St George’s CofE School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.

Since the last inspection governors, leaders and managers, well supported by the whole staff team, have tackled weaknesses and brought about marked improvements in pupils' achievement and in the quality of teaching. Clear priorities for further improvement have been identified. Staff are well trained, feel valued and morale is high.

Consequently, the school is well placed to achieve its goals. Pupils attend school regularly and behave well. They look after each other and show kindness and respect to staff and visitors.

They say they feel very safe in school. Good teaching and well-timed, effective help for pupils who are in dang...er of falling behind enable all pupils to make good progress over time. Interesting activities, knowledgeable teaching, perceptive questioning and well-planned work all contribute to pupils' good achievement.

When children enter the Nursery their skills are weak in all areas and particularly in communication and language, and personal, social and emotional development. They make good progress in the Nursery and Reception classes where they gain confidence and enjoy learning. This good progress continues as they move through the school.

In national tests in 2014 pupils reached standards close to national averages particularly in reading and writing. The curriculum develops pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness very successfully. The school ensures pupils are given a wide range of experiences which open their eyes to what they can achieve.

St George's pupils make good progress in developing sound basic skills and are well prepared for life in modern Britain. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Some marking of work and feedback given by teachers is not of sufficiently high quality to give pupils clear pointers for improvement. Pupils do not always act on the advice they are given.

Pupils are not always moved on quickly enough to the next task as soon as they are ready. Even more work can be done to encourage parents to support their children's learning by listening to them read regularly and making sure they always come to school on time.

Information about this school

This is an average-sized primary school.

The proportion of disabled students and those who have special educational needs is about 24%, which is well above average. The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged and so eligible for the pupil premium is about 71%. This is well above that found nationally.

The pupil premium is additional funding for pupils eligible for free school meals and those in the care of the local authority. Most pupils are White British. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress.

A very small number of pupils are dual registered with the George Hastwell Special School and the Barrow pupil referral unit. In the early years there is full-time provision for children in the Reception class and either full- or part-time provision in the Nursery class. The proportion of pupils who join and leave the school partway through their education is well above average.