Pilgrims’ Cross CofE Aided Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school's values of love, courage and trust are at heart of this welcoming school. Pupils are happy and safe. They come into school with smiles on their faces and want to do their best.

The school wants all pupils to learn ways to make their own lives better and the lives of others.

Pupils are eager to learn and enjoy the lessons that teachers provide. Children make a positive start to their education in the Reception Year.

However, older pupils do not achieve as well as they should in some areas of the curriculum. As a result, the school has recently adopted a curriculum that is more ambitious. It ensures teachers know what to teach in a clear order.
...
Pupils' behaviour is good. Pupils play their part in ensuring that the atmosphere throughout the school is calm. The vast majority of pupils follow the school's rules.

Pupils play well together. 'Junior guides' support younger pupils at play and in the lunch hall. Incidents of bullying are exceptionally rare.

When it does happen, pupils are confident that staff will resolve the problem. This helps to build a positive and inclusive community for pupils to learn in.

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

The school has made recent improvements to the quality of education pupils receive.

Every subject now has a clear curriculum with the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary that pupils should learn. As a result, pupils are learning more in every subject. However, because this work is so recent, teachers are not always aware of the best methods of teaching the content of the curriculum.

Some do not always follow the set scheme of lessons that the school expects them to deliver.

The staff in early years ensure that children achieve well in each early learning goal. Staff communicate with parents effectively.

This enables the children to settle quickly. The children interact very well with each other and concentrate with focus. They show a resilience and determination to find out things or to solve problems.

This all helps them develop to be ready for Year 1.

The school prioritises pupils learning to read. All staff have received the required training to deliver high-quality phonics lessons.

Pupils are eager to learn the sounds and participate well in the sessions. The school has streamlined the books available to pupils in the early stages of reading to ensure they match the phonics scheme. However, if pupils fall behind in the scheme, they are not always given the extra support they need to catch up rapidly.

This means not all pupils learn to read as quickly as they should.

Pupils are beginning to learn more and remember more across the curriculum. However, the amount that pupils have learned overall is not enough.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not always have the adaptations they need in every subject. In the core subjects of English and mathematics, teachers are more confident in delivering and adapting the curriculum. This means that all pupils, including pupils with SEND, make better progress in these subjects.

However, there are fewer adaptations in other subjects. The checks the school makes about what staff have taught and what pupils have learned are not rigorous enough. As a result, pupils' learning is not as strong as it should be.

The school ensures that pupils develop an understanding of modern Britain. Using the school's values as the basis, pupils develop their personal spirituality. They develop a good understanding of local and global issues, such as the impact of deforestation and natural disasters.

Pupils appreciate the extra opportunities that the school provides, including curriculum trips and the choir. The school recognises the limited choice of clubs currently offered while staff have focused on improving the quality of education.

The school's governors are fully aware of the school's strengths and challenges.

They have focused on safeguarding, securing the school's finances and improving pupils' achievement in English and mathematics. However, the school's focus on the impact of the wider curriculum has not been rigorous enough. All staff are keen and dedicated to make the necessary improvements.

Parents recognise this too, with one saying: '

This is such a great school. They have gone above and beyond to help my child thrive and develop. There is a strong vision for the school going forward which is communicated to parents and things are happening.'



Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some teachers do not have sufficiently secure subject and pedagogical knowledge in some subjects in the wider curriculum. This means that pupils do not remember and understand what they have learned securely enough.

The school should ensure that staff have sufficient subject knowledge and expertise to deliver the full curriculum effectively. ? The school has not checked how well the curriculum is being taught, including early reading, effectively enough. The school should monitor more widely to ensure that the intended curriculum is improving pupils' achievement in all subjects.

The school can then make the right curriculum adaptations and provide teachers with the appropriate support so that all pupils learn successfully over time. ? While governors scrutinise safeguarding and the school's finances robustly, they are not as rigorous in checking the quality of education across the curriculum.Governors should ensure they hold leaders to account to help secure improvements.

Also at this postcode