St Lukes CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

St Luke's is a good school. It enables pupils' to make good progress and reach above average standards in national and school-based tests by the time they leave.

The school has been successful in boosting pupils' attainment in writing and provides them with many exciting opportunities to write across the curriculum. The number of pupils who are reaching the higher levels in English by the time they leave has increased, and is on target to improve again by the end of the current academic year. The school has many strengths and some aspects of its work are outstanding.

Senior leaders engage parents and carers exceptionally well and they, in turn, value the school highly. They greatly appreciate... its systems for open communication and the many initiatives that involve them in their children's learning. As one commented, 'This school is a large school yet it has the ability to make it feel like a small one', and another said, 'The school does a fantastic job all round and it gives the children amazing opportunities to pursue their interests.'

The school cares for all its pupils exceptionally well, ensuring that they are safe, and provides for those whose circumstances make them vulnerable in a sensitive and responsive way. Pupils' behaviour is outstanding and they have excellent and very mature attitudes to their learning. As one said, 'If you don't try, then you don't get your goals'.

The high uptake and wide range of sporting opportunities, and pupils' excellent understanding of healthy eating, underpin their appreciation of what constitutes a healthy lifestyle. Partnerships in the local community and with other schools are outstanding and the school takes the lead in various community initiatives. The strengths of the school's excellent promotion of community cohesion are evident in its impact on pupils' personal development, especially in their outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

Teaching is good and teachers have high expectations of their pupils and what they are capable of doing. They accurately assess pupils' learning needs and use this information to adapt work for all groups based on their prior attainment. During the inspection, lessons observed were consistently good and some were outstanding.

Nevertheless, on occasions, work is not always challenging enough for individuals and at times, teachers talk for too long which limits the amount of time available for pupils to work independently. Pupils recognise that a distinct strength of the school is the leadership and management of the headteacher, who is well supported by a highly professional and committed leadership team. Senior leaders' close teamwork has enabled the school to continue to make good improvement in several aspects of its work, and their strong drive for improvement ensures that the school has a good capacity to improve further.

Progress across the school is accelerating because leaders quickly identify any pupils who are not doing as well as they could, act on the information and track their progress carefully. They also monitor and evaluate other aspects of the school's work in great detail, although in observing lessons and scrutinising pupils' work, they do not always focus carefully enough on the impact of teaching on learning.

Information about the school

St Luke's is a larger than average-sized school.

Nearly all pupils are from White British backgrounds with the remainder from a mixture of other ethnic groups. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below the national average. No pupils are at the early stages of acquiring English.

The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is below the national average. The school has a number of externally accredited awards such as National Healthy Schools status, Sports Active Gold Mark and is an accredited Dyslexia Friendly School. The Farlea Kids Club (St Luke's) which provides childcare on the school site is privately managed and, therefore, inspected separately.