St Nicholas Church of England Primary School, West Tanfield

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Nicholas Church of England Primary School, West Tanfield continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive at this small and inclusive school.

The school has a strong spirit of community. It shows genuine care for pupils and works in effective partnership with parents and carers to meet pupils' individual needs. Pupils enjoy school.

They work and play happily with each other and build trusting relationships with staff.

The school has high expectations for what pupils can achieve. It has developed an ambitious curriculum that reflects those expectations.

It prepares pupils well for their transition to secondary school. ...Pupils work hard in lessons. They show highly positive attitudes to their learning.

Pupils' behaviour is exemplary. They are polite, friendly and conduct themselves in a calm an orderly manner. Pupils show respect and kindness to others.

They cooperate with each other and support each other's well-being. Pupils take increasing responsibility for their own behaviour as they move through the school.

The school provides pupils with a wide range of opportunities to develop their talents and interests.

Pupils take part in clubs such as sports and music. They take on roles as eco warriors, mental health ambassadors and reading buddies. Pupils make a positive contribution to the life of the school.

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

Over the last few years, the school has developed a new curriculum that is both broad and ambitious. The school has applied considerable thought and intelligence to the design of its curriculum. It has established Nursery provision and ensured that the early years curriculum prepares children well for key stage 1.

It has also increased the number of mixed-age classes. Pupils build their knowledge and subject-specific skills in a coherent and progressive manner. They learn to work like subject specialists, such as mathematicians, scientists and historians.

The school identified weaknesses in the previous curriculum. These weaknesses, together with the pandemic, left gaps in pupils' knowledge. Integral to the design of the new curriculum is regular re-visiting of what pupils have learned before.

This is helping pupils to know and remember more. However, older pupils have only experienced the revised curriculum towards the end of key stage 2. It has taken time to address previous gaps in their learning before new learning could be introduced.

Teachers have a deep and secure subject knowledge. They check pupils' understanding and select activities that secure and extend pupils' knowledge. Pupils learn without disruption.

They listen attentively to their teachers and focus on their work. Pupils produce work of a high quality. They are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities access the same curriculum as their peers. The school identifies pupils' needs with skill and precision. It also ensures that teachers and other adults receive appropriate training.

This allows them to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. Pupils with SEND achieve well.

Reading is central to the life of the school.

From the start of Reception, pupils learn to read using phonics. They read books matched to their phonic ability and become confident and fluent readers. Pupils who need extra help with their reading get it.

This helps Reception and Year 1 pupils to keep up with their peers. It helps older pupils to develop their reading fluency and comprehension. Also, the school promotes a love for reading.

Pupils benefit from a school library, class libraries and reading events and competitions. Pupils enjoy reading and read often at school.

The school prioritises pupils' wider development.

It has established a comprehensive and age-appropriate personal development programme. Pupils learn about relationships and equality and diversity. They are taught how to keep themselves safe, including online.

They also take part in daily exercise that promotes their physical and mental health. Collective worship, often led by pupils or 'worship warriors', is a significant feature of school life. It develops pupils' spirituality.

The school is providing pupils with a high-quality education. Leaders, including governors, share a strong commitment to develop the school further. Governors work in collaboration with school leaders and provide effective support and challenge.

The federation with another school contributes to the sharing of ideas and expertise. This supports the school's development. The school values its staff.

It ensures that staff workload is manageable and prioritises staff well-being. Staff enjoy working at the school. They are part of a collaborative and inclusive staff team.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Pupils in upper key stage 2 have only benefited from the new curriculum towards the end of their time at the school. The gaps in their knowledge caused by weaknesses in the previous curriculum and exacerbated by the pandemic have taken time to address.

This means that some pupils in upper key stage 2 do not possess a deep and coherent body of knowledge in some subjects. The school should further embed knowledge retrieval strategies into the curriculum for these pupils to secure the knowledge they need for the next stage of their education.

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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good on 13 March 2019.