St Luke’s Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Luke's Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders at St Luke's Primary School ensure that staff are 'champions for every child'.

Pupils are calm and well cared for. Relationships between staff and pupils are strong. Pupils are well known by staff.

Staff and pupils sing together in lessons and often as they move around the school. The school is a happy place to be.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported by well-trained staff.

The school has a range of specialist resources that include a hydrotherapy pool and sensory spaces. The school has expanded its early years p...rovision to provide more places for younger children.

Staff have high expectations for all pupils.

The curriculum is ambitious but considerate of the individual needs of pupils. The development of pupils' communication skills is a fundamental principle woven throughout the curriculum. This is evident around the school.

Leaders have effective systems for monitoring behaviour. Behaviour is good. Pupils feel safe and say bullying is not an issue in school.

If bullying were to happen, pupils are confident that staff would support them.

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

Leaders have developed a curriculum that is personalised for pupils with complex SEND. It is both ambitious and mindful of individual pupils' needs.

It builds upon the national curriculum and has an emphasis on communication. The curriculum is sequenced in a logical way. It is designed to build knowledge and revisit learning over time.

Pupils are grouped into pathways and lessons are taught in themes that are tailored to meet pupils' SEND. Teachers have developed detailed curriculum plans that contain bespoke elements for individual pupils. However, some teachers are not fully knowledgeable or experienced in meeting all of the different needs that pupils have.

The quality of some teaching can vary as a result. Leaders are aware of this.Leaders prioritise reading.

There is a culture of reading in the school. Pupils enjoy reading. As pupils progress through the school their fluency and accuracy when reading improves.

Leaders' plans for a new phonics strategy are designed to ensure learning to read is engaging for all pupils. In early years, teachers pitch early reading at an appropriate level, focusing on communication and initial sounds, building children's phonic knowledge.

The provision in early years is very new.

Children are taught in a recently developed building adjacent to the main school. Rooms are large and well resourced. Children behave well and are settled.

They are well supported by staff and are taught a range of subjects that helps children understand their learning in their own context. For example, during the inspection, children could demonstrate that they have developed their knowledge of quantity and size by deciding what amount of snack to ask for at break time.

Assessment is used extensively and measures different aspects of pupils' learning.

It includes checking pupils' personal development and progress towards education, health and care (EHC) plan targets. Teachers say it is a 'large system'. Leaders recognise assessment could be made more efficient.

Leaders are investing in a new assessment process that is more responsive to teachers' workload.

Governance is strong and the school is well supported by the local authority. Parents and carers speak highly of the school.

The school is growing and there is an increasing number of pupils attending. All admissions are carefully considered. Governors are involved in this process.

However, some parents are anxious about their children returning to school due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This means some pupils are missing out on their education.

Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe.

There are reminders around school about keeping safe. Some resources are adapted to pupil needs, with symbol books and picture posters above computers that promote online safety. The voice of all pupils is heard, including those pupils that are non-verbal.

Makaton symbols are placed around learning and play areas to help pupils to express themselves and to make choices.

Pupils behave well. Leaders have implemented effective strategies to monitor and support behaviour.

Pupils needing support with their behaviour benefit from personalised interventions. Suspensions from school are not used. This is a leadership decision that fits the school ethos.

There are no recorded incidents of bullying. Staff are proactive at supporting pupils' behaviour and there is a high staff presence in class to intervene, if needed. However, leaders acknowledge the challenge of tackling language that pupils use but do not understand that may hurt others.

Leaders are addressing this directly in both personal, social and health education (PHSE) lessons and in circle time with staff role modelling.

Pupils' personal development is a large part of school life. The curriculum is carefully planned and includes spiritual, moral, social and cultural opportunities.

Pupils develop their debate and turn-taking skills through the student council. Members are elected by pupils which teaches pupils about democracy. Fundamental British values are taught in PHSE lessons.

During the inspection, pupils were reading books about the Queen and preparing for a garden party to celebrate the Jubilee. Pupils experience cultural awareness days and learn about protected characteristics using 'buddy systems' to develop an understanding of similarities and differences between people. The relationships and sex education (RSE) curriculum is supported by an external provider and leaders have consulted parents about its delivery.

RSE responds to pupils' emerging needs and lessons have been designed based upon parental feedback.

Staff are passionate about their work. Staff say they are supported by leaders.

Unqualified teachers and early career teachers (ECT) say that leaders have adapted their timetables to accommodate training courses. Staff say leaders are approachable and are calm. Leaders have ensured that staff have thirty minutes each day to make contact with parents.

This is appreciated and has grown out of the pandemic response. Leaders demonstrated a strong moral purpose in their response to COVID-19 due to the needs and vulnerabilities of pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding throughout the school. Staff are clear about their responsibilities to keep pupils safe. They understand the risks pupils face in the community.

Staff are aware of the relationship between safeguarding and pupils' SEND vulnerabilities. Safeguarding leaders are further improving systems to record and monitor concerns about pupils' safety. Staff receive regular safeguarding updates and formal safeguarding training provided by the local authority.

Pupils that spoke to inspectors said that they feel safe in school.

Minor administrative errors on the school's single central record were corrected during the inspection.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some pupils' learning needs are not always met because some teachers are not fully knowledgeable or experienced to meet pupils' wide range of learning needs.

Leaders need to further develop teachers' understanding of how pupils with differing complex needs learn so that they can adapt the curriculum effectively for these pupils. ? Leaders need to ensure that all pupils attend school regularly. Leaders' work to improve pupils' attendance has had some impact since all pupils returned to school after periods of national lockdown.

Some parents remain anxious and need support with their children to return to school. Leaders need to continue their work with parents to overcome any barriers to attendance to ensure their children attend school regularly.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 a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 27 and 28 February 2013.

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