St Nicholas Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to this school. They are sensible and conduct themselves well.

They take great pride in the roles and responsibilities that they undertake. Pupils value the warm relationships that they have with staff. They stated that staff are friendly and approachable.

This helps pupils to feel safe and secure.

The school is ambitious for what pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), should learn. The school's published data for 2023 demonstrates that pupils' attainment and progress in English and mathematics is often significantly above the national average.

However, while pupils also achieve well in ...other parts of the curriculum, they do not consistently reach the same high standards.

Pupils engage well with their wider community. For example, at the time of the inspection, they had produced artwork for an exhibition commemorating the 150th anniversary of their local church.

Pupils value their link with a partner school in Spain. This helps them to develop their appreciation for other cultures. It also enhances their learning of a modern foreign language.

Pupils appreciate the opportunities to learn musical instruments. They all get to learn brass instruments in Year 5 and play pieces of music together as part of a class orchestra.

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

The school has implemented a broad and ambitious curriculum.

It has precisely identified the key knowledge that it expects pupils to learn by the end of each year in each curriculum area. In some subjects, such as English and mathematics, the school provides precise guidance to teachers on how and when to teach this curriculum content. Although from time to time, there is some variability in how well content is delivered, pupils still achieve high academic standards in these subjects.

In some subjects, including in the early years, the school has not provided the same level of guidance to teachers about when some key knowledge should be taught. This impedes teachers' ability to help pupils to deepen their understanding of some core concepts. It also hinders how well the school builds on some of what pupils have already learned.

In these parts of the curriculum, pupils do not develop a rich body of knowledge like they do in some others. Nonetheless, pupils do achieve well across most of the curriculum.

The school uses different approaches to check what pupils know and remember in their learning.

However, the school does not ensure that the strategies it uses to check what pupils have understood are effective. This sometimes means that pupils do not get timely help and guidance when they might be struggling with aspects of their learning. It also means that some pupils do not get well-tailored support to meet some of their learning needs.

This includes for some pupils with SEND.The school has appropriate systems in place to identify pupils with SEND. It caters well for some pupils with more complex SEND who access the 'rainbow room' for parts of the day.

The school promotes a love of reading. Pupils engage with high-quality texts that develop their appreciation for people's differences and other cultures. They enjoy reading widely and often.

The school prioritises early reading. Children in the Reception Year begin the school's chosen phonics programme as soon as they start school. They read books that are well matched to the sounds that they know.

They receive additional support to keep up with their learning of new sounds. The majority of pupils quickly become confident readers and meet the phonics screening check in Year 1.

In all subjects, the school has identified the key vocabulary that pupils need to learn for each topic.

However, in some cases, such as in the early years and with some pupils with SEND, teacher interactions do not enable some children and pupils to develop their communication and language skills as well as they could.

The school ensures that attendance is a high priority for everyone. Pupils rarely miss out on their schooling.

They have high rates of attendance. Pupils conduct themselves well during the school day. Most are attentive during their lessons.

They are very sensible and courteous when they move around the school.

The school caters well for the personal development of its pupils. It makes good use of the local coastline and nearby city centre to bring the curriculum to life.

Pupils have access to a range of extra-curricular clubs from which they generally benefit. Pupils are proud of their sports teams. They enjoy competing against other nearby schools.

Pupils enjoy the residential visits that the school arranges for them. They have a secure knowledge of how to look after their physical and mental well-being and develop an understanding of the fundamental British values. They are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

Staff are appreciative of the school's actions to support their workload. They gave examples of how the school is responsive when additional tasks require extra time to complete. Governors play an active part in school life.

They fulfil their statutory duties.

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 subject curriculums, and the curriculum in the early years, the school is not clear enough about how and when key knowledge should be taught.

This impedes teachers in delivering some curriculum content effectively. It also limits teachers' ability to build on pupils' prior learning. This means that pupils do not develop a deep understanding of some important concepts in some subjects.

The school should review the design of these curriculums and give clearer guidance to teachers on how and when to deliver the intended key knowledge to pupils. ? In some instances, the school does not ensure that assessment strategies are used effectively to check pupils' understanding. This sometimes means that opportunities are missed to identify and help pupils who are struggling with their learning.

It also means that teachers sometimes do not adapt their guidance and support to respond to the needs of some pupils, including some of those with SEND. The school should ensure that staff are well equipped to carry out robust checks on learning so that they provide pupils with effective help and support that is appropriate to their needs. ? The school does not cater for the development of pupils' communication and language skills as well as it could, particularly in the early years and for some pupils with SEND.

Some interactions between pupils and staff do not help pupils to deepen their learning and expand their vocabulary. This means that pupils miss opportunities to develop their language skills as well as they could. The school should ensure that there is a language-rich environment in which pupils can engage in high-quality dialogue with their teachers and classmates.