St James and St John CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love coming to this happy and nurturing school.

There is a clear and purposeful vision for both pupils' behaviour and the quality of their work. Pupils demonstrate the school's values, which include courage, kindness and respect in their everyday conduct. Pupils build strong friendships, not only in their classes but across the school.

Children in the Reception Year make a strong start as they settle into school routines. Consequently, pupils behave well.

Pupils enjoy learning and making connections between subject areas and the world around them.

Staff have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and pupils achieve well. They particularl...y love reading and enjoy, as one pupil said 'getting lost in a world of books'.

Pupils enjoy the leadership responsibilities they have and take them seriously.

For example, pupils can become school 'councillors', 'eco-warriors' or play leaders. These roles help pupils to develop their resilience and communication skills. Pupils know what is right and wrong and that they should not discriminate against others.

They want to help others in need, both in the local and wider communities.

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

The school has designed a curriculum that sequences the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary that pupils will learn. Teachers' subject knowledge has developed strongly in the last two years.

As a result, staff deliver the curriculum with growing expertise. Pupils have positive attitudes towards their learning. They show this in both their focus in lessons and in the improving quality of their work.

The school's recent focus to improve pupils' achievement in writing has been successful and pupils write with greater confidence and accuracy. In most other subjects, pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, learn and remember important knowledge. However, in a few subjects, staff do not always check regularly enough what pupils remember.

As a result, there are gaps in pupils' knowledge, and they do not learn as well as they could in these subjects.

The school has high aspirations that all pupils will succeed and play a full part in school life. Leaders have worked hard to identify individual needs.

Teachers write targets that are precise and useful for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and adapt learning more effectively. Consequently, pupils with SEND are achieving well.

The school teaches pupils to read very well.

This has led to high achievement in reading in recent years, especially in the phonics test at the end of Year 1 in 2023. One of the main reasons for this high achievement in reading is the exceptional development of pupils' speaking and listening skills in the Reception class. Skilled staff ensure that pupils learn phonics extremely well.

Pupils who need extra practice receive it so that they can keep up with the other children. Pupils across the school have a suitable book that they read for pleasure and this helps them to develop their confidence and fluency. Leaders develop pupils' love of reading throughout the school.

As a result, disadvantaged pupils adore books and successfully access the rest of the curriculum.

Pupils' behaviour is positive across the school. There are clear routines for all pupils, including the youngest.

This helps pupils know how to behave. The school teaches pupils how to manage their own behaviour well. Pupils enjoy school because they feel safe and well cared for.

Consequently, most pupils attend school regularly. The school provides effective help for pupils and their families to overcome barriers that make regular attendance more difficult.

The school teaches pupils about equality and protected characteristics.

Pupils are clear about what these are and about respecting people from different backgrounds. In Reception, for example, children think about various cultures by looking at books and tasting different types of food. Pupils develop a secure understanding of their local area through trips to important local sites such as Silverstone.

These visits link strongly to the curriculum and help pupils make connections in their learning.

Leaders care deeply about the school and its community. Leaders at all levels have a strong commitment to the school's values, ethos and ambition.

Governors are well trained and active in their roles. They provide an appropriate level of challenge and support to help move the school forward. Staff feel well supported, and the school benefits from a positive relationship with its community.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a few subjects, staff do not systematically check what pupils have learned and can remember. As a result, not all pupils achieve as well as they could.

Leaders should ensure that teachers use assessment to check what pupils have learned and use this information to adapt the curriculum so that all pupils develop and embed their knowledge in all areas of the curriculum

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