St Andrew’s Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of St Andrew's Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 18 December 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in September 2014. This school continues to be good.

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You are a well-respected leader. All adults who work in the school share your ambition that all pupils should achieve their full potential.

Therefore, you work collaboratively and effectively to achieve this aim. Y...our evaluation of the school's work is thorough and accurate. You have a clear understanding of the school's main priorities, which has enabled you to develop well-focused improvement plans.

When you began in post in February 2016, you swiftly identified that teaching, particularly of writing and mathematics, needed to improve. As a result, you have taken concerted action to remedy this. You have made effective use of the support of the local authority and leaders in local schools.

This has improved the rigour of assessment and the consistency of teaching. Children routinely achieve well in early years and in the Year 1 phonics check. Over time, pupils' attainment in reading at the end of both key stages is high.

In the past, pupils' achievement in writing and mathematics across the school has been variable. However, better teaching is improving outcomes. For example, in 2018, effective teaching led to strong progress at the end of key stage 2 in all subjects.

As a result, more pupils attained well and a high proportion of pupils achieved greater depth in their learning. Good teaching ensures that the majority of current pupils make effective progress in all subjects and are working at standards appropriate for their age. Several pupils, including the most able pupils, are working at greater depth in their learning.

A minority of pupils, including a small number of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), need continued support to make stronger progress. Governors have a good understanding of the quality of education the school provides because they routinely undertake visits to meet with leaders and review pupils' learning. They ask challenging questions, which enables them to hold leaders to account.

The overwhelming majority of parents and carers are very pleased with the school and typically comment on the school's 'nurturing, safe environment' and 'enthusiastic, inspiring teachers'. Almost all parents who shared their views praise your effective leadership and your sensitive approach to dealing with their concerns. For example, a parent commented that you manage problems 'supremely well'.

Pupils are extremely welcoming and polite. Several pupils say that they 'love school' and 'learning is fun'. Pupils know what adults expect of them.

As a result, they behave well and listen respectfully to adults' instructions. They settle to work quickly and maintain positive attitudes to their work because they are keen to learn. Safeguarding is effective.

There is a clear culture of safeguarding at the school because adults place pupils' well-being and safety at the heart of all they do. You provide staff with relevant updates to training and they recognise that they are responsible for keeping pupils safe. Staff can consistently explain how to refer concerns.

You maintain well-organised safeguarding records and routinely follow up your actions to check that they are having an impact. You carry out the necessary checks to ensure that all adults working in the school are safe to work with children. You meticulously record these details on the school's single central record.

The school has well-understood procedures in place, so that everyone understands how to keep pupils safe in a range of situations. The vast majority of pupils attend school regularly. Inspection findings ? My first line of enquiry was to determine how well leaders have improved writing.

This was a recommendation following the last inspection. Also, over time, pupils have not achieved as well in writing as in reading and mathematics. You have provided training for teachers that has increased their expectation of what pupils should be learning for their age.

Reviews of pupils' learning confirm that teachers pitch learning activities appropriately to meet pupils' needs. Teachers model writing tasks carefully, which helps pupils understand what to do. Teachers consistently adhere to the school's marking policy and provide opportunities for pupils to improve their work.

Pupils are given regular opportunities to develop their descriptive writing and improve their vocabulary. For example, Year 1 pupils enjoyed incorporating adjectives such as, 'sparkly', 'gloomy' and 'chilly' in recounts of their recent trip to Clearwell Caves. The school's latest assessment information and pupils' work confirm that good teaching enables the majority of pupils to make effective progress.

As a result, most pupils achieve well and several pupils are working at greater depth in writing. A minority of pupils with lower starting points need continued support to make better progress. ? Next, I was keen to check on the consistency of mathematics teaching at key stage 2.

I also wanted to find out how effectively it challenges the most able pupils at key stage 1. This is because outcomes have been variable over time. The mathematics subject leader has worked effectively with an external consultant to identify how to improve mathematics.

He has taken the necessary steps to ensure that teachers routinely develop pupils' skills in mental mathematics. This is helping to improve pupils' recall of key facts. As a result, pupils successfully apply the skills they have learned to reason and solve problems.

Teachers routinely provide learning opportunities with increasing degrees of challenge. This consolidates and deepens pupils' understanding. Adults give clear demonstrations and appropriately intervene in pupils' learning when pupils need further support.

This helps pupils to calculate answers accurately. For example, pupils in the mixed Year 5 and Year 6 class confidently used their multiplication skills to calculate the perimeter of rectilinear shapes and the volume of cuboids. Reviews of pupils' learning confirm that the vast majority of current pupils are making good progress and undertake activities appropriate for their age.

Approximately one fifth of pupils in both key stages, including the most able pupils, are working at greater depth in mathematics. However, a small proportion of pupils do not make consistently strong progress and this inhibits them from achieving their full potential. ? Finally, I wanted to establish how well teaching supports pupils with SEND.

This is because, over time, these pupils have not routinely achieved well. The special educational needs coordinator uses her good understanding of pupils' needs to plan additional teaching support. This reinforces what pupils are learning in class and helps them to consolidate their skills.

As a result, pupils are catching up from low starting points. In some cases, additional teaching has been particularly effective, and consequently, pupils no longer need additional support. However, due to their particular needs, a small number of pupils require ongoing support to make better progress.

Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? continued improvements to teaching ensure that pupils, particularly those who need to catch up, make consistently strong progress and achieve the highest standards of which they are capable. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body the director of education for the Diocese of Gloucester, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Gloucestershire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

Yours sincerely Catherine Beeks Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I held several meetings with you. I also met with the mathematics subject leader and the special educational needs coordinator. I had a meeting with three governors and also met with a representative from the local authority.

We discussed your safeguarding procedures and I checked the school's single central record. I reviewed the school's self-evaluation and development plan and we discussed the school's latest assessment information. We jointly observed writing in key stage 1 and mathematics in the mixed class of Year 5 and Year 6 pupils.

During our observations, we also reviewed pupils' learning in books. I spoke with pupils in lessons and at break- and lunchtime to gain their views of the school. I talked to several parents at the beginning of the school day and considered 32 responses to Ofsted's online survey, Parent View, along with 18 additional free-text comments.

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