St Michael’s Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school Leaders have taken effective action to improve the school following the last inspection. In particular, they have strengthened the quality of teaching, which is now good. The head of school has been key to the improvement.

She has high expectations. She is approachable and collaborative. Necessary changes have been implemented effectively while maintaining high staff morale.

The multi-academy trust and head of school have rightly recognised the need to strengthen the capacity of the leadership further. Training and coaching opportunities have been provided for individuals. Currently, the impact of the wider leadership team is inconsistent... in ensuring high-quality teaching, learning and assessment.

Sometimes, teachers do not plan learning so that pupils, particularly the most able, can build on their prior knowledge and deepen their learning further. This means that pupils are not always challenged sufficiently and encouraged to think for themselves. Pupils make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

They leave school well equipped to access their secondary education. Leaders have been successful in improving the teaching of phonics. Consistently good phonics teaching now means that more pupils are successful in the Year 1 phonics screening check.

Pupils then use their skills in their reading and writing. The curriculum is broad and balanced. At times, activities planned do not encourage pupils to deepen their knowledge sufficiently.

Leaders ensure that disadvantaged pupils or pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. Interventions are well thought out and quickly implemented. Consequently, these pupils make good progress from their starting points.

Safeguarding is effective. It is underpinned by the school's culture, where everyone is expected to respect and care for each other. Pupils talk readily about their school, where everyone has friends to look after them.

Pupils behaviour is good. They are diligent in lessons. They play well together.

Children get off to a good start in early years. Leaders and staff make sure children make strong progress from their starting points. As a result, children are well prepared for Year 1.

Information about this school

The school is larger than the average-sized primary school. The school is close to the Culdrose Royal Naval Air Station and a large number of children from service families attend the school. The proportion of pupils with SEND is broadly average.

The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is slightly below average. The school is a member of the Celtic Cross multi-academy trust. Governance is undertaken by the board of trustees, the chief executive officer and a local monitoring council.

The school was subject to a Statutory Inspection of Anglican and Methodist Schools in November 2015. Its distinctiveness as a Church of England school was judged to be good. A privately-run pre-school operates on the school site but, as it is not managed by the school, it is not included in this inspection.

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