St Paul’s CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

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

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including those new to the school, feel happy and safe.

They enjoy each weekday and value their relationships with staff and other pupils. Pupils are very well mannered and considerate of others. Most pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), learn and achieve well because of the high standards set by leaders.

Pupils behave calmly and sensibly, responding well to leaders' high expectations. Pupils trust staff to sort out any incidents of bullying quickly and fairly. Pupils said that they do not use discriminatory language.
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Pupils are excited by the many opportunities that the school provides. All pupils take part in weekly enrichment activities, such as gardening, coding and yoga.

Leaders prioritise the development of pupils' physical and emotional well-being.

For example, pupils run a 'daily mile' around Salford City football stadium. Pupils take part in a range of sports, such as parkour and dodgeball. Pupils contribute their ideas to support the running of the school through the school council and eco committee.

Through such opportunities, pupils at the school are becoming active and responsible citizens.

Pupils leave Year 6 well prepared for secondary school, keen to continue their learning.

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

Leaders know the work of the school well.

They understand the strengths of the education that the school provides. Leaders identify clearly the improvements that will make the biggest difference to pupils' learning and development.

Leaders have designed a broad, ambitious and interesting curriculum that helps pupils to achieve well.

The curriculum builds on the knowledge and skills that children acquire in the early years. For example, in the Nursery and Reception classes children learn about different homes and the area in which they live. In geography in key stage 1, teachers build on pupils' previous knowledge and teach pupils about the United Kingdom before expanding their knowledge of the wider world in key stage 2.

In most subjects, teachers have thought carefully about what they teach and the order in which they teach key information. In history, for example, pupils gain a deep knowledge of different belief systems by studying a range of ancient civilisations, such as the Mayans and Ancient Greeks. Teachers introduce new topics by linking the curriculum to what pupils have already learned.

This helps pupils to make connections between different topics and to remember important information.

Teachers have thought carefully about the words and concepts that they want to teach in each subject. They explain new words to pupils skilfully.

This helps to broaden pupils' vocabulary. Teachers carefully check how well pupils learn new information. They intervene quickly when pupils misunderstand the knowledge that staff teach.

In a small number of subjects, leaders have not given enough thought to the exact knowledge that they want pupils to learn and remember. This results in some teaching of the curriculum being imprecise. It also makes it difficult for teachers and pupils to make connections between topics.

Leaders have focused on improving the teaching of reading as the school's main priority. Staff benefit from high-quality training on phonics and reading. This enables them to deliver the phonics curriculum confidently.

Children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 learn new letter sounds in a logical order. They read books that closely match the letter sounds that they are learning. This helps pupils to consolidate their learning and supports them to become more fluent and confident readers.

Staff provide effective additional support for pupils who struggle to read. This helps them to catch up with their classmates.

Leaders and staff understand pupils' needs.

Staff quickly identify the needs of pupils with SEND and provide effective support to help these pupils with their learning. All pupils follow the same curriculum and work towards the same ambitious aims. Teachers provide extra support for some pupils by breaking down learning activities into smaller chunks.

This helps teachers to ensure that the needs of pupils are met. Pupils, including those with SEND, learn well.

Children in the early years and pupils in key stages 1 and 2 behave well.

They show enthusiasm and resilience in their learning activities. Disruptions to their lessons due to other pupils' behaviour are rare. Pupils are determined to succeed at school and regard learning as fun.

Leaders prioritise the development of pupils' character. They provide pupils with a rich and varied set of experiences that help them to become confident, determined and caring. For example, some pupils take part in debating competitions and others raise money for charities by running coffee mornings.

Staff enjoy working at the school and their morale is high. They feel that they can do their jobs well because of the training that they receive and leaders' effective communication and organisation. Leaders act to ensure that teachers have a reasonable workload.

Governors are knowledgeable about the work of the school. They are committed to upholding the school's values. Governors provide leaders with valuable support and challenge to improve the school even further.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff understand their responsibility to keep pupils safe. They are well trained on safeguarding matters and are alert to signs of harm, abuse and neglect.

They are aware of the risks to pupils' safety in the local area.

Leaders manage safeguarding cases well. They work with external agencies to ensure that vulnerable pupils and families get the support that they need.

Pupils learn about how to keep themselves safe online and when travelling around the local area.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of subjects, leaders have not given enough thought to the precise information that they want pupils to learn. On occasion, teachers plan the curriculum around activities rather than the information they want pupils to know.

This leads to insecure learning and makes it difficult for teachers and pupils to make links between different topics. Leaders should make sure that the curriculum specifies the important knowledge that pupils should learn.

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

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 2017.