Shustoke CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

The school provides a good education for its pupils. Their outstanding behaviour contributes strongly to the culture for learning that is a feature of all classes.

Pupils work and play together very well. The strong family feel that permeates all aspects of the school's work stems from the very effective promotion of pupils' social awareness. A key factor in the school's success is its excellent partnership with parents and carers.

Most of those who returned the inspection questionnaire had positive views about all aspects of the school's performance. Many questionnaires had appreciative comments appended, particularly with regard to the excellent quality of the pastoral care provided. Typica...l of these was, 'The school has a very warm and welcoming air about it.

The staff are all very supportive and my child loves coming here. When children join the Reception class, many have skills that are similar to those expected for their age. By the end of Year 6, their attainment is above average.

Pupils make good progress because they are taught well and benefit from a well-planned curriculum, enhanced by a wide range of activities that help enrich their learning. The teachers are particularly adept at providing pupils with lessons designed to capture their imaginations and which give them plenty of practice in developing their skills in writing and mathematics. Teachers successfully ensure that pupils have tasks that are challenging, but achievable, because their assessments of pupils' learning are accurate.

However, the targets set for pupils to achieve are sometimes not crisp enough because they are not linked closely to National Curriculum levels. While almost all groups of pupils make good progress in writing and mathematics, progress in reading is not quite as good. This is because of the way in which guided reading sessions are organised.

In these lessons, the groups of pupils receiving direct tuition from adults make rapid gains in their learning, but those expected to work independently make only satisfactory progress. The school is at the heart of its community, and pupils contribute to school and village life with enthusiasm. They play an important part in moulding the decisions made by school leaders through their discussions in school council meetings.

Pupils' good understanding of how to live healthily is recognised by the school having gained National Healthy School status. Pupils feel extremely safe in school. The leadership and management of the school are good at all levels.

The school's evaluation of its own effectiveness is accurate. This is based on detailed and regular monitoring of pupils' progress, which provides the basis for clear plans of action to secure further improvement. The school's success in addressing issues for improvement from the previous inspection demonstrate its good capacity for sustained improvement.

These issues related to the pitch of work provided for pupils and opportunities to develop pupils' skills in writing.

Information about the school

This is a smaller than average-sized, rural primary school. Almost all of the pupils are White British.

There are very few pupils who speak English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is about average. A few of these pupils have acute needs, but most have general learning difficulties.

There are very few pupils eligible for free school meals. On-site childcare is provided before and after school for pupils in all year groups. This is independent of the school and is inspected separately.

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