Leck St Peter’s Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Leck St Peter's Church of England Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are very happy at this school. They are greeted warmly by their teachers as they arrive in the morning.

New pupils to the school settle in well. Pupils of all ages play and work together happily. They described their school as being like a family.

Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the school.

Leaders have high expectations for pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils are confident and articulate when talking to others.

They understand the expectations that staff ha...ve for them and they do their best to live up to these throughout the school day.

Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. They happily sit together at lunchtime, and older pupils are keen to help their younger peers.

At playtime, pupils enjoy using the well-resourced and extensive school grounds. Pupils understand what bullying is and feel confident that if it should happen, teachers will sort it out. This helps pupils to feel safe.

Leaders make effective use of the small school's surroundings. Pupils enjoy a rich diet of trips to enhance their learning. They regularly partake in learning outdoors.

Pupils enjoy activities such as sailing, caving and rock climbing. They talk enthusiastically about recent trips, such as going to Edinburgh to see Parliament in action.

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

In most subjects, leaders have organised subject curriculums well, including for children in the early years.

Pupils and children build securely on earlier learning and achieve well.

Leaders have rightly prioritised the development of subject curriculums. Each leader has multiple subjects to consider.

Leaders provide clear guidance to teachers about what they want pupils to know and the order in which this knowledge should be taught. Staff receive effective training to deliver these curriculums. As a result, in many subjects, teachers are equipped to deliver learning with confidence.

However, in a small number of subjects, leaders have not checked sufficiently well that teachers are delivering some aspects of content as well as leaders intend. Added to this, in these subjects, leaders are still supporting teachers to use assessment strategies effectively. From time to time, this hinders teachers in identifying and rectifying pupils' forgotten learning or misconceptions quickly enough.

Leaders have successfully prioritised reading across the school. Children begin their reading journey at the beginning of the Nursery Year. Children in the early years learn rhymes and songs and they enjoy listening to stories.

Staff are trained well in how to deliver the phonics curriculum, and follow leaders' guidance closely. There is a consistent approach to the teaching of phonics across year groups. This helps pupils to become confident and fluent readers by the end of Year 2.

If pupils fall behind in reading, leaders have appropriate systems in place to ensure that staff provide help for pupils and children as needed.

Pupils, including older pupils in key stage 2, are encouraged by their teachers to read widely. Leaders have designed a range of whole-school projects to inspire pupils and children to read for pleasure.

For example, pupils are itching to visit the library van to choose a new book.

During lessons, pupils are attentive and eager to participate. They enjoy learning and understand the importance of trying their best.

Learning is seldom disrupted by poor behaviour.

Leaders have thought carefully about how to develop pupils' experiences beyond the academic curriculum. The school has an adventurous programme of outdoor education.

Pupils recognise how these activities teach them other life skills, such as teamwork and problem-solving.

Pupils are encouraged to take on additional responsibilities in school. They put themselves forward for a range of roles, such as school councillors and worship committee members.

Pupils are proud that work created by the school's journalist club is featured in the local paper.

Staff work closely with parents to ensure that pupils with SEND have their needs identified early and receive appropriate support. Parents appreciate the extra work that staff put in to get the help that their children need.

In lessons, staff make careful adaptations to ensure that pupils with SEND successfully access the same curriculum as their peers.

Governors and leaders understand the importance of staff's well-being. They are considerate of teachers' workload.

Governors understand well the challenges and benefits of working in a small school. Staff feel appreciated and valued by leaders and governors.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. Staff know pupils and their families well. Leaders and staff understand that everyone in school needs to be vigilant to keep pupils safe.

Staff receive suitable safeguarding training regularly and they know how to identify and record concerns appropriately.

Leaders ensure that pupils know how to keep themselves safe online and in and out of school. For example, pupils learn about the dangers of social media and have strategies to deal with problems that may arise.

Pupils have clear ideas about healthy relationships and what qualities make a good friend. They learn about looking after their own physical health and mental well-being. For example, they understand the benefits of yoga and meditation strategies.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of subjects, leaders have not checked that teachers are confident to deliver some aspects of the curriculums effectively. This hampers leaders in providing additional support for some staff. Further, in the same subjects, teachers are refining how they use assessment strategies to check on pupils' learning.

This means that, occasionally, teachers are hindered in identifying the gaps in some pupils' learning quickly enough. Leaders should ensure that teachers receive the support that they need to deliver these subject curriculums effectively and use assessment strategies well to check that pupils' earlier learning is secure.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in September 2013.