St Mary’s CofE (A) Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. Leaders, managers and governors have ensured that teaching and achievement have improved since the last inspection and are now both good. Pupils currently make good progress, whatever their circumstances or ability.

This includes disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. Positive relationships, between pupils themselves and with staff, mean that the school is a harmonious community where all pupils thrive academically and socially. Provision for the early years is good.

Children learn well in the Reception class and are well prepared for Year 1. Provision for pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development i...s particularly strong. Pupils learn the values they need to cope with life in modern Britain.

The new National Curriculum has been successfully introduced. Staff have ensured that pupils in the mixed-age classes are given topics that capture their interest and motivate them to learn more. Pupils enjoy school and are kept very safe there.

Their behaviour is good and they are keen to work hard. Governors have played a full part improving the school since the last inspection. They support and challenge the headteacher effectively.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : Teaching is not always challenging enough to ensure that all pupils, including the most able, make consistently rapid progress in writing and mathematics. Recent improvements in pupils' writing in literacy are not always sustained in their work in other subjects. Teachers do not make clear their expectations for pupils' spelling, punctuation and grammar in these subjects, so standards are not as high as they should be.

Information about this school

St Mary's Primary School is much smaller than the average-sized primary school. Children in the early years are taught in one full-time Reception / Year 1 class. Elsewhere, pupils are taught in two classes, each of which includes pupils from more than one year group.

There have been significant changes in staffing in the last two years, with all the current teachers joining the school since September 2014. Almost all pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils supported through the pupil premium is below average.

The pupil premium is additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those looked after by the local authority. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is average. The school runs a daily breakfast club.

This was included in the inspection. The school works closely with a Local Leader of Education from Parkside Primary School. There were too few pupils in Year 6 in 2014 for the government's floor standards to be applicable.