St Andrew and St Francis CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Andrew and St Francis CofE Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

St Andrew and St Francis CofE Primary School is at the heart of the local community. Pupils enjoy coming to school every day.

They are happy and safe because adults are caring and kind. Adults know pupils well, and pupils are well looked after. They think carefully about pupils' pastoral care, including any mental health and social and emotional needs.

The new leadership team has high expectations for every pupil. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well.

Leaders take swift action to address any u...nkindness when it does occur.

Pupils enjoy playing together and taking part in the activities staff provide for them. They generally behave well in class and around the school site.

Pupils enjoy their learning and the wider opportunities that are on offer.

These include a range of clubs, visitors and outings. Taking on responsibilities is a key part of school life, with roles including reading and eco-leaders. Pupils are well prepared for their future learning.

They build up the knowledge and vocabulary they will need for their next stages in education.

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

The new leadership team has constructed an ambitious curriculum in most subjects. Pupils begin their curriculum journey in Nursery, where they get off to a flying start in a language- and number-rich environment.

Typically, leaders' curricular thinking builds pupils' knowledge and skills well. It identifies the important content that pupils need for future learning. For example, in geography, pupils gain a secure understanding of mapwork, local landmarks and the British Isles.

In some subjects, curricular thinking is not as well developed. This is because leaders do not identify what pupils need to know and remember with precision, including from the early years.

Teachers present information to pupils with clarity.

They help pupils to build strong speaking and mathematical skills. For instance, in early years, staff helped children to count pirates up to ten accurately. Children enjoy painting and joining in with nursery rhymes.

Teachers check and address any misconceptions in pupils' learning. On occasion, teaching does not break down learning for pupils into small steps. This limits pupils' deeper knowledge and understanding.

Leaders have prioritised reading. Children begin to learn to read using phonics in the early years. Pupils achieve very well in their phonics.

They show confidence and accuracy when transferring their phonic knowledge into their writing. Teachers check pupils' phonic knowledge regularly. They use this information to identify pupils who need extra help quickly.

This enables pupils to read fluently. Leaders have chosen a wide variety of suitable texts to enhance teaching across the curriculum. Pupils comment that they love reading.

Pupils' personal and spiritual development is at the core of the school's work. Staff support pupils to be responsible citizens. Older pupils can become 'play leaders' and 'reading buddies' to support younger children.

Pupils learn about differences and understand and celebrate the fact that they are all unique.

There is a wide variety of extra-curricular activities available to pupils. These range from chess, film club and yoga.

Leaders plan interesting visits to places such as nature parks, historical sites and museums.

Staff enable pupils with SEND to access the same ambitious curriculum as their peers. This is due to staff paying attention to the needs of every child.

Staff are skilled in knowing the individual needs of pupils. The careful balance of academic and pastoral support ensures that many pupils with SEND achieve highly.

Lessons are generally calm and purposeful, and staff deal with any low-level disruption effectively.

Children in early years learn to follow instructions well.

Staff are proud to be part of the school community. Trustees know the school's strengths and priorities for improvement.

They provide strong challenge and support. Staff's workload and well-being are carefully considered. They feel valued and are highly motivated.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff know how to identify and report concerns about pupils. Through regular training, all staff understand how to keep pupils safe.

Leaders follow up any concerns by making swift referrals for specialist support. Communication with external agencies is strong, and records are well maintained. This helps to provide appropriate support to families.

Pupils show an age-appropriate understanding of healthy relationships. They are taught how to keep safe online and know what to do if they feel worried.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some foundation subjects, key content, starting from early years, is not identified precisely.

As a result, teachers do not break down subject content into smaller chunks, which can overload pupils' working memory. Leaders should ensure that the knowledge they want pupils to know and remember is clearly identified in all subjects. ? Sometimes, the intended curriculum is not implemented in teaching well.

This limits pupils' deeper learning of subject content. Leaders need to ensure that teachers have secure subject-specific knowledge so that pupils gain deep knowledge and skills.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually, this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in 28 and 29 November 2017.