St Michael’s CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Michael's CofE Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are cheerful and happy at this school. They treat each other and adults with kindness and consideration. They are polite and well-mannered.

They appreciate the positive friendships that they have with each other. Pupils know that there are adults in school who care for them and will help them if they are sad or worried. They value the strong relationships that they have with staff.

Pupils have an astute understanding of how people can be different and why it is important to be tolerant and respectful of everyone. They are empathetic and compassionate. Pupils value ...the opportunity to speak regularly with pupils at a school in India.

They enjoy exchanging stories about their lives, culture and experiences. This helps pupils to develop a sense of the wider world and the differences and similarities between people.

The school has high expectations for pupils' achievement.

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), have positive attitudes towards their learning. They pay particular attention to the school's values of perseverance and courage and are keen to try hard and persist. They behave well and focus on their learning in lessons.

Pupils achieve well.

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

The school has designed a broad and rich curriculum. It has broken down the important knowledge for pupils to learn into smaller steps of learning.

This helps pupils to build knowledge in a logical way from the beginning of the early years to the end of Year 6. The school identifies pupils with SEND early. Staff are adept at supporting pupils with additional needs to learn the same ambitious curriculum as their classmates.

The school has also carefully considered how to adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of pupils in mixed-age classes.

Teachers have a secure knowledge of the subjects that they teach. Generally, they present information clearly and choose appropriate activities to help pupils to practise their learning.

However, in a few subjects, the delivery of the curriculum is not helping pupils to acquire the depth of knowledge, skills and vocabulary that they should. As a result, some pupils are not as prepared for new learning as they should be.

In some subjects, the curriculums have been recently introduced.

The school is still developing assessment strategies that teachers will use to check pupils' learning is secure. In these subjects, teachers are not sufficiently clear about what pupils know and can remember from previous learning before they move on to new learning.

The school has prioritised reading across all year groups.

It also promotes a love of reading among pupils. For example, some pupils are school librarians. They are passionate about reading, take good care of the library area and gladly recommend books to other pupils.

Many pupils read widely and often in and out of school. The school has established a systematic approach to the delivery of the phonics programme. Staff have the knowledge and expertise to teach it consistently well.

Pupils apply the phonics knowledge that they have learned and become confident and fluent readers. Those pupils who require additional support with reading are helped to catch up.

Pupils behave well in lessons, around the school and at breaktimes.

They follow well-established routines and listen carefully to staff. The school has prioritised attendance. It has a strong understanding of the causes of some pupils' absence.

It takes effective action to help families and to secure improvements if pupils have low prior attendance.

The school ensures that pupils have many opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge beyond the academic curriculum. For example, some pupils are members of the school council.

They are proactive in organising school and community events and raising money for charity. Pupils value the wide range of activities and trips that they can attend. For example, they enjoy sports clubs, tournaments and festivals.

They also appreciate trips to museums and to other cities.

Parents and the community hold the school in high regard. Governors and school leaders ensure that the education that the school provides has a positive impact on pupils.

Governors hold the school to account and provide effective support and challenge. Staff appreciate the steps that the school has taken to prioritise their workload during a period of curriculum development.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, the curriculums are new. As a result, the school is still developing assessment systems to check what pupils know and can remember from previous learning. In these subjects, pupils learning is not as secure as it should be before they move on to new learning.

The school should ensure that staff are well equipped to check pupils' prior knowledge before moving on to new learning so that pupils can build knowledge securely over time. ? In a few subjects, the curriculums have been recently introduced. The delivery of the curriculum in these subjects is not helping some pupils to learn all that they should.

As a result, some pupils do not develop the depth of knowledge that they need to be fully prepared for new learning. The school should ensure that teachers have the support that they need to deliver the curriculum consistently well.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in December 2013.