St Andrew’s CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils live the school values of 'love, courage and friendship'. This is because the school's curriculum is built on these values. If anyone falls short of the high expectations at any time, there is plenty of support available to get these pupils back on track.

As a result, the school is a vibrant and harmonious community, where pupils love learning and enjoy coming to school. The school has built very positive relationships with pupils and their families.

The school has high expectations for what pupils can achieve.

In the early years, the curriculum enables children to master the knowledge and skills that they need for future learning. They are well prepar...ed for Year 1 and beyond. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve well.

They receive high-quality support. Across the school, pupils learn well and are becoming confident learners, including those who are disadvantaged.

Staff help pupils to successfully manage their own feelings and behaviour.

Adults apply the school's expectations about behaviour consistently well. Pupils rise to these expectations and treat each other with kindness and respect. Pupils behave exceptionally well and have positive attitudes to their learning.

Pupils' attendance is high. They actively partake in a wide range of academic and sporting clubs and activities.

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

Children get off to an exceptionally strong start in the early years.

This is mainly due to the sharp focus given to the welfare and learning of every child. Whether indoors or outdoors, children find learning irresistible. They quickly build the knowledge and social and emotional skills that they need to learn successfully as they move up the school.

The school's curriculum is equally broad and ambitious. This ambition is realised in most subjects, with teachers regularly checking what pupils know and remember. Published outcomes are strong, especially in reading and writing.

Outcomes in mathematics at the end of Year 6 have improved strongly. This reflects the positive impact of the well-designed curriculum, currently in its second year of implementation.

Staff regularly revisit previous knowledge to help pupils know and remember more.

They also challenge pupils to reflect more deeply on their learning, for example, through the use of 'big questions'. The development of pupils' vocabulary is a consistent feature of teaching. Staff define new words and model how to use them.

In mathematics, for example, this enables pupils to explain themselves succinctly and clearly. Another example is in design and technology, where pupils use the language of design, make and evaluate when talking about the products that they make.

The school identifies the needs of pupils with SEND swiftly and accurately.

The school makes sure that teaching is adapted to meet pupils' needs. Pupils with SEND achieve well. They successfully learn the same curriculum alongside their peers.

Children with SEND in the early years benefit strongly from appropriate additional support and provision.The school has made sure that pupils learning to read is a priority. Pupils have very positive attitudes towards reading.

They speak with enthusiasm about their favourite books and authors. In the early years, children benefit from talking with staff about books and listening to them read. Most pupils use new language confidently and quickly master phonics.

Across the school, the books that pupils read match the sounds that they know. Staff have the right training to enable them to teach phonics successfully. They quickly identify pupils who are at risk of falling behind with learning to read.

The school provides effective support so that these pupils catch up with their peers.

The school's personal development programme is highly effective. It promotes pupils' development as well-rounded individuals, who are exceptionally well prepared for their next steps beyond the school.

Pupils learn about how to stay safe and healthy, both physically and mentally. Pupils are taught to understand and celebrate differences. Pupils are fully included in the life of the school.

The school deliberately broadens pupils' experiences by providing opportunities for them to take on leadership roles. Older pupils help younger ones to improve their reading skills as their buddies. Others manage the school's food bank, which supports the local community.

These experiences encourage pupils to become active citizens in their school community. Pupils show mature and exemplary conduct when engaging with each other, staff and visitors. Behaviour in class is consistently strong.

At many levels, including governance, leadership is strong. Subject leadership has benefited from training to develop expertise. Occasionally, however, in a very small number of subjects, for example science, the school has not ensured that teaching in Years 1 to 6 corrects misconceptions in pupils' knowledge well enough.

This means that gaps in understanding are not consistently closed.

Those responsible for governance are knowledgeable about the school. They check that the school is providing pupils with a curriculum that, overall, helps all pupils to achieve well.

The workload and well-being of all staff is a priority. Staff are proud to work in this very inclusive school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• On occasions, errors in pupils' understanding are not picked up and addressed fully in a very small number of subjects, for instance science. This means that, over time, some misconceptions and misunderstandings can persist. The school should take steps to further strengthen how these subjects are taught and led so that any difficulties pupils may face are consistently addressed, resulting in all pupils knowing and remembering the content of the curriculum.