned and become increasingly fluent readers.

Pupils benefit from carefully designed opportunities to develop their understanding of the wider world. They are respectful of diversity and understand the importance of treating everyone equally.

The school ensures that pupils benefit from trips and visits that enable them to learn about the world beyond school.

For example, older pupils enjoy residential trips where they take part in different outdoor activities, such as archery and abseiling. Children in the early years enjoy local walks and visits to museums.

Pupils are polite, friendly, and caring towards each other.

Most pupils behave well around school. Pupils who sometimes struggle to regulate their own behaviour benefit from sensitive support from staff. They are helped to manage their emotions.

The school has identified the reasons for the low attendance rates of some pupils. It takes swift and effective action to provide support for these pupils and their families. As a result, pupils' rates of attendance are improving.

Governors know what the school needs to do to further improve. They hold the school to account for pupils' academic achievement. Governors have strong oversight of the school.

They offer support and challenge in equal measure.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Positive changes to the design of many of the school's curriculums are fairly recent.

This means that pupils have gaps in their knowledge from the previous curriculums.They do not remember what they have learned as well as they should. The school should make sure that the new curriculums are completed and implemented consistently well so that pupils gain a strong body of knowledge in the longer term.

• Some teachers do not routinely check that pupils are fully secure with prior learning before they move on to new content. This means that pupils do not build on their prior knowledge as well as they should. The school should make sure that teachers check that pupils have understood what has been taught, so that misconceptions and gaps in learning are quickly addressed before new learning is introduced.

• At times, the school does not use the information that it has about the needs of pupils with SEND to adapt the delivery of the curriculum as effectively as it should. This hinders how well some pupils with SEND learn. The school should ensure that staff use the information available to them to adapt their pedagogical choices to meet the needs of pupils with SEND.

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