Leigh St Peter’s CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), enjoy school and get on well together. Pupils feel safe in school.

They told inspectors that staff are caring and approachable. Pupils have confidence that staff will listen if they have any worries and do their best to help them. Leaders deal with bullying thoroughly.

Pupils are polite and respectful to each other and to adults. Pupils have stepped up to meet leaders' higher expectations of their behaviour outlined clearly in a new policy. Most pupils behave well in lessons and around the school.

Children gain a strong footing in the early years and achieve well. However, the ...positive start that children make in learning is not built upon effectively. Many pupils in key stage 1 and 2 do not achieve as well as they should.

This is because leaders' expectations have been too low. The curriculum does not set out high enough expectations. Added to this, some pupils, including those with SEND, do not get the support that they need to catch up with reading.

Pupils enjoy attending extra-curricular activities such as multi-sports and coding clubs. However, pupils have limited opportunities to enrich their learning with trips and visits, or to pursue their interests and talents.

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

Over time, leaders have not given sufficient consideration to the specific subject knowledge pupils need to learn.

Recently, leaders have begun to review the curriculum to ensure that it is broad, balanced and suitably ambitious. This is a work in progress.

In a few subjects, leaders have set out the knowledge that pupils need to learn and the order in which they should learn it.

In these subjects, teachers have useful guidance that helps them design learning that builds on pupils' earlier knowledge. For example, in mathematics, teachers are more confident in checking that pupils' understanding of their previous learning is secure before introducing new content.

Leaders' curriculum thinking in many other subjects is not so well developed.

Their expectations of what pupils should know are not clear enough. Added to this, few subject leaders routinely check the quality of curriculum delivery. This means that teachers do not gain from the advice and support that they need to deliver subject curriculums consistently well.

Consequently, many pupils do not gain the key knowledge they need to develop their understanding in these subjects.

In contrast, children from the age of two years make a strong start to their school life. Staff have high expectations of what children can achieve and place a high priority on developing children's social skills and spoken language.

Through their positive encouragement, staff ensure that children develop independence and confidence. Children in the Reception class achieve well in the phonics programme.

This strong start in reading is not capitalised upon in key stage 1.

This is because leaders have not ensured that staff deliver the early reading curriculum effectively. When pupils fall behind in reading, leaders do not ensure that they receive effective support to enable them to catch up quickly. The books that staff select for pupils to practise their reading are rarely matched precisely to the sounds that they have learned.

This results in some pupils losing confidence. Consequently, too few pupils become fluent and accurate readers by the end of Year 2. Many older pupils lack the motivation to read independently.

This affects their development of comprehension skills and their achievement in other subjects.

Leaders have recently introduced more robust procedures for identifying pupils' needs early. The expectations of what pupils with SEND can achieve, given the correct support, have increased.

However, some staff do not have the knowledge or expertise in how to adapt their approaches to ensure that pupils with SEND access the curriculum well.

Leaders have recently introduced a clear behaviour system that is understood by pupils and used consistently by staff. Recently, staff have been trained in strategies to better manage pupils' behaviour.

These new approaches are beginning to have a positive effect in the reduction of the high number of suspensions. Throughout the school, most pupils now behave well. However, pupils reported that their learning is sometimes disrupted by the poor behaviour of a few pupils.

Pupils are welcoming and inclusive. They understand that everyone should be treated with respect regardless of their difference. Pupils value the opportunity to take on responsibilities such as prefects and sports councillors.

However, they have too few opportunities to broaden their horizons and learn about life outside their local community. Pupils are not as well prepared for life in modern Britain as they should be.

Members of the governing body are dedicated and knowledgeable.

They have a clear understanding of their roles and are ambitious for the pupils. They provide appropriate support and challenge to school leaders.

Staff are proud to work at the school.

Most staff feel that their workload and well-being are considered by leaders.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders ensure that staff receive regular safeguarding training to help them to identify pupils who may be at risk of harm.

This has included recent staff training on sexually harmful behaviour and child-on-child abuse. Staff understand their responsibilities for keeping children safe and follow the school policy for reporting their concerns.Leaders act swiftly to address any concerns raised.

They engage with a range of local agencies to access the help that vulnerable pupils need.Pupils receive helpful guidance to help them to stay safe. This includes learning about online safety and how to avoid risks near open water.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders do not ensure that the early reading curriculum is delivered effectively. Neither do they check that pupils who struggle with reading benefit from effective support from suitably trained staff. This means that many pupils do not catch up with reading quickly enough.

Leaders should make sure that pupils, particularly those who struggle the most with reading, receive appropriate support from suitably trained staff to catch up quickly. ? Leaders have not finalised their curriculum thinking in many subjects. This includes being clear about the subject-specific knowledge that pupils need to learn and when this should be taught.

This prevents pupils from achieving as well as they should. Leaders should ensure that teachers are clear about the essential knowledge that pupils, including in the early years, should learn and when they should learn it. ? Some subject leaders lack expertise in checking the implementation of their subject curriculums effectively.

This means that teachers do not receive the guidance and support that they need to deliver the curriculums consistently well. It also means that some pupils do not achieve as well as they should. Leaders should ensure that subject leaders are sufficiently well trained to improve the delivery of the curriculum in their subjects to enable all pupils to achieve well.

• Teachers have not received sufficient training in adapting their teaching approaches to meet the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND. This means that some pupils with SEND become overly reliant on adult support. Leaders should ensure that teachers are trained well to adapt their approaches to meet the needs of pupils with SEND so that these pupils can access the curriculum with confidence and achieve well.

• Leaders do not check the impact of the actions they take to improve the quality of the curriculum. This means that some areas of weakness are not addressed with sufficient urgency. Leaders should ensure that they maintain a stronger oversight of the impact of their actions to secure sustainable improvement in the quality of education for pupils.