St Oswald’s Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Oswald's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Care, kindness, and warmth are on offer to all who attend St Oswald's. The staff, pupils and local school community work in harmony.

Staff and pupils live and breathe the school's vision of 'Learning for all, caring for each other, preparing for the future'.

The school has the highest of ambitions for all pupils. These ambitions are both academic and social.

The broad, exciting curriculum, sparks interest and curiosity in the pupils, who have a thirst for new knowledge. Staff bring learning to life through well-chosen activities. ...Pupils are independent learners; they are given the freedom to discuss what they are learning in class.

This contributes to the positive progress pupils make.

Pupils are confident. They trust adults in the school and freely turn to them for help and advice when they have worries.

Pupils actively enjoy spending time with each other. They care about each other. Pupils are quick to make sure that any visitors to school know that if you are a pupil at St Oswald's, you will always have a friend.

Behaviour in school is excellent. Bullying is very rare. When it does happen, it is promptly dealt with in a robust manner.

The children in the early years learn in an environment that is carefully considered. Staff and children interact positively. This helps the children to think more deeply as they consider questions that adults pose.

Staff encourage curiosity in them as they effectively explore different threads of learning with the children. This positive start in early years helps to set children off on a journey of joy and success in school.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are integral members of this school community.

All pupils learn and play together. Staff have the knowledge and skills to support pupils' individual needs.

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

When pupils attend St Oswald's, they experience a broad and well-considered curriculum.

The school does not stand still. It is continually raising the bar in all aspects of provision. In relation to curriculum content, subject leader reviews and audits have been carefully considered as part of the school's continuous self-improvement.

This has underpinned the school's curriculum development work. This work is beginning to impact positively on how pupils independently link their prior learning to new ideas. However, these ambitious changes are at an earlier stage of development.

Prioritising reading is central to everything that happens at St Oswald's. The progress pupils make in reading at the end of key stage 2 is strong. A high proportion of pupils achieve the higher standard in reading at the end of Year 6.

Staff and pupils value learning to read, reading to learn and reading for pleasure. Pupils do not see reading as a chore. All staff at the school see themselves as teachers of reading.

Supporting pupils to be fluent readers begins in the early years. Phonics is part of the daily routine for those learning to read. Leaders have ensured that books and resources support individual pupils well.

The school has one hundred book titles for pupils to choose from in its reading spine. Members of the community donated these books. Inside the books are personal messages from the donator.

These messages help inspire pupils to read. They are keen to read a variety of books from different authors and different genres. The pupils embrace opportunities to read in school, out of school and in the school's new indoor and outside reading area.

Pupils are encouraged to use words and phrases that link to the subject area in lessons. Staff model how to use language that is specific to the topics and subject areas to pupils. For example, in physical education, the member of staff used 'cadence' and 'stride length' when teaching athletics.

The pupils then went on to use the same language with expertise.

Children in early years have a wide variety of opportunities to learn. They learn independently and are supported by adults.

Children enjoy learning through play both inside and outside. This provision has been carefully planned to support different areas of learning while still giving the children the freedom to be creative. The children are polite and respectful.

They take turns and work together in a caring manner. Children use the calm areas in the early years provision to work quietly and relax.

The behaviour of pupils throughout school is commendable.

The pupils have positive attitudes to learning in class. The relationships and sex education and health education curriculum links positively with the school's approach to behaviour. This supports pupils to understand how to behave.

Pupils recognise the value of being respectful and treating others with kindness. Disruption is rare, however, when it does occur staff quickly use strategies to help support the pupils to reset and re-engage.

The school works with families to support pupils on an individual basis.

If a pupil has SEND, leaders ensure that staff get relevant information about the pupils promptly. This enables staff to support pupils with SEND to access the rich curriculum offer.

Pupils at the school enjoy the wealth of clubs and trips that are on offer.

From the debate club who have recently visited the Houses of Parliament to the eco-club who are working to improve the local and wider community for future generations. The richness of opportunity for all supports the pupils to be well-rounded knowledgeable citizens.

The staff are universally positive about the school and working in what some describe as their 'dream job'.

Workload and well-being are at the forefront of leaders' minds. Staff feel extremely well supported personally and professionally. The governing body is fully invested in the school and the wider community.

They provide valuable expertise in a variety of areas. Support, challenge and care are forthcoming from governors in equal measure. As one governor told the inspector 'being a governor at St Oswald's is a privilege'.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school has recently refined their thinking around curriculum design, in order to use what is working well to support pupils' achievement in all subjects. The impact of these changes is not embedded.

Pupils do not consistently achieve the school's ambitious expectations. The school should continue to support middle leaders and staff to consistently implement the updated curriculum in all lessons to help pupils achieve the highest possible outcomes.

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 in March 2019.

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