St Paul’s CofE Primary School, Nuneaton

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Paul's CofE Primary School, Nuneaton continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to St Paul's CofE Primary School.

They try their best to live out the school's vision to 'shine like stars in the world'.

Pupils take pride in their school. They show a keen interest in the running of the school and take on a range of leadership roles, such as being 'courageous advocates'.

This involves supporting a range of charities, both national and global and in the local area. The school parliament works with staff, governors, parents, pupils and St. Paul's church to identify worthy causes to support.

Pupils are fully eng...aged in their lessons. Positive behaviour is instilled from the moment children enter the nursery provision. Pupils are eager to talk about what they enjoy about their school.

Pupils are polite and courteous to one another and to adults when moving around the school. If bullying takes place, adults quickly put things right.

Leaders have high expectations of pupils' achievement.

They offer them an interesting and balanced curriculum. Pupils can attend a wide range of clubs linked to their interests, including art, horse riding and sports. Leaders work hard to make positive links with the local community.

These include visits to local places of worship.

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

Leaders have redesigned the curriculum. Across subjects, leaders have identified the key knowledge that pupils are expected to learn and the order in which this knowledge should be taught.

The curriculum is organised so that teachers and staff are clear about the knowledge, skills and vocabulary that pupils will learn. Staff use a variety of approaches to check how well pupils are progressing in their learning. This helps to identify gaps in pupils' knowledge.

At the time of the inspection, not all of these gaps had been addressed. This is because some of the changes to the curriculum are new. Some pupils have therefore not acquired the knowledge they need to access new curriculum content with confidence.

In the early years, leaders have carefully mapped out what children will learn across many areas of learning. This is then linked to the curriculum that pupils follow in Year 1. In areas such as mathematics, children learn the early knowledge and skills that help them in their later learning.

In other areas, such as expressive arts and design and understanding of the world, children's learning is not as secure.

Leaders prioritise the teaching of reading. Children in the early years learn phonics from the start of the Reception Year.

They learn and remember new sounds successfully. Pupils can read books that contain the sounds they know accurately. The school has a double-decker reading bus installed in the playground.

Every class gets to read in it weekly from a wide selection of high-quality books. Pupils enjoy reading and talking about books. Pupils read with fluency, expression and confidence.

Pupils' personal development is a high priority at the school. Through the school parliament, they know that they can make meaningful and positive contributions to the life of the school. They have a strong sense of democratic principles through the process of electing school 'MPs' to represent each class.

Pupils engage with views that are different from their own and are keen to challenge discrimination. They are well prepared for life in modern Britain. Pupils enjoy educational trips and visits, which are closely linked to their work within the curriculum.

All pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), take part in a rich variety of wider activities. For example, they perform in an annual school play.

Pupils behave well in lessons.

Teachers deliver the curriculum without interruptions. During social times, pupils play well together. The majority of parents have a positive view about how leaders manage pupils' behaviour.

One parent, who reflected the views of many, commented, 'I am really happy with the school. Both of my children enjoy going to school and come out smiling at the end of the day.'

Staff morale is high.

Leaders and governors have been proactive in seeking the support of knowledgeable experts from the local authority and beyond. Staff are overwhelmingly positive about leaders and the professional support they receive. Staff are proud to work at the school and say that the school feels like family.

Leaders' actions to manage staff workload are appreciated.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding across the school.

Staff are well trained and follow safeguarding policies and procedures consistently. They are able to quickly identify possible signs of neglect or harm.There are effective systems in place to record and pass on all concerns.

Leaders follow up these concerns. For example, reports of inappropriate language are recorded and addressed through assemblies and lessons. Leaders also understand the importance of working with external agencies when required.

Pupils learn about staying safe through the curriculum.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have recently developed a more ambitious curriculum for the foundation subjects. However, these changes, such as in subjects like design technology, have not addressed the gaps in early knowledge for some pupils.

Some pupils' learning therefore does not build on what they already know. Leaders should ensure that pupils' learning in all subjects builds on what they already know. ? In some subjects, the curriculum does not build on from the early years.

In these subjects, children are not as well prepared for learning in key stage 1 as they could be. Subject leaders should ensure that the early years curriculum prepares children well for learning in key stage 1.

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 January 2013.

The school had a section 8 (ungraded inspection) in 2018