St Mary’s Church of England School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy, polite and welcoming at this school. The school's vision of 'shine as lights in the world' is visible in this nurturing community.

The school is ambitious for all its pupils, and staff want the best for every child. The key school values of resilience, integrity and respect can be seen in the way staff and pupils work together.

Pupils behave well and know who to go to if they have a problem.

They acknowledge that bullying does occur, but the school have systems and processes in place to ensure any matters are dealt with swiftly. Pupils describe the school as 'nice', 'amazing' and 'caring'.

There are supportive relationships between ...staff and pupils.

From the early years onwards, pupils are taught clear routines and expectations to enable them to become active citizens in the school.

There are a variety of clubs and extracurricular activities. Pupils enjoy an array of clubs, for example, chess, cross country and Lego.

The curriculum is enhanced with well-planned trips and visits. For example, pupils speak enthusiastically about their experiences on residential trips and the visit to the O2 Arena for Young Voices. These experiences help to deepen their learning.

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

Since the previous inspection, the curriculum across the school has been reviewed and refined. The school has thought carefully about the knowledge that pupils should learn and remember. The curriculum is ambitious and captures the interests of pupils.

This means that pupils achieve well and are prepared for their next stage of education.

In many subjects, the curriculum is well-structured from the early years to Year 6. For example, in mathematics, the content is broken down into small steps to help pupils build their knowledge over time.

Carefully structured tasks help pupils connect and consolidate what they already know. However, some subjects are at an earlier stage of development. In these subjects, pupils do not learn as well as they could.

As a result, they do not always develop a secure and deep understanding over time. The school is aware of this and has plans to address it in a well-structured way.

Reading is prioritised across the school.

This begins straight away in the early years, where pupils are surrounded by inviting books. Pupils learn sounds through rhymes, songs and listening to stories. Teachers read to their classes daily, selecting texts that bring variety, diversity and high levels of engagement.

Staff deliver the phonics programme with expertise. Pupils' books are matched to the sounds they are learning in their phonics lessons. Staff provide intervention and support for pupils to help them keep up.

A love of reading is encouraged successfully throughout the school. Pupils enjoy choosing high-quality texts from the well-resourced library. This helps to motivate pupils to read often.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are known well by staff. As a result, their needs are identified and understood. Adaptations to help pupils learn are usually appropriate.

Pupils with SEND enjoy learning alongside their peers. They achieve well at the end of key stage 2. However, there are inconsistencies in checking whether pupils with SEND benefit as much as possible from their learning.

This means that these checks are not always carried out effectively to ensure that pupils receive the support they need to make the best possible progress. The school is continuing to strengthen this process.

Pupils, including those in the early years, behave well in and around the school.

Pupils really value the school's rules and rewards. Positive relationships and clear expectations enable pupils to concentrate and enjoy their work. The few pupils who find it difficult to manage their emotions and behaviour receive help to quickly refocus on their learning in appropriate ways.

Robust and effective systems are in place to ensure that pupils continue to attend school regularly and on time.

The school's work to develop pupils' personal development is effective. Pupils learn to respect differences and diversity.

They know that others may have different faiths, beliefs and cultures, and they understand that families are not all the same. Pupils enjoy lots of musical and sporting activities. The school provides a wide range of opportunities for pupils to develop their own leadership skills.

Pupils are proud to take on positions of responsibility within the school, such as being school councillors and play leaders. These opportunities enable pupils to play an active role in their school community.

The trust offers strong support, challenge and guidance, which the school welcomes and embraces.

Staff are proud to work at the school and appreciate the consideration given to their workload and well-being. Staff morale is high due to the strong shared vision of high-quality education for all pupils.

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 wider curriculum subjects, the curriculum is not sufficiently well designed to help pupils consistently build on what they already know and can do. As a result, pupils do not always develop a secure and deep understanding over time. The school should strengthen its approaches to checks on pupils' learning so it can identify and address gaps in learning as swiftly as possible.

• Checks on the effectiveness of the support provided for pupils with SEND are not consistently in place. As a result, some pupils do not always make the best possible progress. The school must ensure that provision for pupils with SEND is always precisely targeted to the needs of each pupil.

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