St Cuthbert’s Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and safe at this school. In most cases, they play nicely together during breaktimes and lunchtimes. However, some pupils did report that they sometimes experience unkind words and behaviours.

More often than not, the school deals with such issues appropriately.

After a period of staffing turbulence, the school is beginning to raise its expectations for what pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), should achieve. It has overhauled its curriculum to be more ambitious for what pupils will learn.

However, there has not been enough time to see the full impact of these changes on pupils' attainment and pro...gress. Consequently, pupils in both key stages 1 and 2 have not attained well in recent national end of key stage tests.

There is a range of extra-curricular opportunities that many pupils attend.

Examples include sports clubs, an amateur dramatics club and choir club. Pupils also have opportunities to go on residential visits, which they enjoy. Pupils take an active role in getting involved with charitable and community initiatives.

They collect for food banks and arrange cake sales to raise funds for their chosen causes. Pupils also take on leadership roles, such as being a playground leader.

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

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was clearly felt at this school.

Pupils returned to school with large gaps in their learning. Unforeseen staffing changes soon followed. This had a considerable impact on the school.

In turn, this led to an erosion in the quality of education and hampered the school's ability to respond swiftly to pupils' gaps in learning. These circumstances have ultimately contributed to pupils, including those with SEND, not achieving as well as they should.

Staffing has now started to stabilise.

New governors and senior leaders have been appointed. They are becoming increasingly effective in their roles. The school has engaged well with the local authority and other external partners to address many of the issues, including some of those related to the quality of education.

The school is now back on the right track. It has the capacity to bring about further improvements.

The school has introduced many new subject curriculums to ensure that there is greater breadth and balance in what pupils learn.

It is still making some refinements to these curriculums to further suit the needs of its pupils. That said, these curriculums are typically designed and taught in a logical order so that pupils build some of their knowledge in a more secure way.

The school is still getting to grips with some of the curriculum changes.

Consequently, there is variability in how well subject curriculums are delivered. Some of these deficiencies are not being addressed swiftly enough. This is because the school is still developing its ability to oversee the delivery of curriculums and to evaluate their impact on pupils' learning.

As a result, some pupils do not develop a secure body of knowledge across a range of subjects.

The school does not carry out effective checks on how well pupils are acquiring new knowledge in their lessons. In some cases, pupils are not spotted and supported when they need help with their learning.

The school has made recent improvements to how it identifies pupils with SEND. These changes are helping the school to identify pupils' additional needs early. The school currently has a specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND (specially resourced provision).

The responsibility for this specially resourced provision is being transferred to a different school at the end of the academic year. Along with the local authority, all parties are working together during this handover period to develop a new curriculum to suit these new arrangements.

Children in the early years get off to a positive start.

They have not been affected by historical issues at the school. Although there are still some shortcomings in the early years curriculum, able staff have the expertise to work around these issues. They design appropriate learning activities that help children to build the knowledge and skills that they need for key stage 1.

They are being better prepared for the next stage of their education than is the case elsewhere in the school.

The school ensures that children learn phonics as soon as they start in the Reception Year. However, this programme is not delivered consistently well throughout key stage 1.

Some staff have not been sufficiently trained to deliver the programme. Pupils in some classes read books that are not well matched to their knowledge of sounds. Those who need to catch up with their reading do not receive effective support to close their individual phonics gaps.

These issues mean that pupils do not become fluent readers as quickly as they could.

The school has raised its expectations for pupils' behaviour through its new behaviour policy. Many staff recognise the recent, positive changes, such as the reduction of low-level disruption during lesson times.

However, some pupils disengage from their learning. In these cases, the school does not routinely help pupils to refocus their attention on their education. Consequently, these pupils do not learn as well as they should.

The school makes sure that attendance is a high priority. The majority of pupils attend school regularly. The school has effective systems in place to support families and to remove any barriers that prevent some pupils from coming to school.

The school caters for pupils' personal development by helping them to keep themselves healthy and safe. Pupils are taught about how their bodies will change and grow. However, the school's current approaches to fostering a culture of respect and tolerance are not having the desired impact.

Some pupils use unkind words and behaviours towards others. At times, these can be of a discriminatory nature. Pupils do not have a secure knowledge of, and appreciation for, fundamental British values.

Staff told inspectors that they feel supported by leaders. They feel that their workload is duly considered. They particularly value the changes that leaders have made to the school's marking policy.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school does not have sufficient insight into how well the curriculums are delivered in practice. In turn, it does not respond quickly enough to weaknesses in curriculum implementation that prevent pupils from learning all that they should.

The school should ensure that subject leaders have the expertise that they need to oversee their subjects well. ? The school does not ensure that its phonics programme is implemented well. Some pupils do not read books that match the sounds that they know.

Those who need to catch up do not receive effective support. Consequently, pupils do not become fluent readers quickly enough. The school should ensure that staff are able to deliver the phonics programme well so that pupils become confident and fluent readers.

• The school does not use effective strategies to check how well pupils understand new content. This sometimes means that pupils are not identified and supported quickly enough when they struggle with new curriculum content. In turn, pupils do not develop their knowledge securely over time.

The school should ensure that staff have the guidance and strategies that they need to identify and support pupils when they need help with their learning. ? The school does not consistently uphold high expectations for pupils' behaviour. When this happens, some staff do not support pupils to refocus their attention on learning.

Consequently, these pupils do not acquire some of the key knowledge that is being taught. The school should further raise its expectations for pupils' behaviour and help pupils to develop positive attitudes to learning. ? Some pupils do not treat others with appropriate levels of courtesy and respect.

At times, they do not have due regard for people's differences. Consequently, some pupils experience unkind language and behaviours that are not in keeping with fundamental British values. The school should review how it fosters an environment in which people's views and differences are respected.

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