St Bartholomew’s CofE Aided Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.

School leaders backed by a strong team of teachers and support staff have ensured that standards in English and mathematics are broadly average. Given pupils' lower starting points, this represents good achievement. Standards in reading are above average because phonics (the sounds that letters make) is taught exceptionally well in Reception and Key Stage 1 and the school fosters a love of reading.

Children get off to an excellent start because : the Early Years Foundation Stage benefits from excellent leadership and the teaching they receive is outstanding. Pupils' behaviour is outstanding. Pupils are keen to learn and are unreservedly ...polite and caring of one another.

Their behaviour in lessons and around the school is exemplary. Support staff who work with pupils in need of extra help are making an excellent contribution to raising standards. Excellent personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is at the heart of the school's success and underpins all of the school's strengths.

The governing body holds the school robustly to account for its performance and its management of the finances. It is not yet an outstanding school because : The proportion of outstanding teaching across the school is not high enough and not enough pupils are achieving the highest levels. There are missed opportunities for pupils to reflect and act on their teachers' marking.

Pupils 'next steps' are not always matched to their abilities. In some lessons, the tasks do not always accelerate pupils' learning fast enough, particularly for the most-able pupils. Pupils' achievement in writing fluctuates and its quality is uneven in other subjects.

There are not enough opportunities for pupils to solve 'real-life' mathematical problems in other subjects or to lead on their own learning.

Information about this school

This is a larger-than-average primary school with provision for the Early Years Foundation Stage in Reception. The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium is below the national average.

Pupil premium is additional funding for children in the care of the local authority, pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those from service families. The biggest pupil group is White British and the proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is lower than the national average. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is low, compared with national averages.

The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is in line with those found nationally. The proportion of pupils supported through school action plus, or who have a statement of special educational needs is also in line with those found nationally. There is an after-school care provision which is not managed by the school and will be inspected separately.

There is a Children's Centre on site for which the school's governing body is responsible and it will be inspected separately. The school runs a breakfast club. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress.

Also at this postcode