St Paul’s Peel CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, and children in the early years, are happy at this warm and welcoming school. Relationships between staff and pupils are positive. This helps pupils to feel safe and secure.

Pupils try hard each day to ensure that their conduct reflects the school values of faith, hope and love.

Pupils understand the difference between bullying and falling out. If any bullying occurs, staff deal with it effectively.

Teachers expect pupils to work hard and to achieve well. Pupils try to live up to these expectations. However, in some subjects, including in the early years, the curriculum is not well designed.

Some pupils, including those pupils with special ed...ucational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are not well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Pupils usually try to behave well. However, some staff do not share leaders' high expectations for pupils' behaviour.

On occasion, some pupils' positive behaviour lapses. They do not behave as well as they should.

Leaders make sure that pupils have plenty of opportunities to develop their interests and talents.

Pupils enjoy attending clubs, such as hockey and craft club. Pupils are proud to represent the school in sporting events. They can also develop their speaking skills through taking part in local competitions.

Older pupils take pride in being role models for younger pupils.

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

Leaders have designed a suitably ambitious curriculum. Pupils study a broad range of subjects commensurate with the national curriculum.

In a small number of subjects, leaders have made effective improvements to the curriculum. In these subjects, the curriculum is well organised. Pupils learn key knowledge in a logical order.

This helps pupils to build on what they already know. Teachers provide opportunities for pupils to revisit their earlier learning so that they remember it over time. In these subjects, teachers use their strong subject knowledge to explain concepts clearly, in ways that pupils understand.

Pupils, including those with SEND, achieve well in these subjects.

In other subjects, the curriculum is less well organised. Leaders have not determined the essential knowledge that pupils must learn.

This means that teachers are not clear about what they should teach pupils and in which order. It also makes it difficult for teachers to identify whether pupils have understood and remembered the most important information. As a result, some pupils, including those with SEND, and children in the early years, do not remember the important information they need for future learning.

Leaders have prioritised the development of early reading. Children in the early years enjoy singing songs, learning rhymes and listening to stories. These activities help to develop children's language and communication.

Children begin to learn phonics as soon as they start in the Reception class. Leaders have provided staff with some training on how to teach early reading, but this training has not equipped all staff to be able to teach the phonics programme well. For example, sometimes staff do not encourage children and pupils to practise the letters and sounds that they know.

This hinders how accurately and fluently some pupils read.

Pupils across the school have access to a wide range of books to read for their own enjoyment. This helps most pupils to develop a love of reading.

That said, some pupils said that they do not enjoy reading, because they find it difficult. Some older pupils struggle to read well because they have not received the help that they need to catch up with their peers. This hampers their ability to access the wider curriculum.

Leaders and staff identify the additional needs of pupils with SEND accurately. However, leaders have not made sure that staff are well equipped to make careful adaptions to the delivery of the curriculum to support pupils with SEND to learn well. Some pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they should.

Leaders promote pupils' broader development well. Staff are keen to support pupils' emotional well-being. Pupils are suitably prepared to take their place in modern society.

For example, pupils know that learning about different cultures helps them to show respect and understanding to others. Staff encourage pupils to be aspirational for their future lives.

Leaders have not ensured that all staff consistently reinforce high expectations for pupils' behaviour in lessons.

This means that on occasion, in a few classes, the poor behaviour of some pupils disrupts learning for others.

Leaders have taken appropriate action to improve pupils' rates of attendance. They work with external agencies to identify and support pupils who are absent from school often.

However, despite this, some pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should.

Governors know the school well. They are committed to improving opportunities for pupils.

However, governors do not hold leaders to account well enough for the quality of education that pupils receive.

Staff are proud to work at the school. They feel involved in decision making and said that leaders are considerate of their workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders know their school community well. They ensure a strong culture of safeguarding supported by the trusting relationships that they have with pupils and their families.

Staff are well trained to identify when a pupil may be at risk of harm. Staff report any concerns about a pupil's welfare diligently.

Leaders work closely with external agencies to provide timely and appropriate support for pupils and their families.

Leaders are tenacious in ensuring that pupils receive the help that they need.

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including online. They understand the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships and who to talk to if they are worried.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, leaders have not finalised the essential knowledge that pupils, including children in the early years, should learn. This prevents teachers from making sure that children and pupils learn everything that they should. Leaders should ensure that teachers are clear about what to teach and when to teach it so that pupils build secure subject knowledge across the curriculum.

• Leaders have not ensured that all staff are well equipped to deliver the phonics programme effectively. This hinders how well some children and pupils learn to read. Leaders should ensure that they support staff to implement the phonics curriculum consistently well so that pupils can become fluent readers.

• Some older pupils do not read as well as they should. This prevents these pupils from accessing the wider curriculum sufficiently well. Leaders should ensure that they support these pupils to catch up with their reading knowledge quickly so that they can learn well.

• Leaders have not made sure that staff understand how to adapt the delivery of the curriculum for pupils with SEND. As a result, some pupils with SEND do not learn as well as they should. Leaders should ensure that all staff are trained well to support pupils with SEND to access the curriculum fully.