St Mary’s Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love coming to this school. They are safe, having developed trusted relationships with the adults who care for them.

They epitomise the school's core Christian values of thankfulness, compassion, community, truthfulness, courage and forgiveness.Pupils are happy and enthusiastic learners who want to succeed. They show resilience in approaching challenging tasks.

Many pupils achieve well as a result. However, pupils do not always apply their writing skills across the curriculum as well as they could.The diverse range of opportunities in school enables pupils to be proactive in making a difference to the lives of others.

They are proud to adopt leadership... roles as class ambassadors, eco-warriors and librarians. They actively seek to support younger children. Their work in supporting a charity in Ghana demonstrates their compassion for others.

Visitors to school inspire pupils to follow their own talents and interests. These include a paraplegic speaker, an Olympian and a symphony orchestra. Along with visits, including film studios and 'glamping', pupils can see opportunities to follow their dreams.

Pupils work closely with the local heritage club and the Royal British Legion. They participate in trust-wide competitions, including poetry slams and orienteering. These exciting, high-quality experiences securely prepare pupils for their future lives.

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

The curriculum is rich, inclusive and ambitious. With pupils at its heart, the curriculum ensures that all pupils have a 'voice'. Pupils develop their views and identity through this.

Children in the early years quickly learn key social skills through their interaction with skilled adults. Adults listen to children's ideas and incorporate their interests within their learning. Children learn and develop through play and exploration.

Learning activities grow in complexity to enable a smooth transition to formal learning in Year 1.

The school prioritises early reading as fundamental to the progress of all pupils. Pupils start learning to read immediately after they start in Reception.

They learn through focused and interactive phonics sessions delivered by expert adults. Staff quickly identify any pupils who do not keep up with the pace of the phonics programme. These pupils receive the appropriate support to improve their reading accuracy and fluency.

As pupils progress through the school, they access a wide range of increasingly sophisticated and diverse texts. As a result, most pupils achieve well in reading.

Across all subject areas, teachers deliver effective lessons supported by their in-depth subject knowledge.

They provide learning activities that sustain pupils' interests. However, teachers do not always have high enough expectations of pupils' writing in a few subjects. Pupils do not routinely apply the grammar, punctuation and structural skills that they already know.

This means that pupils do not always get the opportunity they need to practise their writing skills or convey their thinking as well as they might. As a result, some more able pupils do not achieve as highly as they could.

Inclusivity is central to the school.

Leaders ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) can access the full curriculum. This includes opportunities to apply their knowledge and skills with increasing fluency and independence. The staff identify these pupils quickly and provide the most appropriate support.

They liaise effectively with external agencies to secure the correct support. Pupils can also access mindfulness sessions and play therapy to support their well-being needs. Pupils with SEND make strong progress from their starting points.

The school has high expectations of behaviour. Pupils rise to these expectations and demonstrate exemplary behaviour at all times. They are highly respectful to adults and considerate to each other.

Pupils eagerly support each other and show great care for younger pupils. While a very few pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should, leaders do everything they possibly can to encourage them to attend. Leaders closely track pupils' attendance.

They liaise proactively with external agencies to secure the right support for families.

Through the school's celebration of diversity, pupils develop a broad and deep appreciation of other cultures, faiths and communities. Pupils learn about democracy through the curriculum, their school leadership roles and visits from their local MP.

They debate moral and social issues across subjects, including challenging stereotypes.

Staff feel that leaders, both at trust and school level prioritise their workload and well-being. They value the training opportunities provided.

Trust leaders and local governors are rightly proud of the substantial improvement work driven by the headteacher.

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, teachers do not always have high enough expectations of pupils' writing.

They do not insist that pupils apply the grammar, punctuation and structural skills they already know in their writing. This means that pupils do not always convey their thinking with the accuracy and clarity they are capable of. Leaders must ensure that teachers set high expectations of writing and that pupils automatically apply their skills in all of their writing.